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Conan the Barbarian

May 04, 2023

For other uses, see Conan the Barbarian (disambiguation).

Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer), television programs (animated and live-action), video games, and role-playing games. Robert E. Howard created the character in 1932 for a series of fantasy stories published in Weird Tales magazine.

Conan the Barbarian
Illustration of Conan by Mark Schultz
First appearanceWeird Tales (December 1932)
Created byRobert E. Howard
Portrayed by
Voiced by
In-universe information
SpeciesHuman
GenderMale
NationalityCimmerian

The earliest appearance of a Robert E. Howard character named Conan was that of a black-haired barbarian with heroic attributes in the 1931 short story "People of the Dark". By 1932, Howard had officially conceptualised Conan; in his lifetime writing 21 stories starring the barbarian. Over the years many other writers have written works featuring Conan.

Many Conan the Barbarian stories feature Conan embarking on heroic adventures filled with common fantasy elements such as princesses and wizards. Howard's mythopoeia has the stories set in the legendary Hyborian Age in the times after the fall of Atlantis. Conan is a Cimmerian, who are descendants of Atlanteans, and son to a blacksmith. Characterised as chivalric due to his penchant to save damsels in distress, Conan also displays a humorous nature and enduring loyalty. His main abilities encompass strength, combativeness, intelligence, agility and endurance. The barbarian's appearance is mostly centred on his black hair, blue eyes, tanned skin and giant stature.

The most popular cinematic adaptation is the 1982 Conan the Barbarian directed by John Milius and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as Conan, in which the plot revolves around Conan facing the villainous Thulsa Doom. Licensed comics published in the 1970s by Marvel Comics drew success and included Conan in an iconic loincloth.

Publication history

Robert E. Howard created Conan the Barbarian in a series of fantasy stories published in Weird Tales from 1932.[1] Howard was searching for a new character to market to the burgeoning pulp outlets of the early 1930s. In October 1931, he submitted the short story "People of the Dark" to Clayton Publications' new magazine, Strange Tales of Mystery and Terror (June 1932). "People of the Dark" is a story about the remembrance of "past lives", and in its first-person narrative, the protagonist describes one of his previous incarnations: Conan is a black-haired barbarian hero who swears by a deity called Crom. Some Howard scholars believe this Conan to be a forerunner of the more famous character.[2]

In February 1932, Howard vacationed at a border town on the lower Rio Grande. During this trip, he further conceived the character of Conan and also wrote the poem "Cimmeria", much of which echoes specific passages in Plutarch's Lives.[3][4] According to some scholars, Howard's conception of Conan and the Hyborian Age may have originated in Thomas Bulfinch's The Outline of Mythology (1913), which inspired Howard to "coalesce into a coherent whole his literary aspirations and the strong physical, autobiographical elements underlying the creation of Conan".[2]

Having digested these influences upon returning from his trip, Howard rewrote a rejected story, "By This Axe I Rule!" (May 1929), replacing his existing character Kull of Atlantis with his new hero and retitling it "The Phoenix on the Sword". Howard also wrote "The Scarlet Citadel" and "The Frost-Giant's Daughter", inspired by the Greek myth of Daphne,[citation needed] and submitted both stories to Weird Tales magazine. Although "The Frost-Giant's Daughter" was rejected, the magazine accepted "The Phoenix on the Sword" after it received the requested polishing, and published it in the December 1932 issue. "The Scarlet Citadel" was published the following month.[2]

"The Phoenix on the Sword" appeared in Weird Tales cover-dated December 1932. Editor Farnsworth Wright subsequently prompted Howard to write an 8,000-word essay for personal use detailing "the Hyborian Age", the fictional setting for Conan. Using this essay as his guideline, Howard began plotting "The Tower of the Elephant", a new Conan story that was the first to integrate his new conception of the Hyborian world.[2]

The publication and success of "The Tower of the Elephant" spurred Howard to write more Conan stories for Weird Tales. By the time of Howard's suicide in 1936, he had written 21 complete stories, 17 of which had been published, as well as multiple unfinished fragments.[2]

Following Howard's death, the copyright of the Conan stories passed through several hands. Eventually L. Sprague de Camp was entrusted with management of the fiction line and, beginning with 1967's Conan released by Lancer Books, oversaw a paperback series collecting all of Howard's stories (Lancer folded in 1973 and Ace Books picked up the line, reprinting the older volumes with new trade dress and continuing to release new ones). Howard's original stories received additional edits by de Camp, and de Camp also decided to create additional Conan stories to publish alongside the originals, working with Björn Nyberg and especially Lin Carter. These new stories were created from a mixture of already-complete Howard stories with different settings and characters that were altered to feature Conan and the Hyborian setting instead, incomplete fragments and outlines for Conan stories that were never completed by Howard, and all-new pastiches. Lastly, de Camp created prefaces for each story, fitting them into a timeline of Conan's life that he created. For roughly 40 years, the original versions of Howard's Conan stories remained out of print. In 1977, the publisher Berkley Books issued three volumes using the earliest published form of the texts from Weird Tales and thus no de Camp edits, with Karl Edward Wagner as series editor, but these were halted by action from de Camp before the remaining three intended volumes could be released. In the 1980s and 1990s, the copyright holders permitted Howard's stories to go out of print entirely as the public demand for sword & sorcery dwindled, but continued to release the occasional new Conan novel by other authors such as Leonard Carpenter, Roland Green, and Harry Turtledove.[citation needed]

In 2000, the British publisher Gollancz Science Fiction issued a two-volume, complete edition of Howard's Conan stories as part of its Fantasy Masterworks imprint, which included several stories that had never seen print in their original form. The Gollancz edition mostly used the versions of the stories as published in Weird Tales.[5]

The two volumes were combined and the stories restored to chronological order as The Complete Chronicles of Conan: Centenary Edition (Gollancz Science Fiction, 2006; edited and with an Afterword by Steve Jones).

In 2003, another British publisher, Wandering Star Books,[6] made an effort both to restore Howard's original manuscripts and to provide a more scholarly and historical view of the Conan stories. It published hardcover editions in England, which were republished in the United States by the Del Rey imprint of Ballantine Books. The first book, Conan of Cimmeria: Volume One (1932–1933) (2003; published in the US as The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian) includes Howard's notes on his fictional setting as well as letters and poems concerning the genesis of his ideas. This was followed by Conan of Cimmeria: Volume Two (1934) (2004; published in the US as The Bloody Crown of Conan) and Conan of Cimmeria: Volume Three (1935–1936) (2005; published in the US as The Conquering Sword of Conan). These three volumes include all the original Conan stories.

Setting

Main article: Hyborian Age

The stories occur in the pseudo-historical "Hyborian Age", set after the destruction of Atlantis and before the rise of any known ancient civilization. This is a specific epoch in a fictional timeline created by Howard for many of the low fantasy tales of his artificial legendary.[7]

The reasons behind the invention of the Hyborian Age were perhaps commercial. Howard had an intense love for history and historical dramas, but he also recognized the difficulties and the time-consuming research work needed in maintaining historical accuracy. Also, the poorly-stocked libraries in the rural part of Texas where Howard lived did not have the material needed for such historical research. By conceiving "a vanished age" and by choosing names that resembled human history, Howard avoided anachronisms and the need for lengthy exposition.[2]

According to "The Phoenix on the Sword", the adventures of Conan take place "Between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities, and the years of the rise of the Sons of Aryas."[8]

Personality and character

Conan is a Cimmerian. The writings of Robert E. Howard (particularly his essay "The Hyborian Age") suggests that his Cimmerians are based on the Celts or perhaps the historic Cimmerians. Conan was born on a battlefield and is the son of a village blacksmith. Conan matured quickly as a youth and, by age fifteen, he was already a respected warrior who had participated in the destruction of the Aquilonian fortress of Venarium.[9] After its demise, he was struck by wanderlust and began the adventures chronicled by Howard, encountering skulking monsters, evil wizards, tavern wenches, and beautiful princesses. He roamed throughout the Hyborian Age nations as a thief, outlaw, mercenary, and pirate.[10] As he grew older, he began commanding vast units of warriors and escalating his ambitions. In his forties, he seized the crown from the tyrannical king of Aquilonia, the most powerful kingdom of the Hyborian Age, having strangled the previous ruler on the steps of his own throne.[11] Conan's adventures often result in him performing heroic feats, though his motivation for doing so is largely to protect his own survival or for personal gain.

A conspicuous element of Conan's character is his chivalry. He is extremely reluctant to fight women (even when they fight him) and has a strong tendency to save a damsel in distress. In "Jewels of Gwahlur", he has to make a split-second decision whether to save the dancing girl Muriela or the chest of priceless gems which he spent months in search of. So, without hesitation, he rescues Muriela and allows for the treasure to be irrevocably lost. In "The Black Stranger", Conan saves the exile Zingaran Lady Belesa at considerable risk to himself, giving her as a parting gift his fortune in gems big enough to have a comfortable and wealthy life in Zingara, while asking for no favors in return. Reviewer Jennifer Bard also noted[12] that when Conan is in a pirate crew or a robber gang led by another male, his tendency is to subvert and undermine the leader's authority, and eventually supplant (and often, kill) him (e.g. "Pool of the Black One", "A Witch Shall be Born", "Shadows in the Moonlight"). Conversely, in "Queen of the Black Coast", it is noted that Conan "generally agreed to Belit's plan. Hers was the mind that directed their raids, his the arm that carried out her ideas. It was a good life." And at the end of "Red Nails", Conan and Valeria seem to be headed towards a reasonably amicable piratical partnership.

George Baxter noted:

"Conan's recorded history mentions him as being prominently involved, at one time or another, with four different pirate fraternities, on two different seas, as well being a noted leader of land robbers at three different locales. Yet, we hardly ever see him involved in, well, robbing people. To be sure, he speaks about it often and with complete candor: "We Kozaks took to plundering the outlying dominions of Koth, Zamora, and Turan impartially" he says in "Shadows in the Moonlight". But that was before the story began. And "We're bound for waters where the seaports are fat, and the merchant ships are crammed with plunder!" Conan declares at the end of "The Pool of the Black One". But this plundering will take place after the story ends. When we see Conan onstage, we see him do many other things: he intervenes in the politics and dynastic struggles of various kingdoms; he hunts for hidden treasure; he explores desert islands and lost cities; he fights countless terrible monsters and evil sorcerers; he saves countless beautiful women and makes them fall in love with him... What we virtually never see Conan do is engage in the proper business of an armed robber, on land or by sea—which is to attack people who never threatened or provoked you, take away their possessions by main force, and run your sword through them if they dare to resist. A bit messy business, that. Armchair adventurers, who like to enjoy a good yarn in the perfect safety and comfort of their suburban homes, might not have liked to read it."[13]

Appearance

Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandalled feet."

Robert E. Howard, The Phoenix on the Sword, 1932.

Conan has "sullen", "smoldering", and "volcanic" blue eyes with a black "square-cut mane". Howard once describes him as having a hairy chest and, while comic book interpretations often portray Conan as wearing a loincloth or other minimalist clothing to give him a more barbaric image, Howard describes the character as wearing whatever garb is typical for the kingdom and culture in which Conan finds himself. Howard never gave a strict height or weight for Conan in a story, only describing him in loose terms like "giant" and "massive".[14] In the tales, no human is ever described as being stronger than Conan, although few are mentioned as taller (including the strangler, Baal-Pteor) or of larger bulk. In a letter to P. Schuyler Miller and John D. Clark in 1936, only three months before Howard's death, Conan is described as standing 6 ft/183 cm and weighing 180 pounds (82 kg) when he takes part in an attack on Venarium at only 15 years old, though being far from fully grown. At one point, when he is meeting Juma in Kush, he describes Conan as tall as his friend, at nearly 7 ft. in height. Conan himself says in "Beyond the Black River" that he had "...not yet seen 15 snows". at the Battle of Venarium. "At Vanarium he was already a formidable antagonist, though only fifteen, He stood six feet tall [1.83 m] and weighed 180 pounds [82 kg], though he lacked much of having his full growth." Although Conan is muscular, Howard frequently compares his agility and way of moving to that of a panther (see, for instance, "Jewels of Gwahlur", "Beyond the Black River", or "Rogues in the House"). His skin is frequently characterized as bronzed from constant exposure to the sun. In his younger years, he is often depicted wearing a light chain shirt and a horned helmet, though appearances vary with different stories.

