History Characters / ConanTheBarbarian1982

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/conan1982.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"Crom!"'']]

-->'''Subotai:''' He is Conan, Cimmerian. {{He will not cry so I cry for him}}.

* SparedByTheCut: A scene depicting his death at the hands of Doom's henchmen was deleted from the film, and the finished cuts of the film imply that he's still around.

* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: The {{Narrator}} says that Osric was "once a powerful Northman like my lord, but now old and sordid."

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: After Thulsa Doom's defeat at the Battle of the Mounds, she cries out after him, begging him not to leave her behind. [[TrickArrow He]] [[WouldHitAGirl complies]]. Fortunately, Subotai saves her in the nick of time.

* BlasphemousBoast: Any deities better listen to him if he prays, because if they don't... then ''to hell with them!'' Downplayed, though, because his deity flatly refuses to aid those who will not help themselves and has little use for reverence; Crom respects strength and those that fight for themselves.

* BassoProfundo: Courtesy of Creator/James Earl Jones.

The mysterious and ruthless leader/spiritual guide of the Children of Doom, an apocalyptic cult that uses snakes as symbols. He is said to be several hundred years old.

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: James Earl Jones isn't exactly Brad Pitt but Doom had a SkullForAHead in the original ''Literature/{{Kull}}'' stories.

* CompellingVoice: His monotone yet commanding voice can hypnotize as surely as his stare does.

* CreepyMonotone: He always speaks on the same soft tone, and it sounds creepy.

* FauxAffablyEvil: Doom almost seems regretful when he notes that all Conan has done with the passion his people's massacre has devoted him is to plot revenge and then get caught... and then orders him crucified within the same breath.

! '''Conan and his allies'''

->'''Played by:''' Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger, Jorge Sanz (as a child)

->'''Played by:''' Gerry Lopez

->'''Played by:''' Sandahl Bergman

->'''Played by:''' Creator/{{Mako}}

! '''Thulsa Doom's cult'''

->'''Played by:''' Creator/JamesEarlJones

->'''Played by:''' Ben Davidson

->'''Played by:''' Sven-Ole Thorsen

! '''Other characters'''

->'''Played by:''' William Smith

->'''Played by:''' Roswicha Bertasha Smid Honczar, better known as "Nadiuska"

->'''Played by:''' Luis Barboo

->'''Played by:''' Creator/MaxVonSydow

->'''Played by:''' Valérie Quennessen

->'''Played by:''' Cassandra Gava

* BackFromTheDead: Close enough. He's very weakened from his ordeal on the Tree of Woe when Subotai and Valeria bring him to the Wizard. Spirits come to seek his soul that night, and Valeria prevents them from doing so. Earlier she said she was ready to pay the price. [[spoiler:It's probably why she doesn't come back alive from the raid on Thulsa Doom's mountain to kidnap the princess back.]]

* DirtyCoward: There are four occassions implying that despite his magic powers, numerous followers and intimidating aura, he's a coward at heart. First he hypnotizes Conan's mother when she is prepared to fight him with a sword, then decapitates her when she lowers her sword and guard instead of fighting her fairly. Second he turns into a giant snake and flees the orgy chamber before the battle, with the novelization explaining he knew the chamber was about to be attacked by Conan and the others. Third he returns only after they are escaping with the Princess to shoot Valeria InTheBack with a snake arrow as they are leaving, killing her. And lastly he later attacks Conan, Subotai and the Wizard with overwhelming odds in his favor to kidnap the Princess again, and when the tide of battle surprisingly turns against them, instead of joining the battle and [[VillainousValor fighting Conan]] he tries to [[IfICantHaveYou kill the Princess]] and flees again back to his lair when he fails to accomplish even this.

* HeroicBuild: Arnold Schwarzenegger had ''lost'' muscle mass since the end of his bodybuilding career actually. Eveyone felt his 240lbs Mr. Universe physique would be too muscular and bulky to play the athletic and leaner Conan. Arnold stopped dieting and concentrated more on cardio work and dropped down to 210lbs.

* AmbiguouslyHuman: Is said to be hundreds of years old and definitely has supernatural powers, although it's possible that he exaggerates how old and powerful he truly is and that he's just a regular human who knows some magic.

* BadBoss: Hypnotizes one of his cultists to jump off a cliff to make a point about MightMakesRight.

* DirtyCoward: Four times, despite all his power, numerous followers and intimidating aura. First he hypnotizes Conan's mother when she is prepared to fight him with a sword, then decapitates her when she lowers her sword and guard instead of fighting her fairly. Second he turns into a giant snake and flees the orgy chamber before the battle, with the novelization explaining he knew the chamber was about to be attacked by Conan and the others. Third he returns only after they are escaping with the Princess to shoot Valeria InTheBack with a snake arrow as they are leaving, killing her. And lastly he later attacks Conan, Subotai and the Wizard with overwhelming odds in his favor to kidnap the Princess again, and when the tide of battle surprisingly turns against them, instead of joining the battle and [[VillainousValor fighting Conan]] he tries to [[IfICantHaveYou kill the Princess]] and flees again back to his lair when he fails to accomplish even this.
* DisproportionateRetribution: He has a village put to the sword and the children enslaved just so he could have a good steel sword.

