Sean Akizuki's Fantasy Critic

Conan the Cimmerian I still have mixed feelings over Conan the Adventurer . It might be because Conan the Barbarian (1982) wa practically what Conan should be -- despite the alterations. It's unknown why the late James Earl Jones' character was named Thulsa Doom -- but was ESSENTIALLY THOTH-AMON. Conan the Adventurer came out 10 years after Conan the Barbarian (1982) . A more fearsome version of Skeletor was introduced in Masters of the Universe  -- acted by Frank Langella. Conan the Adventurer 's toning down was understandable. It's supposed to be TV-Y7-FV. That's why the Serpent Men simply get sent back to the Abyss instead of being slaughtered. That's why Cartoon Conan is different from any other version of Conan the Barbarian. Cartoon Conan would've had much in common with He-Man (who also has Conan inspiration). Given that the literary Thulsa Doom had a skull for a head (and was enemies with Kull, not Conan) -- could Thulsa Doom have worked as the recur...

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 ...

Mortal Kombat reboot has had the habit of adding guest characters. I discussed whether or not guest characters are ruining Mortal Kombat . It's practically ON YOUR FACE when you purchase the guest character. It seems that Warner Bros. has taken special notes from the Corporate Commander himself. This version of Conan is from the 1982 movie -- instead of the comics version whether it's Dark Horse or Marvel. It's probable because the Terminator was done in Mortal Kombat 11 -- complete with Arnold Schwarzenegger.  My feeling is that this is more nostalgia-based than anything. They could've hired Jason Momoa to be the voice while keeping Arnold's likeness. This is supposed to be a young Conan -- not the older Conan that had already become King of Aquilonia. One should be reminded of how people copy or imitate stuff. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe took stuff from the Conan mythos such as using Comics Thulsa to create Skeletor and King Kull to create King Grayskul...

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 interest...

  I remember watching an edited version of Conan the Barbarian as a child . The movie scared me a lot -- even if it lacked prolonged torture scenes. I thought the movie was for children. However, seeing the film has made me look at Conan the Adventurer more as an old shame. If there's one character that I thought defined the late James Earl Jones (JEJ) -- it's not Darth Vader (as a voice) but him as Movie Thulsa Doom. Most adaptations of Thulsa Doom resembled Skeletor from the He-Man series. Movie Thulsa was more akin to the snake wizard Thoth-Amon. It's unknown why they used the name Thulsa Doom instead of Thoth-Amon. Was it because the name Thulsa Doom sounded scarier than Thoth-Amon?  Movie Thulsa was the leader of the snake worshipers. He was portrayed as a cowardly character who used psychological manipulations and magic. The film begins with Movie Thulsa's two henchmen Rexor (played by the late Ben Davidson) and Thorgrim (played by Steve Ole Thorsen) leading the a...

It's understood that Conan the Barbarian (1982) had a more solid storytelling. However, after watching Conan the Destroyer -- I feel the movie that came after was a MESS. I may consider it a watchable mess now (unlike Conan and the Young Warriors released in 1994). However, I feel that Dagoth the Dreaming God was a wasted villain. Dagoth was supposedly the Bigger Bad of the movie. Queen Taramis of Shadizar the Wicked was the supposed main villain. However, Taramis' true aim was to release her master (and implied love interest) Dagoth from the statuesque form. Conan the Destroyer's plot had Taramis want to get the Horn of Dagoth. Two artifacts were needed namely the jewel and the horn. There was a watered-down version of Thoth-Amon  (played by the late Pat Roach) with a cheesy wrestling scene. There were the Protectors of the Horn. Taramis' deceptive personality was most likely the basis for Mesmira in Conan the Adventurer .  Sadly, the statue form of Dagoth just showed ...

