Conan

Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian, from the name of his homeland, Cimmeria) is a literary character created by Robert E. Howard in a series of fantasy pulp stories published in Weird Tales in the 1930s. more...

Setting

The Conan stories take place on Earth, but in the mythical (created by Howard) "Hyborian Age," between the time of the sinking of Atlantis and the rise of the known ancient civilizations. According to Howard himself (in The Phoenix on the Sword): "...between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities, and the years of the rise of the Sons of Arius..."

Characteristics

Conan is a Cimmerian (not to be confused with the historical Cimmerians), a barbarian of the far north; like Ghengis Khan, he was born on a battlefield and is the son of a blacksmith. He grew up fast: by age fifteen he was already a respected warrior, participating in the destruction of the Aquilonian outpost of Venarium. After this he was struck by wanderlust and began the colorful and exciting adventures chronicled by Howard (and subsequently, after Howard's death, by others), encountering fabulous monsters, evil wizards, and beautiful wenches and princesses - he has travelled throughout the world and been a thief and outlaw, a mercenary and commander of a mercenary company, and a pirate. He begins building larger units of men, aiming for greater territorial ambitions, though his efforts are repeatedly thwarted - usually by the total massacre of his force except himself. But in his forties he finally succeeds, becoming king of Aquilonia, the most powerful kingdom of the age, having strangled the previous ruler on the steps of the throne. Although Conan's adventures often result in him performing heroic feats, his motive is more than often his own survival, enrichment or rise to power and he thus displays many of the characteristics of an anti-hero.

Read more at Wikipedia.org