As much as we would like to refer to Conan as Conan the Barbarian, we believe he is much more than that, and calling him a barbarian limits the respect that his character truly deserves. Conan is a fictional character created in 1932 by American author Robert E. Howard, who is widely regarded as the creator of the sword and sorcery subgenre.
He is more like a legendary hero — a born leader, a clever strategist, a highly talented warrior, extremely chivalrous, and most importantly, the true alpha of the Hyborian Universe. He is older than every DC and Marvel superhero out there. Howard deserves full credit for creating The Hyborian Age, a stunningly unique age of imaginary history. Conan is not superhuman, but his martial arts prowess, as well as his blazing, burly, brawny physique, are living proof that he is faced with a long list of foes.
When it comes to villains, it goes without saying that Conan has had his fair share of them, and in today’s film, we will focus on 12 of Conan’s Lovecraftian foes, discussing them and their backstories in great depth. You had better be prepared!
Thulsa Doom
While it is difficult to overlook one of America’s most illustrious and versatile actors, James Earl Jones, in the part of Thulsa Doom in John Milius’ 1982 epic sword and sorcery film Conan the Barbarian, the character’s origins stretch back a long way. He was first introduced by the late Robert E. Howard as Thulses Doom in the short story, Delcardes’ Cat, the title later changed to The Cat and the Skull.
Howard described him as someone with a face that resembled a white skull with eye sockets that literally glowed. Mind you, before his encounter with Conan the Barbarian, he was the arch-nemesis to Kull of Atlantis. No wonder, Doom as the powerful, pitiless, undead sorcerer has surely come a long way and it is a given thing that his character has had different versions.
Pre-production sketches of Thulsa Doom’s character in the 1982 film showed him with a similar skull-like face, but in the film, he is more like the classic Conan villain Thoth-Amon, or in other words, servant of the snake god, Set.
While he appears to be an ordinary guy in the film, he is reported to have lived for over a thousand years and has the ability to transform into a giant serpent. The film shows him more like this authoritative cult leader, having an excessive command over his followers. So much so that his followers even went to the extremes of obeying his orders to commit suicide.
Doom’s powers and abilities are further emphasized by the fact that one of his most well-known abilities is shapeshifting, which allows him to assume a variety of identities. His principal objectives were to murder Conan, and everyone else who stood in his way, and to dominate the world.
The sole fact that this tyrannical lich participated in dark magic and played around elements of oppression, brainwashing, tyranny and mass murders easily made him one of Conan’s top villains. Well, it surely was a delight when Conan was finally able to avenge the death of his parents by beheading Doom and it was only after his death that all his followers finally got themselves liberated from his oppressive mind control.
Shuma-Gorath
Okay, so this villain has ties to the Marvel Universe, having a particularly acrimonious history with Doctor Strange, but if the question is about his roots, we will have to go back a long way. To be honest, nothing is known about his beginnings, but what is certain is that he is a prehistoric, alien deity that enjoys human sacrifices.
Apparently, he was exiled by a time-traveling sorcerer known as Sise-Neg. Well, of course he came back centuries later, started ruling earth again and relished the sacrifices. But with a new age came the new Hyborian God Crom, who made use of the Iron-bound books of Shuma-Gorath to confine the demon on a mountain.
But with him being nearly invincible and his level of power being far beyond the grasp of human understanding, Shuma-Gorath whilst being trapped inside the mountains was able to utilize his mental powers and influence the sorcerer Kulan Gath into setting him free. Thank God for Conan that he had a nightmare, one that revolved around Shuma-Gorath. Post having been able to feel the effects of his sinister plans, Conan enlisted the help of Crom and using the very books, the duo was able to send the power-hungry cosmic entity back to his home dimension.
Shuma-powers Gorath’s are practically boundless, as we have already established. He is highly good at controlling a range of assaults, from being able to renew himself to having on show shapeshifting powers to creating energy within himself and absorbing all forms of energy surrounding him.
