Thundarr is a barbarian from 3994 AD, Thundarr was enslaved by the wizard Sabian, who made him a gladiator, Thundarr manages to escape and join forces with Ookla, the mok (a race of humanoid lions) and the sorceress Princess Ariel, Sabian’s stepdaughter. Thundarr possesses the sunsword, an energy sword similar to a lightsaber.
Creation
Thundarr was created for Ruby Spears’ post-apocalyptic animated series Thundarr the Barbarian (1980-1981), according to Joe Ruby, the series was created to capitalize on the upcoming Conan the Barbarian film, released in 1982.
To create the bible series, Joe Ruby hired writer Steve Gerber, Thundarr’s character design was created by Alex Toth, making Thundarr resemble Zandor from the Herculoids, produced by Hanna-Barbera (the studio where Joe Ruby and Ken Spears were screenwriters), Toth made only the concepts of the heroes, the other characters, such as the villain Gemini were created by Jack Kirby, with that, Gemini resembles another villain created by Kirby, Darkseid, interestingly, the post-apocalyptic world of Thundarr resembles the setting of Kamandi, created by Jack Kirby for DC Comics.
Characters based off of Thundarr
In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012), Crognard the Barbarian is an 80s animated series watched by the group, Crognard is an obvious parody of Thundarr.
In Fairlady #3 – The Case of the Barbarian’s Secret by Brian Schirmer and Claudia Balboni: Kothan, Ari and Oosk are inspired by the three protagonists of the series.