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This article refers to the French cartoon character "Asterix". For the symbol named "Asterisk" and its related uses, see Asterisk (disambiguation).

Asterix (French: Astérix) is a fictional character, created in 1959 as the hero of a series of French comic books by René Goscinny (stories) and Albert Uderzo (illustrations). Uderzo has continued the series since the death of Goscinny in 1977.

The books have been translated into many languages, even Latin and Ancient Greek. They are probably the most popular French comic in the world, and familiar to people of all ages in most European countries. Asterix is less well known in the United States and Japan, which both have strong comic book traditions of their own.

The key to the success of the series is that it contains comic elements for all ages: young children like the fist-fights and other visual gags, while adults can appreciate the cleverness of the allusions and puns that sparkle throughout the texts.

Note: the names of the characters contain puns, and vary with translation into other languages. This article uses the names from the English-language translations of Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge.

Contents 1 Setting and characters 2 Humour 2.1 Stereotypes and allusions 2.2 Puns in names 2.3 Running gags 2.4 Revisionist explanations 2.5 Influences 3 Recurring characters 3.1 Major recurring characters 4 See also 5 External links

Setting and characters

Asterix lives around 50 BC in a fictional village in northwest Armorica (a region of ancient Gaul mostly identical to modern Brittany). This village is celebrated amongst the Gauls as the only part of that country not yet conquered by Julius Caesar and his Roman legions. The inhabitants of the village gain superhuman strength by drinking a magic potion prepared by the druid Getafix (French: Panoramix). The village is surrounded by the ocean on one side, and four Roman garrisons on the other, intended to keep a watchful eye and ensure that the Gauls do not get up to mischief.

A recurring plot in many of the Asterix books concerns the attempts by the Romans to prevent the druid from making the potion, or trying to get the secret recipe for their own use. Such attempts are invariably foiled by the heroes of the Asterix books, the agile, clever and pint-sized Asterix and his clumsy, oversized, but extremely strong and good-hearted best friend, Obelix.

The humour encountered in the Asterix comics is typically French, often centring on puns, caricatures, and tongue-in-cheek stereotypes of contemporary European nations and French regions. Much of the humour in the initial Asterix books was French-specific, which delayed the translation of the book into other languages for fear of losing the joke and the spirit of the story. Some translations have actually added local humour : in the Italian translation, the Roman legionnaires are made to speak in 20th-century Roman slang. The newer albums share a more universal humour, both written and visual.

In spite of (or perhaps because of) this stereotyping and notwithstanding some alleged streaks of French chauvinism, it has been very well received by European and Francophone cultures around the world. Allegations of chauvinism are ironic considering that Uderzo is of Italian descent, and Goscinny was of Ukrainian-Polish Jewish descent.

Humour

Stereotypes and allusions

Everywhere they visit, Asterix and Obelix encounter people and things borrowed and caricatured from 20th century real life. In the early album Asterix and the Goths, for instance, the Goths are represented as militaristic and regimented, reminiscent of late nineteenth and early twentieth century Germans. The helmets worn by these Goths even resemble the German Pickelhaube helmets worn up to World War I and one of their leaders bears an uncanny resemblance to Otto von Bismarck. The British are shown as polite and phlegmatic, drinking warm beer or hot water (before the first tea has been brought to what would become England by Asterix); they boil all their food and serve it with mint sauce. Spain is the cheap country down south where people from the North vacation (and demand to eat the same food as they are used to at home). All the tribes represented are treated humorously as prototypes for their modern counterparts, and many aspects of them are satirised. However, the French are not exempt from satire, and almost all of the peoples Asterix meets are portrayed positively, even the Romans. The only tribe depicted completely unflatteringly is the Goths, possibly a result of the Second World War.

Some caricatures of the traits of certain French regions are also used: the people from Normandy smother their food in cream and cannot give a straight answer; the people from Marseille play boules and exaggerate matters, and Corsicans don't like to do any work, are easily angered and have long-standing vendettas that they settle violently, and make cheese that smells so bad that it actually becomes an explosive.

Minor characters often resemble famous people or fictional characters, usually caricatures of existing French people of the same era, particularly from television and the spectacles. In Obelix and Co., for example, the young Roman bureaucrat is a caricature of a young Jacques Chirac. In Asterix and the Falling Sky, the super-clones are a caricature of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Those characters usually stick out visually, by not having the round, oversized noses otherwise typical of Uderzo's style.

(Obelix and Co. also includes two Roman legionaries drawn to the likeness of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.)

Other side characters allude to people related to the place Asterix is visiting. Notable examples include a very Elizabeth Taylor-like Cleopatra in Asterix and Cleopatra; Britain's most famous bards in the story Asterix in Britain, who are four in number and look remarkably like the Beatles; a pair of Belgian warriors in Asterix in Belgium who resemble and also speak like Thomson and Thompson of Tintin-fame; and both Don Quixote and Sancho Panza are depicted in Asterix in Spain. More recently, this spoofing has occasionally extended to major characters as well: in Asterix and the Black Gold, a Roman spy is a young Sean Connery named Dubbelosix drawn in James Bond style, and in Asterix and Obelix All at Sea, the leader of the escaped slaves (named Spartakis, being Greek) is based on Kirk Douglas' Spartacus. In asterix and the cauldron,the head of the theatre is laurensolivius based on the actor lawrence olivier

The stories also feature allusions to major artistic works (such as Pieter Bruegel's Peasant Wedding and Victor Hugo's story of the Battle of Waterloo from Les Châtiments, in Asterix in Belgium), as well as historical personalities (Napoleon, Louis XIV of France), and famous places (Le Moulin Rouge).

