Conan the Barbarian: Difference between revisions

Two Conan movies were made in the eighties: the first, ''Conan the Barbarian'' put [[Nietzsche Wannabe|Nietzschean (Wannabe) philosophy]] together with rubber snakes and an epic tale of revenge. While [[In Name Only|it wasn't very accurate]] to the original Howard stories, hewing more to [[Broad Strokes|Oliver Stone's ideas]] filtered through [[Crack Pairing|John Milius' direction]] regarding both plot and themes, it has become a [[Cult Classic]] on its own merits. Its [[Crowning Music of Awesome|awesome music]], epic feel, and interesting plot helped launch [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]]'s acting career. The second movie, ''Conan the Destroyer'', took a more [[Lighter and Fluffier|comical and lighthearted tone]], wasn't as successful and got a critical negative reception. Plans for at least another movie fell through. There were rumors in the early 2000s about a new movie were Arnie would have reprised the role as an aged Conan, now king of Aquilonia, but all plans were scrapped when he entered politics.

 

 

There has [[Age of Conan|also been an]] [[MMORPG]], notable for being unusually bloody for the genre, and several other adaptations in various media.

 

== Other authors ==

 

Their ranks include [[The Wheel of Time|Robert Jordan]] and [[Harry Turtledove]], but the most significant of them was the [[Show Runner]]-of-sorts back in the day, [[L Sprague De Camp (Creator)|L Sprague De Camp]] (1907-2000). He wrote several pastiches with the frequent collaboration of another author, Lin Carter (1930-1988). Both were prolific fantasy and SF authors in their own right, but they are perhaps most associated with Conan today.

* [[Adaptation Dye Job]]: Schwarzenegger, Ralf Moeller, and Jason Momoa have dark brown hair instead of plain black.

* [[Advanced Ancient Acropolis]]

* [[After the End]]: As mentioned before, [[What Could Have Been|the original script for the first movie was set in the distant future]], but the film's script retains the original timeline. The Hyborian Era is [[After the End]] with respect to the previous civilizations [[Atlantis]], Valusia, and Acheron.

* [[A God Am I]]: Some of Conan's enemies had this as their motivation. One of them even actually succeeds in becoming an aspect of her goddess due to a magical artifact that's enhancing everyone's perceptions, ''without even intending to''. Also implied to be Conan himself's fate at the end of the crossover with Thor in the pages of ''What If...?'', where Conan is climbing Crom's mountain to either deliver Mjolnir or [[Calling the Old Man Out|deliver a beatdown]] depending on how he felt when reaching the summit.

** In "The Hour of the Dragon" and "The Phoenix on the Sword," more than one conspirator wanted the throne. (At least two wanted the same throne, that of Aquilonia, which gets awkward.)

* [[Animated Adaptation]]: Two of them, actually.

* [[Ancient Africa]]: Kush, Keshan, Darfar, Punt, Zembabwei, Atlaia, Amazon and the other "Black Kingdoms" to the south of Stygia where Conan managed to lead a tribe for a few months. Possibly also the second movie featuring Grace Jones as a [[Heroic Sociopath|psychotic tribeswoman]] (as one of the ''heroes'').

* [[Ancient Astronauts]]: ''The Tower of the Elephant'' features an only survivor.

** Somewhat understandable. His cult provided him with fabulous wealth and readily available servants, but raising a snake to be that friggin' huge must be hard.

* [[Atop a Mountain of Corpses]]: "The Scarlet Citadel" and "A Witch Shall Be Born" in particular, the most famous visual example being [[Frank Frazetta]]'s iconic illustration for Conan the Adventurer.

** In "The Phoenix on the Sword," Conan does not even fight a defensive battle when outnumbered twenty-to-one.

{{quote| ''He was no defensive fighter; even in the teeth of overwhelming odds he always carried the war to the enemy.''}}

* [[Blinded By the Light]]

* [[Bling Bling Bang]]

* [[Blondes Are Evil]]

* [[Blood Bath]]: When the [[The Caligula|malicious]] King Numedides expressed a desire to become immortal, he enlisted the services of the [[Evil Sorcerer]] Thulandra Thuu, and together they sacrificed young women in order for Numedides to bathe in their blood.

* [[Dropped a Bridge On Him]]: Zarono the Black, hands off. He's been depicted as a charming character and skilled warrior, a pirate who can easly rival with Conan himself and even allies/work for [[Big Bad|Thoth-Amon]] himself. Then, in the second story he appears in (''The Treasure of Tranicos''), he gets unceremoniously killed by an anonymous Pict axeman while he's trying to get up and fight back.

