Zoar is a falcon in the Masters of the Universe franchise. It initially served as little more than a courier to relay messages between He-Man and the Goddess, and was explicitly male. With the development of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Zoar was reimagined as an alternate form for He-Man's mystical benefactor, herself redesigned into the Sorceress of Castle Grayskull. Zoar necessarily became female, and the Sorceress's familiar bird-themed costume is based upon the falcon's color scheme.
The name is pronounced as "Zo-Ar" in Filmation cartoon, the Mike Young reboot and Revelation (though seemingly it is a play upon the word "soar").
Early minicomics[]
Zoar's first appearance is in the minicomic "The Magic Stealer!", where it is portrayed as He-Man's falcon. In that first portrayal, Zoar is depicted as a male falcon. The male Zoar also appears in The Ordeal of Man-E-Faces (although he is only called 'Falcon') and The Power of... Point Dread!.
DC Comics[]
In the DC Comics miniseries, Zoar is depicted as the Goddess' falcon, calling He-Man when the Goddess needs him, a glimpse of his later television incarnation.
In the book and record included with the Point Dread & Talon Fighter playset, Zoar reprises this role. He appears to He-Man with a warning from the Sorceress that Skeletor is headed for Castle Grayskull.
TV series[]
When the Filmation series began, Zoar was drastically changed to be an alternate form of The Sorceress, thus making the television version of Zoar female. The female Zoar's only minicomic appearances were in The Temple of Darkness and The Stench of Evil.
The Sorceress as Zoar.
Evil counterpart[]
Skeletor's bird, Screeech, was possibly created as an evil counterpart to the Heroic Zoar.
The toys of both Zoar and Screeech used the same model, with different color schemes. The same model was also used in 1972 for the bald eagle from the Big Jim toy line; which explains the 1972 date on both Zoar and Screech.