CHANE of the YELLOW HAIR

Real Name: Chane

Identity/Class: Human (possibly the Elder race or an earlier age of man); presumably pre-Cataclysmic era, but possibly distant past

Occupation: Warrior, hunter;
    former pirate (see comments)

Group Membership: Formerly the Sea Raiders of Tongura

Affiliations: Unidentified steed;
    possibly the "Bride of Andrax" (if she believed in her role, she may have considered him an enemy)

Enemies: Andrax, Argon, Argon's pet, Children of Andrax, devil from Hell, high priest of Andrax, Hound of Hell, Jugarta, Seela, "That which must Obey," Zukura, unidentified boar, unidentified pteranodon-like creature;
    presumably the unidentified mutineers amongst the Sea Raiders of Tongura (see comments)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Chane of the Elder Earth (see comments)

Base of Operations: Mobile throughout an unidentified region and unspecified era on Earth (see comments)

First Appearance: Savage Sword of Conan#63/2 (April, 1981)

 

 

 

 

 

Powers/Abilities: Chane had no superhuman warriors, but was a highly skilled warrior, especially accomplished in sword fighting and sword throwing. He could rapidly and easily overcome large groups of attackers, and he could throw a sword wish sufficient accuracy and power to impale a large, winged reptilian creature as it flew away from him. He also carried a dagger on his waist, and he wore large metal bracelets which could presumably protect him from the strikes of bladed weapons.

    The most natural in wooded wilderness, he could adapt quickly to new environments -- such as life on a pirate ship or swimming a great distance to shore after escaping from a ship at sea -- and he could swiftly scan his surroundings to assess his situation and identify potential threats. His warrior's instincts were alive to every sound and shadow, and his tracker's senses missed nothing. His reflexes were lightning quick, enabling him to respond to a threat and even prepare his next move while still in motion; his actions have been described as a  "smooth reflex of movement and power."

    Chane was also an experienced equestrian. His stallion steed could be left at a site and would simply await his master's return.

Height: Approximately 6'2"
Weight: Approximately 205 lbs.
Eyes: Unrevealed (see comments)
Hair: Blond

 

 

 

 

History:
(Savage Sword of Conan#67/3 (fb) - BTS) - Chane was born and raised in the wilderness.

(Savage Sword of Conan#67/3 (fb) - BTS) - Chane had "too often" been alone on a desolate shore, which taught him well the fate that frequently awaited lone travelers.

(Savage Sword of Conan#63/2) - New to an unspecified land, Chane guided his stallion through the forest as he noted the terrain, with the persistent idea in his mind that something awaited his coming. As Chane dismounted in preparation to set up camp and hunt some game, his quick reflexes and strong enabled him to impale an onrushing boar. Before he could skin the beast, he investigated a commotion and discovered a high priest preparing to sacrifice a woman bound on an altar to Andrax, the god of life and death, as their most recent ritual to convince him/it to stay their hand and protect them. As the priest raised his blade, Chane called out, telling the priest to stay his knife, as no one should buy their life with another's. When Chane suggested that if the priest was so anxious to appease his god that the priest should go in her place, the priest accused him of corrupting their rite, further noting that the maid had been born to this role. Noting the fear in "the bride of Andrax," Chane cut her bonds with his sword, and he then accused the priest of performing the ritual to appease his own bloodthirsty nature.

    Warning his people, the Children of Andrax, of the rage of Andrax, the priest ordered them to destroy the defiler. They rushed forward to do so, but Chane's swift sword-hand made short work of the first wave; as the next group hesitated, Chane seized the girl, leapt off the altar, swiftly dispatched the remaining attackers, and rushed for the woods and his stallion. However, the priest, desperate to complete the sacrifice to appease Andrax, hurled his dagger, striking and slaying the girl in the thoracic inlet (base of the neck, just above the sternum), apparently killing her. Saddened at having failed to save the girl, Chane wished her peace and then turned to the priest, telling him he would make him pay; but the priest told Chane it was all for Andrax..."may he be appeased?! We all live at his whim...you shall soon see..."

