An interesting article on the genesis of the Master of the Universe toy line from Mattel with the guy that created the whole shebang- apparently it spun out of Mattel’s passing on the original Star Wars license back in the day. The creator seems a little too proud of the name “He-Man,” but with the amount of product Mattel moved, it obviously worked!
How did you come up with the name?
At the time I did the first prototype figure, I still didn’t have a name for him. So I brainstormed 40 or 50 names. Among those names were Mighty Man, Megaton Man, Strong Man, Big Man, but the instant I got that name He-Man…
You knew that was it.
[Long Pause] I cannot tell you… [breathes deeply]… how big a bell rang in my head. The whole line came together. Here was a highly generic name that had a kinda brute-force feel to it. And what could be more of a direct name than this for a heroic figure? It’s just one in a million.
Full piece here.
I’d always read it was supposed to be a Conan line, but the rights fell through, so they adapted as best they could and made “He-Man”