After his parents were brutally slain and his whole tribe massacred, young Conan the Cimmerian (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is sold to slavery. Over the years he's been trained to become a lethal gladiator, and by being the most vicious combatant finally gets his freedom back. The plot thickens when he finds out that evil Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones), the mighty cult leader, is the man responsible for the death of his parents. Somewhere along his quest for Thulsa Conan meets Subotai (Gerry Lopez) the thief and female warrior Valeria (Sandahl Bergman), who will help him to seek out his revenge.