During his reign as king of Aquilonia, Conan was

... a tall man, mightily shouldered and deep of chest, with a massive corded neck and heavily muscled limbs. He was clad in silk and velvet, with the royal lions of Aquilonia worked in gold upon his rich jupon, and the crown of Aquilonia shone on his square-cut black mane; but the great sword at his side seemed more natural to him than the regal accoutrements. His brow was low and broad, his eyes a volcanic blue that smoldered as if with some inner fire. His dark, scarred, almost sinister face was that of a fighting-man, and his velvet garments could not conceal the hard, dangerous lines of his limbs.[15]

Howard imagined the Cimmerians as a pre-Celtic people with mostly black hair and blue or grey eyes. Ethnically, the Cimmerians to which Conan belongs are descendants of the Atlanteans, though they do not remember their ancestry. In his fictional historical essay "The Hyborian Age", Howard describes how the people of Atlantis—the land where his character King Kull originated—had to move east after a great cataclysm changed the face of the world and sank their island, settling where Ireland and Scotland would eventually be located. Thus they are (in Howard's work) the ancestors of the Irish and Scottish (the Celtic Gaels) and not the Picts, the other ancestor of modern Scots who also appear in Howard's work. In the same work, Howard also described how the Cimmerians eventually moved south and east after the age of Conan (presumably in the vicinity of the Black Sea, where the historical Cimmerians dwelt).

Abilities

Despite his brutish appearance, Conan uses his brains as well as his brawn. The Cimmerian is a highly skilled warrior, possibly without peer with a sword, but his travels have given him vast experience in other trades, especially as a thief. He's also a talented commander, tactician, and strategist, as well as a born leader. In addition, Conan has advanced knowledge of languages and codes and is able to recognize, or even decipher, certain ancient or secret signs and writings. For example, in "Jewels of Gwahlur" Howard states: "In his roaming about the world the giant adventurer had picked up a wide smattering of knowledge, particularly including the speaking and reading of many alien tongues. Many a sheltered scholar would have been astonished at the Cimmerian's linguistic abilities." He also has incredible stamina, enabling him to go without sleep for a few days. In "A Witch Shall be Born", Conan fights armed men until he is overwhelmed, captured, and crucified, before going an entire night and day without water. However, Conan still possesses the strength to pull the nails from his feet, while hoisting himself into a horse's saddle and riding for ten miles.

Another noticeable trait is his sense of humor, largely absent in the comics and movies, but very much a part of Howard's original vision of the character (particularly apparent in "Xuthal of the Dusk", also known as "The Slithering Shadow.") His sense of humor can also be rather grimly ironic, as was demonstrated by how he unleashes his own version of justice on the treacherous—and ill-fated—innkeeper Aram Baksh in "Shadows in Zamboula".

He is a loyal friend to those true to him, with a barbaric code of conduct that often marks him as more honorable than the more sophisticated people he meets in his travels. Indeed, his straightforward nature and barbarism are constants in all the tales.

Conan is a formidable combatant both armed and unarmed. With his back to the wall, Conan is capable of engaging and killing opponents by the score. This is seen in several stories, such as "Queen of the Black Coast", "The Scarlet Citadel", and "A Witch Shall Be Born". Conan is not superhuman, though; he needed the providential help of Zelata's wolf to defeat four Nemedian soldiers in Howard's novel The Hour of the Dragon. Some of his hardest victories have come from fighting single opponents of inhuman strength: one such as Thak, an ape-like humanoid from "Rogues in the House", or the strangler Baal-Pteor in "Shadows in Zamboula". Conan is far from untouchable and has been captured or defeated several times (on one occasion, knocking himself out after drunkenly running into a wall).

Influences

Main article: Robert E. Howard

Howard frequently corresponded with H. P. Lovecraft, and the two would sometimes insert references or elements of each other's settings in their works. Later editors reworked many of the original Conan stories by Howard, thus diluting this connection. Nevertheless, many of Howard's unedited Conan stories are arguably part of the Cthulhu Mythos.[16] Additionally, many of the Conan stories by Howard, de Camp, and Carter used geographical place names from Clark Ashton Smith's Hyperborean Cycle.

Original Robert E. Howard Conan stories

 
Cover of Weird Tales (May 1934) depicting Conan and Bêlit in Queen of the Black Coast, one of Robert E. Howard's original Conan stories.

Conan stories published in Weird Tales

  1. "The Phoenix on the Sword" (novelette; vol. 20, #6, December 1932)
  2. "The Scarlet Citadel" (novelette; vol. 21, #1, January 1, 1933)
  3. "The Tower of the Elephant" (novelette; vol. 21, #3, March 1933)
  4. "Black Colossus" (novelette; vol. 21, #6, June 1933)
  5. "The Slithering Shadow" (novelette; vol. 22, #3, September 1933, alternate title "Xuthal of the Dusk")
  6. "The Pool of the Black One" (novelette; vol. 22, #4, October 1933)
  7. "Rogues in the House" (novelette; vol. 23, #1, January 1934)
  8. "Iron Shadows in the Moon" (novelette; vol. 23, #4, April 1934, published as "Shadows in the Moonlight")
  9. "Queen of the Black Coast" (novelette; vol. 23, #5, May 1934)
  10. "The Devil in Iron" (novelette; vol. 24, #2, August 1934)
  11. "The People of the Black Circle" (novella; vol. 24, #3–5, September–November 1934)
  12. "A Witch Shall Be Born" (novelette; vol. 24, #6, December 1934)
  13. "Jewels of Gwahlur" (novelette; vol. 25, #3, March 1935, author's original title "The Servants of Bit-Yakin")
  14. "Beyond the Black River" (novella; vol. 25, #5–6, May–June 1935)
  15. "Shadows in Zamboula" (novelette; vol. 26, #5, November 1935, author's original title "The Man-Eaters of Zamboula")
  16. "The Hour of the Dragon" (novel; vol. 26, #6 & vol. 27, #1–4, December 1935, January–April 1936)
  17. "Red Nails" (novella; vol. 28, #1–3, July, September, October 1936)

Conan stories published in Fantasy Fan magazine

Conan stories not published in Howard's lifetime

Unfinished Conan stories by Howard

A number of untitled synopses for Conan stories also exist.

Other Conan-related material by Howard

  • "Wolves Beyond the Border" – A non-Conan story set in Conan's world. Fragment. Published in 1967 in Conan the Usurper
  • "The Hyborian Age" – An essay written in 1932. Published in 1938 in The Hyborian Age.
  • "Cimmeria" – A poem written in 1932. Published in 1965 in The Howard Collector.

Book editions

Main article: Conan (books)

The character of Conan has proven durably popular, resulting in Conan stories by later writers such as Poul Anderson, Leonard Carpenter, Lin Carter, L. Sprague de Camp, Roland J. Green, John C. Hocking, Robert Jordan, Sean A. Moore, Björn Nyberg, Andrew J. Offutt, Steve Perry, John Maddox Roberts, Harry Turtledove, and Karl Edward Wagner. Some of these writers have finished incomplete Conan manuscripts by Howard. Others were created by rewriting Howard stories which originally featured entirely different characters from entirely different milieus. Most, however, are completely original works. In total, more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories featuring the Conan character have been written by authors other than Howard.

The Gnome Press edition (1950–1957) was the first hardcover collection of Howard's Conan stories, including all the original Howard material known to exist at the time, some left unpublished in his lifetime. The later volumes contain some stories rewritten by L. Sprague de Camp (like "The Treasure of Tranicos"), including several non-Conan Howard stories, mostly historical exotica situated in the Levant at the time of the Crusades, which he turned into Conan yarns. The Gnome edition also issued the first Conan story written by an author other than Howard—the final volume published, which is by Björn Nyberg and revised by de Camp.

The Lancer/Ace editions (1966–1977), under the direction of de Camp and Lin Carter, were the first comprehensive paperbacks, compiling the material from the Gnome Press series together in a chronological order with all the remaining original Howard material, including that left unpublished in his lifetime and fragments and outlines. These were completed by de Camp and Carter. The series also included Howard stories originally featuring other protagonists that were rewritten by de Camp as Conan stories. New Conan stories written entirely by de Camp and Carter were added as well. Lancer Books went out of business before bringing out the entire series, the publication of which was completed by Ace Books. Eight of the eventual twelve volumes published featured dynamic cover paintings by Frank Frazetta that, for many fans,[who?] presented the definitive, iconic impression of Conan and his world. For decades to come, most other portrayals of the Cimmerian and his imitators were heavily influenced by the cover paintings of this series.[citation needed]

Most editions after the Lancer/Ace series have been of either the original Howard stories or Conan material by others, but not both. The exception are the Ace Maroto editions (1978–1981), which include both new material by other authors and older material by Howard, though the latter are some of the non-Conan tales by Howard rewritten as Conan stories by de Camp. Notable later editions of the original Howard Conan stories include the Donald M. Grant editions (1974–1989, incomplete); Berkley editions (1977); Gollancz editions (2000–2006), and Wandering Star/Del Rey editions (2003–2005). Later series of new Conan material include the Bantam editions (1978–1982) and Tor editions (1982–2004).

Conan chronologies

Main article: Conan chronologies

In an attempt to provide a coherent timeline which fit the numerous adventures of Conan penned by Robert E. Howard and later writers, various "Conan chronologies" have been prepared by many people from the 1930s onward. Note that no consistent timeline has yet accommodated every single Conan story. The following are the principal theories that have been advanced over the years.

  • Miller/Clark chronology – A Probable Outline of Conan's Career (1936) was the first effort to put the tales in chronological order. Completed by P. Schuyler Miller and John Drury Clark, the chronology was later revised by Clark and L. Sprague de Camp in An Informal Biography of Conan the Cimmerian (1952).
  • Robert Jordan chronology – A Conan Chronology by Robert Jordan (1987) was a new chronology written by Conan writer Robert Jordan that included all written Conan material up to that point. It was heavily influenced by the Miller/Clark/de Camp chronologies, though it departed from them in a number of idiosyncratic instances.
  • William Galen Gray chronology – Timeline of Conan's Journeys (1997, rev. 2004), was fan William Galen Gray's attempt to create "a chronology of all the stories, both Howard and pastiche." Drawing on the earlier Miller/Clark and Jordan chronologies, it represents the ultimate expression of their tradition to date.
  • Joe Marek chronology – Joe Marek's chronology is limited to stories written (or devised) by Howard, though within that context it is essentially a revision of the Miller/Clark tradition to better reflect the internal evidence of the stories and avoid forcing Conan into what he perceives as a "mad dash" around the Hyborian world within timeframes too rapid to be credible.
  • Dale Rippke chronology – The Darkstorm Conan Chronology (2003) was a completely revised and heavily researched chronology, radically repositioning a number of stories and including only those stories written or devised by Howard. The Dark Horse comic series follows this chronology.

Media

See also: Adaptations of works by Robert E. Howard

Films

Conan the Barbarian (1982) and Conan the Destroyer (1984)

Main articles: Conan the Barbarian (1982 film), Conan the Destroyer, and Red Sonja (1985 film)

The very first Conan cinematic project was planned by Edward Summer. Summer envisioned a series of Conan films, much like the James Bond franchise. He outlined six stories for this film series, but none were ever made. An original screenplay by Summer and Roy Thomas was written, but their lore-authentic screen story was never filmed. However, the resulting film, Conan the Barbarian (1982), was a combination of director John Milius' ideas and plots from Conan stories (written also by Howard's successors, notably Lin Carter and L. Sprague de Camp). The addition of Nietzschean motto and Conan's life philosophy were crucial for bringing the spirit of Howard's literature to the screen.

