You guys who keep saying he's not big enough need to read up on what Conan actually looked like. He was 6'2 210lbs. Momoa was 210lbs before he started working out and gained a bunch of weight. He's plenty big to be Conan, Arnold was actually TOO big to be Conan. Conan wasn't the biggest man, he was the strongest, there is a huge difference.
Arnold Shwarzenegger was 6'1.5" tall and 236lbs in Conan. So no, Arnold was not "too big" to be Conan, who Howard described on separate occasions as being anywhere from 6' to 6'2" and 210lbs to 220lbs. Mamoa has more of a lean frame, appearing more as a "Tarzan" than a Conan. Cimmerians are of stockier build by description, which would give more of a Schwarzenegger appearance than a Mamoa.
Stop it.
Nowhere in any of Howard's letters does he once state a height for Conan other than his height at 15, which was 6' and 180lbs, and specifically noted to have "lacked much of his full growth." Howard never compares Cormac Fitzgeoffrey to Conan. Ever.
The 6'2" 210lbs "quote" Does. Not. Exist.
Stop bringing it up.
Hell, I don't know where that 220lbs comes from either, but I can guarantee it isn't from Howard.
ARGH.
Edit: Ok, I've calmed down a bit. However, this is the single Conan myth which irritates me enough. I can understand the 10,000 BC thing, or blaming things on Arnold, but this is really bothersome. It's the illusion of being informed that irritates me, giving the impression that someone's done research, when all they're doing is parroting Wikipedia.
I need to find the origin of the Cormac Fallacy, or I might well go insane.
I wonder if the 6'2/210 thing comes from the Marvel Universe version of Conan...I recall(perhaps incorrectly-I haven't had my copies of those for years)that Conan had an entry in the MU Handbook at one point, and they probably assigned him a semi-arbitrary height and weight, as they did with every other character.
ReplyDeleteJust a thought, mind.
It seems possible, Josh. I have a vague recollection of a quote (De Camp or Carter perhaps) writing about Cormac Fitz, and calling him "a physical double for Conan," where the incorrect height started. Perhaps "The Blade of Conan," "The Spell of Conan" or one of those collections. It might even have been in the introduction to one of the Lancers.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, Cormac wasn't 6'2/210lbs either, which just compounds the problem further.