I guess that this had been asked before, but...

I guess that this had been asked before, but...To which canons do you adhere in MOTU?
And how do you combine them?
Some people start almost from scratch, but some other take stablished canons as background for their stories.
Even when I'm not what anyone would call a fan-fic writer I deal with the different canons as follow:
The Barbarian He-Man of the mini-comics (my first contact with He-Man) is now the King Grayskull.
Adam was young as in the MYP show, then he grew into the Filmation show Adam, where he later found his long lost twin sister Adora as in the Filmation She-Ra series. Then he travelled to the Future as in The New Adventures. Returned as in Emiliano's Santalucia Homecomming. Then Skeletor became the ruler of Eternia as in the 1987 movie (with nothing taking place on Earth). After He-man defeats Skeletor events end up like in the proposed He-Ro Son of He-Man.
I also consider canon the Icons of Evil series from the MVC Comic as origin for TrapJaw, Beastman, Merman and Tri-Clops.
He-Ro (from Powers of Grayskull) is named Gray and is a close relative to King Grayskull.
Zodak to me is the more complicated guy, since he is portrayed so different as the classic toy, the Filmation cartoon and in the MYP show. I like the MYP Zodak, but he's still to me the guy with the gun, and the clawed foot.
The first sorceress was Queen Veena, then Kodak Ungor and later on TeelaNa.
I go with the Captain Miro, Captain Randor/then King Randor story.
Keldor is Randor's half brother.

You can pretty go with which ever one you want. We have a few established cannons now. I myself am going with the classics one and I'm trying to work with it. I myself am kind of going the same route your going with with a few tweaks here and there.

Originally Posted by bskcase

You can pretty go with which ever one you want. We have a few established cannons now. I myself am going with the classics one and I'm trying to work with it. I myself am kind of going the same route your going with with a few tweaks here and there.

Cool man.
Which scripts of yours do you recomend?
I'm interested in reading them.
Thanks for replying

Originally Posted by bskcase

You can pretty go with which ever one you want. We have a few established cannons now. I myself am going with the classics one and I'm trying to work with it. I myself am kind of going the same route your going with with a few tweaks here and there.

This.

Because MOTU isn't like Star Trek or Star Wars, there's no one canon you can work from. You pick and chose from numerous sources to build the universe you want. For me, I have basically three that I've worked in/work in . . .

- Classic Canon, which incorperates the Filmation cartoons, New Adventures, a handful of mini-comics, and the '87 movie. But I also kick some of the old episodes out in favor of my own ideas -- and I cherrypick concepts from the 200x line.

- 200x, which is presented in the "New Legacy" series, uses all of the MVC comics and MYP cartoons as a backdrop.

- "Classics" which is my own combination of all mythos of He-Man.

well I tend to take bits and pieces from the various mythos of MOTU and splice them together along with parts I totally make up to create my own version of MOTU, which you can easily see in the New Vision thread

The fanfics I've actually written tend to incorporate most of the continuity, centered around the Filmation cartoons and the later MotU minicomics, but raiding the DC comics and the movie for details, and incorporating the New Adventures as a future timeline negated by later interference. Some details, though, I ignored, missed, or was unaware of (Scare Glow's true nature and He-Ro's background are the best examples of the last), and don't feel too many regrets about that.

I've ocassionally considered doing stories that would start just after the end of the Filmation He-Man series, and dramatically reimagining the Horde, She-Ra, the Snake Men, He-Ro and the New Adventures.

Thanks Guys for sharing your concepts!

When do most of you place He-Ro's time? Before or after King Grayskull, if anyone take King Grayskull or He-Ro into consieration (of course).
Green Goddess? First Zodak appeareance?
I'm just wondering about it

In my MOTU timelines I place He-Ro after King Greyskull.

Grayskull after He-Ro for me, named after the castle, because He-Ro is Gray and the castle is his tomb.

I have my own verse, based mostly off of Filmation, some mini-comics and the golden books. It's been updated with a few elements from 200x, NA and Motuc as I find things that clarify or add to what I already have.

I second reading Wolf's fic if you haven't. It's really entertaining.

