How would LOTR go if he was in Frodo's place?

Corrupted by the Ring, lost to Sauron. The reason they had a hobbit carry it wasn't because they thought it'd be best protected in the hands of a fat English midget, it's because hobbits possess an innate innocence and humility nobody else does, humans least of all.

I concur with the thread; he would have been corrupted swiftly, or else lost it at some point. One thing is for sure, though: there would have been a lot more dead orcs and trolls in Moria with Gimli, Legolas, Aragorn, Boromir, AND Conan in attendance.

Hell, with Conan there, they might have made it over Cahadras, provided there was a naked snow maiden to chase.

>faith in Crom

Begone, Shemite.

Well, if any man could resist the temptation of the Ring, it would probably be Conan, as he just wouldn't have time for that bullshit.

Then again, maybe NO man can resist the temptation of the Ring, that's why they had to give it to a hobbit instead.

I think he kind of ended up king after a series of fortunate events
He wasn't opposed to the idea and it didn't completely come out of nowhere but he doesn't start out as a power hungry pretender
Conan mostly does what he does to survive and to grab riches
He's not even that greedy since he blows most of his loot on wine and whores
If anything, he'd probably use the ring to steal valuables from noble homes and sorcerer towers until the wraiths catch up to him

He basically ended up becoming the champion of an entire nation, led a successful rebellion, and throttled the old king on his own thrown.
"By his own hand" is not a figurative statement.

>faith in Crom
What did he mean by this?

The rings seem to make the worst come out of the people using them, while amplifying their strengths. It's quite likely the ring wouldn't even make Conan disappear, as that's just how its power manifests for a Halfling (who are predisposed to sneaking around troubles instead of facing them; so much so that halflings are considered supernaturally sneaky by other races) using it. Who the hell knows what would happen if Conan used it?

I think you could make a decent case that Conan wouldn't be tempted by the Ring because relying on external power like a bullshit magic artifact goes against Conan's nature.

Conan takes what he wants "by his own hand". One of the important thematic elements of the Conan novels is that barbarism, the state in which men seize what they deserve by their own strength, and owe what they have to none but themselves, is the greatest state of civilization. In some sense it is not the loot/ale/whores/glory that matters, but the winning of it.

The Ring would surely tempt Conan, but if Howard is writing the novel, anyway, Conan would reject it, because the Ring represents the artifice of civilized authority. The notion that a piece of jewelry could make a man into a lord would be disgusting to Howard's barbarian, just the same as the notion that a man's birth or a man's purse could ever make him a king.

Thats what I was thinking in regards to everybody saying he would be corrupted.

I know there's one story where he has to escort this princess to her new kingdom, and in return he's gifted a LOT of gold but his memories are removed.

Like, he wakes up next to a pile of obviously enchanted gold and no memory of where he was the past few days. He looks at the gold and goes "Fuck that," then rides off in search of 'honest treasure'.

So basically Conan becomes Kharn.

> KHARN THE UNCONQUERED

I don't know about you, but that would be the most fucking metal story ever.

He would have had sex with eowyn and arwen, at the same time

For some reason, you've just reminded me of the Sagard the Barbarian gamebooks.

>'honest treasure'

This is an important phrase to examine in the context of Conan because there's the implicit understanding that he's still okay with finding some motherfuckers and taking their shit. But when he takes their shit he will take it himself, and that's what makes it "honest". It will be his by the right of the taking, and that is "honest" because it is the naked truth.

>Implying there ever isn't one to chase.

He'd certainly resist it better than most, but the ring doesn't tempt everyone in the same way, and it has a lot of time to work with.
Even Frodo succumbed eventually.

I imagine it would try to go for the angle of changing the odds to fight his enemies on more even footing, rather than making him stronger.

That would certainly be an interesting tack to take. Conan is definitely willing to use tools and work with allies to challenge greater foes.

I think the greatest challenges for the Ring / Sauron in corruption Conan would be A) convincing him that he could use the Ring and still take by his own hand, and B) overcoming his inherent distrust of artifice and civilization.

Conan being handed the Ring, as Frodo more-or-less was, and told "this is an artifact of evil, used to crush the freedom of men" would be an easy set up, because Conan is forewarned of its nature and recognizes that the Ring is everything anathema to the way he lives.

Sauron tricking Conan into taking the Ring as a prize from a powerful foe, when he is otherwise oblivious to its nature, however...

He still looks more ambitious than fucking Smeagol to me. The ring doesn't work with greed only.

I think you misunderstand Conan's ambition.

Conan is driven to take what he can because he is a free man. The moment he has to rely on external power, he is no longer free.

Conan is supposed to be a model for what Howard saw as the ideal man, and that includes the rejection of the exact sort of power structures that Sauron / Morgoth embody.

I think the Balrog would be Conan's crucible; if he can resist the temptation to take up the ring and fight it as an equal, he'd most likely be alright until he gets to Mordor and it doubles down on the temptation.

All the other enemies he can at least fight or outwit, even if he can't kill ones such as the Nazgul, but the Balrog is different.
It's a foe that Conan simply can't handle, no matter his strength, wit and courage. Leaving behind another to do it in his stead would make it even worse.
He's smart enough that normally he'd have no problem with running or hiding from something beyond him, IIRC he did precisely that when cornered by a dragon, but having the ring there would mean a strong anchor for it to tempt his pride.

