Wiki Grayskull
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Princess Adora is a fictional character in the Masters of the Universe franchise. She is the slightly tomboyish yet regally beautiful twin sister of Prince Adam and the alter ego of She-Ra. Shortly after the twins' birth, Hordak planned to kidnap them. When Man-At-Arms found Hordak in the process of taking the children, Hordak fled with the young Adora through a space corridor to Etheria. She was then raised by Shadow Weaver and became a Force Captain in the Horde. Later, Adora's true destiny and birthright were revealed to her. Embracing her true destiny, Adora left the Horde and joined the Great Rebellion to fight against those she had once supported.

Appearance and Personality

Adora is a strikingly attractive young woman with long, wavy blonde hair that falls just past her shoulders. She has bright blue eyes, fair skin, and red lips. She wears an outfit which resembles a red one-piece bathing suit with long white sleeves, triangular brown shoulder pads, cone-shaped red wrist-guards, a black belt, and red high-heeled boots.

Horde Captain Adora was initially ruthless, tricky, smug, and selfish. She lacked empathy, (rightly) distrusted her fellow Hordesmen, and pulled rank to her own advantage. Adora fully believed in her own morals, even when others disagreed. Having never seen Etheria the way many people had, she was blind to the Horde’s ruling methods...which were harsh and cruel and abusive. As Shadow Weaver's influence waned, Adora became caring and regretful; she adamantly disagreed with how the Etherians were being treated.

Even after she joined the Great Rebellion and became its leader, Adora’s lack of fear played a key role in her cause; she thought nothing of putting herself in danger for others, even as a mere distraction. Like her alter ego, she has a firm sense of loyalty and kindness to the hurt or injured whenever necessary. She has no qualms about confronting crude behavior from anyone, regardless of their status or abilities...especially with Glimmer, Bow, or Kowl.

History

King Randor and Queen Marlena of Eternia had been blessed with twins, a girl they named Adora, and a boy, named Adam. At the time of the twins' birth, the Evil Horde had tried to invade Eternia. The Horde were unable to beat The Royal Guard or the magic of Castle Grayskull. Their leader Hordak, along with his pupil Skeletor plotted to kidnap the twins because of "something" the twins were destined for (though Hordak did not know exactly what). Hordak was able to successfully kidnap Adora, but they were confronted by Man-At-Arms before the boy could be taken. Hordak escaped, leaving Skeletor behind. As payback, Skeletor revealed to Man-At-Arms that the Horde were based at Snake Mountain, and Man-At-Arms went with the Sorceress to retrieve Adora. When confronted, Hordak ran through a portal into another dimension, which closed up before they could follow.

A great sadness fell upon the Kingdom of Eternia at the loss of the Princess. The Sorceress used the magic of Grayskull to remove the memories of the Princess from the minds of Adam and all Eternians. Only Randor, Marlena, Man-At-Arms and the Sorceress retained their memories.[1]

Adora was raised under the care of a Horde servant called Shakra, who was able to provide Adora with some goodness during her early life. They developed a strong relationship during Adora's life with the Horde. The strength of their relationship is evidenced in by Shakra's decision to also leave the Horde and join the Great Rebellion.[2]

When Adora was old enough to begin to serve the Horde, Hordak had Shadow Weaver put Adora under a spell so that she would follow the Horde and not question their ruling methods.[3] Hordak saw great potential in Adora and made her the Force Captain of The Horde.

Destiny and birthright revealed

The Sorceress begins having strange dreams reminding her of the time when Adora was taken from the royal nursery. She awakes to find a sword floating above her bed. She sees that the Sword is similar to Prince Adam's sword that she had given to him not long ago. The sword seems to beckon to the Sorceress, so she rises from her slumber and follows the sword through the passages of Castle Grayskull. The sword stops before a door which opens to reveal a previously unopened portal, the Sorceress knows the time has come and summons Adam and Cringer to the Castle. When Adam arrives at the Castle she explains that the time has come for the sword to be claimed by its rightful owner, with this Adam and Cringer walk through the portal into a lush green forest.

The planet they travel to is called Etheria. Adam and Cringer travel to the village of Thaymor. At the inn they stop for lunch, but Horde Troopers enter and cause trouble. Adam confronts them, Bow joins him and they beat the Troopers. Adam and Bow return to The Whispering Woods, and Bow says that Adam is an ally to The Great Rebellion. Later when Adam tells The Rebellion that they should fight The Horde, they head off to Bright Moon. The rebels begin their fight with The Horde, and appear to be near to defeat, until He-Man arrives. Adora flees and He-Man follows her. He confronts her in a room with the sword the Sorceress gave him. The sword begins to glow, and He-Man realizes that the sword is meant for her. He is then knocked out by a Horde laser and Adora picks up the sword and He-Man is taken to the Horde prison on Beast Island.[4]

