The Legend of Tarzan (TV series)

Characters

Main

• Tarzan – Since the end of the film, Tarzan has assumed his role as leader of the Gorillas. He married Jane and they live happily in the jungle, residing in the treehouse that Tarzan's parents had built before their deaths. Although Tarzan doesn't live with Kala and the other gorillas, Tarzan will still leap into action to protect them at any length, and he often returns to seek Kala's advice in dealing with situations such as the doubts of the other gorillas, and Jane wanted him to be more "civilized". While helping Jane get over her more romantic ideas about jungle life, she acts as his guide to the duplicity of human nature — and insists he eats his food from a plate. It is a never-ending growth process for both, with some startling insights into what "civilized" means, and some uproarious stumbling blocks along the way.
• Jane Porter – Daughter of Archimedes Porter and wife of Tarzan. Jane is married to Tarzan, and they live in the treehouse built by Tarzan's late parents. Throughout the series, Jane is shown to have adjusted quite well to her new jungle life with Tarzan, but often when she begins to miss her old life in England, she tries to get Tarzan to act more "civilized" which sometimes poses as a problem to Tarzan's morals. Her appearance and human actions often cause some members of Tarzan's gorilla tribe to have doubts about her, and question Tarzan's "leadership". She is often the damsel in distress of the series, either being abducted or held hostage by the episode's antagonist, only for Tarzan to rescue her.
• Terk – Terk the gorilla loves the spotlight, and she's perfect "big sister" material because she's Tarzan's closest friend and adoptive cousin — protective, concerned, and absolutely convinced that Tarzan can't survive without her despite Tarzan having proven repeatedly to be stronger, faster, and more skillful at just about everything in the jungle than Terk. Terk loves telling Tarzan what to do — that is until Tarzan's physical strength proves he can hold her in a headlock instead. Even though Terk is very bossy at times, Tarzan knows it's because she cares, though she will never say so willingly.
• Tantor – "Someone's gonna get hurt, and it's always me!" is Tantor's rallying cry. Despite his size and relative stature within the jungle kingdom, Tantor the elephant is a coward – he is afraid of anything and everything, including bacteria, pond scum, piranhas, and anything else that can be named. But when it comes to helping Tarzan in trouble, Tantor shows know-it-all Terk a thing or two in the bravery department and leads the way.
• Kala – If his woes become too great or his thoughts too burdensome, Tarzan seeks seclusion and the calm counsel of his gorilla mother, Kala. A sympathetic ear when Tarzan needs someone wise to talk to, Kala acts as the voice of the apes, always reminding Tarzan of his unique obligations to the family. She is also Jane's closest confidant. The two share a warm, strong bond, and Jane regards her mother-in-law as her only kindred spirit in the jungle. From Kala's point of view, Jane is the human daughter she never had. Kala was Kerchak's mate, and perhaps the only one besides Tarzan that ever openly defied him without repercussions. Her open mind is a well of great wisdom, and she is almost always right. Even though Kerchak is gone, she is still highly respected. Although kind and motherly to Tarzan, Jane, and all the gorillas, Kala is almost undoubtedly the bravest gorilla in the family. When the family was trapped in a cave by Tublat, Kala bravely stood up to the villain and encouraged all the other gorillas to be brave as well. Her presence and support keeps the family together and ensures that they are always there for each other even in the direst situations.
• Professor Archimedes Q. Porter – Father of Jane, Professor Porter is a noted scientist with years of expertise studying gorillas, though prior to arriving in Africa in the first film, he had never seen one in the wild. Sometimes the kindhearted professor gets so absorbed in his thinking that he simply forgets what he's doing. Even so, Jane doesn't bat an eye at her father's eccentric antics — she's used to them and shares his enthusiasm. When they both finally meet the gorillas, it's the fulfillment of a lifelong dream, even if the professor does faint at the sight.
• Clayton – Having died at the end of the film, Clayton was seen several times in flashbacks in the series. He is the older brother of Lady Waltham, who accused Tarzan of murdering him in the film until at the end of "Tarzan and the Gauntlet of Revenge". Clayton was occasionally mentioned in the series and appeared as a hallucination when Tarzan was delirious from a toxin.
• Kerchak – Kerchak was Kala's mate and Tarzan's adoptive father, who was tragically killed by Clayton near the end of the film. He was mentioned and appeared in several flashbacks in the series, including "Tarzan and Tublat's Revenge", and "The Face From the Past". Tarzan made a statue of him at the end of "Tublat’s Revenge" to commemorate his adoptive father and predecessor as leader of the gorilla troop. Henriksen is one of only three actors to reprise their roles from the film.

