Marvel Confirms Conan The Barbarian is Its Most Ruthless Warrior, Period
Conan the Barbarian is Marvel's most ruthless fighter, and when Nightmare reveals Conan's worst fear, it confirms just how bloodthirsty he is.
Spoilers for Savage Avengers #22 ahead!
Ever since he joined the Marvel universe, Conan the Barbarian has been Marvel's most ruthless fighter. In the latest issue of Savage Avengers, the villain Nightmare peaks into Conan’s brain to see what scares him the most. The answer is surprising—and proves just how fierce a fighter Conan really is.
Conan the Barbarian began life not in comics, but in the short stories of Robert E. Howard, who also created Kull, Solomon Kane, and Bran Mak Morn. Marvel licensed the character in the early 1970s and incorporated him into their universe. When Marvel reobtained the rights to the character three years ago, they brought him back to the Marvel Universe, and he joined the Savage Avengers team, which also includes the Punisher, Venom, and Elektra. Conan has been on the trail of the evil sorcerer Kulan Gath, which brought him into conflict with Ghost Rider. During the fight, Conan seemingly shattered Ghost Rider’s skull and found himself transported back to the Hyborian Age.
Now, in Savage Avengers #22 by Gerry Duggan, with art by Patch Zircher, colors by Java Tartaglia, and letters by Travis Lanham, Conan is instantly suspicious of the vision and encounters Ghost Rider in his human form. The two learn they are not in the past but are instead prisoners of Nightmare. Nightmare has been seeking Conan, looking for revenge against the Cimmerian. He remarks that Conan rarely has nightmares, so he had to use Ghost Rider. Nightmare then peers into Conan’s mind and sees a vision of an elderly Conan laying on his bed, holding his sword. He calls out for someone then dies peacefully. Nightmare tells Conan that sometimes he creates nightmares and other times he works with what is already there, and it is implied this scenario is the latter. In essence, Conan fears dying a peaceful death. When Conan challenges Nightmare, the villain assures him his dream will not come to pass.
This revelation about the barbarian is surprising, and also humorous, but it points to how brutal a fighter he can be—so much that he fears not dying in combat. So much of Conan’s life has been battles and bloodshed—he knows nothing else, so it makes sense that dying quietly would be so alien to him. Yet, Conan actually enjoys combat so much that the thought of dying peacefully is repulsive to him, and it haunts his dreams.
Conan the Barbarian is the most bad-ass warrior in the Marvel Universe, so committed to fighting and battle that he fears dying not in combat, but peacefully in his sleep.