Adora visits He-Man in his prison cell and tells him that she feels drawn to the sword, as if it were made especially for her. He-Man confirms this, but tells her it is for a person who fights on the side of good. Adora responds by telling him that she serves The Horde, the lawful rulers of Etheria. He tells her she is wrong and to go and discover for herself the evil acts that are being carried out against the innocent people of Etheria. She tells him he is mistaken and she leaves the island with her horse Spirit to prove him wrong. While riding through the villages of Etheria, Adora discovers that He-Man is correct and that The Horde rule with brutal tyranny. Meanwhile, Kowl comes to rescue He-Man from his cell. Adora rides back to the Fright Zone, where she challenges Hordak and Shadow Weaver with the truth. She tells them she has seen for herself that The Horde are cruel rulers. Shadow Weaver discovers that the sword Adora is carrying is somehow weakening her own magic. She puts Adora into a magic-induced stupor and takes the sword.[3]

Adora awakens from her slumber without the memories of the previous day's events. Later that day, she and The Horde capture rebels and place them in a glass chamber which will drain their energy to power Hordak's new invention. He-Man sneaks into the Fright Zone disguised as a Horde Trooper. When he asks her if she now knew the truth about The Horde she arrests him and Hordak takes him to drain his energy. Adora expresses her dislike of this, but Shadow Weaver uses her magic once again. Later that night an echoing voice wakes Adora, once more she silently walks into the room where He-Man is being drained of his energy. She is drawn to the sword again. The face of a woman appears in the jewel embedded in the sword. The woman is the Sorceress. She reveals to Adora that she was kidnapped by The Horde when she was a baby and that she had a twin brother. When it is revealed that He-Man is her twin brother she is amazed. The Sorceress tells her "For the honor of Grayskull", then her image vanishes from the stone. Adora lifts up the sword and repeats the Sorceress' last words, in a swirl of lights and magic she is transformed into She-Ra. She releases He-Man from his chains and gives his sword back to him. With the sword in his possession again his energy is restored by the sword's magic, while He-Man battles the Troopers She-Ra jumps from a window and crashes into the Horde stables and lands atop Spirit. The magic that transformed Adora also changes Spirit into Swift Wind, a winged talking unicorn. They fly ahead to warn the Rebellion. He-Man fights Hordak and She-Ra comes to help. Both safe, She-Ra tells a stunned He-Man that she is his sister.[5]

Royal family reunited

He-Man is amazed that he has a sister. She-Ra tells him about the woman she saw in the sword. He-Man realizes she means the Sorceress and uses She-Ra's sword to summon her. She appears to them and explains everything. She-Ra cries when she finds out what happened when she was taken from her true family, and she and He-Man hug. Adam and Adora return to the rebel camp and Bow thinks that Adam had captured the Horde captain. Adam informs him that Adora is his sister and she was being controlled by Shadow Weaver's evil spells. Adora announces that she would like to join the rebels in their fight against the Horde. Glimmer tells them about her mother being held at Talon Mountain. Adam and Adora set off to free the Queen. When hidden from view they become He-Man and She-Ra. They liberate the Queen and return to the camp. With the Queen safe, Adora feels she can now leave them and return to Eternia. She, Adam and Cringer pass through the portal back to Eternia. Hordak sees them and follows. Adora and Adam arrive in Castle Grayskull and the Sorceress takes them to the Royal Palace. King Randor and Queen Marlena are delighted at the return of their daughter.[1]

Return to Etheria

While the Royal family rejoice that their family is finally together again, Hordak and Skeletor attack and take Adora prisoner again. She tricks Beast Man and taking her sword transforms into She-Ra. She battles Webstor and defeats Skeletor. Later at the palace Adora tells her parents she must return to Etheria so that she can help free the planet from Horde oppression. They are saddened by this decision but understand that this is what Adora must do, with this the Sorceress transports Adora and Spirit back to Etheria. He-Man and She-Ra battle the Horde at Bright Moon, once beaten back She-Ra understands that this is her true destiny. He-Man and She-Ra part ways, He-Man tells her, "Farewell, She-Ra, Princess Of Power."[6] This is the first time anyone ever refers to She-Ra as "The 'Princess Of Power.'" It is not known if any other characters also use this reference to her.

Masters of the Universe Classics

A line of toys that were debuted in 2008 to be sold exclusively on Mattel's collector website. Sculpted by the Four Horsemen, these toys are updated versions of numerous characters from the franchise. In January 2010, Princess Adora was released as Matty Collector's figure for the month on Mattel's website. Labeled simply "Adora," this was her first (and so far, only) toy. Of course, there are also several other versions of her available as She-Ra.

Other Notes

Adora is in love with the Captain Sea Hawk.

Filmation Appearances

External Links

References

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