Author's note: This is my own personal retelling of the Masters of the Universe story, utilizing elements of all official continuities combined with my own ideas. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe are the property of Mattel, Inc. This story and all original characters within are the property of the author.

Encyclopedia of Eternia

SECTION 1: HISTORY

Chapter 1: The First Civilizations of Eternia

The battle between good and evil is almost as old as the universe itself. As soon as the prime consciousness of the universe created matter, the presence of matter evoked the essence of otherness. Out of otherness was born fear, and out of fear was born the battle for domination. Out of the battle for domination was born the notions of right and wrong. And thus began the timeless conflict between good and evil.

As evolution spread throughout the planet that would come to be known as Eternia, intelligent life developed, and human civilization was born. In the early days of humanity, Eternia was populated by tribes. Numerous groups of different peoples and races were established throughout Eternia, each carrying their own myths, fables and legends, each worshipping their own Gods and Goddesses. Many of the tribes were nomadic, and traveled from area to area, spreading over the whole planet. Other tribes chose to settle permanently in single areas, and the first villages and settlements were built.

The oldest Eternian legend of the battles between Good and Evil is that of The Goddess, and her enemy, the great God Serpos. The Goddess was a beautiful, green-skinned woman, her torso covered by red cobra armor, carrying a staff in the shape of a cobra. She represented tranquility between humanity and nature, the balance between the humans, the animals, and the environment. She was the ultimate symbol of peace and unity. Her enemy, Serpos, manifested in the form of a demonic, three-headed snake, his sharp fangs dripping with blood. Serpos represented everything that was vile and savage about the spirit. He was the essence of hatred, destruction, greed and debauchery, the mindless savagery that struggled to overcome the sanctity of nature. Although Serpos possessed incredible power, and was easily capable of seducing ordinary humans into his evil ways, the Goddess had the greater power, for she had the forces of love and harmony within her being. Thus, no matter how severe the evil acts of Serpos, the love of the Goddess would always overcome him. While many Gods and Goddesses were worshipped by the tribes of Prehistoric Eternia, The Goddess herself was the definitive deity, the most powerful and most highly worshipped of all deities of the universe.

After several centuries of evolution, a group of traveling thinkers from a multitude of different tribes congregated together with the intention of developing a full and clear understanding of the world around them and beyond. By eliminating the essence of otherness from their perception, and viewing the universe as a single entity, they believed they could eradicate altogether the temptation of fear, and thus the desire for war and conflict, enabling the universe to live in ultimate harmony. Such an understanding of Nature and the Gods would enable them to stabilize a permanent balance within their world, and possibly even spread this balance throughout the entire universe.

Together, within their base, a small wooden hut atop a rocky precipice, they established themselves as The Council of the Wise, and began their great metaphysical exploration of their world, which they named Eternia, meaning 'world that will last for eternity'. The Council of the Wise was comprised of many great magicians, sorceresses, philosophers, scientists and astronomers, who had all spent many years practising their arts in order to enhance their understanding of nature. The magicians, sorcerers and sorceresses developed the skills of magic to control the forces of nature for its own good, and to see into realms beyond their immediate surroundings. The scientists, meanwhile, focused their studies on the material world, to develop a full understanding of the essence of matter. The astronomers fixed their focus on the skies above, and studied the stars to understand that which lay beyond the world they inhabited. The philosophers took into account the discoveries of all the others, and developed great wisdom about the workings of the universe, through their analysis of the Council's findings. The studies of the Council led them to conclude that magic and science should work in harmony to ensure the balance of nature, and the sanctity of all living creatures.

Following their discoveries, the humble dwelling of the Council's wooden hut was to become the center of all great knowledge and power within Eternia. The Council embarked on a mission to spread the word of their findings throughout the whole of the planet. Individual members of the Council would travel throughout Eternia, utilizing their incredible power, and spreading their philosophy of peace and the workings of nature throughout all the many tribes that populated the planet. The wise Elders soon became the most respected people on the planet, but insisted that despite their power and knowledge they must be regarded as ordinary people like the rest- superiority was a mere illusion, and the essence of nature lay in equality and harmony between all living beings- no matter how weak or powerful they may initially seem, all beings were equally blessed with the power of universal divinity.

Eternia soon became a world of great peace and harmony. Men and women, different races, magic and science, humans and animals, all lived in balance. Amongst the majority of the tribes, there was no such thing as prejudice or discrimination. Everybody respected one another, and wars and conflict were infrequent.

However, there were threats to the balance of nature, and these threats eventually began to grow in severity. There were some tribes and sorcerers on Eternia who refused to accept the philosophy of the Council of the Wise, and refuted the notion that all living beings were created equally. In their mind, living in the material world necessitated the need for hierarchy in order to ensure the survival of the fittest in the struggle for power. These groups dedicated their worship to the Gods and Goddesses of darkness, those who advocated brute force in the quest for survival. Together, the dark tribes of Eternia gathered into a single traveling community dedicated to overcoming the widespread beliefs of The Council of the Wise. As they relished the night as their time of action, and took shelter during the daylight hours, they became known as The Nocturnals.

