The Lorax

**The Lorax** is the canon protagonist in The Lorax. This page covers the same character, but reimagined.

He plays a prominent role in The Lorax reboot, The Biggering, and has a close, but difficult relationship with The Once-ler.

His personality is best comparable to that of the 2012 version.

He was conceived on November 16, 2021, and Wiki exclusive artwork made public at Tumblr on May 13, 2022.

## Original Lorax

*To read about the original Lorax and recognize the differences mentioned below, click here.*

## Redesigned Lorax

The Lorax is the guardian of Truffula, who emerged from the hollowed-out stump of a tree, cut down by a young Once-ler. After getting acquainted with each other, he showed up on an almost daily basis to express disapproval for his destructive behaviour and knitwear designs. Once-ler would often ignore or downplay his complaints, but just as easily silenced him by saying to understand his arguments or consider his advice.

With Once-ler having been relatively reformed at the time, their relationship started out decent and Lorax showcased a level of care for who he assumed was either an orphan or a runaway. He was willing to let him take refuge in Truffula, but his refusal to drop his aggressive business plans left little room for leniency and Lorax often urged him to return home or move to a human establishment.

The casual meetings lessened as Once-ler grew more self-absorbed, pretentious, and perceivably insane, yet Lorax continued to believe his excuses and false sympathy in the hopes there was some genuineness in his words.

A major turning point in their relationship involved an incident where Lorax became stuck inside his Thneed production machinery and Once-ler walked off to let him deal with it by himself. It convinced Lorax he hoped he'd get mortally wounded whilst bearing no responsibility as an "innocent bystander", even though Once-ler's decision to ignore it was over the belief Lorax proved himself to be a hypocrite who made an aggressive boycot attempt out of desperation. Both parties felt disappointed by what they considered a new low for the other, a plot point they didn't linger on, since Once-ler decided to drop the facade and revealed to have never cared about Truffula.

When it became clear there was no saving the land, The Lorax urged the remaining wildlife to leave, then also departed. He later returned to meet with The Once-ler after he had been stripped of his wealth, and as a last attempt to entice him into redemption, entrusted him the last Truffula seed.

He checked on him again by the time Once-ler had grown old to give some sort of proper ending to their miserable story, a gesture that motivated The Once-ler to finally plant the seed.

The reboot offers two explanations for Lorax' existence; one that he's an accepted fact of life, the other he's an imaginary manifestation of Once-ler's guilt for abusing the one place he could've called home. Regardless, he's never been directly acknowledged by any other human character besides The Once-ler, even though he's accompanied environmental protest groups in the story.

Once-ler asked many questions about his origin back in the day, but a useful answer was never returned. The Lorax claims his name and species both are "(The) Lorax", with no further clarification given on whether he's a deity or some other supernatural being, though his unusual abilities make the latter apparent.

### The Lorax: Dé an Seanchas

If argued to be real, The Lorax is a living Irish legend with the forgotten name, "Dé (an) Seanchas" (*pronounced: "Day on Shan-nuh-chgus"*), meaning "God of Lore/Legend". His existence was first recorded by the Celts, but his age is believed to surpass that of the human race itself.

He's a creature that represents life and spring, making it seem like there may be at least 3 more variants of him, but Lorax maintains he's one of a kind. He normally resides inside an unreachable realm the details are wholly unknown of; as this place forces him to sleep. He is summoned to Earth if reckless harm is inflicted to Truffula's plantlife, or when the damage done isn't intended for basic survival. He's strongly linked to the land and immediately responds to calls of distress.

Ancient stories claim he used to guard and maintain multiple properties in Ireland, which all housed unusual species of flora and fauna, but whisked Truffula away as means to protect it. It was the only untainted piece of land during a time its residents abused the country, and Lorax' departure urged them to change their ways. Nevertheless, there's no scientific proof this happened and there are few who believe it, despite The Lorax being perceivably real in this setting. The majority of Irelanders think it's more likely their ancestors wrote a fairy tale based on The Lorax, or he just happens to match some of the claims made. He's not seen or treated like a supernatural creature, rather a territorial animal that happens to have some human level of intelligence. The Lorax is deemed as charming as a naggy old man, making humans not care enough to study him.

Meanwhile, believers think Lorax purposely covered up his origin out of disdain for people and the past, and prefers the world forgets him and Truffula, which he succeeded at until The Once-ler showed up.

Throughout the many years, his name became muddied and doesn't resemble the title he had at birth. "Dé", the word for "god", turned into "the" when the story first travelled overseas to Europe, starting with The Netherlands. "Seanchas" was once correctly translated into "lore", until both words ended up getting combined into "lorechas" (*pronounced: "lore-chgus"*). American settlers then reconstructed the name into the easier to pronounce "The Lorax", which all countries then agreed to adapt.

