He-Man, Christian Allegory & Transubstantiation
Christians have long made use of allegory to narrate the story of salvation. We have done this because, by utilizing fiction to retell the story of Jesus, we can present to an unbelieving world the archetypal themes of Christianity, as well as providing for ourselves a “novel” way 😉 to meditate upon our tale of grace…
A Common Example…
One popular example of Christian allegory would be “The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe” by C.S. Lewis. This is one of the first novels I can recall hearing as a child. However, it wasn’t until I was quite a bit older that I started to realize why the story felt so familiar…
C.S. Lewis’ goal in writing “The Chronicles Of Narnia” was to write a good story rather than simply a Christian story. Fortunately for us he does both! In “The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe” Lewis tells the story of the great lion Aslan who offers his life in place of the disobedient boy Edmund. Even with this brief outline, it is clear to see that this story is an allegory of Jesus’ Crucifixion and the offering of His life for sinners.
In my mid-twenties I did a lot of babysitting and, because of this, I got to read the book out loud for the children I was babysitting (complete with voices, of course). Reading the book as an adult, I was stunned to find Christ on every page.
A Rather Uncommon Example…
However, today I would like to offer a rather uncommon example of Christian allegory: “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe”. As a child I was a huge He-Man fan: I had seen every episode of the cartoon, I owned a vast array of He-Man toys and was even a member of the official He-Man fan club (I have a secret Eternian name..ssshhhh).
I recently purchased the DVDs of the show. As I watched them with the eyes of an adult, I recognized the clear Christian allegory. If you don’t believe me, I would invite you to watch the show’s opening credits:
Still not convinced? For shame! Well then, let me prove it to you…
1. The Show’s Name
The first clue is in the name of the show: “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe“. In what way is this a clue? Simply look at the traditional Hebrew blessing for bread:
Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth
God is the King of the universe and Jesus is the the “bread come down from heaven” (John 6:41)
2. Adam
The chief protagonist in the story is a man named Adam. Er…hello? Can you think of anyone in the Bible named “Adam”?
So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being” ; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit…”
– 1 Corinthians 15:45
Prince Adam
Not only is the lead character in the show called “Adam”, he is also a Prince:
God exalted [Jesus] to his own right hand as Prince and Savior – Acts 5:31
So, as you can see, the show’s central character is a Christ-like figure…
3. Adam’s Parents
Are there any more similarities? What about Adam’s parents?
Adam’s Parents
King Randor is Adam’s father and is the ruler of a Kingdom:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come..” – Matthew 6:9-10
…and what’s the name of this Kingdom? It’s called the “Kingdom of Eternia” which resonates with another strong Biblical theme:
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life…” – John 3:36
And what of Adam’s mother, the Queen? Well, Queen Marlena is unique among the citizens of Eternia. You see, she was born on planet Earth, finding herself on Eternia after her spacecraft crash landed:
“Shake off your dust; rise up, sit enthroned…Daughter Zion” – Isaiah 52:1-2
After marrying the King she gave birth to Adam:
“Do not be afraid…you have found favor with the Lord. You will conceive and give birth to a son…”
– Luke 1:30
4. He-Man
Prince Adam transforms into He-Man when he lifts high his magic sword. As Prince Adam he is weak, but as He-Man he is the most powerful man in the universe. In this we see something of the hypostatic union, the two natures of Jesus: fully God and fully man:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself…Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name… – Philippians 2:6-9
He-Man’s appearance is also telling. He has a huge red cross emblazoned across his breastplate. Could anything be more obvious?!
He-Man’s Breastplate
Also, He-Man’s armour almost exactly corresponds to the “Armour of God” which Paul describes in his letter to the Ephesians:
Therefore put on the full armour of God… Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. – Ephesians 6:13-17
In the show only three other people know that Adam is secretly He-Man:
The Keepers of Adam’s Secret
The first person who knows Adam’s secret is Man-At-Arms, the father of Teela. The second person is Orko the Trollen who constantly gets into trouble. Finally, the third is the Sorceress who transforms in a bird:
Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove – Mark 1:10
Of course, in Christianity the number three has great significance as it points to the Holy Trinity:
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit – Matthew 28:19
Have I convinced you yet?
