Conan Is Not A Hero

 One of the things that I've debated with others about is the difference between Conan being the protagonist and Conan being a hero.

Sometimes herosim can be a difficult thing to define.

For example, Conan often has a sense of honor and a sense of fair play. It's rare for him to betray someone even if he knows that person is going to try to do him in.

And Conan meets a lot of fellow rogues and slayers and he trusts them because of the whole honor among thieves.

Because Conan is the protagonist, this works well for him. Things don't even well for the Prince of Thieves here.

But here's the thing.

Conan is here breaking into someone else's place. Mind you, those who try to cast Conan as a hero often note, rightfully so mind you, that those Conan steals from, are often the worst of the worst. In this case a wizard necromancer who tortures and enslaves others.  Whose wealth and power give him full domination over the city and its rulers.

But we have to be clear.

Conan isn't doing it to rid the city of the necromancer. He'd rather not even meet the necromancer if possible.

This doesn't count other times where due perhaps to his nature, Conan repays those wrongs done to him even if those wrongs were done while helping Conan. For example, in A Witch Shall Be Born, ther'es a scene where Conan is nailed to a tree. It was made popular in the movie, but it took place in this story first.

This is another one of those things where Conan should've been dead but he gets saved by an outside force. But when he's saved, his savior does not do it gently and Conan suffers a bit for it. As soon as he's well, he repays that saving by crushing the dude 's wrist and banishing his savior from his own band of rogues.

There's another story where Conan drags himself out of the Sea into a boat, ingrains himself into the crew, follows the Captain ashore, and literally murders him. And note, since we're talking Cimmerian September, I'm just sticking with Robert E. Howard stories.

Again folks, Conan is no hero.

One could argue that in the world of Hyborea, where Conan is an adventurer, there are no real heroes, and today's allies may become tomorrow's enemies. 

These things are true.

But those elements don't fit into D&D and its nine alignment systems. Conan commits great acts of savagery and also acts as a savior. He's almost never a casual murderer and does not go after women and children.

When looking at the idea of inspiration for your TRPG games, try to remember, games like GURPS and Hero, where one can take disadvantages that indicate one's personality, like 'Honorable Strong' or 'Fears Magic' etc... are more likely to be useful than D&D where it boils down to "What's your alignment?"