Who is Akiro the Wizard?

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Akiro the Wizard is the skeletal, wisecracking mage who watches over the mounds of the dead and narrates Conan’s legend. In my opinion, he is the character who most clearly embodies the “sorcery” half of sword and sorcery in the 1980s Conan films.

Akiro in Conan the Barbarian (1982)

In the first film, the character is never named on screen – he is simply “the Wizard” – but later material identifies him as Akiro, the Wizard of the Mounds. Conan and Subotai stumble upon his lonely hut among ancient barrow‑mounds, where the wizard warns them that the land is guarded by restless spirits.

I first saw the film as a teenager (like many others, I’m sure!) and I don’t think I quite appreciated Akiro in the story as much as I should have.

Akiro serves three roles here: comic relief, occult advisor, and chronicler of Conan’s story. He narrates the film in a gravelly voice, describing how the young slave gladiator grew into a legendary warrior – and closes the movie with the famous promise that he will tell us of Conan’s crown some day. I think that framing turns him into a kind of in‑world bard or skald.

Akiro’s most important act is resurrecting Conan after Thulsa Doom’s men crucify (or nearly crucify) him on the Tree of Woe. The wizard paints runes on Conan’s body and warns that spirits will try to tear his soul away; Valeria and Subotai fight them off through the night, and Conan returns from the brink of death.

Akiro in Conan the Destroyer (1984)

In Conan the Destroyer, Akiro returns as a more active party member. When Conan and Malak find him, he is captured by cannibals who plan to eat him to gain his magic – until Conan intervenes. Akiro then joins the quest to escort Princess Jehnna, bringing actual battlefield sorcery to the table.

During the adventure he helps interpret omens, identify magical threats and, crucially, engages in a sorcerous duel with the evil wizard guarding Dagoth’s horn. Using his magic, he helps close the jaws of a monstrous stone idol and disrupt the ritual, proving that in the film version of the Hyborian Age there are at least a few “good” magic‑users.

I like that Destroyer lets Akiro step out from behind the narrator’s cloak and into the party dynamic – trading jabs with Conan and Zula like any veteran adventurer. I find it does make the film slightly more ‘cheesy’ or ‘campy’ than the first one, though.

Akiro vs. Howard’s Sorcerers

Robert E. Howard’s original stories rarely feature benevolent wizards; most magic‑users are corrupt priests or decadent scholars meddling with forbidden powers. Akiro, by contrast, is a pragmatic sorcerer who uses spirits and runes to help the hero rather than enslave him.

From a Howard‑Verse perspective, I see Akiro as a cinematic compromise: he preserves the sense that magic is dangerous and uncanny, but gives Conan a mystical ally to balance out the sheer number of villains. He also fits nicely into the wider tradition of “grumpy old wizards” in fantasy, making him instantly memorable.

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