    Just then, the immense Andrax emerged from the forest, swatted Chane through the air into a nearby lake. Dazed, Chane made it to the surface only to see Andrax had already picked up the dead girl's body and then began rapidly striding back into the forest, out of sight.

    The priest explained Andrax's nature and the need for the ritual to spare their people. Despondent, Chane wandered back to his stallion and rode off.

(Savage Sword of Conan#64/3) - Emerging from another forest into a clearing, Chane's eye caught a jeweled hilt, the sword of which was half buried in the ground. He halted his stallion, dismounted, unsheathed his own sword, and decided to claim the sword: "A priceless sword should not be left to rust like that. Perhaps I should "rescue " it from its careless owner -- whoever he is...wherever he is." But, approaching the sword, he stepped on a bramble strewn area that collapsed into a pit, knocking his sword from his hand. Landing hard, Chane took a few moments to adjust to the darkness, at which point he perceived a monstrous beast lumbering threatening towards him. Dodging the creature's leap, Chane dove for his sword, with which he slashed at the creature's monstrous arm, driving it back until it huddled and whimpered against the wall. Chane was dissuaded from his killing stroke by a man on the surface who asked him to let his pet -- which had been sorely tested -- to live.

 

(Savage Sword of Conan#64/3) - Watching from pit's entrance and fearing for his pet's life, Argon called, "Hold!" Noting that his pet had been sorely tested and asking the warrior to let him live, after Chane had done so, Argon noted how the departing creature was glad to be rid of him, having never faced a warrior of his mettle and wouldn't forget him soon. Argon then tossed a rope down for Chane to scale his way out of the pit. As Chane emerged, Argon told him, "Well met, stranger! I salute your courage and your skill! No man before you has lived to climb out of that hole!"

 

    After Chane allowed the creature to flee, the man threw down a rope, allowing Chane to scale his way to the surface. Telling Chane he was the first man to ever live to climb out of his hole, the man further claimed to be using the creature to protect himself from human attackers. He convinced Chane to accompany him back to his castle, during which time the two introduced themselves. The man, Argon, further told Chane of his past and his quest to conquer the ultimate prey, the Hound of Hell; and he offered to give Chane the jeweled sword if Chane helped him travel to Hell and return with its carcass.

    Before Chane could react, Argon transported the two of them to a Hellish realm where they spotted the hound. As Argon pursued the creature, Chane tried in vain to warn Argon that the Hound was mere bait, much like Argon had toyed with others before. Argon was indeed captured by the Hound of Hell's master, who then returned Chane to Earth via a heart and soul-freezing flame that carried him upward through Argon's altar, which subsequently collapsed. Glad to be alive, Chane stumbled from the collapsing chamber and headed off in search of the jewel-hilted sword.

(Savage Sword of Conan#67/3 (fb) - BTS) - Chane was the sole survivor of a mutiny amongst the Sea Raiders of Tongura.

(Savage Sword of Conan#67/3) - Swimming amongst the waves, Chane reached the shore of an unidentified island, and he instinctively drew his gleaming sword the second his feet touched solid ground. He swiftly made his way into the tangled forest, in which he searched for a shadowed corner in which to camp for the night.

    At morning's light, Chane clambered up a steep slope, hoping to learn where he was by viewing the countryside from a higher point. At the mountaintop, he found the ruins of a domed building, unaware its inhabitants, Zeela and her father, Zukura, were watching him in their mystic crystal. Chane rapidly strode up the ruined steps until he was confronted by a great pteranodon-like creature. Chane's lightning reflexes enabled him to dodge the creatures swoop and to then turn and hurl his sword through the back of the creature neck (and out through its mouth), killing it.

    Leaping past the dying creature, Chane entered the ruins (never having felt so much like a fly jumping into the spider's web) and met its inhabitants; the man introduced them as "Zukura, once warlock and king here when this ruin was a living empire," and my daughter, Seela; and Seela told him of the vision/omen of the future where a golden-haired god would deliver them from their accursed vigilance, forced on them by the lord of the realm of shadows; to which Zukura added, "You, my king, are our deliverer!" Chane told them that he was neither a god nor a king and that they awaited another, but Seela rushed up to him, assuring him he was the one the crystal prophesied: He would be heir to their kingdom, as well as the one she would love for all  eternity. When she urged Chane to take her, Chane stopped her, telling her he knew nothing of this place and intended to leave as he had arrived: Alone. Enraged that Chane would turn from her and thus betray her dream, Seela transformed into a wolf. However, after locking stares with him, the wolf softened her gaze, padded over to him, and began to rub against his leg, as if he was her master.

