Conan the Barbarian

These were big hits, in large part because of the exceptional duo of creators – Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor Smith. Their Conan stories brought definitive visuals and a faithful handling of the material. Marvel kept the rights for 30 years, though after the 1980s their output of Conan stories subsided.

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Background

Powers and Abilities

Conan the barbarian is practically invincible in melee combat. His unorthodox manner of fighting is as instinctive and natural as that of a timber wolf.

He is capable of taking punishment enough to kill three ordinary men and still continue fighting with his bull-like vitality undiminished. Wounds lethal to others will barely slow him down (his resilience extends to reside in extreme climates with no ill effects as well, and he is more resistant to poisons, fatigue, hunger and disease than most men).

And yet, being a man and no god, he can be taken down by surprise or by magic.

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He will use feints and trickery in combat as well as brawl. He regularly employs his great strength to perform astonishing feats of strength. In unarmed combat he hits very, very hard. He also moves, it is said, like a panther and is capable of seeing exceptionally well in the dark.

Conan is possessive of a strong alpha male personality and manner, and has crude, masculine charms, which he uses to bed the ladies. He lead his troops to victory with inspiring speeches. He is exceptionally perceptive, perhaps due to a deep-seated sense of paranoia in strange lands. He will always spot a trap and detect good places for an ambush (barbarian instincts).

Despite his uncivilized ways he is an intelligent man, and grows wiser by the years. He also possesses great willpower and most hypnosis and mind control will not affect him.

Many a sheltered scholar would have been astonished at the Cimmerian’s linguistic abilities, for he had experienced many adventures where knowledge of a strange language had meant the difference between life and death [“The Servants of Bit-Yakin”].

Unusually he can read and write as well, and he seems to remember nearly everything he has ever heard, like various myths during his days as a thief in Nemedia, displays of magic, words of power, new languages and so on. He is experienced in many trades: thief, commander, tactician and strategist, and is an expert at a multitude of skills.

History

The greatest man-legend of the Hyborean Age, Conan the Barbarian was born on a snowy, wind-swept battlefield in gloomy Cimmeria as his blacksmith father and his tribesmen beat back a horde of blood-lusting raiders out of Vanaheim.

Like all Cimmerian boys, Conan was trained as a warrior from birth, but unlike his peers Conan possessed a skill at arms and a strength of physique well beyond even the hardiest of his race.

At age 15, after a rite of passage in the Cimmerian wastes where the young lad was seduced by Ursla the bear-priestess, Conan was permitted to accompany the elders of the tribe to Venarium. There, the fierce Cimmerians soon destroyed an Aquilonian settlement. Conan, already 6 feet tall and 180 pounds of muscle – through he yet lacked full growth – was first to vault the stockade walls.

After the Battle of Venarium, which made him a hero of the tribe, Conan joined a band of Aesir on raids into Vanaheim. He then led a slave revolt of humans against the ape-men of Brutheim, before being captured first by the Vanir then by Hyperborean slavers. But, iron-willed and fiercely determined, young Conan soon escaped and began to wander the Hyborean world.

By the age of 18 he had visited Zamora where he climbed the magical Tower of the Elephant in Arenjun. He later encountered Jenna, a beautiful but crafty harlot of Shadizar.

From Zamora he traveled about, finally turning east to Turan where he entered the War of the Living Tarim. He also met Red Sonja of Hyrkania for the first time. After an adventure in the jungles to the south, Conan re-enlisted in Turan’s army and was dispatched to Khitai on a diplomatic mission.

On his return, Conan left the army and traveled back to Zamora, where he met Red Sonja anew. After being abandoned by Sonja, Conan made a rare visit to Cimmeria, but soon grew bored. Turning south once more, he joined the mercenary Crimson Company of Captain Murilo. His wanderings brought him to Argos. After a run-in with the law, he fled by boat.

His craft, however, was seized on the western Ocean by the Black Corsairs of Bêlit the she-pirate. Bêlit and Conan fell in love, and the two sailed the Black Coast as lovers and plunderers for several years. It was during this period that Conan won for himself the native epithet “Amra the Lion”.

But after three years of romance and adventure, Bêlit was killed by a monster in the jungles of Kush. Conan was left to wander melancholy and alone.

