Thulsa Doom (Robert E. Howard)
| Thulsa Doom | |
|---|---|
| Kull of Atlantis character | |
 |
|
| First appearance | The Cat and the Skull (1928) |
| Created by | Robert E. Howard |
| Information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Magician |
Thulsa Doom is a fictional character first appearing in the Kull short story "Delcardes' Cat" by Robert E. Howard. He has since appeared in comic books and film as the nemesis of Kull and, later, one of Howard's other creations, Conan the Barbarian. Thulsa Doom is the prototype for many of the future undead evil wizards, such as Tsotha-Lanti (in the Conan saga) and Kathulos (in the Skull Face novelette); other living or revenant Howardian practitioners of magic such as Thoth Amon, Thugra Khotan, Kathulos and Xaltotun bear some psychological similitudes to Thulsa Doom even if their outward appearance is vastly different.
Thulsa Doom first appeared (as Thulses Doom) at the end of the short story "Delcardes' Cat" by Robert E. Howard, which featured the character Kull as the protagonist. Howard later edited the text to include foreshadowing and references to Thulsa Doom (as he had been rechristened) throughout the story and changed the title to The Cat and the Skull to reflect this. Editor Patrice Louinet speculated that this was because Howard had originally intended Kuthulos (whom Doom impersonates in the story) to be the actual villain before coming up with Thulsa Doom near the story's completion. This version was submitted to Weird Tales in 1928 but it was not accepted. The story did not see print until 1967 in the paperback King Kull published by Lancer Books.
Thulsa Doom is described by Howard in "The Cat and the Skull" as having face "like a bare white skull, in whose eye sockets flamed livid fire." He is seemingly invulnerable, boasting after being run through by one of Kull's comrades that he feels "only a slight coldness" when being injured and will only "pass to some other sphere when [his] time comes."
As Thulsa Doom's original story was not published in Howard's lifetime he reused the character, as "Kathulos of Atlantis", in his 1929 story Skull-Face.
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