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The God in the Bowl

 The God in the Bowl
type
TVTItem
 The God in the Bowl
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The God in the Bowl
 The God in the Bowl
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TheGodInTheBowl
 The God in the Bowl
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"The God in the Bowl" is a Conan the Barbarian story written by Robert E. Howard.A nightwatchman at Kallian Publico's temple comes upon the owner's corpse while making his rounds, only to run into Conan in the process of attempting a heist. Thinking Conan the murderer, the watchman sounds the alarm to summon the city guards, and by luck the chief inquisitor happened to be accompanying the guards on their round. An investigation is initiated, and despite the chief guard's insistance that Conan is the guilty party, the inquisitor finds doubt as to such accusations.As the investigation goes on, more participants are brought in, secrets are revealed and eventually, Conan stands alone against an otherworldly foe...Written in 1932 or 1933, but not published. A version edited by L. Sprague de Camp was first published in September, 1952. The original version was first published in 1975.Marvel Comics would adapt the work for their ongoing Conan the Barbarian comic, as well as The Savage Sword of Conan a few years later. Darkhorse Comics would later adapt the story for their own ongoing Conan book.
 The God in the Bowl
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2024-03-08T22:30:43Z
 The God in the Bowl
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2024-03-08T22:30:43Z
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DBTropes
 The God in the Bowl / int_1501e2dd
type
Hero Antagonist
 The God in the Bowl / int_1501e2dd
comment
Hero Antagonist: The guards led by Dionus and Demetrio are (mostly) just people doing their job, trying to stop a burglary and figure out who or what is responsible for the murders. Demetrio in particular is very fair and even-handed in his dealings with Conan, in that while he knows the Cimmerian is a thief, he deduces he couldn't have possibly killed anyone.
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 The God in the Bowl / int_177a6464
type
Genre Shift
 The God in the Bowl / int_177a6464
comment
Genre Shift: The bulk of the story reads less like a typical Sword and Sorcery adventure and more like a police procedural or CSI: Nemedia. Really shows Robert E. Howard's genius as a writer: he can plunk his Barbarian Hero into a detective story — as a suspect, no less! — and still make a compelling yarn of it.
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Death by Materialism
 The God in the Bowl / int_1b7d59b6
comment
Death by Materialism: Kallian Publico opens the bowl meant for the high priest of Ibis in the hopes of claiming the riches within for himself. Instead, what lurked within strangles him dead.
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Unknown Rival
 The God in the Bowl / int_246c9dc5
comment
Unknown Rival: As in "The Phoenix On The Sword", Conan's life is endangered as a result of actions Thoth-Amon took to kill someone else entirely.
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Nominal Hero
 The God in the Bowl / int_2de7bbf1
comment
Nominal Hero: Conan could nearly qualify as a Villain Protagonist in this story. He's a thief who cuts down several of the guards without regret, but the murderer is something even worse. The Nemedian justice system is also horribly corrupt and are willing to burn Conan at the stake if they can't find the real murderer.
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Kick the Dog
 The God in the Bowl / int_34dcfc96
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Kick the Dog: Posthumo gouged out a woman's eye for not testifying against her thieving lover.
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Five-Second Foreshadowing
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comment
Five-Second Foreshadowing: One guard mentions having found the murder weapon wrapped around a column near the ceiling, only to find it gone after. A few paragraphs later a scream is heard and the guards run like hell at the sight of the Son of Set that slithered near them.
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Don't Ask, Just Run
 The God in the Bowl / int_3e34c4dc
comment
Don't Ask, Just Run: When the cast gets a glimpse of the horror that killed Promero, everybody but Conan rushes screaming into the streets. The garrison watching the building bolts away along with them, needing no explanation.
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Single-Stroke Battle
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Single-Stroke Battle: Conan versus the son of Set.
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Snakes Are Sinister
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Snakes Are Sinister: Especially gigantic snakes that can and do kill people.
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Snake People
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Snake People: One, in a jar. It's referred to as the son of Set and is used in an assassination attempt.
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Animalistic Abomination
 The God in the Bowl / int_5b057eae
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Animalistic Abomination: A serpent with an inhumanly beautiful humanoid head.
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 The God in the Bowl / int_7e4b4b8a
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Faking and Entering
 The God in the Bowl / int_7e4b4b8a
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Faking and Entering: Kallian opens the bowl to look for valuables, since he can claim a burglar took them.
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 The God in the Bowl / int_7e6c0522
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Off with His Head!
 The God in the Bowl / int_7e6c0522
