MASTER OF THE PLANT KINGDOM
Evilseed
When the Dam of the Ancients bursts, Evilseed wakes from years of sleep and sends his vines after the Royal Palace and Snake Mountain alike.
Evilseed is a plant villain from Filmation's He-Man, the master of the Plant Kingdom in the 1983 episode "Evilseed," whose vines are stopped only by a snowfall over Castle Grayskull.
The record
The facts
WHO HE IS
A villain who grows
Evilseed wants Eternia, and he wants it for his plants. Filmation drew him as a tall figure in a brown cloak, with a green head shaped like a leaf bud, yellow eyes and a fanged mouth, and he introduces himself as "Evilseed, master of the Plant Kingdom." He and his plants, he says, "have slept for years. Now we waken to claim Eternia." He appears in one episode, Barney Cohen's "Evilseed," first aired on November 24, 1983.[1]
His way back in is a bag of seeds. A hooded stranger sells gnome farmers a plant "good for everything that grows" and tells them to try some by the Dam of the Ancients; by morning the vines are tearing the dam apart, and the flood that follows is what wakes him.[2] His plants need water, the dam holds it, and the cold is the only thing that stops him.
THE SIGNATURE EPISODE
Evilseed
The episode opens with Man-At-Arms sneezing and the Dam of the Ancients bursting, and He-Man and Battle Cat spend the first act on a flood rescue before the Sorceress calls them back to the palace. Vines have broken into the Royal Palace and are pulling it down around King Randor, Queen Marlena and Teela; He-Man holds up the roof until the vines pull back, and the Sorceress can only bring He-Man and Orko to Castle Grayskull through her space portal. Through the Window of Spirits He-Man accuses Skeletor, who is being overrun at Snake Mountain himself, and Evilseed cuts in on both of them: "I am taking over." He adds a promise for Skeletor: "all the miserable treasure you have... that shall be mine also."[3]
The Sorceress works out the weakness in her laboratory: "Like most plants, it cannot grow when it is cold." The plan is a giant ice ball from the Ice Mountains, smashed in the sky over Castle Grayskull to make snow, and it needs the three strongest forces on Eternia: He-Man's strength, the Sorceress's magic and Skeletor's power. Skeletor refuses ("Never will I set foot in Castle Grayskull until the day I enter as its conqueror") and holds out while Trap Jaw is buried in vines, until the vines have Snake Mountain too and he calls back, "I am ready to come to Grayskull."
Inside the castle he tries to leave He-Man stranded at the Ice Mountains, and the Sorceress brings him back anyway. Then all of them join their powers, Orko included, Skeletor raises the Havoc Staff, and the snow comes down on the dam. Evilseed shrinks under it, still promising a return: "This is my season. This is my time! But I will be back... There will be another season."
[3] ^ No voice credit for him has been confirmed, so none is printed here.
Evilseed in his own episode, with Skeletor at his glass dome.
Clipped from our own copy of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Evilseed (1983), 9:51 to 11:49, 1 minute 58 seconds. Nothing is added and nothing is sped up. Copyright Mattel.
LATER SERIES AND FILMS
Evil Seed in 2002
Filmation's version never came back, but the name did. The 2002 series is not part of the Filmation canon this encyclopedia follows. It rebuilt him as Evil Seed, a different character with his own history, and the Evil Seed (200x) entry covers him. He is not in Revelation or Revolution, Filmation's She-Ra, or the Dolph Lundgren movie, and he is not in the 2026 film.
IN PLASTIC
Two looks in plastic
There was no Evilseed in the 1980s toy line. Masters of the Universe Classics gave the cartoon design its figure in 2016, cloak and bud-shaped head included, as part of the Club Grayskull line built around the Filmation look, and Super7 made a Vintage-style Evil Seed in 2019.[4] Both are retired or sold out, and no Evil Seed is on sale new at BigBadToyStore today.
[4] ^ The toys spell him Evil Seed, in two words. Masters of the Universe Classics made a Filmation-styled figure in 2016 for the Club Grayskull line, and a 2015 Classics figure on the 2002 design; Super7's Vintage line followed in 2019.
IN BRIEF
Evilseed, from the dam to the toy shelf
"Evilseed" airs
The plant master wakes with the flood and goes down under the snow.
Masters of the Universe Classics Evil Seed (Club Grayskull)
Drawn from the cartoon. Retired.
Super7 Vintage Evil Seed
A carded figure in the style of the 1980s line. Sold out.
Questions
Evilseed questions, answered
Who is Evilseed?
A plant creature who calls himself master of the Plant Kingdom. He wakes after years asleep and sends vines across Eternia to claim it.
Which episode is Evilseed in?
"Evilseed," written by Barney Cohen and first aired in November 1983. It is his only Filmation episode.
What is Evilseed's weakness?
Cold. The Sorceress finds that his plants cannot grow when it is cold, so the heroes make it snow.
Why do He-Man and Skeletor team up?
The snow plan needs the Sorceress's magic, He-Man's strength and Skeletor's power together at Castle Grayskull, and Skeletor agrees only after the vines overrun Snake Mountain.
Who planted the seeds?
A hooded man sells them to gnome farmers. The episode never says who he is.
Who voices Evilseed?
No voice credit for him has been confirmed.
Is Evilseed the same as the 2002 Evil Seed?
They share a name. The 2002 series' Evil Seed is a reworked character with his own entry.
Does Evilseed come back?
Not in the Filmation series. He promises "another season" as the snow falls, and the cartoon never gives him one.
Is there an Evilseed figure?
Masters of the Universe Classics made one in 2016 in the cartoon's style, and Super7 made a Vintage-style figure in 2019. Neither is sold new at BigBadToyStore today.
What is the Dam of the Ancients?
The dam his vines tear apart at the start of the episode. Evilseed stands on top of it at the end, and the snow catches him there.
Compiled by the heman.org desk from the Filmation episode "Evilseed," its subtitle track, review and episode guide, epguides and IMDb for the air date, and the heman.org toy pages for the Classics and Super7 figures.
Alongside
