Conan the Adventurer is an animated television series adaptation of the character Conan the Barbarian created by Robert E. Howard. Produced by Jetlag Productions in association with Sunbow Productions, the series debuted on September 13, 1992, ran for 65 episodes and concluded on November 22, 1993. The series was developed by Christy Marx who served as the sole story editor. The series was produced in association with Graz Entertainment for the first 13-episode season; AB Productions and Jean Chalopin's Créativité et Développement for the remaining episodes. The series also spawned a small toyline in 1992 created by Hasbro. This first incarnation of Conan in cartoon form performed much better than its follow-up cartoon, Conan and the Young Warriors, which lasted only 13 episodes.
Plot Conan lives in Cimmeria with his parents throughout his childhood. While out with his grandfather one night on a trek, "fiery tears" or meteors drop from the skies. Conan collects them and brings them back to his family. Conan's father, the village blacksmith, uses the ore from the meteors to forge Star Metal and uses it to create tools and weapons that would never rust or break or dull. He sells them, but his finest work, a magnificent sword, he keeps for Conan. It is laid in a crypt and covered over with a heavy stone slab. Conan's father tells his son that only when he is "man enough" (i.e., strong enough) to push off the stone slab, can he rightfully claim the sword.
Meanwhile, the Serpent Man wizard Wrath-Amon learns of Star Metal and that in addition to its strength that it possesses the power to open portals between dimensions. He thus seeks Star Metal to release his deity Set from "the Abyss" to which he long before was banished by the combined powers of virtually every living wizard then on Earth for trying to enslave the human race. As part of his search, Wrath-Amon seeks out Conan's family. Conan's father tells Wrath-Amon that he sold all of the Star Metal, but the wizard refuses to believe it. The wizard is right for aside from the sword, Conan's father hid pieces of Star Metal with other villagers. Wrath-Amon uses the spell of living stone upon Conan's family.
Conan by then went to claim his Star Metal sword to attack Wrath-Amon and his followers. When the Star Metal sword gets near Wrath-Amon, it disrupts his magic and shows his reptilian face. To this, he says "Those who see the true face of Wrath-Amon must perish!". After chasing away the wizard, Conan turns to his family and swears in the name of their god Crom to find a way of releasing them from the spell.
Conan's adventures thus begin as he searches Hyboria looking for a way to cure his family and free the land from Wrath-Amon's rule. Wrath-Amon's henchmen are also shapeshifting Serpent Men. When Conan's Star Metal sword is close enough to them, it breaks the spell that disguises them and reveals their true form to be Serpent Men. When Star Metal makes contact with the Serpent Men, it banishes them to the Abyss with Set. Spies and agents of Set and Stygia, many of them also Serpent Men, are present in cities, nations and tribes throughout the land in the age of Conan.
As compared with the original Conan stories and the Marvel Comics such as King Conan, Conan Saga, Conan the Barbarian and Conan the King, the cartoon Conan displays a higher degree of modern morality. While the original Conan is a thief, a killer, and a philanderer, the cartoon Conan has more in common with sword-wielding children's cartoon characters such as He-Man. At one point, he refuses to join a pirate crew on the grounds that it is wrong to steal, he refuses to strike unarmed or defeated opponents. He is a kind and caring character, albeit a little naive, who stands up for his friends and what he sees to be right and is very respectable. The show also reduced the violence of the original to levels deemed suitable for the younger target audience, deliberately making the Serpent Men "banished" with any touch of the heroes' weapons rather than actually struck.
Episodes
Characters
Heroes Conan (voiced by Michael Donovan) the main character of the animated series, a brave barbarian from Cimmeria, the king of the Atlanteans, as he later learns. He is tall, long-haired and possesses a large muscular build. Conan wears the Vathelos amulet, the true properties of which he learns later on. In the first episodes, he cannot read, washes once a year, and prefers brute force. Over time, he masters literacy, martial arts and other knowledge. When Conan was a slave-rower on the galleys of Rat-Amon, he met Zula, the king of the black Vassai tribe, and also a hypnotist. After the release, Conan and Zula became blood brothers. Thanks to Zula and Jaballu, he found his totem animal – a lion. Conan sacredly honors the customs of his people and the god Crom, whom he often mentions. Thunder is Conan's willful (but loyal) horse, eventually armed with Star Metal horse shoes made from Snagg's grapnel. Needle (voiced by Michael Beattie) is Conan's feisty fledgling phoenix sidekick and only constant companion. He is able to enter flat surfaces and magically transform into a phoenix design (although he needed his magical tail feathers to accomplish this feat, and loses this power if he lost one of them). He spent most of his time inside Conan's shield. Needle speaks in the third person giving others nicknames and loves to eat pomegranates. He eventually learns how to harness his full power and aid Conan in battle. When in public, Needle poses as a parrot in order to not arouse suspicion, an act which he greatly resents. Zula (voiced by Arthur Burghardt) is the king of the black tribe of the Vassai, cousin of Horus. A black warrior with the same muscular build as Conan. Zula's face has three multi-colored triangles on both sides – the symbol of the Vassai. Zula met