Characters / Red Sonja

Character sheet for the Red Sonja comic books.

For the characters of the 1985 film, see here.

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Red Sonja

Red Sonja

Boris Vallejo's take.

Played by: Brigitte Nielsen (1985 film), Matilda Lutz (upcoming film)

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• Action Girl: Red Sonja herself.
• Action Hero: Sonja rarely meets problems she can't bash, slash, or stab. Even when she does it's still her go-to strategy.
• Amazonian Beauty: The comic character can be this Depending on the Artist - she has been more commonly depicted as svelte and voluptuous than buff (though there are exceptions). She was definitely one in the live action movie played by Brigitte Nielsen.
• Ancestral Weapon: In the novels, Sonja's sword was originally her father's who was once a mercenary captain before settling down to become a farmer (the soldiers who murdered Sonja's family and raped her were her father's ex-comrades who had a grudge). When she received her vision and picked up a sword to kill her first man, it was her father's that was lying in the wreckage. The novel Star of Doom goes further, Sonja tells a witch that her father crafted the sword himself and when she took it up - she had slain so many demons, sorcerers and battle-crazy warriors and put so much of herself in that sword, that it had become magical and the witch acknowledged it actually had power.
• Arch-Enemy: The sorcerer Kulan Gath has repeatedly plagued her life more than any foe and has a knack for not staying dead.
• Badass Normal: Zigzagged, Whether Sonja is superhuman or not depends on the writer. Her fighting prowess was divinely granted rather than the product of natural training and under some writers Sonja is acknowledged to be just a mortal fighter on peak female human condition. Others explicitly make her superhuman to a least some degree. She once demonstrated a healing factor and other writers have ranged from being Made of Iron to giving her the strength of multiple men. For example, Michael Avon Oeming's Sonja was an unearthly warrior virtually impossible to defeat in combat, whereas Gail Simone's could be beaten in a duel with a skilled swordsman and got thrown out of a bar by a couple of bouncers. The version of Sonja that appeared in 2019's 'Vampirella/Red Sonja' was legitimately superhuman and could smash through a two-foot-thick stone wall with a single punch, taking out several solders on the other side, as well as kicking down a heavy steel door with ease - she appeared to be just as strong as Vampirella. Similarly, the Sonja of the 'Sonjaversal' series appears to be either immortal or to age very slowly and is said to have been blessed with strength and speed greater than anyone else of her world. Amy Chu's take on the character is also outright superhuman.
• Barbarian Hero: Rare female version. Arguably, the ur-example.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: While she does get a few dirt smears on her in rare occasions, this is played straight to an extreme degree. Sonja has been slashed, impaled with arrows (albeit in the arms or legs), and even got got shot with a police revolver in her team-up with Spider-man. In no instance has she ever been scarred, lampshaded at the end of her Spider-man team-up, she wakes up lying on an altar somewhere in her own time period and finds the bullet she had been shot with had fallen out. More recently she contracted black plague and while one panel had her sprouting some boils on her face, these immediately disappeared the panel after.
• Best Her to Bed Her: Former Trope Namer.
  • Loophole Abuse: As might be expected in a modern take on the story, deconstructing the exact wording and meaning of Sonja's vow has been attempted in her current series. Aside from the presence of the word fair (which can come and go, depending on the story), and for that matter the definition of fair combat, in issue 15 of the Dynamite series, an ancient god defeats her (and two of her friends, which apparently made it a fair fight) in battle. However, he knows nothing of her vow. Later, they become allies, and she comes to admire him, so she allows herself the indulgence. In issue 31, it's revealed she can lie with any man she chooses if she permanently foreswears her blessed skills. It would also follow that she does not have to let a man rape her if he defeats her, but the option to sleep with him is there if he does. In addition, there is no provision against love, just physical affection—it is as much a test of Sonja's will to abide by her vow as it is a compact from her goddess. The wording of her vow also means that if she were to be raped, she would not lose her blessed skills in consequence.
  • This facet of her has officially been abandoned in the Gail Simone run; she runs into a male swordmaster with the same vow and... well...
    Red Sonja: That is without question the stupidest thing I have ever heard.
• Blithe Spirit: Of the more violent sort. In general, the Hyboria is at least as patriarchal as the medieval times of our own world; when she passes through a town, though, some of the women tend to take inspiration from her example.
• Blood Knight: Sonja basically enjoys two things - drinking and fighting. And she is very good at both.