5. Cringer
Cringer is Adam’s cowardly pet tiger. However when He-Man points his sword towards Cringer a bolt of light issues forth and transforms Cringer into the fearless Battle Cat:
Cringer transforms into Battle Cat
This is clearly a reference to the Feast of Pentecost when bolts of light (the tongues of fire) transform the fearful Apostles into bold evangelists:
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place…. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit – Acts 2:1
The evidence continues to build up…
6. The Enemy
He-Man’s mortal enemy is Skeletor, an evil sorcerer with the face of a skull:
Skeletor, He-Man’s nemesis
Was there ever a more appropriate personification of evil and death?
Christ Jesus…destroyed death and has brought life – 2 Timothy 1:10
All of Skeletor’s minions represent some kind of demonic force:
Kobra Kahn, Beast Man, Merman and Evil Lyn
For example, one of his henchmen is the snake-like “Kobra Khan”. In the Bible the “snake” brings about the fall of mankind:
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” – Genesis 3:1
Indeed, Skeletor’s headquarters is in Snake Mountain. Another of Skeletor’s minions is “Beast Man”:
The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority – Revelation 13:2
…another is called “Merman”:
The dragon stood on the shore…and I saw a beast coming out of the sea – Revelation 13:1
…and finally, another is the evil sorceress “Evil Lyn”, who represents Babylon:
“‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!’ She has become a dwelling for demons and a haunt for every impure spirit – Revelation 18:2
7. Castle Grayskull
Probably the most important location in the TV show was Castle Grayskull. Likewise the “place of the Skull” is probably the most important location in the New Testament:
Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha) – John 19:17
It is He-Man’s task to protect Castle Grayskull from Skeletor. The Castle is therefore an allegory of the Church which was founded on St. Peter:
“And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” – Matthew 16:18
Castle Grayskull is the home of the Sorceress who, as we have already indicated, represents the Holy Spirit. As we know, the Holy Spirit indwells in the Church.
Honestly, there’s much more I could say, but I think I’ve made my point…
Transubstantiation
Now that I have proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that He-Man is Christian allegory I would like to examine the profound truth of transubstantiation offered to us by this cartoon.
Transubstantiation is the Catholic doctrine which states that in the Eucharist the “substance” of the bread and wine changes into the “substance” of the Body and the Blood of Jesus, even though all that is accessible to the senses (the “accidents”), remains unchanged. Transubstantiation first took place at the Last Supper prior to Jesus’ crucifixion. The Mass is a re-presentation of this sacrifice of Christ.
So how are these truths communicated in “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe”?
As you heard in the video of the opening credits, Adam first became He-Man when he first lifted up his sword and said the words “By the power of Grayskull…I have the power!”. This event first took place inside Castle Grayskull.
The Initial Transformation
In subsequent episodes, whenever we see Adam lift high his sword we suddenly see that he is somehow back at Castle Grayskull, as though it were the first time he transformed into He-Man.
(Some might argue that this was just because the animators were lazy, but I think they had deeper, theological objectives in mind)
So…we have the “elevation” of a sacred object, repetition of the “words of institution” and a “transformation” that takes place which is somehow linked to the original event… Does this remind you of anything? That’s right…the Eucharist.
Subsequent Transformations
It is also worth noting the visible changes which take place when Adam becomes He-Man, or rather the lack of changes. There really are very few differences in his appearance: his clothes change, his skin becomes slightly darker and his voice is somewhat deeper. That’s it… Even Superman has a more convincing disguise!
A disguise even Lois Lane could see through…
So…when Adam becomes He-Man he has very little outward change (we would say the “accidents” remain the same), but he is truly transformed from the “substance” of Adam to the “substance” of He-Man, from one who is weak to one with supernatural power. Transubstantiation. Boom!