Conan as a rowing slave in the galleys of Rath Amon. After his release, he considers the Cimmerian his blood brother. Educated, prudent and wise, he worships the animal spirit of Jebalah. Using his sign, the Vassai king can summon wild animals for help. Thanks to Jeballu, Zula also mastered hypnosis and acquired his totem animal, the tiger. In battle, he first uses a bolas of star metal, which entangles enemies. In addition, Zula is a masterful archer, martial arts master and professional hunter. At the end of the series, he accepted Jasmine's invitation and performs in the circus as a hypnotist, trainer and strongman in the arena. Zula also became Greywulf's student and is learning magic. Also at the end of the series, Zula became the husband of Princess Azuel, who became the queen of the Wassai tribe. Jezmine (voiced by Janyse Jaud) is a circus performer who possesses a set of Star Metal throwing stars, she started off as a thief but became an honest woman for the rest of the series (but is in love with Conan nonetheless). Her parents are later revealed to be a nobleman and woman in the city of Tarantia. To her horror, she learns that her mother serves Wrath-Amon and her father is the Serpent Man Astivus, making her a half-breed. From that moment, she is terrified her Serpent Man heritage will assert itself. When her father Astivus, who embraced life as a human and loved Jezmine's mother, sides with Jezmine and her mother against Wrath-Amon, Wrath-Amon banishes her father and mother to the Abyss. A magical potion applied to her Star Metal shuriken allow Jezmine to magically summon the throwing stars to return to her. She shared this potion with Zula. Jezmine hated Astivus, despite his love for her. She and Conan were able to free her mother during a trip to the Abyss, and later Astivus escaped when Set and the Serpent-Men banished over the years were freed from the Abyss by Wrath-Amon. Once again, Astivus chose Jezmine and her mother over serving Set, embracing life as a human; and it is implied in the final episode that Jezmine might be willing to reconcile with him. At the end of the series, she invited Zula to her circus troupe as a hypnotist, trainer and strongman. Greywolf (voiced by Scott McNeil) is a wizard from the magical city of Xanthus. Originally armed with a bare staff, he was given the mystical "Claw of Heaven" made of Star Metal that was mounted atop his staff and effectively doubled his magical power. His brother and sister were transformed into wolves in a plot by the Stygian queen and sorceress Mesmira. As a result, he consistently seeks a cure for their condition alongside of Conan; whom he now serves as an advisor to in matters of supernatural nature. At the end of the series, he became Zula's teacher and teaches him magic. Sasha (voiced by Kathleen Barr) and Misha (voiced by Scott McNeil) are Greywolf's older brother and sister who are also skilled in magic. They were transformed into wolves by Mesmira using poison from the thorns of the Lycanthrus Plant as part of her plot to become powerful. In the episode "Thorns of Midnight," a single flower from the Lycanthrus Plant was found that could transform one of the siblings back into a human. Not wanting to have to choose, the flower was split down the middle, with Sasha and Misha each eating half. This allows them to revert to their human forms during a full moon. Snagg (voiced by Garry Chalk) is a Viking-like barbarian from the Vanirmen tribe. He often quarrels with Conan because they grew up in neighboring countries with different culture. Once even a war happened between them. Despite it, Snagg and Conan are true friends. Snagg also has Star Metal weapons in the form of an axe and grapnel. Later, he gave his grapnel to make Star Metal horseshoes for Thunder when Thunder saved his life. Conan and Snagg start as rivals, but become increasingly friendly. They continue to compete with and insult each other, but it becomes jovial and good-natured. Snagg and Conan are very similar, though Snagg is generally less serious and controlled. Falkenar (voiced by Alec Willows) is champion of the kingdom of Kusan, he uses the "Mantle of Wind" to fly and is armed with a Star Metal whip. Falkenar and Windfang are bitter enemies through repeated attempts by the villain to invade Kusan. He has a female pet falcon named Stormclaw.
Supporting The Kari Dragon (voiced by Doug Parker) – The Kari Dragon is a dragon who was once imprisoned in an artifact and could be summoned to do the bidding of mortal men. Conan summoned him and granted him freedom for which the dragon was grateful. However, when Conan later came to him for aid, the dragon gave him a series of tests which Conan passed. When the final battle against Set came, the dragon battled Set to provide Conan with enough time to escape Set and his minions, sacrificing himself in the process. Pyro (voiced by Doug Parker) – An ancient phoenix who was to guard the mystical Book of Skelos. At some point in time, he was corrupted by Wrath-Amon; changing his feathers into dark colors and tasking him with killing anyone who came near the book instead of simply testing them. Pyro takes advantage of his status as a high phoenix to trick Needle to trust him before kidnapping the smaller firebird and forcing him to do his bidding. Unfortunately, Needle's loyalty to Conan and his friends proves too strong and he ends up aiding in the larger phoenix's defeat when he gets exposed to the raw power of the Book of Skelos thrown at him; seemingly dying as he falls to his death in the mountain and explosion. The book is destroyed yet Pyro is freed from Wrath-Amon's spell, returning to his true colors. Pyro informs Conan's group of a second Book of Skelos. He declares Needle his "little brother" and foresees him becoming strong like Pyro himself due to his powerful heart.