The plot of Conan the Barbarian (1982) begins with Conan being enslaved by the Vanir raiders of Thulsa Doom, a malevolent warlord who is responsible for the slaying of Conan's parents and the genocide of his people. Later, Thulsa Doom becomes a cult leader of a religion that worships Set, a Snake God. The vengeful Conan, the archer Subotai and the thief Valeria set out on a quest to rescue a princess held captive by Thulsa Doom. The film was directed by John Milius and produced by Dino De Laurentiis. The character of Conan was played by Jorge Sanz as a child[18] and Arnold Schwarzenegger as an adult. It was Schwarzenegger's break-through role as an actor.[19]

This film was followed by a less popular sequel, Conan the Destroyer in 1984.[20] This sequel was a more typical fantasy-genre film and was even less faithful to Howard's Conan stories, being just a picaresque story of an assorted bunch of adventurers.

The third film in the Conan trilogy was planned for 1987 to be titled Conan the Conqueror. The director was to be either Guy Hamilton or John Guillermin. Since Arnold Schwarzenegger was committed to the film Predator and De Laurentiis's contract with the star had expired after his obligation to Red Sonja and Raw Deal, he wasn't keen to negotiate a new one; thus the third Conan film sank into development hell. The script was eventually turned into Kull the Conqueror.

Conan the Barbarian (2011)

Main article: Conan the Barbarian (2011 film)

There were rumors in the late 1990s of another Conan sequel, a story about an older Conan titled King Conan: Crown of Iron, but Schwarzenegger's election in 2003 as governor of California ended this project.[21] Warner Bros. spent seven years trying to get the project off the ground. However, in June 2007 the rights reverted to Paradox Entertainment, though all drafts made under Warner remained with them. In August 2007, it was announced that Millennium Films had acquired the rights to the project. Production was aimed for a Spring 2006 start, with the intention of having stories more faithful to the Robert E. Howard creation.[22] In June 2009, Millennium hired Marcus Nispel to direct.[23] In January 2010, Jason Momoa was selected for the role of Conan.[24] The film was released in August 2011, and met poor critical reviews and box office results.

The Legend of Conan

In 2012, producers Chris Morgan and Frederick Malmberg announced plans for a sequel to the 1982 Conan the Barbarian titled The Legend of Conan, with Arnold Schwarzenegger reprising his role as Conan.[25][26][27] A year later, Deadline reported that Andrea Berloff would write the script.[28] Years passed since the initial announcement as Schwarzenegger worked on other films, but as late as 2016, Schwarzenegger affirmed his enthusiasm for making the film, saying, "Interest is high ... but we are not rushing."[29][30] The script was finished, and Schwarzenegger and Morgan were meeting with possible directors.[29][30] In April 2017, producer Chris Morgan stated that Universal had dropped the project, although there was a possibility of a TV show. The story of the film was supposed to be set 30 years after the first, with some inspiration from Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven.[31]

Television

There have been three television series related to Conan:

  • Conan the Adventurer is an animated television series produced by Jetlag Productions and Sunbow Productions that debuted on September 13, 1992, ran for 65 episodes and concluded on November 23, 1993. The series involved Conan chasing Serpent Men across the world in an attempt to release his parents from eternal imprisonment as living statues.
  • Conan and the Young Warriors is an animated television series that premiered in 1994 and ran for 13 episodes. DiC Entertainment produced the show and CBS aired this series as a spin-off to the previous animated series. This cartoon took place after the finale of Conan the Adventurer with Wrath-Amon vanquished and Conan's family returned to life from living stone. Conan soon finds that the family of one of his friends are being turned into wolves by an evil sorceress and he must train three warriors in order to aid him in rescuing them.
  • Conan the Adventurer is a live-action television series that premiered on September 22, 1997, and ran for 22 episodes. It starred German bodybuilder Ralf Möller as Conan, Danny Woodburn (Otli), Robert McRay (Zzeben), and TJ Storm (Bayu) as his sidekicks. The storyline was quite different from the Conan lore of Howard. In this adaptation, Conan is a pleasant and jovial person. Also in this version, Conan is not a loner but one member of a merry band of adventurers.
  • In September 2020, it was announced that Netflix will develop a new Conan TV series as a part of a larger deal involving Fredrik Malmberg [se] and Mark Wheeler from Pathfinder Media[note 1] between Netflix and Conan Properties International, owned by Cabinet Entertainment, for the exclusive rights to the Conan library for the rights for live-action and animated films and TV shows.[32] Deadline had previously reported that a Conan show was in the works at Amazon Prime,[33] but nothing came of it.[34]

Comics

Main article: Conan (comics)
See also: Conan (Dark Horse Comics)

Conan the Barbarian has appeared in comics nearly non-stop since 1970. The comics are arguably, apart from the books, the vehicle that had the greatest influence on the longevity and popularity of the character. The earliest comic book adaptation of Conan was written in Spanish and first published in Mexico in the fifties. This version, which was done without authorization from the estate of Robert E. Howard, is loosely based on the short story Queen of the Black Coast.[35][36] The earliest licensed comic adaptations were written in English and first published by Marvel Comics in the seventies, beginning with Conan the Barbarian (1970–1993) and the classic Savage Sword of Conan (1974–1995). Dark Horse Comics launched their Conan series in 2003. Dark Horse Comics is currently publishing compilations of the 1970s Marvel Comics series in trade paperback format.

Barack Obama, former President of the United States, is a collector of Conan the Barbarian comic books and a big fan of the character[37] and appeared as a character in a comic book called Barack the Barbarian from Devil's Due.[38][39]

Marvel Comics introduced a relatively lore-faithful version of Conan the Barbarian in 1970 with Conan the Barbarian, written by Roy Thomas and illustrated by Barry Windsor-Smith. Smith was succeeded by penciller John Buscema, while Thomas continued to write for many years. Later writers included J.M. DeMatteis, Bruce Jones, Michael Fleisher, Doug Moench, Jim Owsley, Alan Zelenetz, Chuck Dixon and Don Kraar. In 1974, Conan the Barbarian series spawned the more adult-oriented, black-and-white comics magazine Savage Sword of Conan, written by Thomas with art mostly by Buscema or Alfredo Alcala. Marvel also published several graphic novels starring the character[citation needed], and a handbook with detailed information about the Hyborian world. Conan the Barbarian is also officially considered to be part of the larger Marvel Universe and has interacted with heroes and villains alike.

The Marvel Conan stories were also adapted as a newspaper comic strip which appeared daily and Sunday from 4 September 1978 to 12 April 1981. Originally written by Roy Thomas and illustrated by John Buscema, the strip was continued by several different Marvel artists and writers.

Dark Horse Comics began their comic adaptation of the Conan saga in 2003. Entitled simply Conan, the series was first written by Kurt Busiek and pencilled by Cary Nord. Tim Truman replaced Busiek when Busiek signed an exclusive contract with DC Comics; however, Busiek issues were sometimes used for filler. This series is an interpretation of the original Conan material by Robert E. Howard with no connection whatsoever to the earlier Marvel comics or any Conan story not written or envisioned by Howard supplemented by wholly original material.

A second series, Conan the Cimmerian was released in 2008 by Tim Truman (writer) and Tomás Giorello (artist). The series ran for twenty-six issues, including an introductory "zero" issue.

Dark Horse's third series, Conan: Road of Kings, began in December 2010 by Roy Thomas (writer) and Mike Hawthorne (artist) and ran for twelve issues.

A fourth series, Conan the Barbarian, began in February 2012 by Brian Wood (writer) and Becky Cloonan (artist). It ran for twenty-five issues, and expanded on Robert E. Howard's Queen of the Black Coast.

A fifth series, Conan the Avenger, began in April 2014 by Fred Van Lente (writer) and Brian Ching (artist). It ran for twenty-five issues, and expanded on Robert E. Howard's The Snout in the Dark and A Witch Shall Be Born.

Dark Horse's sixth series, Conan the Slayer, began in July 2016 by Cullen Bunn (writer) and Sergio Dávila (artist).

In 2018, Marvel reacquired the rights and started new runs of both Conan the Barbarian and Savage Sword of Conan in January/February 2019. Conan is also a lead in the Savage Avengers title, which launched in 2019 and received a second volume in 2022.

In 2022, it was revealed that Titan Publishing Group had acquired the rights from Heroic Signatures to make Conan comics, with a new ongoing series set to release in May 2023.[40]

Games

See also: List of games based on Conan the Barbarian

Board games

  • In 2009, Fantasy Flight Games released the Age of Conan strategy board game, depicting warfare between the Hyborian nations in the Conan's adventures.
  • In 2016, Monolith Board Games LLC released a new boardgame with miniatures directly based on Howard's short stories. Conan (previously known as Conan: Hyborian Quests) pits one player, controlling the evil forces, against 2-4 other players controlling Conan and his companions.

Collectible card games

Play-by-mail games

Role-playing games

TSR, Inc. signed a license agreement in 1984 to publish Conan-related gaming material:[42]

In 1988 Steve Jackson Games acquired a Conan license and started publishing Conan solo adventures for its GURPS generic system of rules as of 1988 and a GURPS Conan core rulebook in 1989:

  • GURPS Conan: Beyond Thunder River (1988, solo adventure)
  • GURPS Conan (1989, core rulebook)
  • GURPS Conan and the Queen of the Black Coast (1989, solo adventure)
  • GURPS Conan: Moon of Blood (1989, solo adventure)
  • GURPS Conan the Wyrmslayer (1989, solo adventure)

In 2003 the British company Mongoose Publishing bought a license and acquired in turn the rights to make use of the Conan gaming franchise, publishing a Conan role-playing game from 2004 until 2010. The game ran the OGL System of rules that Mongoose established for its OGL series of games:

In 2010 Mongoose Publishing dropped the Conan license. In February 2015, another British company, Modiphius Entertainment, acquired the license, announcing plans to put out a new Conan role-playing game in August of that year.[43] Actually, the core rulebook was not launched (via Kickstarter) until a whole year later, in February 2016, reaching by far all funds needed for publication. Long after the Kickstarter ended the core rulebook was launched in PDF format on January 31, 2017. The physical core rulebook finally started distribution in June 2017:

  • Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of (hardcover, 368 pages, 2017), with two hardcover supplements already published and at least 17 additional supplements in the works (as planned following the Kickstarter).

Video games

Nine video games have been released based on the Conan mythos.

Characters

Characters with prominent roles in Conan prose fiction

  • Bêlit – A self-styled Shemite Queen of the Black Coast, captain of the pirate ship Tigress, and Conan's first serious lover (Queen of the Black Coast).
  • Ctesphon - The king of Stygia is mentioned only once and in passing, in "The Phoenix on the Sword". He is a priest- king, like Thugra Khotan in the Stygian daughter-kingdom of Kutchemes.
  • Thoth-Amon – A Stygian wizard of great power who appeared in the first Conan story written (The Phoenix on the Sword) and was mentioned in The God in the Bowl and The Hour of the Dragon. L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter made Thoth-Amon the nemesis of Conan. In the Marvel comics, Thoth-Amon was also Conan's lifelong opponent and had a striking appearance designed by Barry Windsor-Smith; he wore a distinctive ram-horn ornamental headdress. In The Phoenix on the Sword though, where Thoth has been robbed of his magical ring, he does not at all seem very impressive, yet less admirable. He is portrayed by Pat Roach in Conan the Destroyer.
  • Valeria – A Aquilonian female mercenary affiliated with the Red Brotherhood (Red Nails).
  • Yara – An evil wizard and adversary of Conan (The Tower of the Elephant) who enslaved Yag-Kosha, an extraterrestrial being resembling Hindu god Ganesh.
  • Yasmina- Brave, proud, feisty, wise and warmhearted queen of wise, ancient Vendhya, homeland and stronghold of Asura-worship.
  • Zenobia – A seraglio concubine whom Conan promises to wed and make queen of Aquilonia (The Hour of the Dragon).