Because The Lorax has accepted every name change as his own and doesn't brag about his endeavours, it's hard to determine who or what he truly is at the end of the day.

## Personality

The Lorax is a loud, persistent, yet harmless defender of nature. He has a genuine interest in wild- and plantlife, but as a "tree guardian", his expertise mostly lies with plants.

He doesn't consider human beings to be a part of nature, which is why he's critical towards the actions of people, but not that of animals. To harm an animal or plant for reasons other than utmost necessity is highly frowned upon and offenders have to deal with an unyielding activist who won't let a word in -making his interactions with The Once-ler unusual in the sense he stays to listen to his excuses.

While both men are extremely stubborn, they've always approached each other with a sense of familiarity. Lorax used to take on a more friendly approach with The Once-ler when he was a teenager, since he finds it hard to be stern with children, and having learned some of the details of his childhood made him feel sympathetic towards him. The Lorax is the only person not part of Once-ler's past who knows of his past, since he asked about it in a time he'd answer personal questions truthfully.

He hoped to make him understand the appeal of a humble, average life before his Thneed business would kick off, and in some cases, acted like a parent towards the lonesome child. Despite their changed dynamic, he's remained somewhat protective over him and still believes he's deserving of happiness.

Lorax is a pacifist in his core and an example of "all bark and no bite". He believes in the effectiveness of changing one's mind through schooling, though his harsh tone of voice makes it sound like a lecture at times, erasing the appeal of an otherwise good message. He regretted his failure to enact any real measures that could've saved Truffula, though knows there's nothing he would've done differently, as he prefers verbal action and believes violence and direct interference don't change the core values of a person, instead, invites offenders to repeat their antics with righteous indignation. It's unknown if The Lorax adopted this stance out of past experiences or assumes this as the outcome.

His refusal to believe some people are "born to fail" urged him to take a risk and give Once-ler the last Truffula Tree seed in existence. When he returned to check on him years later, he was told the seed was discarded of, yet Lorax didn't fall back into a familiar argument and chose the unusual approach of giving closure to their relationship.

While The Once-ler is good at reading people and The Lorax, The Lorax finds humans in general hard to read and is more familiar with animal behaviour. He misunderstands much about his foe, like his haphephobia, despite having witnessed the condition more than once. A belief he's held for a long time is that Once-ler wants him dead, but fears his mysterious origin and the "divine intervention" that might transpire if he dares to harm him.

Unbeknownst to him, Once-ler enjoys his company more often than not, but his sadistic personality disorder is self-sabotaging and only his condescension and vitriolic comments are picked up on.

The Lorax' primary job is the preservation of Truffula, which eventually steers every conversation towards the subject, making it seem like he can't care about anything else. Acts of kindness with no underlying expectations are seemingly rare, even so, he cares about justice in general and won't hide his disdain for people that overstep the boundaries of others.

His engrained purpose and immortality also makes him hesitant to use Earth's resources or build close relationships with its organisms. He understands that to claim something other creatures need to survive is immoral, and getting attached to mortals will end up grieving both parties. He lives in accordance to the rule he's made to protect life, not engage with it, yet throughout Once-ler's reign, he connected with Truffula's wildlife in a way he's never had to before, and their deaths left a bigger impact on him than is appropriate. In an unexpected turn of events, the same is true about his relationship with Once-ler, whose passing brought him no pleasure of relief.

## Appearance

The Lorax is a short, bipedal, orange-furred creature with a beige-yellow moustache, pink nose, and messy black eyebrows. His fur, despite its look, is feathery soft and said to surpass the quality of any animal's pelt or the valuable leafs of the Truffula Tree, though there's not much of an undercoat and it can't withstand Winter temperatures.

He looks similar to the book and 2012 movie design, with some major differences being the shape of his moustache, the thickness and colour of his eyebrows, his two toes that each are actually two sitting close together, his nose resembling a cat's, his canine-like fangs, and his digits having white, sharp, but otherwise human-like nails. these are not visible because of the length of his fur. The redesign also adapted some of Dr. Seuss' art style choices and gave him dark vertical stripes on his elbows and knees.

There's a clear resemblance between him and Once-ler's first piece of knitwear, which is the main reason Once-ler is fascinated by him. This detail of his life he never shared with The Lorax.

