Power Sword
The Power Sword, also referred to as the Sword of Power or the Sword of Grayskull, is a fictional sword from Mattel's Masters of the Universe toy line. In the original mini-comics produced with the toyline in 1981, the Power Sword was a mystical object split into two parts, which Skeletor tries to obtain and put together in order to gain control over Castle Grayskull. In these early stories, He-Man uses an axe and a shield, rather than the magical sword.
| Power Sword | |
|---|---|
| Masters of the Universe element | |
| First appearance | He-Man and the Power Sword (1982) |
| Created by | Mattel, Filmation |
| Genre | Minicomics, Animated television series |
| In-universe information | |
| Type | Magical sword |
| Owners | He-Man |
| Function | Transforms Prince Adam into He-Man and Cringer into Battle Cat |
| Traits and abilities | Able to cut through various substances, endows its wielder with vast cosmic powers |
With the arrival of the 1983 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe animated series, the Power Sword became the means by which Prince Adam transforms into He-Man, and his pet tiger Cringer into Battle Cat. The weapon kept the same basic shape during most of the 1980s, but then it was radically redesigned twice: for the 1990 series The New Adventures of He-Man, and the 2002 remake, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
In addition to the action-figure-sized Power Sword packaged with the character, full-size "He-Man Power Swords" were a favorite Christmas gift for decades, allowing children to role-play the barbarian hero. Some of these kid-sized Power Swords have been electronic, making a variety of battle sounds. Power Swords have also been sold as accessories for He-Man Halloween costumes. In the unsuccessful 1989 relaunch of the toy line, the electronic Power Sword reportedly sold better than the entire rest of the toy line put together.