Originally Posted by Machinitess

Grayskull after He-Ro for me, named after the castle, because He-Ro is Gray and the castle is his tomb.

Originally Posted by Brimstone

In my MOTU timelines I place He-Ro after King Greyskull.

I coincide with Brimstone on this subject.
King Grayskull fought some snakemen before Hordak, but didn't send them to the void. But someone did (it was mentioned that Zodak did), but the archnemesis of the snakemen to me was He-Ro. And to me Grayskull had the sword of power, and He-Ro the sword of protection, and I wanted He-Man's legacy to precede She-Ra's, on that aspect, 'cause I'm linking He-Ro to She-Ra.
What I'm undecided is if Gray was King Grayskull's son or nephew. I should start a poll on this

Originally Posted by Mercury

I coincide with Brimstone on this subject.
King Grayskull fought some snakemen before Hordak, but didn't send them to the void. But someone did (it was mentioned that Zodak did), but the archnemesis of the snakemen to me was He-Ro. And to me Grayskull had the sword of power, and He-Ro the sword of protection, and I wanted He-Man's legacy to precede She-Ra's, on that aspect, 'cause I'm linking He-Ro to She-Ra.
What I'm undecided is if Gray was King Grayskull's son or nephew. I should start a poll on this :

Do it however you wish As a guy who usually stays on top of all the fan-fics (I've been slacking lately) I can tell you the best stuff is people's personal spins that they put on the characters. I really enjoy seeing different people's interpretations of the characters and any time you want to stray from the original cannon you should. That's what will set your story apart from the rest.

Looking forward to reading your's and the others I've been missing.

Well, mine are usually affectionate parody when I have the time to do them at all any more. Generally, I will use anything from any time line if I think it is funny enough. For example, I once wrote a story where Skeletor's mom showed up, angry that he was telling people "that prince Keldor rubbish" because his real dad (a used battle-cat salesman) was not good enough for him.

I don't think I ever wrote anything that touched on the King Grayskull/He-Ro debate though. Maybe I should.

Originally Posted by Dice

Do it however you wish As a guy who usually stays on top of all the fan-fics (I've been slacking lately) I can tell you the best stuff is people's personal spins that they put on the characters. I really enjoy seeing different people's interpretations of the characters and any time you want to stray from the original cannon you should. That's what will set your story apart from the rest.

You couldn't be more right about it. To me that's what fan-fic is about, but you have to anchor somewhere to make them recognizable, otherwise it becomes another different thing. A decade ago I wrote a fan-fic that I devised almost from scratch, but it ended up so different from MOTU that with just character names change it became another universe unrelated to MOTU.
I personally just take background settings and one or another story from the canons I mention. Thinking about it thouroughly the word "canon" may not be really apropiate for what I intend to ask in this thread, for canon sounds like irrefutable, indisputable and almost sacred ...and I don't take it that way.

Originally Posted by Dave-Man

Well, mine are usually affectionate parody when I have the time to do them at all any more. Generally, I will use anything from any time line if I think it is funny enough. For example, I once wrote a story where Skeletor's mom showed up, angry that he was telling people "that prince Keldor rubbish" because his real dad (a used battle-cat salesman) was not good enough for him.

That is funny man. I love comedy.

Originally Posted by Dave-Man

I don't think I ever wrote anything that touched on the King Grayskull/He-Ro debate though. Maybe I should.

That debate should be very funny

Thank you for sharing your thoughts

As you know the canon for my stories take a bit from everything from the comics classic and new to the cartoons and add a lot of my own ideas or ideas I've discussed with friends.
At the end of the day a fan-fic is just that, a fan-fic, so there are no hard and fast rules for how your canon for storylines should go. You are writing for fun and that is the way it should be.

Originally Posted by Brimstone

As you know the canon for my stories take a bit from everything from the comics classic and new to the cartoons and add a lot of my own ideas or ideas I've discussed with friends.
At the end of the day a fan-fic is just that, a fan-fic, so there are no hard and fast rules for how your canon for storylines should go. You are writing for fun and that is the way it should be.

...and your stories are very cool. Eternia: The Dark Years Rule!!!!

Thanks Brimstone for your thoughts on this.