Sure, I can use Conan the Barbarian to berate Conan the Destroyer any day. Here's a review on Movie Thulsa - a beloved villain that's probably overrated. A careful analysis of Conan the Barbarian (1982) would reveal that Movie Thulsa was a Dirty Coward. Maybe, it's because the actor James Earl Jones wasn't an action actor. Cast any action actor such as Frank Langella (who portrayed a more evil Skeletor in Masters of the Universe ) and get a Thulsa who could actually battle with Conan. Instead, Movie Thulsa was reduced to a Dirty Coward. A careful analysis will show that Movie Thulsa is a coward   At the beginning of the film, Movie Thulsa is shown to prefer to show up ONLY LATER. Movie Thulsa doesn't participate in the whack-a-villager game. Instead, you see his Rocksteady and Bebop minions namely Rexor and Thorgim do the job. Speaking of which, I wonder if Tang Lashor and Rattlor from She-Ra were partly inspired by them. Rexor would later become his high priest whi...

It's no secret that Conan the Destroyer (1984) is viewed as a convoluted mess. However, I think Hasbro still had a soft spot for it when they created Mesmira for Conan the Adventurer (1993) . The Conan mythos had various alternations from adaptation to adaptation or call it remake to remake. It's because each story is independent from different continuities like Marvel Comics, Dark Horse, and Robert E. Howard's original stories. One character that got lost in translation is the wizard Thoth-Amon. Thoth-Amon was a villain in "The Phoenix and the Sword". For some reason, later alternations of the Conan mythologies made Thoth-Amon from just another character (who never met Conan in earlier adaptations) that ascended to the level of the archenemy. Conan the Destroyer introduced a character named Thoth-Amon but played a VERY MINOR ROLE. The biggest antagonists were the mesmerizing Taramis (the Big Bad, though another Taramis from the novels was a good queen) and the fi...

Coincidence or not? I t's really something that Conan the Adventurer was released in 1992 - that would be 10 years after the first  Conan the Barbarian film . Conan the Adventurer finally ended its broadcast on November 23, 1993. On March 5, 1994, the short-lived Conan and the Young Warriors came out - months before Conan the Destroyer would hit its 10th anniversary. I did watch this one but hated it. Then again, I have no intention of rewatching Conan the Adventurer ever again after seeing the 1982 Conan the Barbarian film.  The setting goes where Conan must mentor three new characters. What happened to the original cast? It's not known. Conan the Adventurer's finale did hint at a sequel hook when there was no sign of either Ram-Amon (who's obviously a footnote to Movie Thulsa ) nor Mesmira the rightful queen of Stygia . Greywolf's siblings Sasha and Misha are still stuck in the curse. They could've picked up from there. Instead, Conan and the Young Warriors go...

I remember watching He-Man (2002) and a new villain was introduced. This was none other than King Hiss. I made a comment that King Hiss was pretty much like Wrath-Amon from the  Conan the Adventurer cartoon from 1992. Is it a strange coincidence that He-Man (2002) would be on the 20th anniversary of the Conan the Barbarian (1982) movie? Wrath-Amon was a nasty-tempered boss. Instead, King Hiss was pretty much Thoth-Amon and the Movie Thulsa Doom when dealing with his minions.  Both King Hiss and most versions of Thoth-Amon were focused on the advancement of the Serpent Men. Both of them were the respective high priests of their respective serpent gods. He-Man (2002) reveals that King Hiss seeks to release his god Serpos. Serpos was a character created for He-Man (2002) and it reminded me of Set the serpent god. Marvel Set the Serpent God is represented as a multiple-headed snake, unlike Cartoon Set from Conan the Adventurer . What made King Hiss interesting was that he wasn't r...

Is it me or is almost every movie meant to tie in with Conan the Barbarian (1982)  destined to fail? Conan the Destroyer is viewed with utter contempt. Red Sonja is viewed with utter contempt. It was said that Kevin Sorbo was reluctant to play a character already done (which is weird since he isn't the first Hercules). I think it had to do with filling the shoes of Arnold Schwarzenegger to continue the saga of Conan the Barbarian . The movie presented Akivasha as the main villain.  A bit of tidbit will reveal one thing with how adaptations CAN change certain things... The name of Kull's enemy was known as THULSA DOOM. Unlike the movie, most versions of Thulsa Doom whether it'd be the original Robert. E. Howard Universe or the comics, he was practically inspired by the Grim Reaper. That's why it's very easy to create the rumor that He-Man was supposedly a toy line based on the Conan franchise. I don't believe it now but I still believe that Conan was partly an in...

