Scott Toy Guru Neitlich from Spector Creative dives deep into the origin of the "green" Goddess from He Man and the Masters of the Universe. How is she connected to Teela and He-Ro? Her secret origin revealed!
@Pop-Actor (Rick) Yes, because they spend all their money, getting licensing agreements to make IRL cars like Ferraris and Mercedes as Hot Wheels and making sure Barbie is wearing the latest fashion trends and exclusive Bob Mackie designs
My Dad worked for the USAF in England when MOTU debuted, so before I'd seen a single episode of the TV show, MOTU books were being published in the UK..., books based on the pre-Filmation continuity..., which my brothers and I got to read. First impressions count, so (thanks to those awesome books) I always think of the Sorceress as having a snake motif rather than a bird motif, He-Man's wizard friend is called Gorpo, Greyskull is spelt with an "e", and Skeletor's base is called Point Dread, (at least they are in *my* head!). It's great to see the Goddess established as her own separate character nowadays though. However, I must admit that I was always disappointed by the online ill-treatment that we often receive whenever anyone (sometimes including fellow He-Man fans) realises that we were educated in the UK instead of the US. For me, He-Man & MOTU always stood for positivity and optimism, *not* the opposite. It's a trend that I hope will continue in the future, including all of the *new* He-Man fans too! Another great video, Scott! I'll look forward to another one soon! 💪😊👍
From a lifelong English fan of MOTU and I was 9 when I first saw MOTU and fell in love with it. It’s a great property and I love all the MOTU stuff. I do have a soft spot for the UK comics and books - even now appearing in new media like Skeletor’s beak skull faced minions.
P.S. I also agree with your perspective on the new series. The brand HAS always been about change and has always represented an organically derived multiverse as a result. And thank you for saying so... Personally, like the guys over at the Vaults of Grayskull website, I'll always be fondest of the potential for storytelling that the original "Jungle He-man" world presented for with its post-cataclysmic mythological ambiguity, ancient mystery, and archetypal ethos and I think that world still has a lot of potential for development if geared to the right sword and sorcery audience. But as long as it's done well every incarnation has its positives, even these new ones (yes, I love the live-action movie too...), and the target audience IS who each universe is really for. Masters of the Universe(s) forever! WE have the powers...
I really love how Mattel is getting those Lords of Power and initial comics characters into the 5.5" forma like the vintage toys. There is so much story there, it is possible even to create a new storyline using all the elements of the original. For example, one I created myself,, is that Prince Adam, as part of his training, left to train for a few years in the barbarians village, in his way back he found and helped the Green Godess that gave him armor and weapons to become He-Man. People did not reconize him because he left as a young and fragile boy and returned that pile of muscles and tanned skin. Later, after fighting Skeletor, he united the sword parts into one, freeing Godess' true form, as the Sorceress and gained the ability to switch between prince Adam and He-Man to cover his identity. That way, you can keep all original elements and the newer ones introduced by Filmation into a single, coherent storyline. I really enjoy building this world before sleeping at night :)
I had heard that the Goddess' green color was a mistake by the artist that was corrected by the second series of comics, it doesnt matter though, I love her as a character. I also love the Sharella story as it came out, taking a random drawing on a box and branding her Sharella, It works. Love the Classics story you guys gave her.
Wow! I'm honestly surprised that back in the day this was not a bid towards the "buy all our playsets and toys" mentality. That would be like releasing a red Optimus with an Ultra Magnus trailer and saying it's up to you whether or not he's the leader or the warrior. I thought it was unheard if back then. I am truly shocked by this revelation, but now I know, and knowing is...from another toy line.
Teela has been my favorite MotU-toy as a kid. She still is one of my favorites and very essential to the brand. Glad MotUC released the Green Goddess as a figure in 2009.
Never heard of Sharella before, but seeing the model sheets have me thinking, "This is what I expected from Teela when I first heard about MOTU: Revalation". You know, muscular but still feminine shaped.
