Conan the Adventurer, originally titled Conan, is a live-action TV series that ran for one season in 1997 to 1998. It was but one of many late 90s fantasy shows that followed in the wake of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, and a total of 22 episodes were produced.
The show was loosely based on the first Conan the Barbarian movie (which in turn was loosely based on Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian stories), and followed the adventures of the titular Cimmerian warrior (played by Ralf Moeller) and his friends as they attempted to free the land of the evil wizard Hissah Zul.
For the animated series of the same name, see here.
Provides examples of:
- Alien Blood: Yag-Kosha has green blood.
- Bastard Understudy: At least one of Hissah Zul's sorcerer allies/former apprentices almost openly plotted against him.
- Bloodless Carnage: Conan and his friends regularly mow down large groups of faceless mooks, but blood was a rare sight.
- Chairman of the Brawl: During a Bar Brawl in one episode, someone hits Conan in the back with a chair. Unlike most examples of this trope, however, it only succeeds in pissing Conan off.
- The Chosen One: Conan is the devoted Chosen One of Crom, much to the contrary of both Howard's stories (where Conan was indifferent to the gods) and the first Arnold movie (where Conan prayed to Crom exactly once, and his prayer was basically "Grant me vengeance against my enemies, or to hell with you!").
- Composite Character: Karella was inspired by Bêlit of the short stories and Valeria of the first movie.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Conan's fights usually end this way, as he rarely encounters foes who are anything more than speedbumps to him. In fairness, this was also true of Howard's original Conan.
- Evil Twin: One villain's plot to destroy Conan involved evil clones.
- Evil Overlord: Practically every sorcerer Conan's band encounters falls into this category, but above all Hissah Zul.
- Failure Is the Only Option: Conan gets more than one shot at Hissah Zul over the series, but always fails for one reason or another. Until the last episode.
- Fanservice: Scantily-clad models and hot actresses were common guest stars throughout the series. For the ladies, Conan himself went everywhere clad in little more than a furry loincloth.
- Lighter and Softer: Than the original Conan the Barbarian.
- Lost in Imitation: The series got hit twice by this trope. First, Conan in Conan the Adventurer is based heavily on the character from the movies — which had already altered the characterization from the original stories — and adds further elements that water it down from the original stories, with Conan becoming Crom's Chosen One fighting the Evil Empire. On top of that, reviewers generally compared the series poorly to Hercules.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Otli joins Conan after years of being mistreated by the evil wizard Yara.
- Opening Narration: Every episode opens with a brief one explaining (this version of) Conan's origin.
- Perpetually Shiny Bodies: Conan, who was not only perpetually shirtless, but lathered up with posing oil.
- Servile Snarker: Hissah Zul's familiar, the Skull-That-Talks, was often a less than enthusiastic servant for his master.
- Sorcerous Overlord: Hissah Zul is a particularly brutal and tyrannical example of this trope, but evil ruling wizards of one stripe or another were common villains.
- Spared by the Adaptation: One of the episodes is an adaptation of the 2nd issue of the Marvel Comics Conan comic series (written by Roy Thomas, who served as producer on the TV show). In the comic, the man who leads the slave uprising against the ape-men is ultimately slain (and Conan posthumously crowns him the first king of the liberated people), but in the show he survives.
- Virgin Power: One of Conan's many doomed love interests starts out a virgin warrior who can magically adorn herself with impenetrable armor and gain incredible strength and speed. She and Conan eventually fall in love and have sex. She later dies after being captured, because she couldn't do the armor thing anymore. At least she got laid that time?
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Conan spends the vast majority of his screentime without a shirt (or even pants) of any kind.
