Faker action figure from the Masters of the Universe Classics line.

Figure Sculpt

Bio

Originally built by Man-At-Arms® to cover for He-Man® when Prince Adam® is needed, Faker® was abandoned in the royal junkyard after his first mission and salvaged by the evil warrior Tri-Klops®. At the request of Skeletor®, Faker® was reprogrammed to replace He-Man® and convince the people of Eternia® that He-Man® had betrayed King Randor™ and turned to evil.

MOTU Classics Canon

The Classics provided a different backstory for Faker, based on his intended origin for the Masters of the Universe 200x modern series. Originally built by Man-At-Arms to serve as a double for He-Man when the latter was forced to retain his Prince Adam form, Faker was damaged in his first battle and abandoned. Tri-Klops salvaged the robot from the royal junkyard, reprogrammed it, and gave it blue skin upon Skeletor’s orders. Faker was able to trick the inhabitants of Eternia into believing that He-Man was secretly a blue-skinned Gar. Not only did Faker breed distrust for He-Man among the Eternians; he also allowed Skeletor to frame He-Man for King Randor’s apparent murder after Skeletor secretly banished the king to Despondos. Faker’s deception allowed Skeletor to conquer Eternia, drive the Masters of the Universe underground, and dissolve the Royal Guard—an act that helped weaken Eternia before the Horde returned. Faker participated in the Second Ultimate Battleground. In a battle with He-Man over Skeletor’s Invisible Ray, some of He-Man’s essence transferred into Faker, making him self-aware and almost as strong as He-Man. Faker struggled to comprehend the goodness germinating within him, even briefly protecting He-Man’s son, Dare. However, after seemingly sacrificing himself to save Dare from assassins, Faker’s original program reasserted itself, rejecting He-Man’s goodness. Faker was later banished to Anti-Eternia, where he reluc-tantly served Anti-He-Man as a double agent, posing as ally to the heroic Keldor.

The Masters of the Universe Classics line, launched in 2008, is a new line of action figures based on the classic characters from all aspects of the Masters of the Universe franchise. Available solely from Mattel’s website and aimed purely at collectors, the line also includes biographical descriptions of the characters designed to tie the diverging aspects of the mythos together.

Based on the look of the original 1980s MOTU toys, this new toy line was aimed primarily at the adult toy collector market, often available only through subscriptions (from MattyCollector). Sculpted by the Four Horsemen, these toys were updated versions of previous figures as well as characters that never before had an action figure made of them; such as Filmation’s Queen Marlena, Fang-Man, Lizard-Man, Count Marzo, Granamyr, and many others. The toy line featured many redesigned and updated action figures from the original action-figure line from the 1980s, but it also included characters from She-Ra: Princess of Power (Adora, Madame Razz, Scorpia, Shadow Weaver, and others), The New Adventures of He-Man (Mara, Crita, and more), and the Mike Young Productions series from 2002 (Faceless One, Chief Carnivus, King Chooblah, Ceratus, and others). As the line progressed, characters from all versions of MOTU lore were included, from such things such as prototypes and concept art (He-Ro, Eldor, Demo-Man, Gygor, Vykor, and others), box art from vehicles and model kits (Sky High and the Fighting Foe Men), mini comics (the Goddess, Geldor, and Procrustus), and other books, comics, and media (Despara, Strobo, Goat-Man, and more). There were also newly created figures, exclusive to the Classics toy line, such as Draego-Man, Cy-Chop, Castle Grayskullman, and others. In February 2010, the figures of He-Man and Skeletor were available as Toys “R” Us exclusives packed in two-packs with Superman and Lex Luthor, respectively, from Mattel’s DC Universe Classics action figure line; with this dual line expanded to include two-packs featuring Aquaman/Mer-Man, Hawkman/Stratos, Bizarro/Faker, Supergirl/She-Ra, and Green Lantern/Zodac.

Masters of the Universe Classics surpassed the original 1980s toy line in terms of length, running continuously for seven years with more than 150 different figures produced since its launch in August 2008. Along with the Classics series, MOTU Minis and Giants figures were also released in 2014 and 2015. In 2016, Mattel ended production on the MOTU Classics and MattyCollector.com’s Club Grayskull series, with the production company Super7 now taking over the Masters of the Universe license.