Horde Prime
Horde Prime is a fictional character in the cartoon series She-Ra: Princess of Power. He is the ruler of the intergalactic Evil Horde.[1] He is only seen surrounded by green smoke. His true form has never been seen. A metallic arm comes out of the cloud of smoke when he is outraged or angered. Horde Prime has a son named Prince Zed who calls Hordak his uncle. This suggests that Horde Prime may have once looked like Hordak before his transformation. He is voiced in the series by Lou Scheimer.
The relationship between Horde Prime and Hordak
In the mythology of She-Ra, Horde Prime is the only being with authority over Hordak as well as his Horde inspectors, for he is the intergalactic ruler of the Horde Empire, with control over all Horde regimes. He apparently hails from a world known as Horde World although his exact background has never been revealed. All that has ever been seen of Horde Prime is a gigantic skeletal robotic arm, which suggests he may be some sort of cyborg. He travels the universe in his ship, the Velvet Glove, keeping watch over the Horde's universal activities. It has been speculated, but never confirmed, that Horde Prime may be Hordak's brother.
The main reason for this comes from the episode "The Peril of Whispering Woods", the first She-Ra episode to allude to Horde Prime. In this episode we see Horde Prime's son, Prince Zed, who addresses Hordak as 'uncle'. This could suggest that Prime is Hordak's brother, but it is also possible that Zed only called him 'uncle' as a friendly term, or he is on Zed's mother's side. However a letter from this episode said "your nephew" stating that Hordak is his uncle but we don't know on which side. How Prince Zed is Horde Prime's son still remains to be seen.
Two UK She-Ra annuals in the mid-1980s state that Hordak is Prime's brother, but these operate within a canon independent of the cartoon and also got Horde Prime's name wrong, referring to him as 'Prime Horde'. The UK He-Man comics state explicitly in one issue that Horde Prime is not Hordak's brother, but again these operate within an independent canon and drew Prime with a completely different appearance from the cartoon.
It has not yet been confirmed whether or not Filmation's writers conceived Prime as Hordak's brother. However, he is referred to as such in the Character Profiles in Disc 6 of the She-Ra Season One DVD set.
Masters of the Universe Classics Hordak's bio describes Hordak as the "second heir of the Horde Empire." this may be referring to Horde Prime. In the MOTUC He-ro bio a possible new name for Horde prime is Horde supreme
Horde Prime's dual heads
In the episode For the Want Of A Horse, Grizzlor states that Horde Prime should get matching bow ties for each head. Shadow Weaver somewhat later confirms, in that same episode, that Horde Prime indeed is dual-headed; when asked by Hordak as to what would be a suitable gift for someone who already possesses two of everything. Hordak grants further confirmation by expressing his dismay at being reminded of that fact. How both heads work as one mind still remains to be seen.