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Perishes by decapitation at Conan's hands from the very thing he searched in the first place when he devastated Conan's village, the thing he treated with disdain afterwards: the steel, Conan's father's sword that he used to decapitate Conan's mother.]]

* PathOfInspiration: On the outside, his cult looks like a religion that attracts pilgrims. On the inside, it's made of snake worshipping, human sacrifices, [[IAmAHumanitarian cannibalism]] and debauchery.

* SnakePeople: He doesn't look like a snake on the outside, but he can turn himself into one, can command at snakes (as demonstrated when he turns one into an arrow) and has HypnoticEyes.
* SorcerousOverlord: He has magical powers, and might just be the head of a cult, but said cult speads in several cities and he's in position to actually threaten local kings.

* TranquilFury: Even when ''really'' pissed off, he still remains a SoftSpokenSadist and CreepyMonotone.

* KatanasAreJustBetter: Played with. Yamakazi Kiyoshi, the sword-master for ''Conan The Barbarian'', explicitly trained the cast in ''kenjutsu'' with katanas; and in fact Conan ''does'' practice with a shirazaya (wooden handled) katana early in the film. However, due to the bulk of Schwarzenegger's arm muscles, he was unable to perform the more elegant moves that Gerry Lopez (Subotai) and Sandahl Bergman (Valeria) were able to use throughout the movie, making him look clumsy and uncoordinated in comparison in spite of Conan supposedly being the best swordsman of the trio.

* UnexplainedAccent: As per usual for a Schwarzenegger character, Conan speaks with a thick Austrian accent despite nobody else having one.

* WarriorPoet: Conan is a literate warrior. And there are these pieces of dialogue from the director's cut:

* {{Yellowface}}: Subotai is a Tuvan (Turkic) name and Gerry Lopez isn't of Northern Asian descent.

* BaldOfAwesome: He has no hair on his head, knows a lot about magic, spirits and gods, and has a part in the Battle of the Mounds despite having no martial training. Even more so in the sequel, as he openly uses his powers this time.

* FirstPersonPeripheralNarrator: He narrates Conan's story and has a role in it.

* NonActionGuy: He's not strong enough to wear an armor (frequently losing his balance because of it) or even fight, but still takes part in the battle.

* ButNotTooBlack: He has straight hair and blue eyes, giving him a distinctly un-African look. According to the director's commentary, this was done to make him look like a member of a long-forgotten race.

* EvilSorcerer: He can turn himself into a snake, seemingly has mental control over snakes and can hypnotize people through either stare or talking.

* FauxAffablyEvil: Doom almost seems regretful when he notes that all Conan has done with the passion his people's massacre has devoted him is to plot revenge and then get caught...and then orders him crucified within the same breath.

* BadassMustache: Sports a long mustache and is one of Thulsa Doom's most skilled commanders.

* BadassMustache: He knows how to kick ass just fine, and sports a thin and long moustache extending right down to his chin on both sides of his face in typical Mongol warrior fashion.

* BadassBeard: He's got a BeardOfBarbarism, and he's among the few villagers to pose a serious resistance to Thulsa Doom's riders.

* HeroicBuild: Arnold Schwarzenegger had ''lost'' muscle mass since the end of his bodybuilding career actually. Eveyone felt his 240lbs Mr. Universe physique would be too muscular and bulky to play the athletic and leaner Conan. Also, it was found out pretty quickly that Arnold could not properly use a sword with such muscular arms. Arnold stopped dieting and concentrated more on cardio work and dropped down to 210lbs.

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:Perishes by decapitation from the very thing he searched in the first place when he devastated Conan's village, the thing he treated with disdain afterwards: the steel, Conan's father's sword that he used to decapitate Conan's mother.]]

* AdaptationSpeciesChange: From an [[OurLichesAreDifferent undead sorcerer]] to a [[SnakePeople snake man.]]

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler: Perishes by decapitation from the very thing he searched in the first place when he devastated Conan's village, the thing he treated with disdain afterwards : the steel, Conan's father's sword that he used to decapitate Conan's mother.]]

* {{Seer}}: She was able to predict Conan's arrival, and she can predict his future. [[spoiler: Not so much the end result of their tryst, though.]]

* HowTheMightyHaveFallen: TheNarrator says that Osric was "once a powerful Northman like my lord, but now old and sordid."

-->''[Rises from his throne]''
-->'''Osric:''' I salute you!