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Kull of Atlantis or Kull the Conqueror is a fictional character created by Robert E. Howard, also creator of Conan the Barbarian, Solomon Kane, and Bran Mak Morn. Kull was portrayed in the 1997 movie Kull the Conqueror by actor Kevin Sorbo.

His first published appearance was "The Shadow Kingdom" in Weird Tales (August, 1929).

Contents 1 Life account 1.1 Life in Atlantis 1.2 Slave, pirate, outlaw and gladiator 1.3 Soldier and king 2 Adaptations 2.1 Comics 2.2 Film 2.3 Kull and He-Man 2.4 Namesakes in other works of fiction 2.5 Translation notes 3 Note on the chronology of the Kull and Conan stories 4 Copyright and trademark 5 References 6 External links

Kull was born in Pre-cataclysmic Atlantis c. 20,000 BC. At the time Atlantis was ruled by barbarian tribes. East of Atlantis lay the ancient continent of Thuria, divided among several civilized kingdoms. Including among others Commoria, Grondar, Kamelia, Thule, and Verulia. Most powerful among these was Valusia. East of Thuria were located the islands of Lemuria, which were the mountaintops of the sunken continent of Mu.

Kull was native to a tribe settled in the Tiger Valley of Atlantis. However, the valley and his tribe were destroyed by a flood while Kull was still a toddler. He managed to survive and spend a few years as a feral child.

Kull was eventually captured by the Sea-Mountain tribe but was adopted into it. In Exile of Atlantis, an adolescent Kull attempts to prevent an execution and is consequently exiled from Atlantis.

The young warrior attempted to reach Thuria but was instead captured by the Lemurians. He spent a couple of years as a galley-slave before regaining his freedom during a mutiny.

Kull tried the life of a pirate between his late adolescence and his early twenties. His fighting skills and courage allowed him to become captain of his own ship. He set out creating a fearsome reputation for himself in the seas surrounding Atlantis and Thuria.

Kull lost his ship and crew in a naval battle off the coast of Valusia but once again survived. He settled in Valusia as an outlaw. His criminal career proved short-lived, as he was soon captured by the Valusians and imprisoned in a dungeon.

His captors soon offered him a choice: execution or service as a gladiator. He chose the latter. He proved an effective combatant and gained fame in the arenas of the capital. A number of fans helped him in regaining his freedom.

However, Kull was not about to leave Valusia or return to the life of an outlaw. He joined the Royal army as a mercenary, pursuing elevation through military ranks. In The Curse of the Golden Skull, a Kull approaching his thirties is recruited by King Borna of Valusia in a mission against the ambitious sorcerer Rotath of Lemuria. Kull proves to be an effective assassin.

Borna promoted Kull into the general command of the mercenary forces. Borna himself, however, had gained a reputation for cruelty and despotism. Among the nobility, several were discontented with Borna's rule, and before long, civil war broke out. The mercenaries proved more loyal to Kull, allowing for the former slave to reach first for the leadership of the revolt, and then for the throne itself.

Kull killed Borna and took his throne whilst he was still in his early thirties. The Shadow Kingdom finds Kull having spent six months upon the Valusian throne and facing the first conspiracy against him.

The series continued with Kull finding that gaining the crown was easier than securing it. He faces several internal and external challenges throughout the series. The constant conspiring of his courtiers leaves Kull almost constantly threatened with loss of life and throne. The ageing King is ever more aware of the Sword of Damocles that he inherited along with the crown.

The series had several recurring characters. Arguably the best known was his trusted ally Brule the Spear-slayer (a Pre-cataclysmic Pict). There are also First Councillor Tu: a trusted administrator, but also a constant reminder of the tradition bound laws and customs of Valusia, and Ka-Nu, Pictish envoy and wise man, who is responsible for the friendship between Kull and Brule, who otherwise would rather have disliked each other... and his mortal enemy Thulsa Doom the sorcerer.

The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune finds Kull reaching his middle-forties and becoming progressively more introspective. The former barbarian is left lost in contemplations of philosophy. At this point the series ends. His fate is left uncertain.

Thuria, Lemuria and Atlantis alike fell to a cataclysm a few centuries after his reign. At least according to an essay of Howard concerning the origins of the Hyborian Age. Eight millennia after his time came Conan the Barbarian. Several secondary sources consider Conan to have been a reincarnation of the Valusian King.

In essence, Kull is Conan the Barbarian's direct literary forerunner. Conan's first story (both as a written piece and a published one) The Phoenix on the Sword is a rewriting of an earlier Kull story By this Axe, I rule, with less philosophy and more supernatural and action to make it more salable... though many passages of both stories still match word for word.