Characters with prominent roles only in Conan comic-book fiction

  • Fafnir – A pastiche of Fafhrd from the sword-and-sorcery stories of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser by Fritz Leiber. He is a mighty red-bearded Vanir warrior and pirate captain. At first he and Conan are enemies, but they soon become allies after being shipwrecked.
  • Jenna – (Marvel comics character). A dancing girl from the city of Shadizar. She becomes Conan's girlfriend after he saves her from a monstrous bat, but later betrays him to the authorities. Conan gets his revenge by throwing her into a pool of sewage. Based on an unnamed character in the prose story Rogues in the House.
  • Mikhal "the Vulture" Oglu – In Marvel comics' Conan the barbarian #23, Mikhal Oglu is Yezdigerd's enforcer and the greatest swordsman in Turan. He challenges Conan but is defeated and killed. He was inspired by a character in a non-Conan story by Robert E. Howard (The Shadow of the Vulture)
  • Kulan Gath - a prominent evil wizard appearing initially in the Marvel Conan comics and later fully integrated into the Marvel Universe. He has also appeared in Red Sonya comics by Dynamite Entertainment.
  • Red Sonja – An Hyrkanian warrior created by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith for the Conan comics. She was based on the Howard character, Red Sonya of Rogatino, who appeared in The Shadow of the Vulture. A novella set in the 16th century.
  • Yezdigerd – Ruler of Turan, a Turkish empire-based civilization. He employs Conan as a mercenary but betrays him after he outlived his usefulness
  • Zukala – A character from the Conan comics published by Marvel, inspired by a poem by Robert E. Howard. Zukala is an evil sorcerer who gains his powers from a mask. His daughter Zephra falls in love with Conan.

Characters with prominent roles only in Conan films

  • Akiro – A character from the two Schwarzenegger Conan films. He is a powerful wizard who befriends Conan and Subotai, and serves as the narrator and Conan's chronicler. He is played by Japanese actor Mako Iwamatsu.
  • Rexor – In the 1982 film, the chief priest of Thulsa Doom's snake cult, who stole the sword of Conan's father. Played by Ben Davidson.
  • Subotai – Hyrkanian thief and archer. He is Conan's companion in the 1982 film. Played by Gerry Lopez.
  • Malak – A thief. He is Conan's travelling companion in the 1984 sequel. Played by Tracey Walter.
  • Thorgrim – Hammer-wielding minion of Thulsa Doom in the 1982 film. Played by Sven-Ole Thorsen
  • Thulsa Doom – A skull-faced necromancer from a King Kull story, a recurring villain in the Kull comics, and the antagonist in the 1982 film, played by James Earl Jones.

Copyright and trademark dispute

The name Conan and the names of some of Robert E. Howard's other characters are claimed as trademarked by Conan Properties International[46] and licensed to Cabinet Entertainment,[47] both entities controlled by CEO Fredrik Malmberg.[48]

Since Robert E. Howard's Conan stories were published at a time when the date of publication was the marker (1932–1963), however, and any new owners failed to renew them to maintain the copyrights,[49] the exact copyright status of all of Howard's 'Conan' works is in question.[50] The majority of Howard's Conan fiction exist in at least two versions, subject to different copyright standards, namely 1) the original Weird Tales publications before or shortly after Howard's death, which are generally understood to be public domain and 2) restored versions based upon manuscripts which were unpublished during Howard's lifetime.[51]

The Australian site of Project Gutenberg hosts digital copies of many of Howard's stories, including several works about Conan.[52]

In the United Kingdom, works are released into the public domain 70 years after the death of an author. With Howard having died in 1936, his works have been in the public domain there since 2006. The same laws applies for Malmberg's home country Sweden.

In August 2018, Conan Properties International LLC won by default a suit against Spanish sculptor Ricardo Jove Sanchez after he failed to appear at court in the United States. Jove had started a crowdfunding campaign that raised around €3000 on Kickstarter, with the intent of selling barbarian figurines to online customers, including those in the United States. The Magistrate Judge originally recommended statutory damages for infringement on three Robert E. Howard characters not including Conan, but Jove was eventually fined $3,000 per character used in the campaign, including Conan, for a total of $21,000.[53]

In September 2020, it was announced that Netflix had made a larger deal involving Malmberg and Mark Wheeler from Pathfinder Media[note 1] between Netflix and Conan Properties International for the exclusive rights to the Conan library for the rights for live-action and animated films and TV shows.[32]

Notes

  1. ^ a b No relation to Paizo's flagship product, Pathfinder

References

  1. ^ Herron (1984). p. 149: "Robert E. Howard of Cross Plains, Texas, created one of the great mythic figures in modern popular culture, the Dark Barbarian... [which] put Howard in the select ranks of the literary legend-makers"
  2. ^ a b c d e f Louinet, pp. 429-453
  3. ^ "Hyborean Genesis: Notes on the Creation of the Conan Stories", by Patrice Louinet; in The Coming Of Conan The Cimmerian, by Robert Ervin Howard, Del Rey/Ballantine Books, 2005, p. 424
  4. ^ Conversations with Texas Writers, by Frances Leonard and Ramona Cearley, University of Texas Press, 1 Jan 2010, p. 217
  5. ^ . superherouniverse.com. Archived from the original on 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2017-10-31.
  6. ^ Wandering Star Books 2013-07-18 at the Wayback Machine, official website
  7. ^ Howard, Robert E. adapted by Roy Thomas and Walt Simonson. "The Hyborian Age". Conan Saga. Marvel Comics (50–54, 56). from the original on 25 May 2011.
  8. ^ Howard, Robert E. (6 December 1932). "The Phoenix on the Sword". Weird Tales (20).
  9. ^ Conan the Warrior (1935): "Beyond the Black River"
  10. ^ Conan the Cimmerian: "Queen of the Black Coast" (1934)
  11. ^ Conan the Cimmerian: "The Phoenix on the Sword" (1932)
  12. ^ Dr. Jennifer Agatha Bard, "Gender Roles in Science Fiction and Fantasy", Bulletin of Gender Equality, Summer 1986.
  13. ^ George Xavier Baxter, "Heroic Fantasy and Mundane Reality", in Winifred Stromberg (ed.) "Multi-Disciplinary Round Table on Twentieth Century Popular Culture"
  14. ^ Howard, Robert E. "A Witch Shall Be Born": "the man was almost a giant in stature"; "Knots and bunches of muscle started out of the massive arms".
  15. ^ Howard, Robert E. Howard The Hour of the Dragon, reprinted The Bloody Crown of Conan, pp. 89-90
  16. ^ Louinet, p. 436
  17. ^ As stated in Project Gutenberg Australia
  18. ^ D’Lugo, Guide to the Cinema of Spain, p. 258
  19. ^ Katz, Ephraim (2006). Film Encyclopedia. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-074214-0.
  20. ^ Collis, Clark. . Empire magazine. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-04-22.
  21. ^ Linder, Brian (October 8, 2003). "Goodbye Hollywood, Hello Sacramento". IGN.com. IGN Entertainment, Inc. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
  22. ^ Fleming, Michael (August 12, 2007). . Variety. Reed Elsevier Inc. Archived from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved March 9, 2010.
  23. ^ Fleming, Michael (June 11, 2009). . Variety. Reed Elsevier Inc. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  24. ^ McNary, David (January 21, 2010). "Momoa set for 'Conan'". Variety. Reed Elsevier Inc. Archived from the original on January 5, 2013. Retrieved March 9, 2010.
  25. ^ Child, Ben (2012-10-26). "Arnold Schwarzenegger to reprise his role as Conan the Barbarian." TheGuardian.com. Retrieved 2016-02-04.
  26. ^ Fleming, Mike (2012-10-25). "Schwarzenegger And Conan The Barbarian Reunited in Universal Reboot". Deadline.com. Retrieved 2012-11-17.
  27. ^ Cornet, Roth (2014-01-29). "The Legend of Conan Producer Chris Morgan Says Arnold Schwarzenegger's Return to the Role is Going to be Their Unforgiven." IGN.com. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
  28. ^ Fleming, Mike, Jr. (2013-10-01). " 'Legend of Conan' Lands Adrea Berloff To Script Arnold Schwarzenegger Epic Reprise." Deadline.com. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
  29. ^ a b Schaefer, Sandy (2016-01-25). "Arnold Schwarzenegger Offers Legend of Conan Title & Director Update." ScreenRant.com. Retrieved 2016-01-27.
  30. ^ a b Auty, Dan (2016-01-26). "Arnold Schwarzenegger on His Plans for New Conan Movie." GameSpot.com. Retrieved 2016-01-27.
  31. ^ "Arnold Schwarzenegger's 'The Legend of Conan' May Not Happen After All". /Film. 6 April 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  32. ^ a b "'Conan the Barbarian' Series in Development at Netflix". 30 September 2020.
  33. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (February 5, 2018). "Conan the Barbarian TV Series In Works At Amazon From Ryan Condal, Miguel Sapochnik & Warren Littlefield". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  34. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (September 30, 2020). "Conan The Barbarian TV Series In Works At Netflix". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  35. ^ "Conan (comic book character)". Comicvine.com. Retrieved 2012-11-17.
  36. ^ "GCD :: Series :: Cuentos de Abuelito". www.comics.org.
  37. ^ Swaine, Jon (7 November 2008). . The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on December 1, 2008. Retrieved 11 November 2008.
  38. ^ Spillius, Alex (7 April 2009). . The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on April 11, 2009. Retrieved 26 November 2009.
  39. ^ Flood, Alison (8 April 2009). "Obama battles Red Sarah in comic clash". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 26 November 2009.
  40. ^ Kit, Borys (2022-06-21). "Titan Comics Nabs 'Conan the Barbarian' License (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2022-07-03.
  41. ^ "Hyborian War". www.reality.com.
  42. ^ . Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2008-09-24. Retrieved 2005-08-20.
  43. ^ . Mophidius Entertainment. February 9, 2015. Archived from the original on July 14, 2017. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
  44. ^ "Conan Exiles". Conan Exiles.
  45. ^ "Conan Unconquered on Steam". store.steampowered.com.
  46. ^ "Conan film rights revert to Conan Properties" (Press release). 5 June 2012.
  47. ^ "Conan".
  48. ^ Gamingaktier (2018-04-03). "Intervju med Fredrik Malmberg (Funcom)". Gamingaktier (in Swedish).
  49. ^ . Archived from the original on 2009-02-28. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
  50. ^ . Archived from the original on 2012-07-04.
  51. ^ Herman, Paul (1 May 2007). . Robert-E-Howard Electronic Amateur Press Association. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  52. ^ "Robert Ervin HOWARD (1906–1936)". Project Gutenberg.
  53. ^ "Artist Thwacked for Conan the Barbarian Infringement". Courthouse News Service. Retrieved 27 May 2021.