However, in many other respects the series reflects life in the 1st century BC fairly accurately for the medium. For example, the multi-storied apartments in Rome—the insulae—which have Obelix remarking that one man's roof is another man's floor and consequently "These Romans are crazy": his favourite line. This line itself is also an intrinsic joke on Rome and the Romans: its Italian equivalent being "Sono pazzi questi romani" abbreviates as "SPQR", which is the motto of the Roman Empire. On the other hand, though, the presence of chimneys in the Gaulish huts is not accurate, as they used gabled openings in the roof to let smoke escape; and menhirs are now believed to have been erected long before the Gauls.

The text also makes relatively regular use of original Latin proverbs and Latin phrases, and allusions to Julius Caesar's De Bello Gallico, a book about the conquest of Gaul, later used as an introductory text to Latin. Some jokes are made about Caesar's use of the third person to write about himself. Such allusions were likely to be well-received by the better-educated sections of the French and Belgian public in the 1960s, when the teaching of Latin was still widespread in high schools.

Puns in names

A key feature of the text of the Asterix books are the constant puns used as names of characters; The names of the two protagonists come from asterisk and obelisk, Asterix being the star of the books (Latin aster (derived from the Greek word αστήρ (astir) [star] and Celtic rix [king, cognate to Latin rex, Sanskrit raj, German reich, English rich, etc]), and Obelix being a menhir delivery-man. This is a double pun, since as well as meaning a stone monolith, the word obelisk can also refer to the typographical dagger (†) that is often used to denote the second footnote on a page after an asterisk (*) has been used to reference the first. In fact, nearly all the Gaulish characters' names end in -ix, probably a reference to the real-life Gaulish chieftain such as Vercingetorix (though in life only the names of Gaulish kings—and not even all of them—ended in -ix, and if they did it was always -rix). English language examples include the chief (Vitalstatistix), the druid (Getafix), the fishmonger (Unhygienix), an old man (Geriatrix) with a young wife. Roman characters' names end with -us as in Noxious Vapus and Crismusbonus. In the case of one Roman couple, (Radius) and (Ulna). Other nations have their own style of naming—Vikings use -af (Bathyscaf), Britons use -ax (Hiphiphurrax, Notax, and the notable exception Zebigbos), Goths use -ic (Tonnic) and Spaniards use Spanish-sounding names such as Huevos Y Bacon (Eggs and Bacon). Most names stand as solitary puns, like Getafix or Geriatrix, and some play on each other, as in the example of a Roman guard talking through a closed door to another guard: "Open up, Sendervictorius! It's me, Appianglorius!" This is a pun on the UK national anthem "God Save the Queen" and the lines "Send her victorious, happy and glorious, long to reign over us, God save the Queen".

Many of these puns reflect the French original, in which, for example, the Egyptian in Astérix Légionnaire is named Courdeténis (court de tennis, i.e. "tennis court") in French and Ptenisnet in English. But the translation of puns is difficult, and Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge do a good job in the English language edition. For example, the translation of Ordralfabétix (referring to ordre alphabétique, "alphabetical order"), is Unhygienix, given that this character is a fishmonger infamous for his rotting product. The original Panoramix, which perhaps represents the druid who sees the whole picture, is named Getafix in the English version, as "get a fix" conveys the fact he makes potent potions. Assurancetourix (assurance tous risques or "comprehensive insurance"), the ear-offending bard of the village, becomes the apt Cacofonix. Another clever translation is that of Idéfix. An idée fixe is a "fixed idea", i.e. an obsession, a dogma. The translation, Dogmatix, manages to conserve the "fixed idea" meaning and also include the syllable dog—perfect, given that the character is a dog who has very strong views on the environment (he howls whenever he sees an uprooted tree). Note that the American version of the comic was done by a different translator, and tends to use different names. The word asterix is also commonly mis-used by English language speakers and writers in place of asterisk. Since the American translations were of such poor quality, many American fans of the series seek out the British translations instead.

Running gags

A number of running gags recur in various albums. One of these is that the bard Cacofonix wants to create a spontaneous song whenever Asterix and Obelix leave or come back for a grand journey, but is usually prevented from doing so by Fulliautomatix (the blacksmith). At the end of most adventures (most notable exceptions in Asterix and the Normans and Asterix and the Magic Carpet), he ends up not attending the final banquet which usually marks the end of an episode; instead he is seen tied up and gagged in the same panel in which the feast takes place, so as not to disrupt the festivities.