I'm not sure the ring has enough power in it to let Conan fight the Balrog.

It would still make him disappear. The ring slightly shifts whomever is wearing it into the dimension of spirits, so mortals appear invisible. It's the reason the Nazgul appear to have nothing under their robes. Only beings who already have a powerful spiritual body continue to be visible on the mortal plane.

But you are right in that it would greatly increase Conan's strengths. He would probably become unbearably glorious with a personality so strong it slips into mind control territory. He would become impossible strong and fast and utterly fearless. His mind would be so sharp he's have a sort of jedi precognition. However his thrill seeking tendencies would be amplified, he would go mad in his quest for great stakes and challenges. His mighty passion would start to become mindless lust and rage. He'd be like a lunatic tempest roving across the land uprooting and destroying kingdoms, leading men to their deaths in increasingly glorious ways.

He doesn't need to know that.
It just needs to suggest that he wouldn't have been as helpless if he'd had it on his side.

Besides, the essence of one corrupted maiar, combined with Conan's mighty spirit, could tip the scales to fight another.

Conan didn't set out to become a king, he wound up having the job kind of forced on him -- he had been promoted from mercenary to soldier to king's guard; the old king was crazy, and Conan knew what to do when your chieftain lost his marbles, and apparently all these city folk were too stupid or weak to do what had to be done. After he cut down the king, the various powers that wanted the throne decided to stick him on it as a guy who at least didn't belong to their enemies, and who could be manipulated or killed if they needed to later on. Not that this worked, Conan did the job as fairly and justly as he could, and ate assassins for breakfast.
But to Conan it was just another job, and one that kinda sucked. He preferred being a bandit or something, where he could live on the road and do as he pleased without the responsibility for all those people on his shoulders. So he kind of wanted out as soon as he got the job, but was stuck with it for quite a while because leaving meant a civil war.

One thing worth noting is that the Gollum thing happens to weak willed individuals. You put on the ring, and you vanish, as the ring overpowers you and pushes you into the realm of ghosts. On the other hand, Galadriel is powerful enough that she puts on her ring and her ring vanishes instead.
Saruman also tells Gandalf that it's possible to master the ring and use it against Sauron (in the books, in the movies he's more a toady) but Gandalf points out that yeah, you could probably beat Sauron with it, but then they'd eventually just have Dark Lord Saruman to deal with, because there's still a big chunk of Sauron inside that ring, and it'll get to you eventually.

(cont')

I'd say if he's forewarned, then that ring won't get him for a long time. Resisting magic bullshit is Conan's deal, and he's got an incredible force of will. He could probably master the ring and use it to raise armies and strike down Sauron, but why would he? He's a born sneak thief, and the idea of slipping into Mount Doom unseen and killing the evil conqueror wizard by destroying his nasty trinket would be just the sort of thing Conan would love.
The question then becomes, can Conan hide from Sauron as well as a hobbit, whose whole deal is not being noticed? That's a tough question, because Conan is one slippery bastard, too.

I like to imagine a comfy Conan in Bag's End brooding about bitches and treasure, myself.

Conan can sneak bruh.
>Knows how to stay downwind. Note that he climbed into that tree so quietly it couldn't be heard by a Kro, a people whoCan hear a man breathe at 20 paces

Oddly enough, conan might be known as a barbarian, but people forget that his proper class levels were mostly thief.

He's a fighter/rogue skillmonkey with a lot of known languages, high Hide/Move Silently, high Appraisal, high Intimidation, high Spot, Listen, and Sense Motive.

He doesn't do hardly any "raging" , and instead most often beats his enemies by clever use of force, outwitting their plans or simply avoiding danger in the first place.

>He probably tries to fight the first Ringwraith he finds, rather than hide, like Frodo did. He promptly eats shit and the ring is merrily carried back to Mordor.

I'm not a Howard fan, but I'm not so sure that a Ringwraith could take Conan, even before he gets the ring. Gandalf mentions that they don't have much physical presence, and no great power over the fearless, which certainly describes the archtype. Aragorn with a pair of torches is able to drive off 5 of them at weathertop, and I can't imagine Conan doing much worse.

Again, I'm not sure about this because I've never really read the Conan books, but the Ring can work slippery shit even when you're not wearing it. It hardens and strengthens the bearer's will, and the simple act of trying to persuade someone to do something with the force of your personality (which Conan does seem to do) while having it around is enough for it to get its tenterhooks into him.

This whole "Rings make you do your strenghts" thing is largely baseless. Remember, Isildur disappeared from using the Ring, and he wasn't some stealthy hobbit. Conan would turn invisible if he put it on.

With the Nazgul thing, I do believe Conan would be able to drive them off. However, one bite from their wicked blades may kill him (or worse) if he doesn't get some Elvish healing quickly.

>Conan Ring-Bearer is pic related

I can see it.

Corrupted, as others have said. If he doesn't have the resolve to resist some Not!Valkyrie booty and almost rape one, he would probably be too tempted by the power of the ring.

I'd say Conan would be about equivalent to Aragorn when it comes to resisting the Ring.

They both have strong will, have some measure of understanding of what the Ring does to a mind and are badass enough that they wouldn't need the Ring against most foes, but ultimately they're only humans and would give in and becomes some dark, conquering reflection of themselves.