Duke Nukem and Conan...

[Angilion]

Does Duke Nukem remind anyone else of Conan the Barbarian, or is it just me?

[TJ Doc]

Perhaps. Most definately in physique (minus the loincloth, long hair, and hefty sword, of course).

As for personality... I dunno. If we're thinking "Shwarzenegger Conan" then I suppose the whole "dispatch bad guys with a cheesy quip" is certainly in line with Duke. Compared to the original Conan character, though, I think they are quite a bit different.

Having said that, both Conan and Duke do have something of a liking for the "fairer sex"!

I have a feeling that there is a lot more to this debate.

[Angilion]

I was hoping so.

I was thinking of the original Conan, the canonical Conan as written by the original author. All the rest is...not canon.

They're both lone adventurers who are heroic but not heroes in the classical sense of being extremely good. They're both uncivilised by choice. They're both extremely masculine (and not just physically). They're both charismatic, especially to women.

Granted, there are quite different. Duke isn't a thief, for example, as Conan was. I think the differences could be explained by them living in different cultures. Certainly clothing and weapons could be.

I think they're both lone noble barbarian warriors, essentially.

[Ironside]

You talk about the original Conans author and dont even mention his name? This is a crime! Duke is goofy and Conan was dead serious.

[Angilion]

Does anyone who cares not know that Conan was created by Robert E. Howard?

Anyone who is reading this thread has access to the web, so they could find out.

I could have ignored it entirely and just mixed all the different authors' work as "Conan", but I didn't. In fact, I think every Conan story written by anyone other than Robert E. Howard should be very clearly marked as such, with Robert E. Howard being given clear credit as the creator of Conan, on the front cover.

So I disagree with your assertion that my post was a crime, even in the loosest possible meaning of "crime".

I am disappointed that only one other person thought this was an interesting topic for discussion. Or has it been done to death in the last 13 years?

Do you, by any chance, know where I can get a complete and unedited book or books of the original Conan stories? I don't want one with stories edited by another author, or with Howard's story fragments finished by another author, or with any changes made at all. I don't want to pay extra for other stuff added in, either. I just want all the original stories as written by the original author, not altered in any way.

[Ironside]

OK its not a crime, Iam just a big fan Howard. I have a handfull of his books. He was by far the most interesting author ever. Did you know that he claimed Conan came to him at night and stood over him with a giant axe and demanded him to type out his stories? Howards delusions about Conan led him to stauk up on food and ammo and barricade himself in his house in fear of conan...Unfortunately Howard killed himself during one of these delusions and many stories were not finished..once I found out about how Howard wrote the Conan stories I was hooked. You can still find the books, just hit the half price bookstore in a big city, there you will find some. L Spraug De Camp has finished some of his books and he did a good job so dont be turned off of him...you will find a book with the names R.E. Howard and L. Spraug De Camp, they are worth the few bucks mate.. hope that helps.

[Angilion]

I was under the impression that it was the death of his mother that caused his suicide, as he killed himself after visiting the hospital and being told there was no chance his mother would survive.

He was decidedly unbalanced. Certainly paranoid.

I've read de Camp, and some others. I am after something very specific - the work of Howard alone. The others can be very good, but they're not the original author's work. I think I have read all of Howard's Conan stories (the racism is jarring, but probably normal in Howard's day), but I want to be sure and I want to be sure that I am reading his work alone.

As I see it, Howard's Conan stories are like Conan's own memoirs, whereas the Conan stories by other authors are like stories told about Conan in an inn by someone who claims to have been there - maybe they're "true", maybe they aren't. I've seen the films too, and I thought the first one was a good try. I found an old Conan game in a swapshop today, the 2004 TDK one for Windows. £1, bargain.

[escapist]

...........................................hmmm,....i don't get it.