Conan Character Breakdown Reveals Names, Skin Tones

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on October 27, 2009

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I don’t find this quite as interesting as many of you might, so lets just get straight into it. Our friends over at MovieHole got their hands on the casting breakdown for the upcoming Conan reboot, which will be directed by Marcus Nispel (Friday the 13th). As you can see below, it reveals all of the names, skin tones and eye counts of the main characters, as well as some of the supporting characters. If you pay close attention, you can pick up a lot of plot elements, so beware of potential spoilers if you’re a spoiler-prude.

Here’s the quick rundown of the main characters. To see the rest of the list, including the supporting characters and narrator, head over to MovieHole.

[ CONAN ] He’s in his 20s to early 30s, Caucasian, powerfully built, broad-shouldered, sun browned skin lined with scars. Piercing blue eyes and square-cut black mane, tall. He is a savage killer that has matured into the refinement his father tried to teach him when he was young. Conan is very smart, almost inhumanly strong, and very cunning. His entire life, from the moment of his birth, has been shaped by violence. Being the last of his tribe and having to watch his father die a cruel death, he is determined avenge his peoples slaughter by killing all those who led the attack on the Cimmerians, including the all-powerful Khalar Singh. He is prepared to die in order to accomplish his goal. What Conan did not expect, was to find a reason to live? LEAD

[ TAMARA ] She is 18 to 24 years old, Caucasian or Middle Eastern, open to all ethnicities; beautiful, studious, correct, a novitiate of a Greek influenced monastery. A master of martial arts, she has been trained to be the Queen’s servant, bodyguard and best friend. She and many other female bodyguards to the queen have been in hiding most of their lives because of the curse of Acheron, which would take the queen’s life to bring almost immortal power to its king. When Khalar Singh, a powerful warlord with ambitions to become the king of Acheron, storms the monastery and captures all of the novitiates, she is separated from Ilira, the one she must protect. With all of her strength and will, Tamara is determined to find and rescue her. She finds herself in league with Conan because of a mutual need to find Khalar Singh. She is not in the least intimidated by Conan’s size or grim demeanor and their alliance eventually blossoms into something that surprises them both? LEAD

[ KHALAR SINGH ] He’s in his 40s to 50s, Asian or Middle Eastern, Central Asian, Mongol, Turkish, or Persian, open to all ethnicities; commanding in size and manner, a warlord and formidable warrior, brilliant, cruel, weathered and tanned by the many campaigns he has waged and won. He is driven in his quest to find the Queen of Acheron and has been building an empire to do so. His goal is to find the Queen whose blood will bring life to the demonic minions of Acheron while making himself king of this hellish power. With this power, Khalar will protect his legacy against the onslaught of master sorcerer, Thoth-Amon so that his weak son, Fariq may rule after his death. While riding into a Cimmerian village to recruit his old comrade, Corin, his large collection of mercenaries slaughters them to the last soul when Corin refuses to join them. The village’s only survivor was young Conan. When Khalar’s search has finally narrowed to the likely discovery of the queen at a monastery of female monks, he also learns Conan is older and hungry for revenge? LEAD

[ CORIN ] He’s in his 30s to 40s, Caucasian, powerfully built, intelligent, graceful, master swordsman, skilled blacksmith, de facto leader of Cimmerians and Conan’s father. He resolves to answer the terrible request of his dying wife and cuts Conan out of her so she can see him. He then shoulders the burden of raising Conan, which proves to be daunting given the boy’s savage nature. Corin teaches his son the meaning of the sword: a hot blade must be cooled and tempered. When Khalar finally corners him and tortures him to death, he shows no regret nor pain, hiding his concern for his son’s safety from the eyes of the enemy. SUPPORTING

[ FARIQ ] He’s in his 20s to early 30s, Asian or Middle Eastern, open to all ethnicities, slight of frame, piercing eyes, cruel, determined to prove to his father that he can rule the world when the time comes. But he has the mentality of a proto-goth rocker, so ruling the world will prove elusive. However, Fariq makes up for his lack of battle skills with his deft understanding of sorcery and evil determination to find the real queen of Acheron. SUPPORTING

[ ILIRA ] She is 18 to 20 years old, Caucasian or Middle Eastern, beautiful, fun-loving, a novitiate of a Greek influenced monastery. She has been hidden away in a monastery since birth since she is the designated queen of Acheron. When Khalar Singh captures her among all of the other novitiates and start the process of killing them to find out which is the real queen, Ilira maintains her courage under unbelievably cruel circumstances. SUPPORTING

