History Literature / Kull

* BerserkButton: Kull will look for any excuse to go kick someone's ass. He's easily bored.

* BiblePunk: The deserts and cities resemble those of the Bronze Age Middle East.

* SparedByAdaptation: The Marvel comics adaptation of ByThisAxeIRule spared Ridondo to give Kull a travelling companion while he sought a way to regain his throne. As you might have guessed, it was a loose adaptation.

* BigBad: Thulsa Doom is a self proclaimed one (though he only appears in one of Howard's stories)
* BerserkButton: Kull will look for any excuse to go kick someone's ass. He easily bored

* HeterosexualLifePartners: Kull and Brule the Lance-slayer, justified by the fact Brule acts as his bodyguad and also is one his few true friends and collaborators.

* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: The Serpent People, through which Howard distantly connects with the CthulhuMythos of his friend Creator/HPLovecraft.

The Kull stories are a peripheral part of the CthulhuMythos. Perhaps most notably, Cthulhu fans will recognize the Serpent People who appear in ''The Shadow Kingdom''.

See also: Creator/RobertEHoward, ''ConanTheBarbarian'', ''Literature/BranMakMorn''.

* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: The Serpent People, through which Howard distantly connects with the CthulhuMythos of his friend HPLovecraft.

* {{Shibboleth}}: Due to their anatomy Serpent Men cannot say the phrase "Ka nama kaa lajerama".

''Kull'' is a character appearing in [[http://www.amazon.com/Kull-Atlantis-Robert-E-Howard/dp/0345490177 a series of short stories]] by Creator/RobertEHoward, the few of which published during his lifetime appeared in ''WeirdTales''. Kull is a barbarian hailing from {{Atlantis}}, but was exiled from his homeland. After some years as an adventurer, Kull made himself king of Valusia in a bloody coup. He lived approximately 100,000 years ago (according to ''Kings of the Night'').

Not to be confused with the [[KingMook big Urgals]] from Christopher Paolini's ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'' (though Kull probably inspired their name) or with the movie ''Film/{{Krull}}'' although there was a 1997 movie ''Kull'' with Kevin Sorbo in the title role.

* AdaptationalNameChange: Ascalante, Gromel and Volmana of "By This Axe I Rule" were renamed Ardyon, Enaros and Ducalon respectively for the Marvel comics.

''{{Kull}}'' is a character appearing in [[http://www.amazon.com/Kull-Atlantis-Robert-E-Howard/dp/0345490177 a series of short stories]] by Creator/RobertEHoward, the few of which published during his lifetime appeared in ''WeirdTales''. Kull is a barbarian hailing from {{Atlantis}}, but was exiled from his homeland. After some years as an adventurer, Kull made himself king of Valusia in a bloody coup. He lived approximately 100,000 years ago (according to ''Kings of the Night'').

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: The '97 movie was originally intended to be the third movie for the ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian'' movies, [[{{Irony}} which were supposed to be about Kull anyway]].
** The unfinished fragment that came to be called "Riders Beyond the Sunrise" ends with Kull and some of his warriors, in pursuit of a man who has defied the law and insulted him, reaching a river. There is a ferryman who says, "Here is the end of the world; beyond is magic and the unknown. Here is the boundary of the world; there begins the realm of horror and mysticism. This is the river Stagus and I am Karon the Ferryman." It is explicitly stated that this would go down through the centuries to become the myth of the river Styx and Charon the ferryman. The ferryman takes Kull and his men across, and the story stops there. Creator/DavidDrake called this story "the only fragment I've read that made me really wish that Howard had completed it himself."

* BarbarianHero: Duh.

* BookcasePassage

* CosmicHorrorStory.

* CurtainCamouflage

* DividedWeFall
* DuelToTheDeath
* TheExile
* EvenEvilHasStandards
* EvilIsNotWellLit

* FeudingFamilies
* FireForgedFriends
* GlorySeeker
* GoMadFromTheRevelation
* TheGoodChancellor: First Councillor Tu.
* GreenEyedMonster

* HiddenDepths
* HumanSacrifice

* IdenticalGrandson
* InHarmsWay
* ItWasAGift
* LizardFolk: The Snakemen
* MadeASlave
* MadOracle
* MagicMirror
* {{Masquerade}}
* MasterOfIllusion
* MercyKill
* NoOntologicalInertia
* ObviousTrap
* OrWasItADream
* OurGhostsAreDifferent

* PettingZooPeople

** RecursivePrecursors: {{Atlantis}}, Kull's homeland, is a young and barbaric island nation while Valusia and its culture is considered ancient beyond reckoning, extending back to the very dawn of Man [[spoiler:as a free, non-enslaved species]].
* ThePromise

* PowerOfTrust

* ThePromise
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: Quite obvious.

* ReligionOfEvil

* RequisiteRoyalRegalia
* RoyalBlood
* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: Look at IAmTheNoun above.

* SchrodingersButterfly
* SelfMadeMan
* TalkingInYourDreams

* VestigialEmpire

* ZergRush

* DeadlyDecadentCourt: The state of existence in Valusia for so long that literally no Valusian can conceive of any other way to be.

* DeadlyDecadentCourt

* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: The Snake Men, through which Howard distantly connects with the CthulhuMythos of his friend HPLovecraft.

* ReptilesAreAbhorrent

* WillNotTellALie

* IAmTheTrope: "I AM THE LAW!", Kull said, fed up with the Can't-Marry-Slaves law. He takes an ax to it. Could very well be a TropeNamer

* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: Look at IAmTheTrope above.

* ThePowerOfFriendship: Despict being from enemy races Brule shares with Kull a great friendship, in more than one occasion each one has saved the life of the other, even in one situation where they had to face a cosmic entity.

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: "BY THIS AXE I RULE!"
** Defeating a Four-armed shark-man ''under the water''.
** Fighting Thulsa Doom and his life-soaking sword at the end of the world.

* FakeKing