Thulsa Doom (No, NOT Movie Thulsa) And Skeletor Connection?

Conan the Cimmerian

Shocker or not? Many characters inspire each other. It's no secret that He-Man has been inspired by Conan the Barbarian. Conan the Adventurer may have made that reference in the beginning. Hasbro might have wanted to use the skull-headed Thulsa Doom but opted out for a Thoth-Amon expy in Wrath-Amon. An episode of The Toys That Made Us reveals that Skeletor was inspired by a real-life corpse. However, it may not be coincidental that Skeletor resembles the Kull villain Thulsa Doom (not Movie Thulsa). He-Man is an obvious retool of He-Man. Why Mattel used a skull-headed villain instead of a snake sorcerer isn't elaborated upon.

Skeletor's base of operations is at Snake Mountain. The 2002 reboot retooled it as Serpos' petrified body. King Hiss only had an animated adaptation in the cancelled reboot. He-Man (2002) may have taken notes from Conan the Adventurer's finale. Serpos was the placeholder for Set the Serpent God and King Hiss was obviously based on Thoth-Amon. Conan the Barbarian (1982) had a place called the Mountain of Power -- the main HQ of the Snake Cult.

The Grim Reaper is often portrayed as a skeleton with a robe. Thulsa Doom's character was obviously based on the Grim Reaper. Thulsa Doom is the bringer of death itself. That may be the reason why the movie chose the name Thulsa Doom -- because of the snake and skull symbolism. The snake and skull symbolism is often used to represent the cycle of life and death. The snake eating its tail is also the symbol of life and death. The Conan (1982) movie had the Ouroboros (above). 

A subtle (or perhaps, NOT too subtle nod) is that Movie Thulsa's helmet has a skull-shaped insignia on his helmet. Movie Thulsa is the leader of a death-obsessed cult. However, Movie Thulsa was closer to the Conan villain Thoth-Amon. Thulsa Doom is also often portrayed as one of Set's many previous Chief Servants before Thoth-Amon came during Conan's era. Thulsa Doom was a Kull foe before becoming one of Cona's deadliest enemies in Marvel Comics. Heck, the Savage Avengers storyline returns Thulsa Doom. Thulsa Doom was originally separated from his body BUT he returned anyway. What made Thulsa Doom scarier than Movie Thulsa is that HE COULD fight Conan one-on-one. The Movie Thulsa was scary but lacked the prowess of the skull-faced Thulsa Doom.

The corpse incident might be just one inspiration. Mark Taylor may have gone through several Conan mythos. It's possible that King Hiss and not Skeletor was supposed to be the main antagonist. Thulsa Doom would often return to harass Conan in the present -- presumably because Conan is a direct descendant of Kull. Taylor might've seen that Thulsa Doom's appearance might match what he wanted for Skeletor. In contrast though, Skeletor was typically a Saturday cartoon morning villain -- a villain that's a credible threat BUT always suffers from Bond Villain Stupidity i.e. overconfidence and pride. Skeletor's just too filled with pride to simply think of more practical plans. But what's a Saturday Morning Cartoon villain without comedic moments? Wrath-Amon in Conan the Adventurer felt like Serpentor from G.I. Joe -- both are ruthless and funny at the same time.

IMHO it wasn't really a coincidence. Taylor could've gone through the comics and found Thulsa Doom's image more menacing than Thoth-Amon. Thulsa Doom's name and appearance already corners fear more than the name Thoth-Amon. Sure, Thoth-Amon became Conan's greatest opponent in Marvel Comics. However, Thoth-Amon never met Conan in the OG stories. Thankfully, some people managed to work their way to improve things. Thulsa Doom's appearance as a Grim Reaper villain was already menacing enough. Skeletor was given the Grim Reaper look but became more or less cartoony to suit with standards. The 2002 Skeletor was actually cunning and way more evil -- maybe that caused the He-Man reboot to eventually tank. 

The Masters of the Universe movie in 1987 (acted by Frank Langella, who's now in his late 80s) was portrayed to be more menacing and scary -- unlike the cartoon version. The cartoon Skeletor was meant to be a sadistic bully but got limited by TV-7. Movie Skeletor was able to do more because of the PG-13 rating. Movie Skeletor could do more than the 80s Cartoon Skeletor -- EVEN MURDER ONE OF HIS OWN HENCHMEN. Movie Skeletor made me wonder why the skull-faced Thulsa Doom was never used in the Conan adaptations. The 1982 film could've used the skull-faced Thulsa Doom as intended -- instead of using the Thoth-Amon character and renaming him Thulsa Doom! 

Pretty much, all versions of Skeletor, like Thulsa Doom, were able to fight one-on-one unlike Movie Thulsa. Even the 1980s Cartoon Skeletor would've probably still stood a chance against Conan before getting his inevitable defeat. Movie Skeletor could've possibly stood a chance against 1982 Movie Conan in a clash of swords. Skeletor's inspiration from Thulsa Doom couldn't be denied -- even if one character was more menacing than the other!