Conan, King of Westeros

[Ralin]

Ghetto edit: I mean, granted they usually fell apart before too long...

[Titan Uranus]

The same thing will happen to him that happened in history to any outsider trying to control a kingdom of which he knows nothing about and where he has no powerbase.

At best he will become a pawn in the hands of noble powers, more likely he will just end up in a ditch somewhere.

Sure, if we assume that Conan is actually just a strong baseline human.
But given what he's apparently done in the books according to this thread, I don't think that's a sound assumption.

Either he has superhuman powers of persuasion in addition to other superhuman abilities, or he has more natural charisma than anyone I've ever heard of ouside of some Reformation era and earlier religious leaders.

But then, that's basically impossible to quantify.

[The Romulan Republic]

Again, I don't really know the Conan franchise, so maybe this will sound completely off-base. But when you put it that way, Conan sounds more than a little like Captain America, at least power/skill-wise.

Peak human physically, possibly low-end superhuman depending on interpretation.

Charismatic. Not particularly known as being a great mastermind or genius, but smart and a good leader.

Skilled warrior.

And, for the purposes of this thread, at least, a wanderer who's out of his own place/time.

[Simon_Jester]

I figure the closest thing to a viable take on this is that Conan somehow gets into command of a relatively small but significant number of troops (maybe former Baratheon, maybe sellswords and peasants) and through his amazing warrior skills seizes King's Landing ahead of the various armies and defends it against all comers. Possibly aided by Ned and Tywin's armies coming to blows as they fight for the prize.

Also in this scenario Conan has Jaime, Elia and her kids as his guests. He might not outright hold them hostage if he thinks that's something a coward would do, but just making that known might give Tywin pause and win him goodwill with Dorne. And really...if the Mad King is gone and Rhaegar isn't there then I'm not convinced King's Landing would be Ned's priority once it was taken by a man who had no grievance against him. I can believe he'd pull back to go after his sister if Robert wasn't there and King's Landing proved conquest resistant.

I mean, IIRC Conan has cobbled together armies out of outlaws or raiders and what have you before. The man wasn't just a dumb fighter. He was smart and charismatic and had a talent for leading and organizing men.

In the scenario you describe, it seems likely that Conan will parlay his position into a legitimist one, arguing that the rightful heir to the throne is Elia's son Aegon V. He's not going to murder children for power or respect others who attempt to do so. And having the monarch be a small child (with whatever regency the Lords Paramount choose) is about as good a solution as anyone left in Westeros has now that Robert is dead and cannot claim the throne.

[SCRawl]

Nitpick, Simon, but Aegon V died decades before Robert's rebellion. The would-be Aegon VI is probably the one you meant.

[Lagmonster]

It's worth mentioning that Conan has gone hand-to-hand with literal indestructible gods, in several cases. I seem to remember that it's kind of an unwritten rule that he's not the strongest man, nor the smartest, but he's the luckiest. In many cases he escapes death by millimeters, gets out of impossible situations by sheer chance, and comes out in each case covered in wounds that should end normal people. In the case where he fought Thog of Xuthal he 'won' only because he didn't die long enough for the thing to fall into a deep well, then his girl-trophy found him a flagon of conveniently-local magic wound-healing potion.

[Simon_Jester]

Conan gets out of some near-impossible situations by chance, but at the same time he's also gotten out of others through being cunning, resourceful, or just plain stronger and tougher than ordinary men. He's gotten into so many deadly situations of such a diverse variety that he's escaped death by nearly every means an author can imagine.

His uncanny luck is certainly a recurring feature of the character, though.

So is your thesis that we should completely ignore it in a crossover context? I can understand why we'd want to do that... but this is an issue across the board in a LOT of fiction, a LOT of protagonists enjoy remarkable luck. And in a LOT of fictional settings, if a character's luck suddenly deserted them they would be dead. Saying "phenomenally lucky men in Setting A are no longer phenomenally lucky in Setting B" tends to depower all characters across the board, except the ones operating in their native setting.

Nitpick, Simon, but Aegon V died decades before Robert's rebellion. The would-be Aegon VI is probably the one you meant.

Sorry, you're right.