[ UKAFA ] He’s in his 30s-40, very dark-skinned African or African American, massively framed at six-foot-five, gold-toothed, hardened by a lifetime of war, a leader of Kushite Tribemen from the savannahs of Kush. Ukafa is Khalar Singh’s second in command, jealous that Singh’s son, Fariq, will one day be warlord. He obeys his leader but plots the overthrow of his son. He is a mighty warrior and unbeatable in battle until he comes face to face with Conan. LEAD

[ REMO ] He’s in his 30s, any ethnicity, thin, feral, misshapen, a mysterious warrior of dark magic who travels by shadow and surprises men with a quick death. He leads a band of tracking Shadow Scouts under Khalar Singh’s employ. He can be immensely fast and devious, his soul as twisted as his body. SUPPORTING

[ FASSIR ] He’s in his 50s, Middle Eastern, Asian, Caucasian, SUBMIT ALL ETHNICITIES, strict yet loving, learned and spiritual, an elder monk and leader of the monastery. He’s charged with the care and education of the queen, Ilira. SUPPORTING

[ LUCIUS ] He’s in his 30s, Caucasian, handsome, proud, haughty, lethal, a leader of a Legion of Aquilonian Mercenaries. While attacking Corin and Conan in close quarters, he is thrown into a fiery forge that disfigures him for life. His self-revulsion twists him to the point that years later he takes great pleasure in torturing prisoners. SUPPORTING

[ ONE-EYED THIEF (ONE-EYED PRISONER) ] Hes in his 20s to 30s, any ethnicity, wiry, a leader of thieves, who has had the bad luck to fall into Lucius grips and is being tortured by him. However, the tables are turned by Conan and this prisoner has his revenge. He later appears at Khor Khala City and offers aide to Conan as a way to pay his debt.


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  • It was said that "This movie promises to be a complete revamp that stays closer to the original source material by Robert E. Howard", but the fact of the matter is that it is no where near what Robert E. Howard had written. The writers have no idea of who or what Conan is. The same can be said about their knowledge of Robert E. Howard. From what can be read so far about the cast call, this movie will not go to theatres or dvd but straight to SyFy.

    Conan get's to watch his father die. Again. This time it's from torture. Blah. Sack the hell out of Venarium and burn it to the ground!!! That's how Conan's father should die if HE MUST BE INCLUDED. That's how a Cimmerian should see his father go, dying in the bright madness of battle and not in some lame ass torture that is just completely lame. How do I know that it's lame? Because it's lame. Howard himself did not give a tale dedicated to Conan's origin, L. Sprague de Camp stayed away from it, so now let's hire D/O to fix all that. Sheesh.

    Are they really going to cut out baby Conan and hand him to his dying mother? Blind archers? Being the last of his tribe, watch the father die a cruel death blah blah blah. Was cut from his mother's womb by Conan's father so that she (mother) could see him before she died? Ok. Where is Khor Khala City? Thoth-Amon again? Tamara is not in the least intimidated by Conan's size or grim demeanor....not even just a little??

    Ok, so this is the Riddle of Steel part two. Or rebooted. Resheathed. Whatever. Four Picts cross the path of Conan and he unleashes a savagery that goes to far for a warrior? What is he supposed to do, scream and tell them that his dad can kick their dads' asses? C'mon man! Instead of his name being mentioned at the council fires this is going to cause his name to be whispered around the fires that pyscho boy Conan is unfit and should be cast out........will stop there incase thats makes it into the script somehow. 10 year old Conan takes on four Picts and lives? Give that boy a flagon of wine and two women!

    This is NOT Conan folks, this is BeastMaster Part 6.
  • Bombatta
    After Jackson's LOTR, how is it that we can still see classic fantasy treated with such disrespect?
  • Kike
    Oh my god. This is truly CRAP!!! Cliché, cliché, cliché, cliché. Conan is sooo great... why this clowns are in charge?
  • kikefriki
    Oh my god. This is truly CRAP!!! Cliché, cliché, cliché, cliché. Conan is sooo great... why this clowns are in charge?
  • 1. Stop the current production.

    2. Get an REH expert in the same room with the scriptwriters. Have them read the books and instruct them that the Conan stories will serve as the building blocks for the movie, and nothing else.

