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He-Man and the Masters of the Universe typified this sort of show. Many episodes featured new characters and vehicles that could, of course, be purchased at your local toy store. The animation was very cheap, relying heavily on the same few cels for each character. And while there were a few great stories (such as "The Dragon's Gift" or "The Problem with Power"), the majority of He-Man cartoons and comics were simple affairs in which conflict resolution usually involved He-Man punching, throwing, or crushing something. As the cartoon and comics wore on, there seemed to be a contest going on among the writers as to who could come up with the most bizarre or ridiculous stunt for He-Man to save the day. Here are 10 of He-Man's most mind-blowing feats of strength, skill, and insanity.
10) Punching Through Fire
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9) Throwing a Gem 80,000 Mph
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8) Vibrating a Major Fissure Closed
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7) Twirling His Sword to Nullify a Tornado
In the episode "Temple of the Sun," some Eternian hobo finds a magical ankh (which he insists on calling a "scarab") in the titular temple and starts wreaking havoc with it (Eternia is apparently littered with these all-powerful magical baubles). For some reason, in this episode Cringer talks He-Man into not turning him into Battle Cat, then wastes no time in getting caught in a sand-tornado. He-Man's strategy for solving the problem is exactly what a four-year-old would come up with, except it actually works: he spins around in the opposite direction and un-spools the tornado -- then throws in into space.
6) Rubbing His Hands on Sand So Fast It Makes Glass
Later in "Temple of the Sun" (2:25 in the video for #7), He-Man and his pals are attacked by a giant scorpion. He-Man shows off his outside-the-box thinking by concocting the most insane plan ever: he rubs his hands really fast over the sand until he makes a giant pane of glass -- yes folks, HE MAKES A PANE OF GLASS. Then he smashes it into four sections and builds a cage around the scorpion. While the other entries on this list might be far more impressive feats of strength, none of them are as remotely batshit-crazy as this one.
5) Deflecting a Falling Moon by Throwing a Bomb at It
In the episode "Eternal Darkness" (at 7:50 in the above video) a bad guy in a Slanket named Darkdream, aided by Evil-lyn and some creepy elf, drags the moon in front of the sun to create an eclipse. To move the moon back, He-Man fills a rock with some explosive crap and throws it at the moon. The rock explodes, the moon moves back to its proper orbit and a generation of kids learns that physics is totally arbitrary.
4) Propping Up a Entire City
In "Trouble in Arcadia" (at 6:50), Adam and Teela are captured by the people of the titular city, where women rule while men are sent to work in the mines. In a pretty significant design flaw, the entire city apparently rests on a single pillar, and when all the mining takes its toll and the pillar buckles, it's up to He-Man to push it back into place, thus preventing the city from sinking.
3) Throwing Castle Grayskull
"The Taking of Grayskull" is probably the most incoherent, psychedelic, absolutely insane episode of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe -- and that's saying something. The idea is that Skeletor uses a so-called white hole ("it's like a black hole, only not as dense!") to transport Grayskull into another dimension. So, after a smattering of adventure and other nonsense, He-Man picks up Grayskull and throws it back to Eternia (the simplest solutions are always best, really). He-Man even hitches a ride back on Grayskull, using a grappling hook, although I don't want to know where in that furry loincloth he was keeping a hook and half a mile of coiled rope.
2) Moving a Mountain
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1) Pushing a Moon
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He-Man observes that the moon controls the tide. And so, in the most irresponsible -- not to mention impossible -- act of environmental recklessness of all time, He-Man flies to the moon, stands on the tip of a Wind Raider, and pushes the moon away to lower the tide. He goes back to the surface, plugs the hole, then flies back to the moon and pushes it into its proper orbit. Meanwhile the entire coastal region of Eternia is no doubt destroyed by tsunamis, and millions are dead. But at least the Widgets have their mine back!
HONORABLE MENTION: Trading Punches with Pre-Crisis Superman
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