HORDAK'S BOSS
Horde Prime
Horde Prime rules the Horde, and several of the schemes Hordak hatches on Etheria are partly an attempt to keep him happy.
Horde Prime is the ruler of the Evil Horde and Hordak's superior. In the Filmation She-Ra series he is never fully shown, and his signature episode is "Horde Prime Takes a Holiday" (1985). Netflix's 2020 final season of She-Ra made him its main villain.
The record
The facts
WHO HE IS
The boss of the Horde
Hordak runs the Fright Zone, but he does not run the Horde. Above him is Horde Prime, ruler of Horde World, whom the messenger carrying Hordak's birthday gift in "For Want of a Horse" hails as "mighty Horde Prime, master of all you see." Filmation never shows him whole. He is a voice inside a cloud of green smoke, sometimes with two glowing eyes under a horned shape and once with a giant mechanical hand that swings out of the dark to make a point, and he talks to Hordak the way an impatient manager talks to a branch office that keeps missing its targets.
Several of Hordak's plans in the She-Ra series are partly meant to impress Horde Prime, from a baby horn whale for his collection of strange animals to a birthday present, and at one point Hordak promises him the Rebellion will be crushed by the end of the week.
THE SIGNATURE EPISODE
Horde Prime Takes a Holiday
"Horde Prime Takes a Holiday," from a J. Michael Straczynski story with a Bob Forward teleplay, opens with Hordak summoned aboard the Velvet Glove, Horde Prime's flagship and, in Prime's own words, the most powerful ship in the galaxy. Prime is off to Tropica for a vacation he has been looking forward to for 500 years, and Hordak will mind the ship. The warning is blunt: "You had better not even touch it," delivered as the giant hand swings in, and "If I find so much as a scratch on it, you'll be sorry." Hordak promises it will be safe in his hands, and only just catches himself calling his master Slime.[1]
He touches it the moment Prime has gone. The Velvet Glove's freeze cannon goes to work on the Whispering Woods, the Sorceress sends He-Man to help She-Ra, Skeletor tries to steal the ship for himself, and She-Ra finally sends it into an asteroid. Horde Prime comes back from his holiday in a very good mood and asks one question: "Tell me, how is my flagship?" The rebels listen in on the crashing and screaming that follow.
[1] ^ Horde Prime starts to say he once had two flagships and would still have both "if you hadn't...", and Hordak cuts him off before the sentence ends. The episode never says what happened to the first one.
Hordak in the Velvet Glove, where Horde Prime's giant claw swings in.
Clipped from our own copy of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Horde Prime Takes a Holiday (She-Ra: Princess of Power, 1985), 1:43 to 3:16, 1 minute 33 seconds. Nothing is added and nothing is sped up. Copyright Mattel.
HIS OTHER EPISODES
On the viewscreen
Most of his other scenes are calls. In "The Eldritch Mist" Hordak rings him to announce that the Rebellion is finished, then spots She-Ra and He-Man on the loose and hangs up with "Call you back later." "Micah of Bright Moon" opens with Horde Prime's robot squadron chasing Glimmer's father off Horde World, and when Micah refuses to turn back, Prime lets him run and hands the problem to Hordak. In "For Want of a Horse" his birthday is coming, and Hordak's plan to give him Swift Wind ends with a far smaller gift.[2]
The late episodes bring him closer. In "Bow's Magical Gift" he is on Etheria in person to refill his supplies and collect workers for his factory, and orders the whole village of Glenmar taken. In "The Inspector" he calls the Fright Zone to say that Inspector Darkney is coming to find out why Hordak has been unable to defeat a few paltry rebels, and Prince Adam, in a fake beard, gets inside by claiming to be the inspector sent in Darkney's place.
[2] ^ Hordak's birthday present in "For Want of a Horse" is meant to be Swift Wind. When the rebels win the horse back, Horde Prime gets a tie.
LATER SERIES AND FILMS
Horde Prime after Filmation
The later series fall outside the Filmation canon followed here. They were less shy about him. DreamWorks' She-Ra and the Princesses of Power finally put a face on him: he is the main villain of its fifth and final season on Netflix in 2020, and Gizmodo's review of that season credits Keston John, the series' Hordak, with playing Horde Prime and all the Horde clones too.
Masters of the Universe: Revolution, on Netflix in 2024, ends with Despara, a woman whose face stays in shadow, promising the Exalted One that Horde Prime will make him whole. Den of Geek's explanation of the ending identifies the Exalted One as Hordak, floating in a tube, and Despara as the franchise's Adora. He is not in The Secret of the Sword, the 2002 series or Revelation, and the Dolph Lundgren movie leaves the Horde out. He is not in the 2026 film.
IN PLASTIC
The figure
Mattel's vintage lines never made Horde Prime. Masters of the Universe Classics gave him his first figure in 2012 as part of its subscription. It is retired and not sold new at BigBadToyStore today.
IN BRIEF
Horde Prime, from 1985 to Revolution
"Horde Prime Takes a Holiday" airs
His first speaking episode.
"Micah of Bright Moon" and "For Want of a Horse" air
Glimmer's father escapes him, and his birthday comes around.
"Bow's Magical Gift" and "The Inspector" air
He comes to Etheria for supplies and workers, then sends Inspector Darkney to audit Hordak.
Masters of the Universe Classics Horde Prime
Part of the 2012 subscription. Long retired.
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, season five
Netflix's reboot makes him the final villain, voiced by Keston John.
Masters of the Universe: Revolution
Named in the final scene, as a power still to come.
Questions
Horde Prime questions, answered
Who is Horde Prime?
The ruler of the Evil Horde and Hordak's superior, based on Horde World.
What does Horde Prime look like in the 1985 series?
Filmation never shows him in full. He appears as a voice in green smoke, sometimes with glowing eyes under a horned shape, and once with a giant mechanical hand.
What is Horde Prime's first episode?
"Horde Prime Takes a Holiday," first aired on October 1, 1985. He is mentioned earlier, in "The Peril of Whispering Woods," but not heard.
What is the Velvet Glove?
Horde Prime's flagship. He leaves it with Hordak while he takes a vacation on Tropica, and it ends the episode wrecked on an asteroid.
What birthday present does Hordak give Horde Prime?
A tie. Hordak had planned to give him Swift Wind in "For Want of a Horse," but the rebels took the horse back.
Is Horde Prime Hordak's brother?
The Filmation series never says so. On screen he is Hordak's master, and nothing more is explained.
Who voices Horde Prime?
The Filmation episode credits do not name his voice. In She-Ra and the Princesses of Power he is played by Keston John, who also voices Hordak.
Is Horde Prime in Masters of the Universe: Revolution?
Only by name. In the final scene Despara tells the Exalted One, Hordak, that Horde Prime will make him whole.
Who wrote Horde Prime Takes a Holiday?
J. Michael Straczynski wrote the story and Bob Forward the teleplay.
Is there a Horde Prime figure to buy right now?
No. The 2012 Masters of the Universe Classics figure is retired and not sold new at BigBadToyStore.
Compiled by the heman.org desk from the She-Ra: Princess of Power episodes "Horde Prime Takes a Holiday," "The Eldritch Mist," "Micah of Bright Moon," "For Want of a Horse," "Bow's Magical Gift" and "The Inspector" and their episode guides, the Masters of the Universe: Revolution episode "The Scepter and the Sword," Wikipedia's She-Ra episode list for air dates and writers, Gizmodo's review of the final season of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, and Den of Geek's explanation of the Revolution ending.
Alongside
