Tarzan
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 and mostly 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.
Journal Entry
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).
Kingdom Hearts
Tarzan first encounters Sora in his former treehouse home, being attacked by the leopard Sabor. Tarzan managed to chase off Sabor and became friends with Sora, 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, 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 so that Clayton can shoot them. 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 (Clayton being crushed by the Heartless). 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).
Skillset
Tarzan is a heavily physical character. His spear has long reach and high strength. He uses his spear in tandem with a variety of special techniques, attacking enemies rapidly in battles, although he runs out of MP for these special attacks quickly. He only has one equipment slot and three item slots. Tarzan's abilities are as follows:
- Raging Boar: Thrash around and attack surrounding enemies.
- Asp Bite: Increases rate of MP restoration.
- Healing Herb: Restores HP, similar to Cure.
- Wind Armor: Summons a whirl of air for protection, similar to Aero.
- Second Wind: Recovers from KO quickly.
- Second Chance: Ensures 1 HP is retained after being hit with a critical attack.
- Berserk: Boosts attack power when HP is critical.
- Critical Plus: Increases chance of landing a critical hit. Tarzan has this ability twice.
Quotes
"X&&/X (heart). Friends here."
"Not Clayton;! X&&/X (Heart)! Not Clayton!"
"Kerchak, please listen to me! I know the nesting grounds are secret, but I trust them."
"You see, I want to help them because... because... well, they need us."
"Sabor, danger."
"Tarzan, home."
"Friends, same heart. Clayton, lose heart. No heart, no see friends. No heart, no friends."
Trivia
- Although Tarzan speaks to his adopted father Kerchak and the rest of the gorillas in Gorilla language, his lines are in English - mainly for the players to understand what he is saying.
- Tarzan is the only party member who does not return in any of the future games, thus never lands the opportunity to use Limit. Ariel returns, but in a non-combatant role.
- Tarzan's world did not appear in any other games because of copyright issues.
- Tarzan walks on his hands and knees (though in battle he uses one hand to carry his spear.)
- Despite Donald and Goofy being the very first party members in the game, Tarzan has been known to be the very first in-world party member to join Sora's group in the entire series.
- Tarzan is also the very first party member to team up with Sora alone, even if it was for a short time at the beginning of Deep Jungle.
