Characters / She-Ra and the Princesses of Power ⁠— The Horde

aka: She Ra And The Princesses Of Power Shadow Weaver

Main Character Index | The Rebellion (Adora) | The Horde (Catra, Hordak) | Other Groups

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The Horde

An evil, oppressive army that seeks to destroy the Rebellion and rule all of Etheria.

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General

(From left to right)
Top: Shadow Weaver, Catra, and Hordak.
Bottom: Rogelio, Lonnie, Kyle, and Scorpia. Not pictured: Horde Prime.

• Adaptational Nice Guy: In the original 1980s series, the Horde ruthlessly oppressed the Etherians under its dominion, carrying out human rights violations such as slavery and book burning. In the 2018 reboot, the Horde is more of a Hegemonic Empire — more interested in gaining territory or destroying Rebellion strongholds than actively oppressing citizens, and it does not enslave people (unless you count raising orphans as Child Soldiers) or burn books. When the Rebellion liberates Elberon, the moth-people appear healthy, well-fed, and well-clothed and have enough resources to hold a party, suggesting that the Horde did not enslave, starve, or plunder Elberon. However, that’s only true for Hordak’s forces. The main Horde, on the other hand, strikes at unsuspecting worlds, and have destroyed planets.
• Adaptation Name Change: The Evil Horde is simply called The Horde. Somewhat subverted as it seems that while they don't refer to themselves as evil, everyone else does. It's official name is actually The Galactic Horde.
  Bow: Your army is called the Evil Horde.
  Adora: Who calls us that?!
  Bow: [Beat] Everybody!
• Adapted Out: Notable Filmation villains such as Mantenna and Leech never appear. The androids that made up most of the Evil Horde army in the original series are also absent from the reboot.
• Alien Invasion: Although everyone else in the Horde is native to Etheria, its founder Hordak is not, and in fact holds it in contempt as a backwater planet. Hordak came to Etheria through a portal after being sent to die on the front lines by Horde Prime.
• Armies Are Evil: They're the only truly militarized faction on the planet until the Galactic Horde arrives — i.e. the only one to have more than a couple of guards ever shown — and have no distinction between their military, their government, and their civilian life. They're also utterly malevolent and obsessed with subjugating the world to bring it under their control.
• Big Bad Ensemble: With Light Hope for season 4, While the Horde is the Rebellion’s primary foe, Light Hope is a more dangerous threat than the Horde.
• Child Soldiers: Adora and Catra are not the only young people who work for the horde. Going by the sound of most of the masked mooks the mass majority of soldiers are rather young. It's revealed that they don't kill babies, but take them and raise them to be soldiers.
• Demoted to Extra: The villains Octavia and Grizzlor only receive cameo roles, and Grizzlor isn't even mentioned by name.
• The Dictatorship: The Galactic Horde is a totalitarian intergalactic dictatorship ruled with an iron fist by Horde Prime, its founder and emperor and whom all power rests in. Horde Prime maintains his hold with a powerful starfleet, legions of robots, and a Hive Mind of heavily indocrinated clones who are his Praetorian Guard and loyal enforcers of his rule. All subjects are expected to worship Horde Prime like a god and must conform to his way of living. Any who do not are sentenced to being chipped, and can expect overwhelming torture. You'll be really lucky if they decide to kill you first. Entire worlds that step out of line receive overwhelming punishment by means of Earth-Shattering Kaboom.
• Dwindling Party: At least for the Horde on Etheria, which gradually begins to run low on named characters. Over the course of Seasons 1-4, Shadow Weaver is demoted and escapes, Catra exiles Entrapta, Scorpia defects so she can find Entrapta, Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio desert after realizing they aren't respected, and Hordak himself gets mind-wiped and cast aside by Horde Prime in the most unceremonious way possible. Catra seemingly ends up working directly for Horde Prime, although whether she's loyal to him or simply biding her time is unknown as yet, meaning that it's quite possible the highest-ranking member of the Etherian Horde left loyal, alive and on the planet is Octavia of all people. Other characters who are probably still left are the two goons Catra recruited from the Crimson Waste.
  • By Season 5, when the Galactic Horde arrives on Etheria, Hordak is one of many ordinary clone soldiers. Halfway through the season, Catra leaves the Galactic Horde completely. We also find out that Imp deserted after Hordak disappeared in the end of Season 4, meaning that there's almost nobody left from Season 1's villain cast.
• The Empire: The Horde has conquered large swaths of Etheria. It's a backwater branch of an even larger empire that spans galaxies, led by its cruel emperor, Horde Prime, of whom Hordak is a clone.
• Equal-Opportunity Evil: Race, gender, species — it doesn't matter as long as you're useful. Despite generally demonizing princesses, Hordak doesn't even mind a few of them joining his ranks. They even use it as a recruiting strategy, spreading propaganda that the Princesses only accept beautiful, well-adjusted humans and that anyone "different" would be rejected.
• Even Evil Has Standards: They won't kill any babies or young children that they have orphaned. However, they will take them in and raise them as Child Soldiers.
• Evil Learns of Outside Context: Throughout the first four seasons, Hordak was attempting to create a portal to allow him to escape the planet and contact his master, intergalactic conqueror Horde Prime. This trope comes in because Horde Prime had previously believed Hordak dead (he'd sent the guy on a suicide mission) and Etheria was trapped in another dimension. While curious enough to investigate a signal seemingly coming from nowhere, Prime had no idea Etheria even existed (but he’s heard whispers in his conquests) but was quick to deploy his vastly superior forces to add the planet, and the super weapon it housed, to his empire.
• Faceless Goons: Horde troopers wear face-concealing helmets as part of their armor.
• Fascist, but Inefficient:
  • The Horde leadership in Etheria is incompetent, to say the least. Hordak was more focused on his personal projects while he delegated officers to acquire territory, but he chose the wrong people for leadership of his empire. Shadow Weaver was too ambitious and ruthless for her own good, to the point where Catra turns on her. Of course, letting the chronically insubordinate Catra into leadership was a very costly mistake; Catra entrusts the wrong people for the job, such as choosing cadets to handle a delivery, and who are not properly trained to handle situations like a spore storm, or recruiting a criminal shapeshifter who eventually sabotages leadership. Also, Catra mistreats subordinates that it's led to loss of talent, one defection, and three desertions. All this led to their downfall prior to Horde Prime's arrival.
  • Horde Prime's solution to this? Brainwashing and mind control. Horde Prime wasted no time running a background check on Catra, and knew to be careful around her when he finds out about her history of insubordination, and then chips her when the inevitable happens. Without the above administrative problems, what took his brother Hordak years, took only Horde Prime days to reclaim Etheria.
• Future Food Is Artificial:
  • Ration bars are the chief foodstuff available in the Fright Zone, aside from an unidentifiable foodstuff offered to prisoners. When Adora first leaves the Horde, she's amazed when she tastes real food for the first time. When Scorpia defects in Season 4, she's puzzled by the salad that Perfuma prepared for her.
  • However, Scorpia gives Catra a cup of tea in Season 4, and a video captured by Emily shows Scorpia and Entrapta talking about hot cocoa, suggesting that different beverages are available in the Horde.
  • Averted in the Legend of the Fire Princess graphic novel, in which Scorpia finds enough real food to have a picnic with Catra and Entrapta.
• Gaia's Lament: Horde technology is polluting the Fright Zone. In Season 2, the Horde's abuse of the Black Garnet has harmful geological effects on the planet.
• Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: None of the named members of the Horde wears helmets, with the closest thing being Catra's mask. Even Hordak, when he starts leading from the front in Season 4, doesn't top off his powered exoskeleton with any kind of cranial protection.
• Ironic Name: A "horde" usually refers to a large group of barbarian invaders. This Horde is a small, disciplined military organization that is technologically superior to the kingdoms it attacks.
• A Lighter Shade of Black: Unlike the intergalactic Horde, the Etherian Horde allows its soldiers to retain their individuality and free will, and does not inflict the kind of mental violations that Horde Prime inflicts on his clones. Hordak is pleased when his minions take initiative, whereas Horde Prime is furious when he learns that Hordak acted unbidden.
• Lizard Folk: Around half the Horde Troopers are lizard people.
• Magitek: The Horde utilizes the Black Garnet, which Entrapta reveals to be an energy "node" connected to Etheria and the other stones. In Seasons 2 and 3, Entrapta also integrates Horde technology and First Ones technology, which blends elements of technology and magic.
• Mecha-Mooks: The Horde utilizes a variety of robots, from spider tanks to nanotech-based drones.
• No Blood Ties: There are no familial relationships in the Horde, (that is, if you don't count the fact that Hordak is a clone of his progenitor Horde Prime, whom he calls his brother). Before leaving it, Adora didn't even know what an aunt was.
• Nondescript, Nasty, Nutritious: The only food that Horde soldiers ever eat are ration bars, with the grey kind tasting better than the brown kind. Apparently even the higher-ranking soldiers and captains eat them, as Scorpia doesn't know what a salad is.
• Obliviously Evil: The commanders all know the score, but most of the cadets seem to be like Adora, genuinely convinced that the Horde propaganda about the Princesses is true and the planet needs their orderly rule.
• Oddly Small Organisation: The Horde has arbitrarily large numbers of Faceless Goons and Mecha-Mooks, but the command structure on Etheria is so tiny that "Signal" implies that Shadow Weaver was running the entire Horde bureaucracy and all its supply chains without assistance. The Horde army is so small that it's easy to stretch thin, so it could be left in shambles by a single attack, as demonstrated at the end of Season 4.
• Outside-Context Problem: Nobody on Etheria seems to know where the Horde actually comes from. Hordak hints that he comes from a much more advanced planet. The true Horde is much larger than the forces we've seen and are an intergalactic empire that could crush the Rebellion like it was nothing—if they can get to Despondos through a portal, that is. Shadow Weaver has only heard of Horde Prime through whispers, and only when he arrives are her own suspicions confirmed.
• Politically Correct Villain:
  • Every member of the Horde refers to Double Trouble with their preferred gender pronouns (they/them, since Double Trouble is non-binary), and no one has a problem with it.
  • That can't be said for Horde Prime, who refers to other races as "insects" or anything similar that dehumanizes them.
• Propaganda Machine: The Horde practically crams anti-princess propaganda down the throats of their Cadets, painting them as monstrous and evil beings whose lack of control over their powers causes chaos and destruction. Adora is initially horrified when she transformed into She-Ra for the first time partially because she was afraid that she'd become a princess somehow, and Bow notes in Season 2 that all of Adora's ghost stories involve evil princesses.
• Raised by Orcs: The Horde regularly raise babies orphaned by their wars to be new soldiers. Most notably Adora and Catra, but Kyle is also mentioned to be an orphan, and Lonnie and Rogelio presumably are as well.
• Sigil Spam: They do love to slap their bat-wing insignia on everything. One-shot from shortly after the fall of Salineas has something like fourteen triumphant Horde flags in it, as one fan pointed out. When Scorpia visits the long-abandoned hall of the scorpion royals, viewers see that the walls have been vandalized with red Horde symbols.
• Technologically Advanced Foe: The Horde uses advanced technologies like hovercraft, laser weapons, robots, and use of nanotech, whereas most of Etheria's kingdoms are at a medieval/Renaissance level of technology. This makes sense considering that Hordak is an alien who either brought the technology with him to Etheria or already possessed the knowledge to create it. The intergalactic Horde is even more advanced, having fleets of starships and teleportation technology. In fact, their tech holds up a lot better than the First Ones' did.
• Those Were Only Their Scouts: The Horde on Etheria is a tiny, backwater imitation of the real Horde, an intergalactic empire. Hordak himself is a flawed clone of Horde Prime, the Horde's true leader. His motive for conquering Etheria is to regain the respect of his progenitor.
• Uncertain Doom: In Season 5, hard to say what happened to the remnants of Hordak’s forces after Season 4, but chances are they either got chipped as other Etherians have, or formed holdouts.
• Used Future: The Horde on Etheria was built starting out of the remains of Hordak's ship—and it shows. Look closely, and throughout the Fright Zone you can see many areas that have seen better days: such as loose handrails, or part of Hordak's sanctum crashing to the ground apropos of nothing. The reason for that is this Horde's but a shadow of the real thing, which sports an Ascetic Aesthetic.
• Villain with Good Publicity: They do their best to portray themselves as forces of good and the Princesses as evil. Catra calls it out on being fairly self-evident baloney, but many others in the Horde seem entirely convinced.

Leadership

Hordak

''See Hordak's page here.

Shadow Weaver

Shadow Weaver, Sorceress

Voiced by: Lorraine Toussaint (English)^{additional voice actors}Kikuko Inoue (Japanese)

^{Click here to see Light Spinner}

^{Click here to see her face}

"You're welcome..."

Shadow Weaver is a powerful sorceress and Hordak's second-in-command within the Horde. Devious and self-serving, she aligned herself with Hordak in exchange for amplified powers. It was also Shadow Weaver who raised Adora and Catra as her wards in the Fright Zone.

