YOLINDA
YOLINDA
Real Name: Yolinda
Identity/Class: Human royalty; Hyborian era
Occupation: Former princess of Turan;
former student of the northern covenant of the sacred heart
of Tarim
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Conan, Juma, wretches
of the pit, Zula;
formerly the Turanian soldiers
Enemies: Ape Lords, Grimm, Rotath, Turanian soldiers, Yezdigerd, "Zekkir"
Known Relatives: Yezdigerd (father, deceased), Yildiz (grandfather, deceased), Tespaya (paternal great uncle), Salbatanu (son, deceased), Zosara (daughter, deceased)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Currently unrevealed;
formerly the Pit,
First Appearance: Historical):
The Curse of the Golden Skull: The Howard Collector (Spring 1967);
(Marvel): Conan the Barbarian I#37 (April, 1974)
Powers/Abilities: Yolinda had no superhuman powers and did not demonstrate any particular skills. She was able to influence the wretches of the pit.
History:
(Conan the Barbarian I#37 (fb) - BTS) - Yolinda became a sheltered student of
the northern covenant of the sacred heart of Tarim.
(Conan the Barbarian I#37 (fb) - BTS) - Two-score Turanian soldiers (including a number of enlisted mercenaries, such as Conan and Juma) were sent to protect Yolinda on a trip into the northern wastes.
(Conan the Barbarian I#37) - A tribe of Turanian Hillman captured Conan and Juma, as well as princess Yolinda. They were brought to Rotath's castle in the Valley of the Sun, and when Conan picked up Yolinda to cushion her ride atop a waterspout, she chastised him for touching her royal self. Upon arrival, Anaxor (presumably a descendent of the Ape Lords) grabbed Yolinda and rushed to lay her at Rotath's feet. Conan rushed to save her, and his countenance reminded Rotath of Kull. Enraged by the memory, Rotath swore that none of the arrivals would leave the tower again: Yolinda was to serve as the chain that bound Rotath to the throne of Turan, while Anaxor would slay Conan. However, Conan instead slew Anaxor and then attacked Rotath's guards, but Rotath used herb-tipped darts to knock out both Conan and Juma.
(Conan the Barbarian I#37 - BTS / Savage Sword of Conan#234 (fb)) - Conan and Juma were sent to work in his mines, while Yolinda was held hostage. Rotath commanded his Ape Lords to guard Yolinda but not to touch her, and most of the Ape Lords would no sooner have mated with Yolinda than with a true ape...most, but not all. One of the Ape Lords, "Zekkir," entered Yolinda's chamber and raped her.
(Conan the Barbarian I#37) - After days of labor, Conan and Juma
unwittingly discovered the Devil of the Pits, an immense gold-eating slug, which
pursued them as they fled up a tunnel and even out into the Valley. Rotath grabbed Yolinda
and began riding the bubble up the waterspout towards the city. Conan led the
slug to plug the waterspout with its
massive body. With the spout blocked, the sphere fell down atop the slug. Rotath
and Yolinda both rushed towards safety, but the slug pulled Rotath into its
body, feeding on the gold which lay within him.
Sated, the slug shambled off, and Conan and Juma brought
Yolinda back to Aghrapur.
(Savage Sword of Conan#234/2 (fb)) - Though she tried to
pretend this was all just a bad dream, Yolinda found she was with child after
returning home.
Her father, Yezdigerd, wished to have Yolinda stoned, but her
grandfather, King Yildiz, believed her tale of helpless innocence and
intervened, saving her life. Yezdigerd refused to have anything to do with
Yolinda and turned her over to Yildiz. Yildiz sent Yolinda to have her babies in
Kherdpur because he had heard that something in the water or atmosphere of the
place caused many babes born there to be grotesque monstrosities who were
confined to the tunnels known as the pit.
(Savage Sword of Conan#234/2 (fb) / Savage Sword of Conan#235/2 (fb) - BTS) - She bore twins, both monstrously mutated: the daughter Zosara and the son Salbatanu.
(Savage Sword of Conan#235/2 (fb) - BTS) - None knew that Salbatanu was her son except the loyal servant who midwifed them. The servant hid Salbatanu, even from Yolinda, but she was apprehended before she could hide Zosara. When Yolinda finally learned the truth, she returned to Kherdpur so she could dwell there and be a mother to both her children.
(Savage Sword of Conan#234/2 (fb)) - Any time Yezdigerd was off razing some poor city, Yildiz bade Yolinda return to Aghrapur to keep him company, but she would always hurry back to Kherdpur as quickly as possible.
