Ducalon (Earth-616)

Count Ducalon of Komahar
Name	Ducalon
Current Alias	Count Ducalon of Komahar
Affiliation and Relationships
Affiliation	Rebel Four
Relatives	Unnamed Grondarian kin
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Male
Unusual Features	Dwarfism
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Human
Living Status	Deceased
Reality	Earth-616
Place of Death	Topaz Throne, Palace of Kings, City of Wonders, Valusia
Personal Information
Identity	No Dual
Citizenship	Valusian
Occupation	Nobleman, conspirator
Base of Operations	Komahar; Valusia
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Roy Thomas, Ross Andru
First	Kull the Conqueror #1 (June, 1971)
First	Kull the Conqueror #1 (June, 1971)
Death	Kull the Destroyer #11 (August, 1973)
Death	Kull the Destroyer #11 (August, 1973)

Ducalon was the dwarfish count of Komahar, a province of Valusia, circa 18,500 BC.

History

Ducalon was the count of Komahar, a province of Valusia. His family included an unspecified kin high in the councils of Grondar.

Ducalon was part of the conspiracy against King Borna, along with Baron Kaanuub of Blaal (meant to become king in Borna's stead), the soldier Eranos, and the poet Ridondo. Ducalon desired "only what [was] due" his nobility. Along with his fellow conspirators, he accompanied Kull, the commander of the Black Legion who had been misguided by Ridondo into attacking Borna, and was nervous as he witnessed Kull's taking of throne and being aclaimed by the Red Slayers, and themselves reluctlantly hailed their new king as well.

The conspirators turned their aim toward King Kull. Ducalon came in touch with the Thuranian shaman Melkori, and the four met with him at Cloud Peak. Using magic and wax-made replicas of the Red Slayers, Melkori sowned revolt (notably by having his fake Red Slayers murder in broad light people that opposed Kull) in Valusia. Fearing that Melkori was pushing it too far, Ducalon and Kaanuub attempted to stop him but were put in their place by Melkori, who was ultimately defeated by Kull.

When H'nar, regent prince of Demascar, came to Kull for aid against their enemies of Rikos, Kull designated the four conspirators as his aides and counselors. Arriving at Demascar, the Valusians were attacked by demons of Rikos. Not having been informed by H'nar of Rikos' use of black magic, Kull accepted to mount a single raid to avenge their fallen comrades, but Ducalon rejected the deal as Kull's own only. The four conspirators then offered H'nar a reward if he did the deed, but were answered only by threat. Ducalon and the others later remained at Demascar while Kull and H'nar went on the "raid", in fact a plot to sacrifice Valusians to power a spell to destroy Rikos. H'nar's wizard M'ku was killed by Brule whom he had captured earlier, and the spell propagated to Demascar as well. Brule then left the palace of Demascar with the four counselors.

Later, witnessing the death of Hallos, a gladiator, before the fatal blow of a maddened Varulian bear, Ducalon tumbled into the pit due to the watchers surging forward around the pit. He was soon joined by Kull. Thrown a rope ladder, Ducalon briefly helped Kull and fled the scene.

Nevertheless, Ducalon kept on conspiring against Kull. Contacted by "Ardyon" (Thulsa Doom) for a plot against Kull, Ducalon had his kin in the councils of Grondar lure Brule and the Red Slayers away from Kull, allowing the conspirators to strike. During the attack in Kull's bedroom, Ducalon decided that he would be king rather than Kaanuub, but was switfly slain by Kull the next moment. Neverthless, Kull was ultimately defeated by "Ardyon".

Paraphernalia

Weapons

Sword, poisoned dagger.

Notes

• That character was created by Robert E. Howard in "By This Axe I Rule!".
  • Originally named "Volmana" of Karaban, his name (among other details of the story) was changed to "Ducalon of Komahar" by Howard's literary agent Glenn Lord when he assembled King Kull for publication in 1967, in order to avoid some of the many similarities between "By This Axe I Rule!" and the Conan story "The Phoenix on the Sword", due to the fact that the former, unmarketable, was the basis to the latter (with even entire sections being almost identical word for word). Komahar came from an unconfirmed poem by Howard.
• In Kull the Destroyer #11, Ducalon makes a claim to the Topaz Throne declaring "I've a drop or two of noble blood in my veins, as well as [Kaanuub]". Given the context, it could be an error, and Ducalon was presumably meant to mention "royal" rather than "noble" lineage. However, in Kull the Conqueror #1, Kaanub stated only he -among the four conspirators- had "a trace of royal blood".

See Also

• 6 appearance(s) of Ducalon (Earth-616)
• 1 minor appearance(s) of Ducalon (Earth-616)
• 1 mention(s) of Ducalon (Earth-616)
• 1 image(s) of Ducalon (Earth-616)