Tarzan

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Tarzan
Japanese	ターザン
Rōmaji	Tāzan
Voice actors	(Ja:) Jūrōta Kosugi (En:) Tony Goldwyn
Homeworld	Deep Jungle
Origin	Tarzan (1999)
Game	Kingdom Hearts

Tarzan
Kingdom Hearts
A young man raised from infancy by gorillas. His gorilla "mother" is Kala. Tarzan spoke only the language of the apes until he met Jane. Since then he's learning to speak English at an astonishing rate. He swung onto the screen in "Tarzan" (1999).

"Friends, same heart. Clayton, lose heart. No heart, no see friends."

—Tarzan regarding Clayton

Tarzan is a party member in Kingdom Hearts. He is a wild, almost animal-like man who has been raised by gorillas since birth. He speaks little English, conversing mostly in gorilla language which is a combination of grunts and hoots. Because of his long time in Deep Jungle, he has developed rather impressive acrobatic skills similar to the movements to a monkey, and he even can "surf" down tree branches and vines, as well as using vines to swing across great distances. He fights with a spear made from a sharp rock tied to a branch.

Story

Kingdom Hearts

After rescuing Sora from Sabor, Tarzan tries to help him find his friends.

Tarzan first encounters Sora in his former treehouse home, being attacked by the leopard Sabor. Tarzan manages to chase off Sabor and becomes friends with Sora, albeit through a difficult conversation due to Tarzan's limited vocabulary. Sora asks for Tarzan's help to locate Riku and Kairi, although Tarzan doesn't really understand. He leads Sora through the jungle's depths to an encampment where Sora meets Tarzan's friend, Jane Porter, who is surprised to see Sora, and later Donald and Goofy. Clayton, a hunter whom Jane brought to the jungle, attempts yet again to persuade Tarzan to show them the location the gorillas. Tarzan, however, cannot do it as the leader of the gorillas, Kerchak, is distrustful of the humans. At this point, Clayton has his heart taken by the Heartless and he falls into darkness. Sabor attacks Sora and Tarzan again, but they kill him.

Jane and Terk are briefly kidnapped by Clayton, but are saved shortly after by the Keyblade bearer. Unfortunately, Clayton and his gang of Heartless have now captured all the gorillas to be shot. Sora and Tarzan intervene and the gorillas escape. Clayton and a large Heartless named Stealth Sneak fight Sora, Tarzan, Donald and Goofy, but they are defeated, and the Heartless crushes Clayton. Tarzan seems to be able to tell that Clayton is no longer human, and expresses his discovery immediately before the fight. Grateful for their rescue, the gorillas show Sora and the others the location of the world's Keyhole. Jane then figures out what Tarzan's continuous grunting means: Friends in the heart (the word heart is subtitled in punctuation symbols).

Design

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. His eyes are a light green-blue in color and his muscular body is tanned from living in the jungle all his life.

Personality

Tarzan is a gregarious character, especially when is among his "family", the gorillas. He cares deeply about his friends. It also seems Tarzan can feel it when people hurt his friends, because he did not trust Clayton when he said he did not feel like harming the gorillas. Tarzan is almost always the first to rescue people when they are in danger: He rescued Sora from Sabor, and later, along with Sora, Donald and Goofy, he rescued Terk and Jane.

Abilities

Kingdom Hearts

Tarzan is a heavily physical character that wields a spear with long reach and high strength. He only has one equipment slot and three item slots. He uses his spear in tandem with a variety of special techniques; however, he lacks the MP to support frequent use of his techniques.

His combat abilities are a mixture of offensive and defensive skills. Tarzan's special attacks allow him to use spear techniques, such as Raging Boar and Asp's Bite. His defense skills, Healing Herb and Wind Armor, convey the same effects as Cure and Aero. Tarzan also has a variety of support abilities, including Second Wind, Second Chance, Berserk, and Critical Plus.

Origin

Tarzan first appeared in the 1999 film, Tarzan. He is based on the character of the same name from Edgar Rice Burroughs's novels.

In the film, Tarzan is a human infant who was taken in by the gorillas after his parents were marooned in a shipwreck and subsequently killed by Sabor. He grows up befriending the jungle's inhabitants and learning their ways, but often butts heads with his adopted father Kerchak. When Jane Porter, her father Professor Archimedes, and their guide Clayton set up camp near Tarzan's home, Tarzan eventually befriends them and learns English and basic manners and etiquette. However, Tarzan distrusts Clayton, and his fears are realized when Clayton begins to capture as many gorillas as possible. After Tarzan, Jane, and the Professor are rescued by Tarzan's jungle friends, Clayton chases them back into the jungle and battles them, only to fall to his demise. Kerchak sacrifices himself to protect his family, appointing Tarzan as his successor. Jane and the Professor stay behind in Africa to study the gorillas, with Tarzan and Jane living in his family treehouse.

In the film, he was voiced by Tony Goldwyn, who reprised the role in Kingdom Hearts.

Trivia

• Although Tarzan speaks to his adopted father Kerchak and the rest of the gorillas in the gorilla language, his lines are in English to allow the players to understand what he is saying. After Tarzan's first lines to Kerchak, Goofy asks Donald, "Did you get that?" clearly indicating that he, Donald and Sora did not understand him.