Orko's Secret Agent past revealed! Origins and Mysteries of everyone's favorite Trollan He-Man toy 

I never realised Orko was so powerful. I always liked him but now I have even more respect for the little fella. Really interesting video, thanks!

This makes sense to me as i have been bingewatching the Filmation series and I noticed that every now and again when in dire trouble Orko's magic works flawlessly, I chalked it up to his magic being adversely affected on Eternia the same way He Mans powers were affected on his first trip to Trolla he had to say ,"lluksyarG fo rewop eht yB" backwards to transform into He Man.

Great couples Halloween costume.... Orko and She-ra!

Adam & the Sorceress trusted Orko w/ He-Man's secret, that should be enough to speak of his value

There were 2 episodes that made me believe Orko had something going on. The. POP episode with Hordak, and the MOTU episode where Beastman and Trap Jaw capture him and try to make him their servant. He acted like an evil genie...twisting every command/wish they made!!

Man, I never thought about that for Orko. One of the episodes of the 80's series I had on that aforementioned "Secret of the Sword" VHS tape was the one where Orko and He-Man went to Trolla to fight a dragon dude. And I took it for granted that things were just backwards there, because "GRAYSKULL OF POWER THE BY!" But it makes sense that he's really important, as he's one of the three characters that know Adam's secret (four if you count Marlena). But in that episode, he totally brought his people back to life from the brink of death, including his new girlfriend, Dri-Elle (spelling?). In that episode, they "revealed faces" to each other, and I always wondered what they looked like.

I'd love invite Orko to entertain at either my birthday party, my parents anniversary parties, or my Haunted Halloween party... Or better yet why not all.

I loved what you guys did with the Trollans, especially bringing the Unnamed One in. I loved how even though his magic never really worked "properly" on Eternia he still managed to get to work correctly enough to save the day... even after creating a few situations that needed heroics to fix (at least obstensibly). Yet another great vid- I love this take on the character

I always wanted to see more Trollans. Was there a Trollan watching over the sword with the savage Jungle he-man? Did they pull strings over the centuries to fulfill the Prophecy? For all we know, Trollans knocked Marleena's ship off course to make sure Adam was born. I bet they even knew where Adora was all those years that the Sorceress was looking for her, just for their master plan. And I realize just how dark and menacing this can get very fast...

Masters: “what are we gonna do about these snake men?!” Orko: “hold my beer while I commit genocide”

Prince Adam and Orko are two characters I still remember to this day how excited I felt when I finally got the action figures (both from a local Toys R Us). Looked dumb as hell, but compared to having to no figure to include in my home stories, it was everything to a...guess I would've been around 10yo at the time.

This is a really cool backstory/explaination for one of my favorite MOTU characters. It reminds me of the Darth Jar Jar storyline in the Star Wars prequels, where Jar Jar Binks was actually a Sith Lord and responsible for helping Emperor Palpatine rise to power. The fact that all of those hints were hiding in plain sight is a credit to the story tellers. Great video 😎👍

Fun video! Thank you! Fun factoid: "Orko" is also the name of a Basque storm god. Let the fanfic flow . . . .

More than once (in programme) The Sorceress called upon Orko for aid.

I always love Orko, I can't wait to get one from the new movie.

Guess someone forgot to tell the He-Man 2002 crew of this when they did the ep "Lessons" in which Orko visits the Sorceress and asks her to send him home to Trolla.

I always thought that the reason for his mishaps was because when he save Cringer and Adam when they were kids, he lost his magic wand. Every magician I have seen always work with a wand. By the way, I also thought that under his hat he looked like a cat... Oh, well.

That was eye opening, please keep it coming and thank you..!

Thank you for this video, I don't hate Orko anymore. I'm going to have to sit down and read my mini-comic book, and watch the old filmation series again. I've obviously missed some things, I know that they only allude to his powers but I need a refresh.

Oh no Orko is really Rubik the Amazing Cube in disguise! no wonder he is so powerful.