@@spectorcreative1872 I do a show called the pizza roll diaries, usually I speak with my fellow film makers on topics of our films. But I'd love to pick your brain if you ever have an hour to streamyards
Thank you for another deeply informative video... in this case on my favorite two characters in the MotU line! Teela captured my heart as a burgeoning young collector in 1982; the golden-haired warrior of the mini-comics will always be my first love. Sharella (though I never knew her name until recently) was always the most mysterious and intriguing personage in the Eternian mythos. I always wanted to learn more about her: What were her origins? Her exact powers? Her connection to the Power Sword, and indeed to Teela herself? Now all of those mysteries have been solved by the fine people in the Classics line, spearheaded by the MotU Master Toymaker himself, whom I like to call "Ro-Scott-O", and I for one am satisfied.
Very cool video. Loved this toy line as a kid, my favorite character being Mer man and being so disappointed that he didn't resemble his mini comic aesthetic
@@spectorcreative1872 Yes, I saw a figure in Walmart recently and had to buy it. Looked like I remember with the yellow gloves and all..lol. Great figure!
Booyah! I've been waiting for this. You gotta love a character who's basically the She-Hulk of MOTU. But you know, all of the early confusion about the two characters of Teela and the Goddess could have been avoided if Mattel simply printed it on the package
I'm not sure I agree with Scott's interpretation. More likely the original Teela packaging was the result of miscommunication/confusion and then the mini comics tried to make sense of it, resulting in now in a new character, the Green Goddess. It's not actually that uncommon in older toylines were the lore is new and still fluid.
The green Goddess was only in the very first minicomic and basically 2 images. Any kids with the DC comics where the Goddess was a regular character and not green if they really cared would assume it was a magic glow or just a different artist. Crayons would be quite familiar to anyone playing with Teela. He-man being a jungle barbarian would be the bigger problem in a couple of years.
If only Kevin Smith had seen this first before writing 'MOTU: Revelations'! this fills in some important blanks about Teela's purpose and origins A great video essay. ;-)
Oddly enough... he does! There's a few videos of a "He-Man bible" floating around that was supposedly made for the early years of the series. Tri-klops, BeastMan and Evil-Lyn share a totally other worldly origin story! I'm guessing you mean "toy design" wise though?
Hey young spectator. I haven’t watched the last 3 weeks. My fhone got smashed the screen. So I’m using my old fhone until I get the new one out of the repair shop. God bless. That a wonderful video
It’s fantastic how much the Sorceress/Goddess/Teela grew in so many ways. All of them great ways too. I used to think that the ‘green goddess’ was just a colouring error. Nearly 40 years on it’s an indelible part of my life now. Such a remarkable character from such a great property.
Lasher is my fave snake man, him and the one with the back switch so his eyes and tongue could pop in&out. I also love Dragster and the blue demon with the Zipline too.
Man I love your videos, so great to get this inside view on things. It's really helpful as a writer to see how the creative process worked in successful IPs.
Most informative. I really like how MOTUC helped flesh out the lore & brought obscure characters to "life" (in plastic form). It'd be interesting if these characters' stories were actually depicted in animated form. It'd be a good idea if Green Goddess always had those "undereye markings", to further differentiate her from Teela. And yes, I hope there's more "snake people" created, which come out in figure form.
Dunno if it's at all related to or inspiring of this, but at that time, Marvel had a while back merged Thor's two love interests, Jane Foster and Sif. In an annual made roughly about the time these comics emerged, Thor saw Jane come back after a long absence of being subsumed within Sif, who had originally sacrificed her life to save Jane's. They were finally separated just before the Walt Simonson run. Maybe wholly separate, but the writers might have known of this situation.
As a kid I never put together that the Tela figure was ment to be two different characters. I even threw away the snake armor because it was never used in the cartoon.
the Pre-Eternia Powers of Greyskull, would make an awesome series. Mattel show get on the ball with that instead of rebooting the "He-Man vs. Skeletor" wars. Plus, telling the stories of past "He-Man" that came after Greyskull and before Adam would be a great change, being a history buff myself.
Thank you again Scott. I knew the lore but didn't realize the blood transfusion that transformed Sharellla into green human/Goddess. Thank you again 👌🏻👍🏻💪🏻
Kevin Smith needed to watch all these videos. And also should've read the MOTU bible. I had got the MOTU bible about 6-7 years ago and I was mind blown. Such a great read.
I have to comment on the beautiful imagery of Teela, Evil Lyn and the Green Goddess used in the video, both official and fan made. Soft, voluptuous and feminine and yet still strong.
Thanks for doing another Green Goddess video. After watching your “Good or Bad- Stratos” video and the goddess came up in that video as well. I thought, can everything MOTU get linked back to her in that first year?