Further reading

External links

May 04, 2023
conan, barbarian, other, uses, disambiguation, also, known, conan, cimmerian, fictional, sword, sorcery, hero, originated, pulp, magazines, since, been, adapted, books, comics, films, including, conan, destroyer, television, programs, animated, live, action, v. For other uses see Conan the Barbarian disambiguation Conan the Barbarian also known as Conan the Cimmerian is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books comics films including Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer television programs animated and live action video games and role playing games Robert E Howard created the character in 1932 for a series of fantasy stories published in Weird Tales magazine Conan the BarbarianIllustration of Conan by Mark SchultzFirst appearanceWeird Tales December 1932 Created byRobert E HowardPortrayed byArnold Schwarzenegger 1982 and 1984 films Jorge Sanz 1982 film Young Ralf Moller Television series Jason Momoa 2011 film Leo Howard 2011 film Young Voiced byMichael Donovan Conan the Adventurer Phil Hayes Conan and the Young Warriors Ron Perlman Conan 2007 video game Matthew Waterson Conan Exiles In universe informationSpeciesHumanGenderMaleNationalityCimmerianThe earliest appearance of a Robert E Howard character named Conan was that of a black haired barbarian with heroic attributes in the 1931 short story People of the Dark By 1932 Howard had officially conceptualised Conan in his lifetime writing 21 stories starring the barbarian Over the years many other writers have written works featuring Conan Many Conan the Barbarian stories feature Conan embarking on heroic adventures filled with common fantasy elements such as princesses and wizards Howard s mythopoeia has the stories set in the legendary Hyborian Age in the times after the fall of Atlantis Conan is a Cimmerian who are descendants of Atlanteans and son to a blacksmith Characterised as chivalric due to his penchant to save damsels in distress Conan also displays a humorous nature and enduring loyalty His main abilities encompass strength combativeness intelligence agility and endurance The barbarian s appearance is mostly centred on his black hair blue eyes tanned skin and giant stature The most popular cinematic adaptation is the 1982 Conan the Barbarian directed by John Milius and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as Conan in which the plot revolves around Conan facing the villainous Thulsa Doom Licensed comics published in the 1970s by Marvel Comics drew success and included Conan in an iconic loincloth Contents 1 Publication history 2 Setting 3 Personality and character 3 1 Appearance 3 2 Abilities 3 3 Influences 4 Original Robert E Howard Conan stories 4 1 Conan stories published in Weird Tales 4 2 Conan stories published in Fantasy Fan magazine 4 3 Conan stories not published in Howard s lifetime 4 4 Unfinished Conan stories by Howard 4 5 Other Conan related material by Howard 5 Book editions 6 Conan chronologies 7 Media 7 1 Films 7 1 1 Conan the Barbarian 1982 and Conan the Destroyer 1984 7 1 2 Conan the Barbarian 2011 7 1 3 The Legend of Conan 7 2 Television 7 3 Comics 7 4 Games 7 4 1 Board games 7 4 2 Collectible card games 7 4 3 Play by mail games 7 4 4 Role playing games 7 4 5 Video games 8 Characters 8 1 Characters with prominent roles in Conan prose fiction 8 2 Characters with prominent roles only in Conan comic book fiction 8 3 Characters with prominent roles only in Conan films 9 Copyright and trademark dispute 10 Notes 11 References 12 Further reading 13 External linksPublication history EditRobert E Howard created Conan the Barbarian in a series of fantasy stories published in Weird Tales from 1932 1 Howard was searching for a new character to market to the burgeoning pulp outlets of the early 1930s In October 1931 he submitted the short story People of the Dark to Clayton Publications new magazine Strange Tales of Mystery and Terror June 1932 People of the Dark is a story about the remembrance of past lives and in its first person narrative the protagonist describes one of his previous incarnations Conan is a black haired barbarian hero who swears by a deity called Crom Some Howard scholars believe this Conan to be a forerunner of the more famous character 2 In February 1932 Howard vacationed at a border town on the lower Rio Grande During this trip he further conceived the character of Conan and also wrote the poem Cimmeria much of which echoes specific passages in Plutarch s Lives 3 4 According to some scholars Howard s conception of Conan and the Hyborian Age may have originated in Thomas Bulfinch s The Outline of Mythology 1913 which inspired Howard to coalesce into a coherent whole his literary aspirations and the strong physical autobiographical elements underlying the creation of Conan 2 Having digested these influences upon returning from his trip Howard rewrote a rejected story By This Axe I Rule May 1929 replacing his existing character Kull of Atlantis with his new hero and retitling it The Phoenix on the Sword Howard also wrote The Scarlet Citadel and The Frost Giant s Daughter inspired by the Greek myth of Daphne citation needed and submitted both stories to Weird Tales magazine Although The Frost Giant s Daughter was rejected the magazine accepted The Phoenix on the Sword after it received the requested polishing and published it in the December 1932 issue The Scarlet Citadel was published the following month 2 The Phoenix on the Sword appeared in Weird Tales cover dated December 1932 Editor Farnsworth Wright subsequently prompted Howard to write an 8 000 word essay for personal use detailing the Hyborian Age the fictional setting for Conan Using this essay as his guideline Howard began plotting The Tower of the Elephant a new Conan story that was the first to integrate his new conception of the Hyborian world 2 The publication and success of The Tower of the Elephant spurred Howard to write more Conan stories for Weird Tales By the time of Howard s suicide in 1936 he had written 21 complete stories 17 of which had been published as well as multiple unfinished fragments 2 Following Howard s death the copyright of the Conan stories passed through several hands Eventually L Sprague de Camp was entrusted with management of the fiction line and beginning with 1967 s Conan released by Lancer Books oversaw a paperback series collecting all of Howard s stories Lancer folded in 1973 and Ace Books picked up the line reprinting the older volumes with new trade dress and continuing to release new ones Howard s original stories received additional edits by de Camp and de Camp also decided to create additional Conan stories to publish alongside the originals working with Bjorn Nyberg and especially Lin Carter These new stories were created from a mixture of already complete Howard stories with different settings and characters that were altered to feature Conan and the Hyborian setting instead incomplete fragments and outlines for Conan stories that were never completed by Howard and all new pastiches Lastly de Camp created prefaces for each story fitting them into a timeline of Conan s life that he created For roughly 40 years the original versions of Howard s Conan stories remained out of print In 1977 the publisher Berkley Books issued three volumes using the earliest published form of the texts from Weird Tales and thus no de Camp edits with Karl Edward Wagner as series editor but these were halted by action from de Camp before the remaining three intended volumes could be released In the 1980s and 1990s the copyright holders permitted Howard s stories to go out of print entirely as the public demand for sword amp sorcery dwindled but continued to release the occasional new Conan novel by other authors such as Leonard Carpenter Roland Green and Harry Turtledove citation needed In 2000 the British publisher Gollancz Science Fiction issued a two volume complete edition of Howard s Conan stories as part of its Fantasy Masterworks imprint which included several stories that had never seen print in their original form The Gollancz edition mostly used the versions of the stories as published in Weird Tales 5 The two volumes were combined and the stories restored to chronological order as The Complete Chronicles of Conan Centenary Edition Gollancz Science Fiction 2006 edited and with an Afterword by Steve Jones In 2003 another British publisher Wandering Star Books 6 made an effort both to restore Howard s original manuscripts and to provide a more scholarly and historical view of the Conan stories It published hardcover editions in England which were republished in the United States by the Del Rey imprint of Ballantine Books The first book Conan of Cimmeria Volume One 1932 1933 2003 published in the US as The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian includes Howard s notes on his fictional setting as well as letters and poems concerning the genesis of his ideas This was followed by Conan of Cimmeria Volume Two 1934 2004 published in the US as The Bloody Crown of Conan and Conan of Cimmeria Volume Three 1935 1936 2005 published in the US as The Conquering Sword of Conan These three volumes include all the original Conan stories Setting EditMain article Hyborian Age The stories occur in the pseudo historical Hyborian Age set after the destruction of Atlantis and before the rise of any known ancient civilization This is a specific epoch in a fictional timeline created by Howard for many of the low fantasy tales of his artificial legendary 7 The reasons behind the invention of the Hyborian Age were perhaps commercial Howard had an intense love for history and historical dramas but he also recognized the difficulties and the time consuming research work needed in maintaining historical accuracy Also the poorly stocked libraries in the rural part of Texas where Howard lived did not have the material needed for such historical research By conceiving a vanished age and by choosing names that resembled human history Howard avoided anachronisms and the need for lengthy exposition 2 According to The Phoenix on the Sword the adventures of Conan take place Between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities and the years of the rise of the Sons of Aryas 8 Personality and character EditConan is a Cimmerian The writings of Robert E Howard particularly his essay The Hyborian Age suggests that his Cimmerians are based on the Celts or perhaps the historic Cimmerians Conan was born on a battlefield and is the son of a village blacksmith Conan matured quickly as a youth and by age fifteen he was already a respected warrior who had participated in the destruction of the Aquilonian fortress of Venarium 9 After its demise he was struck by wanderlust and began the adventures chronicled by Howard encountering skulking monsters evil wizards tavern wenches and beautiful princesses He roamed throughout the Hyborian Age nations as a thief outlaw mercenary and pirate 10 As he grew older he began commanding vast units of warriors and escalating his ambitions In his forties he seized the crown from the tyrannical king of Aquilonia the most powerful kingdom of the Hyborian Age having strangled the previous ruler on the steps of his own throne 11 Conan s adventures often result in him performing heroic feats though his motivation for doing so is largely to protect his own survival or for personal gain A conspicuous element of Conan s character is his chivalry He is extremely reluctant to fight women even when they fight him and has a strong tendency to save a damsel in distress In Jewels of Gwahlur he has to make a split second decision whether to save the dancing girl Muriela or the chest of priceless gems which he spent months in search of So without hesitation he rescues Muriela and allows for the treasure to be irrevocably lost In The Black Stranger Conan saves the exile Zingaran Lady Belesa at considerable risk to himself giving her as a parting gift his fortune in gems big enough to have a comfortable and wealthy life in Zingara while asking for no favors in return Reviewer Jennifer Bard also noted 12 that when Conan is in a pirate crew or a robber gang led by another male his tendency is to subvert and undermine the leader s authority and eventually supplant and often kill him e g Pool of the Black One A Witch Shall be Born Shadows in the Moonlight Conversely in Queen of the Black Coast it is noted that Conan generally agreed to Belit s plan Hers was the mind that directed their raids his the arm that carried out her ideas It was a good life And at the end of Red Nails Conan and Valeria seem to be headed towards a reasonably amicable piratical partnership George Baxter noted Conan s recorded history mentions him as being prominently involved at one time or another with four different pirate fraternities on two different seas as well being a noted leader of land robbers at three different locales Yet we hardly ever see him involved in well robbing people To be sure he speaks about it often and with complete candor We Kozaks took to plundering the outlying dominions of Koth Zamora and Turan impartially he says in Shadows in the Moonlight But that was before the story began And We re bound for waters where the seaports are fat and the merchant ships are crammed with plunder Conan declares at the end of The Pool of the Black One But this plundering will take place after the story ends When we see Conan onstage we see him do many other things he intervenes in the politics and dynastic struggles of various kingdoms he hunts for hidden treasure he explores desert islands and lost cities he fights countless terrible monsters and evil sorcerers he saves countless beautiful women and makes them fall in love with him What we virtually never see Conan do is engage in the proper business of an armed robber on land or by sea which is to attack people who never