Barbarian Hero

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https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/00016634_7324.jpgEnemies? Crushed. Having them driven before you? Seen. Lamentation of their women? Heard. Not being listened to? Then to hell with you! "The fact is, barbarian heroism has the advantage of a certain clear, solipsistic simplicity; any itchy kid can take up a big sword, pull on a loincloth, and set out to carve his way to glory, and some turn out to be good at it (or just lucky)." — Call No Man Happy Until He Is Dread Loin cloths or Pelts of the Barbarian, taut rippling muscles, oiled back, impressive weapons, the beard of a grizzly bear (or inexplicably clean-shaven at all times) and glorious manly manes.

The Barbarian Hero is the ancient-era (or Future Primitive) badass, armed with muscles upon muscles and a variety of very sharp bladed objects, whose job it is to kill lots of monsters and kick lots of ass. While he seems to favor Cool Swords (the bigger, the better) he's more likely than other heroes to have An Axe to Grind, Carry a Big Stick, Drop the Hammer or Flail Epically. A Mighty Glacier, or even a Lightning Bruiser, he's able to defeat wizards and giants despite having no magical abilities (in myth, this was often ascribed to divine ancestry). One of The Oldest Ones in the Book, but seems to be coming back into style recently.

This type of character seems to lean more toward the Anti-Hero side of the scale, and he may be the white sheep of an Always Chaotic Evil Barbarian Tribe. If he is modelled in any way on Genghis Khan, it generally means he will end up becoming King By His Own Hand and generally an example of Modest Royalty. His enemy will often be a Sorcerous Overlord: both an overlord for him to be anti-authoritarian against and an Evil Sorcerer for him to be physical and brave against to emphasise the ideal of combined physical and mental mastery.

Very common trope in popular culture and folklore ever since Antiquity, and has lately been enjoying a revival.

Part Truth in Television before modern age, for less than intuitive reasons: usually "civilized" urban classes, despite having guaranteed access to better food, schooling and military training, suffered dearly for other flaws of lesser affluent societies than ours. Such as inbreeding pushed to ridiculous levels from King (out of choice) to commoners (out of lack of affordable transport to seek a mate outside village or city; this problem, incidentally, was solved by the steam engine: railroads!) and chronic diseases due to overcrowding and unsanitary conditions (like tuberculosis, dysentery, or skin diseases). The barbarian might have had a nasty, brutish and short life due to everyday violence and the need to provide for himself in face of danger, but at least he was far from everyday filth and crowding. Jared Diamond touched the issue when he discussed the evolution of the humans from hunter-gatherers to farmers.

Overlaps with Proud Warrior Race Guy, Noble Savage, and The Berserker. Often fond of being In Harm's Way. Females who fit this Trope are often of the Nubile Savage and/or Jungle Princess type.

Examples: open/close all folders Advertising Various forms of barbarians appear in Capital One commercials. What's in your wallet? Anime & Manga Guts from Berserk definitely has a lot of Conan in him, especially in his younger days (Griffith has more than a little Elric of Melnibone in him, thus covering the whole spectrum). Word of God is that Guts is more directly based on Rutger Hauer's character in the movie Flesh+Blood (more mercenary than barbarian). Either way, don't piss him off if you value your life. Conan more often than not was a mercenary, so it's not like you can't have two for the price of one. Mugen in Samurai Champloo. A Berserker, Blood Knight and former Pirate, he cares about little else than fighting, drinking, gambling and shagging and has nothing but contempt for all authority. Comic Books The European comic Den has a nerdy Earth male Trapped in Another World where he becomes a musclebound warrior and Chick Magnet. Also likes to be naked. Red Sonja is an added historical fiction swordwoman,placed in Conan 's Hyborean Age,by Roy Thomas. Claw The Unconquered is a Conan with a Red Guanlet,that hides his demon hand.Sort has elements of Elric and Prince Corum. Marvel Comics's Arkon, from his own perspective (and that of his home dimension Polemachus); in-story Values Dissonance means he most often acts as an antagonist to mainstream Earth's superheroes. Every character in TheWarlord comic book. Travis Morgan, a USAF officer from modern-day earth, enthusiastically adopts the lifestyle when he is stranded in Skartaris, eventually becoming its greatest hero. Parodied by Sergio Aragonés' Groo the Wanderer. Cerebus the Aardvark was a direct parody of the Barry Windsor-Smith drawn Conan comic books for its first 50 issues. Sláine, who appeared in 2000 AD. Incredible Hulk: Hulk often has shades of this, but most particularly when he was on the sub atomic planet K'ai and later the alien world of Sakaar. Kronen is a Conan parody featured in an Incredible Hulk story.Kronen,is one eyed,cruel and possess an amulet,with a smile deman,that the Hulk fights in an arena. His son Skaar is a proud example of this, even getting nicknamed "Conan" when he arrives on Earth. Marvel's The Incredible Hercules is their version of the Greco Roman hero. Korrek from Man-Thing.Little is a kind of Clonan,in another dimension.He was featured in the Man-Thing Comic with Howard the Duck. Ironjaw, from the eponymous comic from the long-defunct Atlas/Seaboard comics. The main character was a barbarian with an iron lower, well, jaw. He didn't get a lot of girls, especially since it was cancelled after 4 issues. DC's was a Native American whose canoe was washed out to sea as a boy, where he was found and raised by Vikings (they name him Eric, which he at first mispronounces "Arak," and the name sticks). He eventually winds up in the court of Charlemagne. Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! had a time traveling canine named Bow-Zar the Barkbarian. A monologue describing Marv in Sin City mentions he'd probably be right at home in a role like this. Unfortunately, Marv had the rotten luck of being Born in the Wrong Century where barely civilized, gigantic muscled men with honour codes and propensities for violence are in less demand. Also, Frank Miller himself has described Marv as "Conan in a trench coat", making him a rare modern-era barbarian hero. Before DC Comics got a hold of the property and introduced the "Prince Adam" thing, this was He-Man's backstory in Masters of the Universe. He was the greatest warrior in his jungle-dwelling tribe, who left to defend Castle Grayskull when he heard of evil forces seeking to plunder it and take over the world. The Warlord is Mike Grell's Colonel Travis Morgan,a poormans mixture of Robert E.Howard,Edgar Rice Burroughs,J.R.R.Tolkien and everything else by DC Comics. The Stalker was the barbarian hero without a soul,with medieval trappings. Starfire,before the Teen Titans,there was another Stafford-a swordswoman set on another planet,that had a sort comic life.Most notably as a Closplay by Angelique Travoure at Phil Sueling Comic Conventions. Kamandi,the Last Boy on Earth,mixed Mighty Samson,with Planet of the Apes and Animal Farm,Kirby Style. Killraven is a Clonan,set in a Marvel Comics version of H.G.Wells War of the Worlds.Arguably,a great concept not well handled by the creators. Mikey Rhodes, who visually resembles this trope, being a towering, bearded warrior armed to the teeth with some massive weapons, with one police officer even calling him Conan at a point. In essence, its a lot more complicated. Mighty Samson,is a Good Key Comic about a barbarian hero,living in a Post Apocalyptic future.He lives in N'Yark-a corruption of the name New York.Much of this was barrowed in later works,like Kamandi,Ironjaw,Thundarr and Killraven. Taarna is a swordswoman,riding a giant bird,similar to the Tarnsman of Gor,featured in the Heavy Metal movie. Wolfskin is a classic example, altough he is far more brutal and barbaric than the usual lot. Wolverine of Marvel comics is often not thought of as such,but he is the modern Barbarian Hero,similar to Conan with claws and a healing factor. X-O Manowar is a very unconventional take on this trope, being a Visigoth warrior from Dacia (today Romania), and therefore considered a barbarian by the Roman Empire, that gets an symbiotic Powered Armor from an alien race. Despite using technology much more advanced than other examples of this trope, he is still very much a Blood Knight due to being a product of his time period that has problems adapting with civilized society (specially when forced to work for the US government). Comic Strips Conan the Barbarian,the famous hero received his comic strip for a time.It was sanitized for the general population. Parodied in Thrud the Barbarian, a comic strip that used to run in White Dwarf magazine. Brawn-to-brain ratio indicated by giving him a huge body and a grapefruit-sized head. Fan Works A Crown of Stars: Invoked in chapter 33 when Asuka gloats that she will lead her army with an iron fist and one of her friends asks her if she will be going for a "blood-soaked barbarian-queen" vibe. Thousand Shinji: As her transformation in a Khornate berserker advances -eventually leading to her becoming the next Goddess of War-, Asuka resembles this: she becomes an impressively muscled and powerful warrior, armed with primitive-looking, gigantic axes and barely clad in a tarp. Prince Eric Khorum Rhann -a mixture of Conan of Cimmeria and Prince Namor,in an underwater environment on a Dyson Sphere.Bits of Aquaman are present. Prince Toreus Rhann -a mixture of Conan of Cimmeria ,Tarzan ,Fors ,Ka-Zar ,Wolverine and Prince Valiant,in a fallen environment on a Dyson Sphere.Mostly,inspired by Tarzan and the Golden Lion Captain Colin O'Brian and Doctor Zacheriah Sarkhon is two hero's fashion in the same vein as Fafhrd in Fritz Leiber and the Grey Mouser's stories, with bits Ralph Cramden and Ed Norton.Inspired by Conan meet Solomon Kane.

Films — Animation Darkwolf in Fire and Ice is a straight example of the trope.Created by Frank Frazetta ,featured in many paintings and a few novels. One of the stories in Heavy Metal concerns a nerdy kid who gets transported to a fantasy world in the body of a musclebound barbarian (and the voice of, for some reason, John Candy) named Den.Taarna,also is barbaric hero,riding a giant bird.Similarly as in the John Norman novel series Tarnsman of Gor. Films — Live-Action Conan the Barbarian is an action movie featuring a miscasted Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Cimmerian hero.It was followed by a sequel Conan the Destroyer.Later,Jason Mamoa was casted as Conan,in another Conan the Barbarian movie, being he was already such as Ronan in the television series Stargate Atlantis. Teenage Caveman is the Barbarian Hero set not in the past as thought,but a Post Apocalyptic future.Possibly the inspiration for the Mighty Samson.

D'Leh from 10,000 BC. Amathea (Lana Clarkson) from Barbarian Queen, but not in the sequel. Kain (David Carradine) from The Warrior and the Sorceress, a Barbarian Hero version of Yojimbo. Mace (Jorge Rivero) in Conquest, easily the most psychedelic Barbarian film ever. Deathstalker (Rick Hill) in Deathstalker, but not the sequel (where John Terlesky's Deathstalker is more of a Loveable Rogue or perhaps Magnificent Bastard). Mathayus in The Scorpion King.Barbarian Hero set back before the Egyptian civilization.