  Allies

• Flynt and Mungo – Clueless ape brothers Flynt and Mungo have grown up along with Tarzan, but they're still as dopey as ever. Maybe it's too much self-inflicted head trauma from playing their childhood game "stop hitting yourself", but their IQs don't seem to have improved with time. The brothers don't mean any harm, but likely as not, their dumb behavior is bound to give Tarzan some serious headaches as he flies to save them — and protect the family — from danger. Since they spend all their time together, being separated will cause them to freak out. They are two of only three characters to retain their voice actors from the film.
• Booto – The leader of a rhinoceros herd.
• Manu – A mischievous baby baboon, who is fascinated with humans, and, when no one is looking, he is irresistibly drawn to rummaging through their belongings and trying on their clothes. He may even run off with a shiny keepsake or two. Like an inquisitive child, he leaves a mess behind, which means a red-faced Tarzan and the other family members are usually stuck with cleaning up after him. His mischief, however, sometimes ends up doing more good than first assumed, especially where the villainous Samuel Philander was concerned.
• Renard Dumont – A slick, opportunistic French proprietor of "Dumont's Trading Post", whose lust for material gain is compromised only by his persistent attempts to, through oily charm and token gestures, lure Jane from her cozy and loving life with Tarzan. Though somewhat of a nemesis in his first appearance, he later becomes a reluctant ally of Tarzan. A good example is when he disguises himself as a high-ranking official in order to secure the release of Tarzan, Hugo, and Hooft. He even allows Tarzan and his friends to borrow one of his boats to find out the source of the poison that has flown into the river and endangered the jungle. In "The Return of La", he is briefly transformed into a gibbon by Jane possessed by La's ghost.
• Hugo and Hooft – Deserters of the French Foreign Legion, these Americans now work for Dumont, though they still have the occasional run-in with Lt. Colonel Staquait, who considers their insubordination a capital offense. They also seem to owe money to "Joey the Shark", a loan shark in Chicago. Although they are smooth-talking conmen who try to cheat people out of money, they are good-natured and willing to do anything for their friends. A good example is when they are arrested and sent to prison; when Tarzan helps them escape, they have the chance to flee but return to save him from being executed.
• Jabari – The son of Baruti and Jamila bearing an uncanny resemblance to the young Tantor. He and "Mr. Tantor" have bonded over their shared phobias and paranoia.
• Dania – A beautiful female elephant, who wants to be with Tantor for her love. Terk gets the two elephants together, and they hit it off. Dania meets Tantor's friends, with the exception of Tarzan, who is out tracking poachers. Dania has a great dislike of Terk, regarding her as obnoxious and loud, and forces Tantor to choose between them when all her attempts to break the elephants up fail. After the poachers are defeated and Terk rescued, Dania approaches Tantor and offers to give him another chance at being her boyfriend. Tantor refuses and dumps her, causing Dania to storm off in anger.
• Chief Keewazi – Leader of the Waziri tribe, a group of natives who live deep in the jungle.
• Basuli – Chief Keewazi's headstrong son and future leader of the Waziri tribe. He becomes a good friend of Tarzan. Tarzan once aided Basuli in retrieving an eagle's feather, which he needed as part of a rite of passage in order to marry. Though he and Tarzan are friends, they compete in many ways.
• Dr. Robin Doyle – A female Irish anthropologist, who began her studies in the jungle, and has the Professor smitten. The first time she came to Africa was to study the Waziri people with Professor Porter, he was afraid he was too old for her and sought out a fountain that he thought would make the drinker young again. In the episode "Protege", she brought her nephew Ian.
• Moyo – Another gorilla in Tarzan's family. He once believed Tarzan cared more about Jane than the family. When Hista, an enormous red python, attacked while Tarzan was with Jane, Moyo managed to chase Hista away for the time being. When Tarzan returned, he boasted about this one-time accomplishment, claimed that Tarzan was too busy being with Jane to protect the family, and challenged Tarzan for the leadership of the gorillas. Moyo defeated Tarzan, though only because Tarzan had saved Moyo from imminent death from being impaled on sharp spikes. Moyo led the family away and, by an error of judgment, they walked into a tar pit. After some conflict, Moyo and Tarzan cooperated to rescue the family, and lure Hista into the tar pit, where the great snake became stuck and sank, killing him and forever ending the python's reign of terror. Moyo reconciled with Tarzan, finally seeing that Jane was part of their family, and stepped down as leader. He promised to wait until he was ready to try to become a leader again. Despite his arrogance and stubbornness, when the elephants and gorillas engage in jungle warfare, Moyo plays a big part in helping Tarzan lead the gorillas to victory. Just as the gorillas are about to triumph, a fire breaks out, and Moyo is the first gorilla to follow Tarzan's lead in putting out the fire.
• Hazel, Greenly, and Eleanor – Three upper-class women and Jane's friends from England, who came to the jungle to "save" Jane from Tarzan because they thought that she was unhappy in the jungle, and being held against her will. When she tried to show them that she was still the same polished girl they knew from London by throwing a typical English picnic, she asked that Tarzan wear his father's suit. Tarzan, thinking Jane was embarrassed by him, wasn't too thrilled on "being something he wasn't", but after a heart to heart talk with the Professor, he put on the suit. Meanwhile, Jane and her friends were being chased by the Panthers Sheeta and Nuru; using the skills she learned in the jungle, Jane was able to help her friends survive until Tarzan was able to save them. The next time her friends came to visit, they brought Greenly's fiance Henry to the jungle to "toughen him up". After an earthquake created a tsunami, they ended up lost in the jungle with Henry. The geologist showed exceptional ingenuity and resolve in helping the group survive until Tarzan could save them, including snake-charming a snake with his oboe and wrestling a crocodile. Hazel is mentioned in "Tarzan and the Flying Ace" as being the biggest gossip in the British Isles, which is how Robert knew where to find Jane. Hazel also happens to be the name of Jane's best friend in the books, sharing her last name with the voice actor, Tara Strong.