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• Abusive Mom: While the Horde had no concept of parental relationships and its soldiers are not raised as siblings, she did follow Adora and Catra's growth much more closely than she did with any other cadet. Adora got mostly controlling, emotionally manipulative forms of abuse, while she outright threatened to kill Catra more than once and attacked her multiple times. Even after switching over to the Rebellion and while she is fairly more reasonable than before, her abuses have only increased now that she has her sights on Glimmer as a new powerful protege. She continues to play mind games with Adora while during the climax of Season 3 almost killed Catra. Then in Season 4 she convinced Glimmer to use Adora as bait to launch a surprise attack on Catra, meaning she greatly endangered her "daughters" to test her new apprentice.
• Achilles' Heel: She has no innate power and must drain some magical power source in order to perform magic. She performs shadow magic by drawing power from the Black Garnet, using the gem in her mask as a conduit. When Catra destroys the gem, Shadow Weaver is rendered powerless.
• Adaptational Attractiveness: The original series heavily implies that whatever she did to grab power did a huge number on her face, that it would be too disturbing to show. When we do finally see her face, she has certainly been scarred, but not as horrific as the 80s show made it out to be.
• Adaptational Badass: Downplayed. In the original series, Light Spinner was a mediocre sorceress who sold out Mystacor to the Horde in exchange for greater magical power. Here, she was Castaspella's predecessor as leader of Mystacor, meaning that she was already quite powerful, but sold out her people anyway.
• Affectionate Gesture to the Head: On several occasions, she tenderly tucks a strand of Adora's hair behind her ear. She does the same to Catra when she needs to get to her good side. She did this with Micah too. This is a ‘tell’ that she’s emotionally manipulating someone. In later seasons Adora and others angrily brush her hand away when they push back.
• Alas, Poor Villain: She sacrifices herself to save Catra and Adora, despite the former's pleas to not fight the monster. Even after all the abuse they endured from her, they still mourned her death. In the end, Shadow Weaver still wasted her life with choices that that only harmed herself and those around her, and it only further motivates Catra to not repeat those same mistakes moving forward.
• All for Nothing: Shadow Weaver betrayed everyone she was close to, emotionally (and physically in Catra's case) abused her wards, manipulated fraying friendships, and aided a violent dictatorship, all in the aim of gaining access to incredible magic power. But she’s so thoroughly destroyed her relationship with Adora that even though she convinces her to unleash all of Etheria’s magic, Adora makes it clear that Weaver won’t be allowed anywhere close to the magic she’s trying to gain. If she had genuinely protected Mystacor or treated Adora and Catra with respect, she would’ve had access to Etheria’s magic without any resistance. At the end of it all, she's utterly diminished and washed up. By the time she realizes this, it's just too late and accepts there is no future for her.
• All of the Other Reindeer: Insists that the people of Mystacor shunned and looked down on her, which is why she signed up with Hordak. It's revealed she was a respected sorceress, but that she was so power-hungry, people were afraid of her.
• Alto Villainess: Her voice is deep and silky, in contrast to the high-pitched, brittle voice of her 1980s counterpart.
• Amazing Technicolor Population: Even when she was still Light Spinner, she had greenish-gray skin.
• Ambition Is Evil: Even when she wasn't corrupted, her hunger for power continuously led people to distrust her. This eventually led her to participate in making a forbidden spell that gave her great power in exchange for severely messing up her mind.
• Amulet of Dependency: She uses the Black Garnet Runestone to increase her powers, but having that connection to it means she's dependent on it to recharge her strength. She appears to be in pain when she needs a recharge. When Catra destroys the jewel on her mask that was somehow connected to the Black Garnet, she apparently loses her powers completely. It's revealed the forbidden spell she used in Mystacor turns her into a Power Parasite that needs something else to feed on.
• Arc Villainess: For much of Season 1, Shadow Weaver was the Rebellion's most dangerous threat, with her fearsome shadow magic, scrying, and the like, bent on trying to recapture Adora.
• Attack Its Weak Point: Catra subdues her by destroying the jewel in her mask that binds her to the Black Garnet.
• Being Evil Sucks: Even she's not immune to this. Throughout her entire life, the Dark Side drives her to ruin what little good things she had in a never ending quest for power with no reward at the end and leaves her unable to form a meaningful connection to anyone or anything, to the point where all she does is abuse her foster daughters. She doesn't know how to do anything other than hate and bring pain to others and it eats away at her until the only peace she ever attains is when she decides to sacrifice herself to save Adora and Catra, even telling Catra she's got a bright future ahead of her, while a person of her character has no place with them in the universe.
• Big Bad Wannabe: Shadow Weaver is powerful, intimidating, and threatening. However, her single-minded obsession with getting Adora back under her thumb instead of fighting the war makes Shadow Weaver a much less efficient enemy than her subaltern Catra. Also, Shadow Weaver's power is wholly limited to what Hordak allows her to do, and while she's a powerful sorceress, she's an extremely weak fighter that can be taken out easily. Eventually, this destroys her when Catra proves to be the better soldier and strategist, gaining favor from Hordak and becoming his second in command over Shadow Weaver.
• Big "NO!": After Catra destroys the stone in her mask, she crumbles to the floor screaming.
• Black Sheep: Light Spinner became this to Mystacor after her desire for power led her to use the Spell of Obtainment and kill several sorcerers before leaving. Her story is used as a cautionary tale of what the lust for dark magic can do to sorcerers. As if to emphasize this, as opposed to the clean white statues surrounding it in the Hall of Sorcerers Light Spinner's statue is dark and in disrepair.
• Boisterous Weakling: She sees herself as a powerful sorceress and the only one who can tap into the true power of the Black Garnet. Hordak himself spells out plainly that once she managed to tap into the Garnet, she just used it for "parlor tricks", and that Entrapta has done more for the Horde with the Runestone in hours than Shadow Weaver had in years. When Catra shatters the crystal on her mask and depowers her, all she can do is whine for her power to come back.
• Bond Breaker: She's this to the Beast Friend squad in season 4 given that her pragmatism and goals warp Glimmer's sense of morality which breaks the squad up.
• Boomerang Bigot: Seems to have a special hatred for those who have to earn their power over those born to it. Given that she had to work and sacrifice for the power she has...
• Broken Pedestal: The Sorcerer's Guild became one to her as time went on; Light Spinner admired them and aspired to become a great sorceress herself, but she struggles with their teachings and is frustrated that the Guild didn't trust or respect her. She grows particularly alienated from them due to their failure to take action against the Horde causing her to leave the Order. She eventually turns her back on the Guild and becomes a dark sorceress in order to seize the power she thinks she deserves, even claiming to Norwyn during their battle that "they're fools".
  • Becomes this in turn to Micah. He attacks her on sight when he's brought back from Beast Island.
• Brought Down to Badass: Loses her powers after Catra severs her connection to the Black Garnet, but she's still a highly effective schemer and manipulator, and also still capable of performing magic, provided she has an appropriate power source to draw on. She's able to leverage both talents to escape Horde captivity over the events of "Light Spinner". Season 4 also shows that even without magical power, she can still bat aside Micah's spells when he attacks her with no more effort than swatting a fly.
• Can't Catch Up: The main cast slowly surpasses her in political power (in Catra's case) and magic power (in the case of Glimmer and She-Ra). The addition of King Micah, possibly the most powerful magic user in the setting to the main cast in Season 4 solidifies this. Part of it is also due to age, and by that time she's just not in her prime anymore.
• Card-Carrying Villain: Shadow Weaver won't even deny that she is evil. She does many petty things For the Evulz, while other times, she will excuse her actions as Necessarily Evil as in her treatment of Adora and Catra. Indeed, while raising Adora, she outright encouraged Adora to be ruthless and cutthroat.
• Caring Gardener: Played with. In Season 4, Shadow Weaver takes up flower gardening during her captivity at Bright Moon, but she is still sinister and manipulative in her conversation with Glimmer. Indeed, as pointed out in this post, her gardening style - in which she's almost constantly shown pruning - is a good metaphor for how she treats people: she raises them to serve her purposes, sculpts their growth, and cuts away the parts that aren't useful to her. Like Catra's self-esteem or Glimmer's relationship with Adora. At the very least this has shown Shadow Weaver isn't so uncultured and barbaric.
• Cassandra Truth: In the Season 4 finale, she tries to tell Glimmer that activating all the Runestones at once is a horrible idea. However, she makes the mistake of bringing up Angella, and Glimmer brushes her off.
• Casting a Shadow: Her magic takes the form of inky blackness from which she can do things like conjure promotion badges and conjure spy shadows. It's mentioned in the show that Shadow Weaver is a sorceress and presumably could perform magic when she was Light Spinner but how much of her powers are her own and how much she derives from the Black Garnet is unclear. When Catra smashes the gemstone on Shadow Weaver's forehead she seemingly becomes powerless.
• The Comically Serious: What little humor comes out of her is of this variety. As deadly and terrifying as she is, it's impossible not to chuckle at the scene in Season 4 where we find out she's taken up gardening to kill time. In fact, ND Stevenson even said on his Twitter that this was chosen specifically because it was the funniest possible thing the writers could have had her do as a hobby.
• The Dark Arts: In Season 2, flashbacks reveal that she used forbidden magic in an attempt to empower herself, becoming disfigured in the process. The spell summoned an eldritch abomination that endowed her with shadow magic, which she used to absorb three of Mystacor's leaders.
• Dark Is Evil: She's Hordak's Dragon, a Wicked Witch, and named Shadow Weaver.
• The Dark Side Will Make You Forget: As Light Spinner, Shadow Weaver was the only magic user at Mystacore that recognized how much of a threat the Horde posed, the others, especially Norwyn, thinking that the princesses could handle it. At most, she started out as a Well-Intentioned Extremist. When they refused to listen to her warnings, her frustration and ambition led her to attempt a forbidden spell that turned her into a Power Parasite, twisting her mind in the process. She then killed Norwyn before leaving, and the next we see of her, she's joined the Horde herself.
• Deadpan Snarker: When Scorpia asks if Shadow Weaver's garden is a prison, she responds that it wasn't, until recently.
• Death Equals Redemption: Her death is a critique of the trope in a way. Shadow Weaver, after all the bad things she's done to Catra and Adora, realizes there is no way she'll be able to take the power of the Heart for herself whether Adora survives or not, since the other members of the Rebelion would stop her anyway, and decides to die for them. While she didn't have to sacrifice herself to stop the creature attacking the heroes, she chooses to do a Mutual Kill while telling Catra how proud she is of her. Even in her one moment closest to altruism, there's still an attempt at self-gain in that she suspects she'll be considered redeemed if she dies in the process of her one good act.
  ND Stevenson: What I like about it is that it's still very fitting for her. It's still kind of a selfish end. It was something that Catra was also confronted with, "maybe I've done so much wrong that the only way to make up for it is to sacrifice myself and die, and they'll have to forgive me cause I died saving someone." Catra is forced to stick around and actually confront the mistakes she has made and actually fix them, becoming a better and more positive person through that. Shadow Weaver makes that choice to just sort of peace out. Even that smug little smile at the end, that "now you have to forgive me good-bye," it's so her. I love it.
• Death Seeker: Shadow Weaver made the choice to sacrifice herself, and given how she believes there's no place for people like her unlike Catra, she was very resigned to the fact that she was going to die from it. It's rather evident in her body language she knew this was the moment for her to arrive at death’s door and her expression indicates she's found peace with it.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Almost name-drops this trope when Catra shows sympathy for her after she's chewed out by Hordak.
• The Dragon: Like in the original series, she's the second-in-command of the Horde. She is later demoted from this role in favor of Catra.
• Dragon with an Agenda: She continues her plan to bring Adora back by any means despite being ordered by Hordak to forget about her.
• The Dreaded: Everyone in the Horde fears her... except Double Trouble, apparently.
• Drowning My Sorrows: After Adora's "The Reason You Suck" Speech, declaring she will never allow Shadow Weaver access to the power she's sought for years, Catra finds her slumped over some crates in the Rebellion's hideout with a goblet in-hand. Her speech and movements are noticeably slurred as Catra convinces her to teleport them to Adora.
• Dub Name Change: Her name is changed/translated to "Tejesombras," in the European Spanish dub, "Ténébra" in the French dub, and "Sombria" in the Portuguese dub.
• Dying as Yourself: Played with. She uses what magic she could absorb from the Heart of Etheria to fend off a monster controlled by Horde Prime, giving Adora and Catra the opportunity to shut it down for good. Before her former protégés leave, she removes her mask, letting both them and the audience get one good look at her face and telling Adora and Catra that she is proud of them before going out in a blaze of magic and fire. However, she mainly did this out of the belief that she had done too many awful things to earn forgiveness any other way than by sacrificing herself to save the heroes.
• Dying Moment of Awesome: In the Grand Finale, Shadow Weaver goes out protecting Adora and Catra from a massive monster commanded by Horde Prime, drawing magical power from the Heart of Etheria itself to briefly regain her original spellcasting powers and destroy both the monster and herself in a massive explosion of magic energy.
• Enemy Mine: Calls for a truce with the Rebellion, no questions asked—if only to get revenge on Hordak and the Horde for demoting and imprisoning her.
• Even Evil Can Be Loved:
  • Despite Shadow Weaver's abuse towards Catra, and the young girl's own actions against the darkness wielder, Catra does show signs of affection towards the sorceress a few times. She even tried to convince Hordak to spare her, which allows Shadow Weaver to escape. Catra's love for her reaches a climax in the finale, when the feline begs and cries for Shadow Weaver not to make a Heroic Sacrifice for the sake of Catra and Adora.
  • Despite being emotionally manipulated by her all her life and being forced to watch as her best friend/ love interest was essentially tortured by her, Adora has a hope (albeit not as much as Catra) that there might be some good in Shadow Weaver. Part of the reason that Adora wanted to speak to Shadow Weaver when she came to see her in Bright Moon was the hope that the woman who raised her might have some good in her. Though when pushed too far Adora stops pitying her and firmly declares she'll never forgive her for all the things she did, much like Catra, Adora cries in the series finale when Shadow Weaver sacrifices herself to save the two of them, if only to lament that the sorceress practically squandered her whole life becoming the abuser she knew growing up.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
  • Despite being an awful person towards everyone, even to her wards, she appears genuinely fond of Micah, even sparing him and touching his cheek before leaving. This is one of the reasons why Shadow Weaver would not have had anything to do with his death. In fact, it's implied she secretly mourns his death, and she seems to project this relationship she had with him through his daughter, Glimmer, and was actually happy (enough to stop in the middle of a taunt) to see Micah when it turns out he's alive. We see her try to connect with him in Season 5, and she seems genuinely sad about him rebuffing her, so she decides to do him one more favor and save him from Horde Prime's control.
  • For most of the series this doesn't appear to be the case towards her wards (unless it's in an extremely twisted and abusive way) and she spends more time manipulating them then showing any real affection for them. But, in the finale, she comes to realize belatedly, that she does care about Adora and Catra after all, at least enough to consider their futures worth sacrificing herself for, and tells Catra that she is proud of her for making better choices than she did and giving her the chance to be the person she wants.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Despite trying to influence Glimmer into using whatever means necessary to wipe out the Horde and ensure the rebellion's victory, even she criticizes Glimmer's plan to use the Heart immediately after finding out how how incredibly reckless and dangerous trying to do so would be.
• Evil Counterpart: To Angella of the Rebellion. Both are powerful magicians, the few visible adults in their respective armies, and controlling mother figures who have difficult relationships with their children. But while Angella's flaws are due to an overabundance of love and crippling fear of losing her daughter (which she eventually learns to overcome and builds a stronger bond with her child), Shadow Weaver's control and fear of losing her children is less about concern and more about how it will affect her own goals, and she eventually drives both her surrogate daughters away because she refuses to change. Both Angella and Shadow Weaver sacrifice their own lives to save their children.
• Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: Shadow Weaver does gain some sense of humor in later seasons, but her idea of a joke is horribly mean-spirited.
• Evil Makes You Monstrous: In the series finale, viewers finally see her face under the mask — she has an Undeathly Pallor, scars around her eyes and down her face, and uneven fangs poking over her lips.
• Evil Old Folks: Shadow Weaver was an adult while Micah was a teenager, which means in the present she’s old enough to be Glimmer’s (Micah's teenage daughter) grandmother.
• Evil Parents Want Good Kids: For all the choices she made and pain she's wrought on Catra, Shadow Weaver ultimately resigns herself to the fact that she cannot take them back, but knows Catra has a bright future ahead of her and tells her before dying not to waste her life like she did.
• Evil Virtues: Maturity, though Shadow Weaver exhibits this more in later seasons. In contrast to her indignant behavior towards Hordak in the first season, later seasons show that even for all her selfish desire for power, she eventually learns how to suck it up, learn from her mistakes, and be satisfied with the gains she does get, no matter how small. This newfound perspective is what allows her to make the best out of an otherwise bad situation while in Bright Moon.
• Exact Words: Claims she "found" Adora. Doesn't specify where or how. It later turns out the Horde found Adora, and Shadow Weaver was passing by when she saw something about her.
• Expressive Mask: The eye slits on her mask can change depending on how she expresses herself, mostly the white parts.
• Face Death with Dignity: As horrible as she was, she has some honor when it comes to facing death. Shadow Weaver in the finale decided to take on the defensive creature hacked by Horde Prime. Just as she's about to make the final blow knowing it would kill her, Shadow Weaver takes off her mask, looking death straight in the face, calmly and bravely accepting it.
• The Faceless: Played with in that we have never seen her entire face, just parts of it; when she was Light Spinner she always wore a veil that covered her face from the nose down, and since her horrendous disfigurement after using the Spell of Obtainment (save for one glimpse just after the act) she constantly wears a face-concealing mask even after it has been visibly cracked down the center. Finally averted in "Heart, Part 2", when she takes her mask off to tell Adora and Catra that she is proud of them both before going out in a blaze of magic to destroy a monster controlled by Horde Prime.
• Facial Horror: Only a quick glimpse of it is seen, but her face is grayish, heavily veined, with bulging eyes that have deformed pupils all unnaturally detailed for the show's artwork. The finale gives a full view of her scarred face, which shows that a part of her lip is damaged to the point of showing her teeth even when its closed.
• Fallen Heroine: She used to be a good, if overly ambitious, member of Mystacor's guild. She tried to protect her land against the Horde with a forbidden spell that ended up with terrible side effects for her. Fed up with the other mages that wouldn't listen to her or trust her, she defected to Hordak's side.
• Faux Affably Evil: Shadow Weaver defaults to a sort of cloyingly affectionate approach when she wants something, particularly when dealing with a talented pawn like Adora, Micah, or Glimmer, but it's invariably shown to be a ruse, and at no point are her goals anything other than self-serving.
  Shadow Weaver: I've missed you, my child-
  Adora: We're past that. Try again.
• Fear Is the Appropriate Response: Shadow Weaver is by no means a coward in later seasons, and one of the things she does instill in her students while teaching magic is that fear can be the biggest obstacle. But, there are things that don’t warrant her even so much as laughing at the face of danger. Season 5 sees her bear witness to the incomprehensible evil that is Horde Prime. Taking control of Micah, her former apprentice and now the most powerful sorcerer she’s ever known, is just a taste of it. That being said, Shadow Weaver doesn’t in any way hide her own fear of Prime nor her fear for Micah’s well-being, but she nonetheless remains rational about it.
• The Force Is Strong with This One: Shadow Weaver could sense something special about Adora the moment she laid her eyes on the infant.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: She is feared or disrespected by both her superiors and underlings in the Horde, and even her wards hate her living guts. After she defects to the Rebellion, the closest she gets to most of her new 'allies' are Death Glares and an admirable lack of punches to her face. Though sometimes, she does have civil conversations with them.
• General Failure: Hordak criticizes her for letting the war against the rebellion devolve into a stalemate during the fourth episode, and it only gets worse from there. She places all of her hopes for turning the war around on Adora, and once Adora defects devotes all her resources and effort to get her back. Everyone around her can see this is a pointless waste, and she compounds it with poor intel, a terrible Villainous Demotivator command style, and a spiteful and pointless vendetta with one of her own force captains.
• Green and Mean: She's an evil sorceress with greenish-gray skin.
• Green-Eyed Monster: When Micah shows he is more powerful than she, Light Spinner becomes incredibly angry and demands to know who else is teaching him. It's also shown that most of her desire to stop the Horde is colored by the thought that in doing so would allow her to gain more power.
• Go Out with a Smile: She takes her mask off give a warm smile to Catra and Adora before sacrificing herself to destroy the monster controlled by Horde Prime.
• Hazy-Feel Turn: Over the course of Season 3, she lets herself get captured in order to warn Adora about Hordak's master plan and assists the princesses in invading the Fright Zone, but given that she's a Manipulative Bastard, it's unknown if she's genuinely undergoing a Heel–Face Turn, if she's just using the Rebellion as a means to get back at Hordak for demoting and imprisoning her, or if she's playing some kind of long game as part of her agenda. In the end, the only thing that's changed are her enemies.