[Thanas]

The same thing will happen to him that happened in history to any outsider trying to control a kingdom of which he knows nothing about and where he has no powerbase.

At best he will become a pawn in the hands of noble powers, more likely he will just end up in a ditch somewhere.

Sure, if we assume that Conan is actually just a strong baseline human.
But given what he's apparently done in the books according to this thread, I don't think that's a sound assumption.

I don't care much about him being a demigod or whatever. This is still a medieval society. Medieval societies cannot be ruled by military power or personal strength alone. You can be a tyrant that way, but not a good ruler. Given that Conan sucks at intrigue and frequently lost kingdoms/armadas/whatever does not speak highly of his ability to keep rebellious nobles in check.

[Simon_Jester]

Yes. Conan is good at surviving intrigue and treachery, because that impacts his core skill set (being a strong, tough, determined, able fighter). But he's not good at keeping it from massively screwing him over.

[Sidewinder]

Read 'Queen of the Black Coast', specifically, the scene where Conan accidentally falls into a drug-induced trance, and in this trance, learns of the history of the city whose ruins his pirates were looting- information he could NOT have gotten from books, word-of-mouth, or pictures painted on a wall in those ruins. Read 'The Devil In Iron', where Conan gains PSYCHIC INSIGHT into the titular "devil in iron" (a supernatural entity, taking the form of an iron statue) and its weakness (a magical dagger- again, information he could NOT have gotten from books, word-of-mouth, or pictures painted on a wall).

In rare occasions, Conan will gain psychic insight into something. The gods of Hyborea may be the source of these insights- read 'The Phoenix on the Sword', in which a long-dead priest appears before Conan in a dream, and blesses Conan's sword, allowing Conan to kill the demon that attacks him when he awakens.

If he shows up in Westeros, I imagine the Seven, the Old Gods, and/or R'hllor will give DIVINE AID to do... whatever it is the gods of Westeros want him to do while he's in their realm. Yes, this means he'll gain character shields that will put to shame even what Rhaegar "the prince that was promised" Targaryen expected from his gods.

[FTeik]

It is highly unlikely, that with Robert Baratheon dead the way would be free for Conan to somehow become a candidate of compromise for the Lords Paramount of Westeros. Assuming, that the sacking of King's Landing took place, there would still be Viserys II. on Dragonstone, if they want to keep the Targaryens OR - if they go for another House with some claim - House Baratheon with Stannis (and should something happen to him, Renly).

[Lagmonster]

So is your thesis that we should completely ignore it in a crossover context? I can understand why we'd want to do that... but this is an issue across the board in a LOT of fiction, a LOT of protagonists enjoy remarkable luck.

I'm saying that I don't know how he'd fare without being the unofficial champion of Crom and/or Mitra, as the plot requires. His luck could be a character trait, of course. At the end of the day, he's not meant to lose. Many characters in GoT are.

Yes. Conan is good at surviving intrigue and treachery, because that impacts his core skill set (being a strong, tough, determined, able fighter). But he's not good at keeping it from massively screwing him over.

Essential to Conan, I believe, is that he will win a fortune, a girl, or an empire - and then immediately lose everything, or give it away, or even throw it away. He goes from ruler to pauper overnight, and doesn't give a crap. He lives entirely in the moment, and although he covets wealth, sex, and prestige, at the end of the day nothing outside of martial victory really means anything to him. I seem to recall in the du Camp continuation of Howard's stories, he becomes king of Aquilonia just because the current king did something to piss him off, and then eventually abdicates the throne out of sheer listless boredom.

[Darth Yan]

The King had him thrown in jail on trumped up charges. But Conan actually is a good politician as a king. He's become smarter in his old age. He's also pretty faithful with Zenobia.

Conan as a whole is odd. Some stories (Hour of the Dragon, People of the Black Circle, Tower of the Elephant) are phenomenal. Others (Scarlet Citadel, Phoenix on the sword, queen of the black coast) are pretty good. Others are okay (I didn't mind Xuthal, Rogues was pretty cool.) Others are kinda crap but have cool sections (Devil in Iron). Others are shit (Vale of Lost women).

He's not a mary sue (he makes mistakes, needs to be bailed out and helped at times)