Origin
Hec-Tor Kur being the second born to rule the Horde Empire, and in command of the armies of the horde, set out to impose the will of the empire to all of the universe. his biggest rival was the magical agent of good, He-ro. He followed the Cosmic Enforcer to the planet Eternia. With much magic on the planet made Eternia a ripe jewel of the universe to be taken.
He later raised an army to fight King Hisss and his snakemen; though he defeated the snakemen he lost to King Greyskull and the free people of Eternia. Having a spell back fire upon himself and his army sending him to the prison dimension of Dispondos. It would be there that Hordak would conquer one of the planets with in the dimension called Etheria which would become his base of operations.
Years later he would contact a young alchemist back on Eternia named Keldor. He taught the young one the powers of the dark arts in exchange for his help to escape. Though betrayed by his pupil he still sets his sights on conquering all the known universe.
Current
Now ruler of the planet Etheria he fights an ongoing battle against a group of rebels who call themselves the Great Rebellion. they hid amung the Whispering Woods, an enchanted forest that hides the rebellion and prevents dark magic from working within its confines. His new enemy is She-ra who has some relation to He-man of the planet Eternia. Though times things often turn into a stale mate. Hordak loses little more land to the rebels.
Not often settling for just the universe itself. Hordak keeps coming back to Eternia being his one failure to conquer. Often finding breaches in the dimensional rift he tries what he can to conquer Eternia and gain a foot hold on the planet. Most often fighting on two fronts from his former pupil now self proclaimed overlord of evil Skeletor, and the Champion of Eternia, He-Man.
With the expanse of his Horde Empire, Hordak employs the help of evil creatures from across the universe, or corrupting others to do his bidding. former Etherian apprentice now top dark magic user Shadowweaver, Prison Master Grizzlor, Force Captain Catra, Scorpia, Multi-bot, and many others.
Often to enforce fear into the masses each planet has created a Fright Zone where prisoners are sent to be tortured, one of the most notable tortures concocted by Hordak was the Slime Pit. his previous attempt to make a Fright Zone on Eternia back fired due to the strong magical force on the planet. Nearly tearing the planet apart he ended up stopping the spell and created the dark hemisphere on Eternia.
The New DC
Origin of Hordak
For more information see Masters of the Universe: The Origin of Hordak
On Horde World, one million years before the birth of Adam, Zodac, Cosmic Enforcer: 097-427-09 has brought his army to defeat the horde and the “Beast” Hordak. His army was able to kill all the Horde but Hordak’s presence still lived and Zodac’s army was destroyed. Hordak taunts Zodac to the castle, where Hordak releases monsters on the hero. After the hero defeats the monsters Hordak still beckons the hero close and when Zodac asks why Hordak still laughed, the villain reveals that all the dead soldier now gave him great power. Hordak and Zodac battled, and Hordak is able to add Zodak’s power to his own becoming the Master of the Universe.
In Vol 3 of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Hordak sends Despara to Eternia so she could undo King Greyskull’s legacy by making Eternia into a new Etheria, one which Hordak can rule. Despara and the Horde end up ruling Eternia and making He-Man and the Masters of the Universe into rebels on the run for their lives. Despara finds out she is Adam’s (He-Man) sister, Adora from Shadow Weaver. Hordak finds out Adora knows the truth and kills Shadow Weaver. When Adora helps her old friend Teela, that she captured while she was Despara, Hordak appears to them in spirit form on Eternia. He tells Adora that he no longer needs her and that she ruined her ancestor, King Greyskulls legacy by helping him take over Eternia. His plan was to have Skeletor kidnap the twins Adam and Adora as kids so he could use them to his evil agenda to ruin Greyskull’s legacy as revenge. He-Man and some of the Masters come to Adora’s aid and Hordak tells He-Man that Eternia is his and that he destroys Castle Greyskull with but a thought of his mind, and while Hordak was in another dimension, Etheria. Hordak then vanishes as he tells his Horde to kill them all. Back in Etheria, Hordak is troubled by Despara remembering who she is and turning back into Adora, and he is confused why he is concerned because she was just a pawn of his that he used to take over Eternia.
Vol 4 of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, “What lies within” Hordak has full control over Eternia and has Grizzlor use a weapon to kill many of the Masters.