• Hellish Pupils: When viewers briefly see Shadow Weaver with her mask off, she has yellow-green irises and triangular pupils.
• Heroic Sacrifice: The selfish, manipulative and cold Shadow Weaver makes a final stand against Horde Prime for Catra's life, knowing exactly what it will cost her.
• Her Own Worst Enemy: Shadow Weaver's cruelty, abuse, and hunger for power mean nobody can stand her, and in some shape or form they all came back to bite her. Refusing to surrender the Black Garnet led to her being imprisoned and forced to flee the Horde. Her attempts to manipulate Glimmer into being more ruthless lead to her trying to use The Heart of Etheria, something even Shadow Weaver realizes is a mistake. Her attempts to talk Glimmer out of the plan almost work, until she makes the mistake of bringing up Angela. Even when helping against Horde Prime, Shadow Weaver's manipulative nature ensures the Rebellion despises her, with even Adora delivering a "The Reason You Suck" Speech at how Shadow Weaver ruins people. The only time she can do something that earns the approval (at the very least a kudos) from others is when she makes a Heroic Sacrifice.
• Hidden Depths:
  • Who would've thought this evil sorceress would have such a talent for gardening? It helps that most of her plants have magical properties.
    Glimmer: You've been growing magic plants this whole time? What do these do?
    Shadow Weaver: Those are daisies. I find them cheerful.
  • Micah seems to bring out a sincere reaction out of her, and is rather surprised to see him alive and (kinda) well).
• Innocently Insensitive: When trying to stop Glimmer from making a really bad decision she might regret, she tells Glimmer that her mother would not approve of reactivating the Heart of Etheria. This is a very sensitive subject for Glimmer, and for once, Shadow Weaver wasn't trying to push Glimmer's buttons.
• Irony: The traits she describes Adora as having, and part of the reason why she fixates on her, better fit Catra than her.
• It's All About Me: Is described in her bio as self-serving, joined Hordak for the sole purpose of becoming more powerful, is willing to go against Hordak's direct orders and fixate on recapturing Adora, and has no issue with Stealing the Credit. And even the fixation on recapturing Adora doesn't seem to have been related to actually caring about her - in Season 4, since Glimmer is more useful to her at that point, the moment Shadow Weaver gets her hooks in, she drops Adora like a hot potato. Granted, she will help Adora only if she asks, but Shadow Weaver isn't actively engaged with Adora.
• I've Come Too Far: Shadow Weaver does ultimately realize she's hurt everyone, and it's what leads her to sacrifice herself in the end. By the time she's confronted with the horrible things she's done, she's already wasted her lifetime being selfish and abusive that the damage is just too grave for her to make amends. She even tells Catra it's simply too late for her to change her ways while Catra has her entire life ahead of her to make up for her own mistakes.
• I Was Quite a Looker: Flashbacks show that she was an attractive woman before evil magic altered her appearance.
• Jaded Washout: Shadow Weaver had so much promise back when she was Light Spinner, but she became so ambitious for more power, that not only has it disfigured and turned her even more power hungry, all her potential ended up going to waste. After losing her power crystal in Season 1, she's become something of a has-been who has nothing left but to settle scores and the best she can do to is throw curveballs whenever possible.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: After what happens in Mystacor, she almost looks like she's about to say something nice to Catra... only to claim all her horrific crap was to make her "strong", and her apparent affection for Catra in "Light Spinner" is entirely manipulative.
• Kick the Dog: Her abuse toward Adora and Catra, but especially Catra, considering they were both little kids when she took them in and Catra is particularly on the most threatening end of said abuse.
  • Her hatred for Catra apparently gotten worse to the point where she nearly strangled her to death in "Moment of Truth" because Catra wanted Hordak to open the portal just so Adora will lose.
• Killed Off for Real: In the series' final episode Shadow Weaver is given a poetic sendoff when she sacrifices herself to save Catra's life.
• Lady of Black Magic: A powerful, self-serving sorceress with mysterious motives and power over the Black Garnet, increasing the potency of her dark magic.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Her Stealing the Credit for Catra's plan from "Princess Prom" means that when it ultimately goes south, she's the one holding the bag, not Catra.
• Lesser of Two Evils: Shadow Weaver is undeniably evil and one of the less sympathetic villains on the show. However, in Season 3, her loss of power and fall from grace in the Horde causes the Rebellion to be willing to ally with her and later let her walk freely among them in an effort to use her vast knowledge of magic and the Horde to defeat the foes that are still active. In later seasons, as a far more intimidating Greater-Scope Villain arrives and the Rebellion takes on more and more defectors from the Horde it becomes increasingly apparent that Shadow Weaver is at least aware of the bigger picture, yet her solutions always remain the most devious, ruthless and destructive path even if they would theoretically fix the Rebellion's immediate problems.
• Lip Losses: While her deformity isn't quite as bad as it has been implied, it does include massive scarring and discoloration on part of her face, and a small region of her lips that have been ripped off, exposing the teeth below.
• Lovecraftian Superpower: She gained her shadow powers by using forbidden magic to summon an eldritch abomination, but the ritual disfigured her body and tainted her mind. Worse, after performing the ritual, she augmented her powers by absorbing Norwyn and two more of Mystacor's leaders.
• Loving a Shadow: Well, "love" is a strong word, but Adora calls her out on this, saying that the Adora she keeps trying to bring back into the fold of the Horde (who Shadow Weaver describes as an "ambitious, cutthroat, ruthless warrior", which is, ironically, closer to Catra than Adora) doesn't exist.
• Magic Hair: When Shadow Weaver is strong with magical power, her hair is flowing high above her head. When weak and depowered, it hangs down lifelessly.
• Manipulative Bastard: Which is lampshaded by almost all characters under her. She is prone to use emotional manipulation on Adora and Catra, serving as both their foster mother and commanding officer. While Catra grew mostly immune to it, eventually coming to fear just her shadow powers, Adora took longer to realize it.
  Adora: This is what Shadow Weaver does, she manipulates people, she pushes them apart.
  • In Season 2, she even manages to trick the supposedly immune Catra into helping her escape by manipulating her need for validation.
  • In flashbacks, she also manipulated a young Micah by praising his magical abilities and abusing their mentor-student relationship for the sake of practicing a forbidden ritual.
  • Even Glimmer, who's seen the effects of Weaver's manipulations on Adora, falls for Weaver's promises of power when Adora's life is on the line. She then works to split up the Best Friends Squad, compounding the damage done by Double Trouble, leaving Glimmer dependent on her for validation, and thereby giving her more power and influence over the new Queen.
  • This behavior is so pervasive and successful, that later in the series Castaspella is seen to assume that she's been liberally using mind control magic - much to Shadow Weaver's amusement. And even Shadow Weaver doesn’t believe in such a concept.
  • Even her Heroic Sacrifice has shades of this. Unlike Catra, who has to work at her redemption, Shadow Weaver instead gives her life to save Adora and Catra and, by extension, every single person in the entire universe. The proud smile she gives Catra could be read as "there, I died saving your life. Now you have to forgive me!", while nonetheless indicating she's found peace.
• Masking the Deformity: After being maimed by whatever she did to gain her Black Magic, Shadow Weaver always wears a full-face mask. She takes it off before her Heroic Sacrifice, revealing an Undeathly Pallor, heavy scars, and partly missing lips.
• Meaningful Look: She has one with Imp in "Flowers for She-Ra" when she realizes how Hordak knows she's still looking for Adora instead of obeying orders. This is because she knows Imp hears things around the Horde as a secret spy for Hordak.
• Meaningful Rename: Used to go by Light Spinner before changing her name and joining the Horde.
• Mellow Fellow: She might not have changed morally since joining the Rebellion, but Shadow Weaver has become fairly relaxed and laid back, rarely losing her temper even when her new allies vehemently disagree with what she does. Still, this is a stark contrast to her behavior in the first season, where she would always lash out and threaten Adora and Catra whenever they misbehave in her eyes.
• Mentor Archetype: To Adora and Micah. Flashbacks show her mentoring Micah in magical arts as Light Spinner. Also becomes this to Glimmer in Season 4.
• Mind Wipe: Attempts this on Adora to forcefully bring her back to the Horde.
• Mother Makes You King: In a sense, this is her plan for Adora. Since she raised Adora from infancy and acted as a surrogate mother to her, in addition to being her Horde army overseer, Shadow Weaver wants to make Adora great so she could take credit by proxy. Needless to say, Adora is not interested.
• Never Speak Ill of the Dead: Not even Shadow Weaver would ever dishonor the memories of deceased heroes, at least not those she knows personally. After Micah died or so she thought, she could never think or say anything horrible about him. She and Angella had their differences (and that’s putting it mildly), but she does respect her and she knows Angella was a strong leader. That being said, after Angella gets herself stranded between dimensions, Shadow Weaver refuses to disrespect her memory by letting Glimmer do something reckless.
• No Body Left Behind: She incinerates herself and the monster completely in a large explosion.
• No-Sell: In "Destiny, Part 1", Micah hurls a magical attack at her, but she effortlessly deflects it. She was his teacher after all.
• Not Me This Time: Shadow Weaver may be responsible for many horrible things while serving the Horde (and she’s proud of her good work) the one crime she had zero involvement in is Micah’s death, and she’s just as shocked as everyone when he turns out to be alive.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Tells Catra in Season 2 that part of the reason that she was so hard on her was that she saw a lot of herself in Catra, and since she had a tough life, Catra didn't deserve any better. They are shown to be closely parallel - in "Light Spinner" they even give almost the same rant about how the Guild/Hordak don't trust them.
• Not So Stoic: Shadow Weaver is not ashamed to express her own fear of Horde Prime, and him taking control of Micah, her former pupil who became a very powerful sorcerer, is more than enough to justify her fears, and with that she tells Castaspella that she'd be a fool not to be afraid.
• Number Two: She handles most of the actual running of the Horde behind the scenes. When Catra takes the job she's dismayed to find out how much of it deals with managing logistics (which Shadow Weaver was micromanaging to the degree that things like basic armor production ground to a halt without her direct oversight).
• Older and Wiser: Shadow Weaver may be a Token Evil Teammate in the Rebellion by Season 3, but as a majority of them are teenage men and women, almost none of them have the depth of experience and wisdom that comes with her age. Additionally, she’s far more level-headed and rational in later seasons.
• Parental Favoritism: She makes no bones about her preference of Adora over Catra. In fact, it's all but stated that Shadow Weaver saw Catra not as a daughter but more like Adora's pet.
  Shadow Weaver: Catra has been nothing but a disappointment to me!
• Parental Substitute: A dark and twisted example. Shadow Weaver was the closest thing both Adora and Catra had to a mother growing up, even though the Horde has no concept of family whatsoever and the cadets are not raised as siblings. Same with Scorpia, who also remembers her stories about Beast Island.
• Power Floats: Generally tends to hover just a little bit above the ground, unless her power's running out.
• Power Parasite: Turns out this is how she drew power from the Black Garnet. In her backstory, she cast a forbidden spell turned her into this as a way to combat the Horde when the Princess Alliance couldn't. One of her first victims was her own teacher, Norwyn, whom she completely absorbed upon transforming. This is better demonstrated in Season 3, where Shadow Weaver demonstrates the ability to use Glimmer's magic as her own when they hold hands, amplifying her powers considerably in the process. But, her condition got so bad to the point where she needs magic to survive and lack of magic takes a toll on her health. Thankfully, she was healed to the point where she doesn't have to rely on magic for basic sustenance, though she does still have to drain Glimmer's magic to use it.
• A Pupil of Mine Until She Turned to Evil: To Norwyn. He was Light Spinner's mentor and witnessed her turn to evil before she ultimately killed him. Even before she became Shadow Weaver its implied he knew she was a Deceptive Disciple and calls her out on her thirst for power being her sole motivator rather than actually helping the war effort as she claimed.
  Norwyn: You've always hungered after power. Bringing you into our ranks was a grave mistake!
• Rage Helm: Downplayed. Her mask doesn’t necessarily give off so much a furious look as it does more a condescending, cross expression. Still though it’s unpleasant enough for one to feel intimidated.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: Long dark hair and a red cloak. Her magic is red and black too. Fitting for an evil sorceress.
• Retired Monster: Shadow Weaver inflicted horrible abuse and cruelty towards Adora and Catra while they were growing up, but she has somewhat mellowed out since arriving at Bright Moon in Season 3. She is still selfish and does manipulate others for her own amusement, but she hardly engages in active villainy anymore. Surprisingly, Shadow Weaver is much slower to anger than she was in Season 1, and she's fairly relaxed towards those who've had a history with her expressing their disdain. Even when Catra does come back into her life, it's not enough to make Shadow Weaver cruelly torture and maim her, but she still acts condescending towards her.
• Shipping Torpedo: In Season 5 after seeing how close Catra and Adora are again, she wastes no time in going back to her old ways of trying to turn them on one another. At one point she even says that Catra is the reason Adora can't transform. It's not until she's literally about to die that she admits she was wrong, knowing that the three of them can never have a future together.
• Shout-Out: To Alexandre Cabanel's The Fallen Angel. When she pulls her Face–Heel Turn, she briefly adopts the same pose as Lucifer — charging a spell with her hands clasped together to her right side and wearing a hurt, enraged expression that is only intensified by her newly-acquired scars. She's also called power-hungry, which is the same reason why Lucifer started the divine war that he just lost and is simmering about in the painting.
• So Proud of You: She dies telling Catra, for the first time, that she is truly proud of her. Specifically, she's proud of Catra for being a better person than she herself could ever be.
• Squishy Wizard: Primarily a long-range fighter, preferably from a couple of thousand miles away if she can help it. The reasons are made obvious every time she's taken a hit, as it normally only requires one to take her out of the fight.
• Stealing the Credit: As "No Princess Left Behind" shows, she has no qualms with taking the credit for the successes of those under her, like Catra, using the justification that since Catra is her subordinate, Catra's successes are hers too.
• Supernatural Floating Hair: When fully juiced up on magic, Shadow Weaver's hair floats and writhes around her head like black flames. When she runs out of power, it stops floating and dangles lankly around her.
• The Svengali: A large part of her characterization, as opposed to being a straight Evil Mentor all her students function to further her own ends.
  • As a child, Micah was mentored in magical arts by Light Spinner, later known as Shadow Weaver. She enlisted his help in stealing and grinding down some of Mystacor's crystals, taught him about forbidden magic, and used him to perform the evil ritual that gave her shadow powers.
  • In Season 3, she shows she can teach Adora and Glimmer important lessons in magic that can help them in the long run, and there is no denying it. Shadow Weaver teaches Adora how to use the sword to heal others much faster than Light Hope said it could, and teaches Glimmer how to better focus her powers. Both of these instances benefited her however, She-Ra healed Shadow Weaver's chronic affliction while Glimmer's increased magical aptitude helped Shadow Weaver revenge herself on Catra, torturing the girl with lightning.
  • Flashbacks show personal gain was behind her adopting Adora due to the personal power she sensed in the infant, raising the child was in part to try and access this power. With Catra being another means of controlling Adora, not out of any true parental affection.
• Token Evil Teammate: Becomes this in Season 3, as she joins the Rebellion (initially as a prisoner) purely for self-interest, without really changing her personality or moral stance in any way. The heroes can only trust her as far as they can throw her, so they do not expect to get used to this. Nonetheless, it's clear Shadow Weaver likes it there better than the Horde, so she had no reason to turn against the Rebellion. Additionally, she isn’t entirely as unreasonable as she was when serving the Horde. When it came to facing death, she would rather die with a warrior's end, something she and the Rebellion have in common.
• Too Much Alike: Claims this was the reason she was hard on Catra; that Catra reminded her of her younger self, and since Shadow Weaver always had to struggle to get ahead in life then why should it be different for Catra? Though since Shadow Weaver was using Catra's desperation for affection to trick her into helping her escape, it's unclear if Shadow Weaver was sincere or not. She brings it up again in Season 5 during her Heroic Sacrifice but this time she adds that while it is too late for her to change, that Catra still has a chance to be a good person and become happy.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Downplayed, but even while she's manipulative, she does gain a touch of sincerity in Season 4, where Shadow Weaver does respect Glimmer and even believes in her potential to become a great queen. Clearly, it's more than what Catra ever received; that being said, it's not far off how she handled Adora. It's more genuine in the sense that part of it is because Glimmer reminds her of her apprentice Micah (whom she takes after), and thus Shadow Weaver does enjoy her company, though that borders on projecting that former relationship onto Glimmer herself. Still, she does find time to engage in relatively civil conversations with her would-be enemies, and she's fairly easy-going even when Adora brings up her transgressions.
• Tough Love: She claims this was the case for Catra, to make her stronger, but Catra doesn't buy it. When Adora calls her out on her treatment of Catra and herself, Shadow Weaver says she only did what she thought was necessary, Adora is less then convinced.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: A far more evil one than most, granted, but pretty much everything bad that happens in S3 to every character can be traced back to her. Obviously most of Catra's issues stem from a very abusive childhood, but Catra would've never gotten the sword (again) if Shadow Weaver hadn't escaped, and Catra most likely would've stayed in the Crimson Wastes if Shadow Weaver hadn't linked up with the Rebellion (for different reasons than Catra thought, but still). Essentially, she almost unwittingly led to the destruction of the universe.
  • And then, in Season 4, her escape continues to ripple into new disasters. Between Angella's sacrifice in the portal disaster Shadow Weaver indirectly caused, Shadow Weaver's own attempts to gain influence over Glimmer at the expense of her bonds with Adora and Bow, and Catra hiring Double Trouble in the Crimson Wastes, the Best Friends Squad breaks up. This leaves Glimmer in a really bad place, leading to her reckless decision to tap the Heart of Etheria, thereby nearly allowing Light Hope to destroy a decent chunk of the universe, forcing Adora to shatter the Sword of Protection, and leaving Etheria in the path of Horde Prime's armada. In other words, virtually everything bad to happen across two seasons, plus whatever Horde Prime does in Season 5, is a direct or indirect consequence of Shadow Weaver's actions, even if Glimmer's last act was one she was trying to prevent.
• Villain Decay: While undoubtedly evil and manipulative, Shadow Weaver is hardly a threat in later seasons, to the point she wouldn't register on anyone's radar anymore. She's very much a shell of the powerful Evil Sorceress she was under Hordak, and the most she's able to do is manipulate others. In fact, she recognized in later seasons that she isn't a match for the Horde, and could never hope to defeat Horde Prime on her own.
• Villain Has a Point: Shadow Weaver tells Glimmer that one thing she really needs to think about moving forward is what kind of queen she will be. But, Glimmer letting her emotion guide her judgment to the point of reckless decisions was not what Shadow Weaver meant.
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Manages to manipulate Catra and escape in Season 2, but it is given no clear indication of how she did it besides that she created an illusion of herself to trick people into thinking she didn't leave.
• Villainous Breakdown: Her frustrations at failing to get Adora back continue to build up in her, it reaches the point when she snaps and attacks Catra for making use of her Black Garnet. After being defeating she hopelessly tries to piece the stone that was in the mask back together begging it to work again.
• Villain's Dying Grace: Per Word of God, Shadow Weaver doesn't "redeem" herself per se, but her final action is indisputably her most selfless one; after realizing all her scheming and abuse has been for nothing, Shadow Weaver opts to go out saving her two abused daughters and taking Horde Prime's monster with her in a fiery self-detonation.
• Weak, but Skilled: We see time and time again that she lacks natural magic talent and made up for it by being incredibly knowledgeable about rare spells and deep magic. It's heavily implied that this is what causes her to be an abusive mentor- she needs other, more innately powerful characters to act with her knowledge.
• We Can Rule Together: This appears to be her plan for Adora, even going so far as wanting to mindwipe her so she'd go back to being an obedient soldier.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Back in the day, she believed she had to do what needed to be done for the good of Etheria, feeling that using a forbidden spell was for the greater good in saving Etheria. In the end, it amounted to nothing.
• What You Are in the Dark: In Season 5, Castaspella worries that Shadow Weaver intends to take all the magic stored at the Heart of Etheria for herself — in keeping with her power-hungry personality, and is only mollified when Shadow Weaver tells Castaspella to kill her if she tries to do so. In the Season 5 finale, Shadow Weaver reaches the Heart of Etheria first and is sorely tempted to absorb it, but only takes enough power to rescue Adora and Catra — sacrificing herself in the process.
• Wicked Cultured: Shadow Weaver is quite sophisticated, reading in her spare time, or tending to a garden. She's also one of the most reprehensible people in the show.
• Wicked Witch: A powerful, evil Horde witch that uses shadow powers to attack and harm others.
• Yin-Yang Bomb: Her Heroic Sacrifice has her using both the shadow powers she wielded as Shadow Weaver and the light-based magic she originally had as Light Spinner, fittingly for a Dying as Yourself moment.
• You Killed My Father: Castaspella blames her for sending Micah to his death. Subverted, as Shadow Weaver had nothing to do with it, nor would she have wanted to and Micah isn't dead, although given how long he's been on Beast Island whoever sent him there probably led her to assume he is.

