Apache Chief is a
Native American superhero
A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...
from the various
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...
''
Super Friends'' and ''
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law'' cartoons and the DC comic book series of the same name. He was one of the new heroes added (along with
Black Vulcan,
El Dorado and
Samurai
The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...
) to increase the number of non-
white
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
characters in the Super Friends' ranks. The visual look of the character was created by cartoonist
Alex Toth, who designed many superheroes for Hanna-Barbera beginning in the 1960s. He was voiced by
Michael Rye in most of his ''Super Friends'' appearances,
Regis Cordic in his debut appearance, Al Fann in "History of Doom", and
Maurice LaMarche
Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor. Across a career spanning more than four decades he has voiced Chief Quimby on Inspector Gadget, Egon Spengler on ''The Real Ghostbusters'', The Brain on ''Animaniacs'' and its spi ...
in ''Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law''.
In the ''
Challenge of the Superfriends'' 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
Wonder Woman is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' Introducing Wonder Woman, #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in ''Sensation Comic ...
.
Fictional character biography
''Super Friends''
Apache Chief first appears in ''
The All-New Super Friends Hour'', voiced initially by
Regis Cordic and later by
Michael Rye, who reprises the role in ''
Challenge of the Superfriends''. 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!".
''Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law''
Apache Chief returns in ''
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law'', voiced by
Maurice LaMarche
Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor. Across a career spanning more than four decades he has voiced Chief Quimby on Inspector Gadget, Egon Spengler on ''The Real Ghostbusters'', The Brain on ''Animaniacs'' and its spi ...
. Having taken on various odd jobs in addition to his superheroics after being fired from the Super Friends, he develops a fear of coffee and other such hot liquids after being doused in the lap with one such cup in his debut episode "
Very Personal Injury" had temporarily lead to him losing his ability to physically change in size, at the end of the episode forming the "Multi-Culture Pals" with
Black Vulcan and
Jesse Jackson after regaining his powers thanks to the physical appearance of
Sybil Scussler, whom he goes on to date. In the
series finale
A series finale is the final installment of an episodic entertainment series, most often a television series. It may also refer to a final theatrical sequel, the last part of a television miniseries, the last installment of a literary series, ...
,
"The Death of Harvey", Apache Chief is once again doused again with coffee and burned shortly after his case is retried.
Powers and abilities
By speaking the words "inee choh", which are the Western Apache words meaning "man big", 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
Atoms are the basic particles of the chemical elements. An atom consists of a atomic nucleus, nucleus of protons and generally neutrons, surrounded by an electromagnetically bound swarm of electrons. The chemical elements are distinguished fr ...
'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
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
. 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
* A character inspired by Apache Chief named Long Shadow appears in ''
Justice League Unlimited
''Justice League Unlimited'' (''JLU'') is an American superhero animated series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation with DC Comics in season 3 and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Universe, and ...
'', voiced by
Gregg Rainwater. Possessing enhanced hearing along with the ability to grow several stories high, Long Shadow is a genetically engineered superhero created by
Project Cadmus
This is a list of teams and organizations that appear in various DC Comics publications.
Note: Please check :DC Comics superhero teams before adding any redundant entries for superhero teams to the page.
0-9 100
1,000
2000 Committee
A ...
to serve as a member of their
Ultimen and work independently of the
Justice League
The Justice League, or Justice League of America (JLA), is a group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). Writer Gardner Fox conceived the ...
, 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
Wonder Woman is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' Introducing Wonder Woman, #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in ''Sensation Comic ...
'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, but later defects to the League and helps them defeat his former teammates. Cadmus retakes custody of most of the Ultimen, but Wonder Woman and
Batman
Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...
convince them to let Long Shadow remain with the League for the remainder of his life. In the episode "Panic in the Sky", Cadmus utilizes an army of Ultimen clones in their siege on the League's
Watchtower.
* A version of Long Shadow appears as Tye Longshadow in ''
Young Justice'', with Gregg Rainwater reprising the voice. He is descended from a long line of Apache chiefs, including his grandfather, Holling Longshadow (
Michael Horse), an elderly Native American who lives in an RV park called Happy Trails. Tye is a friend of
Jaime Reyes. While running away from home, Tye is captured and experimented on by the
Reach, who activate his meta-gene, granting him the ability to
project an "astral" version of himself that can grow several stories tall. The
Team
A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal.
As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to in ...
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 into helping the
Light
Light, visible light, or visible radiation is electromagnetic radiation that can be visual perception, perceived by the human eye. Visible light spans the visible spectrum and is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400– ...
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 mostly ...
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, he and Asami have begun dating.
In other media
Comics
In the comics, a somewhat similar character called
Manitou Raven was created, as an homage to him, and joined the
canonical JLA. Both Manitou Raven and his widow,
Manitou Dawn, have been shown to use "inuk chuk" when casting spells or invoking powers.
Film
* Apache Chief makes a cameo appearance in ''
Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon''.
* Apache Chief makes a cameo appearance in ''
The Lego Batman Movie''.
In popular culture
* Apache Chief makes a cameo appearance in the ''
Family Guy
''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...
'' episode "
PTV".
* A parody of Apache Chief, named in art books as Giant Indian and unnamed in the series itself, appears in ''
The Venture Bros.'', voiced by
Chris McCulloch.
Merchandise
* Apache Chief received a "Collect & Connect" build-a-figure in series 18 of
Mattel
Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...
's
DC Universe Classics.
* Apache Chief received a
Lego
Lego (, ; ; stylised as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. Lego consists of variously coloured interlocking plastic bricks made of acrylonitri ...
minifigure in ''The Lego Batman Movie'' tie-in toy line.
* Apache Chief received an 8-inch figure by Figures Toy Company.
References
{{Authority control
Characters created by Alex Toth
DC Comics American superheroes
DC Comics superheroes
DC Comics shapeshifters
Fictional Apache people
Fictional Native American people in comics
Fictional characters who can change size
Fictional characters with precognition
Fictional giants
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law
Super Friends characters
Television characters introduced in 1977