You're welcome. More updates for Eternia: The Dark Years are coming I promise (I've got tons of ideas coming) At the moment I'm working on the first chapter of a MOTU/Aliens fic.

BTW: Which of you guys take Horde Prime as the Horde Leader? Which of you discard him at all?
I have mixed feelings on this subject and I'm still undecided.

I go with Horde Prime as the leader of the Horde, Horde Prime would be seen as a title only as there will have been many Horde Prime's over time. (At least in my timelines)

What about Zodac/Zodak? The clawed feet or not? Cosmic enforcer? Evil Henchman? Tattooed dude? Dark skin or White skin?
Please post how do you prefer this guy.

In my MOTU, Zodac is a cosmic enforcer that is given his powers by his suit. However, when he begins to act too partially towards either good or evil, the suit seeks another being with the opposite disposition to kill off the wearer and bond to them.

First Zodac (evil)- "4H Prototype" version, conspiring Alien elder.
Second Zodac (good)- "Filmation" version, Teela's father.
Third Zodac (evil)- "Vintage Toy" version, shark-like warlord (hence the weird fins and feet).
Fourth Zodak (good)- "200X" version, the first Zodac to overcome the suit and remain a force for good.

Originally Posted by Inhibitor

In my MOTU, Zodac is a cosmic enforcer that is given his powers by his suit. However, when he begins to act too partially towards either good or evil, the suit seeks another being with the opposite disposition to kill off the wearer and bond to them.

First Zodac (evil)- "4H Prototype" version, conspiring Alien elder.
Second Zodac (good)- "Filmation" version, Teela's father.
Third Zodac (evil)- "Vintage Toy" version, shark-like warlord (hence the weird fins and feet).
Fourth Zodak (good)- "200X" version, the first Zodac to overcome the suit and remain a force for good.

Very Cool dude!!!
I like a lot both the Teela's father version and the shark-like warlord.

I guess I could answer this even though I'm yet to post anything on the fan fiction forum. I've posted some tasters in my fan art thread and I've got something like 20+ pages worth of fiction from lengthy bios to history and unfinished stories with dialogue. I'm just terribly conscious about the fact that my English may be clunky or messed up because it's not my native language and besides grammar and spelling I can get meanings of words and idioms wrong without noticing it. Any beta reader candidates?

Anyway, canon. I've spun my own mythology largely around the basic setup of the first pre-filmation minicomics. On top of this I've piled ideas and inspirations from the different existing canons. I started putting my MOTUverse together in written form in 2002, before the new cartoon aired, so it's originally mostly based on minicomics and to a lesser degree the Filmation series, but I've also picked up quite a bit from 200X where their ideas converged with or complemented mine. For instance, I had a high priest of the Snake Men without a god to worship until MYP gave us Serpos! Recently I've picked some ideas from the MOTUC bios too, whenever something seems appropriate, but there's a lot less room for change now that I've got most of it figured out.

As a result sometimes things can get a bit interesting. For instance, I don't have Oo-Larr, He-Ro and King Grayskull as separate entities. Instead there is the man called Ro Larr who was trained by Eldor. Ro Larr became the first human to wield the Power Sword and was then known as He-Ro. After the Snake Men were defeated, he ruled from Castle Grayskull and people knew him as the king of Grayskull. King Grayskull is what this title changed to in the mouths of later generations, even though it wasn't his name and Grayskull had existed long before him.

Because of how I set up the Pre-Preternia (the Age of the Ancients) long before I was aware of much else than the Filmation He-Man (but not POP) and the minicomics, my Hordak and Horde are very different to how I imagine most people see them. Hordak is not only the leader and the founder of the Horde, but Horde Prime is a planet, not a person! I've still worked to get Etheria to fit in my MOTUverse in some form.

Zodacs on the other hand I have two of. Originally there was just one enforcer left in my MOTUverse, but MOTUC lead me to think there could be two, so I wrote in Zodac (three-toed enforcer) in addition to Zodak who is largely an amalgam of Filmation and 200X Zodak. Depending on how you look at them, Zodak is either neutral or good while Zodac is either neutral or evil. In other words, Zodak protects Grayskull and Eternia as a whole and would never aid it's destruction, while Zodac might well decide that it serves the balance of things if Eternia is destroyed and billions die. Zodac is pretty scary actually.