Yor: The Hunter from the Future. He's the MAAAAA-AAN!For was sort of time displaced barbarian hero. Dar from The Beastmaster.He is a hero based on Andre Norton 's novel The Beastmaster,rewritten to fit a kind of Clonan.Dar from The Beastmaster,narrows elements from another Andre Norton novel  Starmans Son.(Daybreak 2250). Kai from Robot Holocaust is this with a bit of The Big Guy & The Speechless. William Wallace in Braveheart.Even though based on a historical figure,the movie take on aspects of Conan. Averted in The Blade Master, despite its Conan-inspired Heroic Fantasy aesthetic. Ator certainly looks the part and is a great warrior, but he's also highly-educated and high-minded, and studied at the feet of a scientist who lives in a castle, while "barbarians" are referred to with derision in the film. The Chronicles of Riddick take the barbarian hero to space, playing out many of the classic tropes as Riddick rises from a childhood on a Death World Penal Colony to Dreaded criminal, mercenary, and conqueror. In The World's End, Gary has become this at the very end of the film: a sword-wielding hero in a post-societal collapse Britain. This is shown as a good thing as he's kicked his alcoholism and suicidal depression and now really feels like he has a place in the world. Red Miller from Mandy (2018) may not be a barbarian but he certainly shares a lot of tropes associated with a character like this: He's a solitary man who lives alone in the wilderness, who is heavily implied to have some sort of violent past that he's left behind to live with girlfriend Mandy. His enemies include a depraved, cowardly cult leader who may possess some sort of magical ability, and his gang of demonic biker servants (mirroring the Sorcerous Overlord trope often found in barbarian stories). When he's called into action, he does so with medieval weaponry, specifically an ax forged by his own hand and a crossbow, and in hand-to-hand confrontations he's The Berserker. He-Man,Masters of the Universe is a movie version of the Matel Toy line and animation series.You The Barbarian Brothers-twice the Clonans. Sword and the Sorcerer.Lee Horsley tried to be a heroic swordsman. Literature Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian is the most famous of the Barbarian Heroes and the Trope Codifier, and versions of the character have appeared in every medium, from the original short stories to later novels (new books are still published), several comic book adaptations, the adult-oriented comic magazine Savage Sword of Conan, a live-action television show, a children's cartoon, video games, and three feature films.

Additionally the character has inspired an entire genre of imitators, ranging from silly Groo the Wanderer to more serious fare like Red Sonja (a female Barbarian Hero). In some ways Conan is an Unbuilt Trope. At least the original Howard version who only rarely went around in only a loincloth (usually to cast off excess weight when he planned to climb something) and was substantially more intelligent and articulate than the stereotype. There's a lot of these in Terry Pratchett's Discworld: Cohen the Barbarian is a deconstruction, as he was never defeated but also can't hold down a steady job as king of any of the kingdoms he conquered, is still barbarian hero-ing in his eighties. His Silver Horde included an eclectic bunch of ancient-but-still-mighty warriors, and an aged geography teacher. Nijel the Destroyer, who is over six feet of rippling skin and bone with long underwear under his loincloth. The entire race of Nac Mac Feegle, with the possible exceptions of the gonnagle and the kelda. The Colour of Magic specifically notes that the Disc's hub is swarming with these types, the two appearing prominently in that book being Bravd (a parody of Fafhrd, below) and Hrun, who are both described as standard models if only slightly more intelligent than the norm. There's even a bar for them in Ankh-Morpork, where brawls have a scoring system, and calling yourself "[Name] the Invincible" is considered a form of suicide. Barbarian heroines on the Disc include Herrena the Henna-Haired Harridan, Cohen's daughter Conina and Vena the Raven-Haired, who's the same age as Cohen's gang and looks like a kindly old grandmother who happens to be dressed like Xena. There's also a brief mention in Eric of a "Red Scharron". Later books see a decline in the profession of barbarian heroism concurrent with the progress of Disc civilization. The truest of barbarian heroes are pared down to old men like Cohen and the Horde, while younger ones like Hrun seek out steadier jobs and the famed barbarian bar brawls in Ankh-Morpork become more of a show for tourists. Non-Discworld Pratchett example: Erdan the Barbarian in the short story "Final Reward". While he starts off as a primitive barbarian, it takes him about a day to fit seamlessly into modern society, with his creator noting that he's "basically your total hero type" who can function anywhere. Fafhrd in Fritz Leiber's stories, although he's kind of a subversion since he was trained as a skald (a singer of poetry) among the Fantasy Counterpart Culture of Vikings he came from and thus has a higher voice and more sensitivity than most of these characters. Kull the Conqueror. One of Robert E. Howard's earlier characters, and would later form the foundation of the man who would become Conan. Kull, like Conan, is something of an Unbuilt Trope. He is rather introspective and EXTREMELY timid around women, so much so that a 19-year old girl was able to push him around when he's the king. Lin Carter's Thongor of Lemuria novels.Things is basically a Clonan,existing in Lemuria-Lin Carter's version of the Hyborean Age. Grignr from The Eye of Argon (if we use a rather loose definition of 'literature'.) Almost every Alom feudal lord in Yulia Latynina's Wei Empire cycle. Especially from the Whitefalcon line, which gives us two especially awesome and Badass Barbarian Heroes: Marbod Whitefalcon in "100 Fields" (who once slaughtered the population of a castle from the inside, while unarmed and naked) and Kissur Whitefalcon in "Wizards and Ministers" and "the Insider". Wulfgar, from the Drizzt novels. He actually comes to find that he can't get along in "civilized" society with the rest of the Companions of the Hall, and goes back home to Icewind Dale. Beowulf from both the Old English poem and The Movie, although he's actually relatively civilised and wears lots of pretty armour. In Jack L. Chalker's The River of Dancing Gods, middle-aged truck driver Joe finds himself reborn in a fantasy world as Joe, the Barbarian! With a mighty sword...Irving! The Death Dealer, a novel series based on a series of Frank Frazetta paintings. Speaking of Frank Frazetta, the 'modern' depiction of barbarian hero with rippling muscles and oily long hair