I love that entire explanation. Orko has always been third to He-Man and Battle Cat in popularity with me. As my Classics collection goes, I'm still upset that I haven't picked him up yet. I'm debating buying the Classics version just to get his flying stand so I can make Origins Orko eye level with my Filmation figures

I just thought Orko was comic relief! Nice to know there's more to him!

Since the Filmation series Orko has been my fav character, I've heard so much shit over the years when I have said he is the strongest MotU character, mainly because nobody knows his background. Now if I can get my hands on MotU classics and Origins Orko figs.. Thank you for the video!!!

Huh... Always thought Orko wouldn't use magic well in the 200x series because he lost his magic wand... So, he is kind of like Nibbler from Futurama?

One of my favorite channels. It's always great to see a new video pop up on my notifications.

"One of the most powerful characters." I'm sure we all know who's the strongest. FISTO! Wait hold on thats not right.

A bit like Yoda, he acts silly to test Luke's resolve.

Now this was a very interesting, and informative video. I never knew Orko was so much more than comic relief. I like the Clark Kent comparison.

I just love Orko 💘.

Orko may have been assigned to Prince Adam as an agent, but I am sure he became good friends. Actually Adam puts on a similar innocent act, as Adam. Maybe he learned it from Orko?

So basically Clark Kent Orko has been trollan Man-at-arms the entire time?

in brazil he still calling 'gorpo'! now make sense! great video! 😄

Thank you for doing these videos, I love your insight on the industry. You were always my favorite part of sdcc coverage.

This actually makes a lot of sense, Orko casually summons a major demon lord to Eternia in season one. That is an insane level of ability and he did it completely off hand.

Orko was a beast in the Masters of the Universe vs DC Universe series. Corrupted by Horde Prime and he made Skeletor his lackey. Amazing series and I wish they would do a follow-up and explain all this.

Hey Scott just wanted to say how much I love your channel. Sub'd a little before Christmas and have been here non stop. Caught up on all motu vids and a bunch of whatever pops up from other lines, the industry, your wife's vid (hilarious), mind of adult collectors (1 of my favs). Love hearing about things I may have forgot or never even knew. Orko to me now reminds me of yoda playing himself down to Luke on dagobah lol. I've had a rough life for long time but gonna be celebrating a year sober next month and back doing things I forgot I love like collecting. Your vids are something that make me happy and give me joy in life each day. Wanna say thank you and keep up the great work. You're#1 awesome👍

So that means that Orko bringing a couple of Earth kids to Etheria to spread the spirit of Christmas was a well orchestrated op, and not him wanting to play around in the spy satellite's cockpit.

I always figured he was more of a sleeper agent split personality kept to keep an eye on adam and see if and when he falters but has grown to love the boy who became he-man seeing him grow seeing him learn and when it matters come through in such a way he would die for him if needed

That explains everything. Sorceress bequeaths Adam the Sword of Power created by the Trollans, Man-At-Arms was Adam's mentor, and Orko is there as the secret agent.

I always liked the filmation concept that he was basically the He-man of Trolla, their most powerful hero but then once he arrived on Eternia his powers didn't work so he had to deal with this fall from grace and being seen as somewhat of a joke. There are a lot of interesting stories that could come from that. Like how would He-man cope if he was stuck on a planet without his powers and considered weak yet still has the heart of a hero and wants to help. Though I do also like your story of him being a secret guide sent to watch over Adam. Not so keen on the Trollans being knock off Green Lantern Guardians.

Thanks for this! I really need to rewatch MOTU. Haven't seen it since I was a kid.

The inspiration behind the wonderful Vivi from Final Fantasy 9.

Great to know this stuff man this is been very interesting keep it up! and thanks.

Orko!! (Love Orko) I don't think this universe would work with out him. A true to heart great character.

Kevin Smith should have watched this video or reached out to you for consultation on the Masters of the Universe Revelations.

The blue yoda reveal isn't as bad as the original speculation, but not what I imagined.

I always assumed Trollans look like Rubik the Amazing Cube under the hat.

