Thulsa Doom is a fictional character first appearing in the Kull short story "Delcardes' Cat" by Robert E. Howard. He has since appeared in comic books and film as the nemesis of Kull and, later, one of Howard's other creations, Conan the Barbarian.
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Thulsa Doom first appeared in the short story "Delcardes' Cat" by Robert E. Howard, which featured the character Kull as the protagonist. Howard submitted the story to Weird Tales in 1928 under the title The Cat and the Skull[1] but it was not accepted. The story did not see print until 1967 in the paperback King Kull published by Lancer Books.[2] Thulsa Doom is described by Howard in "The Cat and the Skull" as being a large and muscular man (As he and Kull are said to be "alike in general height and shape."), but with a face "like a bare white skull, in whose eye sockets flamed livid fire." He is seemingly invulnerable, boasting after being run through by one of Kull's comrades that he feels "only a slight coldness" when being injured and will only "pass to some other sphere when [his] time comes." [3]
A powerful necromancer, Thulsa Doom is Kull's primary foe.[4] He was often a featured foe in the Marvel Kull comics (for instance, Kull the Conqueror #3 and #7). Thulsa Doom returns in Kull the Conqueror #11, "By This Axe I Rule," based on an original story by Robert E. Howard. Posing as the nobleman Ardyon, he forms an alliance with four rebels within Valusia: the dwarfish Ducalon, the soldier Enaros, Baron Kanuub, and the minstrel Ridondo, who actually dethroned the hero, and set him on a quest to regain his lost kingdom, in the pages of his own comic, until it gets cancelled. Kull resumes his quest in the pages of Kull and the Barbarians, a black-and-white Marvel magazine format (published under the Curtis Magazines imprint). Thulsa Doom sent members of the Black Legion to ambush Kull and Brule, though they won the fight. Thulsa observed the battle through a magic crystal. Kull and Brule's ship was later attacked by a sea serpent, with which Thulsa may or may not have had anything to do.[5]
Kull and the Barbarians lasted three issues until it was cancelled. In the return of Kull the Destroyer,[6] Thulsa Doom/Ardyon learned of the curse of Torranna (essentially, if a scarred man wore the crown and sat the throne, he'd be unable to ever leave the throne), which he determined to bestow upon Kull. To this end, he took on the aspect of the god of Torranna and advised its inhabitants how best to bring this about.[7] Thulsa Doom manipulated Garn-Nak, Karr-Lo-Zann, and Norra of Torranna. They drew Kull into Torranna and had him undergo a series of trials to gain the crown of Torranna. Kull sought the crown because he believed he could use the army of Torranna to help him retake the crown of Valusia from Thulsa Doom.
In Kull the Destroyer #28, Kull successfully completed the last of the trials, but before he could don the crown, Norra warned him of the curse of Torranna. Thulsa Doom allowed Norra's age to catch up with her, turning her into a shriveled corpse, and then revealed himself to Kull, challenging him to one final battle. In the next issue, Thulsa Doom pulled Kull into a pocket dimension for their final battle. Kull managed to slash Thulsa Doom's face with his sword, but ultimately was overpowered by the necromancer. Thulsa Doom returned them both to Torranna, but Kull rallied long enough to push Thulsa Doom onto the throne and place the crown on his head. His face scarred by Kull, Thulsa fulfilled the prophecy and fell victim to the curse himself. Thulsa's power drained by the curse, the city of Torranna collapsed, seemingly crushing him. Kull, luckily, escaped, and then returned to Valusia to retake his own throne.
Kull The Destroyer ran until it was cancelled again after issue #29 (Oct. 1978). Thulsa Doom returned as a Conan villain in the pages of Conan and some issues of Conan's black-and-white magazine, Savage Sword of Conan (issues #190-193). Thulsa Doom 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. A similar concept of an undead sorcerer can also be found in the lich from Dungeons and Dragons and other works of fantasy fiction, such as The Sword and the Sorcerer.
Dynamite Entertainment has announced a Thulsa Doom series written by Arvid Nelson, with art by Lui Antonio.[8][9]
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.
This Thulsa Doom/Thoth-Amon hybrid appears to have been re-imagined 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 dignataries. Additionally Sabbah's hashassans would leave daggers on the pillows of dignataries to intimidate them as did the cult in the Conan film.
Dynamite Entertainment announced that Djimon Hounsou signed to co-produce and star as Thulsa Doom in a film version based on the comic books, rather than Robert E. Howard's original incarnation, although the film has not been made yet.
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