Fun fantasy fact, sharella is named after a character from the Elric saga. She's from an angelic race, but she's deformed in the fact that she has no wings.
Can you do a deep dive into the Princess of Power line? I know you've talked about it a litte but I'd like to know some more about the ladies department working on the line and how they were incorporated into MOTU.
Great video as per usual. This got me thinking of the Green Goddess. You should do a video, like top 20 of who in your opinion are the most powerful heroes and villains. By power, I just don't mean brute strength. But also other abilities like magic. For example, I would porbably place Standor at no.1 due to the bio in Classics. He is above everyone else. I would put both Sorceress and Light Hope above say Evil Lynn and Shadow Weaver. Also I would put peak Skeletor (Not as a God) above peak Hordak and King Hiss. I would put He-Man and She-Ra in a tie, but above Sorceress and King Grayskull and so on.
Hi! Did you ever consider the idea of making (or re-issuing) the Green Goddess classics in glow in the dark plastic? You're doing a good job with these videos. thanks! Bye!
2:50 "They only wanted to tool one of them..." Well, that's true for most MOTU figures. Mattel reused molds whenever they could. Regarding the green skin intending to help differentiate the Goddess from Teela: that undermined the ability for one figure to be two characters and just made things even more confusing. =(
Surprised they didn't use green goddess as an independent character except where her land was concerned, even bringing back the power armor for whoever would fight for her. Maybe together with Darkness Sorceress and Won'Dar as her counterparts to Evil-Lyn / Teela and He-Man / Skeletor, respectively ?
I forget where I saw it, but I read that the overall green look was a coloring error. That she was only supposed to have a green bodysuit? Or was that Man-at-Arms? I can't remember.
I liked DC comic's version of Teela taking on the mantel of Sorceress in the Eternity War series. Where each generation of the Sorceress rotated from Falcon, Snake and Bat themes.
She was actually on four pages of the mini “comic” I’m looking at it now. Again she was only called the Goddess in to of the mini comics “The Magic Steeler” and “The Tale of Teela”, both from series 2. I wish you’d correct that fact in your videos.
As a kid I always thought Teela was the Warrior Goddess and the woman in the mini-comics who had blonde hair was someone else -- The Warrior Woman. I got Teela during wave 1 so did not have the "Tale of Teela" to explain this. But did have the DC Comics and mini comics where Blonde Teela lived. And then there was that mini-comic with Teela with shoulder length brown hair and a yellow tunic -- who I thought was the Warrior Woman. Every wave that came out I was annoyed that there was no Warrior Woman action figure-- then She-Ra came out and I thought she just got changed.
*The Green lady character was called "The Sorceress", NOT the Goddess.* She became known as The Goddess only after her toy was merged with Teela's and her skin colour was changed to the human shade in the mini-comics.
I'm sorry but you're wrong about this. Please find a copy or a scan of the first mini-comic *"He-Man and the Power Sword."* The first time we see the green lady, she is rescued from a monster by He-Man, who calls her "a sorceress" on page 3! She's then called Sorceress again on page 4, 21 and 23. *Nowhere is she ever called "The Goddess."* The person who's called "The warrior-goddess" is Tee-La (her name is spelt this way originally), on page 6, 7, 11 and 12. Teela is still called "The warrior-goddess" in the second mini-comic *"The King of Castle Grayskull".* In the third mini-comic *"Battle in the Clouds"* Teela is just called Teela, but we see evidence that her image has been merged with the Sorceress, as she is wearing the snake head gear. Teela is again called "warrior-goddess" in the fourth mini-comic *"The Vengeance of Skeletor".* In the fifth mini-comic *"He-Man meets Ram Man"* we see the Sorceress again, but this time she is white skinned and looks exactly like Teela, but with the snake head gear. In the sixth mini-comic, *"The Ordeal of Man-E-Faces"* the Sorceress appears again in this form, but it's confusing because Man-E-Faces calls her "The Goddess", on the last page. It's in the ninth mini-comic *"The Tale of Teela"* that we really see the Sorceress referred to as "The Goddess", and she is also called Teela! (Very confusing). Skeletor talks about how he created a duplicate of the Goddess, and this duplicate would be the original Teela's origin story. The original Sorceress is called "The Goddess" and Teela is always called just "Teela" from then onwards. Also, you mention "in the development material"... I have an image of the original sales pitch for Lords of Power. She is quite clearly called "Sorceress (Cobra)", and under her is listed "Tee-La - beautiful warrior goddess." The Sorceress was originally going to be a villain, but gradually her character and toy were merged with Teela's. It was originally Tee-La, not the Sorceress who was called "The Goddess". Here is a link to the sales pitch, taken from one of your own videos. - ibb.co/GtJShQV Please consider all this evidence and correct your errors about the details of this subject. Details matter to the geek community. Thank you.
