She-Ra is a fictional character and the heroine in the Filmation cartoon and series of toys produced by Mattel called She-Ra: Princess of Power. She is the alter ego of Princess Adoraand the twin sister of He-Man (Prince Adam). She-Ra was intended to appeal to young girls in the same way that He-Man appealed to young boys.

She-Ra is introduced in the animated movie The Secret of the Sword as Force Captain Adora, an agent of the Evil Horde that rules the planet Etheria. She discovers that she is the long-lost sister of Prince Adam of Eternia, having been stolen by the Horde's leader, Hordak, as a baby. She is granted the Sword of Protection, which parallels He-Man's Sword of Power, gaining the power to transform into She-Ra, her secret identity

King Randor and Queen Marlena of Eternia had been blessed with twins, a girl they named Adora, and a boy, named Adam. At the time of the twins' birth, the Evil Hordehad tried to invade Eternia. The Horde were unable to beat The Royal Guard or the Power of Castle Grayskull. Their leader Hordak, along with his pupil Skeletor plotted to kidnap the twins because of "something" the twins were destined for (though Hordak did not know exactly what). Hordak was able to successfully kidnap Adora, but they were confronted by Man-At-Arms before the boy could be taken. Hordak escaped, leaving Skeletor behind. As payback, Skeletor revealed to Man-At-Arms that the Horde were based at Snake Mountain, and Man-At-Arms went with the Sorceress to retrieve Adora. When confronted, Hordak ran through a portal into another dimension, which closed up before they could follow.

Adora was raised under the care of a Horde servant called Shakra, who was able to provide Adora with some goodness during her early life. When Adora was old enough to begin to serve the Horde, Hordak had Shadow Weaver put Adora under a spell so that she would follow the Horde and not question their ruling methods. Hordak saw great potential in Adora and made her the Force Captain of The Horde