Kull has been adapted to comics by Marvel Comics with three series between 1971 and 1985. He also appeared several times in the The Savage Sword of Conan series. Another graphic novel, Kull: The Vale of Shadow, was published in 1995.

In 1997 a Kull film called Kull the Conqueror was released with Kevin Sorbo in the title role. The film was originally intended to be a Conan film and some elements of this remain. This is ironic as the first Conan story was a rewritten Kull story and even the first Conan film, Conan the Barbarian, contained elements from the Kull (as well as Bran Mak Morn) series.

There are persistent rumors^{[citation needed]} that the cartoon/toy He-Man franchise was originally supposed to portray Conan but, for legal reasons like the adult content of the movie and comics, a new character was created instead. Designer Roger Sweet denies this, stating that the first Conan movie came out two years after work on the He-Man line began. He-Man was, however, influenced by the paintings of Frank Frazetta, who produced many paintings based on Conan and the works of Robert E. Howard.^[1]

Though the links are indirect, there are still many similarities between the two intellectual properties. Just as Kull was said to predate Conan, a similar character to Kull was placed in the He-Man universe, a predecessor of He-Man known as He-Ro, or Lord Grayskull. He-Ro fought against snakemen just as Kull did. Castle Grayskull was named in his honor.

Kull may have been the source of the name of King Kull, a Fawcett Comics supervillain and foe of Captain Marvel, later acquired by DC Comics. This King Kull combines barbarian elements with the bizarre science-fiction elements common in Captain Marvel stories of the Golden Age of comic books.

The Kull are super-soldiers in two works of speculative fiction:

• In Eragon, they are Uruk-hai-like Urgals.
• In Stargate SG-1, the Kull Warriors are futuristic Uruk-Hai-like Goa'uld that use the best armour and weapons. They are mainly used by the Goa'uld Anubis as shock troops.

In the Finnish translations of the short stories Kull was renamed "Kall" since the original name is in many common grammatical cases (including genitive) the same as a slang name for a penis. In the Finnish subtitles of the movie, however, he is called Kull.

According to some sources^{[citation needed]}, Robert E. Howard himself stated on various occasions that the Kull stories were set ca. 100,000 BC (see "Kings of the Night") while the Conan stories were set ca. 15-12,000 BC.

However later interpretations^{[citation needed]} of the character estimate the period of activity to c. 20,000. This accounts for Kull and his contemporary human characters being Homo sapiens rather than an earlier sub-species of man, and to the fact that according to some sources, only about 5.000-8.000 years passed between the sinking of Atlantis and the Hyborian age. However, it is now known that Homo sapiens did exist 100,000 years ago and so it is not necessary for the time of Atlantis to have been more recent than that. In any case, the original author's views on Kull's chronology should be taken more seriously than later writers.

The name Kull and the names of Robert E. Howard's other principal characters are trademarked by Paradox Entertainment of Stockholm, Sweden, through its US subsidiary Paradox Entertainment Inc. Paradox also holds copyrights on the stories written by other authors under license from Kull Productions Inc. Since Robert E. Howard published his Kull stories at a time when the date of publication was the marker, the owners had to use the copyright symbol, and they had to renew after a certain time to maintain copyright, the exact status of all of Howard's Kull works are in question. ^[2]

The Australian site of Project Gutenberg has many Robert E. Howard stories, including several Kull stories^[3]. This indicates that, in their opinion, the stories are free from copyright and may be used by anyone, at least under Australian law.

Subsequent stories written by other authors are subject to the copyright laws of the relevant time.

• A closer examination of Kull and his age
• For the proper chronology of the Kull stories
• Kull in comics (Spanish)

