Furthermore, to sell this toy, Sweet stated that as a powerful figure, it could be applied into any context because the character had the generic name of He-Man. These three prototypes would later go on to become He-Man. Sweet stated that "to sell this ", he glued a Big Jim figure-another Mattel toy line-into a battle action pose, added clay to its body, and had plaster casts made. According to his 2005 book Mastering the Universe: He-Man and the Rise and Fall of a Billion-Dollar Idea, Sweet knew that if he gave the marketing department something it could sell, he had won 90 percent of the battle. In the race to design the next popular action figure, Roger Sweet-a lead designer for Mattel's Preliminary Design Department-realized that simplicity was the key to success. Following the commercial success of the original Star Wars trilogy and its related merchandise, Mattel launched several successful competing toylines which captured the public's imagination and significantly influenced the toy market.
In 1976, Mattel's CEO Ray Wagner declined a deal to produce a toyline of action figures based on the characters from Star Wars, due to the $750,000 license ($3,645,724.96 in 2021 dollars) required up front.
Presenting three different versions of the figure to Mattel-including a soldier and a spaceman-the barbarian version of the character was chosen and developed into the character's current form. The character was created by designer Roger Sweet, who intentionally created the character in such a way for him to be abstract and generic enough to be applied into any context and genre Sweet also chose the name "He-Man" for being generic.
He-Man and his friends attempt to defend the realm of Eternia and the secrets of Castle Grayskull from the evil forces of Skeletor. He-Man is characterized by his superhuman strength and in most variations, is the alter ego of Prince Adam. He-Man is a superhero and the main character of the sword and sorcery Masters of the Universe franchise, which includes a toy line, several animated television series, comic books and a feature film. Love interest/girlfriend: Mara (in The New Adventures of He-Man) Wife: Teela (in the expanded MOTU/POP universe/later becoming queen after becoming the new Sorceress)