## Abilities

The Lorax possesses a few supernatural powers and traits, most of these under the assumption he's a real being:

> ImmortalityThe Lorax doesn't age, though can be killed.
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> LandboundAn unspoken, but insinuated restriction The Lorax deals with is his inability to leave Truffula. Taking along some dirt or a plant circumvents this.
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> Green earsThe Lorax can hear vegetation speak, but has to be the one to initiate the conversation.
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> Green reincarnationThe ending of the story argues The Lorax can (possibly) reinsert a deceased soul into a new body, primarily that of a plant.
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> Green fingersThe Lorax has a fertilizing touch that stimulates plant growth. Any part of his body will give this effect. After sleeping on a patch of soil for a night, a sapling will most definitely have sprouted.
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> "The Call for Eden" ability reveals his blood is the source.
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> The Call for Eden"The Call for Eden", or "Calling for Eden", is an extension of the "green fingers" ability and the only move with an official title.
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> The Lorax can summon plantlife by dancing, instantly repairing a small plot of land. This drains a large amount of energy that will comatose him if done too often, and comes with a double-edged effect of inflicting internal damage, but enhancing the results the longer he perseveres.
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> Fast travelThe Lorax can reach fast speeds in large grassy areas. By merging himself with the grass, he can move his spirit through the blades like a gust of wind to where he needs to go.
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> Done dutyIf Truffula's no longer in danger, or there's nothing left to protect, The Lorax will depart. It's unsure if this is an obligation that'll come with consequences if ignored, but the urge to do so is strong. The Lorax can prolong his stay if convinced to still be needed.
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> Melanin exhaustionWhen The Lorax is pushed towards death, his fur loses its colour and becomes white. This can revert.
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> Abstinence of sustenanceLike his immortality attribute shows; time seemingly stands still for The Lorax and it's not necessary for him to eat or engage in other activities that living beings do in order to stay healthy/alive, with the exception of breathing and sleeping.
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> Animal authorityThis is an ability the original Lorax possesses.
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> LevitationThis is an ability the original Lorax possesses.
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> The ending of the original story reveals he can levitate and doesn't exit the world the same way he entered it, though the book also mentions "somebody" lifted him. His departure into the skies leaves open some room for the deity argument -The Lorax being a servant or one himself- but this power isn't used at any other point in time and The Lorax seems very much bound to the rules of gravity during his quest on Earth.
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> TransformationThough not depicted in the story, The Lorax can transform fully animal or human, though he vehemently claims not to be either. He keeps his powers in both forms, but as an animal, loses the ability of speech.
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> The Lorax cannot decide the appearance of his transformations, as his magic will force his body to take on the least restrictive shape. As an animal, he adapts the form of a guinea coon, and as a human, he's chubby, somewhat short, has a more orange-tinted moustache, and a mistranslated abundance of body hair on his torso that's identical to his fur.
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> Powered by wrathThough not depicted in the story -and considered impossible to achieve because of his pacifistic nature- The Lorax possesses an exceptional level of physical strength that emerges when pushed into a blind rage. His mere voice worsens the weather and he'll forever lose the trust of any animal that hears it.
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> Born of treesIn order for his sleeping soul to escape his home realm and be given a physical form on Earth (*see: The Lorax' Irish backstory*), The Lorax needs a tree large enough to birth him. The tree does not have to be unharmed; and stumps can call upon The Lorax as well.
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> Unharmed trees can assemble his body within seconds by releasing a special kind of sap from the tip of their roots, whereafter Lorax will climb up from the soil, while cut trees grow him inside their stump. The latter appears easier for both the tree and The Lorax, and it's usually an already compromised tree that cries out for help.
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> WishThough not depicted in the story, The Lorax can perform a miracle that falls outside of his usual capabilities. "Green reincarnation" is implied to be the wish ability, though both powers are too unexplored to know for certain.
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> It seemingly requires him to pray for the thing he desires, but Lorax doesn't address anyone as he does this, making it uncertain if he's asking a higher power for this favour or it's to unlock something within himself. To wish is a game of chance; and there's no certainty that what Lorax wishes for will happen, let alone how he intended.
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## Trivia

* When argued to exist;
	+ The Lorax can speak Gaelic and English, but the latter is so inaudible, he's adapted a modern New Jersey accent for his American-English surroundings;
	+ He can speak any language, but it's always some kind of dialect.
* When argued to be imaginary, The Lorax already knows of Once-ler's past. He assumes the job of a curious stranger as means to give him a therapeutic outlet.
* The Lorax is sometimes nicknamed "fluff" by The Once-ler.
* The Lorax solely calls The Once-ler by his real name, as he doesn't like his pseudonym.
* Though The Lorax' dentures would imply he's a carnivore, he chooses to be vegetarian;
	+ Nevertheless, he's accepted some of Once-ler's bribes and reluctantly enjoyed cat and dog treats.
* The Lorax finds baldness distasteful and has stated it's one of the reasons he doesn't like humans.
* The Once-ler detests the "Call for Eden" ability for its rebound and has argued with The Lorax not to use it;
	+ It's a promise he's kept.
* Lorax' voice is (or similar to) that of Danny DeVito.
* To have "green fingers" (*see: Abilities*) is the Dutch equivalent of having a "green thumb".

## See also

* The Once-ler
* The Biggering
* No Sequeling (Unofficial sequel)
* Lorax, Wanna Hang Out? (Spin-off series)
* The Call for Eden (Music video)
* Rax
* The Lorax AI