is essentially his creation, especially thanks to a cover he painted for Robert E. Howard's Conan◊, copied and/or referenced often by many others afterwards. Parodied with Conan the Librarian.Conan of Cimmeria works in a library,giving out advice on books,on PBS. Achilles in The Iliad is almost the Ur-Example. Karsa Orlong of Malazan Book of the Fallen is what happens when this trope meets a whole lot of Deliberate Values Dissonance and gets dropped into a more traditional fantasy setting. Karsa's not "evil" per say, and certainly sees himself as a Barbarian Hero, but his casual attitude towards rape, murder, and theft do not make him popular with a lot of people in universe. And oh yeah, he thinks that wiping out civilisation is the best way to save humanity from itself. Word of God says that he is a very deliberate deconstruction of the "barbarian fantasy". Liane the Wayfarer, the protagonist of the eponymous story in Jack Vance's Dying Earth series is a subversion. He's actually a lot like the original Conan, being a cunning Adventurer Archaeologist type, except that he's really more of a villain. He's arrogant, utterly amoral, and has no problem with killing innocents. Paul Atreides in Dune after Going Native. John Jakes, later famous for his historical novels, had Brak the Barbarian, circa 1968. Parodied, like so many other Fantasy tropes, in Mary Gentle's Grunts!. Lord Blond Wolf, is a northern barbarian; complete with wolf-fur boots and cloak, huge blond braids and a really big axe. However, he's only 2' 7". Thunk the Barbarian from John Moore's Heroics for Beginners, who tries to break into the Fortress of Doom at the beginning of the story, is a classic version bordering on parody. Joe Abercrombie's Northerners, when they are the (relative) heroes, notably Logen Ninefingers. Karl Edward Wagner's Kane was one of these for long stretches of his life, but he's unusually anti-heroic even by sword and sorcery standards and at times he's a sorcerous overlord. Finally he abandons this identity once he survives into the modern world and becomes alternately a biker or a scientist. Subverted with Michael Moorcock's Elric, while there are parallels in terms of Elric and your standard barbarian hero having archnemesis wizards and going on all kinds of adventures. Elric is otherwise the deliberate opposite of a Barbarian Hero in every way. He starts off inheriting a decadent empire, he's the greatest wizard of his generation and is entirely civilized. He's also a homebody preferring to read books than fighting (or for that matter, living much of a life), until he's forced to by the machinations of his cousin. Averted with Ward of Hurog. He lives in Shavig, a northern country known for its barbarism in other countries, has muscles upon muscles and is so big he's eventually nicknamed the "Giant of Shavig". He is also an avid reader, knows lots of ballads and likes to recite them. In the only incident of Rape, Pillage, and Burn that takes place in the novels, Ward is the one who kills the would-be rapists before they can get to the burning part.This incident helps a lot with changing the image of his country, which beforehand did include Viking-like invaders. Aside from being a villain, Raven of Snow Crash is essentially one of these transplanted into a Cyberpunk setting, with devastating results. He manages to make primitive weapons like his beloved glass knives effective even in the cyberpunk era through sheer skill and toughness, and is utterly contemptuous of Western civilization and all it represents. Hirad Coldheart from Chronicles of the Raven certainly fits the bill. He is somewhat more thoughtful and patient (up to a point) than the usual examples. He wears lots of furs and leather, though, and fights in the manner of a berserker. Swords, axes, bare fists, even teeth are some of his weapons of choice. In The Divine Cities there's Sigrud je Harkvaldsson, Shara's six and a half feet tall bodyguard and assistant. She tends to introduce him as her secretary, especially when confronted with other people's assumption that he's just a Dreyling barbarian from the northern lands. Sigrud does not care to correct their assumptions and prefers his heritage to dictate others' opinion of him. It is, however, Sigrud who often saves the day and gets horribly injured while fighting to protect strangers, even though his methods for doing so involve copious amounts of flat-out slaughter. All works by the author Jack Donovan are basically manuals to become a real life barbarian hero. Rom, the titular barbarian from The Barbarian And The Sorceress, complete with Heroic Build and Braids of Barbarism. Live-Action TV Beast Master Heracles from Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, and Xena from Xena: Warrior Princess. The Twilight Zone (2002) episode "Azoth the Avenger Is a Friend of Mine". A young boy who is a fan of the comicbook hero Azoth the Avenger inadvertently brings him to life. Music Ensiferum's Wanderer depicts a figure very reminiscent of characters like Conan (With bare hands he has taken many lives/He's had a hundred women by his side) or Guts (But when sun sets and the cold arrives/With crushing solitude in the darkness of night). Manowar loves this trope. Rhapsody of Fire has the Nordic Warrior in their Emerald Sword Saga. Subverted with A Sound of Thunder's "Udoroth". The guy in that song that looks to be the typical Barbarian Hero is a cruel tyrant that's eventually murdered by a concubine and eventually becomes a demon lord. Ill Bill, Immortal Technique, and Max Cavalera have a song called "War is My Destiny" which is Hip-Hop's answer to this trope. And it is EPIC. Averted by GWAR. "Barbarian" by Electric Wizard, which is directly based on the Conan stories. Myths & Religion Older Than Dirt: Enkidu from The Epic of Gilgamesh. Even Gilgamesh qualifies (despite not technically being a "barbarian" since he came from what was then the most civilized culture on Earth — which wasn't very, back then), especially when he goes out on his wilderness journey. Herakles. (Though as with Gilgamesh it's worth remembering that as the son of Zeus and Queen Alcmene of Thebes he has a civilized background in the myths. He ends up wearing the skin of the Nemean Lion later in life not just because it looks cool, but because it's arguably better armor than he could get otherwise.) But he carries a club instead of a blade. It's the bronze age, so swords aren't primary weapons yet. And he's superhumanly strong; a sturdy club with decent reach (fashioned from a tree he uprooted himself) may actually make more sense than an axe or spear that could get stuck. He's also explicitly a superb archer. The skin of the Nemean Lion could not be pierced by any arrow or spear, so Herc beat it to death with a club, then skinned it using its own teeth/claws. While