Then, there is levitation, teleportation, phasing and the fact that he can very easily travel through different dimensions at his own will. That’s not even all; he can further communicate via telepathy and also influence others and for that he does not have to be in the same realm. There’s something about his essence that alone can annihilate many galaxies and to top it, this Lord of Chaos can also generate a ball of energy, one that can destroy almost everything both within a dimension and universe for that matter.
When it comes to his own world, he is the most supreme being. Having vanquished a multitude of realities, the dreaded Shuma-Gorath is actually the ruler of the Lovecraftian Eldritch Gods or entities that are addressed as the Many-Angled Ones. In short, one has every reason to watch out for this ruler of hundreds of dimensions!
Akivasha
“Love me, O Man! Give me your blood to perpetuate my youth and I will make you too immortal… for I weary of priests and magicians and captive screaming virgins! I desire… a man. Love me, barbarian. Love me!” – Who on earth, in their right minds, will be able to stand up to this? From a minor enemy in Robert E. Howard’s 1935 Conan story The Hour of the Dragon to the principal antagonist in John Nicolella’s 1997 fantasy film Kull the Conqueror, the character of Akivasha rose to prominence.
In case you didn’t know, the movie was more like a loose adaptation of The Hour of the Dragon and Akivasha’s character in the film bore resemblance to Xaltotun. After all, both of them were ancient, mummified evil sorcerers who were resuscitated by conspirators to defeat the hero.
Akivasha’s name is derived from the Egyptian term Akkaiwasha, which refers to the Achaeans. For nearly 10,000 years, Akivasha was the Stygian princess who eventually settled at the Temple of Set in Khemi, Stygia’s capital. There she roamed around in the shadows and lived off of priests, magicians and even virgins that were caught and brought to her.
Conan had his first encounter with Akivasha when he visited the Temple of Set, looking for the Heart of Ahriman. No points for guessing that he was absolutely mesmerized by her beauty and actually thought her to be an innocent maiden. He even followed her when she told him that she would take him to the sorcerer Thutothemes, who apparently held the heart.
But it was only after they were inside her chambers and she tried seducing him that Conan could understand her real nature. He also did find her sarcophagus vacant but by then Akivasha had already enchanted him with her story and had further plans of making him her own forever.
But it was only after she bit his neck that Conan was able to come out of her spell and he flung her away. He even took out his sword and told her that he’d chop her into two pieces if she even had the slightest thought of coming after him again.
Please keep in mind that Akivasha is the one monster Conan has never been able to destroy, and her sweet yet horrific laughter can still haunt you to this day.
Dagoth
Dagoth, a member of the second class of demons, began his service to Shuma-Gorath as a servant. He was also venerated as a high priest in the city of Kalumesh, which may surprise you. Don’t believe us? Well, apparently the inhabitants of Kalumesh fulfilled every need of Dagoth and also carried out sacrifices for him.
It’s a different thing that the entire city collapsed and sank underneath the sea. Of course, he resurfaced but was eventually banished to an unnamed dimension by the powerful sorcerer, Dr. Strange.
Dagoth is addressed as the Dreaming God and appears to be worshipped by the inhabitants of Shadizar in the 1984 epic sword and sorcery film Conan the Destroyer. As the film progresses, it is revealed that Dagoth lost his source of power, his jewelled horn, many years before mankind, while fighting a war with the other gods.
As a result, he crumbled, fell to earth and turned into a handsome statue, one with a hole in the forehead. Centuries later when the horn was placed back into the forehead of Dagoth’s statue, the resurrected god transformed into a huge, hideous, horned reptilian beast boasting superhuman strength, endurance and the ability to create storms and lightning. As long as he had the horn in place, he just could not be killed.
Whether Dagoth’s monstrous shape is his true self or not is still a mystery. While a statue, he was possibly the most attractive guy, sporting an elaborate headpiece and a sarong. But as a monster, he was gigantic and that jeweled horn looked more like the tusk of an elephant or let’s say the horn of a rhinoceros.
