Tublat is a fictional ape character in

Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, ...

's original

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 ...

novel, ''

Tarzan of the Apes ''Tarzan of the Apes'' is a 1912 story by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, and the first in the Tarzan series. It was first serialized in the pulp magazine ''The All-Story'' beginning October 1912 before being released as a novel in June 1 ...

'' and one of its sequels, ''

Jungle Tales of Tarzan ''Jungle Tales of Tarzan'' is a collection of twelve loosely connected short stories by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, comprising the sixth book in order of publication in his series of twenty-four books about the title character Tarzan ...

'', as well as animated films, television series and other media based on them.

History

In the novel ''Tarzan of the Apes'' Tublat (whose name means "Broken Nose") is a member of a tribal band of

Mangani ''Mangani'' is the name of a fictional species of great apes in the Tarzan novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and of the invented language used by these apes. In the invented language, ''Mangani'' (meaning "great-ape") is the apes' word for their own ...

, a fictional species of

great ape The Hominidae (), whose members are known as the great apes or hominids (), are a taxonomic family of primates that includes eight extant species in four genera: '' Pongo'' (the Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutan); ''Gorilla'' (the ...

intermediate between

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative t ...

s and

gorilla Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four ...

s. In the beginning of the original novel, Tublat's mate Kala saves the infant Tarzan from the murderous fury of

Kerchak Kerchak is a fictional ape character in Edgar Rice Burroughs's original ''Tarzan'' novel, ''Tarzan of the Apes'', and in movies and other media based on it. History In the novel ''Tarzan of the Apes'', Kerchak is the "king" of a tribal band of M ...

, the mad leader of the ape band, after the latter kills Tarzan's human father. Kala goes on to rear the human baby as her own while protecting him against both Kerchak and Tublat. Tublat, while portrayed as a fairly passive figure in the novel, is resentful of his foster-son Tarzan, and would kill him given the chance. Tarzan, in response, taunts and teases Tublat from a safe distance. Ultimately, when Tarzan has reached his early teens, Tublat goes mad and attacks Kala. To protect Kala Tarzan fights and kills Tublat. Tublat also appears in ''Jungle Tales of Tarzan'', the sixth book of the Tarzan series, which relates episodes from the ape man's youth omitted from ''Tarzan of the Apes''. Chapter 7, "The End of Bukawai", relates episodes in which Tarzan taunts Tublat with his rope and is later almost killed when he swings so long on the rope that it frays and parts, dropping him to the ground. Tublat is glad to see Tarzan injured, though Kala runs to the boy's aid and he soon revives.''

'' (1919 novel)

Other versions

The character of Tublat has also appeared in the syndicated comic strip Tarzan and in Tarzan comic books, in a portrayal essentially faithful to Burroughs's conception, generally in adaptations of the original novel. In the 1984 movie '' Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes'' Tublat is reimagined as Silverbeard, with a similarly conflicted relationship with his human foster child. He also killed Tarzan's human father after the death of his wife much like how Kerchak killed him in the original book. Silverbeard is captured and taken to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

as a live specimen where he is later re-encountered by Tarzan. They have a poignant reunion and Tarzan helps him escape. When Silverbeard is shot soon after, Tarzan is inconsolable. In the 1999 Disney cartoon feature ''

'', the

are re-envisioned as

s, and Tublat's role as mate of Kala and foster father to Tarzan is assigned to Kerchak. The film's Kerchak is essentially a combination of the Kerchak and Tublat of the novel, though with a more benign personality than either. However, in the spin-off television series '' The Legend of Tarzan'', Tublat himself appears as a separate and distinct character voiced by

Keith David Keith David Williams (born June 4, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his signature deep voice and commanding screen presence in over 300 roles across film, stage, television, and interactive media. He has starred in such films as '' T ...

. He is one of the main antagonists in the series along with La and Samuel T. Philander. This version of Tublat is a violently aggressive, possibly even carnivorous, and a former member of Kerchak's gorilla tribe. Having been cast out of the band many years before after losing a leadership challenge to Kerchak where he tried to harm a younger Tarzan, he later seeks revenge against Tarzan. In the episode "Tarzan and the Enemy Within", Tublat takes over another gorilla family, that of Gobu, killing the group's original leader and banishing the latter into the jungle where he is almost killed by

hyena Hyenas, or hyaenas (from Ancient Greek , ), are feliform carnivoran mammals of the family Hyaenidae . With only four extant species (each in its own genus), it is the fifth-smallest family in the Carnivora and one of the smallest in the cl ...

s. Tarzan rescues Gobu whose family then retaliates against Tublat. In the episode, Tublat allied with Fungi the

monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...

(voiced by

Max Casella Max Casella (born Maximilian Deitch; June 6, 1967) is an American actor. He is known for his roles on the television series ''Doogie Howser, M.D.'', ''The Sopranos'', ''Boardwalk Empire'', ''Vinyl'', '' Cro'' and the voice of Daxter in the ''Ja ...

). In the 2013 computer-animated film ''

'', Tublat is a rogue gorilla who challenges Kerchak, silverback leader of a gorilla troop. Kerchak defeats him, but immediately afterwards Tublat treacherously brains the victor with a rock and takes over the troop. Kala later adopts the young Tarzan to take the place of her deceased child; the growing boy's relationship with Tublat is essentially the same as in Burroughs's original novel. Tarzan grows up to eventually challenge and exile Tublat, thus avenging Kerchak.

Notes

{{Tarzan Tarzan characters Fictional apes Fictional gorillas Fictional murderers