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. 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 traveled 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 excepting 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.

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Conan The Barbarian" and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.