I never understood why Adam can't tell his friends and parents that he is He-Man. I mean most of his friends are the Masters of the Universe, and they fight Skeletor as much as he does so they are not going to be in anymore danger. As for his parents, Skeletor would love to capture them, especially Randor, so it is unlikely they would be in anymore danger.
So why the big secret?
That is a great observation.
Adam doesn't have to keep this secret since his allies already are involved in the fight! I mean would Skeletor go after Adam's family any harder if he knew? Jeez, he has a grudge against Randoe for what happened to his face already, he won't be more p.o.'d if he knew his greatest enemy was his previously greatest enemies son!
I think it's all about heroes having seperate identities. In the comics and cartoons, heroes always guard there secret, but in this case it makes no sense!
JLT
Yeah, it's just an old superhero convention, the hero keeps his double life a secret from his friends & family because it creates "drama" or "tension". Admittedly it doesn't make as much sense here since his friends are basically the local Justice League and his parents aren't exactly idiots who can't keep a secret. I read a fan fiction once where his dad actually was in on the secret but I forgot where it was.
shareActually, it makes sense. Adam/He-Man would have been constantly attacked by Skeletor in his weak Adam persona if it had gotten out, which it probably would have if that many people knew.
shareOn this side of the 4th wall it is Honoring 'super hero tradition'
In universe it adds to the "mystery" of HeMan
Let us say the bad guys find out: then they know where the hero is at all times and can plan accordingly...
-- Adam is practicing archery in the court yard. OK we attack the Avians
-- Royal Family is Sailing in the Sea of Rakosh. lets attack the Palace
in any case if the "HaMan signal" goes up and they know where Adam is , they can set up a gauntlet between where ever he is and where ever they attack
-- the secret Identity allows HeMan to simply 'appear' almost as if from nowhere because while they may Know where to find Adam they do not know where to find HeMan
I have wondered why he couldn't have stayed He-Man the whole time besides each episode being able to do the catch phrase "By the Power of Grayskull!". I also agree that at least his family should have known.
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I'm guessing the more people knew Adam was He-Man, the more likely it was that such information would get back to Skeletor.
That said, the whole pretense probably hurt Adam in a lot of ways. One day, he would most likely inherit the throne. What people would follow a king they believed to be a coward?