He participated in tribal wars along the Black Coast and sold his sword elsewhere. An infrequent visit to Cimmeria followed, after which Conan fought in Koth then journeyed eastwards to roam with the Free Companions and then the Kozaki, whom he served as hetman for a while.

A stint with the Vilayet pirates was followed by a captainship in Khauran, where Conan was crucified for his loyalty to the true queen. Rescued by outlaw Zuagirs, Conan, as was his wont, soon rose to the chieftainship. After leaving the Zuagir tribes, Conan visited Zamboula then rejoined the Kozaki against Turan.

But the Kozaki lost, and Conan next fled to Iranistan. He then led a band of Afghuli outlaws in the Himelian Mountains before returning to mercenary service in Koth, Argos, Stygia, and Tombalku.

A period of sea-service followed among the Barachan pirates and Zingaran buccaneers. Returning to Stygian service, Conan soon deserted for lack of battle and joined fellow ex-pirate Valeria of the Red Brotherhood on a hair-raising adventure in the haunted city of Xuchotl.

Parting with Valeria after a brief amour, Conan went into service in Keshan and Punt. He may have paid a last visit to Cimmeria before making the fateful move to become a frontier scout for Aquilonia in the Pictish wars (this writeup describes Conan up to this point in time).

Because of his frontier deeds, Conan’s reputation soon preceded him, and he rose rapidly to the rank of general. In this capacity he defeated the Picts at the great Battle of Velitrium. By then, King Numedides of Aquilonia had grown jealous of his general’s successes, so he plied Conan with drugged wine and threw him into the Iron Tower to await execution.

But count Trocero and Prospero arranged his escape. Conan fled across the Pictish Wilderness where, after a bizarre adventure involving the Treasure of Tranicos, he was contacted by Trocero, Prospero, and Publius, who persuaded him to lead a revolt against the despot King Numedides who was slowly growing insane. Conan the Liberator slew Numedides and usurped the throne to general acclamation.

He withstood three attempts to wrest the crown from him, after which, sensing his kingdom relatively secure, he took to wife Zenobia, the daughter of Nemedian petty nobility, who had earlier assisted him to retain his rule. As king, Conan was often at the center of many a sorcerous and political storm, even fending off harm to his person or that of Zenobia.

But a period of relative peace came to Aquilonia. Conan and Zenobia enjoyed for a while the fruits of domestic and royal tranquillity with their growing family of Prince Conn, Princess Radegund, and Prince Taurus. Then, sorcerous plots broke once more, and Conan was forced to confront the supreme Stygian wizard Thoth-Amon and battle him to the death.

Soon after, Zenobia died bearing their fourth child. Several years later, responding to a mysterious threat from the far west, Conan abdicated his throne and took to the Western Ocean on perhaps his last voyage.

The Chronicles do not record his death and offer little information of the days after his voyage to the western mainland of Mayapan. Prince Conn assumed his father’s rule and reigned as King Conan II of Aquilonia.

Additional context

Languages of the Hyborean world

The languages of the Hyborean world are all very old. They are old enough not to be dialects and varieties of one recent, original language, despite being in close geographic vicinity to each other, and cannot be understood by deduction using another language as basis.

In fact, most countries seem to be determined by cultural and linguistic borders. The knowledge of a language is a powerful tool in the Hyperborean world, and each language has to be learnt separately. Conan is a natural talent at linguistics and will understand and speak a new language, although with an accent, after a few weeks in a new area, thus adding it to his Language advantages.

He knows most of the languages of the Hyperborean world, but not all. Neither can he read all languages as some seem to use unique alphabets; he does, however, read most major languages. Conan speaks Cimmerian as his native tongue, and this gives him a notable barbarian accent when speaking another tongue. Most Hyborean men know at least two languages.

In some stories, Conan is able to recognize, or even decipher, certain ancient or secret signs and writings, such as when he uses the sign of Jhebbal Sag in Beyond the Black River. However, Howard never has him reading Stygian, although he can speak it. It seems, in the Hyborean world one either knows a language fully or not at all.

In game terms, each language is supposed to be its own group. It is extremely safe for prisoners to discuss in a foreign language if they do not wish to be understood.

