Jad-bal-ja, the Golden Lion is a fictional character in Edgar Rice Burroughs's

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

novels, and in adaptations of the saga to other media, particularly comics.

Character

Jad-bal-ja serves as a companion to Tarzan, to whom he is attached as a dog is to its master, sometimes hunting for him and at other times fighting by his side, rescuing him from peril, or protecting his friends or allies from danger. He is portrayed as especially close to

Nkima Nkima is a fictional character in Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan novels, and in adaptations of the saga to other media, particularly comics. His name comes from either the word N'kima ('monkey' in the Mbugu language, a regional dialect of Swahili) ...

, the monkey who served as Tarzan's other primary animal companion.

In the Tarzan novels

Jad-bal-ja first appears in the ninth Tarzan novel, ''

Tarzan and the Golden Lion ''Tarzan and the Golden Lion'' is an adventure novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the ninth in his series of twenty-four books about the title character Tarzan. It was first published as a seven part serial in ''Argosy All-Story We ...

'' (1922 serial, 1923 novel), in which the ape-man discovers him as an orphaned cub and raises and trains him. He is named for the color of his coat, Jad-bal-ja meaning "the golden lion" in the language of Pal-ul-don, a prehistoric lost land visited by Tarzan in the previous novel, '' Tarzan the Terrible'' (1921). Jad-bal-ja goes on to play a prominent part in the novel in which he is introduced, and re-appears in the tenth Tarzan novel (1924's '' Tarzan and the Ant Men''); the eleventh (1927's '' Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle''); the fourteenth (1930's '' Tarzan the Invincible''); the sixteenth (1932's '' Tarzan and the City of Gold'', in which he saves Tarzan from certain death at the jaws of another lion); the seventeenth (1938's '' Tarzan and the Lion Man'', in which he finds a mate); and the twenty-sixth (1995's '' Tarzan: the Lost Adventure''). Jad-bal-ja is also featured in the 1936 children's story, " Tarzan and the Tarzan Twins, with Jad-bal-ja, the Golden Lion".

In other media

The character of Jad-bal-ja also appears in the Tarzan comic strip and comic books, both in adaptations of the original novels and in stories newly written for the medium. He has had one film appearance, in the 1927 silent movie ''

'', an adaptation of the novel. He also appears as a recurring character in

Filmation Filmation Associates was an American production company that produced animation and live-action programming for television from 1963 until 1989. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1962. Filmation's founders and ...

's animated series '' Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle'' (1976–1981).

References

* Brady, Clark A. ''The Burroughs Cyclopǣdia''. McFarland & Company, Jefferson, NC, c1996, pp. 156–157. * Ullery, David A. ''The Tarzan Novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs: An Illustrated Reader's Guide''. McFarland & Company, Jefferson, NC, 2001, pp. 170–172. Lions in literature Fictional lions Orphan characters in literature Tarzan characters Characters in fantasy literature Characters in American novels of the 20th century Literary characters introduced in 1922 {{fantasy-char-stub