I try to do what it appears Toyguru does, and Mattel is now doing, which suits me just fine: I try to combine as many elements (that I like anyway, ) into one cohesive whole story.

So currently I basically follow what seems to be stated or implied by the current MOTUC bios, with me filling in the rest with what I know of other continuities tempered by plotpoints or things that I personally think should remain or stay in focus.

For instance, I like well the idea of King Grayskull & He-Ro fighting side by side. However I fell He-Ro was already an old champion by the time of Grayskull, an elder mentor to Grayskull. They young He-Ro we see in figure form is of his time as Eternia's champion.

I see He-Ro, in a vigorous but more elderly state (not ancient or anything, just fatherly) to a rather young Grayskull, mentoring him as his choice to bear the Sword of He and become the new champion. I see them defeating the Snake men & King Hiss, who He-Ro alone had been fighting for much of his career.

He-Ro dies, passing the sword, but having lived a full and exciting life of heroisim, to the newly crowned King Grayskull. Grayskull goes on to be joined by the elders and his wife. It is Grayskull that fights and ultimately banishes Hordak & the Horde to Despondos (through events as portrayed in the 200x series).

The Elders recieve "the power" and the sword of He. It is split and hidden, the power residing in Grayskull castle and the Green Goddess starts her journey to find protectors and Champions.

There are a succession of He-Men protecting the sword, of which Vikor is first to date fighting Demo-Man & The Fighting foe men. Demo-Man is more or less destroyed to a state of near nonexistance and sent to Despondos.

I see at some point a barbarian saving the Green Goddess and being chosen as a He-Man, named Wun-Dar. Wun-Dar battles the curious and devious Karak Nul, keeping him from the secrets of Grayskull which he desires. Eventually the Goddess and Wun-Dar defeate him ultimatly, transforming him into a base specter and banished to another realm.

There is a race of blue pointy eared humanoids from the dimension of Infinitia, who colonize Eternia in the islands region. They have superior technologie and magical understanding but are very few. These Gar are mistrusted and hated by the native Eternians, who through many different means either drive the Gar back to Infinitia or into reclusive bannishment on their islands. Those sent home to Infinitia have no love for Eternia, and those who stay on Eternia devolve philisophically into corruption, anger, and hate.

Those that stay loose the understanding of their previous powers, save a few, and spread out ultimately becomming almost completely extinct.

It is from these Gar that Keldor's mother comes, and she as a plot to destroy or control the Royal family, seduces in one way or another Miro. She bears and leaves him a son. At some point this son, the eldest son learns some of the legacy that he bears by being a descendant of Grayskull. Perhaps just enough. Knowing he will never gain this honour fairly, he begins his study of lost arts, growing ever increasingly dark and heartless.

Eventually after fighting along side his younger brother Randor to stop Count Marzo, Keldor seperates fully from the family, journeying to learn all that he can, and eventually finding one half of the Sword of He. After many battles, Keldor's failed coup leads him to be irrivocably harmed by his own failure and neccessitating him contacting his master in the dark arts, Hordak. A ritual ensues bonding the dying Keldor to the less than basest ghost of Demo-Man, curing him, but forever changing him into Skeletor.

Adam, true heir of the Sword of He and the legacy of Grayskull learns from the sorceress of Grayskull his destiny, and journies to reclaim that which is his to bear. With one half of the sword, a techno sword of magic and science and a power harness created by joined efforts of the Sorceress & Man-At-Arms, Adam engages and defeats Skeletor, reclaiming the other half of the sword, uniting it, and become He-Man, the most powerful man in the universe.

Threats such as the return of the Snake men, Count Marzo, and the constant threat of Skeletor come and go.

Adam's lost sister, Adora, after many adventures battling Hordak on the planet Etheria in the dimension of Despondos, rejoins her brother and royal family after stability is founded on Etheria, more or less. The Horde however journies to Eternia.

After many battles, with the Princess of Power's allies joining the Eternian champions, it is Skeletor who defeats Hordak, ultimately gaining his power. This Skeletor eventually takes his place as King in the captured castle of Grayskull, realizing his birthright to some extent finally.