v • d • e Works by Robert E. Howard
El Borak	Blood of the Gods • The Land of Mystery • The Coming of El Borak • The Lost Valley of Iskander • The Country of the Knife • North of Khyber • The Daughter of Erlik Khan • A Power Among the Islands • The Shunned Castle • El Borak • Son of the White Wolf • Hawk of the Hills • Three-Bladed Doom • Intrigue in Kurdistan • The Iron Terror • Khoda Khan's Tale
Conan	Beyond the Black River • Black Colossus • The Black Stranger • Cimmeria • The Devil in Iron • Drums of Tombalku • The Frost Giant's Daughter • The God in the Bowl • The Hall of the Dead • The Hand of Nergal • The Hour of the Dragon • Iron Shadows in the Moon • Jewels of Gwahlur • The People of the Black Circle • The Phoenix on the Sword • The Pool of the Black One • Queen of the Black Coast • Red Nails • Rogues in the House • The Scarlet Citadel • Shadows in Zamboula • The Snout in the Dark • The Tower of the Elephant • The Vale of Lost Women • A Witch Shall be Born • Wolves Beyond the Border • Xuthal of the Dusk
Sailor Steve Costigan	Alleys of Peril • Night of Battle • The Battling Sailor • The Pit of the Serpent • Blow the Chinks Down! • Sailor Costigan and the Swami • Blue River Blues • Sailor's Grudge • Breed of Battle • The Sign of the Snake • The Bull Dog Breed • The Slugger's Game • By the Law of the Shark • Sluggers of the Beach • Champ of the Forecastle • Texas Fists • Circus Fists • The TNT Punch • Dark Shanghai • Fist and Fang • Flying Knuckles • General Ironfist • Vikings of the Gloves • Hard-Fisted Sentiment • Waterfront Fists • The Honor of the Ship • Winner Take All
Breckinridge Elkins	The Apache Mountain War • Mountain Man • The Conquerin' Hero of the Humbolts • No Cowherders Wanted • Cupid from Bear Creek • The Peaceful Pilgrim • The Curly Wolf of Sawtooth • Pilgrims to the Pecos • Educate or Bust • Pistol Politics • Evil Deeds at Red Cougar • The Riot at Cougar Paw • The Feud Buster • The Road to Bear Creek • The Scalp Hunter • A Gent from Bear Creek • Sharp's Gun Serenade • Guns of the Mountain • Striped Shirts and Busted Hearts • The Haunted Mountain • War on Bear Creek • High Horse Rampage • When Bear Creek Came to Chawed Ear • Mayhem and Taxes • While Smoke Rolled • Meet Cap'n Kidd
Steve Harrison	The Black Moon • Names in the Black Book • Fangs of Gold • The Silver Heel • Graveyard Rats • The Tomb's Secret • The House of Suspicion • Lord of the Dead • The Voice of Death • The Mystery of Tannernoe Lodge
Solomon Kane	Blades of the Brotherhood • The One Black Stain • The Blue Flame of Vengeance • Rattle of Bones • The Castle of the Devil • Red Shadows • The Children of Asshur • The Return of Sir Richard Grenville • Death's Black Riders • The Right Hand of Doom • The Footfalls Within • Skulls in the Stars • Hawk of Basti • Solomon Kane's Homecoming • The Hills of the Dead • The Moon of Skulls • Wings in the Night
John Kirowan	The Children of the Night • The Thing on the Roof • The Haunter of the Ring • Dig Me No Grave • Dermod's Bane • The Dwellers Under the Tombs • Scarlet Tears • Dagon Manor • The Black Stone
Kull	Exile of Atlantis • The Shadow Kingdom • The Altar and the Scorpion • Delcardes' Cat • The Skull of Silence • By This Axe I Rule! • The Striking of the Gong • Swords of the Purple Kingdom • The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune • The King and the Oak • The Black City • The Curse of the Golden Skull • Kings of the Night
Cormac Mac Art	The Night of the Wolf • The Temple of Abomination • Swords of the Northern Sea • Tigers of the Sea
Bran Mak Morn	Bran Mak Morn • The Little People • Men of the Shadows • The Children of the Night • A Song of the Race • The Dark Man • The Drums of Pictdom • Worms of the Earth • Kings of the Night
Turlogh Dubh O'Brien	The Dark Man • The Shadow of the Hun • The Gods of Bal-Sagoth • Spears of Clontarf • The Twilight of the Grey Gods
Kirby O'Donnell	The Curse of the Crimson God • The Treasures of Tartary • Swords of Shahraza
Other Historial	Gates of Empire • The Sowers of the Thunder • Hawks Over Egypt • The King's Service • Spears of the East • The Lion of Tiberias • The Track of Bohemund • Lord of Samarcand • Two Against Tyre • Red Blades of Black Cathay • Under the Great Tiger • The Road of Azrael • The Shadow of the Vulture • The Way of the Swords
Other characters and series	Cormac Fitzgeoffrey • Dark Agnes de Chastillon • The Sonora Kid
See also	List of works by Robert E. Howard

v • d • e Robert E. Howard's Kull
Stories	Exile of Atlantis • The Shadow Kingdom • The Altar and the Scorpion • Delcardes' Cat • The Skull of Silence • By This Axe I Rule! • The Striking of the Gong • Swords of the Purple Kingdom • The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune • The King and the Oak • The Black City • The Curse of the Golden Skull • Kings of the Night
Characters	Kull • Brule the Spear-slayer • Thulsa Doom • Serpent Men
Adaptations	Kull the Conqueror
Other	Thurian Age