In addition to all this, there are magic tongues that most often originate from the dawn of mankind and beyond (now used as power words), as well as the tongue of nature itself that all men and some animals still remember (the brothers of Jhebbal Sag) and understand.

Languages, like words of power, are potent weapons in the Hyborean world.

A world filled with magic

Conan has fought dozens of magicians, talked to witches, seen fires from life’s dawn, watched primeval phantasms, fought spells and killed gods. He has learned from these experiences, and knows enough to use artifacts and properly cast simpler rituals by inscribing runes or uttering necessary power words at the appropriate moment.

He also knows to blink or close his eyes to defend against hypnosis, or recite certain mantras against the same.

In game terms, these abilities come as the various Occultist subskills and the Scholar advantage in Myths, as well as his MIND and SPIRIT attributes. Conan does not know many details about the magic world, he merely repeats what he has seen men of magic do, and it works.

Among other things, Conan knows of a written word that summons creatures of the jungle (Jhebbal Sag) and a sentence that no shape-shifting serpent man could stand before or speak (works as a Truesight or Phobia spell): “Ka Nama Kaa Lajerama”.

He has also used various relics for different purposes, but prefers to discard these as soon as possible. He has had the opportunity to read great works such as the Book of Skelos or the Iron-Bound Books of Shuma-Gorath, but being the warrior that he is he never had the interest to pursue that.

Still, he knows enough to fight and win over superhuman, occult threats that easily would devour lesser men, and manages to slay surprised sorcerers.

Conan’s magic, which is quite rarely seen, is as nothing compared to those whose occupation it is to be a man of magic.

Magicians and sorcerers, often with evil alignments, include numerous foes of Conan:

• Yara.
• Hath-Horeb.
• Hisarr Zul.
• Lord Pau-Styss.
• Shamash-Shum-Ukin.
• Sophos.
• Amaximander.
• Costranno.
• Thugra Khotan.
• Ranephi.
• Askia.
• Agohoth.
• Zukala and Jaggta-Noga.
• Hak-Heru.
• Gabrelle Pok.
• Karlk.
• Ptor-Nubis.
• Baal-Pteor the illusionist strangler of Yota-Pong.
• the Witch-Queen Vammatar of Hyperborea and her Witchmen.
• the demon Imhotep the Ravager of Worlds.
• the inhuman Khosatral Khel.
• Ollam-Onga the Demon of the Red Tower.
• And many more (often double-names joined with a hyphen; perhaps that’s a signature sign of a magician).

The most notorious wizards of the entire Hyborean world are:

• Thoth-Amon, Prince of the Black Ring.
• Thulsa Doom, the Master Sorcerer of the Pre-Cataclysmic Age.
• Natohk the Veiled One.
• The Master of Yimsha and the Four Seers of the Black Circle.
• Xaltotun of ancient Acheron.
• Tsontha-lanti, the vulture of Koth.
• Yah Chieng of Khitai.
• Pra-Eun of Kambuja.

And then there is Kulan Gath, whose heritage and evil has even managed to reach modern times.

The Hyborean gods

The Hyborean world knows many, many gods; men swear by them, fear them, curse them and pray to them. And sometimes the gods intervene in the world of men. The most popular one is kind Mitra, worshipped in Aquilonia, Argos, Ophir, Nemedia and Zingara.

These same kingdoms also have some worshippers of Asura, the bird-god Ibis, Ishtar and Set. Ymir the Frost Giant is worshipped by the Aesir and the Vanir, while the Hyperboreans worship Bori.

Koth, Shem, Khoraja and Khauran are dominated by Ishtar. The city-states of Corinthia each have their patron gods, although Mitra was also popular there, together with Anu the bull-god. Zamora, on the other hand, played host to a number of weird and mysterious cults and divinities, most notoriously Bel the god of thieves, who is also worshipped in Shumir, and the spider-god Yezud.

Shem has mixed gods, and also Pteor the male sky-god. Pteor is also known in other guises; Ashtoreth, Derketo and Ishtar.

Set the old Serpent is worshipped in most of Stygia. Obscure and old deities, such as Derketo and Yog Sothoth, an old one, have cults all over the Hyborean lands. The barbaric Picts serve the Ghost Snake, Gullah the Gorilla God and Jhebbal Sag, the ancient god of darkness and fear.