Vol 5 of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, “Blood of Greyskull” In a flash back it shows Hordak fighting King Greyskull to rule Eternia, but King Greyskull ends up killing Hordak and sending his armies to the dimension of Despondo’s. In Despondo’s Hordak’s physical body dies but his hate and will power allows him to become one with Despondo’s, he becomes a spirit form and feeds on different worlds in Despondo’s especially the world known as Etheria. He feeds on the souls of its people and their will power. He creates a Fright Zone in every world he rules. Back on Eterina, Hordak is now slowly draining the souls of its people and feeding on their fear but due to him being banished he can not leave Despondo’s but he can still feed on Eternia, also, reality warping Eternia into his own image. He has Triclops track down He-Man and Adora because he needs to blood of He-Man to be finally free of Despondo’s and so he can become a physical being again. Triclops finds Adora and He-Man, but in a strange twist Adora becomes possessed and she slits He-Man’s throat and gives the blood to Triclops and tells him to tell Hordak she is once again Despara, but a little later she comes to her senses and asks the Sorceress (now Teela) to help her heal her brother, so the Sorceress tells Adora she must find the Sword of Protection in order to save her brothers life. Adora defeats the witch that has the sword and turns into She-Ra and saves He-Man. Meanwhile, Triclops gives Hordaks He-Man’s blood and Hordak says he can now finally leave Despondo’s.
Hordak will be one of the main characters in “The Eternity War”
In the “Eternity War” Hordak was finally able to get free from Despondos by using He-Man’s blood. He and his royal Horde members go to Eternia for a final show down with the rebels and He-Man and She-Ra. Hordak enters the now twisted Castle Greyskull and cuts his wriest in order to unlock a secret passage way to the Fires of Greyskull. He then begins to forge himself his own sword like the ones He-Man and She-Ra have… It states as he is forging it that the universe itself is shaken by the act of evil. Hordak now has the power to call fourth just as He-Man and She-Ra do, and he is able to transform increasing his already incredible power. This is just the beginning of his main plan, which is to get the eyes of Castle Greyskull so that he can use them to rule the universe, killing any enemy from the past, present, and future. The eyes would allow him control over space and time.
In issue 2 of the “Eternity War” Hordak foresees an army building on Snake Mountain so he sends his Horde warriors to attack, but He-Man and the Snakemen attack Hordak first winning just a part of a long war ahead.
In issue 3 and 4 Hordak follows his adopted daughter, Adora (She-Ra) to find one of the Eyes of Grayskull, a battle ensues where Hordak stabs She-Ra through the chest, as he is about to finish her off, Skeletor rescues her, and also takes the Eye of Grayskull (making Skeletor have both Eyes). Hordak screams out in rage as Skeletor, the Eye, and She-Ra disappear!
In issue 5 Skeletor gives She-Ra her healing sword, which she is able to heal herself and Skeletor makes his Evil Warriors leave as he explains to She-Ra how he wants to help her stop Hordak, and that he traveled through the multiverse and in every universe he seen himself losing to He-Man, so he says he is ready to become the man he once was, Keldor, but after they defeat Hordak, he asks her to heal him for now with her sword, which she does, making Skeletor at full power. Evil-Lyn over hears the conversation between She-Ra and Skeletor, and she goes off in a rage learning that Skeletor wants to retire from trying to rule Eternia and turn back into Keldor when Hordak is defeated, so she takes both Eyes of Grayskull, and teleports to Castle Grayskull where she demands to see Hordak, and fights the Horde Troopers until Hordak appears… Once Hordak appears she bows before him giving him the Eyes of Grayskull, in which he laughs wickedly…
Hordak’s next appearance is in issue 7 where Skeletor tells She-Ra that they must go to the dimension of Despondos in order for Skeletor to steal the souls that Hordak had consumed, over billions of souls, but Hordak had gave up the souls for the power of Grayskull. Anyways, Skeletor plans on using the souls some how to stop Hordak, but he tells She-Ra his back story on how he came across Hordak. He explains that he had fell in love with Shadow Weaver, who had taught him almost all he knows, he planned on betraying Hordak to which he would only be loyal to Shadow Weaver. Hordak foreseen his betrayal and summoned Skeletor to him. He told Skeletor to go back into the past to kidnap both the twins of power when they were born, Hordak gave Skeletor his Wraith Staff so he could go back in time, he tells Skeletor how the staff’s head was a powerful demon he had slayed. Once Skeletor touches the staff he sees the future and him turning into a powerful demon and fighting Hordak, he sees that Hordak kills him… He begs Hordak for answers to which Hordak tells him that the head on the staff was Skeletor’s, he had killed Skeletor in the past, and that Skeletor was able to time travel… He explains that Skeletor had already came to him and brought him Adora, and that Skeletor raised Adora for a time with Shadow Weaver before becoming a powerful demon to which Hordak had killed…. Hordak and Skeletor fight for a minute, which Skeletor was able to escape, but Hordak told Skeletor it is his destiny to die, and for him to still go in the past and bring him Adora (again) and Adam. Skeletor refuses as he escapes. Hordak then tells Shadow Weaver how due to Skeletor refusing and dying, he became the master over death and broke the timeline. Skeletor tells She-Ra all about that, and She-Ra is shocked to learn about Skeletor’s story!