• Book Dumb: Despite her mother's efforts, Sonja is only borderline literate. She may have a learning disability; she describes working very hard to develop only crude handwriting. Averted in Amy Chu's run.
• Chainmail Bikini: Usually attributed to artist Esteban Maroto. Red Sonja is the Trope Codifier, if not the Ur-Example.
• Color Character: Red Sonja.
• Combat Pragmatist: Despite having vast strength from Scathach, at least in some incarnations, she happily uses any advantage she can during combat,
• Depending on the Writer: Red Sonja has been subjected to various retcons depending on who's writing her at the time - with changes ranging from whether she was the oldest child or the youngest child in her family, how old she was when her family was slaughtered, whether she got raped or not and why she was raped (originally the bandit leader was just horny and saw a beautiful red-headed girl, while in the Dynamite comics - Sonja was just a tweenie but she pissed off the bandits and they decided to rape her in revenge), whether she was divinely granted abilities or did she just develop them naturally and etc.
• Distaff Counterpart: To Conan the Barbarian.
• Distracted by the Sexy: This is sometimes given as the reason for the Chainmail Bikini. The Pathfinder stats for Red Sonja from Pathfinder: Worldscape show her chainmail bikini doesn't give her any armor bonus at all (her only armor bonus comes from Bracers of Armor +4), but she does have an ability that lets her add her Charisma bonus (18, for a +4 bonus) to Armor Class when not wearing armor,
  Opponents are distracted by her boo—, uh, "confidence and personality".
• Drowning My Sorrows: Sonja frequently turns to alcohol when she is depressed. Her volatile state when drunk has made her the bane of any unfortunate barkeep's existence.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: She wore a downright modest regular chainmail shirt in her first few comic appearances but gained her signature bikini for the first issue of Savage Sword of Conan.
• Eternal Hero: After a story in which Sonja dies, the subsequent story has the character being reincarnated. This is later revealed to be a mystic line of reincarnation, back to the days before humans used weapons—Sonja's original incarnation was the first to do so. Apparently being a Fiery Redhead is actually the real power of the line, as her fury is what allows each incarnation a way of becoming a great warrior regardless of circumstances, but depending on how she does it, that fury means she can end up a great hero or a great villain.
• Even the Girls Want Her: Happens from time to time. Sonja herself is apparently accustomed to this treatment and even flaunts it when opportunities arise.
  Sonja: I'm Red Sonja. I'm everyone's type.
• Exposed to the Elements: Sonja both averts this and plays this straight, depending on the writer and artist of the story. The better writers will have her wearing several layers of fur when she is in a snow-covered realm. The worst ones will have her marching through the snow or rain in a Chainmail Bikini without even as much as a fur cloak.
• Farm Girl: In almost all of her incarnations, Red Sonja and her family were farmers/foresters before they got attacked. (Though in the '80s novels - Sonja's father was a mercenary captain before mustering out and settling down to farm.)
• Fiery Redhead: Red Sonja is named for her hair and known for her rage, battle- and otherwise. Roy Thomas said he drew from Red Sonya of Rogitano of The Shadow of the Vulture when creating Sonja.
• Genius Bruiser: In the Dragan the Magnificent arc, prior to returning to Hyrkania she had studied under a Sun-Tzu expy, Domo the greatest warmaster in Khitai. Not only can she read, but she's had 4 years of daily strategy and tactical lessons from him. The Dragan story often had Queen Sonja be a general as much as fighting in person.
• Good Is Not Nice: Sonja to a tee. Offend her or attack innocents in her presence and she'll usually offer a Badass Boast; those who apologize and leave live, but those who refuse are almost universally executed. Corrupt leaders don't even get the chance to leave because by the time Sonja is in their presence, she's aware of their greater crimes.
• The High Queen: Just like Conan, Sonja also became queen by her own hand when taking the throne of Songaria. Despite her past as The Lad-ette and not being royal born, she was regal and queenly in every other way as well as devoted in protecting her realm. In the Dragan the Magnificent story arc, Sonja is voted into being Queen of Hyrkania by the desperate rubes (Hyrkania here is a primitive land of tents, bandits and goats) - Sonja is queenly and regal because she was a high ranking officer of Khitai before the Emperor got deposed by his treasonous son.
• The Lad-ette: Especially in Gail Simone's run. Sonja is not particularly modest, has an aggressive appetite for sex, booze and food, sings bawdy songs and has a mouth as foul as anyone else's she might encounter.
• Like a Duck Takes to Water: In runs where Sonja was granted mastery over weapons by Scathach, she can turn virtually any object into an instrument of death with expert skill.
• Little Miss Bad Ass: In the Dynamite comics one-shot Sanctuary, Sonja mentions that she started her career as Scathach's enforcer when she was 12.