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Off with His Head!: Conan decapitates Aztrias Petanius with a single sword stroke, and later does the same to the titular God.
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 The God in the Bowl / int_7eb73553
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Bullying a Dragon
 The God in the Bowl / int_7eb73553
comment
Bullying a Dragon: Zig-Zagged. Dionus think the best way to go about the investigation is to beat a confession out of Conan, while Demetrio knows antagonizing a wild Cimmerian is a fatally bad idea.
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 The God in the Bowl / int_8ed5c6e4
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Asshole Victim
 The God in the Bowl / int_8ed5c6e4
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Asshole Victim: Posthumo gets trampled by his compatriots as they flee.
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Greater-Scope Villain
 The God in the Bowl / int_9b06e314
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Greater-Scope Villain: Thoth-Amon doesn't appear in the story, but the characters suspect that he's the one who sent the bowl to the museum. Demetrio finds it odd that the bowl was originally sent to Kalanthes as a gift to the priest of Iblis as the Set worshipper of Stygia hates Iblis and Promero recognizes a newly carved crest as being the sign of Thoth-Amon.
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The Corpse Stops Here
 The God in the Bowl / int_9ce83619
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The Corpse Stops Here: The story begins when the night watchman comes across Conan near the body of Kallian Publico. It doesn't help his case that the Cimmerian was there to steal.
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Eye Scream
 The God in the Bowl / int_a2b38d3b
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Posthumo, a towering guardsman, enjoys tormenting suspects and terrorizing them a little too much. He once tore out the eye of a thief's sweetheart to get her to tell on him. He gets some justice when Conan gouges his eye out.
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 The God in the Bowl / int_bd79d896
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Minor Crime Reveals Major Plot
 The God in the Bowl / int_bd79d896
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Minor Crime Reveals Major Plot: Conan only broke in to the museum to steal a jeweled goblet; he had no idea that at the same time the museum's owner had accidentally unleashed an eldritch monstrosity and died horribly.
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Good Cop/Bad Cop
 The God in the Bowl / int_c19bdbe1
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Good Cop/Bad Cop: Demetrio and Dionus, to a large extent. Dionus threatens Conan with beatings and execution every chance he gets; Demetrio mostly just wants Conan's cooperation in figuring out what actually happened.
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Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?
 The God in the Bowl / int_cc4d190a
comment
Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Conan manages to decapitate a Physical God.
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Screw This, I'm Outta Here
 The God in the Bowl / int_d9cf40fa
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Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Everyone who isn't dead, or driven mad, or named Conan of Cimmeria hightails it out of the place before the climax. Conan hightails it after the climax as the horror is sinking in.
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The Scapegoat
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The Scapegoat: Dionus plans this for Conan. Kallian Publico fully intended for Arus, the nightwatchman of his temple, to take the blame for the "theft" of the bowl's contents.
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Reasonable Authority Figure
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Reasonable Authority Figure: Demetrio generally comes across as one. He still abides to an archaic caste system of justice where if they don't find the guilty party they'll arrest the next best thing but he knows a Cimmerian like Conan will at the very least kill a few guards if they try bringing him in.
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Locked Room Mystery
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Locked Room Mystery: Kallian Publico is found dead in his own museum, alone except for the night watchman who discovered the corpse and Conan, who had just broken in through a trapdoor on the roof and wouldn't have had time to kill him. The doors are all locked; Kallian and the watchman have the only keys.
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Jerkass
 The God in the Bowl / int_eb8ec7c8
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Jerkass: Dionus, who is quick to yell at everyone and threaten them with death. Conan himself is not exactly at his best here. The story takes place very early in his adventuring life, and he is even more hot-tempered than usual. He inflicts some very cruel damage to some of the other characters. Posthumo, a towering guardsman, enjoys tormenting suspects and terrorizing them a little too much. He once tore out the eye of a thief's sweetheart to get her to tell on him. He gets some justice when Conan gouges his eye out. Aztrias Petanius is this in droves. He hires Conan to steal a jeweled goblet and keeps feigning ignorance when he's caught, even as the authorities promise that not only will he not be implicated, but Conan's freedom would also be guaranteed.
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The God in the Bowl

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

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American Literature (# to D) / int_d57b3356
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