King Grayskull

In the 2002 remake of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, it is revealed that Castle Grayskull was once home to King Grayskull, an ancestor of Prince Adam and Princess Adora.[3] He appears in the episode, "The Power of Grayskull", waging battle and ultimately defeating the Snake Men led by King Hiss but lost his sword in battle. He hoped it to be a sign that it signified true peace for Eternia. However, Hiss' rival Hordak, who had defeated the Snake Men, was planning on conquering Eternia. Therefore, Grayskull went on a quest to find the power he needed to defend his kingdom. At the top of a mountain, he met the oracle who guided him on his quest, showing him his lost sword and explaining that his entire quest was to show his inner strength. Before leaving however, the Oracle informed him that he would not survive the battle. Despite knowing this, King Grayskull vowed to do whatever it took to save Eternia. He then returned to face Hordak. Though outnumbered, Grayskull managed to channel his mystical energies through his sword, turning Hordak's spell on himself and his army, sending them to the dark dimension called Despondos. Despite this victory however, the Oracle's prophecy came to pass, for Hordak, whose spirit/soul was ripped from his body, managed to mortally wound Grayskull. As he lay dying, he proclaimed that his successor will wield his sword to defend Eternia. During his lifetime, King Grayskull ruled with wisdom and compassion.[4]

Upon his death, King Grayskull transferred his mystical energies into his Power Sword which now forms the basis of He-Man's power, thus the transformation cry "By the power of Grayskull!", (at least in this version) refers to the king, not the castle. His wife, Queen Veena, became the first Sorceress and his advisers became the Council of Elders, who were empowered by his sword. The Sorceress first introduced the story to Prince Adam by showing him a previously unrevealed statue of his titanic ancestor inside the bowels of Castle Grayskull.

King Grayskull's character design was originally an early prototype for He-Man himself.[4] His appearance is largely the same as He-Man's but with much more exaggerated muscular body proportions resulting in an enormous stature, with long hair gathered into loose ponytails framing his face, and wearing a long brown cape with fur-topped shoulders. The producers liked it enough that they decided to use it for King Grayskull. Whereas He-Man rides the green tiger Battle Cat, King Grayskull rode an even larger giant green lion, and during his war with the Snake Men he was shown also wearing the same "Snake Armour" He-Man used in the second season. King Grayskull was voiced by Cam Clarke, He-Man's voice actor for the 2002 series.

The packaging for the King Grayskull action figure included a short character biography that largely recounted the aforementioned story from the 2002 series, but also included the additional information that Grayskull had fought alongside He-Ro (implicitly the Preternia version), a fact – and character – unmentioned in the cartoon. This information, as well as the inclusion of classic rather than 2002-style accessories, seemed to indicate that the toy of King Greyskull represents a hitherto nonexistent version of the character situated in the classic 1980's continuity as opposed to the 2002 remake.

This would prove to be partly true, as the character bios on subsequent releases in the MOTU Classics line indicate that the new figure line is using a new continuity which melds story elements from various different incarnations of the franchise, including the 2002 series' backstory.

King Grayskull's bio read as follows *NOTE: His story is the beginning of new Classic's storyline that is being told through the bios on card backs of the exclusively on-line series of figures* Long before Prince Adam held the Sword of Power to become He-Man, his ancestor, King Grayskull defended Eternia from evil. Heroically mastering the secret power of his sword, Grayskull fought side by side with the cosmic warrior He-Ro against both the evil Hordak and King Hssss.

Although Grayskull eventually fell before Hordak's magic, he was able to preserve his powers inside the sword, so that one day his descendants could reclaim the power and call upon Grayskull's name whenever evil threatens the peace of Eternia. To this day, Grayskull's spirit remains hidden away deep inside the castle which will forever bear his name.[5]

Grayskull's name is mentioned in the 2018 remake.