• Mistaken for Prostitute: This happens to Sonja on a semi-regular basis; largely due to her habit of hanging around seedy taverns in her Chain Mail Bikini. This usually ends badly for the person making the mistake, although she always gives them the opportunity to apologize before kicking their ass. They seldom take it. Given how much she (usually) loves fighting, at this point you have to think she's deliberately trolling for this to happen so she can find a jerk who is deserving of her unloading on them.
• Most Common Super Power: One of the most blatant examples. Sonja has very buxom breasts.
• Ms. Fanservice: One of the most well known examples in comics due to being the Trope Codifier for the Chainmail Bikini trope.
• Muscles Are Meaningless: Sonja is far stronger than most men she encounters but lacks the muscle mass to illustrate this, although other characters will occasionally mention that she's exceptionally well built for a woman.
• Never Gets Drunk: Type 3a. Red Sonja *can* get drunk and often *does* but her capacity for alcohol is prodigious, probably even higher than Conan’s.
• Perfect Pacifist People: Believe it or not, but Sonja belongs to one as revealed in the Wrath of the Gods miniseries. Her people are the Bundini, a red-haired race of humans defined as a peaceful shepherds, advisers and merchants rather than warriors and as such, they were bullied and persecuted by everyone in Hyboria. According to their legend, they would one day breed a powerful warrior without parallel, which is incidentally Sonja herself.
• Pirate Girl: Sonja has been a pirate from time to time.
• Private Military Contractors: When she's not righting wrongs and helping the helpless (or getting into bar fights, or killing people for looking at her funny, or cutting her way through a few dozen guards of the latest guy to kidnap her and try to make her part of his harem and then making him wear his ass as a hat, or any of the other sort of violence she engages in), Sonja tends to make a living as one of these.
• Rape as Backstory: She became the badass warrior she did partly out of a reaction to being raped when she was a girl.
• Rape as Drama: Sonja's original backstory uses this as an inciting element (along with, y'know, the deaths of her entire family).
• Real Men Love Jesus: A female example, since she is extremely devout to Scathatch, the deity that granted Sonja her fighting abilities.
• Red Is Heroic: A heroic redhead.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Part of her backstory, but also like her Spear Counterpart Conan, would often find herself motivated to them, especially against foes that took particular delight in their crimes against women.
• Rogues' Gallery Transplant: Kulan Gath was originally created by Michael Moorcock for Conan the Barbarian's comic book series. He would eventually become Red Sonja's archenemy. Notably, he would continue to show up in both Marvel comics and Dynamite's verison of the character.
• Statuesque Stunner: Her height is officially 5'11" ... in the current series by Amy Chu, she's 6'0" and was played by the 6'0" Brigitte Nielsen in the movie.
• Stripperiffic: Obviously. Probably the only major comic character who routinely wears less than her is Namor. Justified in the Dynamite Series that Red Sonja deliberately wears it to distract her mostly male adversaries.
  Sonja: Men are easily distracted. Most don't even notice my sword until their head rolls off their necks.
• Supporting Protagonist: In the first 3 of the six '80s Red Sonja novels by David Smith and Richard Tierney, Red Sonja is there to support the local protagonist of the story - in fact, she's not even close to dealing with the Big Bad of the respective first 2 novels. The first book The Ring of Ikribu, it was Duke Pelias and a bunch of Stygian cultists that dealt with the sorcerer Asroth - Sonja merely found the McGuffin before having to eventually turn it over and act as supporting muscle. The second book Demon Night, it was renegade temple virgin Tiamu who destroyed the Corrupt Church and released the Earthfolk, Sonja mostly putzed around on the run and indirectly led Tiamu to where she needed to go.
• Touched by Vorlons: The source of Sonja's power in comics where her abilities are supernatural, the early run of Dynamite comics had her granted her swordsmanship by the goddess Scathach and in the novels the blue vision that gave her power was a manifestation of her own spirit - Sonja was a True Soul, a person of great destiny, and through this she gave herself supernatural swordsmanship (sorcerers in the novel can actually detect that her fighting abilities are magical in nature).
• Tragic Keepsake: Her Chainmail Bikini is revealed to be this in Queen Sonja. It was a Beautiful Slave Girl outfit given by her boyfriend Kain to infiltrate a sacrifice chamber and rescue their allies. He was killed during their mission and she wore this outfit ever since in his honor.
• Walking the Earth: Sonja is usually depicted wandering from town to town. Occasionally she gets a quest that gives direction for a month or two.
• World's Best Warrior: In several versions, Sonja is either the uncontested greatest warrior in the world or has only Conan as a true peer.