As a kid, I can say it was very confusing. Green Goddess, Warrior Goddess, Sorceress, Teela.... I don't think I ever put it together that she was supposed to be a two-in-one figure when I was little. I did wonder why there was no Sorceress figure for a while. Also there's a "Green Goddess" salad now at Panera Bread. Kind of have to wonder if the person who came up with that name got it from MOTU. lol
I have a MOTUC Green Goddess that (so far) has managed to stay together. Then again, I don't mess with it much as not to push my luck, just keeping her on display!
@@videofox It happens to everything that is translucent or neon colour plastic. Mostly if you live in a tropical climate or hot places like for example Arizona or something like that. You eventually see the plastic cracking or "melting" which causes it to slowly fall apart. You must keep them somewhere where it is cool & it must never have direct sunlight. It also happens to certain lightsabers from Star Wars, so keep those away from sunlight as well.
Hmm, going right back to the original design concepts for the toys I don't think Teela was ever meant to be two toys in one at all. Rather she was just a female character with a magical staff, a combination of two of Mark Taylor's concepts into one character as it was thought that there wasn't a market for two females in the eight figure initial run of characters fighting for possession of Castle Grayskull. The first Teela toy did not come with a sword, only the twisty snake staff. At that time also Snake Mountain, let alone the Snake Men, was not a thing. The early mini-comics had very little to go on with who these characters were, what powers they had, what their world was like, so they just started making stuff up, and in time it developed via numerous routes and revisions into the He-Man universe. During this process the character of Teela ended up being accidentally split into two characters, perhaps over confusion of concept art or pics for the character with the snake armor on and off.
Wow thanks for clearing that up. Growing up I'd always wondered why she was wearing that snake gear. I never put it on when i played with her and the staff I would use with my Sorceress. I always used a sword and shield with Teela. I don't remember where the sword came from. I watched every episode, but couldn't figure out why she was in the snake suite.
Green Goddess > the Sorceress..... I cannot believe they actually thought kinds would know that figure was supposed to be 2 in 1. I never heard that before.
The Golden books usually had Teela the warrior wearing the snake costume so there was no need to switch until Filmation became the standard. Though probably once it was off it stayed off in actual play. Kids of 1982 would know Teela was a clone of the Goddess. It was confusing since DC minicomics had the goddess and Golden Books just had the Warrior but looking identical.
In one comic continuity, Tiela and the goddess are the same character. It's when she becomes the next sorceress like her mother. Only instead of being the avatar of the eagle incarnation of the goddess of eternity like her mother, she became the avatar of her snake incarnation that the snake men worshipped. And in doing so, made all the snake men, save for Hissss aid the eternians against hordak. Only for evil Lin to become the avatar sorceress of the evil bat incarnation that would have been of hordak, but instead served skeletor.
Good timing....I just got my Teela in the mail today, and her arm immediately came off. No worries though, I'm a master fixer:) Anytime I hear "Green Goddess" I think of the salad dressing. By the way.....I'm happy this channel exists. This is one of my only escapes during the day that isn't politics and doom and gloom.
The one thing I don't get is, if Snake Mountain is the lair of the bad guys and the Snake Men are a race of bad guys that threated Eternia in the past, then why does the Green Goddess, a good gal, wear snake themed armor? Wouldn't people on Eternia natural associate snakes with evil? Given her choice in armor - and her green skin - I think I would have made her a member of the Snake Men race, but one who was good (or became good) instead of evil. Perhaps some kind of rival to King Hiss or something and she contributed to the downfall of the Snake Men.
