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

Figure Sculpt

Bio

Mortally wounded in a battle with his half-brother, Captain Randor™, Keldor™ turned to his dark-arts master Hordak® to save his life. Merging Keldor with the extra-dimensional being Demo-Man™ from Despondos™, Keldor was forever changed into Skeletor, Overlord of Evil! He gathered together many of Eternia’s greatest outcasts and evil warriors in his quest to gain entry into Castle Grayskull and obtain what he believed to be the universe’s ultimate power source.

MOTU Classics Canon

Establishing yet another origin for Skeletor, the Classics canon blended elements from previous media with new concepts. Prince Keldor was the son of King Miro, half brother of Prince Randor, and rightful heir to the throne of Eternia, despite his controversial half-Gar and half-human heritage. The brothers completed a successful campaign during the Great Unrest, but a vengeful Count Marzo banished Miro to Despondos, leaving Eternia without a king. The citizens of Eternia, influenced by an outside force and long-held racism, would not accept the half-Gar prince as their ruler. When Randor found Keldor standing over the murdered form of Randor’s mother, the queen, and professing it had been an accident, he banished his brother from Eternos.

An outcast, Keldor wandered Eternia, dwelling on his brother’s betrayal and the loss of his birthright. He acquired a double-bladed sword that could be split in two and used with one half in each hand. Drawn by a supernatural force, Keldor discovered Hordak’s ancient temple, where the spirit of Hordak appeared and offered to teach him the dark arts. Although Hordak sent him to obtain the Havoc Staff from the Faceless One, Keldor decided its power made him strong enough to leave Hordak’s service and shape his own destiny. Keldor and Evil-Lyn, the Faceless One’s adult daughter, met, fell in love, and were secretly married.

After being mortally wounded in combat against his brother, Keldor was taken by Beast Man and Evil-Lyn back to Hordak’s temple. Created by the Spirit of Hordak, Skeletor was born out of a merging of the wounded Prince Keldor and a chaotic demon from Despondos, Demo-Man. Assuming control of Keldor’s army, Skeletor sought the throne of Eternia. The transformation obliterated Keldor’s love for Evil-Lyn, which earned him her ire, although she still chose to remain with him.

Over many years, Skeletor fought to conquer Eternia and obtain the Power of Grayskull. He fought in the First and Second Ultimate Battlegrounds and successfully acquired the throne for a time, framing He-Man for the murder of King Randor.

During the Second Ultimate Battleground, Skeletor used a spell to drain Hordak’s essence. With his life fading away, Hordak dealt a near-fatal blow to Skeletor, forcing him to absorb the Techno-Organic Virus from the Bionatops and transform into a cyborg infused with Hordak’s power. He left the planet to command the Space Mutants, intent on conquering the Horde Empire and the whole of the universe.

Skeletor spent five years battling He-Man, She-Ra, and the Galactic Protectors until the devastating Battle of Fetra IV forced him to join forces with them against Horde Prime. During the battle, He-Man and Skeletor were transported by the Key Controller to Trolla. There, they fought what they believed was their final battle at the Temple of Power. Calling on the Power of Grayskull, He-Man at last broke the spell that had kept Skeletor alive, splitting him into the separate individuals of Keldor and Demo-Man. Before dying, Keldor wished his nephew well.

Later, a mindless Skeletor was resurrected by the Cosmic Enforcers and the Horde warrior-queen, Despara, using a mysterious staff. When He-Man informed Despara that Skeletor had killed Hordak, the man she believed to be her father, she decapitated the zombified Skeletor. Skeletor would appear on Eternia again when the Unnamed One, during the Third Ultimate Battleground, used a spell to summon the greatest villains of all time to fight at his side.

After Despara decapitated Skeletor’s zombified body, it was taken by Skelcons who placed it in a temple. An obsessed Skeleteen convinced Evil-Lyn and Beast Man to help him find Skeletor’s remains. They eventually brought his corpse to the cave where Keldor’s mother, Saryn, died. There, they used the Havoc Staff and Saryn’s enchanted blood to resurrect the villain. This unnatural act triggered a magical anomaly called the Reawakening, which brought many deceased heroes and villains back to life. Restored to his original state, Keldor feigned remorse for past misdeeds and orchestrated the mystical rebirth of Castle Grayskull. Keldor attempted to seize Grayskull’s magic, but was defeated by King He-Man. Ruing his loss and craving the power he once possessed, Keldor willingly used profane magic to transform himself back into Skeletor.

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.