In issue 8 Skeletor plans on a plan to stop Hordak in Hordak’s dimension of Despondos. Skeletor plans on using the souls that Hordak had consumed, but lost once he used the power of Castle Grayskull to change him into an unstoppable force. Skeletor some how offers the souls a chance at revenge against Hordak, and he tells She-Ra to stay back away from the souls. Then Skeletor shows She-Ra’s locket that had fell off of her during her battle with Hordak, then Skeletor throws the locket of She-Ra’s mother against the soul vault, saying “You will never see your mother again” as She-Ra reaches for the locket, some of the souls grab her and suck her into the vault. Meanwhile, back at Castle Grayskull Hordak sends a message throughout the universe that the Eyes of Grayskull is his and how he knows the people from Eternia will manage to escape him (some of them) and they will go to the planet Primus, and Hordak foresees them populating the planet and the people of Primus forgetting all about Hordak, so Hordak uses Castle Grayskull to destroy the planet.
Powers
Hordak is a master of the dark arts, though severely weakened against his fight with King Grayskull and having his body shattered. He now uses a custom mechanical body made for him while in dispondos dimension. He gains the ability to shape change his mechanical body into weapons or forms of transportation, eg; a rocket.
His dark powers seem to focus on destruction or changing his own well being. Though in his old body, his powers seem to range into mass mind control. His power is also fueled by the fear he inspires from his own men and the populations he enslaves. Those who question or disobey him are almost immediately destroyed or tortured for more information.
In the ongoing D.C version Hordak has various of different powers! He is a very powerful telepath. He was able to break through the defenses of his brother Zodak and millions of other Cosmic Enforcers. He even had manipulated them into warring with his Horde army so that he could feast on the dead souls. Hordak is also a very powerful telekinetic, he was able to crumble Castle Grayskull, while he was trapped in a different dimension called Despondos. Hordak also has reality warping powers in which he started turning Eternia into his image, as he did to other worlds, one of the best known is Etheria in the dimension of Despondos. He was able to turn even Grayskull itself into his own image, and in issue 8 of “The Eternity War” he was even able to turn every world in the universe into his Fright Zone. Hordak’s main power which he is best known for is being able to consume souls even with him being trapped in Despondos he was able to consume the souls of billions of souls, some in Etheria, and some in other worlds. He was able to consume the souls of many of the people in Eternia. Hordak then gained the blood of He-Man which made him learn the secrets of Castle Grayskull, which he forged his own power sword (like He-Man’s and She-Ra’s) he then was able to tap into the power of the Goddess and bring about the dark side of the Goddess called, Horokoth. Note that the Goddess is an omnipotence being of the Masters of the Universe, universe. She has 3 sides to her, Serpos, Zoar, and Horokoth. Hordak was able to by force make her turn into Horokoth. He then used the dark power sword he had forged to turn himself into a super like Hordak (much like when Adam turns into He-Man and Adora turns into She-Ra) Hordak’s cunning is beyond no bonds, not even Skeletor when he took over Grayskull (in volume 1 of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe) was not able to learn the powers or secrets of Grayskull, but yet Hordak did the minute he broke free from the dimension of Despondos (he broke free by using the blood of King Grayskull’s bloodline) he laid out his carefully made plans and won. But just like with every other villain, Hordak’s arrogance got the better of him, and he made one mistake that in the end he paid for.