he is usually depicted with a club, in various myths he used different weapons depending on what he was fighting (sword and torch for the Lernaean Hydra, arrows for the Stymphalian Birds, etc.). Broadly speaking, the heroes of Greek mythology are not too different from Vikings and Norse heroes, in the areas of monster-slaying, plundering, single combat, and general warrior culture. There's even some evidence that unlike Vikings, they actually wore horned helmets. Bhima, the third Pandava brother in the Mahabharata. He's not The Hero either - his two older brothers are Yudhisthira, The Captain of sorts and paragon of morality and ethical compass to all five brothers, and Arjuna, an outrageously skilled warrior of all forms and a borderline metaphorical god of archery. Bhima just fits here because of his temper and absurd levels of strength (notably ripping apart a man in half by the crotch) and stamina (survived being poisoned just because of his size, and was subsequently nursed to health by the Nagas - increasing his power another tenfold). Common trope in Norse Mythology Arguably Samson, one of the Judges of Israel. Among his exploits were killing lots of enemies bare-handed, ripping apart a lion bare-handed (and then eating the honey of the bees that took up residence in the carcass of said lion), burning down enemy fields by tying torches to the tails of foxes, killing hundreds of Philistines with just the jawbone of an ass (and then dropping a Bond-style one-liner immediately afterward), picking up the gates of an enemy city and just walking off with them, and finally, collapsing a heathen temple, killing hundreds of Philistines along with himself as one final act of holy awesomeness. Pinballs The titular character in Atari's Hercules. The loincloth-clad protagonist of Gorgar. The unnamed winged hero of Bally's Lost World and Paragon. One appears in the "Barbarian" table in Balls of Steel, not surprisingly. Dungeons & Dragons would not be complete without one. Podcasts Storm Blackfire (a character in the Jade Regent Actual Play podcast series from RPGMP3) is a half-elf barbarian and combat expert. She's on very good terms with her childhood friend, Sandru. At one point, she acquired a magical glow-in-the-dark butterfly tattoo on a certain part of her body, which is difficult for her to conceal under her... usual attire. Luckily, her magical sword imbues her with cold-resistance. Tabletop Games The Warriors of Chaos of Warhammer are actually an entire faction of Barbarian Villain Protagonists, being a Fantasy Counterpart Culture of The Viking Age Scandinavia which worships the Chaos Gods. Particularly, every special character choice they have is this trope incarnated, then bloodsoaked, and then put in a bulky suit of inch-thick plate armour decorated with skulls and other assorted trophies. Wulfrik the Wanderer in particular plays this straight, being a massive, hairy behemoth of man clad in intimidating armour and a big cloak made of giant-scalp who sails on his longship searching for the deadliest creatures and warriors to challenge to battle and then kill for the glory of the Dark Gods. There's also something to be said of Wulfrik's backstory. After basically slaughtering every other Chaos Champion he came across, he then manages to defeat an entire army single-handed, and then at the victory feast he downs seven barrels of mead and boasts that he is the greatest warrior to ever live. These acts manage to impress even the Chaos Gods themselves, who then decide to curse Wulfrik to an eternity of warfare in order to have him prove it. Then there's Valkia the Bloody, who is the female version of this trope and a demonic Valkyrie, armed with the spear Slaupnir and dedicated to Khorne, the god of Berserkers. She also used to be the Warrior Queen of a Norscan tribe before she was ascended to be the Sword-Maiden of the Blood God. Subverted however by Sigvald the Magnificent, who despite coming from said barbarian culture, is a worshiper of Slaanesh and is therefore actually fairly civilized (read: decadent). At the very least, he is a connoisseur of fine wines... And if that wine is not to his taste, he will burn and pillage the city that made it before razing it to the ground. Ironically, despite consciously trying to avert this trope in-universe, Sigvald ends up playing it straight. And of course, Sigmar, chieftain of the Unberogen tribe. Got his famous warhammer Ghal Maraz as a teenager by saving the Dwarf king's life from marauding Orcs, united all the other human tribes of the Reik and led them to decisively crush a huge Orc horde at the Battle of Blackfire Pass in the ultimate triumph of his strength and his ideals of human unity. Sigmar marched back to Reikdorf, was crowned Emperor, ruled for five years (leading the Empire to victory against demon-worshipping Vikings, mangy Nazi rat-people and the undead servants of Nagash) and then went east to fight Chaos and was never seen again. Afterwards the people of the Empire started worshipping him as a god (he did in fact ascend to godhood when he went east as revealed in The End Times). Basically if you combined Conan, Charlemagne and Thor. Warhammer 40,000: The Space Wolves (Space Vikings) and White Scars (Space Mongols) chapters of the Space Marines. Take your standard barbarian warrior, make him seven feet tall, give him Power Armor, a chainsword and a rapid-fire handheld missile launcher, and set him (and his brothers) loose on the enemies of Man. Most Space Marines are ex-barbarians. The ones who aren't are either pseudo-medieval knights, psychotic ex-cons and gangsters, plus a smattering of IG soldiers. The Dark Angels chapter master makes most of the Space Wolves look downright civilized; he was a headhunting tribal savage before he got uplifted. The Barbarian class in all editions of Dungeons & Dragons. In 4th Edition Barbarian is one of the "Primal" classes, making it more spiritual in nature, as well as giving some "magical" gimmicks; a high level barbarian may literally turn into a volcano. Playing as a Barbarian does come with a few special quirks. You're faster and more athletic than a Fighter and have more hitpoints to boot, as you were raised in the wilds and needed to become physically fit from a very young age. On the other hand, because you haven't had the privileges of learning to properly fight in a civilised society like your Fighter pal, you're not trained to use heavier armour nor tower shields and have fewer combat feats. In 3rd edition, Barbarians were also the only class in the game who started as illiterate. In 5th Edition, Barbarians make up for their lack of heavy armor with Unarmored Defense, which allows them to add their Constitution Modifier to their AC when not wearing armor. Without factoring in Dex, this means a Barbarian's shredded abs provide