I've got kind of an off topic question, I'm a little too young to have seen He-Man and the Masters of the Universe ( that and the cult I was raised in wouldn't have approved of it even if we had TV), but it's a question that I'm more than a smidge curious about and I've been wanting to ask but wasn't sure how to go about it. How did you end up working for Mattel and become a brand manger there? One of my dream jobs would be working in that type of field. After escaping the cult at 18 a friend, who was my adopted dad [long gory story], got me into toy collecting a bit (more along the Japanese figure and Gunpla collection spectrum than action figures but the principal is similar). I still collect because of his influence and it's a tangible way to keep his memory alive. I know it's probably a lot of meetings, and long hours but I'm still curious.

I think Orko is more like a "Jason Bourne' if you will. He volunteered to have his memory altered and he doesn't KNOOOOW he's an agent - one of the most powerful sorcerers, and it's only in the direst of circumstances that he'll be "activated" if you will.

The Return Of Evil and the Star Seed episodes also show Orko is more than he seems. Sorceress: “A warning; No mortal may touch the Star Seed without succumbing to its dark side.” Orko not only holds the Star Seed with no temptation, he also gladly hands it over to He-Man. Orko is also the keeper of the Dimension Sphere, as was many of his race.

As odd as it sounds his cover was so good even knowing it I forgot it. Now I'm going to be watching those MoTU episode more closely watching that sneaky little Orko. There were times when his magic worked (A Friend in Need?) & I thought it was female prompting. Thanks for this excellent video to remind all that Orko is a Master!

I'd really like to see them explore this i the Kevin Smith series. Skeletor seems to have the upper hand. He-man is knocked out and Orco ta especially in to stop Skeletor pulling off a killing blow. Skeletor laughs at Orco saying "You think you can stop me you little floating oaf". Orco then calls up some out of this world power up releasing his full potential (lets say he conjures up giant Trollan elder holograms than channel their power into Orco". Skeletor needs a new loincloth lol.

Well this aged well. Revelations finally revealed the full power of Oracle/Orko

Ah, now I understand why he is called Gorpo here in Brazil. Awesome character. Thanks for the video.

Orko is the origin of the jRPG Black Mage design

It makes scence now, orko, is part of the history of the sword of He.

If I recall correctly, Orko is an inept magician because he lost his wand/sceptre when he first met Prince Adam and faced him from the swamp. Of he still had his sceptre, he'd be a lot more competent

In plain sight and we were so blind to it.

you go into Orko's name here a bunch - I've watched a bunch of your videos - there's something I've always wanted to hear a canonical answer on: Is "Duncan" as the name for Man-At-Arms a deliberate reference to Duncan Idaho from DUNE, or just a happy coincidence?

Orko also influenced Black Mage from the first Final Fantasy.

I had the original Orko Figure as a kid, but sadly I need to get him again, always a cool character I thought, especially as a kid. Great Vid as usual Guru!

As a spanish speaker I can confirm, yes, Orco does mean Orc in spanish. Wich was kinda confusing as a kid, but hey, quirks of language

It will be interesting hearing you talk about Gorpo more when you get to that figure. I love the design of him.

Wasn't there an episode where Orko, unknown to the others, sought a magic talisman that would fix his magic powers? He did this without telling others, so it implies it was his belief that his powers don't work.

This video blew my mind I don’t understand why Kevin Smith or Netflix didn’t use you as a consultant

I do wish we could of seen how powerful as Gorpo was.

I remember a couple of episodes where Man at Arms sent Orko to his room as punishment.That always seemed a bit f'ed up given that Orko was an adult

I loved this episode!! I wasn't allowed to watch too much PoP as a youngster, but I've often wondered if Shadow Weaver was the same species. She could be levitating in a long robe, like the Krona figure from the GL movie line. (I did read most of the comments thus far, and see she's a fallen human). Wow, was I disappointed when the face reveal between Orko and Dree Elle didn't give us a good view!!😂😂 Much thanks for this one, sir.

