Teela

Teela (spelled Tee-La in the early minicomics) is a character from the Masters of the Universe franchise. She is the Captain of the Royal Guard at the palace of Eternos and thus responsible for training and protecting Prince Adam of Eternia. While Adam is He-Man, Teela often assists him in his battles, though she is unaware of his alternate identity. Teela was one of the first characters developed for Masters of the Universe, although her figure was released in the second half of the first wave.

Minicomics
Teela was a "warrior goddess," a capable female fighter imbued with the spirits of great warriors long deceased. She roamed the deserted landscapes of Eternia atop a unicorn and was a loyal friend to He-Man. The Spirit of Grayskull revealed to Teela that she would one day become the guardian of Castle Grayskull, a title she said she would be honoured to accept.



In the DC Minicomics, Teela was revealed to have been a clone of the Goddess, whom Skeletor had captured twenty years earlier. Skeletor planned to raise the clone as an evil version of the Goddess under his command. However, the infant clone was rescued by Man-At-Arms, who named her after the Goddess and raised her as his own daughter.

DC Comics (1982)
In the stories written by Paul Kupperberg for DC Comics, Teela was a hotheaded member of the Royal Guard of Eternia, initially serving as a bodyguard to the womanizing and irresponsible Prince Adam. Later, Teela had ascended to the position of Captain of the guard and fought alongside He-Man and the other heroic warriors.

Teela helped He-Man to find the talismans that would guide them to the Power Sword.

Filmation series
Teela appeared as one of the primary characters in the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe animated series and appeared as a guest character in its spinoff, She-Ra: Princess of Power.

Years before the appearance of He-Man, Man-At-Arms prevented the evil warrior, Mer-Man, from sacrificing Zoar to the demon, Bakkull. Afterward, Man-At-Arms ascended to Zoar's nest and found a baby girl - the daughter of Sorceress of Castle Grayskull, Teela. The Sorceress was unable to raise Teela herself due to her responsibility guarding Castle Grayskull, and gave her into the care of Man-At-Arms, concealing her identity from Teela so as to not place her in danger.

Man-At-Arms raised at the Royal Palace of Eternia and taught her combat skills. As a teenager, Teela studied in the city of widsom with the wizard, Mallek. Mallek harboured romantic feelings for Teela, which she did not reciprocate. The strong willed, independent, and often hot headed Teela eventually rose to become Captain of the Palace Guard.

While searching for clues as to what happened to her mother and father, Teela learned from the Oracle of the Crystal Sea that she was the daughter of the Sorceress and was one day destined to take her place as the guardian of Castle Grayskull. Though she desperately wished she could tell Teela the truth, the Sorceress erased all knowledge of these events from Teela's mind. Despite this, Teela still had a subconscious bond with the Sorceress and could often sense her love. One one occasion, Teela temporarily assumed the role of Sorceress when her mother was banished to another dimension by Skeletor.

Despite her excellent fighting skills and typically being sensible and level-headed, Teela had a reckless streak and would often disobey her father's orders. Unaware of Adam's dual-identity and the duties that go with it, Teela often scolded him for being work-shy, fearful and unattentive to his training. Teela had a romantic attraction to He-Man and flirted with him on several occasions.

1987 Live-action film


In the live action Masters of the Universe (1987 film), Teela was headstrong and outspoken, and only occasionally allowed a sense of humor to show through; she wielded a laser pistol, and, unlike in other depictions, had a dark grey outfit and curly brown hair.

Teela was shown to be a vegetarian, and was disgusted when Man-At-Arms was eating meat. She also displayed some mild jealousy when He-Man became close to Julia Winston, but remained steadfast and loyal. When He-Man agreed to surrender his sword to Skeletor in exchange for sparing his friend's lives, Teela cried out in objection, not wishing him to surrender his life for theirs. Teela later fought alongside Man-At-Arms, Lubic, Gwildor and the Earthlings against Skeletor's forces in Grayskull and drove them into a retreat.

The New Adventures of He-Man
In the The New Adventures of He-Man, Teela was brought to the future on one occasion when He-Man was suffering from home sickness. Realising that He-Man missed his family on friends, the Sorceress used a rare oppurtunity to open up a time portal and send Teela to Primus for a reunion with He-Man, who was overjoyed to see his old friend.

Teela arrived just in time to help He-Man foil the latest scheme of Skeletor (New Adventures), using a set of magical books called the Encyclopedia of Evil to conquer Primus. During their battle against Skeletor, He-Man remarked that it was "just like old times". Teela also informed Skeletor that Eternia had been very peaceful since he had been gone. Teela's presence sparked some jealousy in Mara, but the two women struck up a friendship before Teela returned home to her own time, tearfully bidding farewell, perhaps forever, to He-Man.

Teela was portrayed as having long blond hair (reminiscent of the early mini-comics) instead of red hair, and wore a pink leotard.

2002 TV series
In the 2002 revival of the franchise and its accompanying animated series, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002), Teela was portrayed as a brash sixteen year old, who, despite her young age, served as the steadfast Captain of the Royal Guard. As with previous depictions of the character, Teela was the daughter of the Sorceress of Castle Grayskull, and was adopted by Man-At-Arms when she was a child. Teela's father was a soldier who served during the great unrest, but he disappeared some time before Teela was born

Teela maintained a friendship with Prince Adam and assisted in his battle training, but she often teased or reprimanded Adam for his apparent lack of courage and gumption, while harboring an unspoken and unconsummated crush on his alter-ego, He-Man.

One one occasion, Teela was injured in battle and had to have a blood transfusion from her mother, the Sorceress. Following the transfusion, Teela developed telepathic powers for a brief time, which later faded away. The incident left Teela suspicious as to her true connection to the Sorceress.

In the show's accompany Comic Book, Teela displayed a softer side when she admitted to Adam that she would rather play with him, as they did as children within the palace walls, than be a soldier trained to expect war. Adam reassured her that what she does will bring that day closer, holding her hand. She later became becomes jealous of the attention Adam showed to a weak, critically injured Evil-Lyn.

In the 2002 series, Teela was voiced by Lisa Ann Beley.

Portrayals
In the 1983 cartoon, Teela was voiced by Linda Gary. In the live-action Masters of the Universe film, Teela was portrayed by Chelsea Field. She was voiced by Cathy Weseluck in The New Adventures of He-Man.

Behind The Scenes

 * The character of Teela was created by Donald F. Glut. Initially, Mattel did not wish to include a female character in the series, fearing it would not appeal to boys, but they changed their mind when they realised they could reuse the mold of the Teela figure to create additional female toys which might appeal to girls.
 * Donald F. Glut also explained the origins of the name "Teela", stating that: "The name Teela, by the way, came from the “Gunga Ram” stories I’d seen as a kid on the old SMILIN’ ED’S GANG and ANDY'S GANG TV shows. It was the name of Gunga’s (an Indian “elephant boy”) elephant. Oddly, Joe Mazzuka (aka Nino Marcel), the actor who played Gunga, went on to be one of the producers of the MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE TV cartoon show, which was produced by Filmation."
 * Along with He-Man, Skeletor, The Sorceress, King Randor and Queen Marlena, Teela was one of the only classic characters who appeared in the New Adventures of He-Man animated series.