[webz]

I wrote the introduction back in the late 90s for my "dream" He-Man film (totally different actors back then). I saved the file and recently took a look at it. It still holds up pretty good. Now remember, all this was before the 2002 series.

My movie would start with the aging King Miro. He looks at his two sons. Powerful, regal looking Randor, whose new wife is due to give birth soon... and Keldor - Randor's older brother, whose reputation was known throughout the kingdom as one of vanity and an obsession with the occult.

The old King is dying. He has to choose his heir. He passes the ancient, chipped Sword of Eternia to his son, Randor, and dies. Upset, Keldor storms out of the room towards the dungeons of the Eternal Palace. Randor pursues him, concerned for his brother. In the dungeons, Randor is confronted by the true evil that his brother has been involved in... instead of criminals, the dungeon is filled with twisted amalgamations of various men and beasts... murderers with body parts replaced by wicked machinations. Randor calls for the guards as Keldor attacks from the shadows. The two battle, and during the struggle, Keldor breaks a lantern of burning oil upon his face, burning him horribly. He and his freak minions make a run out of the castle via the aqueducts, and come out into the swamp behind Eternia.

Keldor believes that the old ruins of an ancient civilization, The Castle Grayskull, was built as both a mausoleum to an ancient king, as well as the prison for a powerful demon spirit. This demon would grant him the power to get his birthright. Keldor is helped thru the decayed castle by a muscular orange beast of a man, and he comes to a black onyx skull shrine. Keldor feels as though he is being watched, but he cannot see the falcon hidden in the crevices. He begins chanting, and the onyx skull begins glowing. A voice calls out from the skull, calling itself Hordak, and telling Keldor to place the skull against his face, and he will be cured of his injuries and given the power to achieve his birthright. Keldor does as he is told, and his face burns away... his face is no longer the tattered remains of singed muscle and burt skin, but replaced by the glowing, skull-like face of a demon. This final "humiliation" shatters what is left of Keldor's mind, and Skeletor was born...

25 years later... After decades of war with the forces of Skeletor, Eternia is in shambles. There have been few wins, and many, many losses. The Princess was kidnapped, and never seen again. The Prince, now a young man, is forbidden from leaving the Palace, for fear that he, too, would be taken. He is protected by the young daughter of the Captain of the Guard: a martial arts prodigy named Teela, and his faithful pet, Cringer. Cringer is a green and orange tiger, a species well known for their intelligence and strength... but Cringer was the runt of his litter. With a chipped tooth, a scarred eye, and a nervous personality, he is far from the bodyguard he was intended to be. Prince Adam begged his father to let him keep the tiger, and they had been inseparable since.

Prince Adam and Cringer are sneaking around outside of the palace, when suddenly the tiny farming village on the outskirts of the kingdom is replaced by a smoking crater. The palace guards see a young, pale woman, skin as pale as cream, standing in the center of the crater. Approaching her, is the familiar purple panther and it's rider... a man clad in robes that looked regal yet tattered...but it's his face, or lack thereof, that truly scares. Where once were clever eyes, now are glowing embers, seething with hatred. Chiseled jaw and a royal visage is now a cracked skull, floating in a hooded void. The muscle and grace of youth replaced by the grayish-blue skin of death. Withered and consumed with hate, Skeletor signals by thrusting his Ram skull staff in the air, and an army of creatures rushes forth, determined to crush Eternia once and for all.

The Eternian army rushes forth to defend the people, but their numbers are few. The alarm sounded, Prince Adam and Cringer head for home, but the palace gate has been raised, and the battle is spreading. A twisted being of eel and man sees the Prince and the tiger, and breaks away from the battle in pursuit. Adam and Cringer flee into the swamp beyond the kingdom. Attempting to hide from their attacker, they meet a falcon who bids them to follow. They come across the remains of grayskull. The castle had been recently mostly rebuilt, under the watchful eye of Teela's father and commander of the Eternian military, Duncan. Adam and Cringer run across the drawbridge and into the castle. As they wander, they come across the Great Hall, and on the far end, is a single throne. Next to the throne, in a pillar of stone, is the rusted and chipped Sword of Eternia. Duncan had convinced Randor that the sword belonged there as part of the restoration process. Prince Adam approaches the throne and sword. Behind him he hears the gargling breathing of the mutant that followed him. He sees the vile creature at the far end of the hall, charging him, pike at the ready! Having no weapon of his own, he grabs the Sword of Eternia, and sparks begin to fill the great hall and before he realizes what he is doing, a deep voice echoes from his throat... "By the Power of Grayskull!"...