Mortal Kombat 1/Conan

Conan
Base Health	1000.00
Availability

Introduction

Mighty Cimmerian Warrior

"Born on a battlefield, Conan the barbarian was destined to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his feet. His village destroyed and parents slain by the malevolent warlord Thulsa Doom, Conan is sold into slavery. In captivity, Conan grows into one of the most formidable warriors the world has ever seen through relentless toil and combat. Upon being freed by his master, Conan embarks on a quest for vengeance, his journey culminating in the defeat of Doom, liberating thousands from his sorcerous grip. Now, Conan stands ready to defend Earthrealm against the vile beings that mean to conquer it."

Conan is a Rushdown/Brawler warrior that combines several elements of a Big-Body/Tank with many disjointed mid-range sword attacks, utilizing them for nearly every button including his kicks (except B3); he excels in playing neutral with these long-reaching normals and/or Jailing his opponents into respecting his many High attacks. His S22 will restand at +8 (which jails into his ranged 7f double-High jab string) and has an optional Throw ender. Although many of his enders & mixup options are slow and interruptible, they are relatively safe (unless Flawless or Up Blocked) and can be covered by Kameo assists to open up the opponent for heavy-damage kombos or inflict chip dmg. Conan can fully charge B3 and B2 to improve their block advantage and hit reactions, and can also choose to either kara cancel into Throws or cancel into Fatal Blow; B3 can also be quickly dash-cancelled for better movement and pressure. He has several options to ”tank” a hit and/or kounter incoming attacks including 3 armor moves each with their own utility; while his EX BF4 or fast EX DF2 anti-air can interrupt gaps and convert into juggles with Kameo assists, his EX BF3 (a safe running Overhead that becomes a faster standing hit up-close) can be delayed with the option to cancel, allowing him to flash parry a hit with the armor and quickly cancel to remain safe/punish the opponent. He has a 9f parry that kounters all grounded hits except Lows and causes an extensive stun. His projectile-invulnerable DF1 and Kameo toss (Down,Forward + Flip Stance) can make up for his weak fullscreen presence. Conan will gain access to “Crom’s Curse” at 30% HP which can be used once per match and is active on frame 1 of its input for 15 seconds; if he is defeated while this buff is active, he will revive at 5% HP.

Strengths

Weaknesses

Master Swordsman: Conan leverages his large sword into sizeable horizontal strikes and kombos that are also safe on block and easily hit confirmed, making him very strong at footsies and whiff punishes;
The Riddle of Steel: 22 is a restand, allowing Conan to maintain +8 advantage to play strike/throw after any kombo;
Crush Your Enemies: Conan has multiple armored attacks, two of which are safe on block if the opponent doesn't employ the proper counterplay to them; they also have conversion ability with Kameos;
Cunning Warrior: He has a safe Overhead special he can pop on command during his pressure strings that is also cancellable for further mind-games; these are best mixed with strings which extend into command grabs;
Projectile Destroyer: Conan can use his sword spin to reflect incoming projectiles and gain projectile immunity, which has the side effect of breaking through certain Kameo setups like Jax's unblockable Ground Pound;
Kameo King: There is almost no Kameo Conan doesn't synergize with;
Bloody Roar: Crom's Curse activates at frame 1, giving Conan a slim lifeline of 5% to attempt a comeback with. Conan can also apply it again if the buff expires, as it only disables if it's been triggered once in a match.

Only Highs: A large number of Conan's buttons and strings are Highs, making it easy for opponents to mash on his offense;
Resource Intensive: Staring the party with Conan is difficult without Kameo as his meterless kombo starters are very slow to startup and converting into them through the sword spin costs two bars of meter; not helping matters is that his damage in either case is on the lower end compared to the resources spent;
No Real Projectile: Conan at fullscreen is not really a threat as his Kameo Toss is slow and opens the Kameo up to getting hit and temporarily being out of play;
Born in the Wrong Era: Conan is a neutral-based character in a game where the strongest characters can “bypass” neutral on a whim.