  Villains

• William Cecil Clayton - He was mentioned and seen in one flashback, Clayton was the antagonist from the film responsible for Kerchak's death until he met his own while fighting Tarzan, This caused Clayton's sister Lady Waltham to go mad for revenge for his death.
• Tublat – A rogue ape and a former member of Tarzan's gorilla family. He challenged Kerchak for leadership, but he was defeated and cast out. He is considered dangerous by all the gorillas due to his aggressive and sociopathic behavior. He is based on Kala's husband in the original "Tarzan" novel. His personality is also very much like the original Kerchak or Terkoz from the novel. Conversely, Kerchak's personality in the 1999 film is just like Tublat's in the original novel. He once took over another gorilla family that Gobu belonged to but inspired by Tarzan the family overthrew him and Gobu replaced him. He often calls Tarzan a "hairless runt". He has four toes on his right foot, and this is one way to tell he is in the area. In the series, he plots to dispose of Tarzan so that he can take over the gorilla pack for himself and makes no secret of his hatred against Tarzan, believing him to be unworthy of leading the gorilla family. Noted by the bones in the cave he formerly resided in, it is possible he may be more carnivorous than other gorillas.
• Queen La – In the original novels, she a high priestess of a blood cult who fell in love with Tarzan. In her adaptation for the series, she is a former member of the Waziri tribe and an utterly vicious sorceress who rules over the abandoned city of Opar, where she lords over the Leopard Men. She falls in love with Tarzan after he comes to rescue Jane's father from the Leopard Men, who were capturing males as potential husbands for La. Her attempts to seduce Tarzan fail every time, as his loyalty is firm with Jane, and in almost every encounter La is trying to hurt Jane and take Tarzan for herself. She could actually be considered to be Jane's rival for Tarzan's affections. Her magic staff is eventually shattered by Jane, turning La to dust and the Leopard men back into ordinary leopards. Her spirit still lingers and tries to steal Jane's body and restore her staff. After some forced body-switching and getting inside Tarzan, she is eventually forced inside the body of a rat and the staff is taken by a Waziri elder who was determined to end her evil, trapping her in the rodent form.
• * Leopard Men - A group of leopards who La changed into humanoid form to serve her
• Samuel T. Philander – Professor Archimedes' academic rival who frequently attempts to steal his ideas or garner fame by turning Tarzan in as the "missing link". On one occasion, he found Pellucidar yet his photographic proof was ruined by Manu photographing himself. He even tried to capture the silver ape Mangani who is known for his healing powers. Samuel even tried to capture Tarzan, but his men mistook Archimedes for Tarzan. His humiliations reduced him to living in a ratty apartment in Chicago and constantly ducking the Landlord when he was visited by Edgar Rice Burroughs wanting to know what he knew about Tarzan. He is modeled on the British comedy actor Terry-Thomas.
• Count Nikolas Rokoff – A greedy former Russian count stripped of his title who hears about a treasure in the valley of the leopards and plans to find it to regain his title. Tarzan refuses to help him until Rokoff threatens to kill Jane if he doesn't. His intellectual battle with Tarzan goes like a chess game until Tarzan finally releases the last few leopards from the boarded-up cave on him, but it is unclear if they kill Rokoff or not. The treasure is later stolen by baboons.
• Lt. Colonel Staquait – A vicious, scar-faced Colonel in the French Foreign Legion. He sees himself on the right side of the law, but his draconian means do not justify his actions, putting him at odds with Tarzan. He acts as judge and executioner and has made it his goal to hunt down Hugo and Hooft because they refused his order to burn down a village full of women and children. Tarzan helped fake their demise, but eventually, the Colonel learned the truth and imprisoned them. Tarzan ended up imprisoned in Fort Doom as well, then after allowing Hugo and Hoof to escape, he was sentenced to be hanged, but was released after Renard impersonated a French magistrate, which Staquait doesn't notice as the heroes safely returned to Africa by steamship.
• Thaddeus Hunt - The leader of a band of kidnappers who try to kidnap Tarzan and former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt for ransom money. His two main minions are Jake and Sam, his third named is Jones. He and his men are eventually arrested by Roosevelt's two government agents.
• Nuru and Sheeta – They are two vicious panthers that frequently find and battle Tarzan. They are sometimes seen as part of a group of leopards, which is a factual error, as leopards never hunt in packs.
• Mabaya – A rogue bull elephant who originally belonged to the same herd as Jabari and his parents. Mabaya, like all rogues, is almost constantly angry and attacks or tramples anything in his path. He is easily recognized by his broken right tusk and bloodshot red eyes. Episodes featuring Mabaya usually require Tantor to overcome his fears and face down the renegade in an elephantine match of strength.
