Editing Conan the Barbarian (section)

===Appearance===
[[File:Conan colors by rodrigokatrakas ddcrjw1-fullview.jpg|thumb|Fan art of Conan the Barbarian in his iconic loincloth]]

Conan has "sullen", "smoldering", and "volcanic" blue eyes with a black "square-cut mane". Howard once describes him as having a hairy chest and, while comic book interpretations often portray Conan as wearing a loincloth or other minimalist clothing to give him a more barbaric image, Howard describes the character as wearing whatever garb is typical for the kingdom and culture in which Conan finds himself. Howard never gave a strict height or weight for Conan in a story, only describing him in loose terms like "giant" and "massive".<ref>Howard, Robert E. "[[A Witch Shall Be Born]]": "the man was almost a giant in stature"; "Knots and bunches of muscle started out of the massive arms".</ref> In the tales, no human is ever described as being stronger than Conan, although a few are mentioned as taller (including the strangler, Baal-Pteor) or of larger bulk. In a letter to [[P. Schuyler Miller]] and [[John Drury Clark|John D. Clark]] in 1936, only three months before Howard's death, Conan is described as standing {{Convert|6|ft}} and weighing {{convert|180|lb}} when he takes part in an attack on Venarium at only 15 years old, though being far from fully grown. At one point, when he is meeting Juma in Kush, he describes Conan as tall as his friend, at nearly {{Convert|7|ft}} in height. Conan himself says in "[[Beyond the Black River]]" that he had "not yet seen 15 snows" at the Battle of Venarium: "At Vanarium he was already a formidable antagonist, though only fifteen, He stood six feet tall [1.83 m] and weighed 180 pounds [82 kg], though he lacked much of having his full growth."
Although Conan is muscular, Howard frequently compares his agility and way of moving to that of a panther (see, for instance, "[[Jewels of Gwahlur]]", "[[Beyond the Black River]]", or "[[Rogues in the House]]"). His skin is frequently characterized as bronzed from constant exposure to the sun. In his younger years, he is often depicted wearing a light [[Chain mail|chain]] shirt and a horned helmet, though appearances vary with different stories.

During his reign as king of Aquilonia, Conan was{{long quote|date=September 2023}}
::<blockquote>[...] a tall man, mightily shouldered and deep of chest, with a massive corded neck and heavily muscled limbs. He was clad in silk and velvet, with the royal lions of Aquilonia worked in gold upon his rich jupon, and the crown of Aquilonia shone on his square-cut black mane; but the great sword at his side seemed more natural to him than the regal accoutrements. His brow was low and broad, his eyes a volcanic blue that smoldered as if with some inner fire. His dark, scarred, almost sinister face was that of a fighting-man, and his velvet garments could not conceal the hard, dangerous lines of his limbs.<ref>Howard, Robert E. Howard ''[[The Hour of the Dragon]]'', reprinted ''The Bloody Crown of Conan'', pp. 89–90</ref></blockquote>

Howard [[Hyborian Age|imagined the Cimmerians]] as a [[pre-Celtic]] people with mostly black hair and blue or grey eyes. Ethnically, the Cimmerians to which Conan belongs are descendants of the [[Atlantis|Atlanteans]], though they do not remember their ancestry. In his fictional historical essay "[[The Hyborian Age]]", Howard describes how the people of Atlantis—the land where his character [[King Kull]] originated—had to move east after a great cataclysm changed the face of the world and sank their island, settling where [[Ireland]] and [[Scotland]] would eventually be located. Thus they are (in Howard's work) the ancestors of the Irish and Scottish (the [[Celts|Celtic]] [[Gaels]]) and not the [[Picts]], the other ancestor of modern Scots who also appear in Howard's work. In the same work, Howard also described how the [[Cimmeria (Conan)|Cimmerians]] eventually moved south and east after the [[The Hyborian Age|age of Conan]] (presumably in the vicinity of the [[Black Sea]], where the [[Cimmerians|historical Cimmerians]] dwelt).