threatened or provoked you take away their possessions by main force and run your sword through them if they dare to resist A bit messy business that Armchair adventurers who like to enjoy a good yarn in the perfect safety and comfort of their suburban homes might not have liked to read it 13 dd Appearance Edit Hither came Conan the Cimmerian black haired sullen eyed sword in hand a thief a reaver a slayer with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandalled feet Robert E Howard The Phoenix on the Sword 1932 Conan has sullen smoldering and volcanic blue eyes with a black square cut mane Howard once describes him as having a hairy chest and while comic book interpretations often portray Conan as wearing a loincloth or other minimalist clothing to give him a more barbaric image Howard describes the character as wearing whatever garb is typical for the kingdom and culture in which Conan finds himself Howard never gave a strict height or weight for Conan in a story only describing him in loose terms like giant and massive 14 In the tales no human is ever described as being stronger than Conan although few are mentioned as taller including the strangler Baal Pteor or of larger bulk In a letter to P Schuyler Miller and John D Clark in 1936 only three months before Howard s death Conan is described as standing 6 ft 183 cm and weighing 180 pounds 82 kg when he takes part in an attack on Venarium at only 15 years old though being far from fully grown At one point when he is meeting Juma in Kush he describes Conan as tall as his friend at nearly 7 ft in height Conan himself says in Beyond the Black River that he had not yet seen 15 snows at the Battle of Venarium At Vanarium he was already a formidable antagonist though only fifteen He stood six feet tall 1 83 m and weighed 180 pounds 82 kg though he lacked much of having his full growth Although Conan is muscular Howard frequently compares his agility and way of moving to that of a panther see for instance Jewels of Gwahlur Beyond the Black River or Rogues in the House His skin is frequently characterized as bronzed from constant exposure to the sun In his younger years he is often depicted wearing a light chain shirt and a horned helmet though appearances vary with different stories During his reign as king of Aquilonia Conan was a tall man mightily shouldered and deep of chest with a massive corded neck and heavily muscled limbs He was clad in silk and velvet with the royal lions of Aquilonia worked in gold upon his rich jupon and the crown of Aquilonia shone on his square cut black mane but the great sword at his side seemed more natural to him than the regal accoutrements His brow was low and broad his eyes a volcanic blue that smoldered as if with some inner fire His dark scarred almost sinister face was that of a fighting man and his velvet garments could not conceal the hard dangerous lines of his limbs 15 dd Howard imagined the Cimmerians as a pre Celtic people with mostly black hair and blue or grey eyes Ethnically the Cimmerians to which Conan belongs are descendants of the Atlanteans though they do not remember their ancestry In his fictional historical essay The Hyborian Age Howard describes how the people of Atlantis the land where his character King Kull originated had to move east after a great cataclysm changed the face of the world and sank their island settling where Ireland and Scotland would eventually be located Thus they are in Howard s work the ancestors of the Irish and Scottish the Celtic Gaels and not the Picts the other ancestor of modern Scots who also appear in Howard s work In the same work Howard also described how the Cimmerians eventually moved south and east after the age of Conan presumably in the vicinity of the Black Sea where the historical Cimmerians dwelt Abilities Edit Despite his brutish appearance Conan uses his brains as well as his brawn The Cimmerian is a highly skilled warrior possibly without peer with a sword but his travels have given him vast experience in other trades especially as a thief He s also a talented commander tactician and strategist as well as a born leader In addition Conan has advanced knowledge of languages and codes and is able to recognize or even decipher certain ancient or secret signs and writings For example in Jewels of Gwahlur Howard states In his roaming about the world the giant adventurer had picked up a wide smattering of knowledge particularly including the speaking and reading of many alien tongues Many a sheltered scholar would have been astonished at the Cimmerian s linguistic abilities He also has incredible stamina enabling him to go without sleep for a few days In A Witch Shall be Born Conan fights armed men until he is overwhelmed captured and crucified before going an entire night and day without water However Conan still possesses the strength to pull the nails from his feet while hoisting himself into a horse s saddle and riding for ten miles Another noticeable trait is his sense of humor largely absent in the comics and movies but very much a part of Howard s original vision of the character particularly apparent in Xuthal of the Dusk also known as The Slithering Shadow His sense of humor can also be rather grimly ironic as was demonstrated by how he unleashes his own version of justice on the treacherous and ill fated innkeeper Aram Baksh in Shadows in Zamboula He is a loyal friend to those true to him with a barbaric code of conduct that often marks him as more honorable than the more sophisticated people he meets in his travels Indeed his straightforward nature and barbarism are constants in all the tales Conan is a formidable combatant both armed and unarmed With his back to the wall Conan is capable of engaging and killing opponents by the score This is seen in several stories such as Queen of the Black Coast The Scarlet Citadel and A Witch Shall Be Born Conan is not superhuman though he needed the providential help of Zelata s wolf to defeat four Nemedian soldiers in Howard s novel The Hour of the Dragon Some of his hardest victories have come from fighting single opponents of inhuman strength one such as Thak an ape like humanoid from Rogues in the House or the strangler Baal Pteor in Shadows in Zamboula Conan is far from untouchable and has been captured or defeated several times on one occasion knocking himself out after drunkenly running into a wall Influences Edit Main article Robert E Howard Howard frequently corresponded with H P Lovecraft and the two would sometimes insert references or elements of each other s settings in their works Later editors reworked many of the original Conan stories by Howard thus diluting this connection Nevertheless many of Howard s unedited Conan stories are arguably part of the Cthulhu Mythos 16 Additionally many of the Conan stories by Howard de Camp and Carter used geographical place names from Clark Ashton Smith s Hyperborean Cycle Original Robert E Howard Conan stories Edit Cover of Weird Tales May 1934 depicting Conan and Belit in Queen of the Black Coast one of Robert E Howard s original Conan stories Conan stories published in Weird Tales Edit The Phoenix on the Sword novelette vol 20 6 December 1932 The Scarlet Citadel novelette vol 21 1 January 1 1933 The Tower of the Elephant novelette vol 21 3 March 1933 Black Colossus novelette vol 21 6 June 1933 The Slithering Shadow novelette vol 22 3 September 1933 alternate title Xuthal of the Dusk The Pool of the Black One novelette vol 22 4 October 1933 Rogues in the House novelette vol 23 1 January 1934 Iron Shadows in the Moon novelette vol 23 4 April 1934 published as Shadows in the Moonlight Queen of the Black Coast novelette vol 23 5 May 1934 The Devil in Iron novelette vol 24 2 August 1934 The People of the Black Circle novella vol 24 3 5 September November 1934 A Witch Shall Be Born novelette vol 24 6 December 1934 Jewels of Gwahlur novelette vol 25 3 March 1935 author s original title The Servants of Bit Yakin Beyond the Black River novella vol 25 5 6 May June 1935 Shadows in Zamboula novelette vol 26 5 November 1935 author s original title The Man Eaters of Zamboula The Hour of the Dragon novel vol 26 6 amp vol 27 1 4 December 1935 January April 1936 Red Nails novella vol 28 1 3 July September October 1936 Conan stories published in Fantasy Fan magazine Edit Gods of the North March 1934 published as The Frost Giant s Daughter in The Coming of Conan 1953 17 Conan stories not published in Howard s lifetime Edit The God in the Bowl Published in Space Science Fiction Sep 1952 The Black Stranger Published in Fantasy Magazine Feb 1953 The Vale of Lost Women Published in The Magazine of Horror Spring 1967 Unfinished Conan stories by Howard Edit Drums of Tombalku Fragment Published in Conan the Adventurer 1966 The Hall of the Dead Synopsis Published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction February 1967 The Hand of Nergal Fragment Published in Conan 1967 The Snout in the Dark Fragment Published in Conan of Cimmeria 1969 A number of untitled synopses for Conan stories also exist Other Conan related material by Howard Edit Wolves Beyond the Border A non Conan story set in Conan s world Fragment Published in 1967 in Conan the Usurper The Hyborian Age An essay written in 1932 Published in 1938 in The Hyborian Age Cimmeria A poem written in 1932 Published in 1965 in The Howard Collector Book editions EditMain article Conan books The character of Conan has proven durably popular resulting in Conan stories by later writers such as Poul Anderson Leonard Carpenter Lin Carter L Sprague de Camp Roland J Green John C Hocking Robert Jordan Sean A Moore Bjorn Nyberg Andrew J Offutt Steve Perry John Maddox Roberts Harry Turtledove and Karl Edward Wagner Some of these writers have finished incomplete Conan manuscripts by Howard Others were created by rewriting Howard stories which originally featured entirely different characters from entirely different milieus Most however are completely original works In total more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories featuring the Conan character have been written by authors other than Howard The Gnome Press edition 1950 1957 was the first hardcover collection of Howard s Conan stories including all the original Howard material known to exist at the time some left unpublished in his lifetime The later volumes contain some stories rewritten by L Sprague de Camp like The Treasure of Tranicos including several non Conan Howard stories mostly historical exotica situated in the Levant at the time of the Crusades which he turned into Conan yarns The Gnome edition also issued the first Conan story written by an author other than Howard the final volume published which is by Bjorn Nyberg and revised by de Camp The Lancer Ace editions 1966 1977 under the direction of de Camp and Lin Carter were the first comprehensive paperbacks compiling the material from the Gnome Press series together in a chronological order with all the remaining original Howard material including that left unpublished in his lifetime and fragments and outlines These were completed by de Camp and Carter The series also included Howard stories originally featuring other protagonists that were rewritten by de Camp as Conan stories New Conan stories written entirely by de Camp and Carter were added as well Lancer Books went out of business before bringing out the entire series the publication of which was completed by Ace Books Eight of the eventual twelve volumes published featured dynamic cover paintings by Frank Frazetta that for many fans who presented the definitive iconic impression of Conan and his world For decades to come most other portrayals of the Cimmerian and his imitators were heavily influenced by the cover paintings of this series citation needed Most editions after the Lancer Ace series have been of either the original Howard stories or Conan material by others but not both The exception are the Ace Maroto editions 1978 1981 which include both new material by other authors and older material by Howard though the latter are some of the non Conan tales by Howard rewritten as Conan stories by de Camp Notable later editions of the original Howard Conan stories include the Donald M Grant editions 1974 1989 incomplete Berkley editions 1977 Gollancz editions 2000 2006 and Wandering Star Del Rey editions 2003 2005 Later series of new Conan material include the Bantam editions 1978 1982 and Tor editions 1982 2004 Conan chronologies EditMain article Conan chronologies In an attempt to provide a coherent timeline which fit the numerous adventures of Conan penned by Robert E Howard and later writers various Conan chronologies have been prepared by many people from the 1930s onward Note that no consistent timeline has yet accommodated every single Conan story The following are the principal theories that have been advanced over the years Miller Clark chronology A Probable Outline of Conan s Career 1936 was the first effort to put the tales in chronological order Completed by P Schuyler Miller and John Drury Clark the chronology was later revised by Clark and L Sprague de Camp in An Informal Biography of Conan the Cimmerian 1952 Robert Jordan chronology A Conan Chronology by Robert Jordan 1987 was a new chronology written by Conan writer Robert Jordan that included all written Conan material up to that point It was heavily influenced by the Miller Clark de Camp chronologies though it departed from them in a number of idiosyncratic instances William Galen Gray chronology Timeline of Conan s Journeys 1997 rev 2004 was fan William Galen Gray s attempt to create a chronology of all the stories both Howard and pastiche Drawing on the earlier Miller Clark and Jordan chronologies it represents the ultimate expression of their tradition to date Joe Marek chronology Joe Marek s chronology is limited to stories written or devised by Howard though within that