Teela
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Teela is a fictional character from the animated series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Her occupation was Captain of the Royal Guard and was responsible for training her best friend, Prince Adam (who was secretly He-Man). She often assisted He-Man in his battles.
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[edit] Character development
Originally, Teela was conceived as a Warrior Goddess (often called "The Goddess") with a cobra motif. In the original toy line and its comic book insert "The Tale of Teela", there were actual two characters named Teela -- one was The Goddess who protected Greyskull and the other was a clone of The Goddess who was the Captain of Eternia's Royal Guard. For the TV show, Teela was split into two more distinctive characters: Teela the Captain of the Royal Guard and The Sorceress (changed from The Goddess as to avoid the wrath of religious advertisers, with the Teela name dropped entirely, and the scary cobra motif was changed to a falcon theme). The original Teel toy had removable snake armor, so children could use the figure as The Goddess or the heroic clone Teela.
[edit] 1983 series
On the cartoon show, Teela is the daughter of The Sorceress, though she does not know this. When Teela was an infant, the Sorceress gave her to Duncan (Man-At-Arms) because the Sorceress felt that it would be too dangerous to have her child living at Castle Grayskull when it was constantly under attack by enemies such as Skeletor. In one episode, Teela set out to discover the truth about her mother from an oracle, and actually did discover that she was the daughter of the Sorceress, but a very emotionally-distraught Sorceress erased the revelation from Teela's memory for her own protection, even though the Sorceress desperately wished she could tell Teela the truth.
Her foster father, Duncan, is known simply by his title Man-At-Arms. He designs and builds weapons and other technology for King Randor. Duncan knows Adam's/He-Man's secret identity and acts as mentor and teacher to the young prince.
Despite her excellent fighting skills, Teela has a reckless attitude not unlike that of a wild tomboy (a far cry from her mother's soft spoken temperament); in the 1980s series, her recklessness would often lead to poor judgement, which would lead to her getting captured often. She would often reprimand her friend Adam for being lazy and not attentive to his training, while having a crush on his alter ego, He-Man.
[edit] 2002 series
An origin tale in "The Tale of Teela" minicomic shows Teela to be the clone and daughter of Eternia's mysterious, forest-dwelling guardian, the Goddess, and created by Skeletor's abuse of an ancient artifact. Later, in the television cartoons that followed, the sci-fi aspects of her origin would be abandoned for one with a more whimsical, magic-oriented tone that might appeal to the shows' young audiences. As in the original minicomic, Teela is adopted by the gruff Man-At-Arms, who raises her into a fearless warrior devoted to her sovereign, King Randor, and the protection of his kingdom, Eternos.The basic outline of her character remained the same in the 2002 series, but taken to a greater extent due to a difference in censors and restrictions. She still teases or reprimands Adam for his apparent lack of courage and gumption while harboring an unspoken and unconsumated crush on his alter-ego He-Man, and is still a very durable fighter in her own right. However, Teela appears to be much younger and leaner in the 2002 series than she was in the 1980s series, and sports a combat armor costume not unlike Xena: Warrior Princess. She also briefly displayed limited telepathic powers, possibly a genetic carry over from her mother the Sorceress. There were also hints that Duncan (Man-At-Arms) may have actually been her biological father, or Fisto, who was revealed to Man-At-Arms' brother in the 2002 series.
[edit] Portrayal
In the 1980s series, Teela was voiced by Linda Gary.
In the 1987 film, Teela is portrayed by Chelsea Field as a mostly serious fighter who only occasionally allows a sense of humor to show through. Nothing was said of her being the daughter of the Sorceress. There was also an indication that she may be Man-At-Arms' biological daughter rather than adopted- when Man-At-Arms sees a young couple kissing in a car, he remarks "I was doing that before you were born" thus indicating that the writers perceived him as her real father. Also, at several points in the film, she calls Man-At-Arms "father" (though she often did this in the Filmation series). However, it is still debatable on whether he is her real or adopted father in the film.
In The New Adventures of He-Man series which ran from 1990-1991, Teela makes a one time appearance in a rare reference to the vintage 1980s series. However, she bears no resemblance to her filmation counterpart, even so far as sporting long blonde hair instead of red hair. She wore a pink leotard, rather than the white one she's famous for.
In the 2002 series, Teela is voiced by Lisa Ann Beley.