Force Captains

Catra

''See Catra's page here.

Scorpia

Scorpia, Force Captain, Princess of the Fright Zone

Voiced by: Lauren Ash (English)^{additional voice actors}Saori Terai (Japanese)

"I am brave, strong, loyal, and give great hugs. And I am going to be the best friend that I CAN BE!"

Scorpia is a gregarious and enthusiastic Force Captain who grew up in the Horde. Even though she possesses super-strength, she is quite clumsy and somewhat oblivious to just how strong she really is. With her eager-to-please attitude, she naturally falls into the role of minion. Even though her allegiance is to the Horde, deep down she has a good heart.

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• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Unlike her 80s counterpart, Scorpia is a Love Martyr to the emotionally volatile Catra who she is heavily implied to be in love with but Catra doesn't reciprocate. Also, her family's kingdom were apparently taken over first by the Horde and she is implied to be the Last of Her Kind.
• Adaptational Attractiveness: Her original incarnation had notably terrible taste in makeup and high cheekbones that made her look scary, whereas this incarnation, Scorpia is portrayed as much more attractive and buff.
• Adaptational Badass: In the original show, Scorpia didn't have Super-Strength and was easily defeated by She-Ra in physical fights. Here, she is roughly as strong as She-Ra and fights evenly with her.
• Adaptational Heroism: Unlike her '80s counterpart, Scorpia makes a Heel–Face Turn.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: Scorpia was a textbook villain in the '80s. She was cunning, mean, owned slaves, and had internal power struggles with Catra. In this incarnation, she is Affably Evil, is on great terms with Catra (at least from her point of view), and is capable of even treating her enemies with a degree of niceness. She and her 80's self provide the page image.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In the original 1980's cartoon, Scorpia hated Catra and constantly competed with her. Here, she sees Catra as her best friend.
• Affably Evil: Has a good heart despite being allied with the villains. She is nice to everyone, even some of the people she should be fighting against. The main reason she goes along with Catra's plans isn't that Catra's a persuasive leader so much is because Scorpia thinks they're best friends. When Catra goes insane trying to open the portal and attacks Entrapta, Scorpia is horrified at how terrible Catra has become.
• All of the Other Reindeer: She mentions she has problems with the other Princesses. While Catra assumes that it was because of her appearance, Scorpia never actually says that. It's quite possible the only problems she has with other Princesses are due to her being a Horde soldier. Season 4 reveals she's as much a victim of Horde propaganda as Adora, as she was told all her life that the other Princesses wouldn't accept her, but is proven wrong (and moved to tears) when she defects to them and finds that isn't the case.
• Amazonian Beauty: A very tall and muscular yet cute and good-looking young woman who cleans up nicely, as shown in "Princess Prom".
• Ambiguously Gay: Seems to have a massive one-sided crush on Catra, and when Sea Hawk tries flirting with her, she is utterly unresponsive (though that has the mitigating circumstance of her getting suspicious of him when he tried it). She also gets a metric ton of Ship Tease with Perfuma after siding with the Rebellion, especially in Season 5 when they've grown closer as friends.
• Animal-Themed Superbeing: A humanoid woman with scorpion traits.
• Anti-Villain: Works for the Horde, but is one of the nicest and most sympathetic. She even performs a Heel–Face Turn in Season 4 after realizing that Catra never valued her as a friend.
• Aristocrats Are Evil: Her royal family joined up with the Horde, earning the ire of princesses of other kingdoms. The truth might be a little more complicated, however, as a flashback shows the Horde taking the Black Garnet by force. She mentions in Season 4 that her grandfather surrendered after the Horde arrived.
• Asian Airhead: She's the Etherian equivalent of Asian and is notably not too bright.
• Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: A costume and name fit to make you say "Yep, that's a lady who does scorpion things".
• Babies Ever After: Scorpia ends up having a lot of kids according to a charity livestream. Catra babysits as practice for having a child of her own.
• Bad Powers, Good People: She fights with poison, spiked pincers, and creepy-looking red lightning, but she's one of the nicest members of the Horde, and gets her last and scariest superpower as part of her Heel–Face Turn.
• Bear Hug: As she says, she's a hugger. She frequently pulls Catra into tight hugs, which Catra shows open contempt for.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: After Scorpia defects to the Rebellion she cries Tears of Joy from being treated with kindness and respect from the princesses who she was initially told would reject her.
• Betrayal by Inaction: Scorpia does nothing when Catra knocks out Entrapta with a stun baton and arranges for Entrapta's exile to Beast Island. In Season 4, Scorpia's guilt gnaws at her until she leaves the Horde and alerts the Princesses to Entrapta's whereabouts.
• Beware My Stinger Tail: Besides her Super-Strength, she's got a scorpion's venomous tail.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Nice, cheerful, not entirely there... and a surprisingly competent soldier who's the Horde's biggest physical powerhouse both literally and metaphorically. Season 5 takes this up to eleven when we see her Brainwashed and Crazy- without her kindness and Apologetic Attacker tendencies she is a terrifying living weapon who launches Catra nearly a mile and can take on Perfuma and She-Ra singlehandedly.
• Beware the Silly Ones: She's a goofy, ditzy airhead but is deadly with her stinger and superhuman strength.
• Black Sheep: When the Horde crashed down on the Fright Zone, Scorpia's family welcomed them in with open arms and gave them access to their runestone. A flashback in Season 2, however, shows the Horde taking the Black Garnet by force and defeating scorpionfolk, putting this story in doubt. She mentions in Season 4 that her grandfather surrendered to the Horde.
• Bruiser with a Soft Center: She embodies this trope to a T.
• The Brute: Her job is to use her immense physical might to smash people for the Horde, and she's alarmingly good at it despite being an Affably Evil Cloudcuckoolander. She goes as far as refer to herself as "The Muscle" of the team.
• Cannot Keep a Secret: When Scorpia tries to explain how she's good at keeping secrets, she partway reveals a secret of Kyle's she promised not to tell.
• Co-Dragons: She and Mermista serve as Horde Prime’s main attack dogs on Etheria after being chipped.
• Crippling Overspecialization: Her huge claws are great for combat, but not much else. She has trouble operating a prison cell's electronic door because her claws are too bulky to punch in the access code.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Scorpia comes off as The Ditz and is easily excitable, but she is a scarily competent fighter, even managing to stand toe to toe against She-Ra, whom Catra calls too strong to take head-on. Usually, it takes multiple heroes or a healthy dose of luck to beat her.
• Cuddle Bug: She is, by her own admission, a hugger. Hell, she even provides the trope page image now!
• Cumbersome Claws: She has massive scorpion claws for hands. They're very strong and powerful, but too bulky for her to handle delicate tasks like pressing buttons on a keyboard.
• Cuteness Proximity: Her response to seeing Catra for the first time is to say "Kitty!" and hug her. She also falls victim to this in regards to the spybot in Season 2.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Her family's kingdom was taken over by the Horde and her family has never been seen or heard from.
• Dark Is Not Evil: A big, powerful, scary-looking scorpion lady whose family dubbed their castle "the Hall of Horror" and gains ominously glowing eyes when she uses her scary-looking crimson lightning powers after bonding with the Black Garnet. She's the nicest person on Team Horde, and does a Heel–Face Turn.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of the Token Good Teammate. Scorpia works for the Horde but is a genuinely nice, friendly person who prides herself on being so. That problem is that virtues like that aren't really valued in an evil army, so Scorpia doesn't seem to have any real friends besides Catra, and their relationship deteriorates as Catra becomes increasingly vile and starts doing things Scorpia can't look past. The result is that Scorpia eventually realizes that the Horde is not where she wants to be and performs a Heel–Face Turn.
• The Ditz: Scorpia is not on the same page as anyone else, and sometimes not even the same book. For example, when Entrapta is expositing about the Old Ones at length, she's scribbling furiously in a notebook... and then it turns out she's drawing stick-figures. In Season 4, she offers Emily the robot metal scraps to eat. Later in the season, when she dislikes the salad that Perfuma prepares for her, she offers the salad to Emily.
• Doesnt Know Her Own Strength: She's somewhat oblivious to just how strong she really is, and she’ll sometimes break an object she’s asked to handle.
• Dumb Is Good: 'Dumb' is putting it harshly, but she's the least intellectually adept member of the Horde leadership, and the one with the closest thing to a functional moral compass. Interestingly enough, it might actually be a subversion, since despite being The Ditz she actually proves to be competent and clever quite often (she went through force captain orientation training and in Season 1 she is more knowledgeable than Catra because of that, her predictions in "Roll with It" actually end up coming true, she is able to understand how Entrapta thinks pretty well, she manages to save her cover by singing to the crowd exactly how she's deceiving them and she is the only character in the whole show to see-through Double Trouble's disguise, even managing to use her own ditzy attitude to outsmart them). If it wasn't for her lack of self-esteem making her desire to see the best in Catra making her ignore all the red flags, she would actually come off as a Bunny-Ears Lawyer.
• Dumb Muscle: She isn't entirely stupid and is actually quite good at the whole soldiering business, but she's clearly operating at a lower intellectual level than any of the Horde's other senior officers. On the plus side, she's stronger and tougher than all of them combined (except Hordak when he's wearing his Powered Armor, and she's at the very least in his league even then).
• Establishing Character Moment: She shows up with a frown and seems to be a tough woman, but that quickly goes away as she glomps Catra in a hug and calls her "Kitty".
• Evil Counterpart: To Bow, both of them being cheerful and supportive towards their friends but often also far nicer to the enemies than they probably should, with Scorpia's reliance on strength contrasting with Bow's use of gadgets and archery. She even comes up with an Embarrassing Nickname for her group similar to Bow's, "The Super Pal Trio".
  • Season 4 seems to put Bow in a position Scorpia was in the previous two seasons, helplessly trying to salvage Glimmer and Adora's dissolving friendship, mirroring Scorpia's repeated attempts at making her and Catra's friendship work. A scene in Monster Island in particular mirrors a scene in A Moment of Truth - both Bow and Scorpia were forced to choose between one of their friends (Grimmer/Catra) wanting to do something desperate to win against the other side and the other friend (Adora/Entrapta) arguing it is too dangerous, and both are wracked with guilt over their decision. However, considering both Catra and Glimmer almost end destroying the world and that Catra literally stabbed Entrapta in the back, it is clear Bow made the right choice, and Scorpia didn't.
• Even Evil Has Standards: She supports Catra's every decision, but in Season 3, she's horrified by Catra's action of knocking Entrapta out to prevent her from talking Hordak out from opening the portal and having her sent to Beast Island. More so when Catra threatened her to keep her mouth shut.
• Explosive Breeder: It is unknown which one was carrying their children but according to the charity livestream, she and Perfuma had a LOT of kids.
• Extreme Doormat: She has a tendency to let people like Catra walk all over her and insult her, but not because she's insecure, she's just really good-natured and a little bit too dense to take insults at face value.
• Face of a Thug: Most people wouldn't expect someone who's (a) a Horde Force Captain and (b) a gigantic, heavily-armored scorpion-woman to be a scatter-brained sweetheart, and several members of the cast are visibly intimidated by her when they first meet her.
• Freudian Excuse: It's implied her family was seen as outcasts among the princesses, which apparently was their primary motivation to willingly join the Horde and give up their Runestone. Of course, a flashback in Season 2 very strongly implies that her people were merely the first that the Horde conquered, which would mean that this was simply a lie that Scorpia was told to keep her in line.
• Gentle Giant: One of the physically largest characters in the show and also surprisingly kind.
• Girly Bruiser: Despite being a hulking, muscular powerhouse, Scorpia has a major girly streak and loves any chance to indulge it, like the times she's been able to wear dresses.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Is very jealous of Adora's closeness with Catra.
• Grew a Spine: After several seasons' worth of abuse, she finally calls Catra 'a bad friend' and leaves her to go help Entrapta. This is less of a case of 'growing' a spine and more of 'finally using what was already there', as she was never lacking in self-confidence and took on the abuse because she thought she was a good friend and soldier.
• The Guards Must Be Crazy: She mistakes Seahawk for an inspector merely on his say-so, without making any sort of check for identification. She does eventually figure out he's an imposter, by recognizing him from the Princess Prom.
• Heel–Face Turn: As of Season 4, Scorpia realizes Catra is a poor friend and defects from the Horde as a result, to join the other princesses and rescue Entrapta (whom she realizes is the only real friend she's ever had) from Beast Island.
• Hereditary Homosexuality: She's gay and her nightstand shows she has two mothers.
• Hidden Depths: The lady can sing. (She's just exceptionally bad at choosing what to sing about.)
• Hypocritical Humor: She's introduced in the show by giving Catra an adorable bear hug and has zero trouble getting super friendly and cuddly with the people she likes. When Adora (someone she doesn't like) runs up to her to confront her about an issue, Scorpia admonishes her for violating her personal space.
  Scorpia: I happen to take it very seriously!
• I Can Change My Beloved: She believes that if she loves Catra enough, Catra will defrost into a better and happier person. It hasn't worked out that well, but Scorpia certainly tries. Catra outright ignoring Scorpia's feelings in Season 3 makes this significantly worse. By the end of Season 4, she gives up completely, and leaves the Horde to join the other princesses.
• Ignored Enamored Underling: In Season 2, Scorpia has obvious feelings for Catra, but Catra doesn't really notice. She commiserates with Sea Hawk about his similar issues with Mermista.
• I Just Want to Be Loved: All Scorpia truly wants is to be accepted and appreciated for who she is. The realization she won't receive this in the Horde, least of all from Catra, is what inspires her to defect. When she reaches Bright Moon, after a rocky start, she's so touched by Frosta thinking her pincers are cool that she tears up.
• Instant Sedation: Her stinger's venom can have this effect, as Bow and Glimmer are instantly knocked out when they are stung. However, the effects may be variable by species: stinging a disguised Double Trouble acts as more of a paralytic.
• Irrational Hatred: Her jealousy of Adora's relationship with Catra makes Adora one of the few people Scorpia genuinely dislikes. Her perception that Adora abandoned Catra certainly doesn't help. Letting go of her anger (in an alternate reality), among many other realizations, is part of what helps Scorpia realize that Catra's a bad friend.
• Last of Her Kind: The Fright Zone was where Scorpia's people hailed from, but after the Horde took over, no other member of her race besides her has been heard from again.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: Scorpia initially seems kind of clueless in peacetime, but when she's engaged in a Horde invasion or subterfuge, she's very competent.
• Lightning Bruiser: Scorpia moves surprisingly fast for such a big gal. She can match She-Ra for strength and can block Glimmer when she's doing her teleport-spam attacks. Season 3 has her repeatedly complaining about other people being fast and huffing to catch up, which could be a case of Characterization Marches On or could simply mean she's great at sprints and bad at maintaining speed.
  • Also played 100% straight once she attunes to the Black Garnet - backing her raw brute force up with lightning powers.
• Living Emotional Crutch: Scorpia unwittingly becomes this for Catra after Adora leaves the Horde, though she isn't able to prevent her friend's Sanity Slippage. When she finally leaves due to Catra's abusive behavior, Catra undergoes a complete Villainous Breakdown.
• Love Makes You Dumb: The reason Scorpia is Catra's Love Martyr. Catra's false kindness and an occasional shred of decency are enough to convince Scorpia that she can influence Catra into becoming a better person, never understanding that won't work because Catra doesn't want to be a better person.
• Magically Inept Fighter: Despite being a princess, her powers more or less boil down to being a half-scorpion, and Entrapta notes that she doesn't actually seem to draw power from her runestone. This changes in Season 4, when she connects to her runestone and begins to wield her own magic.
• Magic Knight: After finally connecting to her runestone at the end of Season 4 she becomes one of the most physically capable magic users in the show after She-Ra herself.
• Masculine–Feminine Gay Couple: Played with. She becomes an Official Couple with Perfuma after the final battle. While they are both femme Scorpia has Boyish Short Hair, is hinted to be a Perky Goth, wears pants (but does wear dresses at fancy events), and her main skills include brute strength and lightning powers; Perfuma is more traditionally feminine, has long hair, exclusively wears dresses (the main one being pink), and her powers include growing plants.
• Maybe Ever After: The series finale heavily implies she and Perfuma become an Official Couple.
• Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: She finally leaves Catra in Season 4 after being reminded by Emily that Catra abandons others and wouldn't hesitate to turn on her in turn.
• My Greatest Failure: Allowing Catra to send Entrapta to Beast Island becomes this for her in Season 4. It ends up being one half of the factors (the other being the collapse of what little remains of her friendship with Catra) that drives her Heel–Face Turn.
• Nice Girl: Although she's part of the Horde, Scorpia is a very kind, naive, and loving person. Which makes her Heel–Face Turn rather believable.
• Nominal Villain: Scorpia doesn't have a single mean or self-centered bone in her body, but works for the Horde because her family always has.
• No Sense of Personal Space: With Catra, who eventually institutes a rule — ten-foot distance at all times.
• Not So Above It All: Despite being one of the nicest members of the Horde (and the show general for that matter), she has no issues with criticizing and berating Kyle like the others.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Scorpia has on occasion taken advantage of her status as The Ditz to trick others.
  • After being ordered to obtain recordings of Entrapta's research, Scorpia began doubting her friendship with Catra. She tested Catra by presenting her with pieces of broken tech, stating she accidentally broke the recordings when extracting them, which Catra reacted to with verbal abuse, proving just how toxic she was.
  • When searching for Peekablue, Scorpia became suspicious after Peekablue behaved out of character. She pretended to remember him from a workshop hosted by Perfuma, acting oblivious to Peekablue's obvious fear. When Peekablue agreed with her, she revealed the lie and outed him as Double Trouble.
• Official Couple: A charity livestream confirms that she and Perfuma got together after the series.
• Only Friend: She eventually realises hers was Entrapta...about a season too late.
• The Paralyzer: Her stinger injects a paralyzing venom.
• The Peter Principle: Scorpia is a competent Force Captain and a fearsome fighter but a terrible commander. In "Roll With It" she proves herself an ineffectual leader by spending most of her time gushing over Catra giving her more responsibility, giving her soldiers impossible orders, being ignorant of how a spy-bot works, panicking over a clearly out-of-hand D&D game being the Rebellion's actual battle plan, and not even knowing which pass she's meant to be defending. It's so clear that she is out of her depth that Lonnie has to step up and become her Hypercompetent Sidekick.
• Perky Goth: Perky part is obvious but goth is a very subtle and easy to miss in that her first choices of dresses in "Princesses Prom" were straight out of an Elegant Gothic Lolita fashion. Even the dress she settled on has some small touches of it.
• The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: The squad she's presumably Force Captain of is never mentioned.
• The Pollyanna: She is the most upbeat and positive member of the Horde, and she rarely lets things like failure and toxic behavior from her friends get her down.
• Power Glows: After connecting to the Black Garnet, her eyes glow red when she's supercharged.
• Power Pincers: Good for fighting, bad for things like managing files and fiddly remote controls.
• The Quisling: Scorpia mentions that, when the Horde arrived, Scorpia's kingdom gave them the Black Garnet and actually helped them in their conquest of Etheria. Later flashbacks imply that she's wrong, and her people were simply the first conquered.
• Race Lift: The Etherian equivalent of half East Asian, as opposed to her original white design.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: Subverted. Red and black may be the colours of the Horde, but they're also the colours of her family's desert kingdom, and her Heel–Face Turn only doubles down on her colour scheme, as she gains control of the Black Garnet as a new princess and acquires the ability to project sinister red lightning.
• Reformed, but Rejected: Her initial appearance in Bright Moon in Season 4 has the entire Princess Alliance go after her for the times she's fought them before; Frosta is particularly annoyed about her blowing up the Princess Prom, and instinctively stinging Perfuma does not help. As for Shadow Weaver... nothing's really changed between them, and it's just like old times. Scorpia isn’t too bothered, because she could still try to find Entrapta on her own. They settle down after a little bit, though, with her and Frosta becoming fast friends, and even Glimmer bonding with her over a hug and a secret mission.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: She's both the princess of the Fright Zone and an active-duty Force Captain.
• Scary Scorpions: Played with. She's both a sweet-natured goofball and a dangerously competent physical powerhouse on the side of the villains, and while the show spends most of its time using her intimidating appearance for comedy, it will sometimes play it straight. Hugger or not, a gigantic armoured behemoth with an envenomed tail is not a fun thing to have coming at you.
• Scorpion People: A human woman with scorpion claws instead of hands and a scorpion tail with a paralyzing sting. From brief images we see of her family, these are common traits among all her people.
• Secret Test of Character: Engages in one during Season 4. Scorpia tells Catra that the recordings of Entrapta were in Emily's databanks, but Scorpia damaged the chip when she pulled it loose. Catra immediately starts insulting Scorpia, screaming at her that she's useless. At this, Scorpia just says "You're a bad friend" and leaves Catra in Stunned Silence. Unbeknownst to Catra, Scorpia was lying; Emily was just fine, and the chip was a random piece of junk. However, Catra's reaction convinces Scorpia that Catra isn't worth sticking around for anymore.
• A Shared Suffering:
  • In Season 2, she bonds with Sea Hawk, as both she and Sea Hawk feel used and unappreciated by their respective crushes.
  • This also plays a role in her quick bonding with Frosta. When she mentions that she was worried the princesses would treat her like an outcast because of her strange appearance, Frosta tells her that all the princesses are considered a bit unusual among their people, and the Alliance lets them all come together without needing to worry about that.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: She wears a stunning black dress adorned with garnets for the Princess Ball.
• Shock and Awe: At the end of Season 4 she reconnects with the Black Garnet and her magical abilities as a Princess awaken, giving her the ability to fire blasts of red electricity from her claws.
• Sickeningly Sweethearts: Apparently she and Perfuma become a very domestic couple.
• Silent Antagonist: After being brainwashed by Horde Prime, she doesn't speak a single word while firing red lightning at her enemies.
• Slasher Smile: In "Roll With It", while dangling Glimmer off a cliff.
• Statuesque Stunner: She's the largest of the main cast, and the moment she stepped out with that prom dress in Season 1 was the moment many fans went 'Daaaaaaaaaaaaamn' .
• Stepford Smiler: Scorpia has become this in Season 4 order to cope with the events of Season 3. She begins her day with positive affirmations, makes weak excuses for Catra threatening her, and takes care of Emily (apparently trying to forget that Emily's previous owner was exiled to Beast Island). Fortunately, she grows past this.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Judging by the family photo on her nightstand, Scorpia has one of her mothers' muscular build and eye shape, while having the other's white hair.
• Super-Strength: She's pretty much the only other person in the show who's anywhere near as physically strong as She-Ra, and she doesn't need a fancy magical transformation for it. There's a reason the Rebellion prefer to bring multiple princesses to fight her.
• Tall Is Intimidating: She has this effect on people, at least untill she starts hugging them.
• Tears of Joy: Her emotions are very close to the surface, put it that way. In particular, she openly weeps with happiness when, instead of fearing or rejecting her, Frosta thinks her pincers are the coolest thing ever and makes herself a set out of ice.
• Token Good Teammate: Compared to Hordak and Shadow Weaver or even Catra she is incredibly nice and friendly to everyone, even people she is supposed to be enemies with. She loses the "token" status when Entrapta joins since now it's two of them.
  • Ultimately deconstructed in Season 4: she realises that despite trying to be a good person, she's been complicit in some pretty nasty stuff, including the betrayal of her closest friend. It sets off her Heel–Face Turn.
• Transparent Closet: She looks like a stereotypical Butch Lesbian, is very obviously in love with Catra, and would be extremely surprised if you told her any of this. Apparently, it's perfectly normal to gush over someone's beauty, get jealous if they see other girls, and fantasize about being eternal soulmates if you're friends.
• Tuck and Cover: She protects Catra this way when Emily blasts through a wall to reach Entrapta, and Frosta after joining the Rebellion.
• Tyke-Bomb: She was raised in the Horde and now works for them.
• Undying Loyalty: Deconstructed. Scorpia is the most loyal to Catra but said loyalty causes her to excuse a lot of the latter's toxic behaviors and cruel actions.
• Unknown Rival: Scorpia sees Adora as her greatest rival for Catra's affection. Adora doesn't even notice, and when it's eventually spelled out for her she just takes it in stride.
• Unreliable Expositor: Scorpia's conversation with Catra in Season 1 has her state that her family joined the Horde completely willingly, but a flashback in Season 2 with Light Spinner shows what seems to be the Horde taking the Black Garnet by force. Also, she just wants to be Catra's friend. Definitely. That's it.
• Unskilled, but Strong: She's actually fairly good at her job, but she falls into this category when compared with other princesses. She can't use magic at all, let alone in the clever, creative ways they do, but she makes up for it in near-unmatched strength and durability. This trope applies less once she finally attunes to the Black Garnet, but she's still enough of a magical rookie to qualify.
• Violently Protective Girlfriend: Subverted. It's all but stated she has romantic feelings for Catra but the latter is oblivious but is nonetheless very protective of the cat. By the end, Catra ends up as an Official Couple with Adora while it's implied Scorpia begins a romance with Perfuma.
• Villainous Friendship: Somewhat one-sided, but she really enjoys Catra's company. She is also shown to get along pretty well with Entrapta once she joins the Horde, to the point where a reminder of what her relationship with Entrapta was like is one of the major instigators of her Heel–Face Turn.
• Visual Pun: She's a bug-girl who's very touchy-feely. In other words, she's a cuddle bug.
• Weaksauce Weakness: Any task which requires thumbs, because she has pincers. For example, she admits that she's bad at bowling for this reason. She also struggles with tasks that require fine motor skills, again because of her pincers. At one point she enters the wrong security code into a keypad several times because her pincers are too large for the tiny buttons.
• White Hair, Black Heart: Subverted. She has white hair, and is a member of the Horde, but is too Affably Evil to count.

Octavia

Octavia, Force Captain

Voiced by: Amy Landecker, Christine Woods (past)

Octavia is an octopus woman who serves as a Force Captain.

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• Beast Folk: Octavia is an octopus woman.
• The Cameo: She's amongst the Force Captains gathered before Hordak in "The Beacon".
• Deadpan Snarker: In "Boys' Night Out", she complains that Bow is bumming her out when she takes him, Swift Wind, and Sea Hawk captive.
• Disabled in the Adaptation: Catra cutting out her eye is exclusive to this version.
• Eyepatch of Power: Octavia wears her com-badge as an eyepatch over her right eye socket.
• Eye Scream: When Catra was a child, she scratched out Octavia's right eye.
• Green and Mean: She's a villain with green skin.
• Villain of the Week: She briefly returns as the main antagonist of the episode "Boys' Night Out".

Grizzlor

Grizzlor, Force Captain

Voiced by: Keston John

A Force Captain in the Horde.

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• Beast Man: Is a sasquach-looking bear man.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: He disappears after Season 1 with no explanation given. He does make a cameo in Season 3, but it was during an Alternate Reality Episode.
• Demoted to Extra: Was a major member of the Horde in the original, and initially set up like he'd be a recurring villain, but the only reason we know it's him here is because his name is shown in the credits.

Cadets

Lonnie

Lonnie, Cadet

Voiced by: Dana Davis

Lonnie is a former friend and teammate of Adora. She is also a cadet in the Horde.

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• Ambiguously Bi: Lonnie has a noticeable blush when Scorpia thanks her in "Roll With It". After the finale, ND Stevenson on his Twitter account stated that, in their mind, Lonnie is part of a polyamorus relationship with Rogelio and Kyle.
• Back for the Finale: After deserting the Horde with Kyle and Rogelio, Lonnie and the other cadets are seen living in the Crimson Wastes with Imp during Bow's Rousing Speech, being inspired to join the planet-wide final fight.
• Badass Normal: A human-like girl who nonetheless is a great fighter.
• Bald of Evil: Downplayed, as Lonnie hair is shaved on the sides of her head but she's a ruthless Horde soldier.
• Brainy Brunette: Brown hair, is a competent Elite Mook, and appears to be good with technology.
• Carry a Big Stick: Her preferred weapon seems to be some kind of energy mace.
• Childhood Friend Romance: According to ND Stevenson's headcanon, she begins a polyamourous romance with Kyle and Rogelio, her childhood friends.
• Curtains Match the Windows: Brown hair with light brown eyes.
• Dark Action Girl: She's a competent fighter and Horde soldier.
• A Day in the Limelight: She, Kyle, and Rogelio get the lion's share of the focus in "Protocol".
• Decomposite Character: In the original series, she was Adora's best friend in the Horde. Here, that was given to Catra. However, as she points out, whilst they weren't as close to her as Catra, Adora was still friendly with her, Kyle, and Rogelio so they feel just as betrayed.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: All three cadets are a deconstruction of the concept of Mooks. The only difference between them and the legions of faceless Horde soldiers the cast spends much of the series fighting is that these three have names and recurring roles. And it turns out that being soldiers in an evil army sucks, because their superiors boss them around and have no concern for their safety or well-being, and they're expected to just follow orders and not ask questions. Little wonder the three eventually desert when they've had enough of this treatment.
• The Dividual: While she, Kyle and Rogelio have fairly distinct personalities, but they're almost never seen seperately.
• Dreadlock Warrior: Has dreadlocks and is a skilled Horde soldier.
• Elite Mook: She's almost as good as Adora, and certainly a cut above the regular mooks employed by the Horde.
• Et Tu, Brute?: Not as strong as Catra, but she feels betrayed by Adora when she defected to the Rebellion.
• Foil:
  • Adora. Both are excellent trained soldiers that are raised in the Horde propaganda. Both realize the reality of the war and are protective towards their childhood friends. While Adora shows her caring side all the time, Lonnie hides hers under a tough facade. Their perspective of war also differs. Adora chooses to join the Rebellion and saves Etheria from the Horde invasion while Lonnie doesn't care about others besides Kyle and Rogelio (and extension, Scorpia) as long as the three of them are safe. They are also at bad terms with Catra throughout the show. Until the end of the show, Lonnie remains her rivalry with her, while Adora manages to reconcile with her and they form a romantic relationship.
  • Catra. Both are skilled Horde soldiers who are mean to other comrades. They both consider Adora as their friend in the past and are upset when she defects, becoming enemies with her in the process. Catra becomes more villainous before having a Heel–Face Turn in season 5, while Lonnie remains as the same tough solider and never show any Heel Realization about her causing harm to others as part of the Horde. Catra also mends her relationship with Adora by the end of the show while Lonnie remains bitter terms with her.
• Hairstyle Inertia: Lonnie has kept the same hairstyle since her youth.
• Heel Realization: She's largely a bully and she states that she considers every Horde officer expendable, including herself. However, after Kyle nearly gets himself killed trying to get the squad out of danger, she starts vocally demanding better treatment for the soldiers and berating Catra for sacrificing outposts.
• Hidden Depths: Part of her cynical worldview seems to come from the belief that Adora's defection and Catra's abusive treatment means there's no loyalty in the Horde.
• Interspecies Romance: Downplayed. According to ND Stevenson's headcanon, she enters a polyamorous romance with both Kyle and Rogelio; the former is also a human but the latter is a lizard person.
• Jerk Jock: With her notable skills, she also tends to be unnecessarily mean to Catra and Kyle.
• Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: She's aggressive and no-nonsense while Kyle and Rogelio are more sensitive, especially the former.
• Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: In the Season 4 finale, she allows Glimmer and Scorpia to break into the Fright Zone undetected, as she's tired of putting up with Catra's abuse. Then she deserts with Kyle and Rogelio.
• Noble Demon: Places some sense of fair play over winning. When Catra used a dirty trick to gain an advantage over Adora in a training session, Lonnie blindsided Catra before she could win. Asked later why she'd interfered, Lonnie said she'd merely been evening the odds.
• Non-Uniform Uniform: Although in design, her uniform is similar to Kyle and Rogelio's, hers are short-sleeved.
• Only Sane Man: In "Roll With It", she's stuck being Scorpia's far-more competent underling, which would border on Hypercompetent Sidekick if she wasn't doing any more than just using common sense and training.
  • As the show goes on, she eventually ends up becoming this for the entire Horde. She focuses on keeping her fellow cadets going even through her cynicism, acts as a voice of reason during Catra's Sanity Slippage, and keeps pragmatic motivations and goals as opposed to Catra's Revenge Before Reason or Hordak's Tragic Dream.
• Polyamory: Showrunner ND Stevenson headcanons Lonnie as being in a poly relationship alongside Kyle and Rogelio after the finale.
• Race Lift: Her counterpart in the original show, Lonhi, is a white woman. Here, she's African.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: She and her squad decide to leave the Horde at the end of Season 4, seeing that they aren't respected.
• Tomboyish Name: "Lonnie" is often attributed to males.
• Villain Has a Point:
  • Her criticisms for Catra's Bad Boss attitude, ungratefulness, and selfishness throughout season four are legitimate.
  • Tying into the above, Lonnie harshly tells Scorpia that she can't keep defending all of Catra's flaws.
  • She's right about the fact that Adora left them after her defection, not even caring about the loyalty the Horde taught them.
• We Used to Be Friends: Is not happy with Adora's defection from the Horde, if not to the extent that Catra's upset about it. Following Horde Prime's defeat, it's unclear whether or not Lonnie has accepted Adora and Catra again.
  Lonnie: You think you can just come back here!?
  Adora: I need to save my friends!
  Lonnie: We were your friends!

