El-RonEl-Ron
Real Name: Lord El-Ron
Identity/Class: Demi-God (Hyborian Era)
Occupation: Sorcerer, Tyrant
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Jaggta-Noga, the Troll of the Bridge, two demon-guardians, another unnamed demon, a bat, some guards, some human servants
Enemies: Conan, Karanthes, Red-Sonja
Known Relatives: Zukala (father), Zephra (sister)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Zukala Castle in Zamora
First Appearance: Conan the Barbarian I#242 (March,
1991)
{Prima apparizione Italiana: Conan il Barbaro#41 Comic Art (luglio, 1992)}
Powers/Abilities: El-Ron was a good swordsman. He also claimed he knew some lesser spells. He knew how to summon demons and creatures from other dimensions and his father from the netherworld. He also spoke to a bat, so probably knew other kinds of spells. It is unknown if he had some other special abilities due to the fact that he was son of a minor God.
History:
(Conan the Barbarian I#242 (fb) - BTS) - Zukala, a minor
God in his
human form generated a son: El-Ron. Zukala abandoned El-Ron's mother (probably
in Zingara) before El-Ron was born, taking Zephra with him, so El-Ron didn't know his father nor his sister Zephra.
In Zingara, El-Ron was trained by the best masters in fencing and became a good swordsman.
When he was 20-30 years old he learned about his heritage left by the disappeared Zukala. Through unspecified means he inherited some spells and enchantments from his father. He contacted his father in another dimension and set a plan up, to prepare a new human host who Zukala would have to possess in order to return to Earth. It is unknown when they decided that the new host would be El-Ron's as-yet unborn son.
(Conan the Barbarian I#242 (fb)) - Zukala took two servants with him and left to take posses of Zukala Castle and of the surrounding lands. During the journey they were attacked by three Zamorian bandits. Red Sonja helped El-Ron to kill them all. El-Ron pretended to be charmed by the beautiful Hyrkanian and asked her to become his wife. So he had to duel with her to win her hand. He won, but he didn't know that Sonja had been paid by Karanthes to loss the duel.
(Conan the Barbarian I#242 (fb) - BTS) - El-Ron took possession of the Castle and started the preparations for the wedding. He evoked some minor demons and placed them at the borders of the land he controlled. The demons were guardians of his house and also taxmen, like the Troll who asked the payment for the crossing of a bridge. The people living there found out that El-Ron was more tyrannical than Zukala.
Meanwhile Red Sonja had contacted Karanthes, Priest of Ibis, to have him celebrate the wedding ceremony. Karanthes accepted, with the intention to sabotage Zukala's plans of reincarnation in his grandson's body.
(Conan the Barbarian I#242) - One day, Red Sonja and Karanthes were escorted by Conan to the Castle for the wedding. El-Ron welcomed his guests and they dined together. Under Red-Sonja's request El-Ron sent Conan away from the Castle. Hiding in the shadows, El-Ron ordered a bat to warn Jaggta-Noga not to harm the Cimmerian when he was leaving the Castle.
(Conan the Barbarian I#242 - BTS) - When Karanthes left the
dinner, El-Ron hypnotized Red-Sonja and started to pronounce a spell to contact Zukala in
the netherworld.
(Conan the Barbarian I#242) - El-Ron succeeded in contacting Zukala who revealed his godly face. Meanwhile, the demon Jaggta-Noga captured Conan, who had returned to the Castle. El-Ron ordered Jaggta-Noga to bring Conan to his world, the Lost Land.
(Conan the Barbarian I#243) - The next day the wedding ceremony started. Karanthes performed the rite. El-Ron was bored. However, Karanthes waited for the time to allow Conan to free himself from the Jaggta-Noga's dimension and return to the Castle through a mystic portal opened by the demon. El-Ron ordered his guards to cut the Cimmerian's throat, but soon he had to personally draw his sword against Conan and Sonja, who revealed her double-game. El-Ron was killed while dueling with Conan. Then Zukala casted a spell to use his son's body and recalled all the demons controlled by his son. Red-Sonja wounded El-Ron's body several times but it only stopped fight when Conan cut his head, breaking the spell and sending Zukala away from the Earth.
Comments: Created by Roy Thomas, Gary Hartle and Mike DeCarlo.
Zukala loved Red-Sonja so it's possible that
he organized the ambush to let Red-Sonja meet El-Ron. Or perhaps Karanthes organized
the ambush, and Zukala and El-Ron knew it and let it happen.
El-Ron knew that Karanthes and Red-Sonja were faking, probably informed by Zukala, but continued to play his part because he had the help of his father, a
minor God, after all.
Clarifications:
El-Ron has no known connections to
The Demon-Guardians of the Castle
Two apparently identical demons. Shorter than a normal human, they can fly, have sharp talons and don't feel pain if wounded.
(Conan the Barbarian I#243 (fb) - BTS) - At the beginning of the valley(?) that leads to Zukala's Castle two demons stood over two columns where the street for Shadizar ended. They seemed to be two statues. They magically checked if the people who passed through the way had the mark of the Troll of the Bridge.
(Conan the Barbarian I#242) - When Conan the Barbarian rode through the columns they understood he hadn't the mark of the Troll so one of the demons tried to grab Conan, who cut his hand. They were attacking Conan, but when they learnt that Conan escorted Red Sonja, the future wife of their master, they let the group pass.
(Conan the Barbarian I#243) - The next day, the were recalled by Zukala, who was using the El-Ron's dead body. The two demons, as well as other demons, arrived at Zukala's Casle and attacked Conan who held them back until Zukala was talking. When Zukala stopped talking the demons were immobilized so Conan could cut off El-Ron's head, breaking the spell.
--Conan the Barbarian I#242 (Conan the Barbarian I#242-243
(Conan the Barbarian I#243) - The day of the ritual, when Zukala needed help against Conan and Red Sonja, he also recalled a big demon. The Demon was held back by Conan, and when Zukala stopped to speak, the Demon remained still as stone. It probably stood still there also after Conan had sent Zukala to back his netherworld.
--Conan the Barbarian I#243
The Guards
The Guards were normal humans. They had a shield, a sword and sometimes a spear.
In the Castle there were about 10 guards. They probably were paid with the tax money that El-Ron took from the peasants. They were seen only in the Castle and were loyal to El-Ron. They didn't intervene when Conan and Red Sonja dueled in the dining room, but they attacked Conan when he interrupted the wedding ceremony. They were all killed by Conan and Red Sonja.
--Conan the Barbarian I#242 (Conan the Barbarian I#242-243
Images:
Conan the Barbarian I#242, p22, pan1 (El-Ron, full
body)
Conan the Barbarian I#242, p12, pan1 (El-Ron, head shot)
Conan the Barbarian I#243, p17, pan5 (El-Ron's dead body driven by Zukala)
Conan the Barbarian I#243, p18, pan2 (guardian demon)
Conan the Barbarian I#243, p18, pan4 (demon)
Conan the Barbarian I#243, p15, pan1 (human guards)
Other appearances
Conan the Barbarian I#243 (April, 1991) {Apparizione Italiana: Conan il
Barbaro#43 Comic Art (settembre, 1992)}
Last updated: 09/25/05
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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