Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian, from the name of his homeland, Cimmeria) is a fictional character often associated with the low fantasy, sword-and-sorcery subgenre. He is perhaps the most famous fictional barbarian, and indeed one of the best known and most universally recognizable iconic figures in modern popular culture.[1]
Created by American writer Robert E. Howard in 1932 via a series of fantasy pulp stories sold to Weird Tales magazine, the character has since appeared in licensed books, comics, films, television programs and video games, contributing to his long-standing popularity.

Conan is a Cimmerian (not to be confused with the historical Cimmerians), a barbarian of the far north. He was born on a battlefield and is the son of a blacksmith. Conan matured quickly as a youth and, by age fifteen, he was already a respected warrior who had participated in the destruction of the Aquilonian outpost of Venarium. After its destruction, he was struck by wanderlust and began the adventures chronicled by Howard, encountering skulking monsters, evil wizards, tavern wenches and beautiful princesses. He roamed throughout Hyboria as a thief, outlaw, mercenary and pirate. As he grew older, he began commanding larger units of men and escalating his ambitions. In his forties, he seizes the crown of king of Aquilonia, the most powerful kingdom of the Hyborian Age, having strangled the previous ruler on the steps of the throne. Although Conan's adventures often result in him performing heroic feats, his motivation for doing so is typically his own survival or for personal gain; thus, he displays many of the characteristics of an anti-hero.

Conan has "sullen blue eyes" and a black "square cut mane". Howard describes him as having a hairy chest and, while comic book interpretations often portray Conan as wearing a loincloth or other minimalist clothing, Howard describes the character as wearing whatever garb is typical for the land and culture in which Conan finds himself. Though Howard never gave a strict height or weight for Conan in a story, only describing him in loose terms like "giant" and "massive," he did once state that Conan and Cormac Fitzgeoffrey, one of Howard's own favorite athletes, were "physical doubles" at 6'2" and 210 lbs (188 cm and 95 kg). In the tales no human is ever described as stronger than Conan, although several are mentioned as taller (such as the strangler Baal-pteor) or of larger bulk. Although Conan is muscular, Howard frequently compares his agility and way of moving to that of a panther (see for instance "Jewels of Gwahlur," "Beyond the Black River" or "Rogues in the House"). His skin is frequently characterised as bronzed from constant exposure to the sun. In his younger years, he is often depicted wearing a light chain shirt and a horned helmet, though appearances vary with different artists.

During his reign as King of Aquilonia, Conan was "... a tall man, mightily shouldered and deep of chest, with a massive corded neck and heavily muscled limbs. He was clad in silk and velvet, with the royal lions of Aquilonia worked in gold upon his rich jupon, and the crown of Aquilonia shone on his square-cut black mane; but the great sword at his side seemed more natural to him than the regal accoutrements. His brow was low and broad, his eyes a volcanic blue that smoldered as if with some inner fire. His dark, scarred, almost sinister face was that of a fighting-man, and his velvet garments could not conceal the hard, dangerous lines of his limbs." (The Hour of the Dragon which can be found in the anthology The Bloody Crown of Conan, pg. 89-90). He loses none of his vigour with age with the above description coming when he is in his mid-forties.

Though several later authors have referred to Conan as "Germanic-looking," Howard imagined the Cimmerians as a proto-Celtic people with mostly dark hair and blue or grey eyes. Racially the Cimmerians to which Conan belongs are descendants of the Atlanteans, though they do not remember their ancestry. In his pseudo-historical essay The Hyborian Age, Howard describes how the people of Atlantis (the land where his character King Kull originated) had to move east after a great cataclysm changed the face of the world and sank their island, settling where northern Scotland and Norway would eventually be located. In the same work, Howard also described how the Cimmerians eventually moved south and east after the age of Conan (presumably in the vicinity of the Black Sea, where the historical Cimmerians dwelt).

Despite his brutish appearance, Conan uses his brain as well as his brawn. The Cimmerian is a talented fighter, but due to his travels abroad, he also has vast experience in other trades, especially the thiefly one; he is also a talented commander, tactician and strategist, as well as a born leader. In addition, Conan speaks many languages, including advanced reading and writing abilities: in certain stories, he's able to recognize, or even decipher, certain ancient or secret signs and writings (like when he uses the sign of Jhebbal Sag in "Beyond the Black River") (but noticeably, he apparently is never shown by Howard reading Stygian, though he can speak it), and his very first appearance (in "The Phoenix on the Sword") shows him busy writing.

Another noticeable trait is his sense of humour, largely absent in the comics and movies, but very much a part of Howard's original vision of the character, particularly apparent in "Xuthal of the Dusk," also known as "The Slithering Shadow." He is a loyal friend to those true to him with a barbaric code of conduct that often marks him as more honourable than those more sophisticated people he meets in his travels. Indeed his straighforward nature and barbarism are constants in all the tales.

One fact that is often emphasized is that Conan is very difficult to defeat in hand-to-hand combat. Conan needs only to have his back to the wall so that he cannot be surrounded, and then is capable of engaging and killing opponents by the score. This is seen in several stories, such as "Queen of the Black Coast", "The Scarlet Citadel" and "A Witch Shall be Born". Conan is not superhuman, though: he did need the providential help of Zelata's wolf to defeat four Nemedian soldiers in the story The Hour of the Dragon. Some of his hardest victories have come from fighting single opponents of inhuman strength: one such as Thak, the ape man from "Rogues in the House," or the strangler Baal-Pteor in "Shadows in Zamboula." Conan is far from untouchable and has been captured several times (knocking himself out running into a wall drunk after being betrayed, although he still slays the people initially sent to arrest him, a fall from a wounded horse, by magical means) but never as a result of martial failings.