Kyle

Kyle, Cadet

Voiced by: Antony Del Rio

"I get in trouble for everything around here."

Kyle is a former friend and teammate of Adora. He is also a cadet in the Horde.

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• Affably Evil: He's a Horde soldier but is polite and friendly even to his enemies.
• All of the Other Reindeer: Seems mistreated and disregarded due to not being as strong as others in the Horde.
• Ambiguously Bi: He and Rogelio are shown to be very affectionate with one another; it is lightly implied they are or were an item. He's also clearly fascinated by Bow when they have Bow as a prisoner... and compliments him on his shirt. In Season 5, Scorpia accidentally lets it slip to Swift Wind that Kyle once confided in her that he was crushing on Rogelio. After the finale, ND Stevenson on their Twitter account stated that in her mind Kyle is part of a polyamorus relationship with Rogelio and Lonnie.
• Armor-Piercing Question: He delivers one to Catra in Season 4, simply questioning why she's so mean to everyone. Catra is genuinely taken aback for a moment.
• Back for the Finale: Is shown to be living in the Crimson Wastes with Lonnie, Imp, and Rogelio and listening to Bow's Rousing Speech before the planet-wide Final Battle.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: People at the Horde treat him so badly that when Bow shows him basic kindness, it's enough for him to start helping him and feeding him information about Glimmer and the Horde.
• Butt-Monkey: Things tend not to go well for him and people are always blaming him for everything and whenever a fight breaks out you can be sure that Kyle will suffer the most ignoble and humiliating defeat. Even in a Lotus-Eater Machine that makes everything "perfect" for the denizens of Etheria so they'll remain complacent as a malfunctioning portal collapses reality in on itself, Kyle spends his time being dismissed and casually exploited by his friends.
• Childhood Friend Romance: Showrunner ND Stevenson headcanons him as being in a polyamourous romance with Lonnie and Rogelio, his childhood friends.
• A Day in the Limelight: "Protocol" serves as this for him, Lonnie, and Rogelio.
• Dumb Blonde: Downplayed. He's kind of a klutz but is a capable engineer and soldier.
• The Engineer: "Roll With It" shows that Kyle is a capable engineer.
• Extreme Doormat: He does little to stand up for himself against the bullying he receives. This changes in Season 4, where he begins to grow a spine and his other squad members start to respect him more as a result.
• Grew a Spine: Catra's reign as co-leader of the Horde eventually runs everyone so ragged, Kyle steps in front of her when she prepares to attack Lonnie and tells her off to her face, which Catra finds outright shocking.
• The Heart: His growing willingness to put himself in danger for the sake of Lonnie and Rogelio make them start genuinely appreciating him. Their growing bond as a result eventually pushes them to make their hasty escape from the Horde.
• Interspecies Romance: Downplayed. Showrunner ND Stevenson headcanons him as being in a polyamorous romance with both Lonnie and Rogelio; the former is also a human but the latter is a lizard person.
• The Load: Both Lonnie and Rogelio seem competent and are even able to hassle the Best Friend Squad when they're trying to escape the Fright Zone and manage to do respectably during training sessions. Kyle seems to have trouble not tripping over his own feet and needs to be rescued much of the time.
  Scorpia: "How have you not been fired yet?"
  • Subverted in Season 4; after he finds his confidence in the episode "Protocol", Kyle has a scene wherein he returns from a successful mission, celebrating and bragging about how well he did — indicating that he's become a more capable soldier.
• Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: He's sensitive and kind of a doormat while Lonnie is aggressive and demanding at times.
• Minion with an F in Evil: He is really bad at his job. It takes very little for Bow to trick him into helping him escape.
• Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Downplayed. He hasn't left the Horde or anything, but he fed Bow important information since Bow treated him better in the short time they knew each other than the Horde treated him his entire life.
  • However, in Season 4, he deserts from the Horde along with Lonnie and Rogelio after letting Glimmer and Scorpia into the Fright Zone unopposed because of how far Catra has been pushing them.
• Nice Guy: One the few very friendly members of the Horde, barring Scorpia.
• Non-Uniform Uniform: Kyle is the only cadet shown to use a long-sleeved version of the uniform that he shares with Lonnie and Rogelio.
• Polyamory: He's part of a poly relationship with Rogelio and Lonnie after the finale, according to the headcanon of the creator.
• The Scapegoat: Played for Laughs in Season 2; after they lose a major Horde outpost, the rest of the squad decides to place the blame solely on him.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: He and the rest of Lonnie's squad decide to leave the Horde at the end of Season 4, seeing that they aren't respected.
• This Loser Is You: The writers have said Kyle is meant to be a subversion of the usual story of The Everyman turning out to be an important individual who helps drive the plot, instead being nothing more than an unremarkable person forever stuck on the sidelines.
• Token Good Teammate: Shown in Season 4. Despite being bullied and abused, he genuinely believes there's a bond of friendship between the orphans he grew up with. When Lonnie tries to deny this, he snaps and tries to save his team members by braving an acid storm alone.
• Took a Level in Badass: Kyle starts off as the Butt-Monkey of the Horde but gradually grows into a more competent and confident soldier.

Rogelio

Rogelio, Cadet

A lizard-like soldier that is part of Adora and Catra's squad. He seems to have a soft spot for Kyle.

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• Adults Are More Anthropomorphic: A Twitter drawing by ND Stevenson has him resemble a normal lizard as a kid. He had a significant growth spurt which apparently included the ability to stand upright.
• All There in the Manual: He is the only member of Adora's squad not to be named in Season 1, though it was revealed in a crew tweet that his name is Rogelio. Lampshaded in Season 2, when Lonnie refers to him by name and Scorpia admits she didn't actually know his name before that point.
• Ambiguously Bi: He seems to have a sort of soft spot for Kyle and is constantly helping him or even carrying him to safety. In the past, they were shown to be even closer with his arm slung around Kyle. Season 3 hints at this more, as his locker has a couple of drawings posted inside: one of Kyle with a heart beside him, and the other of a creature that can be interpreted as a mashup of Rogelio and Kyle, punctuated with R <3 K. After the finale, ND Stevenson on their Twitter account stated that in his mind, Rogelio is part of a polyamorous relationship with Kyle and Lonnie.
• Back for the Finale: Is shown living in the Crimson Wastes with Lonnie, Imp, and Kyle during Bow's Rousing Speech before Etheria's final fight.
• Canon Foreigner: Unlike most of the other characters in the show, he has no counterpart in the original series.
• Childhood Friend Romance: Begins polyamory romance with Lonnie and Kyle, his childhood friends, according to the showrunner's headcanon.
• A Day in the Limelight: Gets one in "Protocol" which he shares with Lonnie and Kyle.
• Elite Mook: Like Lonnie, he's tougher than the average cadet, capable of taking two Princesses on at once and giving them a good fight.
• Gentle Giant: Every time we see him outside battle he is taking care of Kyle.
• Green and Mean: A green-scaled lizard who is a Horde soldier.
• Hidden Depths: Judging from his long unintelligible speech, he does have a lot of feelings for his comrades that he can't quite communicate. Also, if the drawings in his locker are of any indication, he is an artist, and a fairly skilled one at that.
  • According to Scorpia in "Legend of the Fire Princess", Rogelio gave her some tips on shaping ration bars into attractive picnic fare; this suggests he knows a few things about cooking, or at least the aesthetic aspects of food presentation.
• Interspecies Romance: He enters a polyamorous romance with both Lonnie and Kyle, according to the headcanon of ND Stevenson; both of whom are human.
• Lizard Folk: An anthropomorphic lizard character. Although others like him are seen, he is the only reptilian with any focus. Curiously he speaks only in growls, while other lizard-people (eg: Tung Lashor) can speak perfect English.
• Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Downplayed. He's not on the same level as Kyle but Rogelio is generally more thoughtful than the harsh Lonnie.
• Non-Uniform Uniform: Downplayed compared to Catra and Adora, but he is the only cadet to be wearing a sleeveless uniform.
• Out of Focus: Largely because of his inability to speak English, he has even less characterization and screen time than Lonnie or Kyle. It's not even until the second season that anyone even mentions his name.
• Pet the Dog: Unlike most of the Horde cadets, he seems to treat Kyle in a very friendly and affectionate manner, in some cases even saving him from danger.
  • Possibly averted in "Roll With It", as he doesn't make much of an attempt to defend Kyle from Scorpia's criticisms. On the other hand, she is a Force Captain; there's not much Rogelio can do about her without risking an insubordination charge, so he has to pick his battles carefully.
  • In "Protocol", during his A Day in the Limelight with Kyle and Lonnie, this is sort of touched upon; we see that he gets annoyed and exasperated with Kyle and doesn't appreciate his frequent bursts of goofiness and incompetence, and isn't always too good at communicating his feelings... but he still cares for Kyle very much; he'll step in to save him from danger when needed, or look after him when he's injured.
• Polyamory: Is apparently a part of a poly relationship alongside Kyle and Lonnie after the finale, according to showrunner ND Stevenson's headcanon.
• Reptiles Are Abhorrent: Played with. Rogelio is a big reptilian and the only one of the Lizard Folk species of the show shown to have any importance, and is a notable muscle for the Horde. In the background, it can be seen that many like him are part of the Horde's army. At the same time, he does have Hidden Depths, and is one of very few people who ever gives Kyle the time of day,
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: He and his squad decide to leave the Horde at the end of Season 4, seeing that they aren't respected.
• Tail Slap: He's capable of using his tail like this. The attack is strong enough to launch Entrapta and Mermista flying with a single hit.
• The Unintelligible: While he is shown to be quite verbose in Season 4, he communicates in roars and growls that aren't quite understood by the rest of the cast. Even Kyle and Lonnie, who grew up with him, can only shrug and guess at what he's saying.
• The Voiceless: Unlike Kyle and Lonnie, he never speaks to anyone. The credits don't have his voice actor since he doesn't talk. He does roar and growl, though.

Other Members

Imp

Imp, Spymaster

He seems to be Hordak's pet at first glance, but he is really Hordak's spy.

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• Adaptational Attractiveness: In the 1980s cartoon, Imp was a chubby pig-nosed creature. In the 2018 reboot, he looks like a humanoid little boy with blue skin and bat wings.
• Adaptational Superpower Change: In the 1980s, Imp had the power to shapeshift into anything. Now, instead, he can record and repeat anything he hears.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: With regards to Entrapta. The original versions of the characters were barely able to coexist, with Entrapta being one of two Hordesmen shown to actually get into a fight with Imp (and the only one to do so in Hordak's presence). While they aren't exactly buddies here, Imp seems far friendlier with Entrapta than any of the other Etherians, pulling her out of the way when Hordak loses his temper in Season 3 and even voicing his disapproval over Hordak's poor gratitude when it comes to the new exoskeleton.
• Adorable Evil Minions: Apart from the bat-wings and blue skin, he looks just like a cherub. Hordak even pets him from time to time!
• Ambiguous Robots: Between his ability to record and reiterate conversations and occasionally making distinctly mechanical-sounding noises, he's very likely not the demonic living creature he appears on the surface. Being the minion of Hordak helps push him in this direction as well.
• Anti-Villain: When all's said and done, he's really just a kid looking out for his brother/father Hordak (who's not all that enthusiastic about being evil in the first place). He can appear sinister and cruel, but usually only against fellow Horde officers who think they can play the Bastard Understudy, and he rarely comes into conflict with the Rebellion.
• Big Brother Is Watching: Even before the Small Role, Big Impact event listed below, it's foreshadowed Imp is keeping any eye on Shadow Weaver's team in an early episode when he and the witch share a Meaningful Look through a monitor.
• Ceiling Cling: When spying on Horde minions, Imp often perches on ceiling rafters to stay out of sight.
• Creepy Shadowed Undereyes: The original character had these too, but the Monochromatic Eyes here makes this trope far more effective. Especially when he's actually spying.
• Cute Little Fangs: Season 2 reveals he sports a set of these, though the new model's lack of the original's overbite means they're hidden most of the time unless he's giving one of his nastier smiles.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
  • He perches on Hordak's shoulder and happily accepts petting from him. In Season 3, Imp looks worried when Hordak's condition worsens.
  • In Season 3, Imp has shown to develop a liking to Entrapta, such as gently leading her out of Hordak's lab as to not anger him further and then prodding him into properly thanking her.
• The Gadfly: Imp seems to enjoy getting under other people's skin. In "Reunion", he taunts Catra by repeating her line about losing Shadow Weaver, then lands on Hordak's arm and smiles wickedly at her. Even Hordak isn't safe from his teasing. In Season 4, when Hordak asks "Was this your doing, Entrapta?", Imp repeats Entrapta's name over and over, making his master blush.
• Good Wings, Evil Wings: He sports a much larger set of bat wings than his 1980s counterpart.
• It Can Think: In the first season, Imp appears as simply a well-trained beast kept to keep tabs on people and mimic what they say for his master. "Signal" makes it pretty clear he understands what's going on on some level, while his role in Season 2 shows he has malicious joy in ratting people out. While he has yet to say anything for himself, it's pretty evident there is an intelligence guiding the little guy.
• Little Bit Beastly: He has long bat-like ears, bat wings, fangs, and a tail. While he doesn't speak for himself, he makes bestial sounds on occasion, such as growls and shrieks.
• Mix-and-Match Critters: Imp was genetically engineered by fusing Hordak's DNA with that of an Etherian bat-like creature. It's implied he might be part-robot too; see Ambiguous Robots above.
• Monochromatic Eyes: Has no visible pupils this time around, much like his master.
• Morality Pet: A very important one to Hordak. He's a failed clone of him, just like Hordak was to Horde Prime. Unlike the father-brother who exiled him, though, Hordak makes sure to treat Imp with unfailing kindness and respect as his most trusted lieutenant. For his part, Imp also seems to care for his creator, and badgers him into being nice to Entrapta when he sees she's good for him.
• No Badass to His Valet: Imp feels comfortable enough around Hordak to perch on his shoulder and enter Hordak's inner sanctum at whim. In Season 3, he even kicks Hordak's foot to prompt Hordak into thanking Entrapta for her efforts.
• Nonhuman Sidekick: Appears to once again be serving as Hordak's sidekick.
• Our Imps Are Different: It's a small, devilish figure who mostly acts as Hordak's Familiar and can't talk, but can perfectly mimic voices it's heard, which it uses to spy on Hordak's subordinates for him. Season three implies that the Imp is a failed clone of Hordak.
• Psychotic Smirk: He gives one to Catra after he rats her out to Hordak in "Reunion".
• Put on a Bus: He doesn't appear in Season 5 until a brief shot near the climax shows that Kyle, Rogelio, and Lonnie are taking care of him. It is unknown if he reunites with Hordak.
• Right-Hand Cat: Is almost always seen at the side of his master.
• Shoo Out the Clowns: Is notably absent when the Season 4 finale starts and Hordak and Catra begin to fight. Aside from a brief shot in Season 5, he does not appear for the rest of the series, and it is unknown if he reunites with Hordak.
• Small Role, Big Impact: He only does one thing in the first season, but... he discovers Catra and Entrapta's plans to experiment on the Black Garnet and relays this to Hordak, who approves. This leads to: Shadow Weaver's demotion; the Runestone throwing the planet out of balance; the attack on Bright Moon, which ultimately reunites the Princess Alliance; and Catra's promotion to Hordak's new second-in-command.
• Speaks in Shout-Outs: Repeats what he hears in a perfect imitation of the person's voice, usually the most incriminating phrase. Creepily, he does this with his mouth open and without moving his lips at all.
• Villainous Friendship: With Hordak. The two care for each other greatly, and Imp is the only member of the Horde who's willing and able to tease him or let him know when he's being an idiot (apart from Catra, but that comes from a far less wholesome place).
• Voice Changeling: Is able to replay any conversations he hears, down to using the participants' voices.
• The Voiceless: Zigzagged. He doesn't seem able to speak himself, but he can replay any sounds he hears.
• Wall Crawl: Imp can effortlessly scale vertical surfaces such as pillars and pipes.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: After four seasons of being Hordak's ever-present companion and "son" in a sense, he makes a brief cameo in the Season 5 finale, seen living in the Crimson Wastes with Lonnie, Kyle, and Rogelio. It is unknown if he reunites with Hordak.
• Winged Humanoid: He looks like a little boy with bat wings. His wings are functional, allowing for short bursts of flight, as seen in "Moment of Truth" when he harries Glimmer. According to Geiger, the wings and tail come from fusing his Hordak DNA with that of an Etherian bat-like creature, which is briefly glimpsed on Beast Island.
• Yellow Eyes of Sneakiness: Imp has bright yellow eyes and his job is to sneak around the Fright Zone, spying on soldiers' conversations to relay them back to his master.

Spoiler Characters: The Galactic Horde

WARNING: These characters are walking spoilers. All spoilers are unmarked in their folders.

The Armada's Crown

Horde Prime, Emperor of the Horde

“All creatures, no matter how small, have a place in service of Horde Prime.”

^{Click here to see his true form}

Voiced by: Keston John (English)

"Rejoice Etheria, for Prime has come to you. Do not fear, for you have given the opportunity to share in a world soon to be remade in my image. But first, you must prove yourself worthy. Your leader, your She-Ra, she would see you suffering darkness for her sake. Cast aside this false hero and deliver her to me. Prime sees all. Prime knows all. They will not escape my judgement."

The founder and ruler of the intergalactic Horde Empire and Hordak’s genetic progenitor. After receiving a message from Hordak, he heads to Etheria to check up on his "little brother". Once there, he learns about the Heart of Etheria and decides to make the planet another of his conquests so he can take control of the Heart.