• Hista – A giant crimson red python that threatens the gorilla family until Tarzan and Moyo manage to lure him into a tar pit, where the snake dies after sinking into it. His weakness is that he, like other snakes, has poor vision and senses body heat to hunt, a weakness Tarzan uses to his advantage.
• Johannes Niels and Merkus – Two miners who first came to the jungle to mine diamonds. Niels is the tall, blond-haired and calmer of the two, and Merkus is shorter, muscular and more violent. Tarzan agreed to guide them to a volcano to dig for diamonds, on the condition that he gets one to give to Jane. After a mishap, they lose their diamonds and leave in chains. They later return to retrieve the diamonds, which may not have survived the lava. They are attacked by Tublat, whom they capture, and are about to take him around the world as a showpiece until Tarzan, along with a protesting Terk, rescue him. Once again, Niels and Merkus leave the jungle empty-handed.
• Zutho – A shady mandrill that Tarzan, Terk, and Tantor first encountered as kids at the forbidden side of the river. While Tarzan teaches Zutho and his friends how to make spears, a fire broke out and nearly destroyed the jungle but the rain had put it down. Tarzan blamed himself and ended up in Zutho's debt. Years later, Zutho resurfaces in order to get Tarzan to fulfill his favor into dealing with some annoying monkeys that were keeping him up at night. With help from Jane, Terk, and Tantor, Tarzan did the right thing and admitted what happened the day of the fire to Kala who then dealt with Zutho where she grabbed him by the ear and planned to inform his mother what he made Tarzan do.
• * Gozan – A fat mandrill who is one of Zutho's friends.
• * Hungo - A skinny and silent mandrill who is one of Zutho's friends.
• Ian McTeague – A corrupt greedy businessman. He started up an illegal mining operation near the mountain, where he and his men believe that there is gold for them to dig. As they do so, they use the water from the river to irrigate their operation, where they separate the dirt from ore with chemicals, which are then later spilled out into the rest of the river heading towards the jungle. Because of this, it has caused a plague among the animals drinking it. Even the Waziri tribe fell victim to the plague, as they used the river for their crops and drinking. Needless to say, McTeague doesn't care about the toxicity of the chemicals and continues dumping them into the river, as he still wants to be rich. Upon learning about the mine, Tarzan and his friends ally with the Waziri tribe to build a dam to block the river and then break it down to have the rushing water destroy the whole mine operation for good, leaving the river fresh and clean again. McTeague and his men then leave in a huff, but not after McTeague angrily swears revenge against Tarzan and the Waziri tribe for ruining his mining operation.
• Lady Waltham – An aristocrat and sister of the deceased Clayton who wants revenge on Tarzan for killing her brother. She had her valet Hobson capture those close to him and then poison Tarzan. Tarzan was then given a challenge by Lady Waltham which was either save those he is close to from danger or head to a mountain she dubbed "Clayton's Peak" where the antidote is. Though Tarzan saves his friends and family, he ends up saving Lady Waltham from leopards. Afterward, she gave Tarzan the antidote realizing that Tarzan would never have killed her brother on purpose. She is implied to have made peace with Tarzan and his family and has returned to her original life.
• * Hobson – Lady Waltham's valet.
• Muviro – A treacherous Waziri warrior and one of Basuli's subordinates. Despite serving for Basuli, Muviro holds a personal hatred and jealousy against the chief's son and is hostile towards outsiders. Upon learning that Basuli is planning to get an eagle's feather with Tarzan's help as part of the customs for Basuli to marry and be a future chief, Muviro secretly plotted to dispose of Basuli so that he himself can be the new chief. He caused several incidents during Tarzan and Basuli's journey: such as chopping down a tree into a river they were crossing over to provoke a pod of hippos, disturbing a herd of rhinos to stampede after the duo and causing a rock slide on them in an elephant graveyard near the mountain. After the third attempt fails, Muviro reveals his true colors to both Tarzan and Basuli before engaging into a fight with the latter. Fortunately, Basuli defeats Muviro and banishes him from the tribe for his treachery, and Muviro is last seen walking away into the midst with an angry look on his face, implying that he might return to get revenge.
• Robert Canler – Jane's old childhood friend and next-door neighbor, nicknamed Bobby, who knew her since she was five. He is an ace pilot who carries a sword-cane with a silver eagle head and a Webley pistol and flies in a plane with floats. He once worked for British Intelligence but switched to the "other side" as a double agent when he realized how profitable it would be, by bringing them a code machine which was disguised as a music box that he gave Jane. Despite his betrayal of Jane, he rescues her from certain death and is eventually arrested by Captain Nigel Taylor of the RAF.
• Sabor the Leopard