(Savage Sword of Conan#234/2 (fb) - BTS) - Fearing Yezdigerd might try to have Yolinda murdered, Juma stayed on with the cavalry of Turan.
(Savage Sword of Conan#234/2 (fb) - BTS) - Later, when Yildiz took the young Yasmin as a wife and she became pregnant -- whether with Yildiz's child or someone else's -- Yildiz was more content to leave Yolinda in Kherdpur with her children.
(Savage Sword of Conan#234/2 (fb) - BTS) - Yolinda gained some influence over the rest of the wretches dwelling in the pit.
(Savage Sword of Conan#235/2 (fb) - BTS) - Juma and Yolinda fell in love.
(Savage Sword of Conan#234/2 (fb) - BTS) - Yezdigerd issued on
order to have Yolinda killed if found.
(Savage Sword of Conan#233/2 - BTS/ Savage Sword of Conan#235/2 (fb) - BTS) - - Juma volunteered to Grimm, leader of the forces of Turan, to join the Kozaks and lure Conan -- Grimm's long-term enemy -- to him in Kherdpur. Juma secretly did so so Conan could help protect Yolinda. Juma recommended Grimm cast Conan into the pit to be slain by wretches dwelling there, knowing that Yolinda could stop the wretches from slaying Conan and Zula,
(Savage Sword of Conan#233/2) - As Juma arrived with them in Kherdpur, Conan and Zula were captured by Grimm, who cast Conan and Zula into the pit.
(Savage Sword of Conan#234/2) - Yolinda stopped the wretches
of the pit from harming Conan and his ally Zula, who had been cast into the pit
by Grimm and Juma. Conan and Yolinda swiftly recognized each other, and she
shared the events in her life following her meeting with Conan, revealing
herself only as the mother of the more humanoid Zosara.
When Juma tried to sneak back to the pit to check on Conan,
but was discovered by Grimm and his men. Juma attacked, but was bitten by the
neck by Grimm and cast into the pit, after which he vowed to hunt down and slay
Yolinda. Within the pit, Juma was confronted by Salbatanu.
(Savage Sword of Conan#235/2) - Conan and Zula rushed to save
Juma from Salbatanu, and a brief but savage battle erupted until Yolinda
arrived, interrupted the fight, and revealed Salbatanu to be her son. However,
Conan had only saved Juma so he could take vengeance himself, and he rushed Juma
with his knife, ignoring Juma's efforts to explain. Yolinda interrupted this
fight as well, and revealed Juma's purpose in leading them there.
Conan asked if there was an exit out of Kherdpur through the
tunnels of the pit, and when Yolinda revealed it, he and Zula departed through
it, advising her to flee, too, while she still could. Juma told her she could
stay with the Kozaks, but Yolinda knew that those nomads would never accept her
children. Juma vowed not to leave her, knowing he might die there, but as they
embraced, Grimm and his soldiers arrived, and Grimm threw a spear through
Zosara's chest. As Salbatanu and the other wretches arrived, Grimm pretended to
retreat with his men, only to catch Salbatanu with a net and then fill him full
of spears. Grimm's men wounded Juma and dispatched the rest of the wretches,
then Grimm ordered them to take Yolinda and Juma for further sport before
slaying them.
Zosara managed to catch up with Conan and Zula before dying,
and Conan and Zula returned to the pit to try to save Yolinda and Juma, or at
least to avenge them. Grimm tormented his bound prisoners, slashing one each of
their wrists to mingle their blood, a marriage custom in his native Cimmeria. He
was interrupted by Conan and Zula, alongside Salbatanu, still clinging to life.
As Grimm attacked Conan, Juma used his dagger to cut himself free and stab
Grimm, distracting him sufficiently for Conan to behead him.
Yolinda, however, perished from blood loss, and Salbatanu
finally succumbed as well.
Comments: Created by Robert E. Howard, finished by L.
Sprague de Camp;
adapted by Roy Thomas and Neal Adams.
Conan the Barbarian I#37 featured elements of the story "City of Skulls" by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter, including
Juma and the daughter of Yezdigerd. However, in that original story,
the daughter was named Zosara; obviously the name of Yolinda's daughter
was chosen as an homage to that.