him as much protection as a maille shirt if he has 16 Con. If you rolled extremely well making your character, you could start off the game with 18 Dex and 18 Con, giving you a starting AC of 18, equivalent to plate armor, while being completely naked. Even better, Barbarians can carry shields and keep this bonus, and don't have the Disadvantage on stealth checks that comes with Heavy Armor. Many of D&D's descendants like 13th Age and Pathfinder have their own barbarian classes, usually based on the 3.5 one, meaning that while they may hold spiritual beliefs (then again, they may not), their actual combat style is heavy on The Berserker. Amiri, Pathfinder's iconic Barbarian, goes so far as to wield a BFS that's so heavy it can't be swung effectively unless she's in a blood rage. As Exalted is Trope Overdosed, there must of course be examples of this. The most prominent is Yurgen Kaneko, the Bull of the North. Yurgen was an old barbarian warlord who followed the ways of his people and walked out into a snowstorm when it became clear he was getting too old for the battlefield... and while out there, he was chosen by the Unconquered Sun to be one of his great heroes and kick ass in his name. Right now, he's currently giving the Realm one hell of a hard time defending its holdings. First Edition suggested that the vast, vast majority of Lunars were such heroes, devoted to smashing the pillars of decadent civilization and bringing humanity back into the toughened fold of the world. This did not meet with much popularity, so it merely became a option for Lunars trying to find an alternative to the extant model of society (and it says a bit that the signature Lunar who's biggest on barbarism, Ma-Ha-Suchi, is just using his "experiment" as a reason to get back at the world 'cause he's not the prettiest anymore). Barbarians of Lemuria lives by this trope. The German small-press beer-and-pretzels RPG Barbaren! takes this trope to its logical conclusion: all player characters are manly male barbarian heroes out to demonstrate their manliness by winning fights (the more dangerous the better) and getting women, unattached or otherwise, to fall for their manly charms. (It's subtitled 'The Ultimate Macho Role-Playing Game' for good if somewhat tongue-in-cheek reason. That said, there actually is playable fairly rules-light role-playing game complete with an almost-plausible setting underneath said cheekiness.) In Wasteland 2010 (a riff on Thundarr the Barbarian), Zolgar is "the de facto leader of the group" and also "a loyal friend who will risk his life to save those in need without so much as a second thought." Video Games Rastan is one of the most well-known and archetypical arcade examples. Both Player Characters in Magic Sword: Heroic Fantasy, although Player 1 (Alan) moreso. The hero of Black Tiger (who may or may not be be named Black Tiger) is another example. The Black Whirlwind from Jade Empire is somewhat like this, mixed with Boisterous Bruiser and Ax-Crazy. Virtually all his stories end up with him killing everybody in the vicinity, and it's mentioned that, like Marbod Whitefalcon above, he once stormed an entire castle, alone and naked. And drunk. Ninety-nine percent of what the Black Whirlwind does is apparently done under the influence. Many Atari ST games in the late '80s and early '90s had barbarian protagonists, with Targhan, Torvak the Warrior, and Barbarian being prime examples. Castlevania's Simon Belmont was depicted this way in his early appearances◊, as basically Conan with a whip. In fact, the figure and pose of Simon on the original Castlevania cover is taken directly from a Frank Frazetta painting. He's received several◊ redesigns◊ since then, but even at his most bishonen-y, Simon still looks like he could rip you in half with his bare hands, unlike many of the later Belmonts. He eventually went back to the original, straightforward barbarian look in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Subverted in the case of Gabriel Belmont. He was originally intended as one, but Hideo Kojima advised the production team to refine him to appeal to players better. Minsc from the Baldur's Gate series. In a rarity for Barbarian Heroes in D&D-based games, not actually of the Barbarian class, he is a Ranger instead. This is because the D&D rules decreed that the only class allowed to have animal companions are Rangers, and Minsc is absolutely inseparable from his pet 'miniature space hamster' Boo. There was to be a Human Barbarian origin for the Player Character in Dragon Age: Origins, but it was never implemented because the devs didn't have the time to produce the assets needed to sufficiently distinguish the Avvar (i.e. local barbarian) culture from the regular (civilized/feudal) Fereldan culture. Hence also the conspicuous absence of Avvar-related subplots in a game set in the region where the Avvars are supposedly a prominent ethnic group. There is, however, an Avvar origin in the Dragon Age pen-and-paper RPG. Barbarian is one of the available classes in both Diablo II and Diablo III. The Barbarians as a race are given a different spin in this series than most, being not individual world-roaming anti-heroes but rather a heroic and honorable Proud Warrior Race charged with protecting a Cosmic Keystone. The non-canon, third-party expansion of the first game, titled Hellfire, also allowed a Barbarian class. One of these Barbarians, Sonya, represents the class in Heroes of the Storm. Duke Nukem is a Barbarian Hero with guns. Think about it for a second: Muscles like a Belgian Blue, irresistible to the ladies, armed to the teeth, constantly fighting with monsters, some of whom are clear cut Eldritch Abominations and finally he is rich, famous and powerfull. The only thing that sperarates him from the traditional Barbarian is that he did not go from rags to riches. Duke was pretty much born into being the most succesfull man ever. The Warrior from the Gauntlet series fits this trope perfectly. Though the Red variant in Legends and Dark Legacy is the standard version, the other three colors offer different costumes. Starting with the third game, the Fallout series has featured the comic-book hero "Groknak the Barbarian." Collecting issues of his comic will increase your Melee Weapons skill, and in the fourth game, the protagonist can find some replica props and cosplay as him. In a more traditional sense, Fallout 2 puts the player in the shoes of a Future Primitive descended from the previous game's hero, who is declared The Chosen One due to their heritage and sent on a quest to find a "holy relic" (read: terraforming device) that will save their village from starvation. "Barbarian" was a playable class in Ultima III: Exodus. In a subversion of the trope, it was actually the worst character to play the game with, since the