Apache Chief is a
Native American superhero from the various
Hanna-Barbera ''
Super Friends'' cartoons and the DC comic book series of the same name. He was one of the new heroes added (along with
Black Vulcan,
Rima the Jungle Girl,
El Dorado
El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king ...
and
Samurai) to increase the number of non-
white characters in the Super Friends' ranks. The visual look of the character was created by cartoonist
Alex Toth
Alexander Toth (June 25, 1928 – May 27, 2006) was an American cartoonist active from the 1940s through the 1980s. Toth's work began in the American comic book industry, but he is also known for his animation designs for Hanna-Barbera throughout ...
, who designed many superheroes for Hanna-Barbera beginning in the 1960s. He was voiced by
Michael Rye in most of his appearances,
Regis Cordic
Regis John Cordic (May 15, 1926 – April 16, 1999) was an American radio personality and actor, also known and credited as Rege Cordic.
His career in entertainment was divided roughly in half. From 1948 to 1965, he was the dominant mornin ...
in his debut appearance, and Al Fann in "History of Doom".
In the ''
Challenge of the Super Friends
''Challenge of the Superfriends'' is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes which ran from September 9, 1978, to December 23, 1978, on ABC. The complete series (16 episodes) was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions a ...
'' series, Apache Chief was seen in every episode except one, but had spoken lines in only nine out of the sixteen episodes of the series. His arch-enemy from the
Legion of Doom was
Giganta
Giganta is a fictional character appearing in DC Comics publications and related media, commonly as a recurring adversary of the superhero Wonder Woman, and an occasional foil of the superhero the Atom (Ray Palmer), Atom. She debuted as a brutish ...
, who was originally an enemy of
Wonder Woman.
Fictional character biography
Apache Chief's origin, shown as a recording in the episode "History of Doom", was thus: while still a young brave, he went for a walk with a Native American Elder, who was also his mentor. The two men are quickly attacked by a
grizzly bear
The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America.
In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horr ...
, but the Elder, recognizing that the young brave might be ready for a test such as this, gives the younger man a pouch of a special magic powder which will amplify the user's thoughts and abilities a hundredfold. The young man resolves to be strong and brave (heeding the Elder's advice that whatever is in his mind at the time will be amplified by the powder), and upon sprinkling himself with the powder and invoking the magic phrase grows to fifty feet in size, becoming stronger and braver. He disposes of the bear without violence, proving that he has passed the test. However, a girl horseback riding witnesses the entire affair, hoping to use the powder to become big and famous, and uses her lasso to steal the pouch. Despite the Elder telling her that her thoughts were evil, she uses the magic powder on herself and becomes the evil
Giganta
Giganta is a fictional character appearing in DC Comics publications and related media, commonly as a recurring adversary of the superhero Wonder Woman, and an occasional foil of the superhero the Atom (Ray Palmer), Atom. She debuted as a brutish ...
, proclaiming: "The Medicine Man was right, Apache Chief! Your fifty feet of good are now matched by my fifty feet of evil!"
Powers and abilities
By speaking the words "inuk chuk" (most likely a reference to the ''
inuksuk'', giant stone figures built by various Arctic tribes that are depicted on the territorial flag of
Nunavut), Apache Chief could grow to unlimited sizes. In the episode "Colossus", Apache Chief grows to many times the size of the Earth, making himself able to battle the Colossus, a titanic space creature that plucked Earth from its orbit and placed it in a small (relative to him) glass bottle. Originally his tribal powers limited his growth to only 50 feet tall, but in one episode, "Man in the Moon", he used the
Atom's knowledge of atomic size and was able to increase his growing to unlimited size. He was then able to grow to 1/5 the size of the earth, with one foot the size of the entire eastern United States and defeated the creature, sending it back inside the moon. He also spoke in
stereotypical "Native American English" and recited vaguely Native American
philosophy. In the 1978 episodes "Revenge on Gorilla City" and "The Time Trap", and the 1984 short episode entitled "The Village of Lost Souls", Apache Chief also has exceptional tracking ability.
Other versions
In the comics, a somewhat similar character called
Manitou Raven
Manitou Raven is a fictional character and superhero from ''DC Comics'', who first appeared in '' JLA'' #66 (July 2002).
Manitou Raven was known to shout "Inukchuk!" when he cast spells. This is a reference by writer Joe Kelly to Apache Chief fro ...
was created, as an homage to him, and joined the
canonical
The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean "according to the canon" the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, "canonical exampl ...
JLA. Both Manitou Raven and his widow,
Manitou Dawn
Manitou (), akin to the Iroquois ''orenda'', is the spiritual and fundamental life force among Algonquian groups in the Native American theology. It is omnipresent and manifests everywhere: organisms, the environment, events, etc. ''Aasha ...
, have been shown to use "inuk chuk" when casting spells or invoking powers.
In other media
Television
* Apache Chief appears in ''
The All-New Super Friends Hour
''The All-New Super Friends Hour'' is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes which ran from September 10, 1977, to September 2, 1978, on ABC. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and is based on the Justice Le ...
'', voiced initially by
Regis Cordic
Regis John Cordic (May 15, 1926 – April 16, 1999) was an American radio personality and actor, also known and credited as Rege Cordic.
His career in entertainment was divided roughly in half. From 1948 to 1965, he was the dominant mornin ...
and later by
Michael Rye.
* Apache Chief appears in ''
Challenge of the Super Friends
''Challenge of the Superfriends'' is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes which ran from September 9, 1978, to December 23, 1978, on ABC. The complete series (16 episodes) was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions a ...
