The Scarlet Personage is a villain from Conan the Barbarian but is also a part of the Marvel universe itself, since the story took place in a time when Marvel had rights to the Conan character and ideas for comic use, as a result the figure has become an enigmatic entity that may be one of many alter-egoes created by Death itself.
History[]
The Scarlet Personage was a terrifying spectre that seemed to embody the fear of death, taking the guise of a ferryman named Bracca the spirit haunted Conan and spirited the barbarian-hero off to a ghostly realm where it stalked him, meeting damned souls along the way Conan learned that they had tried to fight the Scarlet Personage and failed, thus had to wander endlessly in the ghoulish landscape.
Conan was not afraid and called forth the demon, who soon obliged the barbarian and manifested, the two engaged in a swordfight and Conan seemed to have the upper-hand as he mocked his opponent as a poor swordsman, the two soon tumbled down a hill and Conan went to slay his enemy only for the creature to suddenly rise and shatter his blade with its bare hands, then began to choke Conan in turn.
Conan suddenly realized his great mistake and that he had been fighting death personified, falling for its trap, determined to look his executioner in the face Conan ripped off the mask of his attacker to reveal a rotten skull beneath - the sight was said to drive most men insane but Conan defied death itself by spitting at the demon's face, this weakened the entity and it became unnerved by his iron will, fleeing.
Yet Conan was not done with his enemy and pursued the Scarlet Personage into a nearby village, taking the creature's own sword by which to finally vanquish the demon - leaving him hacking at empty clothing as the creature vanished, with only a red ring left behind. Conan then awoke abruptly on Bracca's ship, the ferryman claiming Conan had been babbling in his sleep about mist and death, Conan soon noticed a red ring on Bracca and unmasked the figure to reveal the Scarlet Personage once more, whom Conan proceeded to kick overboard - apparently vanquishing for good.
Yet as the demon sank beneath the waves a powerful storm brewed and swept Conan's boat off to sea, prompting what the hero described as a "rough ride" ahead.
Appearance[]
the Scarlet Personage can take the form of a humanoid male with a bandaged face or a "blind" ferryman known as Bracca (who dressed in a robe which concealed most of his features) : the entity could also reveal a rotting red skull and even appeared as a disembodied face, showing it could take non-humanoid forms at will.
Abilities[]
The Scarlet Personage had a vast array of supernatural powers, with no real limit, the creature could draw strength from horror and fright, especially a fear of death, allowing it to attack with great strength at opponents, it could alter reality (or at the very least the minds of those around it) so as to inflict horrific illusions and enter dreams : it could change forms and quite possibly had nigh-omnipotence, since it was implied to be a personification of Death.. while Conan apparently defeated it by throwing its physical body overboard this only seemed to cause it to create powerful storms, suggesting that it is a truly immortal being capable of manipulating events even after a "physical" defeat.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- the Scarlet Personage disguising itself as a ferryman is a reference to Charon, the ferryman of the Greek Underworld - who is also deeply associated with personifications of Death in fiction.
- Conan spitting at the monster's face to defeat it is symbolic of Conan defying the fear of Death itself, which is what the Scarlet Personage likely embodied and thus allowed him to "defeat" the entity.