GUARDIAN of BEAUTY

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Human magic-user;
    Hyborian era;
    possibly a Khitain citizen

Occupation: Warrior

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Elder Gods (see comments)

Enemies: Conan, Noyo

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None;
    Conan called her "witch-woman" in battle

Base of Operations: Unspecificed Khitain alley

First Appearance: Conan the Barbarian#130 (January, 1982)

Powers/Abilities: The Guardian of Beauty served as protector of the Mirror of Beauty, challenging those who approached it.

    Wielding a bow staff, she possessed a mastery of unspecified martial arts, similar to some modern Asian martial arts.

    She struck with grace and speed, enabling her to deftly outmaneuver even a highly experienced and skilled combatant, such as Conan of Cimmeria.

    If she defeated an opponent, that opponent would forfeit his or her soul to the Mirror of Beauty (or perhaps the Guardian consumed the souls?); she would remove a victim's soul by touching him or her with her bo staff. Her soul, however, was forfeit if she lost; it's energies allowed the victor to access the Mirror of Beauty.

    The Guardian's beautiful appearance, combined with psychic powers, enabled her to ensorcel opponents, causing them to submit to her will, even acknowledging that they would surrender their souls to her.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'7")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 130 lbs.)
Eyes: Unrevealed (presumably brown)
Hair: Black

History:

(Conan the Barbarian I#128 (fb) - BTS) - In the distant past, the Primal Gods (also sometimes referred to as "Elder Gods"; see comments) created four items, imbuing each of them with one of the four elements of the cosmos' creation: The Sword of Strength, the Crown of Wisdom, the Mirror of Beauty, and the Rose of Peace.

    Throughout the ages, the sacred Cornerstones of Creation were jealously guarded by the Cult of Creation. Knowledge of their Earthly hiding places was known only to the hand-picked priestess of the gods. Noyo was chosen as the Priestess of the Cult of Creation.

(Conan the Barbarian#130 (fb) - BTS) - The Mirror of Beauty was guarded by an unidentified being (see comments) who served as the Guardian of Beauty.

(Conan the Barbarian#128 - BTS) - The demon lord sorcerer Pau-Styss sought the power of the Cornerstones of Creation and kidnapped Laynnen to force his wife, Noyo, to recover the Cornerstones. She was joined on her quest by Laynnen's childhood friend, Conan; her and Laynnen's son, Dreeme, also came along.

Conan the Barbarian#130) - In an alley, the Guardian confronted Noyo and her allies. Conan iniitally assumed the fully masked warrior to be male and a thief and tried to warn her off, but when the Guardian charged him, the Sword of Strength transformed into a staff to match the Guardian's weapon.

    Far swifter than Conan, the Guardian battered him back with bo strikes and kicks.

    After Conan finally dodged a brutal blow, Noyo telepathically urged and guided Conan, in instants making him him familiar with the Khitain martials; recognizing Noyo's influence, Conan accepted without hesitation and fought with a new grace, fluidity, and power, knocking back the Guardian, whose mask fell away, revealing her to a woman.

    As the Guardian arose and spoke in tones "both cold and saturnine," telling Conan that his arm was strong, Conan was overcome by her beauty -- her face so finely sculpted, her skin like ivory, her lips red as blood -- and found himself unable to do anything more than stare hypnotically at her.

    The Guardian then struck him in the shoulder with her bo staff, telling him to kneel as "such pulchritude deserves worship, does it not?" Unable to resist, Conan acknowledged his "mistress," and dropped to his knees.

    Conan further obeyed her commands to bow his head as her staff touched his head and drank her soul; however, while Conan agreed that she could take it, Noyo mystically sent her spirit into the "staff" of Strength, which rose into the air, filling Conan with power and the will to resist.

Comments: Created by J.M. DeMatteis and Gil Kane.

Elder Gods and Cornerstones of Creation

• In the past, we have always considered the Elder Gods of the Hyborian Age (never specifically named and sometimes referred to as the Primal Gods and the Creation-Lords) to be distinct from the true Elder Gods (Chthon, Gaea, Oshtur, and Set; with others having long since perished) and to possibly be the major gods mentioned elsewhere in the Conan series: Crom, Mitra, Asura, and possibly Set..."
  
• However, the Mystic Arcana series included the Cornerstones of Creation and showed them to be associated with the true Elder Gods. Between the two stories, the Sword of Strength from Conan I#128-130 would correspond to the Sword of Bone (associated with Oshtur), used by Agamotto's Pale Horseman, with most recent incarnation being Cadaver;  the Rose of Peace would correspond to the Ebon Rose (associated with Gaea); the Crown of Wisdom would correspond to the Serpent Crown (associated with Set); and the Mirror of Beauty would correspond to the Black Mirror, which was a form or portion of the Darkhold (associated with (and a reflection of) Chthon). It is NOT outright stated, however, that the Cornerstones of Creation in Mystic Arcana were the same as those in the Conan stories.
• Is the Rose of Peace an incarnation the Ebon Rose?
• There's not much to contradict the two being the same, but both Ian McNee and Morgan Le Fay held the Ebon Rose, and both of them are tainted by violence.
  