    3. Use this film as a chance to reinvent the pop cultural idea of Conan.

    Look at Casino Royale. Batman Begins. Pirates of the Carribean. All of these films took dead characters, dead franchises, and dead genres and reinvigorated them by not playing it safe. Even fans of Conan the Barbarian don’t want a rehash of that. We are twenty years older now, and we need something more sophisticated. Bryan Singer learned that the hard way with Superman Returns. This can NOT be a nostalgia project.

    Visit http://www.amrathelion.com/index.php/Nemedian-C... for more information.
  • it seriously boggles the mind. Conan should be an epic franchise, those who invoke LotR are right on the money- this could and should be LotR for adults with mulitiple movies like 007. But they will never get that with this banal drivel. The script is horrendous. Gaping plot holes and ridiculous dialogue will tank this and Conan will once again be movie toxic, just like conan the destroyer soaked the character in radioactivity. Conan's magic is best captured by his creator, Robert E. Howard. I don't know why this is so difficult- stop 're-imagining' 're-booting' or 're-anythinging' and present Howard's vision. That's the one that counts and that is the one people want to see. Sadly, ironically, tragically, anyone who does come to the character from the pastiche versions like the movies or non howard stories, always agrees that the Howard stories are the best. So what is the problem. Can anyone imagine someone coming along and 're-envisioning' Tolkein's Aragorn or Frodo? Making them psychopaths? That's what just happened with Conan. These people have repeatedly shown they know nothing of Conan nor do they respect him. To them he is just a name to stick into a movie title. After reading the script I openly laughed it was so bad. Conan is not a medieval Jason. The whole plot device of the girl being used as a sacrifice is a joke- it makes no sense within the context of the story, and that is the major plot. LAME.

    Meanwhile there are literally brilliant stories written by Howard ready to go.
  • Oh my god. This has nothing to do with the character "Conan" invented by Robert E. Howard.
    Stop the production, it is an insult to all readers of Howard's work and to all cineasts who know about good movies. This one will be crap.
  • Bob
    If this is how the film is shaping up it sounds truly horrendous. Cliched, ridiculous and far-removed from the original stories in just about every way. REH's writings were dynamic, intelligent and driven, sounds like what we will get here is sub-adolescent tosh
  • Nastro
    On Conan: Imagine if, in the upcoming Hobbit movie, Bilbo Baggins was re-imagined as a badass warrior with a drinking problem. He's a tough man of few words (like Clint Eastwood), and he has a dark, mysterious past. Bilbo, along with his sexy female gypsy companion Gollum, are on a quest to avenge the murder of his people, who were viciously murdered by the evil Warlord Gandalf, leaving Bilbo the Last of His Kind. Bilbo & Gollum seek out the Elves, a technologically advanced spacefaring race who live on a giant, ring-shaped space station called the One Ring. The elves's power-armored foot-soldiers are known as Orcs. So Bilbo, Gollom, & the Orcs wage war on the evil warlord Gandalf & Gandalf's army of Dwarven Rangers. They recover the Aragorn, the lost power-source of the One Ring, & use the Rings awesome firepower to save the day.

    If that sounds lame & stupid to you, well, that's exactly what they're doing with Conan. I read the script, and it's HORRIBLE. It's like they went out of their way to not use ANY of Robert E. Howard's themes, ideas, background setting, or characters.

    Just think if Hollywood gave Spider-Man, Harry Potter, or Batman the same treatment? Spider-Man would be a popular jock, who uses his spider-powers to make money as a mercenary. Harry Potter would be a Clint Eastwood tough-but-silent-badass, and Batman would be....well...Joel Schumacher already did this kind of thing to Batman.

    Anyway, not only is the script AWFUL by itself, they're COMPLETELY changing the character of Conan.

    They're totally altering Conan's world (imagine if, in the Lord of the Rings, the Hobbits were from Mordor - that's what the Conan script does).

    They're outright ignoring Howard's themes - like if Spider-Man was about revenge instead of Great Power/Responsibility...that's what this new Conan movie does.

    Now, the old Schwarzeneggar movie did the same thing - used nothing more that the names from the Conan stories while completely changing and reinventing everything else. Fans of the books were excited when we initially heard about the NEW movie - would we FINALLY get to see an actual Conan movie? The answer, as it turns out, is no.

    It's. Going. To. SUCK.
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