Savage Sword of Conan#59 was an adaptation of "The City of Skulls" by
L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter. However, as the intro page of the
story explained, portions of the story had already been adapted in
"Golden Skull" in Conan the Barbarian I#37, and so that is the
"authentic" version in Marvel/-616 continuity, while "City of Skulls"
has primacy in the prose Conan stories. They compared the adaptation in
#59 to "What If the De Camp/Carter Stories had been available to Conan
the Barbarian several years ago, and had been adapted instead of the
originals written by Roy Thomas?"
That alternate reality can be designated Earth-80179.
According to some myth sites, Salbatanu is the Babylonian name for the planet Mars, which was associated with the god Nergal.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
No KNOWN connections to:
The monstrous son of princess Yolinda and
the Ape Lord "Zekkir" who raped her while she was imprisoned by Rotath,
Salbatanu and his twin sister, Zosara, were born in the pits of Kherdpur amongst
the other mutates who dwelled there. He confronted Juma when Grimm cast him into
the pit, and Conan and Zula leapt into the fray, but Yolinda interrupted the
fight. When Grimm and his soldiers invaded the pit in order to slay Yolinda on
order of her father, Yezdigerd, they pretended to flee before Salbatanu but them
caught him in a net and filled him with spears until he appeared to die.
However, Conan and Zula returned soon after and freed
Salbatanu, who clung to life and helped them assault Grimm's forces in a futile
effort to save Yolinda. Both Salbatanu and Yolinda perished, though Juma
survived.
Salbatanu was approximately 12' tall and had enhanced human strength. Though his flesh was vulnerable to spears and other attacks, he was fiercely loyal to his mother and forced himself to continue to fight despite mortal wounds. He had large teeth, all of which were pointed, as well as a pair of large tusks.
He was also known as the "Horned Horror."
--Savage Sword of Conan#234/2 (234/2 (fb) - BTS/ 235/2 (fb) - BTS, 234/2, 235/2d
The monstrous son of princess Yolinda and the Ape Lord "Zekkir" who raped her while she was imprisoned by Rotath, Salbatanu and his twin sister, Zosara, were born in the pits of Kherdpur amongst the other mutates who dwelled there. He confronted Juma when Grimm cast him into the pit, and Conan and Zula leapt into the fray, but Yolinda interrupted the fight. When Grimm and his soldiers invaded the pit in order to slay Yolinda on order of her father, Yezdigerd, Zosara was the first to fall, as Grimm impaled her on a spear. Though she lay seemingly dead, after Grimm's men slaughtered the rest of the wretches of the pit and captured Yolinda and Juma, she forced herself to crawl down the tunnel and catch up to the departing Conan and Zula before dying. This effort caused the two to return to rescue or avenge Yolinda and Juma, and to slay Grimm.
Appearing for the most part like a young girl, Zosara had fanged teeth, hairy arms, and clawed hands and feet. She tended to wear a cloak to cover her appearance.
--Savage Sword of Conan#234/2 (234/2 (fb) - BTS/ 235/2 (fb) - BTS, 234/2, 235/2d
wretches
of the pit
Due to an unidentified factor -- magic or some toxin in the air or water -- many of the children of Kherdpur were born as grotesque monstrosities who were confined to the tunnels known as the pit. Many of these were befriended by Yolinda, who dwelled there with her own monstrous children, Salbatanu & Zosara. Grimm and the soldiers of Turan cast prisoners into the pit for them to be devoured by the wretches. Several of them attacked Conan and Zula when Grimm tossed them in there, but Yolinda stopped the fight. However, Grimm and his soldiers invaded the pit in order to slay Yolinda on order of her father, Yezdigerd, and they slew all of the wretches the encountered.
Monstrous in form, the wretches were completely uneducated, and their savagery may or may not have been from bestial intelligence as opposed to just not knowing any differently. They tended to attack anything they found in the pits.
--Savage Sword of Conan#234/2 (234/2 (fb) - BTS, 234/2, 235/2
images: (without ads)
Savage Sword of Conan#234/2, p3, panel 2 (wretches)
p5, panel 5 (Zosara face)
p8, panel 1 (Yolinda body)
panel 3 (Yolinda
face)
p14, panel 3 (Ape Lord)
#235/2 (Zosara's death)
Conan the Barbarian I#37, p6, panel 9 (Yolinda as princess)
Appearances:
Conan the Barbarian I#37 (April, 1974) - by Roy Thomas (writer, editor) and Neal
Adams (artist)
Savage Sword of Conan#234/2-235/2 (June-July, 1995) - by Roy Thomas (writer),
Mike Doherty (penciler), Ralph Reese (inker), Mike Lackey (editor)
First Posted: 01/12/2007
Last updated: 01/11/2007
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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