• Connections/contradictions between the Crown of Wisdom and the Serpent Crown are discussed in their respective profiles.
• Connections/contradictions between the Mirror of Beauty and the Black Mirror (a page of the Darkhold) are discussed in their respective profiles.
  
• Connections/contradictions between the Sword of Bone and the Sword of Strength are discussed in their respective profiles.
• Interestingly, the one image in Conan the Barbarian I#130 that shows the Elder Gods as appearing to be at least three completely human-looking males. Is this just an image from Noyo's understanding of her masters? Did she lack understanding of their true forms/natures and just assume them to be human males who mystically combined their energies to generate a living being? Were these beings actually avatars of the Elder Gods, rather than the Elder Gods themselves? Or are there two different sets of Cornerstones of Creation?
  
• I know the author of Mystic Arcana, David Sexton, intended the Cornerstones in his stories to be the same ones from the Conan stories, but he did tell me that he wasn't sure that would actually work out...
  
• This issue will likely remain unrevealed...and perhaps moot, depending on how the new Conan series fits in. It's supposed to be a continuation of the older series, although they don't necessarily plan to revisit much outside of classic Robert E. Howard story themes. We shall see...

• Was (were?) the Guardian(s) chosen by the Cult of Creation?
• Has a single being served as the Guardian since the Mirror's creation, or has there been a succession of Guardians?
• If she was defeated/slain, the Mirror gain a new Guardian? Or was her spirit reincarnated in her original or another body?
  
• We know the Guardian has a soul, but was the Guardian mortal (human?) or immortal? Her speech patterns (not really anything more than using "thy" instead of "your"), "tones both cold and saturnine," "unearthly voice" and "ungodly fury" seemed more than mortal.
  

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Guardian of Beauty should be distinguished from:

• GUARDIAN - four-armed servant of Infinity (aspect of Odin)--Thor I#185
  
• GUARDIAN (James MacDonald "Mac" Hudson) - founded Alpha Flight,  husband of Heather/Vindicator. (as Guardian)--Alpha Flight I#2
  
• GUARDIAN - Triad of Banner, represents ego of Bruce Banner/Hulk. Orange elf-like creature, archer--Incredible Hulk II#308
• GUARDIAN - see VINDICATOR/Heather McNeil Huson--X-Men/Alpha Flight #1, Alpha Flight I#90 
• GUARDIAN (Mr. Doug) - Springfield, rival of the Phantom, killed each other of the powerless Evilizer toy--Marvel Super-Heroes III#2/4
• GUARDIAN - see VORMUND--Captain America I#442
• GUARDIAN - clone of Peter Parker, servant of Jackal, guarded door to his laboratory, died from clone degeneration--Web of Spider-Man#122
  
• GUARDIAN - synthoid duplicate of Mac, initially believed to be Mac age regressed by Department H, sent to lead Beta Flight after truth discovered, consumed in fire while attempting to free rest of Alpha Flight from AIM--Alpha Flight II#1
• GUARDIAN (Michael Pointer) - Omega Flight, given costume to contain his energies, sought redemption for the destruction he caused as the Collective--Civil War#7, (identified) Omega Flight#2
  
• GUARDIAN of the ALTAR of NEPTUNE's WRATH - immense cephalopod --Spectacular Spider-Man Annual#9/5, Avengers West Coast Annual#4
• "GUARDIAN of the BLACK ORCHID" - Jann of the Jungle foe; carnosaur--Jungle Tales I#2
  
• GUARDIAN of the CAVE of Earth-93060 - monstrous creature, servant of Prometheus--Freex#12, 13
• GUARDIAN of the CITY of Earth-7310 - ruler, prevented overpopulation by banishing some to the outside Wets (swamplands)--Savage Tales I#2/2
  
• GUARDIAN of the CRYPT of FEN - Unforgiven Dead--Namor I#39
  
• GUARDIAN  of the DEAD - GRATEFUL UNDEAD--Marvel Comics Presents I#90/3
• GUARDIAN of the GATEWAY - Yeti, guarded City of the Samurai--Black Panther I#5
• GUARDIAN of the LIGHT - see HIGH PRIEST of the HIDDEN TEMPLE--Spectacular Spider-Man II#13
• GUARDIAN of the LIGHT - see SHA SHAN--Spectacular Spider-Man II#13
• GUARDIAN of the PEOPLE - giant serpent--Ms. Marvel I#21
  