But that’s not even the hideous part; his eyes were on the sides of his head, the mouth was filled with razor sharp teeth and could easily open in the sides, he had webbed hands and feet, there were fins on his arms and legs and he had this enormous lizard-like tail. But the highlight of his look was his open throat, one from where the internal organs were pretty much visible. Conclusively, the character of Dagoth was not a very pretty sight!
Thoth Amon
When all of the Stygian sorcerers are considered, Thoth Amon stands alone as the most powerful and recurrent adversary in the Conan universe. Even the lord of Stygia was scared to cross paths with him since he is so scary and crooked. Know this that he will stop at literally nothing when it comes to gaining sorcerous power and his command over the dark arts is unparalleled.
Thot Amon understood from an early age that life was not fair to him and that he had to seize opportunities even if they did not come his way because he was born to an abusive, alcoholic father who forced him to beg for money.
That is why he did not think twice about breaking his friend Amon’s head with a stone and assuming his position as an acolyte of Ibis, Stygia’s benign Heron god. And, while he did learn a lot from Ibis, his unquenchable thirst for power as well as greed made him take a leap into forbidden knowledge.
From being tested by the serpent god Set to being restored back to life via the Black Ring of Set, he started worshipping Set and even executed a multitude of sacrifices. So much so that he was crafty enough to put the entire blame on his mentor for all of his actions. In due course, he secured an exceedingly powerful position of leadership in Stygia with endless spells and rituals at his disposal. He could even summon other Stygians to aid him in reaching his goals.
Imagine someone so powerful that he can command beasts – snakes and insects to be more precise. We are not kidding when we tell you that he has the power to call upon creatures to do what he wants them to do. The character of Thoth Amon bears a lot of resemblance to the dark god that he bends down to.
He is a schemer, more like a strategist just like Set and often ambushes his enemies from far via tactics and taking advantage of their weakness. One of his most favorite things is to corrupt one’s allies and use them against each other so you can imagine how cunning he actually is. No wonder his manipulations have threatened Conan’s life, not just in one instance but many. While he did make an appearance in the movie, Conan the Destroyer, his wrath on display was of a much lesser degree.
Zath
When we are talking about spiders, and not just any spiders, but a gigantic one, you know it will be a formidable foe. Say hello to Zath, who was revered in the Hyborian age in Yezud, the city of the Spider-God. In fact, the priests of Zath raised herds of cattle for it and even built up a colossal statue in its honor.
The highlight of the statue was the fact that it had eight treasured gems instead of its eyes. Zath, in due course, had countless children, which were raised by the priests more like an army to take control of the land of Zamora.
Conan ran across Zath in Yezud while attempting to avoid a bounty placed on his head. It was then that he learned of Zath’s children, and when they crossed paths, he was successful in defeating one of them.
In the meantime, Conan fell for one of the dancers called Rudibeh, who aided him in hiding inside the temple. But it was in the very basement of the temple where he faced Zath. Battling the giant spider was pointless and Zath was brutal enough to kill Rudibeh when he heard her looking for Conan later.
Things did not appear to be going Conan’s way at first; no matter what he did to get away from Zath, he ended up in the lair of Zath’s children. Zath just burst through the temple’s walls in an attempt to flee only after he managed to set the basement on fire. Conan ended up throwing numerous lit torches on its back, something that Zath was not able to put out and instead wriggled in pain.
The end result led to Zath toppling the temple and in the process trapping many of its offspring within. Conan convinced many of the soldiers of Yezud to attack the remaining offsprings who by then were already weakened. That’s how the monstrous Zath and his children met their end.
