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 friendly character, especially when is among his "family", the gorillas. He cares deeply about his friends. It also seems Tarzan can feel it when people want to harm his friends, because he didn't trust Clayton when he said he didn't want to harm the gorillas. Tarzan is almost always the first to save people when they're in danger: He saved Sora from Sabor, and later, along with Sora, Donald and Goofy, he saved 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 appears in the 1999 film, Tarzan. When Tarzan was an infant, he and his parents abandoned a burning ship and escaped in a wooden row boat to the coast of Africa. The trio arrive at the mainland, apparently unharmed and seek shelter. Some time later, the presence of the family is noticed by the female leopard, Sabor, who attacks them aggressively. Both Tarzan's mother and father are killed by the leopard, but succeed in ensuring that he is safe. Afew days later, Kala, a female gorilla whose baby was killed by Sabor, finds Tarzan, brings him back to the other gorillas, and indicates that she wishes to adopt the defenseless child. Her mate, and the alpha male, Kerchak, rejects the idea, but Kala insists on protecting Tarzan. Kerchak eventually accepts Tarzan, but thinks that he will never have what it takes to be part of his family. Tarzan grows up in the jungle, befriending Terk, a female gorilla, and Tantor, a cautious elephant. He learns the ways of the jungle and its inhabitants, but often annoys Kerchak by accident, such as throwing his spear, narrowly missing the alpha male's head.

One day, Jane Porter and her father Professor Porter land on the shore of Africa, and set up camp in a clearing close to where Tarzan and his family live. Tarzan, now a grown man, is led by his own curiosity to the camp, wondering what all of the equipment is. His presence is detected by Clayton, the Porter family's guide, and he fires his shotgun, narrowly avoiding Tarzan, who is hiding in the bamboo thickets. Sometime later, Jane attempts to sketch a baby baboon, only to upset it and being angrily chased by his family. She is saved by Tarzan and learns his name. With great difficulty, she explains that her name is Jane, and to Tarzan's surprise, he notices that she is not a gorilla, but a human, like him. Tarzan befriends Jane and the professor, and begins to learn the English language, along with basic manners and etiquette. He is very distrusting of Clayton, however, and when Jane asks him to lead them to the gorillas, he seems very reluctant to take Clayton with them.

Clayton's evil motives are revealed, he and his goons attempt to capture as many gorillas as possible and take them back to England. Tarzan, along with Jane and the Professor are held captive on Clayton's ship, but are rescued by Terk and Tantor. Clayton chases them back to the mainland and battles with the gorillas, Jane, Professor Porter, and Tarzan, only leading to his own demise. Kerchak is killed, trying to protect his family, and his last wish is for Tarzan to take his place, and lead the family. At a later date, the camp gets packed away and taken back to the ship that brought Jane to Africa, and was supposed to take her and the Professor back to England. Jane protests, and chooses to stay with Tarzan. The Professor agrees and the two are accepted into the gorilla's family by Tarzan. They are accepted by the gorillas; the Professor immediately begins his research, while Jane and Tarzan romantically tour the jungle's beauty. Jane and Tarzan live happily together, using the tree house built by his parents as a home.

Trivia

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