game system was very reliant on magic. As in an entire party of Squishy Wizards would get you a lot further than one of Barbarians. That said, an all-Barbarian party is one challenge for the game. Rau from The Mark of Kri and Rise of the Kasai is basically Polynesian Conan (the stereotype, not the original). He's even directly addressed as "Barbarian" instead of his name sometimes. Gogan, the Mighty Warrior from The Legendary Axe. Played with in Final Fantasy IV: The After Years: The Man In Black is a toweringly huge man, very strong with very high HP, extremely muscular, a Barbarian Long Hair, who wears only a kilt and cowl and wields a BFS—heck, said BFS is even called the Cimmerian Blade. However, since he is also Golbez, Anti-Villain of the previous game and Cecil's brother, he is extremely intelligent, highly proficient in magic, and at heart a very good man. The main character of NieR in the Gestalt version of the game. In the Replicant version, he's instead a Bishōnen. In Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior the player controls a barbarian hero on a quest to save a beautiful princess from an evil wizard. In the sequel, the princess takes up the sword alongside the hero as a playable character. Ax Battler from Golden Axe, with expys Stern Blade in Revenge of Death Adder and Kain Grinder in Golden Axe III. All of the playable characters in the Golden Axe series tend to fit this trope, but Ax Battler is the most archetypal. Age of Conan Barbarian is a playable class in the MMORPG. Interestingly, this game makes the barbarian a rogue class with stealth skills rather than a brawling warrior archetype like most games do, as Conan was a thief in a lot of his stories. They're DPS-oriented rogue/fighter hybrids that favours big weapons or Dual Wield. There is also the Conqueror class, which is nothing less than the Barbarian class with warrior features: this can wear heavy armor and can use Dual Wield and Two-Handed gears and is focused on damage rather than being tanker. Rose Sub in Trio the Punch is practically a Captain Ersatz of Rastan. The Elder Scrolls Throughout the series (until Skyrim did away with classes), Barbarians were one of the character classes. They were lighter armoured and more mobile warriors. This is a common depiction (and even ideal) of the Nords, along with Horny Vikings. Axes as a favored weapon, Braids of Barbarism, Badass Beards, war paint, war cries, Pelts of the Barbarian... It is all heavily present in Nord culture, which they took from their ancestors, the Atmorans. Enemies of the Nords (usually elves) prefer to paint them instead as a violent and savage Barbarian Tribe. Skyrim: Although the game gives you the opportunity to play as many other things aside from this, the promotional art◊ for the "official" Dragonborn is shown to be a male Nord with the dress and demeanor of Barbarian Hero. This appears to be the general aesthetic of most of the armors in Skyrim, in contrast to Oblivion's Knight in Shining Armor aesthetic. Steel Armor, for instance: compare the Oblivion◊ set to the Skyrim◊ set. Justified by Skyrim's native inhabitants being the Nords, as described above. Lykos in the TurboGrafx-CD game Shapeshifter. He is actually called a "barbarian lad" in dialogue. The hero of the Amstrad CPC game Savage. "Gonad the Barbiturate" was how programmer David Perry described his character design. Leo of Red Earth is a king who set off as a warrior when cursed into a Beast Man. Rock from Soul Edge is a glaring example in terms of much of his backstory and his look of sporting a fur loincloth and carrying a huge battle-axe. He does subvert it a bit as he's a self-taught barbarian who's really a well-to-do British man marooned in the U.S. Subverted in Wizards and Warriors. Kuros (the protagonist) is portrayed this way on the box art (both for this game, and its sequel Ironsword: Wizards and Warriors II), but in actuality, he's more like a Knight in Shining Armor wearing full plate mail. League of Legends features the Barbarian King Tryndamere, wielding a bigass sword and the ability to NOT die, sustained with nothing but his own rage Shop Heroes features Kurul and Karal, both of whom are barbarian warriors from the plains (and who may be related, judging by the names). Kurul probably fits the archetype best, being a a grim, violent thug who's always shouting. By contrast, Karal has a much sunnier disposition than the typical barbarian hero, although she's still quite loud. Italian company Crian Soft has Age of Barbarian, a game that's a tribute to '80s Barbarian and Sword & Sorcery movies. Fittingly they have a Conan expy, Rahaan and a Frank Frazetta-style girl, Sheyna. As a tribute to '70s Sword & Sorcery pulp fantasy, White Whale games has the surrealistic God of Blades. In this game that looks like a Roger Dean album cover, you control the resurrected alien barbarian "The Nameless King" as he fights enemies from the void that invaded his world. Data East's Hippodrome and follow-up game Mutant Fighter (in Japan, it was Deathbrade) has barbarian warriors fighting inhuman creatures in the arena. Kratos from the God of War Series. Even though he is Greek, he hails from the Sparta, which was considered the most barbaric of all Greek city-states by far, and Kratos is particularly a warrior of pure unadultered physical power and immense savagery, driven by animalistic and atavistic fury. Also, in true Barbarian Hero fashion, his first instinct when accosted by beautiful women in scant clothing cringing in terror is to have sex with them. His throne as the Greek God of War was also draped with willing female slaves like a Frazetta piece. Ironically, in 2018 God of War (PS4), he fits the aesthetic even better (grew a bear and switched his Blades of Chaos with a battle axe), but he calmed down a lot after he formed a new family. DOOM (2016): If there can be such a thing as a high-tech barbarian, the Doom Slayer has earned his spot as one. No homeland (he lost it to demons), always seeking another fight (he's made it his goal to destroy every demon there is), lonesome, heroic for the most part and certainly barbaric in both sheer power and pure, unbridled, unquenchable rage. The only thing he's missing to fit would be the heavily exposed muscles, and even then he's bulky enough that no amount of armor can hide them. He's lost the sleeves in Doom Eternal, revealing his muscles are suitably ripped. Web Animation The short-lived Barbarian Moron series, pretty much Exactly What It Says on the Tin. Web Comics Tur'geis and Die'tra Am'saag Sarghress are good Conan-like examples of this trope from Drowtales, save for not being main characters. Bonus points from originally being from Relic Hunters, a very Swords and Sorcery based side-comic/RPG on the Drowtales site. In American Barbarian, the title hero and his