Useless fanfic post , but I like to believe that during king he mans reign , an older orko takes the book of yesterday's back to preternia and lives out his final years as the oracle .

Top ten characters that can make shaggy use more than 50% of his power

If only he could do more magic and wasn't just a comedy heel in the cartoon. That made me sad even as a boy.

Hahaha to this day i never even bothered whats orkos face look like until i watched this lol Love the vid man

Just think about it...Dre-el comes over, tells about the trouble with Dragoon, and he recharges the pyramid and easily transports himself back to Trolla without any issues.

I love hearing you prattle on about all this motu lore from all ends. I wish there was a way to put all of your motu lore videos into some sort of dark horse book. Pretty much telling your classics universe story and every time a character is introduced in the storyline a segment immediately is chunked out to provide an intro/bio section followed by influences and or history of character among the multi-verse that helped sculpt the classics version you created for the brand. I think the Toyguru has earned the right to toss his hat into the ring and team up with Mattel and dark horse to give us a nice 600 page masters of the universe classics complete story from a-z including all bios both made and unreleased to tell what should have been your opus both realized and unfulfilled. Your masters of the universe “lord of the rings”😉 #shutupandtakemymoney

As much as I am not a huge orko fan I did think the idea that his comical ways were all an act to be a good one.it's a lot better then putting on his bio card"he's dumb,he's naive and his magic doesn't work."as pixel dan once said

So in other words Orko is the Merlin of Masters of the Universe.

mind is blown....again.

I'm pretty sure I was the only person in the world who liked the Unnamed/Gorpo figure.

I had some of the early books that appeared over here before we received the cartoon. They say that first impressions count; well, he'll always be *Gorpo* to me. Your mileage may vary!

.......He-man.....this is the way.....

I grew up in Brazil ... there he was called Gorpo. I don’t the think the O was ever called to attention cause later when other Trollans appeared they didn’t have letters on their clothing ... I thought it was sort of a symbol

I love it!! I never knew this and it's delightful to hear. (Wait... is this an April fool a couple of months early?!)

I'm all for this version of Orko. I think its a great idea and I hope they pursue it in the new He-Man shows coming out. I guess his bumbling act got the better of him in the comics though, when he was turned evil and all by accident.

I loved to know that. I've never known. When I was a kid I had his toy. In Brazil he kept named as 'gorpo', I did not know his name was orko to fit with his red blouse, I only thought it was strange.

one thing that always got me was the evil seed ep were the "4" ppl with mighty powers united their powers to defeat es, they were sorceress he-man skeletor (NOT palose) and....orko🤔🤔😳😳🤔🤔🇺🇸🦅🇺🇸

It seems redundant to retcon Orko as someone who bumbles around to cover for his secret identity like Clark Kent when that was exactly what Adam was doing.

Love this video! Love the theory that Orko is a spy and one of the most powerful characters in Motu. Also I just watched an episode of the Filmation He-Man. The episode about the Sun Temple. A character pops up from Orko's world. He looks similar to Orko, but is taller and has white eyes. He also doesn't cover his face and you can see his legs & feet. When Orko meets the character, he recognizes that he is from his world and says where his people are from. It made me wonder what else lives there. Why does Orko and his people cover their faces with magic? (I'm guessing it's magic). Religion or Tradition? Anyways I love talking about and hearing about this stuff. Thanks again for making these great videos.

Imagine if you will Prince Adam is seduced by the power and becomes evil. Then out of nowhere Orko kills him.

I remember he was called Gorpo in the first Masters of the Universe annual in the UK.

Orko as a secret agent? That is the top of all conspiracy theories. I think he has more power, than he can manage. And because he is a playfull mind, he can't really focus on it. And maybe the trollans praised him away to Eternia where his powers are weaker, so he can't do too much harm. What bothers me more: If Orko has legs, then how does he hide his legs? He can't just bend them the whole time, can he?

Mind Blown!!!

