Tublat

**Tublat** is a monstrous gorilla and one of the main antagonists from *The Legend of Tarzan* series. He is a former member of Kerchak, now-Tarzan's family who seeks to gain leadership by any means necessary. He was voiced by Keith David.

## Personality

Tublat is shown to be highly mean and aggressive and considered dangerous by all gorillas alike.

## Appearances

### Tarzan and Tublat's Revenge

A violent thunderstorm has Tarzan, Jane, Tantor, and the rest of the gorilla family seeking shelter in nearby caves. Along the way, Tarzan is not sure if he can protect the family the same way Kerchak did it. When they arrive at a cave, they think it's safe, but unfortunately, they have chosen the same cave that the banished gorilla named Tublat lives in as later evidenced when one of the gorillas recognizes his right four toed foot print and when one of the gorillas, Flynt mysteriously went missing earlier, which forced Tarzan to look for him while the family stayed behind.

It is revealed by Kala that Tublat was once a member of the family long ago when Tarzan (whom he often referred to as a hairless runt) was still a child but as a rival, he aggressively tried to take control of the family until he challenged Kerchak for the right of leadership. Nevertheless, Tublat did not honor his surrender after being defeated by Kerchak and proceeded to finish him off until young Tarzan intervened and broke his nose in the process by throwing fruits at him. Outraged and insulted, Tublat tried to finish off Tarzan until Kerchak stopped him at the last minute against better judgment and was hereby banished forever. Before leaving in exile, Tublat vowed that someday he would return to claim his place as leader of the family once Kerchak's time would come. Then, Kerchak told Tarzan that he's the only one who protects the family and that he should've never interfered in his battle.

In the present, Tublat and Tarzan manage to recognize each other as they confront each other. Tublat learns that Tarzan is now the leader of the family since Kerchak's death. They begin to fight over leadership of the family although he is no physical match for him, which nearly costs Tarzan his life after Tublat hurls him down a pit. Luckily, by using his superior cunning, speed, agility, and ingenuity, Tarzan manages to defeat Tublat by sending him down a waterfall. However, Tublat has somehow survived and escaped the waterfall and has gone rampaging through the forest; vowing that he will return again another day.

### Tarzan and the Caged Fury

One night, Tublat notices and attacks two mercenaries named Niels and Merkus who are mining for the diamonds they had lost last time until he is temporarily subdued by an explosion.

Having been caged the next morning, the two men decide to switch their objective from the diamonds to Tublat, planning to make a fortune out of him, which somehow Tarzan seems to agree on; given his history with Tublat. However, despite his rivalry with Tublat, Tarzan can't shrug off the guilt of selling him off or seeing him get tormented by the two men. So, he sets out to rescue Tublat despite Terk's protests.

In the train where Tublat is being transported in as it is being stopped for water and gas, Tublat appears confused to learn that Tarzan and Terk have come to rescue him against better judgment until they find themselves cornered by Niels and Merkus holding them at gunpoint. However, once the train starts up again, Merkus accidentally shoots off the lock to Tublat's cage, which initially frees him and allows him to pursue his would-be captors. During the confrontation, when trying to save Niels and Merkus against better judgment this time, Tublat tells Tarzan that he never should've tried to rescue him but Tarzan states that just because he freed him doesn't mean they're now friends since he wasn't expecting gratitude anyway.

After being tipped off the train and Niels and Merkus have been rescued by Tarzan, Tublat reveals to have survived the fall and roars in anger and defeat.

### The Enemy Within

After Tarzan rescues an injured ape named Gobu from a pack of hyenas, the grateful ape decides to move in. However, one night, one mysterious monkey named Fungi demands Bobo to return to his own tribe and Gobu reluctantly agrees.

When Tarzan leads Gobu back to his own tribe, Tublat suddenly emerges out of the shadows. Gobu reveals the true reason he was in Tarzan's part of thee jungle --Tublat had killed Gobu's group's leader months ago, usurped the whole tribe, and sent Gobu to lure Tarzan to him.

When the tribe fails to capture Tarzan under Tublat's orders, Tublat captures and uses Terk as bait. When Tarzan submits to Tublat as the latter aims to attack him, Gobu intervenes, stating that Tublat will have to go through him first.

Undeterred, Tublat tosses the injured ape aside, then raises a large boulder to kill him with. Tarzan shoves Gobu out of the way, but Tublat strikes Gobu's injured leg, then grabs him to crush his spine. Gobu then enrolls the rest of his family to overthrow their tyrant leader.

Outnumbered, Tublat runs off, never to be seen or heard from again. Gobu is then appointed the rightful leader.

## Trivia

* In the original novel, Kerchak was portrayed as being the violent one while Tublat was portrayed as being benevolent, but in Disney's version both suffered the complete opposite (Tublat is changed into a villain using the original version of Kerchak's personality). Therefore, Tublat is actually based on Kala's husband (and Tarzan's foster father) in the original novel, as is his personality as well.
* Tublat's name means "Broken Nose", which is ironically what happened to Tublat once years ago when he tried to finish off Kerchak if not for young Tarzan's intervention.