'', voiced again by Michael Rye.
* Apache Chief appears in ''
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law'', voiced by
Maurice LaMarche. This version has taken on various odd jobs in addition to his superheroics and, in later appearances, develops a fear of coffee and other such hot liquids. In his most notable appearance in the episode "Very Personal Injury", he and Black Vulcan, among others, form the "Multicultural Pals".
* A character inspired by Apache Chief named Long Shadow appears in ''
Justice League Unlimited'', voiced by
Gregg Rainwater
Gregg Andrew Rainwater (born February 27, 1966) is an American actor of Osage, Cherokee, Irish, and Filipino descent,Stacy Smith"‘Young Rider’ Embraces Ethnic Responsibility" Gannett Westchester Newspapers (April 16, 1991). Retrieved 2009- ...
. Possessing enhanced hearing along with Apache Chief's ability to increase his size and strength, Long Shadow is a selfless genetically-engineered superhero created by
Project Cadmus
Project Cadmus is a fictional genetic engineering project in the DC Comics Universe. Its notable creations included the Golden Guardian (a clone of the original Guardian), Auron, Superboy (Kon-El) (a clone from Superman's DNA), and Dubbilex (a ...
to serve as a member of their
Ultimen and work independently of the
Justice League, though the former group are led to believe that they are regular metahumans. In the episode "Ultimatum", the Ultimen have several encounters with the League, during which Long Shadow expresses interest in joining them and catches
Wonder Woman's attention while his teammates focus on reaping material rewards for their work. After discovering the truth behind their creation and that they are suffering from cellular breakdown, Long Shadow reluctantly joins the other Ultimen in attacking their manager,
Maxwell Lord, in an attempt to find Cadmus member
Amanda Waller
Amanda Blake Waller (née White), also known as "the Wall", is a fictional Character (arts), character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''Legends (comics), Legends'' #1 in 1986 and was creat ...
until Long Shadow defects to the League and helps them defeat his former teammates. Cadmus retakes custody of most of the Ultimen, but Wonder Woman and
Batman convince them to let Long Shadow remain with the League for his final days. In the episode "Panic in the Sky", Cadmus utilizes an army of Ultimen clones in their siege on the League's
Watchtower.
* Characters inspired by Long Shadow and Apache Chief named Tye Longshadow and Holling Longshadow appear in ''
Young Justice'', voiced by Gregg Rainwater and
Michael Horse
Michael Horse (born Michael James Heinrich; December 21, 1949) is an American actor known for his portrayals of Native American characters in film and television.
Early life
Horse was born Michael James Heinrich near Tucson, Arizona, on Decem ...
respectively. The latter is an elderly Native American who lives in an RV park called Happy Trails while the former is his grandson, both of whom are descended from a long line of Apache chiefs. Additionally, Tye is a friend of
Jaime Reyes
Jaime is a common Spanish and Portuguese male given name for Jacob (name), James (name), Jamie, or Jacques. In Occitania Jacobus became ''Jacome'' and later ''Jacme''. In east Spain, ''Jacme'' became ''Jaime'', in Aragon it became ''Chaime'', and i ...
. While running away from home, Tye is captured and experimented on by the
Reach
Reach or REACH may refer to:
Companies and organizations
* Reach plc, formerly Trinity Mirror, large British newspaper, magazine, and digital publisher
* Reach Canada, an NGO in Canada
* Reach Limited, an Asia Pacific cable network company ...
, who activate his meta-gene, granting him the ability to
project an "astral" version of himself that can grow several stories tall. The
Team rescue Tye and his fellow captives and place some of them in
S.T.A.R. Labs' custody, but he joins
Virgil Hawkins,
Asami Koizumi, and
Ed Dorado in escaping. In the process, they are unknowingly manipulated by
Lex Luthor
Alexander Joseph "Lex" Luthor () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Lex Luthor originally appeared in ''Action Comics'' #23 (cover dated: April ...
into helping the
Light until
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...
reveals the truth to the four. After helping the Team and the Justice League thwart the Reach's invasion of Earth, Tye returns to his regular life to live with his mother. As of the third season, Tye and Asami have begun dating.
Film
* Apache Chief makes a cameo appearance in ''
Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon
''Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon'' is a 2013 American animated superhero comedy film, and the nineteenth entry in the direct-to-video series of ''Scooby-Doo'' films. The film is a crossover, featuring Blue Falcon and Dynomutt. It was produce ...
''.
* Apache Chief makes a cameo appearance in ''
The Lego Batman Movie''.
Parodies
Apache Chief makes a cameo appearance in the ''
Family Guy'' episode "PTV".
Toys
* Apache Chief serves as the "Collect & Connect" build-a-figure in series 18 of
Mattel
Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories a ...
's
DC Universe Classics
DC Universe Classics was an action figure toyline, a sub-line of the DC Universe toy brand manufactured by Mattel. They were 6-inch scale figures based on the fictional characters owned by DC Comics. The entire line was sculpted by the Four Hor ...
.
OAFE - DC Universe Classics 18: Apache Chief Build-A-Figure review
/ref>
* Apache Chief received a Lego minifigure in ''The Lego Batman Movie'' tie-in toy line.
References
{{Authority control
Characters created by Alex Toth
DC Comics American superheroes
DC Comics superheroes
DC Comics characters who are shapeshifters
Fictional Apache people
Fictional characters who can change size
Fictional characters with precognition
Fictional giants
Super Friends characters
Television characters introduced in 1977