Thulsa Doom (Robert E. Howard)

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Thulsa Doom is a fictional character first appearing in the Kull short story Delcardes' Cat by Robert E. Howard. A powerful necromancer, Thulsa Doom is Kull's primary foe. He later becomes an enemy of the Celtic hero Cormac mac Art, another Howard character further expanded by Andrew J. Offutt. He is apparently immortal and is visualized as a skull-headed sorcerer, or as an albino when taking on the illusory appearance of a living man.

The similar concept of an evil, skull-headed sorcerer wearing a hood and operating in a serpent themed base was later used for He-Man's arch enemy Skeletor.

[edit] Portrayal in Films

James Earl Jones as Thulsa Doom in Conan the Barbarian.

A character of the same name is the antagonist in the 1982 movie Conan the Barbarian. Played by James Earl Jones, the cinematic Thulsa Doom is considerably different from the literary one, who is described as having a skull-like face. This version of Thulsa Doom is essentially the classic "Conan" villain Thoth-Amon, servant of the serpent-god Set; as such, he appears to be an ordinary human in the film, and possesses the power to transform into an enormous snake. Though immortal (never aging throughout the course of the film), it is revealed in the film's climax that he is not invincible when Conan successfully beheads and kills him.

This Thulsa Doom/Thoth-Amon hybrid appears to have been re-invisioned as a cult leader in the manner of the real life demagogues that had popped up in the decade previous to the film's release. In the movie he is shown to have an extraordinary command of his followers. For example, in one scene, after Thulsa Doom commands one of his female followers on a high ledge to come to him, she jumps off the ledge to her death. In this he resembled Hassan-i Sabbah, the Nizari leader, who according to Arab sources had one of his followers leap to his death to demonstrate his power to visiting dignitaries.

[edit] External links

• Thulsa Doom at the Internet Movie Database

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