Zula

Zula first appeared in the Marvel comic book Conan the Barbarian #84 in March 1978. He was created by Roy Thomas, John Buscema, and Ernie Chan.

History[]

Zula is a Darfarian warrior reluctantly educated in the ways of sorcery. He was of Royal blood and the last of his tribe. Zula also is an ally of Conan and Red Sonja,

Zula uses the Darkhold against Varnae, chanting only part of a spell. He comments that the partial incantation regrettably only hurt Varnae, still the vampire fled. He later regained the Darkhold from Totrasmek, and used it to transport himself and Red Sonja away. At some times, he gets air sick!

Powers and Abilities[]

Able to cast spells and use magic.
A skilled swordsman.
Proficient in early forms of technology and science.

Equipment[]

Darkhold

Media[]

Conan the Destroyer[]

Grace-Jones-Zula-01 (1) — Grace Jones as a female version of Zula in the movie Conan the Destroyer.

Zula was played by singer Grace Jones in the 1984 film Conan the Destroyer which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as Conan and former NBA player Wilt Chamberlain as the warrior Bombaata.

In the movie Zula was a thief/raider rescued by Conan, who joins his brigade. Zula, a female warrior in this movie, was the last of her tribe. Zula later becomes the Captain of the Guard in Shadizar, replacing Bombaata. It should be noted that despite being a fierce warrior, she is afraid of rats.

The film was directed by action/fantasy veteran Richard Fleischer. This sequel to Conan the Barbarian was moderately successful at the box office in the US, and very successful internationally, although critical response was not as strong as the original film.

Conan the Adventurer (animated series)[]

Conan the Adventurer was the name of a popular[citation needed] American animated television series adaptation of the literary character, Conan the Barbarian, created by Robert E. Howard in the 1930s. Produced by Jetlag Productions and Sunbow Productions, the series debuted on September 12, 1992, ran for 65 episodes and concluded on January 21, 1994.

Zula (voiced by Arthur Burghardt): Prince of the Wasai, a tribe similar to Sub-Saharan Africans, based from the original Conan literature, may have inspired T. J. Storm's character Bayu in the live series, who is a different but similar person. He is the first ally Conan makes in the show, when Conan is captured and enslaved, alongside Zula and other captives. He and Zula start a slave rebellion and free the other slaves. Zula, who is Conan's lieutenant, makes Conan his blood brother. Zula's cousin Gora was a spy for Wrath-Amon, and secretly tricked Zula into the ambush where he was captured by Wrath-Amon's slavers so he could inherit the throne instead of Zula (ironically, by making Conan his blood brother, Zula made Gora third in the line of succession). Gora schemed against Conan and his friends, and was eventually discovered and captured. Zula was a master of the sign of Jhebbal-Sag, which allowed him to communicate with beasts and persuade them to aid him. Originally armed with Star Metal bolas, he reforged them into a boomerang because the bolas tangled. They would return on command thanks to Jezmine.

Trivia[]

In the 1984 film Conan the Destroyer Zula was portrayed as female by actress Grace Jones even though Zula is a male character in the comics,
Kim Wayans' spoof portrayals of Grace Jones on the show In Living Color are based on Grace's performance of Zula in the film Conan the Destroyer.
In the Conan the Adventurer animated series, the appearance of Zula is based on the comic books character Escelan rather than the original Zula. He also shares many characteristics with Juma.