* [[Due to The Dead]]

* [[Dungeon Punk]]: In "Rogues in the House" Nabonidus who, rather than the typical [[Evil Sorcerer]] is more like the evil offspring of Leonardo da Vinci and Machiavelli uses clockwork tech to defend his abode.

* [[Eldritch Abomination]]: Despite being one of the first to use the trope, the Conan stories [[Subverted Trope|subverts]] this trope by making the Abominations take on a ''very'' [[A Form You Are Comfortable With|non-eldritch aspect when descending to Hyboria]]. Despite numerous encounters Conan repeatedly comes out on top through superior fighting skills or by exploiting an [[Achilles Heel]] -- except when he doesn't and resorts to [[Run or Die]].

* [[Franchise Killer]]: The horrible second film, ''Conan The Destroyer'', undid all the lingering good will from John Milius' first film. It wasn't even the negative critical reception of the second movie that killed the franchise; it actually was successful at the box office, just less than the first one. This prompted the production of the ''[[Red Sonja (Film)|Red Sonja]]'' movie - now ''that'' was a big flop. Schwarzenegger called it [[Self-Deprecation|"the worst movie I've ever made"]] and may have had a hand in making him move on to other projects - when a third Conan movie was considered, he was already busy with ''[[Predator (Film)|Predator]]''.

* [[Frazetta Man]]

* [[Functional Magic]]: Primarily Rules Magic, usually with the magician's power focused in a device of some kind like Thoth-amon's ring. Epimetrius may have used Theurgy in his battles with Set. Alchemy also plays a big role, espcially powders and potions extracted from the black lotus and it's varycolored siblings. Regardless, it is almost always [[Black Magic]], at least in the Howard stories. the movies have some good magicians.

* [[Galley Slave]]

* [[Garden of Evil]]

* [[Gender Flip]]: [[The Movie]]'s sequel ''Conan The Destroyer'' turned [http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix4/zula_hyborian.htm Zula], a male [[Magic Knight|warrior/wizard]] from the [[Marvel Comics]] line, into the non-magical [[Action Girl]] played by Grace Jones as a [[Amazon Brigade|Zulu Amazon]] of sorts wielding a [[Simple Staff]]. She's somewhat, uh, [[The Ladette|manly]] however.

{{quote| '''Zula:''' What do I do if I want a man? ''Take '' him! Like that!}}

* [[Half-Human Hybrid]]

* [[Hat of Power]]: The Cobra Crown from ''Conan the Buccaneer'', which grants magic powers to its wearer.

* [[Hidden Depths]]:

{{quote| "Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood over questions of reality and illusion. I know this: if life is an illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and I am content."}}

* [[I'm a Humanitarian]]: Pay attention to the giant soup pot and red-lit antechamber in Thulsa Doom's [[Den of Iniquity]] to see what the caterers are cooking up. [[Nightmare Fuel|Meep.]]

** Mocked on the Director's commentary: "Split-pea-and-hand soup."

* [[Impaled With Extreme Prejudice]]: [[You Have Been Warned|spoilers]]

* [[Inelegant Blubbering]]

* [[Lightning Bruiser]]: Conan is repeatedly described as very fast and agile despite his size, as in "Xuthal of the Dusk":

{{quote| "He was never motionless or in the same place an instant; springing, side-stepping, whirling, twisting, he offered a constantly shifting target for their swords, while his own curved blade sang death about their ears." }}

* [[Living Shadow]]: The [[Nightmare Fuel|nightmarish]] monster from ''Xuthal of the Dusk'', Thog.

* [[Loin Cloth]]: In many adaptations and some of the original stories although Howard more often has him dressing as appropriate to the culture and circumstances he finds himself in.

* [[Random Events Plot]]

* [[Rape Discretion Shot]]: Queen Taramis' rape by Constantius in "A Witch Shall Be Born."

* [[Real After All]]: In ''The Frost Giant's Daughter'' and ''The Phoenix on the Sword'' there are people who initially disbelieve Conan's stories about clashes with supernatural beings. But then Conan produces physical proof of his encounter, immediately silencing the disbelievers.

* [["The Reason You Suck" Speech]]:

** Asura being ancient demigods of India, Hyborian Asura-followers would seem to be proto-Hindus. They speak of their ancestors as coming from Vendhya (India). This may be an example of [[History Marches On]]. Howard didn't know it, probably just pulled the name "Asura" from an encyclopedia; but it is now known that the historical Asura deities began as good guys who developed a bad reputation, just as the Hyborian ones did.

* [[Spin-Off]]: ''[[Red Sonja]]''.

** Howard's Conan, too, to a degree.

* [[A Storm Is Coming]]

* [[Succession Crisis]]

* [[Synchronization]]: Zogar Sag and his demonic half-brother in "Beyond The Black River"

[[Category:index]]

[[Category:Conan The Barbarian]]