Heir apparent to the throne of Eternia. Secret identity of He-Man. Affects a faint-hearted, work-shy public persona to deflect suspicion. Son of King Randor and Queen Marlena, twin brother of Adora (She-Ra).
Prince Adam is the heir to the throne of Eternia and the public-facing identity of He-Man. Adam affects an indolent, work-shy persona to deflect suspicion about his frequent absences during emergencies, leading to constant disappointment from his father King Randor and exasperation from Teela. He cannot tell them the truth because the secret protects them as much as it protects him.
The Adam identity was introduced by Filmation in 1983 specifically to allow for serialized storytelling: the 1982 mini-comics had He-Man as a barbarian without a civilian identity. The split between Adam and He-Man has been preserved across nearly every later continuity, with the 2002 MYP reboot emphasizing his teenage burden and the 2021 Revelation continuation treating the long-term emotional cost of the secret as a central narrative engine.
Catalogue source: heman.fandom.com (CC BY-SA 3.0).