So there you go: He-Man, christian allegory and transubstantiation. I bet you never knew children’s cartoons from the 80s were so profound and theologically rich…
Further Reading
Shameless Popery: How the Summa might address Zombie Uprising
The Thin Veil: “Pope To Blogosphere”
St. Joseph’s Vanguard: “The New Perspective on Peter”
Almost Not Catholic: I Relent!
Young, Evangelical and Catholic: Pope Excommunicates All Of Us!
Happy April Fools Day David! 😉
Are you blind
Ah yes, I remember you expounding on this idea. You’ve expanded the scope somewhat. 🙂
I felt it was finally time for a more thorough treatment of the subject.
The world is ready, huh? Kidding. 🙂 Happy Holy Week, David.
Blame Joe at Shameless Popery 🙂
It’s fun. 🙂 And I’m sure you loved writing it.
The difficult part was knowing what to cut – I have so many more proofs!
Somehow that doesn’t surprise me. You should write a book. 🙂
Ages ago I found a 10-episode DVD of He-Man episodes in a bargain bin somewhere and spent an afternoon watching them. I don’t think I’d seen them since I was a kid, and while I felt slightly dorky watching them, they weren’t bad…and kinda fun, to be honest. I’d forgotten all about the moral at the end of each episode.
Well spotted. I was watching it with my lad this morning and seen the relevance. Googled it and this came up.
Thanks for your efforts.
God Bless.
Thanks, but this was an April Fools!
Thank God it’s April fools I was like you guys really are fucking genocidal assholes everything is about you
Interesting post. Was thinking of this today when DC announced a comic series to be launched on them: http://www.dccomics.com/blog/2012/04/06/new-masters-of-the-universe%C2%AE-series-slated-for-july
Can’t deny they used biblical themes. What I can’t work out is if the originators where just lazy to try think up their own world or if they were geniune believers like CS Lewis.
Hahaha! Wonderful!
http://www.donaldfglut.com/MOUinterview.html
I’m really glad I wrote this April Fool piece now! Great interview – I found out so much I didn’t know about He-Man!
Nice work!
I have had a similar meditation on He-Man, and have taken a slightly different direction on a couple points of imagery from the cartoon…
Castle Grayskull together with the Sorceress seem to represent Wisdom, with the Sorceress doing double duty in representing the Holy Spirit (from her transforming into a bird as well as the feminine ascription for Wisdom in Proverbs). I like your observation relating Grayskull to Golgotha.
He-Man’s sword represents the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, an object which symbolically externalizes He-Man’s transformed character.
From Cringer to Battle Cat is the transformation of the lower nature of man, the carnal mind into the spiritual mind as the power of the Holy Spirit moves in him.
Man-At-Arms is the disciplined, enterprising aspect of the personality, i.e. the will. Orko is the unstable, restless mind. Teela, though this is even more tentative, represents the passions, as she is often very vigorous in her warriorness.
He-Man’s mother is from earth, with his father being from Eternia, can also render He-Man a combination of divine(i.e. Eternian) and human(i.e. earth) natures. This also supports the hypostatic union which can also lend his mother into a type of Mary.
I’ll stop here. I have obviously spent too much time watching He-Man!
hahaha….brilliant! Welcome to Restless Pilgrim Josh 🙂
That is crazy, you defintley did your research.
Did you know the Cross marks the location of the black hole at the center of the galaxy. The heavens are telling the glory of the lord
The only problem with all this is that he-man was created by jewish people.
…and also that it’s an April 1st post 😉
Heman was the result of a failed Conan the barbarian cartoon, not a Christian allegory. Execs were on board for a Conan cartoon until they found out how violant Conan was. Designs had already been made and rather than waste it, they were tweaked and a lighter more kid friendly hero was born. Don’t read so deep into every pop culture icon out there.
