As the clone destined to be known as Hordak traversed the unending Cosmos he had found that there existed in theories & beliefs that transcended such paltry things as species or the vast distances between worlds. It was astonishing upon reflection that people's separated by such unimaginable distances, sharing nothing in terms of biology yet alone culture could reach such startlingly similar conclusions regarding the nature of life.

One such belief related to the power of perception. That the universe & even life itself was nothing more or less than what it was perceived to be. Even the individual being existed as they were perceived by those around them.

He wondered, not for the first time, how he Hordak, greatest General of the Galactic Horde, Conqueror of countless worlds, Lord of the Etherian Horde, Scourge of the planet Etheria, was perceived by those throughout his existence.

To his brothers he was simply one of them. Higher in rank yes. A greater recipient of Prime's holy favor perhaps but in the end, not truly any different from them.

To his Big Brother Horde Prime, whom he had revered as GOD, the bringer of the day and night. He was initially just another cloned servant, albeit one tasked with greater responsibility than the rest of their brothers. As his condition manifested itself however & his own will began to assert itself (without his notice) over his conditioning, this perception changed. He became a defect. A mistake. An Imperfection that had to be cast out before he tainted the divine light his brother so lovingly spread throughout the universe.

To his Etherian Soldiers he was many things. To many of the initial recruits he was a way to strike back against a world they perceived to have wronged them. To others he was simply the latest in a long line of aspirant warlords whom thought they could challenge the status quo. They would march with him for a time, partake in the spoils of his victories and (assuming they survived long enough) they would abandon him when the tide turned against him then await the rise of the next one. As time wore on however he became something more. A symbol of defiance against the Princesses. A place to go for those proper Etherian society had no place for. To the younger generations he was the only ruler they had ever known. It had on some level delighted him once he realized he now was to them as Prime was to he & his brothers. That same thought now summoned horror & shame.

To Shadow Weaver... well the witch had seen him in largely the same view as many of his original soldiers. A combination of a tool for vengeance & a way to keep herself safe. However one area where her thoughts differed from the rest of his army is she also viewed his as an obstacle. He suspected she could never see herself as truly safe unless she was in complete control which she of course couldn't be as long as she was forced to bend the knee to him.

To the average Etherian he was the embodiment of evil. The tyrant sending innumerable armies of nameless, faceless soldiers riding terrible war machines to rain death & destruction upon their lands. He could not blame them for thinking this way.

To most of the Princesses he was all of the above & even more. He was the otherworldly monster trying to steal the Kingdoms their families had ruled & protected in some cases for centuries, trying to seize & destroy the ancient artifacts-the Runestones- they considered their birthrights. He had stolen away parents, personally laid waste to their capitols & taken from them the period of their lives most species regarded as a time of innocence. He suspected he would remain, at least on some level, the personified of their pain until the days they met their ends.

With one exception.

To Entrapta he was defined as much by what he wasn't as much as what he was. He wasn't a defect. He wasn't a mistake. She saw his Imperfections but where his God saw just cause to cast him aside, she saw them and perceived BEAUTY. Where as others saw a monster, She saw a lab partner, a friend....a lover. She had seen the frail weak figure underneath the cruel, distant facade he put up for his soldiers and instead of mocking, exploiting or abandoning him. She offered help. Where he had spent his life seeing himself as an extension of another, she saw herself in him. Not merely the parts that pleased her but also the parts she regretted...and accepted all of it. All of him.

Hordak was least sure of how he perceived himself. He wouldn't argue with any of any of the visions of him held by others. He didn't consider it his place. Perhaps some were right perhaps not. Perhaps they all were right in some form or another. All he knew was when he was with Entrapta in her laboratory in the Crypto Castle, listening to her excitingly describe her theories, experiments past present & future, her dreams of one day returning to the stars. He perceived himself as happier, more fulfilled, more complete than he had ever been.

And that was all he needed.