The Zuagir tribesmen consider Yog the ancient Demon Lord of the Empty Abodes to be sacred. Down far south, in the Black Kingdoms, Set has some followers, as does Jullah, Jhil and Gwahlur, as well as countless local demons and spirits. Hell is generally referred to as Arallu.

Set, as an old one from times before man, deserves special mention; Set is regarded universally as the most abhorrent and foul of demons, and gruesome rituals of Set worship, carried out in temples, tombs, and pyramids, include live human sacrifice and sorcerous obscenities.

For this reason, Set’s very name evokes disgust and terror among civilized and barbarian peoples alike.

Turan in the East held Erlik and the Living Tarim as the holiest of gods, while Zamboula bowed to Hanuman the horrible man-ape-god. Farther east, in Kosala, the cult of Yajur offered their bloodthirsty god strangled humans, while in Khitai Yun seems to have been worshipped less violently with incense and prayer.

And then we have Conan’s and the Cimmerians’ god Crom. Crom and his siblings Father Lir, Mannanan and Morrigan. Crom is the god of the cold, northern wastelands, and resides on top of Mount Crom in Cimmeria, underneath which sleeps the ancient, evil god Shuma-Gorath.

Crom is the most powerful god, disdains worship and is repulsed by weakness. He laughs at the misfortunes of mortal men. Crom dispenses but two important gifts to all Cimmerians at birth; the strength in their sword arm and the fire in their breast. These are the only boons he will ever grant his worshippers.

To serve Crom is to walk in the shadow of the Warrior’s Way; the way that leads to death and the grave. Conan lives by this philosophy and is never afraid to die.

Description

Conan is black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth. This square-cut maned, muscular, giant wears a loincloth or other minimalist clothing, sometimes with light chain mail underneath, and a horned helmet.

As a Cimmerian he was born with bleak skin color, but many years under the sun of the Hyborean lands has turned his hue into a bronze-like color.

Conan is often seen riding a battle horse.

Personality

Conan’s life has been very varied. He has roamed throughout the Hyborean Age nations as a thief, outlaw, mercenary and pirate. As he grew older, he began commanding larger units of men and escalating his ambitions.

In his forties, he will seize the crown of king of Aquilonia (this writeup describes him before this period of time), the most powerful kingdom of the Hyborean Age, after having strangled the previous ruler on the steps of the throne.

Conan is a warrior and barbarian. He is content with the naked fundamentals of life. The intricalities of civilized men’s life mean nothing to him. Bloodshed and violence and savagery are natural elements of the life Conan knows. Expect displays of enormous brutality and grimness at times.

And so he is a soldier or sword-for-sale living life to its fullest; combat, plunder, women, wine and adventure are his lot.

Conan enjoys glorious battle, and likes to feel a sword in his hands. He seems to be proud of the old Cimmerian attack that swept down the Aquilonian outpost of Venarium when he was but fifteen years old. He is the type to go scout in enemy lands because he couldn’t sleep.

He believes in all manner of uncanny things, but, unlike most men, does not seem to overly fear any of the things which he believes; this is so because he has found that there is nothing in the universe that cold steel won’t cut. He believes in fairness when it comes to the spoils of war and rendered services. He will sell his sword, but never his soul.

Conan fears and hates sorcery and magic only due to early experiences; in younger years he had a full Serious Irrational Fear (Magic & the supernatural). He truly loathes men of magic, and him being a crude warrior, magicians loathe him back. Because of this he very often fights supernatural threats like wizards, sorcerers and monsters.

Although he can freeze in his tracks when facing strong magic, which has happened on a number of occasions, he always overcomes the fear to put his steel to work. Other than this, he has exceptional nerves of steel. He is not overly kind towards animals either.

Conan has something of a streak of nobility, although he will never let pride get in his way. He follows his own special set of morality and behavioral codes, and is generally not understood by civilized men. He does not generally hold a grudge against former enemies, but does bear an old racial hatred against the Picts, and he is not too fond of Turanians, Vanir or Hyperboreans either.

