Tarzan

**Tarzan** is the titular protagonist of Disney's 1999 animated feature film of the same name. Commonly known as the **Ape Man**, Tarzan was rescued and raised by a colony of apes after his parents were killed by the bloodthirsty Sabor. With help from his childhood friends Terk and Tantor, Tarzan would grow to become the valiant protector of the apes and the jungle at large—all the while never knowing the outside world.

## Background

### Personality

Tarzan is an extremely brave, loyal, and honorable character. He cares deeply about his family and friends and was willing to risk his life to save them. He's also known to be willing to rescue his enemies; an example of this was when Clayton was about to fall to his death, and Tarzan exclaimed "Clayton! Clayton, don't!" and reached out to save him, even though Clayton had fatally wounded Kerchak and attempted to kill him and kidnap his whole gorilla family. This also shows that he cares for his enemies and does not wish death upon them.

In his youth, Tarzan was playful and fun-loving but also felt like an outcast due to the fact that he was human. Until Jane Porter, her father, and Clayton arrived he had never seen another human before and was, therefore, unaware of what species he was. And as an adult, he had matured into a more serious character but still displayed a playful and friendly side when around his family and friends. Tarzan was also very curious and when he heard a gunshot he went to investigate while the rest of his family moved deeper into the jungle. It was because of his curious nature that he met Jane, Professor Porter, and Clayton.

In *The Legend of Tarzan* series, he has shown to take over as the leader and while he retains the majority of his personality from the film, there are some other aspects explored and expanded. For example, he shows a hatred of leopards (understandably so since they killed his parents and attacked him and his family in the past) and refused to accept a baby cub that Jane found. He also displayed very similar traits to Kerchak as he refused to accept the baby because it was different and a threat to him and his family (which is very similar to Kerchak's reaction to Tarzan growing up and Jane defending the cub as Kala defending Tarzan). This could imply that Kerchak influenced Tarzan. Also, he hates hunters and is very protective of the forest, often kicking the hunters out and destroying their guns. Another aspect is his leadership, where another gorilla challenged him for leadership and won because Tarzan saved him. However, the gorilla mistakenly leads the pack to a different route than Tarzan which turned out to be a pit of tar housing a ferocious gigantic snake. Tarzan not only rescued his pack but ingeniously hid himself and his friends with mud so the snake couldn't see them. Another aspect seen is when his personal life with Jane, her father, and humans, in general, tend to interfere with his duties as a pack leader. Once the gorillas were kicked out of their home and he had to choose between staying with his family or with Jane because Jane and her father (As humans) couldn't live with them. The gorilla that challenged Tarzan also stated he let his personal life get in the way of his duties and when Jane's friends came to visit and he unintentionally embarrassed her in front of them, he tried to act civilized to impress them.

He has also shown to be surprisingly romantic, as shown through his interactions with Jane, often complimenting her protecting her, and giving her flowers while proclaiming her to be the best woman there is. He takes romance seriously, as shown when he was forced to act in a movie about him in "Silver Screen" and was told to kiss a woman he didn't love saying how confusing acting was and also by refusing Queen La's advances towards him. He is also good at telling when people are telling lies, though he can be tricked. He is also noted for being fairly intelligent, as he often thinks his way out of situations given the fact many of his opponents are species that are stronger than him, and he made weapons self-taught. In "Jungle Madness", he was able to figure out what made the animals go mad, and in "Lost Treasure" he was able to outsmart some treasure hunters who threatened to kill Jane if he didn't do what they said. He is also noted to be fairly civilized despite never letting go of his "wild man" persona, with Jane noting he is more civilized and kind than most and is shown throughout the series to have high morals. In "One Punch Mulligan", he refuses to fight Mulligan because he does not want to give in to his demands and doesn't believe fighting for sport is right and in another where he saves his mortal enemy Tublat from being a caged animal despite hating him because it is the right thing to do. He is surprisingly very well read and is seen reading books on occasion in order to learn more, showing he has a culture.

### Physical appearance

Tarzan's brown hair is styled in long dreadlocks. He wears almost no clothes; the only piece of clothing he wears is a tattered, brown loincloth around his waist, and he is also barefoot. He wears his father's clothes once when he decides to go to England with Jane and Clayton. His eyes are blue-green in color and his muscular body is tanned from living in the jungle all his life.

### Abilities

Having lived in the jungle his whole life, Tarzan developed exceptional abilities that would be impossible for other humans. He was able to swing through the trees, slide across branches, hold things with his feet, and had a good sense of smell and hearing that excelled many human beings and allowed him to hear animal speech clearly. He was an incredible fighter, being able to hold his own against some of the jungle's deadliest predators. Tarzan has been known to fight and win from leopards, hyenas, gorillas, baboons, hippos, rhinoceros, snakes, crocodiles, elephants, jackals, and dinosaurs. One of Tarzan's most notable accomplishments was when he managed to hold his own against Sabor, a ferocious and powerful leopard who had killed his parents many years earlier and killed her. Tarzan often fought with a spear but would also commonly use his bare hands to defeat his opponents. He is also incredibly strong; this is seen when he pins down Kerchak and lifts at least two fully grown humans at the same time without any apparent effort. Another remarkable ability is his cleverness, as a child, he made and used simple tools and weapons (a spear, a lasso, a sling) that other children his age can learn to make only when under the supervision of an adult. He also made a hammock for Zugor and a booby trap in *Tarzan II*. Because he knew no humans in his youth, it can be speculated that he taught himself through trial and error.

Due to Tarzan living his whole life in the jungle he has learned to speak various animal languages including gorilla, hummingbird, rhino and according to Tarzan he can even speak eagle despite it being rusty.

## Trivia

* In the book, by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan's real name is **John Clayton II**. In the film, his real name is never addressed.
* Also in the book, Tarzan and Jane have a son named Korak, also known as Jack Clayton or John 'Jack' Paul Clayton III. In Disney's version of Tarzan, Korak doesn't appear, and Tarzan and Jane have no children. However, chances of them having any is likely; Korak may be born in or prior to a new sequel or a new television series of Tarzan.
* Tarzan's exact age is never revealed throughout the movie. In the novel *Tarzan of the Apes*, he was one year old when his parents died and 21 years of age when he met 19-year-old Jane Porter.
* Tarzan's name from the original story *Tarzan of the Apes* means "White Skin" in the ape language.
* He is one of two Disney characters to meet their author. The other is Ariel of *The Little Mermaid*. In both cases, they meet them in their television series, made after the film they first appear in, and in each case, they are unaware of the significance of the meeting.
* Brendan Fraser, who starred as the title character in *George of the Jungle*, auditioned for the role of Tarzan.
* Tarzan bares a striking resemblance to his late father, albeit without the beard and with longer hair. He also inherited his mother's hair and eyes.
* Despite being taught English by English people, Tarzan speaks with an American accent.
* While Tarzan called Kala "Mother", he never called Kerchak "Father" since Kerchak didn't consider him his son until he was dying.
* Despite not appearing in *House of Mouse*, Tarzan was featured in some online games for the television series.
* Tarzan's knuckle walking contradicts realistic human anatomy. Some of Tarzan's quadrupedal poses are physically impossible due to the fact that human legs are longer than their arms, unlike gorillas. If Tarzan attempts to knuckle walk as his daily gait, it would be exhausting since humans are designed to walk bipedally.