Wrath-Amon
Meet this incredibly strong wizard, who also happens to be Conan the Adventurer’s main nemesis. For those unfamiliar, Wrath-Amon was the leader of the Snake Cult, which was made up of Serpent Men, or humanoid snakes who worshipped Set. The merciless and hungry for power wizard was initially a huge gila monster, one who was transformed into a serpent man by Ram-Amon, his predecessor.
It should not come as a surprise to you at all when we say that Wrath-Amon did take his vengeance on Ram-Amon by taking possession of his black ring of power and eventually taking control of the Snake Cult and god, he was evil, cruel and categorically crooked. He’s known for his mood swings, the occasional threats and the fact that he would literally scream if his plans don’t go according to him.
To begin with, when he turned Conan’s parents and grandfather into stone, he made sure Conan knew about him. It goes without saying that the two became enraged with one other, and Conan resolved to overthrow Wrath-Amon and break the enchantment.
Wrath-Amon yearned to put an end to Conan and his warriors, gain ownership of their star metal weapons, and use them to free Set from the Abyss, further emphasising the villain’s ambitions. And, despite achieving his goal, Wrath-Amon was toppled when Conan defeated him by smashing the black ring, breaking the curse, liberating his parents, and causing Wrath-Amon to revert to his former form. It is also said that Wrath-Amon was presumably slayed later by Ram-Amon for betraying him.
Wrarrl
Wrarrl, also known as the Devourer of Souls, has to be given credit if there is any villain out there who has proven to be competent enough and more than a match for Conan. Wrarrl, according to history, was an ancient God who existed long before man. Apparently, he was summoned by a cult that was completely devoted to him but here’s the twist.
The cult accidentally ended up summoning another being, one that was known as the Destroyer of Worlds, all at the same time. Post comprehending the fact that his own world would be the target of the Destroyer, Wrarrl ended up eating the souls of his very cult, accumulating enough strength and power to kill his rival, even if that meant his own death.
Of course, the Council of Seven, which was more like a human association of wizards, restored him afterwards. Wrarrl compensated them for their service by assassinating seven apostles for the position of councillor, after which he began travelling the world in search of more power and souls to devour. Eventually, he ended up crossing paths with Conan, and it’s after a long, exhausting battle that Conan was able to kill his demonic form. That was not the end of Wrarrl, he awoke but as a human on a beach and later teamed up with the fire demon Xuthl for many more escapades.
When it comes to this villain’s abilities and powers, he appears as a colossal humanoid that stands between nine and ten feet tall, wears a winged helmet, a black cloak, and wields a sword. His character is well known for his ability to transform human souls into worms (yep, you read that correctly) and then eat them.
There’s hardly anybody for that matter who is able to fight him. That way, he is quite strong. In fact, the power of the Elder Gods granted him to reach a height, one that is as huge as a mountain and also boost his senses.
Wrarrl has been one of those big evil guys to keep an eye on!
Graven
So, what if he is the major antagonist in the 2007 video game Conan? Do not make the mistake of dismissing him as a typical enemy. He is a lot more than that; Graven is the definition of a psychopathic fallen sorcerer, one who simply wants to take control of the world and it just does not matter the lengths that he has to go to achieve that. He dreads death and will stop at nothing to cheat it.
Graven was originally a mortal sorcerer of an ancient race, guarding the mysteries of the most powerful magic alongside his brother Kalden, according to legend. While both brothers agreed to protect the power, Graven breached his commitment because he desired immortality. So much so that he was literally ready to offer his very own children as sacrifice if that meant him getting closer to what he wanted.
In due course, Graven was able to confine the gods of the ancient world within his body but his lust for power knew no limits. He wanted to recreate the world on his own terms, one where all forms of life will end up serving him and that too for eternity. So, it goes without saying that he ended up utilizing all the power of the gods but for his own goals.
Graven went after his own daughter in the hopes of completing a ritual that would grant him true immortality, but he was imprisoned before he could do so. No points for guessing that it was Conan who unintentionally released him free while searching for missions and treasures. Graven post being free ended up putting a curse on Conan’s armor before teleporting him away and spreading the armor all across different parts of the world.