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• 0% Approval Rating: Not one of the people under his command willingly obeys him. Catra only did so because of 1.) her cowardice and 2.) she's now lost everyone who was ever close to her and feels that she can't turn back now. His presence on Etheria pushes everybody to fight back against him, and even Catra eventually realizes that throwing her lot in with him isn't worth it.
• Above Good and Evil: 'Good' and 'evil' are concepts that only matter when more than one person in the universe has any value, and Prime is openly contemptuous of them as the preoccupation of lesser beings.
• Abusive Parents: Takes this trope up to eleven with Hordak. Prime is Hordak's genetic progenitor, and thus the closest thing he has to a father. However, Horde Prime treats his clones like disposable tools, robs them of individuality, and refuses to tolerate any displays of autonomy from them, Hordak included. In a flashback, Horde Prime neck-lifts Hordak when the clone first exhibits a defect, then casts him out. Everything Hordak does thereafter is a futile attempt to win back Horde Prime's approval. When the two men reunite in "Destiny, Part 2", Horde Prime humiliates Hordak for his displays of free will, neck-lifts him, and subjects him to a Mind Rape that concludes with a mind-wipe. Unfortunately for Prime, the effect isn't permanent.
• Achilles' Heel: Magic, or rather his lack of understanding of it is revealed on Krytis to be his major weakness. Prime's inability to counter Melog's illusions led to his retreat from the planet and then attempting to Orwellian Retcon his invasion of the planet. Even in the finale when he attempts to hijack the Heart of Etheria, his method is to brute-force his way through its security systems, overriding the need for princesses to activate it. Finally, it's She-Ra using magic to expel Prime's consciousness from Hordak that is what destroys him for good.
• Adaptational Attractiveness: In the original series, he is a cloud-like Eldritch Abomination whose face we never see, and whose mere visage was implied to be horrific to look at. In this series, he's a humanoid man from the same species as Hordak, albeit with some very disturbing features such as multiple eyes, green sclerae, and a green mouth. Come the final episode, however, it's revealed that Prime's current body is one of several that he had possessed throughout the ages and, when exorcised by Adora, he resembles a giant black cloud that is implied to be his true form, thus putting him back in line with his classic appearance.
• Adaptational Jerkass: Despite not being a Card-Carrying Villain like the original series' counterpart he is far eviler. The original Horde Prime just berated his underlings for failing him; this version sent Hordak out to die for a perceived defect and mind raped him for his independence. That is without him proudly stating that he has destroyed numerous worlds in the past and initially planning to destroy Etheria before he was convinced the planet had value. During his Villainous Breakdown he not only decides to destroy the planet, but the rest of the universe out of spite.
• Adaptational Personality Change: Horde Prime in the original series had a more dystopian taste for his empire, of which the Fright Zone was a model. Here, Horde Prime envisions a more utopian empire, but one centered on his likeness.
• Adaptational Seriousness: Hordak encountering Horde Prime in the original series was never a walk in the park and was typically unpleasant, but even though he was an Eldritch Abomination tyrant, he had mundane interests like other low-level mortals did. Horde Prime in this incarnation ISN’T played for laughs in any way, and his sadistic treatment of Hordak only gives the heroes a reminder that he’s a legitimate threat to theirs and the entire universe’s existence.
• Affectionate Gesture to the Head: He touches Hordak's face in order to establish a telepathic link with him, but this quickly turns into facial groping as he invades Hordak's mind. He also touches Glimmer's face in a manner that feels both affectionate and predatory.
• Aliens Are Bastards: A genocidal, tyrannical warmonger who has brought almost the entire universe under his heel.
• Ambiguously Bi: Horde Prime, befitting his narcissism and cult-leader qualities, has No Sense of Personal Space with anyone. When we meet him, he runs his hand across Hordak's armored chest in a very unnatural way, and then plugs into his mind to brainwash him. He cups the faces of Catra and Glimmer while they are on his ship, making them visibly uncomfortable, gets very up close and personal with them, and cups the face of a clone, who visibly blushes at Prime's touch. While nothing is explicit, apart from the fact that he loves no one but himself, it's very hard not to at least notice that Prime's creepier tendencies extend to everyone.
• And I Must Scream: He can "chip" others and completely control them but they're perfectly aware that they're controlled, of their surroundings and what they're doing. Horde Prime perfectly aware about this function but he either doesn't care or enjoys this.
• And Then What?: The show makes it clear that Prime's narcissistic hunger can't be sated even when he gets everything he wants - his Extra Eyes, for instance, are because in an empire of his clones, he still has to be better than himself.
• Animal Motifs: His throne and the computer screen behind it resemble a peacock's tail, which is entirely appropriate for a narcissist like Horde Prime.
• Antagonist Abilities: Despite being a non-combatant himself, he can see everything through his clones and the people he chipped. Heck, he can Body Surf through any of them should his current body dies, as an example is shown through Hordak. Also, he can control everything in his own ship with just a Badass Fingersnap.
• Arch-Enemy: Considers She-Ra, if not the individuals that assumed her form, to be his oldest enemy. He also took great pleasure in the thought of being rid of her for good.
  Horde Prime: Goodbye, my oldest enemy.
• Ascetic Aesthetic: It's not until you really see Prime's throne room that you realize just how much more clean the greater Horde's visual language is than Hordak's offshoot. Glowing green, gleaming white and stainless steel dominate his and his ship's design—further entrenching just how unsettling he is.
• Asshole Victim: In the Grand Finale, She-Ra exorcises his spirit from Hordak's body and destroys it, killing Prime for good. This is in stark contrast to every other major antagonist who gets some form of redemption before the series end. Considering the fact the he has spent untold millennia subjugating the entire universe and committed more evil in one season than any other villain in the show's first four, no tears were shed after Adora killed him.
  Adora: He's gone.
  Catra: Good riddance.
• Assimilation Plot: Horde Prime can exert mind control on any being he wishes, either by immersing them in a pool of clone life force or implanting a chip in the back of their neck to override their nervous system. Throughout Season 5, he exerts mind control over countless Etherians this way. Unusually for this trope, this is a means to an end rather than an end in and of itself - Prime just doesn't have enough interest in other people to keep them around as his worshippers for all eternity, and tends to discard them once they stop being fun and/or useful. There's a reason he has an entire trophy room of treasures from destroyed planets.
• Ax-Crazy: Underneath his elegant design and personality is a vicious, petty child willing to destroy the entire universe in an act of spite.
• Badass Cape: Horde Prime usually wears a waist-cape to indicate his status as The Emperor.
• Badass Fingersnap: Seems to be how he activates most of his technology, made more effective by the silver claw ornament he wears over one finger on each hand which gives his finger-snaps a metallic echo.
• Bad Boss: Narcissists are terrible employers, and Prime is the biggest narcissist in the galaxy. All sentient life exists to obey his whims and fuel his appetites and will be disposed of the instant that it bores or annoys him. Anyone with a history of treason receives extra scrutiny, and is at high risk of getting brainwashed as punishment. Catra tries to ingratiate herself with him as a potential lieutenant, but realizes within the span of a couple of conversations that he's impossible to work for, only doing what he says out of intimidation.
• Bait the Dog: During his first real scene. He's clearly not a good person, seeing how ruthlessly he dispatches Hordak but his seemingly sincere apology to Glimmer for all the trouble his brother caused her suggests that maybe he's at least an Affably Evil Reasonable Authority Figure. When Glimmer takes this as a good sign, he laughs it off and proceeds to threaten both her and the entire planet to avoid the "embarrassment" of Hordak's failed conquest getting out. But, considering all the kinds of unimaginable torture he inflicts on his victims, you’d be lucky if he decides to kill you first.
• Berserk Button: He's an extreme narcissist who is personally insulted by the idea of anyone other than him having (or using) free will rather than mindlessly obeying his whims. This goes double if the person exhibiting independent thought is one of his own clones, like Hordak.
• Beware the Superman: He's an ancient being who is physically strong, can transfer his consciousness to other bodies if he is injured or grows old, and can connect telepathically with his hive mind. He uses his vast knowledge and technology to conquer the universe and dominate an army of slaves. He refers to the Etherians as "wretched creatures" and uses both the Etherians and his clones as expendable tools.
• Big Bad: At the end of Season 4, he has brainwashed Hordak, captured Catra and Glimmer, and set about making Etheria the "jewel" of this empire. All of this means he's the main threat the heroes have to face.
• Big Brother Bully: He sees Hordak as his little brother, and was more than willing to send him to his death just for being a defective clone. When the two men meet face to face, he berates Hordak, mind-wipes him, and decides to have the clone "reconditioned".
• Big "NO!": He screams this as She-Ra exorcises him from Hordak's body.
• Broken Pedestal: Becomes one to Wrong Hordak when the latter learns of his failure to conquer a magical planet and subsequent attempt to cover his tracks.
• Body Surf: He's survived throughout the centuries by transferring his consciousness to new cloned bodies, or "vessels", whenever Possession Burnout and other issues render them unsuitable for him anymore, and he implies that he can do it with those he's chipped as well. He still keeps the bodies around in storage when he needs to access their memories. When Hordak drops Prime's central body to its death, Prime just leaps into Hordak's body to survive. Ultimately he cannot die until Adora exorcises him for good.
• The Bully: Strip away his titles, and this is Horde Prime at heart. Horde Prime never personally engages in a fair fight. We only see him physically assault people who are smaller and weaker than him (Entrapta, when he lifts her by her hair), or who are too injured to defend themselves (Hordak, after being powered down and injured from his fight with Catra) to make himself feel big. Fittingly, when those he oppresses gain the will to fight back and win, he loses it.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Idly remarks upon seeing a hologram of Mara as She-Ra that he must have fought her at some point, but he has no memory of Mara's particular incarnation of She-Ra. Presumably the memories he does have of any conflict he had with Mara would be stored in the remains of his vessel from that period. He follows up by stating he's also fought many like her, and outlived them all.
  Horde Prime: How strange. I must have fought her, must have known her face. But I have no memory of it. I've seen so many like her over the years. One by one, all their faces have been lost to oblivion. Just as yours will be.
• The Caligula: He's a Galactic Conqueror who's been completely swallowed by his own narcissistic hunger - irrational, irredeemable, insatiable, and an enemy to all that exists. The entire final season is devoted to plumbing how deep his madness goes.
• Character Catchphrase: "Prime sees all. Prime knows all."
• Cheated Death, Died Anyway: The Hive Mind was created in such a way to allow Horde Prime to exist beyond death and rule forever, but She-Ra exorcises his essence, purging him for good.
• Cold Ham: Prime loves the sound of his own voice, but keeps his tone even and almost faux-polite.
• Color Motifs: White and green, the former representing cold, sterile technology and the latter a Sickly Green Glow.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: In Hordak's flashback/story to Entrapta of his past, Horde Prime is primarily illustrated in green as opposed to Hordak's red. When viewers see him in Season 4, he has green sclera, green teeth, and a green mouth.
• Control Freak: As a nightmarishly extreme narcissist, he's obsessed with maintaining peace and order - or, to put it another way, he needs to make sure that he's the only one who makes decisions about anything. There's a reason all his lieutenants are mind-controlled clones.
• Cool Ship: He travels the universe in his spacecraft, the Velvet Glove. Its Meaningful Name (which was also the name of Horde Prime's HQ ship from the original show) can also refer to HP's superficial politeness which masks a ruthless desire to remake the universe in his own image.
• Creepy Souvenir: Aboard his ship, he keeps a trophy room full of objects and weapons from worlds he has "brought peace to" (read: destroyed).
• Cult: His army is more of a cult indoctrinated to serve him than a military space fleet. Horde Prime speaks of bringing light and order to the universe, his clones are brainwashed into servitude through memory wiping, mental conditioning, and fear of dissention, and they wear hooded robes and chant in unison to sing his praises. In an interview with Polygon, showrunner ND Stevenson admitted that Horde Prime was modeled on real-life suicide cult leaders.
• Cult of Personality: Taken to its ultimate, bizarre extreme. As a Hive King, he exists as an empire of clones of himself united in worship of himself.
• Custom-Built Host: His essence can exist in nearly any host. He even threatens to use Catra for this purpose, even though it's implied to be fatal. The body he's seen most often in, the muscular one with the cyber hair, is implied to be the form he can be most comfortable in regardless of the needed maintenance. If the time comes, he'll have to clone a new body for him to inhabit.
• Cyborg: His "dreadlocks" are cables that allow him to interface with his clones. His character sheet posted on Ray Geiger's website shows that he has seven cybernetic ports on his back, into which his cables plug when not in use.
• Dark Is Evil: His spirit, once deprived of a host, is revealed to be a swirling mass of pure darkness in contrast to the heavenly light he likes to present himself as.
• Dark Messiah: Horde Prime presents himself as an almighty crusading conqueror whose convictions are as absolute as he is powerful, setting forth to bring self-described "salvation", unity, and peace to the Universe through merciless bloodshed, brainwashing and cruelty.
• Deader than Dead: When Adora exorcises him from Hordak's body, this also obliterates his soul completely so that he can't jump to any other vessel.
• Death by Irony:
  • Horde Prime constantly talks about spreading his "light" across the universe and purging anything that doesn't conform to his standards (which is to say anything that isn't just a version of him). In the end, he is defeated when She-Ra uses her own light to purge him out of Hordak's body, and to add to the irony, his true form is revealed to be a dark cloud as oppose to the pure light he claimed to be.
  • His prime body is destroyed when Hordak, whom he previously called an abomination unfit to serve as his equal, threw off his brainwashing and killed him. Horde Prime then immediately takes said lesser body for his own before being destroyed by She-Ra.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of the Invincible Villain. Having conquered galaxy after galaxy, Horde Prime equates perfection with success; by achieving absolute victory, there’s really nothing left to achieve, so he sees little incentive to improve himself in any way and he ends up underestimating those he's seemingly crushed under his heel. Also, because he has known nothing but victory for eons, he's incredibly arrogant and he cannot fathom the possibility that he can actually lose. When Bow inspired others to rise against him and Hordak stands up to him, making his first taste of true failure imminent, Prime completely loses his mind and ultimately attempts to destroy all of reality in a fit of rage, all because his fragile ego simply cannot handle the prospect of defeat.
• Demiurge Archetype: While also being a Satanic Archetype (see below) Prime enforces peace and order upon the galaxy, destroying then rebuilding everything in his image while erasing all knowledge of his failures. He has a huge military of spacecraft, robots and clones connected to a hive mind who espouse his dogma, and even brainwashes people on invaded planets, supplanting their civilizations. Immortal and narcissistic, everything exists to where he is the god, the church, and the churchgoer with no room for individualism. He is Light Is Not Good incarnate, as he's always espousing how he'll bring light to the universe^note Ironically, when Adora destroys him, he's a mass of shadows. Series creator ND Stevenson admitted that when creating him he was thinking of his own experience of what it was like to grow up in a deeply fundamentalist environment while queer, transmasculine, and bigender.
• Demonic Possession: When Hordak throws him into the depths of the Spire, he manages to take control of Hordak's body until Adora exorcises him.
• Despotism Justifies the Means: His main problem with the universe is that it doesn't exist to serve him, the most perfect being in existence. When he talks about the importance of 'peace' and 'order', he's only ever talking about a peaceful and orderly life for himself. Other living beings are servants at best and disposable toys at worst, and he'd really prefer to have clones of himself performing those tasks, too.
• Determinator: A disturbing example, born out of his endless, unquenchable hunger for power rather than anything more human and wholesome. Prime can't even conceptualise giving up after even the most severe setback, and fully believes that he’ll rise again after being defeated soundly by She-Ra and the Princess Alliance - he can no more stop trying to conquer, dominate, and destroy then he can stop breathing, and as the perfect being, he can only assume that his eventual success is inevitable. His quote below doubles as a Badass Boast since it implies Prime has done it multiple times before, but he's only deluding himself. She-Ra doesn’t give him the chance for an encore.
  Prime: Though all is reduced to rubble, Prime shall rise again, so it has been, and so it always shall be.
• Diabolus ex Nihilo: Justified by his own age, power, and personality. Why he wants to conquer the universe with an army of clones of himself who he's brainwashed into worshiping him, or what he was like before that, is long lost within the ever-devouring narcissistic void that is the Galactic Horde. Nothing can even begin to desribe him—Prime simply is. All else is irrelevant.
• Dirty Coward: For all his talk, the moments he realised that he can be defeated and/or killed, he's going nuts and will do anything to save himself.
• Disney Villain Death: In the series finale, Hordak breaks free of Prime's influence to save Entrapta, then kills him by throwing him down into the depths of his ship. Unfortunately, it was just a Hope Spot as Prime survives by possessing Hordak himself. Fortunately, Prime is killed for real by She-Ra exorcising him from Hordak.
• Disproportionate Retribution: He subjects Hordak to Mind Rape culminating in a mind-wipe simply because Hordak took actions unbidden.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: A handsy and predatory cult leader who violates minds and bodies with tentacle-like cables that squirt fluid. The scene where he cups a blushing clone's face while talking about using his body as a vessel is reminiscent of the way many cult leaders sexually abuse their followers. Catra's trauma about him "using" her is evocative of a sexual assault survivor. The unflattering stereotype of the real-life clergy doesn't help either.
• The Dreaded: Horde Prime is the most evil and feared being in the entire universe and challenging him would be suicide. You're better off taking destruction from him than serving him. Catra visibly chafes around him, and is reminded that if she thinks about double-crossing him, she’s fired. Even Shadow Weaver fears him over death itself.
• Dreadlock Warrior: The cables attached to his head resemble dreadlocks.
• The Emperor: Horde Prime is the absolute ruler of the Galactic Horde Empire, self-styled "Emperor of the Known Universe".
• Entitled Bastard: He's a narcissistic Galactic Conqueror trying to turn the universe into a Hive Mind empire of clones united in self-worship. This one really goes without saying.
• Establishing Character Moment: When he's finally shown fully on-screen in the Season 4 finale, he belittles Hordak for thinking he had free will, and dismisses all of Hordak's attempts to impress him. To showcase how much of a genuine threat he is compared to Hordak, Horde Prime then Mind Rapes Hordak into submission, and is prepared to destroy Etheria and kill Glimmer and then the rest of her homeworld simply to cover up that one of his clones disobeyed him. Catra tells him that Etheria itself is a weapon and very valuable, making him change his mind, feeling self-assured he can secure inevitable victory over the entire universe. This establishes Horde Prime as a brutal dictator who cares only about himself and his empire. At the same time, it also showcases his Sore Loser personality and tendency to Rage Quit when things don't go his way, foreshadowing his Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum during the Final Battle.
• Evil Brit: While not technically British, he speaks with a cultured, mellifluous accent, and he is the absolute worst.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good:
  • He sees no value in things like friendship or love, viewing them as weaknesses. Besides him repeatedly ignoring how The Power of Love can allow someone to resist his control chips, the most obvious example of this is how, even after viewing Hordak's memories, he still underestimates the love he has for Entrapta, and is shocked when Hordak turns on him rather than kill her. Entrapta even lampshades it In-Universe after Bow's rousing speech, saying that the fact that he doesn't understand what makes them strong is why he'll never win.
  • Despite being so hyper-successful, Horde Prime doesn't understand what it means to win. The heroes achieved success through loss and struggle, and it's only made them stronger. Horde Prime never struggled for his victories like they did.
• Evil Counterpart: To Entrapta. Both are technologically proficient. Both have prehensile "hair". Both surround themselves with servants of their own creation (robots for Entrapta, clones for Horde Prime), some of whom develop free will (the robots in the Valley of the Lost for Entrapta, Hordak for Horde Prime). Both know about Hordak's secrets, but while Entrapta finds them out from a willing Hordak in the context of friendship, Horde Prime finds them out from an unwilling Hordak through a frightening mind probe. Both change Hordak in profound ways — Entrapta by embracing Hordak's imperfections and stirring feelings of love in him, and Horde Prime by mind-wiping him.
• Eviler than Thou: His Galactic Horde ended up being this to the First Ones' Empire as he reveals he crushed them early on in his conquest of the universe.
  • His Establishing Character Moment also proves that he's worse than Hordak, Shadow Weaver, Catra and all other antagonists puts together.
• Evil Is Hammy: Horde Prime is typically a Cold Ham—as understated as he is, he loves the sound of his own voice—but by the time his plans are waylaid and he's forced to possess Hordak, Horde Prime starts gobbling the scenery with full aplomb:
  "CRY, ETHERIA! CRY FOR PRIME'S MERCY! THERE WILL BE NO COMFORT FOR YOU! SO ALL THE UNIVERSE WILL BE CONSUMED IN UNDYING FLAME!"
• Evil Is Not Pacifist: Frankly he could have gotten all that he wanted through diplomacy and his massive material advantage. But instead, tries to conquer Etheria ostensibly to wipe out the stain on his name that Hordak made.
• Evil Old Folks: One of the oldest - and vilest - beings in the galaxy.
• Evil Only Has to Win Once: Once Horde Prime gets control of the Heart of Etheria, it's game over, and he can wipe out all his enemies in just one move.
• Evil Is Petty: Played for Horror. He decided to "chip" every member of Etheria just to spite heroes for rescuing Catra and decided to destroy the entire universe because it doesn't fit his desired vision.
• Evil Plan: After Catra revealed Etheria's true nature, his goal is to obtain the Heart of Etheria, become unstoppable, and wipe out anyone who might object to him turning the universe into his narcissistic playground.
• The Evils of Free Will: He isn't a solipsist, and recognises that people other than him have goals, motives, and ambitions. He just really, really wishes they didn't. He designed his clones to be obedient drones, and is enraged by Hordak's displays of free will. He initially intends to destroy Etheria so that the rest of the universe won't find out about Hordak's autonomous actions there.
• Evil Versus Evil: Season 5 reveals that he and the First Ones fought in the past, both sides ravaging planets to fuel their war machines. He won.
• Extra Eyes: He has multiple eyes on the right side of his face. While it's never confirmed on-screen, character designer Ray Geiger stated that Prime used the eyes of other clones to ornament himself during a Patreon discussion with fans.
  Ray Geiger: One of the concepts behind Prime is that he upgrades himself with his clones. They're stock to him. He wants them all to be uniform by his standard, but he wants a little "extra" for himself to establish his superiority, his interesting-ness above them. So if he wants some extra eyes purely for the aesthetic, some clone(s) are going to give up a piece.
• Facial Markings: He has dark lines on his chin and left cheek.
• False Prophet: He certainly has shades of this, beginning with slandering the name of She-Ra and telling conquered peoples to renounce her and deities, claiming he is the bringer of truth. At the end, he is nothing but a deceiver, committing genocide in the name of his own narcissistic delusions.
• Fantastic Racism: Horde Prime believes all other races are below him, and only exist to be expendable slaves to his empire.
• Fatal Flaw: Fitting for a Satanic Archetype, arrogance and pride. Horde Prime lives to flaunt his power in front of others and assert his dominance over them, and his ego causes him to make poor decisions on a personal level numerous times.
  Keston John: I would say that is his weakness. He's not afraid. To use boxing, it would be like going into the ring just with the assumption that you have always won, so you will continue to win, and that can be good or bad.
  • Most problematic is that even though he is aware of She-Ra and her power levels, he refuses or is unable to recognize her as a legitimate threat.
  • This is also implied to tie into his weakness to magic: he can't control or deal with magic, so he erased the records of a magical world that he failed to conquer and tried to pretend that magic didn't exist or that it was beneath him before he found Etheria.
  • Ultimately, it's his arrogance that leads to his final defeat: he underestimates Hordak's love for Entrapta, which results in Hordak breaking free from his indoctrination and killing his physical body. After that, he chooses to take over Hordak's body and descend to the surface to continue his speechifying, putting himself in danger and allowing She-Ra to confront him and destroy his soul for good.
• Faux Affably Evil: Prime puts on a veneer of politeness and charm, but it's blatantly superficial and most of the time he barely even tries to conceal how cruel, petty, and ruthless he really is.
  • When he comes to Etheria, he initially intends to obliterate it, because Prime considers Hordak building an empire of his own there to be an embarrassment, and he can't let others know about it.
  • When having dinner to Glimmer and Catra, he lets them know the gelatin dish being served is from a planet lightyears away that was very much like Etheria, and then smugly tells them the dish is very rare because that planet no longer exists. He also offers to let Glimmer see Etheria again, and wires in a live feed from his robots as they attack a village and battle the Princesses.
  • His broadcast to Etheria has him put up a peaceful façade before almost immediately threatening the populace if they do not turn She-Ra over to him.
    Horde Prime: Rejoice Etheria, for Prime has come to you. Do not fear, for you have been given the opportunity to share in a world soon to be made in my image. But first you must prove yourselves worthy. Your leader, your She-Ra, she would see you suffer in darkness for her sake. Cast aside this false hero and deliver her to me. Prime sees all, Prime knows all. They will not escape my judgment.
• Final Boss: The biggest and baddest threat that She-Ra has to face, who takes center stage as the final villain in the last season after being mentioned/ appearing sporadically throughout the previous seasons.
• Final Solution:
  • In "Destiny, Part 2", Horde Prime decides to destroy Etheria so that word of Hordak's attempted conquest does not reach the outside world. He changes his mind after learning that Etheria houses a magical superweapon.
  • During the dinner scene, he tells Glimmer that the gelatinous dish she's eating is from a world that no longer exists, implying that he wiped out the civilization that created it.
• Flat Character: Played for Horror. His narcissistic hunger long ago stripped away all that made him human and all that made him capable of meaningfully interacting with any other living entity, leaving him as more a walking, talking void than a person. What use does the perfect being have for Character Development?
• The Fog of Ages: He's apparently lived so long that he has trouble remembering it all. He needs to access the memories of the body he used when fighting the First Ones in order to refresh on them.
• Foil:
  • Horde Prime is a foil to the Etherian Princesses.
    • The Princess Alliance is led by female rulers and defended by mostly female warriors. The Galactic Horde is led by a man and defended by an all-male army of clones.
    • The Princess Alliance and the people it protects are diverse and respect individuality, while Horde Prime demands absolute conformity and uniformity among his clones.
    • The Princesses and their allies rely on magic. Even Entrapta, who is not bound to a Runestone, skillfully uses magitek left by the First Ones. The Galactic Horde relies on technology, and Horde Prime himself is vulnerable to magic.
    • The Princesses are isolated from the larger universe in Despondos until late in season 4, while Horde Prime is a worldly man who has traveled the cosmos.
  • Despite Hordak being his clone, they contrast each other in nearly every way:
    • Hordak begins the series with a black and red color scheme, in contrast to Horde Prime's white and green palette.
    • Underneath his armor, Hordak's garment covers his chest but leaves his back, arms, and legs exposed, while Horde Prime's garment leaves his chest exposed but covers everything else.
    • The Fright Zone has a sinister, gritty, industrial appearance, while Horde Prime's ship has a clean, sleek, futuristic appearance.
    • Horde Prime is at the peak of his power and glory, while at the end of Season 4, Hordak has lost everything. Of course, the way their win/loss streaks shape them contrast each other as well; Horde Prime has spent his whole existence winning, yet he remains stagnant and is indignant about the prospect of defeat. Hordak has experienced defeat a number of times, but he learns from them it's what allows him to appreciate the wins he does actually get, and it spurrs positive Character Development in him.
    • Horde Prime insists on uniformity in his clones, but everything about Hordak deviates from their uniformity.
    • Hordak is an antisocial recluse, but relatively fair and permissive. Horde Prime is very superficially charming, but such a Control Freak he'll wipe out a whole planet just to keep his image the way he likes it. Hordak is pleased when his soldiers show initiative, while Horde Prime sees any displays of independence as an affront.
    • Horde Prime is a megalomaniac with a god complex, while Hordak struggles with self-doubt and self-hatred.
    • Horde Prime disrespects the personal space of everyone around him, frequently putting his hands on his captives and clones to show condescension. Hordak rarely touches anyone, and prefers to inflict punishment and engage in combat in ways that do not require physical contact. The only times we see Hordak initiate physical contact are to show Imp affection, protect Entrapta from an explosion, and hold Entrapta's hand.
    • Horde Prime is a vicious sociopath who is incapable of love. Hordak's love for Entrapta is a major element of his character arc from Season 3 onward. His love for her survives two mind wipes and ultimately drives him to rebel against Horde Prime.
• Freudian Excuse: Unusually for this show, this is deliberately averted. He's been ravaging the galaxy for so long and has hollowed himself out into such a narcissistic void that who he used to be and what originally drove him to it is no longer relevant - if a Freudian Excuse for his behaviour once existed, it's now nothing more than a long-forgotten relic of when he was someone that things happened to rather than something that happened to other people.
• Galactic Conqueror: His empire is said to span across the universe.
• Genocide Backfire: Horde Prime claims to have wiped out the First Ones and their empire, but a small pocket of them obviously remained, given that Adora came from them. Adora, who was turned into The Chosen One by Light Hope, and became the one to defeat him for good.
• A God Am I: Deliberately tries to display an image of divinity, and honestly believes that he is the most perfect being ever. His grand plan is to turn the universe into a church where he is both the god and the congregation of worshippers.
• God-Emperor: Taken to a horrifyingly narcissistic extreme. He wants to be both the god and the empire, ruling over billions of copies of himself united in worship of himself.
• Greater-Scope Villain: He's Hordak's boss and the ultimate ruler of the Horde, but he otherwise has nothing to do with the plot and he didn't even know the Horde existed on Etheria until the end of the third season. From Prime's perspective, Hordak is an old soldier who went MIA, then suddenly contacted him years later after carving out a new corner for his empire. After Season 4, he's the new Big Bad of the series.
• Green and Mean: Alongside white, his main characterizing color is green, and he's the worst.
• Had to Be Sharp: As much as this is true for his Foils, he demonstrates that the opposite, a person whose life is so comfortable and easy that their personal prowess lowers, can happen. Unlike Hordak or Catra, Horde Prime has countless absolutely obedient minions to do his bidding, and holds far more technological and material power than anyone else in the universe, but he makes numerous miscalculations due to his arrogance, is easily defeated in physical combat by Hordak, a crippled and supposedly inferior version of him, in the finale, and is particularly weak against anything outside of his personal abilities, namely magic.
• Hate Sink: He's cruel, petty, depraved, self-absorbed, vicious to the man who spent decades trying to win his respect, and has no respect for sentient life. The other villains can't hold a candle to his level of evil.