Hey Jm, if you check the date of the post it was published on April 1st… 😉
Thank you for this article, although many years ago… I write a Christian children’s book series called Crash Testerz (www.CrashTesterz.com). It is about crash test dummies that come alive to share the Bible with kids. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, I scribe the visions I see from God in Crash Testerz.
I recently found myself saying (in a deep rumbling voice): “By the power of GraySkull!” And yes, I watched He-Man as a kid. But now I do understand the meaning behind GraySkull in reference to Calvary.
Now.. I yell (audibly) …and I am 40 yrs old…. “By the Power of Jesus! I have the Power!!!!!” Thank you.
In Christ,
Steven Keelan
979.255.0933
Hey Steven, welcome to Restless Pilgrim! Sounds like an interesting concept for a book 🙂
This is actually a satire piece I wrote for April Fools Day, but as a Christian and an avid He-Man fan, I couldn’t resist!
What is the meaning of the He-man character Orion?
I only vaguely remember this episode, but if I was to try and extend this silly article, I’d probably base it on the mirror that Orion used to reflect light. As Christians we’re called to reflect the light of Christ, to share a light which does not come from us, but which we are ultimately called upon to share.
Pilgrim, I loved your article!
Thanks for taking the time to correlate all this information! 🙂
I don’t think the transubstantiation bit is accurate, but otherwise, definitely some interesting things, here.
More likely is that the Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword, etc.
A regular man cannot withstand evil on his own.
By taking up the Word of God, and acknowledging its power, he can resist evil, etc.
(I think this is much more likely)
I just got done watching the 2004 re-make of the series.
They only made two seasons, but throughout the whole show, I was picking up on Christian themes, and was becoming more and more suspicious.
Some other things I noticed…
1. Nobody dies, except maybe one or two living things.
I think King Hiss may have eaten a grunt soldier, at some point, but other than that, no one dies.
No one even gets seriously injured, with maybe one or two exceptions.
2. Nobody curses, not even the villains.
The villains are mostly comical, actually.
3. Every character seems to be a solid archetype, and they never deviate from their archetype.
Revelation 22:11 (KJV)
He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
4. On the episode dealing with the origins of Grayskull, King Grayskull is a VERY suspicious Christ-like character.
He’s much mightier than He-Man, in appearance, and at the end of the episode, his power is transmitted to the Eternian Elders.
There are lots of other things, especially on a case-by-case basis.
I think you’ve just scratched the surface, here, but yeah, there is definitely something there! 🙂
Hey Ivan, welcome to Restless Pilgrim!
I think you might be taking this too seriously – this was an April Fool’s parody.
I don’t think any of these were purposeful. I’m not aware of any strong Christian influencers who were involved in the making of the show. I think all of the things you mention can simply be explained by saying “It was a children’s cartoon”. That’s why nobody dies, nobody curses (I seem to recall Skeletor calling one of his minions a “nincompoop!”) etc.
Having said that, if people like Tolkien and C.S. Lewis are right, humanity can’t help but tell The Story, even if it is through myths (or children’s cartoons).
Wow, I spent, like 45mins writing a reply, and it just threw an error upon submission.
Well… I’m not writing all that, again… >.<
Basically, I think there IS something there, especially surrounding King Grayskull (power source).
I had this awesome point, but I can't devote another hour to be lost… :'(
Do you know of any committed Christian who was involved in the writing of He-Man?
Additionally, I already said that I’m not dedicating anymore time to answering something that you have already indicated has some merit.
So, it would be best if you stopped belaboring the point.
If your comment system didn’t time-out my Google login, we could keep this going, but I’m not gonna spend another hour developing an argument. :/
The problem with the kind of reasoning you’re offering is that it’s the same kind of reasoning some militant Atheists do when they look at the Gospel story. They see something in it which looks vaguely similar in earlier Pagan mythology and then say “See? The story about Jesus is just a retelling of this earlier Pagan myth”. As a Christian, the obvious response is to compare the similarity (it’s usually pretty tenuous) and, more importantly, to ask for evidence of some causal connection between the two (which there isn’t).