Every piece of the armor altered the souls of anyone for that matter who donned the armor into augmented barbarians with phenomenal capabilities, undead abominations, and other supernatural creatures. Conan, being the real owner of the armor, was resistant to the negative effects and it was after a very long, arduous fight that he was eventually able to shove his sword straight through Graven’s chest.
But this also resulted in freeing the gods that were once under his control. Angry at what he had done to them and to teach him a lesson, the gods take away his magic, bring him back with them to their world and torture him relentlessly much to his horror for all eternity.
Tsathoggua
Tsathoggua, with a coating of dark fur and bat-like traits such as pointed ears and soul-piercing crimson eyes, resembles an obese man. Indeed, Lovecraft referred to this deity as having the physical characteristics of a chubby toad and a sleeping sloth, alluding to his sluggish nature.
This Lovecraftian deity, also known as The Sleeper of N’kai, first appeared in the 26,000-word novella The Whisperer in Darkness in 1931. Tsathoggua is one of the most important Great Old Ones, and he resides in the pitch-black tunnels of N’kai with his endless infantry of savagely loyal servants. Wondering who these servants are? Well, they happen to be quite an aggressive race of cave-residing humanoids, each of them boasting a toad-like appearance, in a way similar to their god.
Tsathoggua is very malefic in nature and should not be taken lightly, as he possesses immortality, god-like skills, and command over an entire army of worshipping servants.
Master of the Monolith
This monstrous toad-like creature made its debut as the main enemy in Robert E. Howard’s short story The Black Stone, which was largely inspired by Lovecraft’s works. Master of the Monolith is, without a doubt, a manifestation of humanity’s most repulsive characteristics: desire, greed, and malice.
To top it, this ancient, demonic entity was actually worshipped as a deity by a corrupted cult of Romanian origin within the small mountainous village of Stregoicavar in Hungary. The cult even went to the extent of performing several dreadful rituals at its monolithic altar, which was known as the Black Stone.
The rituals had them going into the lowland villages, kidnapping the women as well as children from there and offering them as sacrifice to the Master of the Monolith. These heinous crimes were carried on for years till the Turkish soldiers invaded the mountains and conquered the Hungarian people, thus putting a stop to the wrongdoings of the cult.
While the dictatorial dark form and its despicable, hideous adherents have long been extinguished, legend has it that on one occasion, most likely on Midsummer’s Night, its incorporeal self emerges from the depths of hell to expose itself.
Kulan Gath
Imagine a villain, a terrible sorcerer to be specific, who is able to dodge death time and time again, each time returning far more powerful than the previous time and unleashing unparalleled misery and havoc on his foes! Is that not enough for you? Okay, so how about getting beheaded and even having his heart cut from his chest and still coming back to life?
Well, that’s Kulan Gath for you! A primary villain in both Conan the Barbarian series as well as Red Sonja series, Kulan Gath has also been a part of the Marvel Universe battling against the Avengers, the X-Men and even Venom for that matter.
This adversary was a sorcerer in the Hyborian Era, putting a strain on the Conan saga. He was married to a witch at the time, and he desperately desired to wield Shuma-power Gorath’s for himself. His life was restored to him after he was dead.
As an immortal, he battled Conan but was eventually beheaded by the barbarian. But that did not stop him from returning back to his life yet again. No points for guessing that Kulan Gath met his demise at the hands of Shuma-Gorath for trying to control his power but then again, he was revived a thousand years later and that is precisely when his attempts to take control and possession of the modern world began.
You are probably wondering what the secret was to him resurrecting time and again! Well, the strong sorcerer attained immortality by pouring his life energy into a magical amulet. A crafty mastermind and an even more dangerous schemer, his knowledge of magic gave him the capability to go to extremes of twisting reality. It goes without saying that our list would have been incomplete without the mention of this iconic villain here.