Researching into the crazy lore of Conan the Barbarian can be mind-boggling. Discovering that Thulsa Doom wasn't a snake wizard but a skull-headed necromancer (that probably inspired Dr. Destiny and Skeletor) or that Conan isn't a franchise for children. Yes, that strange moment when I watched the Conan the Barbarian movie as a child!
Stygia is based on Egypt. What's funny is that the Egyptian god Set isn't a serpent. Instead, there's a serpent god called Apep or Apophis. Why didn't the Conan mythos use Apophis as the name of Set the Serpent God? Set the Serpent God went by the name APOPHIS at some point. Instead, Thoth-Amon or any of his worshipers usually refer to him as Set the Serpent God. Set is a very genetic name but why was the name Set used instead?
Set is seldom considered an evil deity. However, other myths had Set battle against the serpent god of chaos, Apep. Why did the name Set get chosen to be the name of the serpent god for Conan? An interesting note from Marvel Comics is this:
The gods of Heliopolis were once worshipped by the people of Egypt. Seth happens to be the God of death, and he initially sought out worshippers by deceiving a cult who followed the serpent demon Set. Since he could transform himself into a giant serpent, he made the cult believe that he was Set and they then chose to worship him. He also took a variation of the serpent demon’s name calling himself Seth.
Why the name Set was chosen over Apep can be confusing!
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