    Having rapidly changed his opinion of Chane following his denial, Zukura told the wolf that Chane's presence would damn and destroy them forever. Calling on Jugarta, the demon of the shadow-lands, whose gate they guarded, Zukura asked the demon to send them "That which must Obey" to rid them of Chane, to enable them to endure their eternal watch, and to spare his daughter her calamitous fate. Chane watched as the monstrous "That which must Obey" emerged from a pit, but -- though Chane tried to discourage her -- Seela the wolf broke free of Chane's restraining hand and protectively leapt at the creature as it reached for Chane. Before Zukura could stop the creature, it swatted the wolf aside, smashing it to a pulp against the far wall. Devastated, Zukura banished the creature back through the portal, then used his own life force to forever seal it, shattering the entire chamber onto them.

    Narrowly escaping the collapsing ruins, Chane did not fully comprehend the events his arrival had set into motion, but he was nonetheless grateful to be alive. With a last lingering look about him, Chane turned and headed back to the beach, which no longer seemed so hostile. He hoped that in death, Seela, at least, had found her deliverance.

Comments: Created by Gil Kane.

    I don't know what the Elder Earth is exactly, but I'd tend to think it was the time before the age of Atlantis (mostly 20,000 - 18,000 BC, but as far back as 30,000 BC by some counts).
    Maybe it was the same era as Thongor (which may have been as early as 500,000 or even 1 million BC according to a few references). Pre-Atlantean civilizations were discussed at length in the comments of Thongor's profile.

    The three published stories were all in black and white, so it's hard to identify his eye color, but he was called Chane of the Yellow Hair, so it's hard to imagine he wouldn't be blond.

    Chane was never known as Chane of the Elder Earth during his lifetime or any time around then, as that would have been the present for him. It's just later references that clarify him as Chane of the Elder Earth.

    We don't know for certain that Chane was not one of the mutineers among the Sea Raiders of Tongura, but since he was the protagonist of the story, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. He seemed to be somewhat like Conan in terms of being a jack of all trades and many adventures, and Conan certainly played the rogue when it suited him, but we just don't know that much about Chane.

    Sadly, Gil Kane died back in 2000, so any further information is unlikely, but if anyone knows more, please share!

    Chane said "By the Gods" on at least a couple occasions, such we can be pretty sure he was polytheistic, as so many people from the distant past seemed to be.

    Chane was surprised by the sight of the pteranodon-like creature, indicating such creatures were not common to his era: "Only a place like this <the ancient ruins> could have spawned a thing like that!"


Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Chane should be distinguished from:

images: (without ads)
Savage Sword of Conan#63/2, pg. 1, panel 1 (Chane on his stallion);
            panel 2 (Chane upper body, showing necklace);
        pg. 6, panel 1 (Chane carrying sacrifice victim, battling tribe);
    #64/3, pg. 3, panel 1 (Chane slashing Argon's pet);
    #67/3, pg. 1, panel 3 (Chane arrives from the sea);
        pg. 4, panel 3 (slays pteranodon)

Appearances:
Savage Sword of Conan#63/2 (April, 1981) - Gil Kane (writer, artist), Danny Fingeroth (associate editor), Lynn Graeme (consulting editor), Louise Jones (later Simonson; editor)
Savage Sword of Conan#64/3 (May, 1981) - Gil Kane (writer, artist), Danny Fingeroth (associate editor), Lynn Graeme (consulting editor), Louise Jones (later Simonson; editor)
Savage Sword of Conan#67/3 (August, 1981) - Gil Kane (writer, artist), Danny Fingeroth (associate editor), Lynn Graeme (consulting editor), Louise Jones (later Simonson; editor)

First Posted: 03/03/2015
Last updated: 04/07/2015

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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