History YMMV / QueenOfTheBlackCoast

* FanficFuel: The story tells us that Conan sailed with Belit on the ''Tigress'' for years, yet we only get details on their first meeting and final adventure, respectively.

* BreakoutCharacter: Bêlit. Little more than a GirlOfTheWeek (albeit an exceptionally well-written and conceived one), appearing in only this story. She's ranked as one of Howard's most popular characters, probably after only Thoth-Amon and Conan himself, and one of the best {{Pirate Girl}}s in all of fiction. Many call her Conan's one, true love, or at least the greatest love of his life.

* FairForItsDay: The idea of a crew of black men subservient to a white character (technically a Semite, but you get the picture), who is also a cynical BadBoss at her task, might draw some ire after TheNewTens, especially given that most of them are essentially unnamed extras. However, they are still part of the "good guys" (by the standards of a Conan story, at any rate), aren't portrayed in a different way than most other marauder bands in Howard's stories, impress Conan with the bravery of their LastStand, and nothing in the plot implies they don't follow Bêlit of their own free will and/or greed even despite her worst tendencies (piracy is a dangerous buisiness, and while Bêlit has no qualms spending the lives of her crew for a specific goal, they seem to be well aware they were signing up for a dangerous job with a low life expectancy). All in all, this is certainly far from being the most racist Conan story.

* BestKnownForTheFanservice: Bêlit's [[MaleGaze constant half-nakedness and sexy dance]] are well remembered aspects of the story. Probably the reason why few people remember that the pirate crew is composed of [[FemaleGaze completely naked]] [[BlackIsBiggerInBed black men]]. And if you do remember that detail, well. . . then this is the story where, for the last half, ''everyone'' but Conan is naked. The story also includes minor but memorable lines like "blood-stained altars where naked women screamed" and the naked women aboard a Stygian ship who "posed and postured brazenly."

* FairForItsDay: The idea of a crew of black men subservient to a white character (technically a Semite, but you get the picture), who is also a cynical BadBoss at her task, might draw some ire after TheNewTens, especially given that most of them are essentially unnamed extras. However, they are still part of the "good guys" (by the standards of a Conan story, at any rate), aren't portrayed in a different way than most other marauder bands in Howard's stories, impress Conan with the bravery of their LastStand, and nothing in the plot implies they don't follow Bêlit of their own free will and/or greed even despite her worst tendencies. And piracy is a dangerous buisiness; while Bêlit has no qualms spending the lives of her crew for a specific goal, they seem to be well aware they were signing up for a dangerous job with a low life expectancy. All in all, this is certainly far from being the most racist Conan story.

* ValuesResonance: Women in ''Conan'' have usually little agency unless they are villainesses, but Bêlit has gone down in history for being an active, independent heroine with her own warrior gang in the setting. Her liberated sexuality, conscious choice to have Conan as a partner and ability to charm him are also resonant with modern sex-positive feminism.

* FairForItsDay: The idea of a crew of black men subservient to a white character (technically a Semite, but you get the picture), who is also a cynical BadBoss at her task, might draw some ire after TheNewTens, especially given that most of them are essentially unnamed extras. However, they are still part of the "good guys" (by the standards of a Conan story, at any rate), aren't portrayed in a different way than most other marauder bands in Howard's stories, and nothing in the plot implies they don't follow Bêlit by their own will and/or greed even despite her worst tendencies. All in all, this is certainly far from being the most racist Conan story.

* BestKnownForTheFanservice: Bêlit's [[MaleGaze constant half-nakedness and sexy dance]] are well remembered aspects of the story. Probably the reason why few people remember that the pirate crew is composed of [[FemaleGaze completely naked]] [[BlackIsBiggerInBed black men]].

* BestKnownForTheFanservice: Bêlit's [[MaleGaze constant half-nakedness and sexy dance]] are well remembered aspects of the story, probably by the same reason why few people remember the detail that the girl's crew is composed of [[FemaleGaze completely naked]] [[BlackIsBiggerInBed black men]].

* FairForItsDay: The idea of a crew of black men subservient to a white character (technically a Semite, but you get the picture), who is also a cynical BadBoss at her task, might draw some ire after TheNewTens, especially given that most of them are essentially unnamed extras. However, they are still part of the good guys, aren't portrayed in a different way than most other marauder bands in Howard's stories, and nothing in the plot implies they don't follow Bêlit by their own will and/or greed even despite her worst tendencies. All in all, this is certainly far from being the most racist Conan story.

* CrossesTheLineTwice:
** Bêlit's race in the Conan stories is canonically inspired by ancient Semitic people, which she demonstrates in this installment by showing a noticeable gold-fever. Now, if you happen to know that [[ActionGirl warrior women]] and [[ShamelessFanserviceGirl being bare-breasted in battle]] were elements of ancient ''Germanic'' tribes, you might get a few chuckles with her character.
** From a modern standpoint, Conan answering the judge's very rational pleas by beheading him on the spot is nothing but unsympathetic barbarism, but at this point it's hard not to find it sheer BlackComedy.

* EscapistCharacter: Conan, as always, but in this case, heterosexual female readers have their own in Bêlit.