The Sanitized Violence of Conan the Adventurer

Conan the Adventurer (the cartoon series) was no doubt a hit show. But who would have thought that it was actually based on a series of novels and two movies that were obviously NOT for children? It shocked me or not when I saw a rather censored-down version of Conan the Barbarian movie of the 80s -- it had a load of violence that made it obvious that the Conan movie wasn't for children! No serpent men sent away to another dimension -- the serpent men were all butchered in several badass scenes such as the Mountain of Power battle or the Battle of the Mounds!

The sanitation begins with Conan -- he's a far cry from what Robert E. Howard's version of Conan. The cartoon Conan was an honorable and just character, he wasn't a thief nor a womanizer in contrast to Howard's Conan or Arnold Schwarzenegger's portrayal of said character. This was toning down an otherwise most savage hero of all. All he ends up doing is use his Star Metal sword to vaporize the serpent men back into the Abyss -- rather than brutally beat them up since it's a child's show!

Wrath-Amon was what I'd call an ancient version of Serpentor. Granted, Hasbro is the one behind Conan the Adventurer and G.I.Joe then it's only normal Wrath-Amon has nearly the same attire as Serpentor AND behaves like said character. Instead of a charismatic and brutal warlord like the movie Thulsa Doom -- he's more of a hammy character. Also, Ram-Amon should be considered as a toned down version of Thoth-Amon from the comics. He tends to be played for laughs while still having a certain level of being dangerous.

The whole show itself is what I'd call defanged to the point children watch it, it becomes entertaining yet anybody who's seen the movie may no longer want to watch it. I remember some of the action scenes, sometimes I think the serpent men become a joke because of the Star Metal -- which I don't know which is worse -- Lord Zedd's putties or the serpent men in Conan? Granted, no Star Metal meant you're a goner but the Star Metal allows them to be vaporized back to where they came from. Still, you can't have them beaten up and bloodied in a TV-Y7-FV cartoon right?