The Sorceress (Green skin) + Teela (The warrior Goddess) = Teela/The Goddess (One toy, two characters). The Sorceress was later recreated as a different character, in the Filmation series, "The Sorceress of Castle Grayskull" aka Teela Na, the mother of Teela. *Scott keeps getting his facts wrong.*
Yes but originally in thé mini comics and in the development material she is called a goddess. Later she was called the sorceress in mini comic 5 and 6
@@spectorcreative1872 I'm sorry but you're wrong about this. Please find a copy or a scan of the first mini-comic *"He-Man and the Power Sword."* The first time we see the green lady, she is rescued from a monster by He-Man, who calls her "a sorceress" on page 3! She's then called Sorceress again on page 4, 21 and 23. *Nowhere is she ever called "The Goddess."* The person who's called "The warrior-goddess" is Tee-La (her name is spelt this way originally), on page 6, 7, 11 and 12. Teela is still called "The warrior-goddess" in the second mini-comic *"The King of Castle Grayskull".* In the third mini-comic *"Battle in the Clouds"* Teela is just called Teela, but we see evidence that her image has been merged with the Sorceress, as she is wearing the snake head gear. Teela is again called "warrior-goddess" in the fourth mini-comic *"The Vengeance of Skeletor".* In the fifth mini-comic *"He-Man meets Ram Man"* we see the Sorceress again, but this time she is white skinned and looks exactly like Teela, but with the snake head gear. In the sixth mini-comic, *"The Ordeal of Man-E-Faces"* the Sorceress appears again in this form, but it's confusing because Man-E-Faces calls her "The Goddess", on the last page. It's in the ninth mini-comic *"The Tale of Teela"* that we really see the Sorceress referred to as "The Goddess", and she is also called Teela! (Very confusing). Skeletor talks about how he created a duplicate of the Goddess, and this duplicate would be the original Teela's origin story. The original Sorceress is called "The Goddess" and Teela is always called just "Teela" from then onwards. Also, you mention "in the development material"... I have an image of the original sales pitch for Lords of Power. She is quite clearly called "Sorceress (Cobra)", and under her is listed "Tee-La - beautiful warrior goddess." The Sorceress was originally going to be a villain, but gradually her character and toy were merged with Teela's. It was originally Tee-La, not the Sorceress who was called "The Goddess". Here is a link to the sales pitch, taken from one of your own videos. - ibb.co/GtJShQV Please consider all this evidence and correct your errors about the details of this subject. Details matter to the geek community. Thank you.
I just watched this video and it was awesome! Funny thing though, I just searched MOTU on Walmart and the Goddess toy is listed as Teela 😅 the product image even has Teela on the packaging there 😂
@@raistlin3462 You are even slave food if you belong to an inferior 3rd generation caste of snakemen, or you are a reptile hybrid. Those who are not of noble blood are slaves.
Hmmm.. That was an interesting history lesson. In case of how her lore was made. It really reminds me of Sidewise from Unicron Trilogy. Originally a mysterioes autobot ninja bike... To later show up as an side-swichting double headmaster, AND a spy of Unicron. To a demention hoping black and orange space jet. Working with Unicron to restore his homeword, Planet X. It is interesting how big of a shift some character go throught. Also, wasn't she used in one comic cover where He-Man charges WITH Snakemen at something? With her in the backroude?
I never knew the Goddess and Sharella connection. I just assumed the Goddess was what she claims to be: a goddess of Eternia. Oddly, i had head-canoned that she was green because of some connection to Moss-Man, but i just assumed they were siblings or cousins (pagan pantheons are often about family connections and squabbles, reflecting human nature back to us).
Good stuff! On the MOTUC cardback bio, the "Real Name: Sharella" was on a sticker overlaid atop the "original" name, K’yrulla. I take it this was a last minute change, but was there a different backstory that went with the K'yrulla name, before the change?
Tbh I kinda thought the green goddess was one of the Snake Men's deities, sort of like Serpos. Ofc I grew up with 200X and didn't know most about the vintage line. or classics for that matter.
Given the snake theme of the goddess, I always wondered if she was liked to the Snakemen. Also wasn’t there an episode of the original cartoon where he-man goes back in time a meets a woman from the snake tribe. Did they have any relationship with the snakemen or the goddess?
Was her clear plastic planned based off anything for classic ver? I can see origins giving us her clear plastic with her helmet in a future delux set you wait.
In the DC comics Teela became the green goddess of the Snake Men representing Serpos after her mother the Sorceress who represents the falcon goddess Zoar for the humans empowered her.
