Did someone tell you about a crazy story they read a long time ago, and you have been following Conan ever since?
Did you watch the live-action movies and see the release of the games and focus your interest?
Did you perhaps see Age of Conan or Conan Exiles and just dive in from there?
Personally, I have always seen stuff about Conan in small bits, but I saw all of the Live-Action adaptations. I loved the idea of barbarions and such since I was a wee child. I saw Conan Exiles release and thought about getting it for a long time. Then my friend basically gave me the game and I was hooked. Can’t get enough of the game.
I remember seeing the black and white oversized magazines and then the comics in the early 80’s. Then I found Howard’s books and those by Jordan, de Camp, and others. Mom let me watch the original movie, but I had to cover my eyes when boobies showed up.
And I’ve been a fan of every incarnation and delivery method since. From the first roleplaying game, still have, all the way to CE.
Which is why I find the PC culture in Conan Exiles so funny. The pale blue-eyed Cimmerians are black, the Egyptian Stygian’s are white, and all of the women are keeping the hedges trimmed down below but keep the forest moon of Endor under their armpits.
For me it was a combination of Hero Quest (the board game, with the very Conan-esque Barbarian fighter on the front cover, though supposedly it’s pre-deification Sigmar, the patron deity of the Empire of Man), Fighting Fantasy game books and - eventually - the 1982 Conan movie (which I didn’t see until much later, probably around 1992 or so).
Later on my parents gifted me a very nice hardcover edition of Howard’s collected works (mainly Conan), and I’ve been hooked ever since.
I read my first Conan story shortly after I finished reading the “Lord of the Rings” back in '84 and I loved the setting and the character. I’ve stuck with Conan (and other writings of R.E. Howard, like Solomon Kane and Kull) ever since.
Heh, this just goes to show the differences in culture. My dad let me watch the original movie but I had to close my eyes when the decapitations showed up. Boobs were never a source of concern in my family. Then I read the Howard stories in my early teens. I’ve picked up bits and pieces of the comics, books written by other authors, seen the new movie (sorry, Momoa looks like a Latin lover and not a Cimmerian barbarian), etc. but in the end, it all comes back to Howard. No copycat is a match for the original.
The only thing young me had a problem with in that movie was the opening scene, particularly the bit where Conan’s father is killed, because he bore a rather striking resemblance to my own father (beard and all), and seeing him savaged by those dogs was scary. And sure pre-teen me was somewhat fascinated with the s.e.x. scenes, but they were never really that saucy.
For me it was the 1981 Arnold Schwarzenegger film. When I saw that I read all of Robert Howard’s works on Conan. Seriously, both him and Tolkien made fantasy seem real.
Tolkien, Howard, and Gygax were my childhood heroes.
I was born in '83 and grew up watching Conan (both Barbarian and Destroyer). As I grew up and took an interest in comics, I started collecting the Conan comics. By 6th grade, I had three or four of the novelized short stories (collected and novelized by L. Sprague de Camp in the '60s, to be precise). I missed out on Age of Conan, which I’m told is no sad tale, and was convinced to spend some scratch on Conan Exiles. The game inspired me to re-read the novels I have collected, and the only things I’d like to see changed, really, are some of the weapons, and I’d like to have MORE of the armors and weapons available to craft and/or find.
This, Music always stuck with me, Intro and “what is best in life” Nab dvd double disc early on, and was always one of movies to throw in when I was doing resin kits, or something.
I didnt get into books till later, read them when I was younger, didn’t understand alot of it.
Reread them when is saw this game during early access, and got into them alot more.
I think for myself it was a combination of several means which have already been mentioned by other members on the thread. Like JTtheDestroyer, I started off reading a number of comics back in the 80s, but not with any regularity. From there, much like Mikey I began playing Hero Quest (different yes, but Space Crusade was another good one). This led to an interest in Steve Jackson & Ian Livingston’s Fighting Fantasy books. Legend of Zagor was my favourite due to the different character types, but I also had Talisman of Death, City of Thieves, Knights of Doom and Night Dragon. I should also note that He-Man and the Masters of the Universe also had some contributions. But it wasnt until I saw the Arnold Schwarzenegger movies that my interest in Conan really took off. Even though it had a number of inaccuracies lore wise, it did a great job of capturing the feel of the Conan universe, and serves as a good gateway to all things Conan. This also launched my fascination with Crom and his code, which continues to this day. I now see parallels of certain aspects of his wisdom contained in the writings of some of my favourite theorists such as Charles Darwin and Ayn Rand. In more recent times, Skyrim and later Conan Exiles of course has fuelled a massive reinvigoration of my interests in all things Conan.
PS- there is now speculation of a new Amazon Conan the Barbarian tv series based directly on Robert E Howards books. EDIT- However, there is a paucity of available information, and doubts have arisen. Sorry all, I did not intend to provide innacurate information.