  Supporting

• Bob Markham – A logger, widower, and single father to his daughter Abby. After his wife died, he sunk everything he had into logging. However, the way he was logging tore up so much soil, that a long-dormant plague was released and threatened to kill his men and daughter. With help from Tarzan and Terk, Markham gathered all but one of the ingredients for the cure. The last one was a flower that was only found in one part of the jungle until Markham's men bulldozed over them while logging. By some luck, Abby had picked one of them before, and Jane showed her how to press it, thus preserving it. After Abby and Markham's men were cured, they ceased logging and started to plant the seeds saved from the flower.
• Abigail "Abby" Markham – Abby Markham is the daughter of Bob Markham, she appears to be 5–9 years old, but maybe older. Markham loves his daughter and will do anything for her. When she falls ill with the same plague that threatens his men, he asks for Tarzan's help to cure her. Together, they get all but one ingredient for the cure, a flower found only in an area that Markham's men had already bulldozed over; Luckily, Abby had picked one of the flowers prior to the bulldozing and preserved it by pressing it. She is last seen playing tag with Jane and Terk.
• Gubo – A gorilla from another family. Tarzan and Terk found him being attacked by hyenas and saved him. He ended up with a broken leg. Terk felt she wasn't girly enough for him. He managed to trick Tarzan into coming with him to his family so he could meet his leader. Tarzan then finds out Tublat is his leader. He showed up a few months ago and killed Gubo's original leader. Tublat and Tarzan prepare for battle, but Gubo stands up to him and reminds everyone that there is strength in numbers and the gorilla's gang up on Tublat, driving him off. Gubo then steps in to take place as a new leader. Terk tries her lady charms, but Gubo tells her that he always liked Terk the way she is. They both end up leaving to throw mud at warthogs.
• Edgar Rice Burroughs – A fictionalized version of Tarzan's creator, he is an American book author, who was in need of inspiration for his next novel. He eventually finds it when discovering about Tarzan. After meeting some of Tarzan's acquaintances, he finally meets Tarzan when Tarzan saves him. After a talk with Tarzan and Jane, he creates a novel, and his boss says everyone will remember him by it.
• Theodore Roosevelt – Former President of the United States. The writers take Roosevelt's real-life post-presidency trip to Africa to collect wildlife for the American Museum of Natural History of New York City, and put it in the series.

  Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2001)

Season 2 (2003)

• All episodes of Season 2 were used in the plot of the direct to video sequel, Tarzan & Jane, though some parts have been cut to make them look more like flashbacks. These episodes are believed to have happened sometime during or before Season 1, since some characters first appearances occurred in these episodes, the overall true specific order is unknown.

  Broadcast

Critical reception