• GUARDIAN of the PROMETHEAN FLAME - Olympian, apparently slain by Ares--Avengers I#100
• GUARDIAN of RUBY of SHADOWS - Terragonia, monstrous creature, summoned by Kronak via the gem, defeated by Hulk, dispatched back to its realm when the Ruby shattered--Incredible Hulk II#201

• GUARDIAN of the SPIRIT WORLD (    ) - --Marvel Mystery Comics#28

• GUARDIAN of the TOWER of the Hyborian era - giant bat/human creature, guarded Siptah and the Gem, slain by Conan using the Gem--Gem in the Tower; Savage Sword of Conan#45
• guardian of the Treasure of Tranicos of the Hyborian era - see BLACK STRANGER--Treasures of Tranicos; Savage Sword of Conan#47
• GUARDIAN of the VORTEX ( ) - extradimensional, inhuman entity, over 1000 years old, defended dimensional portal from attackers, assisted in closing portal by Iron Man/Rhodes--Iron Man I#176
• GUARDIAN of the WELL - see MIMIR--Thor I#240
  
• GUARDIAN ANGEL of Earth-Amalgam (Tom Harper*) - Angel (Halloway)+ Guardian, Universe-Two--[Challengers of the Fantastic#1(letters)] (World's Greatest Comics
• GUARDIAN ANGEL of Earth-148611 - see SERAPH--[Justice#21 (named on inside cover)]
• GUARDIAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY (Mr. Matthews) - held policies on super-criminals and then refused to pay due to their criminal activities, exposed for fraud by Tumbler and Captain America--Captain America I#291
• GUARDIAN PROTOCOLS - originated with the ancient "Guardians of the Galaxy"/Chosen Eight of Fate thousands of years ago, nearly put into motion for the first time in 1000 years with the advent of the Phoenix Force on Earth, proposed by Zemo as possibly needed to deal with the threat of the Wellspring--Thunderbolts II#101, 106
• GUARDIAN ROBOTS - see SERVO-GUARDS (Dr. Doom's)--Fantastic Four I#84
• Guardian Spirit of the Lost Lemuria era - aka Watchdog; guarded Athmar Phong; tried to kill Ald Thurmis and Thongor; sent back to Hell with the Shield of Cathloda by Thongor--Creatures on the Loose#22
• GUARDIANS - see AIM GUARDIANS (app-stryke)--Iron Man Annual#4
• GUARDIANS of SHAGREEN - serpentine statues, come to life and attack any who approach his chambers, Shagreen was forced to destroy them when they ran amok--Nightcrawler I#2
• GUARDIANS of the GALAXY (Ajesthe, Badoon, Shi'ar, Skrull, 4 others) - eight beings evolved/empowered by a series of stones empowered by the Alpha and Omega Stones to maintain peace between the inhabited worlds, aka CHOSEN EIGHT of FATE*--Thunderbolts I#45 (45(fb), 46(fb)
• GUARDIANS of the GALAXY (Aerolite, Astrolabe, Stella Nega, Skytower, Tua Zon) - warriors circa 1000 AD--Guardians of Infinity#1
  
• GUARDIANS of the GALAXY (Drax, Gamora, Quasar (Phyla-Vell), Rocket Raccoon, Star-Lord (Peter Quill), Bug, Groot, Major Victory, Mantis)--Guardians of the Galaxy II#1
• GUARDIANS of the GALAXY of Earth-691 (Vance Astro, Charlie-27, Martinex, Yondu, Starhawk, Aleta, Nikki, etc.) - group of heroes initially formed from survivors of Badoon onslaught @ 3000 AD--Marvel Super-Heroes II#18 
• GUARDIANS of the HIDDEN TEMPLE - see MONKS of the HIDDEN TEMPLE (app)--Amazing Spider-Man I#108
• GUARDIANS of the Quadriverse - one at a time, immediately replaced by another--Dr. Strange II#24
• GUARDIANs of the TEMPLE of CYTTORAK - Korea--Excalibur IV#13
  
• guardians of the Temple of the Sun - see TEMPLE of the SUN--Marvel Comics Presents #134 (135, 136
• GUARDIANS OF THE UNIVERSE of Earth-Amalgam (Uatu) - powerful organization, manipulated Starbrand Corps--[Speed Demon#1]
• other "Guardian" characters

images: (without ads)
Conan the Barbarian#130, pg, 6, panel 5 (full and upper, masked);
       pg. 8, panel 2 (mostly full, challenging Conan);
          panel 6 (enslaving Conan);
       pg. 9, panel 3 (swinging at Conan)

First posted: 10/28/2019
Last updated: 10/28/2019

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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