• The Hedonist: It's hidden by his Ascetic Aesthetic, but this is another natural consequence of his extreme narcissism. His own appetites matter more than anything else in the galaxy, whether they be for adulation, rare foods, or other people's suffering.
• Heel–Face Turn: Notably defied. Despite every other significant villain in the setting being redeemed in some capacity, Horde Prime expresses zero desire to change his evil ways and as such is remorselessly wiped from existence by She-Ra.
  ND Stevenson: I think because we as a show have so much interest in humanizing our villains, I really wanted Horde Prime to be different. There is evil in this world. It's dishonest to say that everyone is capable or worthy of redemption. There are people who have stewed in their own hatred for so long that the only thing you can do is just... She-Ra banishes him. "There's no place for you in this world." [...] I don't think he's made of pure evil. But I think because of the choices he made and the way he sees the world and the years and years of continuing to double-down on that and be so committed to that. At the end of the day, there's no way to redeem someone who doesn't want to be redeemed. There's no way to force them to care about other people if they don't.
• High-Heel Power: While coded as male he wears respectable heels in his primary body and he is a successful Galactic Conqueror.
• Hive Mind: His empire is this - or, as he'd likely put it, he is this. He runs it with a massive network of mind-controlling chips that overwrite people's personalities and replace them with copies of his own, and instill a slavish, religious devotion to him. While chipped people are largely independent and capable of acting on their own (in accord with their new personalities, anyway), he can access their memories and senses at will and/or Body Surf between them if he so chooses, abandoning his body and taking over theirs. He prefers his Hive Mind bodies to be his own clones (because, again, gigantic narcissist), but he's quite willing to induct other people in order to gather intelligence, steal unique abilities, or just be a sadistic dick.
• Hive King: See above. The universe-spanning Hive Mind of the Horde proper exists entirely to serve him, and he is its guiding personality and intelligence.
• Hoist by His Own Petard:
  • His chipping Catra to use against Adora leads to her unlocking She-Ra again, and the Brainwash Residue leads them to Melog, allows them to discover his weakness, and leads to The Power of Love healing Adora so she can use the failsafe and save the universe.
  • He orders Hordak to kill Entrapta, which allows Hordak to resist his control and kill his main body.
• Hologram: He likes to use gigantic holograms to address his subjects and enemies, looming over a world like an alien god.
• Hope Crusher: Horde Prime has spend millennia going from world to world, crushing rebellions left and right, and reducing entire planets to dust, all to keep the universe under his heel. When she meets them the Star Siblings tell Adora that she shouldn't even bother standing up to Prime and to flee to some other part of the galaxy while she still can.
• Human Resources: It's never confirmed on-screen, but according to character designer Ray Geiger, he harvests organs from his clones, whom he sees as little more than stock. His multiple eyes were harvested from clones for ornamentation purposes, according to Geiger.
• Hypocrite:
  • In the very specific way that only an extreme narcissist can be. His minions need to be exactly like him, but also inferior to him, but any inferiority is an insult to his obvious perfection and must be stamped out. He likes to resolve this paradox in deeply alarming ways, from murder to organ theft.
  • When speaking to Adora, the last of the First Ones, he refers to her people as tyrants implying that their actions disgusted even him. Considering that Prime has been subjugating the entire universe for centuries he really doesn't have a leg to stand on.
  • Despite calling Hordak inferior and an abomination, he chooses to jump into his body when his own is killed (ironically, by Hordak himself).
• Ignorant of His Own Ignorance: He was Invincible Villain for many eons. Because of that he doesn't understand he can be wrong and Not So Invincible After All.
• Immortal Ruler: Horde Prime was able to reign for millennia by transferring his essence into clone bodies to extend his lifespan.
• Immortality Immorality: How immoral, you ask? How about enslaving and then brutally experimenting on his clones in order to advance genetic engineering, medicine and cybernetics to extend his own life? Then of course, there's taking over the body of an abused girl without so much as batting an eye(s), and committing genocide on entire races in the universe.
• Instant Expert: He can access the memories of everyone within his Hive Mind, meaning that when he takes direct control of someone he's chipped, he's just as skilled as they are at whatever their particular talents or abilities are. This makes him extremely dangerous in combat, as he uses all of his host's latent power in the most ruthlessly efficient ways possible.
• I Control My Minions Through...:
  • Mind Control. Horde Prime can telepathically link with any of his clones and perform a mind-wipe on them. Horrifically, this is what he does to Hordak at the end of Season 4.
  • Genetic Engineering. Horde Prime's soldiers are genetic derivatives of him, designed to be obedient drones. The fact that Hordak has exercised free will angers him.
• Individuality Is Illegal: To Horde Prime, everything has to revolve around himself, to the point to forcibly chipping people and bringing them into his Hive Mind. A quote from ND Stevenson states that:
  "Horde Prime has no space in his empire for individuality; everything needs to be a reflection of his own ego. Characters like Glimmer and Catra, who have been striving for self-individuation this whole time, to be told that ‘you’re both cogs in this machine and will be used to flatten the universe and make everything uniform,’ I think that’s the most horrifying thing they’ve been confronted with."
• Industrialized Evil: Horde Prime's empire is characterized by both technological superiority and ruthless, impersonal efficiency. Hordak's flashback shows clones gestating in vats en masse. The final shot of of Season 3 shows his space stations and fleets of spaceships, giving viewers a sense of how technologically advanced, efficient, and massive his empire is.
• In Their Own Image: When you're a narcissistic Galactic Conqueror, there's really no other end-goal. All indications are that Prime's mad hunger still won't be sated when everything in existence is a temple to him populated exclusively by copies of him, but it'll at least be a good start.
• Irony:
  • Horde Prime brags that he knows all and sees all. In the finale, he's blindsided when Entrapta hacks the hivemind and doesn't see Hordak's rebellion coming, despite his telepathic connection to Hordak.
  • For all the talks of being the light, his true form is revealed to be a disembodied spirit of darkness.
  • You'd think someone as successful as him would know a thing or two about winning, since he's conquered much the universe unopposed and considers Hordak a failure, but he only has a superficial understanding of it, that being "winning feels good". As a result, Horde Prime has become rather unsatisfied with his gains, which is due to him equating happiness with success, which is an incredibly shallow and poor way to go about life. Because he never struggled like Hordak did, he's unprepared for the possibility of defeat.
• It's All About Me: He's a narcissist on a galactic level. This trope comes with the territory. As an example, he sees Hordak's attempts to conquer Etheria as an insult rather than an honour, because his 'little brother' asserting his own identity to act as Horde Prime's servant is an unacceptable deviation from his role as an extension of Horde Prime's own body. And no, he doesn't get to be that either, because he's defective and deserves to be discarded.
• Jerkass: He is, in his own mind, the centre of the galaxy. Politeness to lesser beings is strictly optional.
• Just the First Citizen: A bizarre and terrifying variant. He doesn't need a fancy title as leader of the Horde because the Horde is him. His body is just the prime unit the whole system revolves around. It's not modesty, it's narcissism so extreme that it's gone collective. Like all the overlords of history, his titles are a reflection of the reputation he gains through conquest rather than titles he establishes for himself.
• Just Toying with Them: Because of his pride, Horde Prime likes to rub in his "superiority" to his enemies, leading him to do things like give taunt his enemies instead of just capturing or eliminating them. In "Horde Prime" it's implied that he left the rebel camp alone despite knowing where it was until they tried to interrogate a clone, and he apparently knew that Bow, Glimmer, and Entrapta were on his ship the whole time, but pretended otherwise until negotiations with Adora completely broke down.
• Killed Off for Real: His body is destroyed by Hordak pushing him off of his command post to let him fall to his death. But Horde Prime's spirit just takes over Hordak and begins again. After his plans are thoroughly ruined, Adora manages to cleanse Horde Prime from Hordak, destroying Horde Prime for good.
• Knight of Cerebus: He manages to be this for an already dark series, dwarfing the evil perpetrated by Hordak, Shadow Weaver, and Catra. On top of this, unlike the other villains, he has zero comedic moments, with all levity stopping whenever he appears on screen.
• Large and in Charge: Hordak is among the tallest characters in the show, but flashbacks show that Horde Prime is even taller than he is◊. However, when he appears in Season 4, he's about the same height as Hordak.^note According to Ray Geiger, Horde Prime was originally drawn as a head taller than Hordak, but it caused problems with staging scenes with him talking to significantly shorter characters.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Horde Prime tossed Hordak aside when his younger "brother" dared to be anything less than perfect after suffering from Clone Degeneration and, when reunited at the end of Season 4, casually erased all of Hordak's memories to turn him back into a mindless drone. In the finale Horde Prime's betrayal is one of the reasons Hordak destroys his main body and in order to survive Prime has to upload himself into his "defective" younger brother's body. Horde Prime does not appreciate this at all.
• Life Drinker: The green liquid that he absorbs via his tubes? That's the life essence of his clones, which he uses to keep his "vessels" healthy for longer.
• Light Is Not Good: His ships, his robots, his clones, and his clothes, are all white and pale grey, he speaks about letting the universe bask in "his light", and he is a terrible bastard who wants to rule the universe.
• Machiavelli Was Wrong: Horde Prime ruled the universe with wonton cruelty, oppressing all inhabitants into submission. Conquering Etheria is one thing, but holding it is an entirely different story. The people of Etheria are not so easily broken, and they'd rather die fighting than to bow before a tyrant.
• Make Way for the New Villains: His first scene in person in the show is marked by him overpowering Hordak, the Big Bad of the whole series up to now, and mindwiping him into an expendable puppet.
• Miles Gloriosus: Horde Prime claims he is in complete control over his minions and knows their every thought. Horde Prime claims he is the Immortal Ruler of the universe. Horde Prime claims he is divine in his perfection. In reality, he is none of those things.
  • He is only one mind and can only control and read the thoughts of individual minions, and is incapable of doing it to all of his minions at once. Fear and loyalty are greater motivators for his minions than Horde Prime's absolute control.
  • He is not immortal, only capable of Body Surfing, such that while his immediate consciousness survives, the memories do not, and he must keep worn out bodies in stasis to even have any idea of what happened in the past
  • He is not perfect, instead writing his defeats and embarrassments out of history. He has numerous actual accomplishments to his name, not least of which is defeating the First Ones, but those aren't the things he boasts about.
• Mind-Control Eyes: Whenever he possesses someone under his thrall, their normally completely green eyes gain white pupils.
• Mind Rape: Inflicts this on Hordak, wiping all of Hordak's memories and "resetting" him to what he was. He also uses chips to take over the minds of Catra and other Etherian victims, and judging by Catra's post-traumatic stress after her chip is removed, it's not a pleasant experience to remember.
• Mood-Swinger: After showing his fury to Hordak, Horde Prime suddenly becomes calm and smarmy with Glimmer as if he had special plans for her.
• Motive Decay: Played for Horror. To show him as horrifying and unsympathetic as possible, it was revealed that he forgot what he once was beyond his ambitions and all his evil deeds are done just because he's a self-absorbed Narcissist and nothing more.
• Mr. Fanservice: His muscular chest is completely exposed.
• Muscles Are Meaningless: Despite being the tallest person in the series and having a muscular physique to match, Horde Prime never exerts himself in any meaningful way against an opponent who can fight back. The closest he ever gets to fighting the main cast is via possessing one of his clones or their chipped friends. Otherwise the few times he bothers to directly manhandle anyone is when they have already been physically exhausted (such as Hordak after his fight with Catra) or who don't have any physical combat potential (such as Entrapta). Best demonstrated at the end of the series once Hordak regains his free will and turns against Prime wherein his "little brother" performs a Neck Lift in the same way that Prime did to him in Season 4 before being thrown into the bowels of his ship. For all the difference it makes though, Horde Prime has cheated death many, many times before, so he’s survived far worse than that.
• My Sensors Indicate You Want to Tap That: He figures out that Adora is important to Catra by subtle changes in her pupils and heart rate.
• Narcissist: One of the most extreme examples in fiction. He's an Evil Overlord who decided to make the entire universe an extension of himself using an army of disposable, mindlessly obedient clones who are allowed no more identity than he gives them, and treats Clone Degeneration as a personal insult. He even routinely harvests organs from said clones as an aesthetic statement to show that he is different and superior, because he needs to be on top and in charge even when his entire empire is a monument to himself
• A Nazi by Any Other Name: He's the genocidal dictator of a cult-like empire that regularly discriminates against other races and praises him to godlike extremes. Not to mention that his empire is staffed by his clones and comprises of robotic foot soldiers.
• Neck Lift: A flashback shows him lifting up Hordak by the throat when Hordak begins to exhibit flaws. He does it again to Hordak at the end of Season 4. In the series finale Hordak gets to return the favour before throwing him into the bowels of his ship and destroying his current host body.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: He draws inspiration from infamous cult leader Jim Jones.
• No Mere Windmill: Prior to revealing himself, Horde Prime is treated as the equivalent of the Bogeyman for Etheria, a threat whose existence is often questioned. The only person on Etheria who knows about him is Hordak, a clone of Horde Prime himself. Others like Shadow Weaver have suspected the existence of a greater threat beyond Etheria, but even then, they only have rumors and tales to go off of. Once Horde Prime appears before Etheria, he's just about as threatening as they imagined, if not worse.
• No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Dine: After taking Glimmer and Catra captive, he dines with them, serving them an array of alien foods.
• Non-Action Big Bad: Played With. He never intentionally uses his main body in direct combat, and puts up a very unimpressive fight when cornered in it. On the other hand, he's perfectly happy to personally enter the bodies of other members of his Hive Mind (who he sees as extensions of himself rather than separate beings), and tends to make them much more deadly whenever he does so, making him simultaneously a Non-Action Big Bad and his empire's most dangerous warrior.
• Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: Inverted: It's implied that beneath the pageantry and robot armies, Horde Prime isn't that much different than Hordak. It's apparent that he's fighting at his peak competency and condition in the final battle, but loses despite this same skill and prowess being what allowed him to take over the entire universe. According to Hordak, galaxy after galaxy fell before the emperor; it’s just so happens Horde Prime just had a much "easier" universe to take over. By the time the heroes meet him, much of the universe is under his control and any known opposition prior has been fighting an uphill battle against him. He’s just never met foes like the Rebellion on Etheria, or even Adora herself and he is surprised by how much of a fight the native heroes are able to put up and loses his cool in the process.
• No Sense of Personal Space: Constantly - he gets in Hordak's, Glimmer's, and Catra's personal space repeatedly, with an emphasis on rubbing peoples' shoulders and stroking their faces, all of which comes across as vaguely predatory and extremely creepy.
• Nothing Is Scarier: Nothing is known about Prime beyond what is immediately important to the show. His backstory is left so vague that not even he seems to recall it. His motivations are similarly forgotten aside from immense narcissism and a god complex. The result is a horrifying villain with no sympathetic traits but immense power that comes across as an undefeatable tide.
• Nothing Personal: Horde Prime's general attitude towards conquest was that it was just business to be done, and not out of hatred. But, once it becomes clear the Rebellion is just so stubborn that they'd keep daring to stop his master plan, he decides to let the Heart go out of control to destroy the whole universe...and savor the whole moment as it's happening.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Horde Prime speaks of bringing a universe full of peace and free of suffering with through worship of him. However, what he's really bringing is narcissistic fascism.
• Numerological Motif:
  • Horde Prime has four eyes, four dreadlocks sitting in clips on his chest, and his throne room has four paths leading out. It's worth noting in some cultures, Four Is Death.
  • Horde Prime has seven cybernetic ports in his back. The screen in front of his throne has seven panels. When She-Ra exorcises his spirit from Hordak's body, it resembles an oily black shadow with seven green spots. Since seven is considered a holy number in western cultures, and Horde Prime sees himself as godlike, this may be significant.
• Omnicidal Maniac: Prime sees no value in any life other than his own, and is engaging in a slow-mo genocide of the galaxy as he uses up planet after planet to expand his empire-church of clones and sate his hedonistic whims, though he apparently keeps at least some worlds relatively intact. After Hordak kills his main body and makes it impossible for him to channel the Heart of Etheria's power, he takes it up a notch, deliberately letting the Heart go haywire so he can burn down the universe with him in a narcissistic temper tantrum.
• Orcus on His Throne: Played With. Horde Prime's main body never personally enters the front-lines or confronts She-Ra in combat, but that's mainly because he's a narcissistic Hive Queen who sees his entire empire, including its clone-soldiers and any local warriors he's chipped, as a part of himself. There's no sense in hitting the enemy with your brain when you can just use your fists instead, and he's perfectly happy to get directly involved when wearing another, more combat-ready body.
• Order Is Not Good: Horde Prime desires to create an empire where all will obey his will unquestioningly and where individual thought is prohibited.
• Organic Technology: He can interface with his cybernetic clones using his cables/"hair".
• Parasitic Immortality: Horde Prime is a Narcissist whose army consists of his own clones. He also uses them to Body Surf to prolong his life. But this procedure is flawed: he must retain his old bodies to take access to memories from the time he occupied them because he forgot most of his past life.
• Planet Looters: Has ravaged many planets to fuel his conquests.
• Possession Burnout: He can transfer himself to the bodies of his clones, which he uses to survive any time his body's killed, but it apparently takes a toll on the body that requires medical attention on a semi-regular basis in the form of absorbing the life force of his cloned "brothers" until it gives out, after which he puts it in storage in case he needs to access its memories. At one point he suggests taking on Catra's body to get Adora's goat, implying in the process that her body wouldn't last very long.
• Pragmatic Villainy: For all his flaws, once Catra tells Horde Prime that Etheria is a superweapon, Horde Prime changes his mind about destroying it and settles for it being a "jewel" in his empire.
• Precursor Killers: His fleet ended the First Ones' empire, though, despite his beliefs, scattered remnants remain.
• Prehensile Hair: His "dreadlocks" are cables that he can use to interface with his clones. Only the white hair on the very top of his head is real.
• Psychic Link: He can see into the minds of his clones, with one exception.
• Psychopathic Manchild: In a far less amusing way than Hordak. He carries himself with a more composed, sophisticated air befitting an Emperor, but is really just a Spoiled Brat who thinks he deserves to rule all of reality simply because he thinks he should, and that's not even getting into how much of a Sore Loser he is when things stop going his way for once.
• Rage Quit: As the Final Battle starts falling out of his favor and he's confronted with the reality that he'll actually lose big for once, and to a comparatively small Rebellion, no less, he decides to overclock the Heart of Etheria to destroy the entire universe. He's that much of a Sore Loser.
• Really 700 Years Old: Is old enough to have fought the First Ones in the prime of their empire, and he outlived their empire.
• Religion of Evil: As a supremely narcissistic Galactic Conqueror Hive Queen with a god complex, he leads one, he's the object of worship for one, and he is one.
• Religious Horror: Horde Prime's cult/regime has several Christianity-coded elements. He berates Hordak using language borrowed from the Bible ("I made you in my image, but you have become an abomination."). In season 5, he performs a second mind wipe on Hordak in the form of an agonizing "baptism" in a pool of clone life force. Horde Prime projects a colossal holographic image of himself to the Etherians, as if he wants to appear godlike to them. Horde Prime's voice actor, Keston John, likened him to a proselytizer in a May 13, 2020 interview with Meaww.
  Keston John: He thinks that he's bringing his version of the gospel to every planet and they're better for it even if they have to die to receive it.
• Sadist: He tells Glimmer that he doesn't enjoy violence, only seeing it as a means to an end, but his obvious pleasure whenever he gets to hurt someone physically or emotionally shows how empty that claim is. Other people only exist for his amusement, and unfortunately, he finds it amusing to break them.
• Satanic Archetype: To begin with, Horde Prime talks of bringing light to the universe, which is evocative of Lucifer (whose name means "light bringer"), and he's charismatic, manipulative, and narcissistic. That being said, he can make deals with lesser beings and will grant them certain privileges as long as they are useful to him, but will dispose of them once they're no longer useful. At the end of the day, Horde Prime is ultimately an incredibly selfish and evil being who massacred billions, if not trillions of lives to bring what he calls peace and order. And how does he commit mass genocide? By setting worlds on fire, another motif associated with the devil.
• Shadow Archetype: He becomes one of Catra. Horde Prime equates happiness with success, which is what Catra believed partly due to her abusive upbringing, plus they're both control freaks. Catra spent her whole life losing, and was sick and tired of it and was desperate for a win, but her losses allowed her to appreciate the small, good things she has in life. Horde Prime, on the other hand, almost never loses, but it’s only made him more arrogant. In other words, Catra would've turned into a sociopathic egoist like Horde Prime if she always won.
• Shipper on Deck: Downplayed. He's not really rooting for Catra and Adora but is very aware of how much the two care for one another, which he believes is the root cause of their suffering.
• Sickly Green Glow: This may have been seen throughout the Fright Zone, but Prime's appearance, ship, and armada take it up to eleven—which amps up the unease.
• Significant Double Casting: Hordak is a clone of him and they both share a voice actor.
• Sinister Surveillance: Likes to spread the idea that he "sees all" and "knows all", and his drones and robots, plus the Hive Mind link his clones have to him, allow him to spy on others easily.
• Skull for a Head: He shares the skull-like outline of the white face and the inverted-V nose that give Hordak this appearance, although it's downplayed compared to him because unlike Hordak, he doesn't use more Guyliner than the entirety of My Chemical Romance put together did at their peak, and so lacks the deep black pits around the eyes.
• Slimeball: He puts on a veneer of politeness over a cruel and petty personality. His attempts at being cordial to Glimmer come across as condescending and creepy. He touches Glimmer's hand and face and addresses her as "child" twice.
• Smug Snake: Because he's so used to victory, he's very self-assured that no matter what direction things swing, he'll always come out on top. He was right, until the Rebellion set foot in his universe, where he experienced his first true defeat and he doesn't like it one bit.
• The Sociopath: Horde Prime shows no concern for sentient life or the personhood of his clones. He values only himself and his image.
• Sore Loser: Having known only victory his whole life, he really doesn't take it well when he's about to be defeated.
• Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum: When Hordak turns against him and kills his body, Horde Prime completely loses what little sanity he had and plans to overclock the Heart of Etheria to destroy the universe.
• Super-Strength: Whether it's a normal trait of his species, a Charles Atlas Superpower, or the result of technological augmentation is unclear, but Horde Prime is very strong. In Season 4, he effortlessly lifts up Hordak by his throat, armor and all, with one hand.
• Terms of Endangerment: He sees family as an extension of his own body. If he calls someone 'brother' or 'sister', it means he's either taken them into his Hive Mind or is planning to do so.
• Time Abyss: Heavily implied. While we aren't sure exactly how old he is, he is at minimum far older than Mara (over a thousand years old) and struggles to remember the First Ones at all in his many conquests over the centuries. He is forced to preserve his past bodies in order to access their memories, and he is shown to have several hundred in storage, suggesting he has been around and conquering the known universe for a very long time.
• Touch Telepathy: He's puzzled when he can't read Hordak's mind from a distance. He has to touch Hordak to access the clone's thoughts.
• Truly Single Parent: He cloned Hordak and the rest of his army from his own DNA, making him their "father" in a sense.
• Try to Fit That on a Business Card: According to one of his clones, his official list of titles is as follows: Emperor of the Galactic Horde, Ruler of the Known Universe, Regent of the Seven Skies, He Who Brings the Day and the Night, Revered One of the Shining Galaxies, Promised One of a Thousand Suns
• Underestimating Badassery:
  • Horde Prime biggest flaw turns out to be the opposite of every other villain in the series. He just cannot see Adora or She-Ra as an actual threat. His only interest in her is as an easy way to access the Heart of Etheria. While Catra, Shadow Weaver and even Hordak would focus on She-Ra to the point they would ignore everything else. Horde Prime ignores She-Ra as anything but an mildly annoying bug until it's too late.
  • Horde Prime also fails to take note of Hordak's insurmountable willpower, which Hordak demonstrated by building an empire on Etheria after separation from the hive mind and while struggling with a chronic illness. Hordak's willpower, combined with his love for Entrapta, allows him to overcome clone conditioning and two mind wipes and attack Horde Prime.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Hordak served Horde Prime faithfully for years, conquering entire galaxies for his empire. When Hordak suddenly showed signs of illness, Horde Prime cast him out despite his hard work. When he and Hordak reunite, Horde Prime berates Hordak despite all of Hordak's hard work, mind-wipes him, and sends him off to be "reconditioned".
  Horde Prime: You have given yourself a name. You tried to create an empire of your own. There was even a time you wished I would not come for you, is that so? ... You have forgotten who you are. You truly think you are worthy to stand beside me, could be equal to me? I made you in my image, but you have become an abomination! And so, you must be reborn!
• Uriah Gambit: Horde Prime sent Hordak to the front lines of battle in the hopes of killing the defective clone. Circumstances that have yet to be explained led to Hordak's ship slipping through a portal to Etheria instead.
• Viler New Villain: He's referred to in Season 3 but doesn't appear until Season 4. With only a few minutes of screen time, he establishes himself as the most evil character in the series, as unlike Hordak, Shadow Weaver, or Catra he has zero sympathetic traits.
• Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: In a pastel-colored show about magical princesses and friendship, Horde Prime is a villain who epitomizes sociopathic cruelty and shocking depravity that would make even Emperor Palpatine green with envy. Of all the villains in this series, he has the highest body count, easily numbering in the trillions, especially since he's been ravaging worlds for centuries.
• Villain Ball: Repeatedly holds onto it due to his Fatal Flaw — Prime is just so arrogant and powerful enough to enforce it, that he is willing to indulge in pointlessly evil acts and taunt his opponents over their losses, and he doesn't realize or care it may backfire.
  • Prime generally suffers from a very bad case of Bond Villain Stupidity, preferring to give grandiose speeches and taunts to his enemies instead of just killing or capturing them when he has the chance.
  • After looking through Hordak's memories and how Catra manipulated him while feigning loyalty to him, he tells her that he will not fall for the same tricks and warns he that if she tries to give him the runaround, he will dispose of her. This dashes Catra's hopes of being able to succeed under Prime's command and alienates her from helping him at all, helping to motivate her Heel–Face Turn.
  • He directly tells Adora that he no longer needs the princesses to access the Heart of Etheria because he's figured out how to bypass that security system. This motivates the Rebellion to discover the failsafe to destroy the Heart and they decide to do so since nothing is stopping Prime now.
  • With his broadcast shut down, he chooses to go to the planet directly to continue his speechifying to Etheria in person, putting a huge target on himself.
  • When Scorpia manages to resist his control long enough to purposefully miss rather than kill Perfuma and Adora, he dismisses the incident entirely once he sees that her chip is intact. This bites him the rear when she manages to resist again long enough for Bow to activate Entrapta's device and free everyone on Etheria from his chips. For that matter, he also left the device where it was after capturing her.
  • Prime's total underestimation of The Power of Love is once again demonstrated when he senses that something is still amiss with Hordak's "programming" even after two mind wipes but chooses to ignore it — unsurprisingly, this proves to be absolutely detrimental to Prime when Hordak eventually manages to wrest back his free will after being issued an unthinkable command (kill Entrapta).
• Villainous Breakdown: He was already losing his cool due to the "impossibility" of the Rebellion managing to give his forces some actual trouble, and free everyone who was chipped from his control, but when Hordak kills his body, forcing him to possess Hordak's to survive, he full on tries to use the Heart to destroy the universe.
• Villain in a White Suit: His usual garb is a ghostly off-white with green and black accents. In contrast to Hordak’s scrappy tunic and armor get-up, Horde Prime’s design is more luxurious and regal, and he color-coordinates his forces in the same hues.
• Villain Override: He can possess any of his clones, or even people who have been chipped, when the situation calls for his personal presence (such as for gloating). It’s signified by his host developing glowing white pupils on top of their Mind-Control Eyes. This lets him menace the heroes from anywhere his forces are.
• Villain World: Hordak refers to him as the "Emperor of the known universe". The screen in his command room shows that large swaths of the universe outside of Despondos are under his dominion. Season 3 ends with a shot of his space station and a massive squadron of his ships.
• Visionary Villain: Zig-zagged. He's a particularly disturbing example because he's a narcissist of cosmic ambition who literally wants to remake the universe in his image. However, he does so by wantonly destroying worlds instead of molding them into new civilizations, making his vision a petty one.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: His outfit's chest is completely cut out. His cape-like robes also make it fit No Shirt, Long Jacket.
• We Have Become Complacent: Tying into his Fatal Flaw, Horde Prime has been around for a long time, and is so used to defeating his enemies that he's started holding onto the Villain Ball because he assumes that he can't lose.
• White Hair, Black Heart: He has white "hair" and is a profoundly evil man. Once he loses his body, his soul is revealed to be composed of pure darkness.
• Wicked Cultured: The closest Horde Prime has to a redeeming (or at least non-evil) feature is his appreciation of arts, and he maintains a collection of precious arts and exotic weaponry. Even when he has destroyed a certain world, he will take any cultural mementos worth preserving, and add them to his collection. But then again, he demonstrates knowledge of an alien culture just to show off.
• Would Be Rude to Say "Genocide": He tells Glimmer and Catra that the dish they're eating is a rare delicacy, as the world it came from no longer exists.
• You Don't Look Like You: In past media, Horde Prime was depicted as an eldritch abomination in the form of a green cloud from which a colossal metal hand would emerge. Here, he has the appearance of a humanoid man from the same species as Hordak, though when She-Ra banishes him from Hordak's body, his form is shown to be a black cloud.
• You Have Failed Me: Not only has Hordak insulted his brother by conquering an entire planet of his own free will, but Horde Prime knows Hordak failed miserably as his forces have been wiped out by the Rebellion. However, Catra convinces Horde Prime that he should use Etheria because the planet is a superweapon, and to let her serve him if he wants to be able to activate the weapon.

