"...thus, The wanderer he came to be called amongst the less civilised kingdoms that still held the Hordes of Evil at bay from their halls and fortresses. For He-Man had become as unpredictable and terrible as the socerer he was sworn to vanquish for his crimes against Eternia and its once large Empire.
Skeletor, in his unholy thirst for everlasting life and power, had finally found Castle Grayskull and drunk the blood from The Sorceress' corpse, whom his lackeys had murdered and desecrated. The wisdom and light protecting the Empire was obscured and He-Man, ever vigilant, was only able to stop the black legion when it was too late and little but the foundations of Castle Grayskull remained untouched. Nothing but bare rocks in a white desert that glowed ghastily with the remnants of the once thriving energy that gave the champion its life force.
It is because of this dreadful fact that He-Man could never again be the strongest man in the known lands: he knew thirst, pain, cold and pain... terrible pain and agony for all he'd lost.
His friends scattered after Randor the King and his Queen were vanquished on an assault by the now more terrible shadow of Snake Mountain and its armies; Prince Adam, dissapeared after the attack, never to be seen again, leaving the throne empty and dividing the Empire; his sword, its power depleting constantly; his steed, dead of thirst and hunger, lacking the power which also gave him his supernatural strength... all, lost.
And yet, his will prevailed. Even then, He-Man still wandered the lonely paths of time and assailed the enemy at every turn, no matter how great his armies or how obscure his fastnesses. And slowly, he won.
Scars gave him determination and grim medals for his thiumphs. Pain gave him focus and anger fed his heart, for he knew the power of Grayskull would be spent one day and that day would have to dawn without stain. The Era of Man was to come, without the shadow of Evil at its heels.
He haunted, legends say, the pale sands of the ever shifting dunes in search of his lost fortress and source of power, like a ghost of the past, weather beaten and terrible.
In the barren wasteland he found, from time to time, the glowing rocks and rusting armour of his Sorceress, still clinging to the glory of former days. And there his sword drank and gave him strength to claim yet one more battle. One more day."

Book 20, Chronicles of Twilight,
"Books of Eternia: The Old Days"

This is something I've wanted to do for a while. I was always a great fan of He-Man and I have to say that it is one of my first memories as a child, involving 'high Fantasy', barbarians and technology all in one.
I had done an image of Skeletor a while back ([link]) based upon redesigns by Marko Djurdjevic, but somehow felt his He-Man didn't suit what I thought he'd become if the story of his deeds was to be told again for a more mature audience.
Thus, I redesigned him myself and with it, I put a bit of thought (I can't help being a nerd!) into the background of how I'd tell his story, after a terrible event: the destruction of Castle Grayskull by Skeletor.
I was never very good with words and I hope you find the tale amusing. I think it's an interesting perspective to try and make He-Man what he was bound to become: a myth. Only legends remaining of his deeds and told from a scribe's perspective after all was said and done.

There are some details I enjoyed, particularly: the old look I think suits him quite well and makes him even more terrifying as a mythical figure. I changed the cross on his harness and belt for two ruby skulls; it always seemed quite stupid to me that he didn't wear any sull iconography, being a child of GraySKULL (but I also understand skulls aren't for kids, apparently ). And the scar and lost eye, well... that goes to show just how badass he is!

I've a good idea of a redesign for Skeletor and even Man-at-Arms at this point, all by me; so, if you like this, I'll certainly work on these some more.

Let me know what you think, as usual!

Nic.-

PS.. Oh, there is a soundtrack for this image as usual. Led Zeppelin's Kashmir, which inspired me quite a lot whilst working on this piece. I was going to post the lyrics, but it seems like too large a comment, so here's a link to them: [link]