As the connection to the New Adventures has yet to be explored in much detail, especially concerning the identity of He-Man at that time, I have not fit it in as such.

Previously I had considered that the occurances of the New Adventures took place between Adora's return to Eternia & Skeletor taking power after the defeat of the Horde.

I believe possibly that it will be a future heir of Grayskull that will battle Skeletor in the plant of Primus.

Ultimately however I believe the "King Skeletor" reigning in Grayskull and Eternian Rebellion will be fought after the New Adventures with He-Man leaving the defense of Eternia in the capable hands of his sister & all his compatriots. I also believe until otherwise that Primus & such are in the current timeline.

The Universe part of Masters of the Universe is recognized by me through the galactic nature of some of these stories. THe Snakemen are a galactic empire that found their way to Eternia through a rift or portal, as did the Horde. So the Denebria/Primus fight is just another story far away and through a rift of time/space. Such rifts are common enough, and easy enough to create. Travel from one plane to the next is crucial for much of these stories.

Some breakdown are as follows.:

The Gar are from Infinitia. Keldor & his mother are from the colonies that have been deserted for years, perhaps millenia. Kronis is from Infinitia. As such there have been slight or minor changes in the race of course, between the Eternian Gar refugees & the original source of the race, creating subtle differences geneticly and greater differences of historical and philisophical identity.

Many of Skeletor's minions are summoned from around the universe, aliens not unique on their homeworld, but notable and "Monsters" on Eternia. Some are of Eternian races and while perhaps having special abilities, training, or enhancements, are known to be Eternian.

Zodac and Ninjor are from the same race, that is not from Infinitia, Eternia, or Despondos.

As for the cosmic enforcers, I see them as not often concerned with Eternia, being an outside influence and almost completely unimportant. Some members have some notable adventures in and around Eternia, but for the most part they concern themselves with the WHOLE Cosmos and so do not focus on one planet, however signifigant, for long, prefering to help those "out there" in space who have no champion of their own to protect them.

He-Ro was one of these at one time but mostly abandond them to focus his attentions on Eternia, discovering Eternia's place as a center of historical and universal importance. Wun-Dar I feel is recruited by them eventually, passing on his duty as a "He-Man" to someone new. Zodac leaves the Elders and rejoins them, never having been Eternian in the first place. Zodak joins them and is Eternian origin, so stays and is the current Cosmic Enforcer for the Eternian space sector.

Eventually I see Adam "Becoming" He-Man with the fullness of time, growing up and into the legacy he has inherited. I see his "end of story" being to rule Eternia alongside his Sorceress, Teela, from the renewed Castle Grayskull, restored to all it's glory creating a peacful world uniting all tribes and nations after all the war. I see Adora exploring the realms with Seahawk, bringing justice and honour to worlds without a champion, but returning to her planet of origin to visit her brother from time to time and visiting and having a home on Etheria.

I like to think there's a happy ending eventually, and though to see it come to pass would mean the end to the stories neccessitating we never see it, I like to know what it would be.

I haven't posted any fanfics on the forums yet, but I am working on them. I'm first trying to get my 'bible' figured out before delving too deeply into stories, but I do have a few started. I am borrowing a lot from the MVC concepts because I absolutely love what they wanted to do with the unbalancing of the universe caused by the destruction of Infinitia in Preternia, with it finally becoming balanced again when Etheria replaces it in He-Man's time. I also love the concept of Nordor being an Ancient that split his essence into two, becoming both Horde Prime and the Unnamed. This made me love Horde Prime, whereas before I despised the notion of him. I also have a cool amalgamation of the two origins of Skeletor (Keldor, and the ancient demon from Infinitia), which involves time travel. But I don't want to spill too many of my ideas

In essence I take what I like from all canons. MVC did a good job so I'm basically borrowing much from them. There's almost nothing new that I like from the MOTUC bios though. I especially despise the notion of multiple He-Men.

For me, all the canons exist separately, and combined. Each “official” canon, with their slight or vast deviations exist parallel to one another, as do all of our fan canons. With so many twists and turns, my canon has been altered over the years, so I think I’m racking up as many as have been put out over the years. However, recently, I’ve streamlined things.

