Thulsa Doom (character)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Thulsa Doom is a character inspired by the novels of Robert E. Howard.
Thulsa Doom is a necromancer from one story about Kull by Robert E. Howard (Delcardes' Cat). He is mentioned as having a skull-like face and wearing a hood (which probably later inspired aspects of the Masters of the Universe villain Skeletor). He also is an enemy of the Celtic hero Cormac mac Art, another Howard character further expanded by Andrew J. Offutt. Thulsa Doom hates Cormac as he is the reincarnation of his older enemy Kull, who is responsible for his long imprisonment.
Contents |
[edit] Thulsa Doom in Conan the Barbarian
Thulsa Doom is later portrayed to be one of Conan's lifelong (and immortal) opponents. He is seen to be distrustful to the wizard Thoth-Amon, leader of the Snake Cult. He is in competition in trying to control the snakemen. He is portrayed to be the leader of the evil band that has marauded villages and wants world conquest. He is the enemy of Kull as a king.
His appearance is that of a skull-headed sorcerer wearing a hood, a powerful necromancer that cannot be killed by ordinary means.
He and Conan have a vicious rivalry, one that shows due to his immense supernatural power, which Thoth-Amon doesn't possess without the black ring. He is later defeated when Conan tosses his skull off across another time period in what seemed to be their final battle. Whether or not he would be able to bring himself back still remains to be seen.
[edit] Thulsa Doom in The Conan Movie
A character of the same name is the key villain in the 1982 movie Conan the Barbarian, and is played by James Earl Jones. The cinematic Thulsa Doom is considerably different from the literary one; he is more human-looking (perhaps similar to the snake-men whom Kull fought), and can transform into a snake. He however wore a skull mask at the beginning of the movie.
As a villain, the character is nasty and manipulative. The use of an actor with brown skin color, straight black hair and blue eyes is intended to suggest lineage from a lost or forgotten race, according to commentary of the special edition DVD. He is revealed not to have aged a bit, possibly by black magic or his ability to shed his snake skin, running a cult having serpent men as members.
He runs the Snake Cult, he is feared by many kings and even took King Osric's daughter as one of his followers. His cult members are involved in inhuman activities like orgies and bloodshed. The most repulsive part displayed is where it's revealed the cult butchers human beings for consumption of its serpent men members.
He later detected Conan as an imposter and had revealed to Conan that flesh is stronger than steel. With those words, he had Conan crucified to the Tree of Woe. He is beheaded by Conan towards the end being exposed that he is not invincible.
His ability to transform into a snake was later re-used and exaggerated for He-Man's King Hiss.
[edit] Thulsa Doom in Other Media
A recent addition to Thulsa Doom lore can be found at The Palace of Diamonds (humor). In this addition, Thulsa Doom enters the 'real world' through the body of another and tries to assume power. He is opposed by a band of heroes.
[edit] Thulsa Doom and Skeletor Connection
Somehow when Mattel decided to create He-Man's villain, they chose the template as Thulsa Doom instead of the snakeman Thoth-Amon as the main villain. It's interesting[citation needed] to see that Thulsa Doom's story line where he controls some of the snake men and resides in a snake fortress is largely used for Skeletor, as well.
The fact he doesn't trust Thoth-Amon becomes a source for the story for Skeletor not trusting King Hiss, and struggles with him for the right to control the serpent men. This appeared in He-Man 2002 when Skeletor and King Hiss are in a power struggle to rule Snake Mountain.
In the older series, Skeletor appears to be controlling a few Snakemen, as does Hordak. Such a storyline almost made Skeletor close to Thulsa Doom. However, there were no hints that Skeletor worships Set.
When the original He-Man came out (which was CLOSE to Conan the Barbarian), Skeletor's template was closely based on Thulsa Doom. Both characters are resembling as skull-headed sorcerers. He was pictured as an archenemy of He-Man.
[edit] Question on Thulsa Doom's Head
Both Marvel Comics and other incarnations seem to either have his head floating, attached with a spine or even gives him a fleshy neck and material eyes.
 |
This fantasy-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 |
This article about a character in literature is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