What you are doing here isn’t that dissimilar. You listed a bunch of reasons you thought pointed to Christian influence, but they’re all adequately explained by the answer “It’s a cartoon for kids from the 80’s”. That is the reason the violence is limited and there’s no swearing. So it’s a weak case to begin with, but degrades further when you can’t point to any enthusiastic Christians involved in its production. It gets even worse when you discover that the He-Man prototype was based on Conan The Barbarian – not exactly the Christian ideal. The final nail in the coffin comes when you discover that more than a few Christian groups activity condemned He-Man for leading kids AWAY from Christianity! Where were the Christian creators responding to these charges, saying that they were doing the complete opposite?
That logic is completely upside down, and it is very dissimilar.
There is not earlier pagan myth, and this is something that I explained thoroughly in my mega comment that got deleted.
Nothing predates the Biblical account.
That’s just an assumption.
It’s the opposite.
Those Pagan Myths are actually stemming from Biblical events.
You seem to be stuck on generic references.
Again, you’re belaboring the point, and we’re getting into the realm of an inappropriate exchange.
There are no nails in the coffin.
You’re just being lazy with your research, frankly.
And I don’t really wanna spend my time bolstering the SEO of your article, when I could just go spend ten hours on a site of my own.
And by the way, try Googling the creators names, sometime, and see what you can find.
Let’s just pick one mythological system, say Norse Mythology. A skeptic might say “In Heaven Christians have he Marriage Supper of the Lamb and in Norse Mythology you feast in Valhalla. In Christianity you have Hell and in Norse Mythology you have Helheim. In Christianity, Jesus is sacrificed on the cross, in Norse Mythology Odin is sacrificed on the great tree Yggdrasil and is even wounded with a spear. Christianity has ‘God the Father’, Norse Mythology has Odin ‘The All-Father’. Christianity has angels, Norse Mythology has Valkyries. Christianity has Satan, Norse Mythology has Loki. Christianity has the Apocalypse, Norse Mythology has Ragnarok”
See how easy it is to assemble some simplistic parallels? However, all this starts to fall apart when (a) you examine the ‘parallels’ in more detail and (b) try to find causal evidence connecting the narratives. It’s the same with your theory or my own article. If you know the source material well, you can assemble a bunch of superficial similarities, but a closer examination reveals them to be just that. Not only that, when you watch interviews with the creators talking about the origins of the cartoon, comic and toy, you find something quite different…
I’ve already had a look and I have found no evidence of any evangelistic Christians involved in the creation of He-Man. Like I said, if it was created with Christianity in mind, why do we find nobody arguing that when vocal Christian groups at the time called it demonic?
Do you know of any case where a duck is not a duck?
When it’s a platypus. A platypus has the bill of a duck, but it’s not a duck. The differences outweigh the similarities and the animals are not even closely related.
…..
Wow…
You know that a Platypus is not a Duck, right?
You just proved my point.
It does if all you’re doing is looking at the bill. However, if you examine it more carefully it’s clear that they’re very different. That’s what it seems like you’re doing here – identifying some *very* vague similarities and assuming that they have to be causally connected while discarding anything which undermines the theory.
Its a childs cartoon, I think your reading to much into it! The whole point if you really wanted to make one is/was Hero’s come from every walk of life!
You might want to check the date on which this article was published…
Yeah, there’s nothing that undermines anything about it.
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, etc, it’s reasonable to call it a duck.
Explain to me why every walk of life has an imprint of the same paradigms, and then we can have a real conversation about it.
I abandoned this conversation previously, though, because of irresponsibility with the information.
Heck, in the remake, Skeletor is weilding a staff with a Rams head, and when they travel to his home town (it’s Lystra if I recall), they cover it in the same symbol.
