Conan the Barbarian

Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian, from the name of his homeland, Cimmeria) featured in books, comics and movies, although he was originally a pulp-fiction figure in the 1930s, created by prominent fiction pioneer Robert E. Howard. He is a hero, a well known and iconic figure in American fantasy, and the most famous barbarian in fiction.

Conan is often associated with the fantasy subgenre of sword-and-sorcery and heroic fantasy. He was created by Texan writer Robert E. Howard in 1932 via a series of fantasy stories sold to Weird Tales magazine. The character has since appeared in licensed books, comics, films, television programs, video games, roleplaying games, and even a boardgame, all of which contribute to the hero's long-standing popularity.

Conan the Barbarian is also the title of a Gnome Press collection of stories published in 1954, a comic published by Marvel Comics beginning in 1970, and a film and its novelization in 1982.

Conan the Barbarian was created by Robert E. Howard and was the spiritual successor to an earlier character, Kull of Atlantis. For months, Howard had been in search of a new character to market to the burgeoning pulp outlets of the early 1930s. In October 1931, Howard submitted a short story titled "People of the Dark" to Clayton Publications' new magazine, Strange Tales of Mystery and Terror (June 1932). "People of the Dark" is a remembrance story of "past lives", and in its first-person narrative the protagonist describes one of his previous incarnations: Conan, a black-haired barbarian hero who swears by a deity called Crom. Some Howard scholars believe this Conan to be a forerunner of the more famous character. Conan the Barbarian often swears by Crom and sometimes Mitra, a Hyborean god among other names.