family. In Exiern, Typhan-Knee was a typical loin cloth wearing, sword-swinging, over muscled, misogynistic barbarian hero and fully committed to living down to the stereotype. That is, until in the first few panels of the strip, where a run-in with the Evil Wizard Faden gave him a Gender Bender. Now "Tiffany", she is struggling to reconcile her views of women and previous adventuring with her new state. It does seem that being a woman has bumped her IQ up a few points though. She's still sword-swinging and over-muscled, however. Legend of Bill and its spin-offs explore this trope: Bill is the stereotypical intellect-challenged barbarian roaming the D&D landscape accompanied by the far more intelligent blue dragon Frank, meeting other deconstructed stereotypes (evil wizards, mysterious gipsies, knightly heroes, badass princesses). Although perhaps the most bad-ass psychotic-fighter barbarian of all in the Billverse is Barwench Sarah, a frustrated and put-upon inn skivvy whose approach to hospitality and customer care involves not breaking the customer's fingers provided the tip he leaves is acceptable. The Ht'rok'din, ultimate ancestor of the Heterodyne family in Girl Genius fits the physical appearance, although given that his descendents are Mad Scientists, he's probably smarter than he looks. Goblins: Minmax was already fitting the trope when a pure fighter (by Dungeons & Dragons rules), including the bare chest and aversion to pants. As of the fight in the magic forest room of the Maze of Many, he has officially taken his first level of barbarian. (With the "extra rage" feat, as befitting of a good minmaxer.) Minmax: The strength bonus from raging is totally awesome! Oglaf parodies the trope with Kronar the Barbarian, a warrior from an all-male tribe who is essentially a Manly Gay version of Conan. When not sleeping with other manly men, he is usually seen in an Unstoppable Rage. He also has a daughter who is apparently as much of a badass as he is, given that she was killing wolves with her bare hands a few hours after birth. Despite his disdain for 'sorcery' (which to him includes scented candles and writing, and arrows are borderline), he learns how to 'shoot bzowts' in order to defeat a sorceress, and, when asked by his men how he could bear that shame, he dismisses them by stating that he feels no shame, because feelings are for women. Guilded Age: Frigg. Less in terms of the culture that raised her than her crass & violent attitude. Western Animation Parodied in Dave the Barbarian, where the main character is a wimp (with a wimpy name) and prefers not to fight, though the image is accurate. Played straighter with his little sister Fang. Who is not a monkey! Korgoth from Korgoth of Barbaria is a deadpan parody of the trope, specifically parodying Thundarr and Conan. Thundarr the Barbarian. An episode of The Fairly Oddparents featured Timmy getting transformed into a barbarian thanks to Jorgen. The Dungeons & Dragons TV series had Bobby become this. Masters of the Universe is a strange variation. In He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983) He-Man spends half the time as a Conan the Barbarian type hero and the other half in his secret identity as Prince Adam, who's closer to King Arthur than to this trope. He switches back and forth with a Captain Marvel type transformation, "By the Power of Grayskull!", and fights alongside other Barbarian heroes in the Cyber Punk Barbarian Arthurian World that is Eternia. However, his sister, She-Ra, has basically no trace of this trope. Claims that He-Man was based the Conan movie are false. Superman actually became one of these briefly in the episode of Justice League, "Hereafter", after having been transported to the distant future, where humanity had long since been wiped out, with only Vandal Savage remaining. A red sun hung in the sky, rendering Superman powerless, leaving him to venture forth through the wilderness with only his natural strength (which is still nothing to sneeze at), his wits, a sword he forged himself from an iron bar, and a pack of wolves that followed him once he killed their former pack leader. Parodied in WordGirl with the villain Nocan the Contrarian, a barbarian warrior who speaks in opposites. Ronal the Barbarian and more fittingly the rest of his clan. Zandor from The Herculoids (both incarnations) has shades of this, but prefers using a slingshot.Same or is kind of a Tarzan type,with a tree house family and bunch of visual,alien animals. The ThunderCats (1985) are these to a degree, especially Lion-O. Lion-O,was sort of Conan,as an actual lion man,with a weapon,the sword of Omens,that he could see things beyond right-king kind of Oracle,that helps see other times and places beyond his own. Fangbone! combines this trope with Kid Hero, since he's only nine. Doesn't stop him from being able to take down the evil forces of Venomous Drool like a pint-sized version of Conan. Real Life Most prominent Viking saga heroes qualify and are indeed, the primary inspiration for this trope's existence. After all, no one's more badass than the Vikings. Alexander the Great bears more then a few traces of this trope. His personal hero was Achilles, his goal in life was to win glory and become known as a mighty warrior (his own words). And his conquests look less like a monarch carrying out a carefully planned Realpolitik and more like a raider on a rampage, or even like a Great White Hunter on a safari. On top of that, proper Greeks certainly considered him a barbarian themselves, as the kingdom of Macedon was on the periphery of Greek civilization and barely regarded as civilized itself (and most definitely not as "Greek"). The irony kicks in when it is pointed out that, on the other hand, he was cultured and trained by the best scholars. His teacher was Aristotle, in fact; and whenever he found any interesting items on his conquests, he would send them back to his teacher to study. Arminius, leader of the Germanic tribes that annihilated Roman Legions in the Battle of Teutoberg Forest, was later portrayed as this trope by various German Nationalists. Again, Arminius had actually spent quite a part of his life living a civilized life among Romans. Almost any badass outsider to a "civilized" nation counts actually. Barbarians don't think of themselves as barbarians. Its just that to them, everyone else is a silly sissy. Representing the Turkic and Mongol peoples are Genghis Khan, Tarmashirin Khan, and Oghuz Khagan. Alternative Title(s): Barbarian Heroine Previous Index Next Bad Powers, Good People Heroes Beauty Equals Goodness Anachronism Stew Dark Age Europe Blade on a Stick Appeal to Tradition Romanticism Versus Enlightenment Black and White Morality Conan the Barbarian ImageSource/Literature Leg Cling

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