Cosmic/Mystical Enforcers/Warriors: An elite body of individuals, each fulfilling a role in the governing of universal order; different squads for different aspects of life. Though many in number, the ones on our shelves are in the inner circle. I have 10 including He-Ro, and have seen so many awesome ones others have created. Of the official ones…
-Zodac (vintage figure): as much as I want him to be “the” Zodac, he goes with the Miniternia figures, and at least in that era was evil. Whether he changed later depends on my mood.
-Zodac (Filmation): The neutral if not good Cosmic Enforcer. He looks more human, so I might have him be the one from Preternia.
-Zodak (200X): Good.

The Goddesses, Sorceresses, and Teelas: There are two Goddesses, and they are separate from the Sorceresses. While the Goddesses are divine incarnate, the Sorceresses are uber high priestesses.
The Green Goddess: She’s immortal. Her true origins unknown over time.
The Goddess: Tee-la from the first four mini comics. Chosen by the Goddess to ascend, so she could combat the forces of evil with greater power.
Queen Veena: The first Sorceress, born of a magical family. She set up the line of succession. When one is near death, another is chosen.
Sorceress (Kodak Ungor): The one right before Teelana.
Sorceress (Teelana): The woman we saw in the Filmation cartoon. I love the MYP backstory, but it’s not for me.
Teela: Teelana’s natural born daughter; a red head.
Tee’La: Clone of the Goddess Tee-La, created by Skeletor; blond.

If Grayskull and He-Ro hadn’t been made contemporaries, I’d say Grayskull was another descendant, between He-Ro and the twins. However, I’ve now been influenced, so… The Gray Skull clan was all but wiped out during an attack by the Snake Men. Fraternal twins Ro and D’Vann survived, as did their baby brother Tytus. They were brought up by Eldor and Sharella. Ro took to magic, while D’Vann took to fighting.

The spot where Castle Grayskull stands was always known for something… in ancient times, there was a cave containing a mystical pool holding something that fell from the sky. Eldor took Gray here, and they used what fell to create He-Ro’s staff. Gray is chosen as a Cosmic whatever, meanwhile the elders take the Snake Clan’s fortress and make it the Hall of Wisdom. He-Ro returns to Eternia when things get rough. In the battle, the Hall of Wisdom is destroyed, and rebuilt in its place is what is now known as Castle Grayskull. Before the battle, Ro transformed the staff into twin swords for him and his brother to use. When he dies, he forsees Adam and Adora, and tells D’Vann to guard them for his descendants. (It’s also possible they are their reincarnations.)
The he-men are all descendants of the Gray Skull tribe. Not simply protecting the swords, but their bloodline. As Grayskull’s power resided within, they as his descendants protect the specialness they carry within. The prophecy is carried down through the ages, sometimes getting lost. Finally, Miro fathers twins, Randor and Keldor. Keldor always took to magic, while Randor took to military, and finds the prophecy about Ro and D’Vann being reborn as twins in their descent. He believes he and Randor to be these twins. Hordak uses this to his advantage and the rest is history.

As for the Horde, they are an intergalactic fleet. When Hordak attempts yet another return to Eternia (as shown in the mini comics), Horde Prime allows him only a few soldiers. He can take Leech, Mantanna, Grizzlor, Modulock and a few troopers and they have the toy version of The Fright Zone. Remaining at the Etherian Fright Zone are Shadow Weaver, Catra, Scorpia, Entrapta, Octavia, and Double Trouble. (Thus we saw Hordak in the first She-Ra mini comic and the show, but not in further stories, where only female Horde members are running around causing trouble.) The adventures of the shows and minicomics still both happen, but there’s a reason the Horde set up is different.

I also believe there was a She-Ra in the Miniternia canon. We just never got that far. She looks like She-Ra in the original minicomic and may be named He-Ra. She’s the jungle man’s sister who was stolen by warlord Hordak during a raid on their village after he came through a rift caused by the Great Wars that ravaged Eternia. Parallel reality, forgotten part of history, or tall tale told around a campfire, I say it happened.