context it is essentially a revision of the Miller Clark tradition to better reflect the internal evidence of the stories and avoid forcing Conan into what he perceives as a mad dash around the Hyborian world within timeframes too rapid to be credible Dale Rippke chronology The Darkstorm Conan Chronology 2003 was a completely revised and heavily researched chronology radically repositioning a number of stories and including only those stories written or devised by Howard The Dark Horse comic series follows this chronology Media EditSee also Adaptations of works by Robert E Howard Films Edit Conan the Barbarian 1982 and Conan the Destroyer 1984 Edit Main articles Conan the Barbarian 1982 film Conan the Destroyer and Red Sonja 1985 film The very first Conan cinematic project was planned by Edward Summer Summer envisioned a series of Conan films much like the James Bond franchise He outlined six stories for this film series but none were ever made An original screenplay by Summer and Roy Thomas was written but their lore authentic screen story was never filmed However the resulting film Conan the Barbarian 1982 was a combination of director John Milius ideas and plots from Conan stories written also by Howard s successors notably Lin Carter and L Sprague de Camp The addition of Nietzschean motto and Conan s life philosophy were crucial for bringing the spirit of Howard s literature to the screen The plot of Conan the Barbarian 1982 begins with Conan being enslaved by the Vanir raiders of Thulsa Doom a malevolent warlord who is responsible for the slaying of Conan s parents and the genocide of his people Later Thulsa Doom becomes a cult leader of a religion that worships Set a Snake God The vengeful Conan the archer Subotai and the thief Valeria set out on a quest to rescue a princess held captive by Thulsa Doom The film was directed by John Milius and produced by Dino De Laurentiis The character of Conan was played by Jorge Sanz as a child 18 and Arnold Schwarzenegger as an adult It was Schwarzenegger s break through role as an actor 19 This film was followed by a less popular sequel Conan the Destroyer in 1984 20 This sequel was a more typical fantasy genre film and was even less faithful to Howard s Conan stories being just a picaresque story of an assorted bunch of adventurers The third film in the Conan trilogy was planned for 1987 to be titled Conan the Conqueror The director was to be either Guy Hamilton or John Guillermin Since Arnold Schwarzenegger was committed to the film Predator and De Laurentiis s contract with the star had expired after his obligation to Red Sonja and Raw Deal he wasn t keen to negotiate a new one thus the third Conan film sank into development hell The script was eventually turned into Kull the Conqueror Conan the Barbarian 2011 Edit Main article Conan the Barbarian 2011 film There were rumors in the late 1990s of another Conan sequel a story about an older Conan titled King Conan Crown of Iron but Schwarzenegger s election in 2003 as governor of California ended this project 21 Warner Bros spent seven years trying to get the project off the ground However in June 2007 the rights reverted to Paradox Entertainment though all drafts made under Warner remained with them In August 2007 it was announced that Millennium Films had acquired the rights to the project Production was aimed for a Spring 2006 start with the intention of having stories more faithful to the Robert E Howard creation 22 In June 2009 Millennium hired Marcus Nispel to direct 23 In January 2010 Jason Momoa was selected for the role of Conan 24 The film was released in August 2011 and met poor critical reviews and box office results The Legend of Conan Edit In 2012 producers Chris Morgan and Frederick Malmberg announced plans for a sequel to the 1982 Conan the Barbarian titled The Legend of Conan with Arnold Schwarzenegger reprising his role as Conan 25 26 27 A year later Deadline reported that Andrea Berloff would write the script 28 Years passed since the initial announcement as Schwarzenegger worked on other films but as late as 2016 Schwarzenegger affirmed his enthusiasm for making the film saying Interest is high but we are not rushing 29 30 The script was finished and Schwarzenegger and Morgan were meeting with possible directors 29 30 In April 2017 producer Chris Morgan stated that Universal had dropped the project although there was a possibility of a TV show The story of the film was supposed to be set 30 years after the first with some inspiration from Clint Eastwood s Unforgiven 31 Television Edit There have been three television series related to Conan Conan the Adventurer is an animated television series produced by Jetlag Productions and Sunbow Productions that debuted on September 13 1992 ran for 65 episodes and concluded on November 23 1993 The series involved Conan chasing Serpent Men across the world in an attempt to release his parents from eternal imprisonment as living statues Conan and the Young Warriors is an animated television series that premiered in 1994 and ran for 13 episodes DiC Entertainment produced the show and CBS aired this series as a spin off to the previous animated series This cartoon took place after the finale of Conan the Adventurer with Wrath Amon vanquished and Conan s family returned to life from living stone Conan soon finds that the family of one of his friends are being turned into wolves by an evil sorceress and he must train three warriors in order to aid him in rescuing them Conan the Adventurer is a live action television series that premiered on September 22 1997 and ran for 22 episodes It starred German bodybuilder Ralf Moller as Conan Danny Woodburn Otli Robert McRay Zzeben and TJ Storm Bayu as his sidekicks The storyline was quite different from the Conan lore of Howard In this adaptation Conan is a pleasant and jovial person Also in this version Conan is not a loner but one member of a merry band of adventurers In September 2020 it was announced that Netflix will develop a new Conan TV series as a part of a larger deal involving Fredrik Malmberg se and Mark Wheeler from Pathfinder Media note 1 between Netflix and Conan Properties International owned by Cabinet Entertainment for the exclusive rights to the Conan library for the rights for live action and animated films and TV shows 32 Deadline had previously reported that a Conan show was in the works at Amazon Prime 33 but nothing came of it 34 Comics Edit Main article Conan comics See also Conan Dark Horse Comics Conan the Barbarian has appeared in comics nearly non stop since 1970 The comics are arguably apart from the books the vehicle that had the greatest influence on the longevity and popularity of the character The earliest comic book adaptation of Conan was written in Spanish and first published in Mexico in the fifties This version which was done without authorization from the estate of Robert E Howard is loosely based on the short story Queen of the Black Coast 35 36 The earliest licensed comic adaptations were written in English and first published by Marvel Comics in the seventies beginning with Conan the Barbarian 1970 1993 and the classic Savage Sword of Conan 1974 1995 Dark Horse Comics launched their Conan series in 2003 Dark Horse Comics is currently publishing compilations of the 1970s Marvel Comics series in trade paperback format Barack Obama former President of the United States is a collector of Conan the Barbarian comic books and a big fan of the character 37 and appeared as a character in a comic book called Barack the Barbarian from Devil s Due 38 39 Marvel Comics introduced a relatively lore faithful version of Conan the Barbarian in 1970 with Conan the Barbarian written by Roy Thomas and illustrated by Barry Windsor Smith Smith was succeeded by penciller John Buscema while Thomas continued to write for many years Later writers included J M DeMatteis Bruce Jones Michael Fleisher Doug Moench Jim Owsley Alan Zelenetz Chuck Dixon and Don Kraar In 1974 Conan the Barbarian series spawned the more adult oriented black and white comics magazine Savage Sword of Conan written by Thomas with art mostly by Buscema or Alfredo Alcala Marvel also published several graphic novels starring the character citation needed and a handbook with detailed information about the Hyborian world Conan the Barbarian is also officially considered to be part of the larger Marvel Universe and has interacted with heroes and villains alike The Marvel Conan stories were also adapted as a newspaper comic strip which appeared daily and Sunday from 4 September 1978 to 12 April 1981 Originally written by Roy Thomas and illustrated by John Buscema the strip was continued by several different Marvel artists and writers Dark Horse Comics began their comic adaptation of the Conan saga in 2003 Entitled simply Conan the series was first written by Kurt Busiek and pencilled by Cary Nord Tim Truman replaced Busiek when Busiek signed an exclusive contract with DC Comics however Busiek issues were sometimes used for filler This series is an interpretation of the original Conan material by Robert E Howard with no connection whatsoever to the earlier Marvel comics or any Conan story not written or envisioned by Howard supplemented by wholly original material A second series Conan the Cimmerian was released in 2008 by Tim Truman writer and Tomas Giorello artist The series ran for twenty six issues including an introductory zero issue Dark Horse s third series Conan Road of Kings began in December 2010 by Roy Thomas writer and Mike Hawthorne artist and ran for twelve issues A fourth series Conan the Barbarian began in February 2012 by Brian Wood writer and Becky Cloonan artist It ran for twenty five issues and expanded on Robert E Howard s Queen of the Black Coast A fifth series Conan the Avenger began in April 2014 by Fred Van Lente writer and Brian Ching artist It ran for twenty five issues and expanded on Robert E Howard s The Snout in the Dark and A Witch Shall Be Born Dark Horse s sixth series Conan the Slayer began in July 2016 by Cullen Bunn writer and Sergio Davila artist In 2018 Marvel reacquired the rights and started new runs of both Conan the Barbarian and Savage Sword of Conan in January February 2019 Conan is also a lead in the Savage Avengers title which launched in 2019 and received a second volume in 2022 In 2022 it was revealed that Titan Publishing Group had acquired the rights from Heroic Signatures to make Conan comics with a new ongoing series set to release in May 2023 40 Games Edit See also List of games based on Conan the Barbarian Board games Edit In 2009 Fantasy Flight Games released the Age of Conan strategy board game depicting warfare between the Hyborian nations in the Conan s adventures In 2016 Monolith Board Games LLC released a new boardgame with miniatures directly based on Howard s short stories Conan previously known as Conan Hyborian Quests pits one player controlling the evil forces against 2 4 other players controlling Conan and his companions Collectible card games Edit In 2006 Comic Images released the Conan Collectible Card Game designed by Jason Robinette Play by mail games Edit Hyborian War introduced by Reality Simulations Inc as of 1985 41 is a play by mail game set in the Hyborian Age Role playing games Edit TSR Inc signed a license agreement in 1984 to publish Conan related gaming material 42 Two modules for Advanced Dungeons amp Dragons CB1 Conan Unchained 1984 CB2 Conan Against Darkness 1984 The Conan Role Playing Game 1985 with 3 official game adventures CN1 Conan the Buccaneer 1985 CN2 Conan the Mercenary 1985 CN3 Conan Triumphant 1985 Three Endless Quest books by TSR published in the eighties allow the reader to play the role of Conan Conan the Undaunted Conan and the Prophecy amp Conan the Outlaw In 1988 Steve Jackson Games acquired a Conan license and started publishing Conan solo adventures for its GURPS generic system of rules as of 1988 and a GURPS Conan core rulebook in 1989 GURPS Conan Beyond Thunder River 1988 solo adventure GURPS Conan 1989 core rulebook GURPS Conan and the Queen of the Black Coast 1989 solo adventure GURPS Conan Moon of Blood 1989 solo adventure GURPS Conan the Wyrmslayer 1989 solo adventure In 2003 the British company Mongoose Publishing bought a license and acquired in turn the rights to make use of the Conan gaming franchise publishing a Conan role playing game from 2004 until 2010 The game ran the OGL System of rules that Mongoose established for its OGL series of games Conan The Roleplaying Game 2004 with many supplements In 2010 Mongoose Publishing dropped the Conan license In February 2015 another British company Modiphius Entertainment acquired the license announcing plans to put out a new Conan role playing game in August of that year 43 Actually the core rulebook was not launched via Kickstarter until a whole year later in February 2016 reaching by far all funds needed for publication Long after the Kickstarter ended the core rulebook was launched in PDF format on January 31 2017 The physical core rulebook finally started distribution in June 2017 Conan Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of hardcover 368 pages 2017 with two hardcover supplements already published and at least 17 additional supplements in the works as planned following the Kickstarter Video games Edit Nine video games have been released based on the Conan mythos In 1984 Datasoft released Conan Hall of Volta for the Apple II Atari 8 bit family and Commodore 64 In 1991 Mindscape released Conan The Mysteries of Time for NES a Commodore 64 port by System 3 In 1991 Virgin Games and Synergistic released Conan The Cimmerian for Amiga and IBM PC compatibles In 2004 TDK Mediactive released Conan a third person action game for Windows and consoles In 2007 THQ and Nihilistic released Conan a third person action game for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 In 2008 