The Attendants

Horde Prime's Clones

Voiced by: Keston John (English)

"Cast off the shadows. Bring the universe to Prime's light."

Servants and clones of Horde Prime.

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• Achilles' Heel: The ports on the back of their necks are their weak points, and hitting them will disable them.
• Ambiguous Situation: How the memory wipe process works or what actually happens to their memories. Does it truly wipe a clone's memories, or does it only suppress them? At no point does Horde Prime ever think about not keeping memories he obtains from his clones. He is shown accessing memories of deceased clones he preserves to obtain certain memories. Also, the beginning of Season 5 show him still accessing Hordak's memories and knowing them to true depth, and this was after Hordak got wiped, which means those memories had to go/be stored somewhere.
  • Hordak slowly regains memories after both ordeals, suggesting that his memories were suppressed rather than erased. However, it is unclear if this was unique to Hordak, or if all clones react this way to mind-wipes.
• Artificial Human: Aboard Horde Prime's flagship are countless more clone bodies gestating in vitrines.
• Arm Cannon: In the Season 5 trailer, they are shown wielding an arm-mounted laser cannon similar to the one Hordak built in Season 4. The ones who personally protect him don't have those.
• Bizarre Alien Biology: Wrong Hordak reveals that they get nourishment from a nutrient-rich "amniotic fluid". This may explain why Hordak refuses to eat Entrapta's soup in "Huntara", and why Horde Prime does not partake of the food at the dinner feast in "Horde Prime".
• Bizarre Alien Psychology: As indoctrinated members of a hive mind, they find purpose only in serving Horde Prime. Clones experience distress if they are disconnected from the hive mind, as Wrong Hordak did when Entrapta discovers him.
• Blank White Eyes: The purification ritual, which erases a clone's memories, turns his eyes white. If a clone has pale white eyes, it means he's truly an Empty Shell with a complete blank slate.
• Born as an Adult: Hordak's flashback shows adult clones developing in vitrines, suggesting that they are physically mature when they emerge.
• Clone Army: Horde Prime uses clones of himself as the generals of his armada, if not his entire army.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: The purification rite used to wipe the memories of clones is an agonizing ordeal that involves electrocution in a pool of what is implied to be clone life force.
• Color-Coded Eyes: Their eye color indicates the state they are in:
  • Green: Functioning properly.
  • White: Blank slate.
  • Red: Erratic behavior due to faulty conditioning. As shown with Hordak prior to being submitted for reconditioning, the clone will be prone to a lot of mood swings and short temper.
• Cultural Posturing: The clones see Horde Prime as a bringer of light to lesser civilizations. A clone guard mocks Glimmer as a "parasite" while praising Horde Prime. Even Hordak looks down his nose at the primitive Etherians during his conversation with Entrapta in "Signals".
• Cyborg: Their bodies have organic and mechanical components.
• Decapitated Army: Once She-Ra exorcises Horde Prime, the clones cease to function completely.
• Degraded Boss: They are Mooks versions of the type that used to be the main villain.
• Deliberately Monochrome: The clones look like Hordak with green eyes, white mohawks, and black, white, and gray clothing.
• Dissonant Serenity: Clones often have blank expressions. Even in battle, their faces are impassive.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Their fanatical, quasi-religious devotion to Horde Prime is reminiscent of the fanaticism of religious extremists.
• Empty Shell: When Horde Prime performs a mind-wipe on Hordak, his eyes turn green. The clones also have green eyes, suggesting that they too are under Horde Prime's control.
• Enigmatic Minion: The clones are quiet and obedient to Horde Prime. Little else is known about them, apart from them being fanatic zealots of Horde Prime.
• Evil Is Hammy: They seem stoic at first, but when they start talking about the Glory of Horde Prime, they suddenly devour all scenery in their path.
• Facial Markings: Like Hordak, they have dark lines on their cheeks and chins.
• Fake Ultimate Mook: Despite their threatening appearance, they ultimately prove to be as ineffective as their predecessors, to the point of being defeated by civilians without formal training. This may be justified however, as Horde Prime's mind control keeps them in a state of arrested development, forbidden from acting on their own initiative, and Hordak (and even Wrong Hordak) seem to be far more competent when freed from Prime's control.
• Foil:
  • To Hordak. While Hordak has a strong sense of self and a unique presence, the clones apparently do not.
  • Also to Horde Prime. Prime is self-absorbed, while the clones are his selfless servants. Prime sees himself as the only being in the universe who matters, while he treats his clones as disposable. Prime seeks power, while the clones are ultimately powerless in their situation.
  • Finally, to Wrong Hordak. The clones are cold, brainwashed husks who are fanatically and unquestioningly faithful to Horde Prime. Wrong Hordak, on the other hand, is warm, expressive, capable of individual thought, and friendly, and he ultimately sees Horde Prime as a Broken Pedestal, spurring his Heel–Face Turn. Plus, Wrong Hordak appears to have recently been inducted into service whose indoctrination was incomplete and is a fairly new clone compared to most of them.
• The Fundamentalist: They are fanatical in their devotion to Horde Prime, having been indoctrinated to serve him implicitly. They praise Horde Prime using religious language that wouldn't be out of place in a Christian worship service.
  Captured Clone: Fear not. Your friend is an honored guest of Horde Prime, emperor of the Galactic Horde, ruler of the known universe, regent of the seven skies... She is chosen, basking in the light of Prime's favor, he who brings the day and the night... Glory be to Horde Prime, revered one of the shining galaxies, promised one of a thousand suns!
• Hive Mind: The clones are all mentally connected to Horde Prime, though it's possible for the connection to be severed and for them to develop individuality, like with Hordak and Wrong Hordak.
  • Unlike other hive minds, the Galactic Horde's hive mind is vertical but not lateral. Horde Prime can read the minds of and possess his clones, and they in turn can sense his presence and know his wishes. However, the clones do not appear to be telepathically linked to each other. Double Trouble assumed the appearance of a clone and infiltrated a flock for several days with none of the clones sensing that they were not part of the hive mind, and Wrong Hordak can lie to clones still connected to the Hive Mind without them realizing that he's lying.
• Individuality Is Illegal: Horde Prime created them to be uniform, fanatically obedient, and interchangeable. None of the clones have names and aren't even supposed to make facial expressions.
• Mind-Control Eyes: Their eyes glow green, indicating that they are under Horde Prime's control. Hordak's eyes turn the same color when Horde Prime mind-wipes him. Though seeing as Hordak and the other clones' eyes remained green after Horde Prime was erased, it's implied it was more due to them funcioning properly and Hordak having red eyes indicated his conditioning became faulty and caused him to have rather unstable behavior, which he no longer had since that memory wipe.
  • The purification rite, which erases clone's memories, turns a clone's eyes white.
• Monochromatic Eyes: Their eyes have green sclera with no visible irises or pupils. However, white pupils appear in their eyes whenever Horde Prime possesses them.
• Monster Threat Expiration: Initially they were dangerous, even in small groups. At the end of the series, however, the heroes can defeat entire waves of them and are even defeated by civilians without formal training.
• Mooks: Unlike Horde troopers, they actually manage to trap the heroes like rats.
• Never Given a Name: Horde Prime doesn't give his clones names, and is utterly offended that Hordak gave himself one.
• One-Gender Race: All of the clones present as male. Horde Prime's consciousness is apparently ancient, but it's unknown if he was originally part of a sexually dimorphic alien race.
• Praetorian Guard: The Clones are the most fanatically loyal of Horde Prime's forces, sworn to serve and protect him with their lives. Prime often appears with two attendants by his throne, guarding him.
• Religion of Evil: They revere Horde Prime as a perfect, all-knowing, godlike being. Life in the Galactic Horde includes "baptism" in a pool of clone life force, in which a clone wishing to be rendered "pure" is mind-wiped as his brothers chant. Regiments of clones are called "flocks".
• Rogue Drone:
  • Hordak exhibits individuality that is anathema to Horde Prime. After Horde Prime mind wipes him twice, Hordak slowly regains his memories of Entrapta, and with them his sense of self. As a result, he rebels against Horde Prime in the Season 5 climax.
  • Wrong Hordak becomes a rogue drone when he is disconnected from the hive mind and adopted by the Rebellion.
• Slave Mooks: Horde Prime utterly oppresses and dominates the clones for his own ends, denying them any autonomy. The clones are bred to serve Prime and conditioned to revere him. All they do is fanatically venerate the emperor.
• Super-Soldier: Horde Prime created his clones to be the pinnacle of integrating genetic engineering and cybernetics that made them into a dangerous army that brought down galaxies
• Symbolic Baptism: Clones exhibiting signs of independence can be rid of the burden of their "imperfections" through a baptism. In Season 5, Hordak is subjected to a "baptism" in a pool of clone life force as Horde Prime looks on and his fellow clones chant fanatically. The baptism is supposed to mind-wipe him and render him "pure", but he later regains his memories.
  Horde Prime: Behold the purest among you.
• Walking Spoiler: One cannot talk about them without referencing Hordak's status as a clone of Horde Prime. Also, their monochromatic appearance and quiet obedience immediately signal that Hordak is very different from his clone brethren.

Footsoldiers

Horde Robots

Legions of robots that serve as Horde Prime's primary attack forces. There are two kinds — small, flying robots that conduct surveillance patrols and scouting, and the larger, humanoid robots that enter combat.

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• Arm Cannon: Their ranged offense is a large cannon on their right arm.
• Attack Drones: The walking, humanoid ones are more for front line combat, and they're designed to adapt to their opponents' moves.
• Blade Below the Shoulder: In melee combat, their left arm is a sharped point they wield like a blade.
• Cyber Cyclops: The humanoid ones have a single large glowing green eye as their only facial features.
• Elite Mooks: The heroes spend much of the series tossing around Hordak's soldiers like they're nothing. Hordak's Spider Tanks become scrap heap within minutes, but Horde Prime's robots adapt quickly, are more agile, and thus are capable of giving them a more challenging fight even in small numbers.
• Everything Is An I Pod In The Future: Fitting with most of Horde Prime's highly advanced technology, his robots are sleek and white with some black and green.
• Mecha-Mooks: In contrast to Hordak's Etherian Horde, which used humans or other biological members for its forces supplemented by robots, Horde Prime's army is much more predominantly robots, with his clones serving as commanders and morale boost.
• Surveillance Drone: The small, flying disk-shaped drones are usually tasked for surveillance. One look, and they’ll summon reinforcements, transmit a feed, and then you’re a goner.

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