Faceless One

The Faceless One, the ruler of Zalesia, once known as Nikolas Powers, was entrusted by King Grayskull to guard the city's great magical objects - the Havoc Staff and the Ram Stone.

History (Classics)
Powers was a core member of Grayskull's Council of Elders, great mages from across Eternia who had the wisdom to tap into the planet's hidden magical secrets. But by marrying and having a daughter, he broke the Elders' treaty with King Hiss to not produce any heirs. Powers was stripped of his humanity, condemned to never leave Zalesia and forced to watch his beloved city destroyed by Serpos. Now called "The Faceless One", he asked the wizard-warrior He-Ro to use the power of Central Tower to send his daughter, Evelyn into the future. There, with his immortality, he hoped to raise her away from the terror of the Great Wars. After being raised by her father in the ruins of Zalesia, Evelyn Morgan Powers left in a fit of teenage rebellion and took the name Evil-Lyn. A young Keldor fought the Faceless One for the Havoc Staff until he received a vision that Keldor would progenate a member of his own bloodline, Skeleteen, who would rightfully inherit the staff, and so surrendered it to him.

History (MVCreations)
The 2004 MVCreations comics, which preceded The Faceless One's 2011 Classics bio, gave him a slightly different origin. The Lord of Zalesia was once the wielder of the Havoc Staff and a member of the Council of Wisdom. By taking a mate, who died giving birth, and bearing a daughter, Evelyn, he broke the sacred oaths all council members took. So when King Hsss kidnapped the infant, their treaty with him prevented them from taking action. So in order to save his daughter, he was forced to give Hsss the power to summon Serpos. But the Lord did not give him the power to control the snake god, causing Serpos to attack his own people, until Evelyn was safely returned to him. The Lord tried to stop Hsss, but he became protected by Keldor, who had time-traveled to Preternia to retrieve the Havoc Staff. Serpos laid waste to many lands in Eternia, including Zalesia. Before Serpos could hurt his daughter, Keldor offered to take her someplace safe from Hsss where he would raise and safeguard her, but only if he was given the Havoc Staff in exchange, and the Lord agreed. Even with the Ram Stone, he could not stop Serpos from reducing Zalesia to ruins. The Council of Wisdom petrified Serpos back into Snake Mountain, then punished the Lord by transforming him into a formless shadow doomed to haunt the ruins of Zalesia forever.

Guarding the Ram Stone
The Faceless One was charged with guarding the Ram Stone. In recent times, the Ram Stone was twice stolen from the his keeping under Skeletor's orders: once by Evil-Lyn, who returned it soon afterwards, and later by Count Marzo, after which it was destroyed by He-Man. Now the only thing of value the Faceless One had left to guard was his daughter. She called out to him for help when Skeletor tried to sacrifice her to the Pool of Shadows, but as he was bound to Zalesia, he contacted He-Man to save her instead.

Later Life (MVCreations)
Evil-Lyn's failed attempt to summon Hordak gave her a fatal case of Despondos poisoning. The Snake Men stole her from an Eternos infirmary and used her to make a deal with the Faceless One: they would bring her and Skeletor to Zalesia, allowing the Faceless One to use him and their two magic staves to heal her, and he would give Hsss the power to control Serpos again. Though the Snake Men betrayed him towards the end, and would have killed Evil-Lyn if not for He-Man's aid, he managed to convince Skeletor to use the staves and his power over Despondos to save Evil-Lyn and take her back with him to recover despite her treachery. But in saving her, the Faceless One had given Hsss what he wanted. He would again summon Serpos under his control, until He-Man turned the god to stone once more. Later, He-Man and Orko came to the Faceless One for help locating the Oracle of Zalesia, so he could aid the Trollan in returning home. The Faceless One gave them directions to the remains of the Oracle's temple, and wished them luck.

Trivia
The Faceless One first appeared as an articulated action figure in 2011 as part of Mattel's Masters of the Universe Classics toyline.



He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002)

 * Lessons
 * The Price of Deceit