The leader of the Nocturnals was a strange being known as Lord Masque. His origins were unknown, but he seemed to be more of a dark shadow than a man, his metaphysical form concentrated within a shell of armor, his conscience concentrated into physical form by the metal mask which covered the cowl serving as his head. Legend has it that Lord Masque was himself a spirit of evil, banished from the physical realms by the Goddess centuries ago, who had somehow managed to achieve a return to the physical realm by concentrating his power into this mysterious mask. Lord Masque worshipped the Goddess Shokoti, to whom he referred as his 'Mistress'. Shokoti was the Goddess of Destruction, her semi-reptilian form leading some tribes to believe she was an offspring of the God Serpos. Lord Masque's exact connection to Shokoti was unknown, but his referral to her as 'Mistress' evoked the belief in many that he was a former servant or possibly apprentice of the great Shokoti.

On the deepest reaches of the Sands of Time, Eternia's widest stretch of desert, Lord Masque erected a huge, solid stone temple as a monument to Shokoti. The temple was constructed with the desire to bring forth the goddess Shokoti to the physical realm of Eternia to bring about the destruction of the system of harmony, and The Council of the Wise themselves.

A great ritual was held on the Sands of Time to call forth Shokoti. The Nocturnals gathered together, utilizing their magic to summon forth the great Goddess of Destruction. Within the temple, Shokoti finally manifested, in her traditional form of a blue-skinned, half-reptilian woman with long, flowing black hair. With Lord Masque as her prime messenger, Shokoti set about making her presence known throughout Eternia, by working her evil magic across the planet, spreading darkness and fear throughout the world. By utilizing the power of fear, she evoked numerous tribes across Eternia to succumb to her will and pledge their loyalty. She thus became known as The Living Darkness.

As more and more of Eternia's peaceful tribes were consumed by Shokoti's corruption and hierarchy, the Council of the Wise, concerned by this increasing threat to Eternia's sanctity, elected their strongest warrior, the philosopher Zodac, to restore the balance of Eternia. Zodac was a man of incredible strength and power, and he used his great abilities to traverse across Eternia, defending tribes and settlements from the onslaught of Shokoti, Lord Masque and The Nocturnals. He quickly realized through his battles that the power of Shokoti was the power of fear. The tribes of Eternia were succumbing to Shokoti because of one major element- they feared her, and were thus led into following her regardless of whether or not they agreed with what she stood for. Zodac, therefore, encouraged the tribes of Eternia to act in spite of their fear, and rebel against Shokoti's evil regardless of the possible consequences. The tribes began to follow Zodac's orders, confronting their fears and rising up against Shokoti and the Nocturnals, with their magic and strength. They were able to disarm Shokoti and her forces by showing no fear, and as more and more tribes rebelled against her, Zodac and the Council were able to use their powers to seal Shokoti within her temple permanently. The temple was then sunk into the ground, and Lord Masque was also overpowered by the Council's magic, imprisoned in a hidden cell on the Sands of Time.

Following the defeat of Shokoti, many ordinary Eternians increased their faith in the Council of the Wise, and began to flock to their wooden hut to pledge their loyalty, confess their crimes and achieve redemption. Zodac was hailed throughout Eternia as a great being of divinity. For several decades, the evil forces of Eternia caused no major harm to the planet's tranquility. The war with Shokoti had positively expanded the consciousness of the Eternians to a large extent- for they now understood the power of fear, and how it was necessary to travel through the dark side to fully embrace the light.

But although Shokoti and Lord Masque had been defeated, The Nocturnals as a group were still very much intact, and escaped justice at the hands of the Council, fleeing to a remote, uninhabited continent on Eternia's Western side. Concentrating their powers of darkness together, they called forth the spirits of darkness to congregate on this single continent, forming a mass of black clouds which completely blocked out the sun. The barren continent was plunged into eternal darkness, and became known as the Black Continent.

Through their contact with the spirits of evil, The Nocturnals were provided with the ability to travel beyond the world of Eternia, through the emergence of a gateway to another galaxy- a galaxy which revolved around a small sun with the dimmest light. The worlds of this galaxy were dark, cold and deadly. On one of these worlds, populated by ferocious demons and repulsive deadly species, members of The Nocturnals began to develop a civilization of their own. In unison with the spirits of evil, they spread their magic across the planet and turned this world into an exact polar opposite of Eternia, where peace and tranquility were nonexistent, and fear and destruction reigned supreme. They named this planet Infinita. The power that The Nocturnals gained from Infinita proved a strong advantage for them- for they were now able to concentrate their energy towards unleashing the most dreaded demonic entity of all. This entity was none other than the legendary God Serpos.