Funcom released Age of Conan a MMORPG on May 20 in the US and May 23 in Europe A RPG game titled Conan The Tower of the Elephant was released for the iOS around the time of the release of the movie Conan the Barbarian as a promotion The game is based on the short story of the same name In 2013 the side scrolling shooter game Broforce introduced a playable character known as Bronan the Brobarian In the game he is one of the few characters who doesn t fight with a firearm or an explosive Instead Bronan fights with a sword that can cause massive shockwaves depending on how long the player holds the attack button On January 31 2017 Funcom released Conan Exiles for PS4 Xbox One and PC The title is an open world survival game The game was released in early access and was released on May 8 2018 44 In 2019 Funcom released a real time strategy game named Conan Unconquered 45 Characters EditCharacters with prominent roles in Conan prose fiction Edit Belit A self styled Shemite Queen of the Black Coast captain of the pirate ship Tigress and Conan s first serious lover Queen of the Black Coast Ctesphon The king of Stygia is mentioned only once and in passing in The Phoenix on the Sword He is a priest king like Thugra Khotan in the Stygian daughter kingdom of Kutchemes Thoth Amon A Stygian wizard of great power who appeared in the first Conan story written The Phoenix on the Sword and was mentioned in The God in the Bowl and The Hour of the Dragon L Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter made Thoth Amon the nemesis of Conan In the Marvel comics Thoth Amon was also Conan s lifelong opponent and had a striking appearance designed by Barry Windsor Smith he wore a distinctive ram horn ornamental headdress In The Phoenix on the Sword though where Thoth has been robbed of his magical ring he does not at all seem very impressive yet less admirable He is portrayed by Pat Roach in Conan the Destroyer Valeria A Aquilonian female mercenary affiliated with the Red Brotherhood Red Nails Yara An evil wizard and adversary of Conan The Tower of the Elephant who enslaved Yag Kosha an extraterrestrial being resembling Hindu god Ganesh Yasmina Brave proud feisty wise and warmhearted queen of wise ancient Vendhya homeland and stronghold of Asura worship Zenobia A seraglio concubine whom Conan promises to wed and make queen of Aquilonia The Hour of the Dragon Characters with prominent roles only in Conan comic book fiction Edit Fafnir A pastiche of Fafhrd from the sword and sorcery stories of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser by Fritz Leiber He is a mighty red bearded Vanir warrior and pirate captain At first he and Conan are enemies but they soon become allies after being shipwrecked Jenna Marvel comics character A dancing girl from the city of Shadizar She becomes Conan s girlfriend after he saves her from a monstrous bat but later betrays him to the authorities Conan gets his revenge by throwing her into a pool of sewage Based on an unnamed character in the prose story Rogues in the House Mikhal the Vulture Oglu In Marvel comics Conan the barbarian 23 Mikhal Oglu is Yezdigerd s enforcer and the greatest swordsman in Turan He challenges Conan but is defeated and killed He was inspired by a character in a non Conan story by Robert E Howard The Shadow of the Vulture Kulan Gath a prominent evil wizard appearing initially in the Marvel Conan comics and later fully integrated into the Marvel Universe He has also appeared in Red Sonya comics by Dynamite Entertainment Red Sonja An Hyrkanian warrior created by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor Smith for the Conan comics She was based on the Howard character Red Sonya of Rogatino who appeared in The Shadow of the Vulture A novella set in the 16th century Yezdigerd Ruler of Turan a Turkish empire based civilization He employs Conan as a mercenary but betrays him after he outlived his usefulness Zukala A character from the Conan comics published by Marvel inspired by a poem by Robert E Howard Zukala is an evil sorcerer who gains his powers from a mask His daughter Zephra falls in love with Conan Characters with prominent roles only in Conan films Edit Akiro A character from the two Schwarzenegger Conan films He is a powerful wizard who befriends Conan and Subotai and serves as the narrator and Conan s chronicler He is played by Japanese actor Mako Iwamatsu Rexor In the 1982 film the chief priest of Thulsa Doom s snake cult who stole the sword of Conan s father Played by Ben Davidson Subotai Hyrkanian thief and archer He is Conan s companion in the 1982 film Played by Gerry Lopez Malak A thief He is Conan s travelling companion in the 1984 sequel Played by Tracey Walter Thorgrim Hammer wielding minion of Thulsa Doom in the 1982 film Played by Sven Ole Thorsen Thulsa Doom A skull faced necromancer from a King Kull story a recurring villain in the Kull comics and the antagonist in the 1982 film played by James Earl Jones Copyright and trademark dispute EditThe name Conan and the names of some of Robert E Howard s other characters are claimed as trademarked by Conan Properties International 46 and licensed to Cabinet Entertainment 47 both entities controlled by CEO Fredrik Malmberg 48 Since Robert E Howard s Conan stories were published at a time when the date of publication was the marker 1932 1963 however and any new owners failed to renew them to maintain the copyrights 49 the exact copyright status of all of Howard s Conan works is in question 50 The majority of Howard s Conan fiction exist in at least two versions subject to different copyright standards namely 1 the original Weird Tales publications before or shortly after Howard s death which are generally understood to be public domain and 2 restored versions based upon manuscripts which were unpublished during Howard s lifetime 51 The Australian site of Project Gutenberg hosts digital copies of many of Howard s stories including several works about Conan 52 In the United Kingdom works are released into the public domain 70 years after the death of an author With Howard having died in 1936 his works have been in the public domain there since 2006 The same laws applies for Malmberg s home country Sweden In August 2018 Conan Properties International LLC won by default a suit against Spanish sculptor Ricardo Jove Sanchez after he failed to appear at court in the United States Jove had started a crowdfunding campaign that raised around 3000 on Kickstarter with the intent of selling barbarian figurines to online customers including those in the United States The Magistrate Judge originally recommended statutory damages for infringement on three Robert E Howard characters not including Conan but Jove was eventually fined 3 000 per character used in the campaign including Conan for a total of 21 000 53 In September 2020 it was announced that Netflix had made a larger deal involving Malmberg and Mark Wheeler from Pathfinder Media note 1 between Netflix and Conan Properties International for the exclusive rights to the Conan library for the rights for live action and animated films and TV shows 32 Notes Edit a b No relation to Paizo s flagship product PathfinderReferences Edit Herron 1984 p 149 Robert E Howard of Cross Plains Texas created one of the great mythic figures in modern popular culture the Dark Barbarian which put Howard in the select ranks of the literary legend makers a b c d e f Louinet pp 429 453 Hyborean Genesis Notes on the Creation of the Conan Stories by Patrice Louinet in The Coming Of Conan The Cimmerian by Robert Ervin Howard Del Rey Ballantine Books 2005 p 424 Conversations with Texas Writers by Frances Leonard and Ramona Cearley University of Texas Press 1 Jan 2010 p 217 Conan the Barbarian Superhero Wiki Encyclopedia superherouniverse com Archived from the original on 2017 11 07 Retrieved 2017 10 31 Wandering Star Books Archived 2013 07 18 at the Wayback Machine official website Howard Robert E adapted by Roy Thomas and Walt Simonson The Hyborian Age Conan Saga Marvel Comics 50 54 56 Archived from the original on 25 May 2011 Howard Robert E 6 December 1932 The Phoenix on the Sword Weird Tales 20 Conan the Warrior 1935 Beyond the Black River Conan the Cimmerian Queen of the Black Coast 1934 Conan the Cimmerian The Phoenix on the Sword 1932 Dr Jennifer Agatha Bard Gender Roles in Science Fiction and Fantasy Bulletin of Gender Equality Summer 1986 George Xavier Baxter Heroic Fantasy and Mundane Reality in Winifred Stromberg ed Multi Disciplinary Round Table on Twentieth Century Popular Culture Howard Robert E A Witch Shall Be Born the man was almost a giant in stature Knots and bunches of muscle started out of the massive arms Howard Robert E Howard The Hour of the Dragon reprinted The Bloody Crown of Conan pp 89 90 Louinet p 436 As stated in Project Gutenberg Australia D Lugo Guide to the Cinema of Spain p 258 Katz Ephraim 2006 Film Encyclopedia HarperCollins ISBN 978 0 06 074214 0 Collis Clark Empire Essay The Terminator Empire magazine Archived from the original on 2007 09 27 Retrieved 2007 04 22 Linder Brian October 8 2003 Goodbye Hollywood Hello Sacramento IGN com IGN Entertainment Inc Retrieved March 7 2010 Fleming Michael August 12 2007 Millennium wins rights to Conan Variety Reed Elsevier Inc Archived from the original on June 5 2011 Retrieved March 9 2010 Fleming Michael June 11 2009 Marcus Nispel to direct Conan remake Variety Reed Elsevier Inc Archived from the original on June 29 2011 Retrieved April 17 2020 McNary David January 21 2010 Momoa set for Conan Variety Reed Elsevier Inc Archived from the original on January 5 2013 Retrieved March 9 2010 Child Ben 2012 10 26 Arnold Schwarzenegger to reprise his role as Conan the Barbarian TheGuardian com Retrieved 2016 02 04 Fleming Mike 2012 10 25 Schwarzenegger And Conan The Barbarian Reunited in Universal Reboot Deadline com Retrieved 2012 11 17 Cornet Roth 2014 01 29 The Legend of Conan Producer Chris Morgan Says Arnold Schwarzenegger s Return to the Role is Going to be Their Unforgiven IGN com Retrieved 2014 02 11 Fleming Mike Jr 2013 10 01 Legend of Conan Lands Adrea Berloff To Script Arnold Schwarzenegger Epic Reprise Deadline com Retrieved 2014 02 11 a b Schaefer Sandy 2016 01 25 Arnold Schwarzenegger Offers Legend of Conan Title amp Director Update ScreenRant com Retrieved 2016 01 27 a b Auty Dan 2016 01 26 Arnold Schwarzenegger on His Plans for New Conan Movie GameSpot com Retrieved 2016 01 27 Arnold Schwarzenegger s The Legend of Conan May Not Happen After All Film 6 April 2017 Retrieved 7 April 2017 a b Conan the Barbarian Series in Development at Netflix 30 September 2020 Andreeva Nellie February 5 2018 Conan the Barbarian TV Series In Works At Amazon From Ryan Condal Miguel Sapochnik amp Warren Littlefield Deadline Hollywood Retrieved February 5 2018 Andreeva Nellie September 30 2020 Conan The Barbarian TV Series In Works At Netflix Deadline Hollywood Retrieved September 30 2020 Conan comic book character Comicvine com Retrieved 2012 11 17 GCD Series Cuentos de Abuelito www comics org Swaine Jon 7 November 2008 Barack Obama The 50 facts you might not know The Daily Telegraph London Archived from the original on December 1 2008 Retrieved 11 November 2008 Spillius Alex 7 April 2009 Barack Obama and Sarah Palin appear in comic series The Daily Telegraph London Archived from the original on April 11 2009 Retrieved 26 November 2009 Flood Alison 8 April 2009 Obama battles Red Sarah in comic clash The Guardian London Retrieved 26 November 2009 Kit Borys 2022 06 21 Titan Comics Nabs Conan the Barbarian License Exclusive The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved 2022 07 03 Hyborian War www reality com The History of TSR Wizards of the Coast Archived from the original on 2008 09 24 Retrieved 2005 08 20 Robert E Howard s Conan Adventures In An Age Undreamed Of Mophidius Entertainment February 9 2015 Archived from the original on July 14 2017 Retrieved February 9 2015 Conan Exiles Conan Exiles Conan Unconquered on Steam store steampowered com Conan film rights revert to Conan Properties Press release 5 June 2012 Conan Gamingaktier 2018 04 03 Intervju med Fredrik Malmberg Funcom Gamingaktier in Swedish Paul Herman s research on the copyright status of Robert Howard s work Archived from the original on 2009 02 28 Retrieved 2009 04 01 Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States at Cornell University Archived from the original on 2012 07 04 Herman Paul 1 May 2007 THE COPYRIGHT AND OWNERSHIP STATUS OF THE WORKS AND WORDS OF ROBERT E HOWARD Robert E Howard Electronic Amateur Press Association Archived from the original on 15 July 2019 Retrieved 18 July 2022 Robert Ervin HOWARD 1906 1936 Project Gutenberg Artist Thwacked for Conan the Barbarian Infringement Courthouse News Service Retrieved 27 May 2021 Further reading EditBlosser Fred 1997 The Star Rover and The People of the Night The Dark Man 4 16 18 Herron Don ed 2004 The Barbaric Triumph Wildside Press ISBN 978 0 8095 1566 0 Thomas Roy 2006 Conan The Ultimate guide to the world s most savage babarian DK Publishing ISBN 978 0 7566 2095 0 Herron Don ed 1984 The Dark Barbarian Greenwood Press ISBN 978 0 313 23281 7 Louinet Patrice ed 2003 The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian Del Rey ISBN 978 0 345 46151 3 Zelenetz Alan 1986 The Official Handbook of the Conan Universe Marvel Comics External links EditConan the Barbarian at Wikipedia s sister projects Media from Commons Quotations from Wikiquote Texts from Wikisource Data from Wikidata An omnibus of Howard s public domain works at Standard Ebooks The Works of Robert E Howard Conan The Official Website Conan Czech fanpage Hyboria Polish fanpage Conan the Barbarian series listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Conan the Barbarian amp oldid 1149298971, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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