He is, however, quite fond of northerners such as himself, Aesgaardians, for example, and other uncivilized folks. Given the choice of killing an enemy and saving a friend, he will save the friend anytime. If a man, even an enemy, is attacked by a monster, he will always side on the side of men. Because of this he sometimes makes for strange allies, such as Thoth-Amon, Imhotep or Thulsa Doom.

He will not kill needlessly, and nobody needs to suffer needlessly (he will kill for mercy), but will always meet force with harder force. He will not see innocents die under any circumstances and he would never abandon his crew or army. If he is the last survivor of a group of men, he will bring vengeance in the memory of the fallen, and his vengeance is always complete and cruel.

He is never afraid of death or dying, although he expects it someday. And he will not put his nose where it doesn’t belong.

As to women, he will not attack, combat or kill them, unless his life immediately depends on it. Instead he has better uses for them in mind. A barbarian he may be, but he would never agree to rape, instead it all has to come naturally, and it usually does. Normally, he prefers blondes, but it not particularly picky and will often be found wenching.

He will attempt to save a girl in distress regardless of the odds, although he will not be fooled into doing so, and if there is nothing to gain he won’t try it a second time. Getting the girl after having mowed down enemies or a monster is, of course, worth the effort.

He is boorish and his accent reveals him to be a barbarian. He rarely talks about himself and he almost never boasts. In fact, he’s said to be a barbarian of a thousand generation of barbarians. His cultural identity is that of a Cimmerian, but also a man at home everywhere in the world.

He swears by Crom, who is a stoic, brutal God of the north, but does not expect any services or help. Although he is not too fond of authorities, since he has to be free, he is himself a born leader, and sometimes he dreams about and remembers rendered prophesies, and senses his destiny as a future king of civilized folks.

Now, he tends to elevate towards various positions of power, people readily agreeing to his leadership, such as a ship captain, an army general or the bodyguard of nobility. The idea of being a king is starting to take root in his mind.

Conan has started to get quite the reputation in the Hyborean world. He runs into old acquaintances all over the Hyborean world, but more often than not, as enemies of his current side.

He is known as Conan, the leader of the Zuagirs, as Amra the lion, co-leader of the Black Corsairs of the south seas, as Conan, the freedom fighter of Aquilonia against the Picts, as the leader of the legendary free companions and Kozaki and the Vilayet pirates, as the general of the army of Khoraja, and as Conan the Cimmerian, bane of many a monster and sorcerer.

Few people realize that they are all the same man, and Conan uses these different personas for different purposes in different parts of the world as needed. Then again he doesn’t tell his name needlessly.

Although Conan’s adventures often result in him performing heroic feats, certain scholars believed that his motivation for doing so is largely atypical for his own survival or for personal gain, and argues that Conan displays many of the characteristics of an anti-hero. So make no mistake, Conan is a barbarian, a noble savage he might perhaps be, but still a barbarian by all accounts.

Quotes

“I have a ship and a fighting crew and a girl with lips like wine — and that’s all I’ve ever asked. Lick your wounds, bullies — and break out a cask of ale ! You’re going to work ship as she never was worked before. Dance and sing while you buckle to it, damn you ! We’re bound for waters where the seaports are fat — and the merchant ships are crammed with plunder !”

“I’ve roamed farther than any other man of my race ever wandered. I’ve seen all the great cities of the Hyborians, the Shemites, the Stygians, and the Hyrkanians. I’ve roamed the unknown countries south of Kush, and east of Vilayet. I’ve been a mercenary captain, a corsair, a Kozak, a penniless thief. Hell, I’ve been everything except a king of a civilized country… and I may be that, before I die !”

(Answering an order from the king of Kush) “And once we’ve taught them, you’ll reward us with javelins in our guts ! You’re nothing but a vulture sporting a stolen crown !”

(Attending a meeting of magicians) “I can’t bear much more of this, Zula, before I have to try to kill someone !”

“I first saw it carved in the rock of a cave no human had visited for a million years… in the uninhabited mountains beyond the Sea of Vilayet, half a world from here. Later, I saw a black witch-finder of Kush scratch it in the sand of a nameless river. He told me part of its meaning : it’s sacred to Jhebbal Sag… and to the creatures which worship him.”

“There’s scarcely half a dozen of us left — but, by the bones of Crom, we’ll make them think we’re an army !”