As Scrappy-Doo sidekicks go, Orko's definitely one of the more likeable. That said... I don't know if I'm so fond of of the idea that he's a secret agent. I don't want to denigrate the work that went into expanding the universe, but it feels like a bit of a 'side-continuity rationalisation'. Like 'Palpatine was actually preparing the galaxy against the Yuuzan-Vong' (or however you spell it) or 'Spider-Man's powers are mystical, he was chosen by a Spider-Totem entity'. (I guess that's more main-continuity, but still) A trend for everything to be connected and made the result of someone's shadowy agenda. I'm happy for Orko to be an accomplished wizard and long overdue for a "witness my TRUE power!" moment, but sticking with the story that it _was_ an accident that brought him to Eternia, and that planet does mess with his abilities. He just decides to stick around to help (like Adora on Etheria) and tries to get his magic to work properly, for that purpose. But the world don't move to the beat of just one drum, I suppose. The whole thing makes me think of one of the original series episodes I remember best, where Beast-Man and Trapjaw captured Orko to be their personal genie, and he obliges - corrupted wishes and all. That could be taken both ways - either he's tormenting them by using more of his true power to prank them, or he's tormenting them by really trying to follow their commands, knowing it'll go all Man-At-Arms on them.

I never considered him as a secret agent type. I always knew he was super powerful, but always thought other worlds had different wavelengths of magic and affected his connection in some way. He had a medallion in the Filmation series that he lost and wanted it back to properly do magic on Eternia. My thought was he needed a magical item to do his magic at its maximum because he knew it would not function properly out of Trolla. That dose not explain why Dree Elle or Montork was not affected the same way of course, but it may have had something that was exclusive to him being as powerful as he was. But him as a Clark Kent in MOTU, that is interesting.

Ko Orko I always overlooked the hints on the original series (and sadly didn't read the comics). When Classics had Orko as a Secret Agent I had mixed feelings about it. Although it explains how his magic always came through when it was needed. Although taking Your excellent explanation into account. It raises one very disturbing question. Did Orko resease Damar The Demon to keep His cover intact.😨

Orko seems to just play the bumbling wizard trope. Joining the likes of Gandalf, Obi-wan and Yoda. I think it’s an easy place to take it even if most of his actions are just plot convenience. I’d think he’s more like Gandalf than James Bond though. You even had one of the members of his group turn evil. With most things though I think maintaining mystery is better than explaining. There’s always something you don’t know and behind every mystery is another mystery.

He's the Yoda/Jar Jar Binks in the M.O.T.U Universe

It wasn't quite the case in the UK Comics that he only kicked Skeletor's butt in the duel because no-one was looking. In that story his powers were boosted by The Carpet of Chaos and he used abilities of foresight and strategical manipulation to beat Skeletor, by playing on Skeletor's ego and tricking him into using up all the spells on the carpet. And he did so in full view of other heroes including Moss Man, so it wasn't as though he had to conceal his powers to perpetuate a false image of incompetence. (Full review of that story can be found here: www.motuukcomics.co.uk/motu-issue-4 ) There are, however, some parallels between the UK comics' portrayal of the character and that of MOTUC, in that Orko was purposefully sent to Eternia for the sake of mentoring the young Prince Adam as he gained the powers of He-Man, and his giddy and playful nature was to some degree a cover for the fact he was at heart a wise and intelligent magician whose powers were necessary to defend the universe from evil. But it was common knowledge in the UK Comics that Orko was potentially extremely powerful, it was just the case that he was not used to the magic energy field on Eternia and thus had trouble controlling his magic - and this was a genuine problem rather than something he faked; though there were times such as the aforementioned story where his powers were boosted by the carpet, and later issues where he began to get used to Eternia, where he was able to use his magic to full effect.

That's why he's called "Gorpo" in Brazil! 🤔 Good to know...

And Orko's love intrest was Dree Elle, Not She-Ra. Cause Orko proposed to Dree Elle by showing her his face, and she did the same back to him.

So, you think that his claim from the 2002 series that his magic doesn’t work right without his wand was just to help with his cover, and the wand was only a prop?