I could be mistaken on the city name, as I’m just going from memory, here, but it would be uncanny if that were correct.
They were trying to create a Star Wars clone, so it’s largely based off that, and George Lucas was basically ripping off of Flash Gordon, which heavily incorporates stuff from anthropologist Joseph Campbell.
Not gonna get into his work, but it basically shows that all ancient cultures share similar archetypes and paradigms, and when you understand why, you’ll see how He-Man is absolutely shaped after pre-flood and ancient post-flood legends.
Gray Skull transfers his power upon death, to a series of elders.
He-Man’s name is ADAM. LoL
Not gonna spell this out for people who aren’t gonna look.
By the way, your comment system is still configured improperly, after all these years.
Still throwing errors.
Unsubscribing, now. cya…
Except when the creators, who have nothing to lose, give us a story which completely contradicts your own. Sometimes what looks like a “duck” is a platypus…
And? Skeletor has a staff with a Ram’s head in the original series too. What’s your point? What’s the significance?
Well, don’t you think it would be worth confirming the name as a first step before we even consider its origin and relevance?
When talking about the “remake”, do you mean The New Adventures of He-Man? If so, I’ve just watched the first episode and I didn’t hear any such town. Or are you thinking of the 2002? You realize that each incarnation of Skeletor has had an almost utterly different backstory, right?
Even if that was the name, why is it “uncanny” that in this re-imagination of Skeletor that they would use the name of a Turkish town? Just because it was a town visited by St. Paul? That’s not exactly uncanny…
It’s not that they were trying to reproduce Star Wars, but reproduce the success Star Wars had with their toy line. From Wikipedia:
In 1976, Mattel’s CEO Ray Wagner declined a deal to produce a toyline of action figures based on the characters from the George Lucas film Star Wars, due to the $750,000 license required up front. Following the commercial success of the original Star Wars trilogy and its related merchandise during the next few years, Mattel launched several successful competing toylines which captured the public’s imagination and significantly influenced the toy market.
This is basically saying that our stories follow rough outline of the hero’s journey, which isn’t even in question. The issue is that you’re ignoring what the creators of the show said about their own inspiration and goals…and instead trying to take seriously a post which was written as satire.
As a child this cartoon struck deep interest as to many others. I didnt realize the revalance it has to biblical and to past and present events, very fascinating. To me its a wake up call to realzing not all media was toxic. Its just knowing what is good and bad for ourselves. I’ve realized this was posted as a April fools joke, with good research. Sxcuse me if this dont come out right though jokess on Satan. God bless you all in these times and I pray you realize whom the true king is. We are in the 5th trump, learning the truth. Im still learning myself. God bless you all.
Whether or not this was intended to be an April Fool’s joke, this was an interesting article. It was certainly different to other Christian critiques of the Masters of the Universe toy line and cartoon series. One I recall was found in a book called Terror in the Toy Box. This associated Masters of the Universe with black magic and the occult.
Yeah, I came across that too. Some Christians, man…
In the teachings that came out of Vatican II and the post-council evangelization, we know that the Spirit places ‘seeds’ within culture in order to guide people towards Christ. This is often interpreted by people who claim that you can find elements of Christian truth in other religions or philosophies outside the church (eg. Islam, Hinduism, Confucius, etc.)
However, I see no reason why you can’t apply the same concept towards modern popular culture. The Spirit could be placing seeds within the stuff being put on tv or within movies today, even without the creators necessarily knowing what they are doing.
I know that the author meant this as a joke, but it is actually quite insightful. I wouldn’t assume that these connections are entirely imaginary.
(also: there is a character in the Bible called Heman, he is one of the chief singers that David appoints to sing and praise the Lord in the temple)
Watch revelation – this is allegory is quite clear
Herman represents Christianity
Skeletor Islam (the longtime”horde” leader
The old ways have now given way to the new religion- the worship of technology
Or has the show calls it the motherboard
You realize that this is an April Fools post, yes?