Antagonists

Kulan Gath

He's so happy to be evil.

A Stygian sorcerer that is Sonja's most frequent antagonist.

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• A God Am I: Kulan Gath claims to be stronger than the gods and he's got a decent claim when faced up against people like Thor.
• Always Someone Better: Thoth Amon apparently was this, causing Kulan Gath to flee Stygia.
• Arch-Enemy: Red Sonja has become this to him across the centuries.
• The Archmage: Doctor Strange says he's a more powerful wizard than the Sorcerer Supreme.
• Bald of Evil: Has not a bit of hair on him and he's an evil mage.
• Black Magic: A regular practicioner of this to the point that theocratic sorcerer state, Stygia, kicked him out.
• Card-Carrying Villain: Averted, actually. Kulan Gath believes that his actions will bring order to the universe, no matter how nonsensical and hypocritical his actions.
• Classic Villain: A man out for world domination, unlimited power, and driven by a combination of both greed as well as pride.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: Became one of these in the Worlds Apart stories.
• Cult: Kulan Gath usually has one of these running around trying to resurrect him.
• Gonk: Looks like a shiveled old man despite his vast powers.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Not him but the high priests of Stygia who kicked him out for his abominations.
• Evil Is Petty: Constantly inflicts demeaning and horrific punishments for the most trivial of offenses.
• Evil Sorcerer: One of the most evil in all of fiction. The X-men comics had him regularly sacrificing children when he took over New York.
• Freudian Excuse: Formerly a slave to an evil wizard before slaying his master to become one himself.
• Hate Sink: Kulan Gath is possessed of absolutely no redeemable qualities whatsoever, is an obnoxious bully, and a child murdering cannibal.
• Human Sacrifice: Regularly practices this as part of his magic.
• I'm a Humanitarian: Practices cannibalism on other wizards to gain their powers.
• Joker Immunity: Even Sonja tossing his amulet to the bottom of the ocean only delays his return for a few thousand years. Then events contrive themselves to make it so he has to never be stopped in the first place.
• Our Liches Are Different: Has a magic amulet that can restore him to life as long as it exists.
• Pride: The key to his defeat is the fact he's overwhelmingly filled with this.
• Rogues' Gallery Transplant:
  • Was originally a Conan the Barbarian (and Elric!) villain created by Michael Moorcock.
  • Since his amulet lets him come back centuries later, he can get into fights with modern heroes in the present day. Kulan Gath was famously a foe of the New Mutants and X-Men for a time, taking over New York and turning it into a replica of the Hyborian Age. In the 2000's, he pulled the exact same stunt and got in a fight with The Avengers.
  • Is also the Archenemy of the Savage Avengers.
• Sorcerous Overlord: Kulan Gath rules entire kingdoms at various points, including a time-displaced New York.
• Would Hurt a Child: See the aforementioned child sacrifice.

Thulsa Doom

"Who among you still fears death?"

A Set-worshiping sorcerer that has come to threaten Hyrkania.

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• Adaptational Attractiveness: Thulsa Doom in the Dynamite run looks more like his movie counterpart than the original, skull-headed necromancer from the original Kull stories.
• Animal Motifs: Snakes, naturally. Just like in the movie.
• Back from the Dead: Set returns him to life in order to continue his service in Queen Sonja.
• The Corruptor: Is able to persuade many of his victims to join him through the power of his voice and the option to be victimizer instead of victem.
• Compelling Voice: Possesses one of these, though raw charisma seems also to be at play.
• Cult: Is the leader of one of these but actually isn't in charge since he answers to Set.
• Evil Sorcerer: What Thusla Doom is, albeit not to the extent Kulan Gath is.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Is revealed to be one of the Serpent Men created by Set breeding with humanity long ago.
• Hookers and Blow: How Thulsa Doom spends his time between pillaging.
• Hotter and Sexier: Thulsa Doom appears as a much younger and fitter character than his movie version.
• Ink-Suit Actor: Looks like James Earl Jones at the start of his career rather than middle.
• In Love with Your Carnage: What draws him to Red Sonja aside from her beauty is her talent at murder.
• Magic Knight: He prefers sword and steel to go along with his spells.
• Older Than They Look: He is over a thousand years old, though not immortal.
• Physical God: Possesses divine blood dating back to his ancestor, Set. This is probably the source of his immortality instead of sorcery.
• Rape, Pillage, and Burn: His basic practice for invading a place.
• Religion of Evil: His version of Set's worship, as is typical in Hyborian Age fiction.
• Rogues' Gallery Transplant: This Thulsa Doom is based on the 1982 Conan the Barbarian film's antagonist played by James Earl Jones.
• Scary Black Man: Surprisingly averted. Thulsa Doom is portrayed far more sexily and charming than typically so.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: Not him but his god Set.
• Villainous Crush: Develops an immediate one on Sonja when he sees her slaughtering his men.

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