Conan the Barbarian (1982) carried the Riddle of Steel - something that's not really directly answered. Instead, it's a riddle that the audience is left to themselves to find out. It's already more than 30 years since the film was done. Watching this film as a child scared me out since this wasn't obviously for children. Now, it's time to try and answer the riddle by actually looking at the movie's events. The opening has Conan's father talking about the Riddle of Steel. Conan is told that he can't trust anyone but the sword. Conan's father points to the sword. The idea of steel's strength was the theme of the opening of the movie. This is what leads Thulsa Doom and the worshipers of Set to ransack Conan's village. Thulsa Doom collected all the steel weapons to expand his forces. Thulsa Doom also, for some reason, sells the children to slavery. Conan is forced to push a wheel with the others. Conan's tenacity to survives allows him to bec...

  Conan the Destroyer was viewed as a failed sequel to Conan the Barbarian (1982) . Yet, it seemed one character was practically given tribute namely Queen Taramis of Shadizar. Conan the Destroyer was released in 1984 - two years after the hit movie. I felt that Hasbro didn't want to leave Conan the Destroyer in the slumps so they created Mesmira. Mesmira is pretty much created for the cartoon but had to get her inspiration somewhere. She was probably based on the deceitful Queen Taramis. The plot of Conan the Destroyer had Queen Taramis' plan to resurrect Dagoth. The movie had a couple of deleted scenes as confirmed by Sarah Douglas herself. It's also implied that Queen Taramis has a crush on Dagoth. If I'm not wrong - Taramis was supposed to have a sex scene with Conan. If that were true - I find it disgusting that her niece Jehnna should offer her hand in marriage to Conan. The first movie also had a deleted plot where Princess Yasimina offered her hand in marriage t...

I doubt it was highly coincidental that Conan the Adventurer was shown 10 years after the blockbuster Conan the Barbarian (1982) . Granted, this was by Hasbro so certain similarities couldn't be avoided such as Wrath-Amon was obviously a Serpentor Expy. Heck, Hasbro even went as far as to recycle a scene (sort of) in the finale when Wrath-Amon became a lizard (from which he came) while they did that to Serpentor during the post-movie DiC episodes. Now, for a curious tidbit about a minor character known as Ram-Amon - an obvious xerox of the Conan villain Thoth-Amon . I'm expanding this part because it looks like Hasbro made Ram-Amon as an intentional nod to Thoth-Amon and James Earl Jones' version of Thulsa Doom. The movie Thulsa Doom was essentially more Thoth-Amon in both form and substance. The real Thulsa Doom was a predecessor to the He-Man villain Skeletor. In this case, Ram-Amon was voiced by African-American Arthur Burghart. Burghart sounded like JEJ himself.  Let...

Conan the Adventurer is no doubt a sanitized version of Conan the Barbarian . There was the 1982 movie which was LOOSELY based on the novels by Robert E. Howard. There was Marvel Comics adapted the story in 1970. It was rumored that Mattel wanted to create a Conan toyline but found the content too mature so He-Man was created. Heck, even the first episode had Cartoon!Conan raising the sword like He-Man did. All that was missing was to give Comics!Thulsa Doom an adaptation and not the Movie!Thulsa Doom adaptation. More on that later... I remembered watching Conan the Barbarian (1982) which is still better than Conan the Barbarian (2011) . I think 1982!Conan was truly terrifying and what Conan should be - very much unlike the Cartoon!Conan who was more morally upright even if he was somewhat bullheaded. Cartoon!Conan had to learn to read unlike the other adaptations of Conan. I think it was quite perfect when Hasbro had the rights to finally adapt the very much adult Conan franchise for...