Another running gag is a group of pirates that tend to get caught in the middle of conflict and have their ship sunk, resembling the painting The Raft of the Medusa by Théodore Géricault, most notably in Asterix the Legionary. The ship is often sunk for a variety of reasons, such as a stray thrown menhir, though usually through Asterix and Obelix boarding them. In one episode, they attack a ship carrying a Roman agent, who points at a random crew member and states he gave him a bagful of gold if he would not attack the agent. In the ensuing battle over the nonexistent bag of gold, the pirates sink their own ship. In another, tired of being sunk, they give up pirating completely and open a ship-themed restaurant. Asterix and Obelix arrive and the restaurant is soon smashed to pieces. Those pirates—most notably the red-bearded captain, the constantly Latin-quoting peg-legged second-in-command, and the African lookout—are caricatures of the characters of "Barbe Rouge, Le Démon des Caraïbes", a pirate series that was published at the same time in Pilote, the weekly comics magazine in which Asterix appeared, and which Goscinny also edited.

Revisionist explanations

In the albums, some historical facts are retold, and attributed to Asterix & Obelix.

• In Asterix and Cleopatra, when visiting Egypt, Obelix scales the sphinx. He then falls down, grabs the sphinx's nose, but it breaks. Immediately all the souvenir-shops nearby chisel off the noses of their souvenir-sphinxes.
• In Asterix in Britain, the Britons are used to drinking hot water with a drop of milk. Only when Asterix puts in tea-leaves, given by the druid, the habit becomes tea-drinking.
• In Asterix in Spain, Asterix ends up in a circus in front of a bull (not a lion, there). He evades the bull nicely, and gets an applause from the audience. A guest of the Roman general drops her red cape in the arena. When Asterix wants to hand it back, the bull reacts and is finished after some dancing moves of Asterix, giving us the first bullfight.
• In Asterix and the Banquet (Le Tour de Gaule) Obelix travels around Gaul with a yellow knapsack on his back, as if wearing the yellow jersey in the modern Tour de France. Complete with a white square patch on the backside, where we can imagine the cyclist's number.
• In Asterix in Switzerland, Asterix manages to carry an unconscious Obelix through the Alps, by tying ropes around himself, Obelix, and their guides, creating a famous technique in mountain-climbing.
• In Asterix in Belgium, the chieftain of Asterix's Belgian hosts gains inspiration for patates frites and mussels, Belgium's two most famous culinary ambassadors, from a vat of boiling oil prepared as a Roman weapon, and a damp wooden plank belonging to the pirates (potatoes, however, were unknown in Europe at the time).
• In Asterix and Caesar's Gift, Cacofonix composes the protest anthem "We shall Overcome", which became the US civil rights movement song.
• In Asterix the Gladiator, Julius Ceaser asks Brutus to clap for him using the famous Shakespearean phrase "Et tu Brute".
• In Asterix in Spain, Unhygenix the fishmonger agrees to take payment for his boat rental in menhirs, as he wants to develop land on Salisbury Plain—which explains the mystery of Stonehenge.

Influences

The first satellite launched by France in 1965 received the name of the character, and during the campaign for Paris to obtain the right to host the 1992 Summer Olympics Asterix appeared in many posters over the Eiffel Tower.

Recurring characters

Main article: Recurring characters in Asterix

Major recurring characters

Name (English)	Name (French)	Description	First appearance
Asterix	Astérix	Gaulish warrior	Asterix the Gaul
Obelix	Obélix	Menhir delivery man	Asterix the Gaul
Dogmatix	Idéfix	Obelix's dog	Asterix and the Banquet
Getafix	Panoramix	Druid	Asterix the Gaul
Vitalstatistix	Abraracourcix	Chief of the village	Asterix the Gaul
Impedimenta	Bonemine	Wife of Vitalstatistix	Asterix and the Chieftain's Shield
Geriatrix	Agecanonix	Village elder	Asterix at the Olympic Games
Mrs Geriatrix (Un-named)	(Un-named)	Wife of Geriatrix	Asterix and the Roman Agent
Cacofonix	Assurancetourix	Bard	Asterix the Gaul
Fulliautomatix	Cétautomatix	Blacksmith	Asterix the Gaul
Unhygienix	Ordralfabétix	Fishmonger	Asterix in Spain
Bacteria	Iélosubmarine (yellow submarine)	Wife of Unhygienix	Asterix in Spain

See also

• List of Asterix volumes
• List of Asterix films and videogames
• Recurring characters in Asterix
• Parc Astérix
• Roman Gaul, after Julius Caesar's conquest of 58–51 BC that consisted of five provinces.

External links

• The Official Asterix web site
• The Asterix around the World – The many languages
• Asterix NZ– General Reference site for English speaking Fans
• The Asterix Annotations – album-by-album explanations of all the historical references and obscure in-jokes
• A Cessna aircraft with Asterix on the tail [1]
• For the movie of Asterix at the Olympic Games SN Brussels Airlines will paint two of their aircraft in Asterix livery. [2]
• Each Asterix book is examined in detail at Alea Jacta Est (Asterix for grown-ups)
• Les allusions culturelles dans Astérix - Cultural allusions (French)

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