“Shipmates ! We have lost a battle — but we’ve not yet lost the war ! Black Zarono who overcame you by treacherous sorcery now sails toward the capital of Zingara — where he hopes to topple our friend and patron, old king Ferdrugo ! King Juma’s people will help us put our ship to rights — then it’s ho for the main, to get revenge upon the scoundrel and save our king from his plots ! I know we’ve lost some good men — but we have Sigurd’s Argosseans to make up for them. If you’ll all pull together as one crew, with no more folly of Barachan against Buccaneer, we can do it ! So, what say ye ? Let me hear you, loud and clear !!”

(Taunting his opponents) “Come dogs. The house is open. Enter the bloody house of death. Crom, count the dead !”

“If more bordermen would wear mail-shirts and helmets, there’d be fewer skulls hanging in the [Pictish] altar-huts. Only thing is, most men make noise if they wear armor. I don’t.”

“Barbarism is the natural state of mankind. Civilization is unnatural. It is a whim of circumstance. And barbarism must always ultimately triumph.”

“What was that ?! It may have been nothing. But — I thought I heard — well, if a spell of evil magic made a sound, that would have been its cry.”

“Crom ! A murrain of these wizardly feuds ! Pelias has dealt well with me, but I care not if I see him no more. Give me a clean sword and a clean foe to flesh it in. Damnation ! What would I not give for a flagon of wine !”

“Stuck like the pig you are ! I’ve no time to torture you the way you’ve tormented so many others — but I’ll feel better, knowing you didn’t die in bed.”

“No matter ! This place is as good as any for a barbarian’s death. Come in and take me, demons… for I never wanted a marked grave !”

“There’s nothing in the universe cold steel won’t cut. I threw my ax at the demon, and he took no hurt, but I might have missed in the dusk, or a branch deflected its flight. I’m not going out of my way looking for devils ; but I wouldn’t step out of my path to let one go by.”

“Civilized men laugh. But not one can tell me how Zogar Sag can call pythons and tigers and leopards out of the wilderness and make them do his bidding. They would say it is a lie, if they dared. That’s the way with civilized men. When they can’t explain something by their half-baked science, they refuse to believe it.”

Conan: “You Stygians did ever hide behind serpents more vile than yourselves ! If only I could leap across this writhing wall of death I would plunge my sword in you up to its hilt !”
Thoth-Amon: “You are a savage one, aren’t you ? Well, why don’t you risk all to slay me, then ? Surely the odds are no more than a multitude to one that you would reach me before the snakes poison turned you purple !” (Conan throws his sword)

DC Universe History

The period of 8000 – 10000 B.C. in the DC Universe is a mysterious and little explored era. The Hyborean world of Conan fits well on the African continent, and Conan would have fought sorcerers and emissaries of the Lords of Chaos in Stygia, which might later become Egypt.

By Dr. Peter S Piispanen.

Source of Character: Conan the Barbarian, Savage Sword of Conan and Savage Tales of Conan the Barbarian, by Marvel Comics. In particular, the following storylines have been carefully consulted: Curse of the Conjurer (1975), Ballad of Bêlit (1976), Pool of the Black One (1977), Beyond the Black River (1978), Flame Knife (1978), Queen of the Black Corsairs (1978), Long night of Fang & Talon (1979), Conan the Buccaneer (1979), Treasure of Tranicos (1979), Sword of Skelos (1980), Conan & The Sorceror (1980), Creation Quest (1981), The Elephant’s Tower, Demon in the Dark (1982), Demons of the Fireflight (1982), Blood & Circus (1988), Heku (1988), All Conan What if issues, Red Teeth (1990), The Sorceror & The She-Devil (1991), The Skull on the Seas (1991), The Second Coming of Shuma-Gorath (1992), City of Magicians (1992), White Blades & Ebon Thrones (1993), The God of Thieves (1993), Gods of the Mountain (1993), The Spider God (1993), Conan the Renegade (1993), Death’s Dark Riders (1994), Conan the Mercenary (1994), The Daughter of Rakta-Vashi (1995).

Helper(s): Frank Murdock, KalEl el vigilant, Mike Winkler, Eric Langendorff, The Marvel Handbook of the Conan Universe