Hathi is a fictional character created by
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...
for the
Mowgli
Mowgli () is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Mowgli stories featured among Rudyard Kipling's ''The Jungle Book'' stories. He is a feral boy from the Pench area in Seoni, Madhya Pradesh, India, who originally appeared in Kiplin ...
stories collected in ''
The Jungle Book
''The Jungle Book'' is an 1894 collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, who ...
'' (1894) and ''
The Second Jungle Book'' (1895). Hathi is an
elephant
Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...
that lives in the Seeoni jungle.
Kipling named him after ''hāthī'' (), the
Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
word for "
elephant
Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...
".
Kipling's character
Hathi is head of the elephant troop. He is one of the oldest animals of the jungle and represents order, dignity and obedience to
the Law of the Jungle
"The law of the jungle" (also called jungle law) is an expression that has come to describe a scenario where "anything goes". The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' defines the Law of the Jungle as "''the code of survival in jungle life'', now usuall ...
. Hathi is famed for his patience and never hurries unnecessarily.
In "How Fear Came" at the time when the water truce occurred, he tells Mowgli and the jungle animals'
creation myth
A creation myth or cosmogonic myth is a type of cosmogony, a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it., "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Cre ...
and describes Tha, the first of elephants and how the first tiger broke the first law by slaying a man thus condemning the animals to being prey for humankind. He told this after
Shere Khan
Shere Khan () is a fictional Bengal tiger featured in the Mowgli stories of Rudyard Kipling's ''The Jungle Book, Jungle Book''. He is often portrayed as the main antagonist in the book's media adaptations, itself an exaggeration of his role in ...
the tiger had boasted about killing a man purely for sport.
In the story "
Letting In the Jungle", Mowgli reveals that Hathi once destroyed a human village in revenge for being captured and persuades Hathi and his sons to do the same to the village where Mowgli once lived as punishment for threatening
Messua with execution.
Disney adaptations
Hathi appears in the
1967 animated adaptation by
Walt Disney Productions
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...
, where he is voiced by
J. Pat O'Malley. He is a comically pompous elephant who styles himself after a
British Army
The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
colonel, referring to himself as "Colonel Hathi" and leading his troop in a marching patrol around the jungle. He is seen as obnoxious by the other animals including his own herd and is forgetful, though he insists that "an elephant never forgets". His marching awakens Mowgli, who attempts to join, though Hathi becomes angry when he notices Mowgli is a human, wanting "no mancub in my jungle".
Bagheera
Bagheera ( / ''Baghīrā'') is a fictional character in Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli stories in '' The Jungle Book'' (coll. 1894) and '' The Second Jungle Book'' (coll. 1895). He is a black panther ( melanistic Indian leopard) who serves as frie ...
takes Mowgli away and Hathi continues marching before he notices he has left Hathi Junior behind. He goes back to get him but forgets to order his troop to halt, causing the herd to crash into him much to Mowgli's amusement.
Bagheera
Bagheera ( / ''Baghīrā'') is a fictional character in Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli stories in '' The Jungle Book'' (coll. 1894) and '' The Second Jungle Book'' (coll. 1895). He is a black panther ( melanistic Indian leopard) who serves as frie ...
later asks him to help him find Mowgli after he runs away from
Baloo
Baloo (from ''bhālū'' "bear") is a main fictional character featured in Rudyard Kipling's '' The Jungle Book'' from 1894 and '' The Second Jungle Book'' from 1895. Baloo, a sloth bear, is the strict teacher of the cubs of the Seeonee wolf pa ...
, reminding him that Shere Khan has returned to the jungle. Hathi agrees after Winifred and Hathi Junior convince him and orders the troop to begin searching. Unbeknownst to them, Shere Khan decides to start looking for Mowgli by himself, having heard them from only yards away.
Hathi returns in the Disney sequel ''
The Jungle Book 2'' in which
Jim Cummings
James Jonah Cummings (born November 3, 1952) is an American voice actor. Beginning his career in the 1980s, he has appeared in over 400 titles. Cummings has frequently worked with the Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros., serving as the offic ...
provides his voice. He and his troop help Bagheera prevent Baloo from entering the human village where Mowgli is living, though Baloo evades them. Hathi tries to chase Baloo across the bridge leading to the village, but it breaks under his weight, causing him and Bagheera to fall into the river below. Hathi is later seen fleeing from villagers searching for Mowgli and his friends; Bagheera deduces from him that Baloo has something to do with the children going missing.
Hathi appears as a calf in the prequel series ''
Jungle Cubs'', where he is voiced by
Rob Paulsen
Robert Frederick Paulsen III (born March 11, 1956) is an American voice actor and voice director, known for his roles in numerous animated television series and films. He received a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Pro ...
in season one and
Stephen Furst in season two. Hathi is friendly with the other cubs, though he is usually seen trying to court his future mate Winifred. Winifred lives with her herd under the ownership of humans until a storm separates her from her herd, causing her to meet Hathi.
Hathi appears in ''
The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story'', voiced by
Marty Ingels.
A pizza restaurant in
Disneyland Paris
Disneyland Paris is an entertainment resort in Marne-la-Vallée, France, located about east of Paris. It encompasses two theme parks, seven Disney-owned hotels, two convention centers, a golf course, an arena, and a shopping, dining and entert ...
is named
Colonel Hathi's Pizza Outpost.
Other media
* Hathi is a supporting character in the
1942 film of ''The Jungle Book''. He warns Mowgli of Shere Khan's return during their final fight. He also helps Mowgli rescue Messua and the jungle creatures from a wild fire.
* Hathi is a major character in the
anime
is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
series ''
Jungle Book Shōnen Mowgli'' where he is the king and enforcer of the
Law of the Jungle. Like in the stories, he has 3 children, and is one animal Shere Khan fears. Hathi tells Mowgli about the story for Thaa and how Shere Khan's ancestor broke the Law by slaying a man, and also helps him chase away Buldeo for his crimes. In the series, Chil the
kite
A kite is a tethered heavier than air flight, heavier-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create Lift (force), lift and Drag (physics), drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. Kites often have ...
is his messenger. He is voiced by
Daisuke Gouri in the Japanese version.
* Hathi appears briefly in the beginning of
Jetlag Productions film ''The Jungle Book'' alongside his wife and his son, but they have non-speaking appearance in the scene.
* Hathi is a major character in the
2010 TV series. Here, he has 2 children named Appu and Heetah and a wife named Kachini.
* Hathi (not referred by name) appears in ''
Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle''. He lost half his right tusk to
John Lockwood, a colonial
hunter
Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, ...
. He frees Mowgli from a deep trap, and also helps him defeat Shere Khan. He kills Lockwood to stop him from causing more harm.
References
{{The Jungle Book
Literary characters introduced in 1894
Elephants in literature
Male characters in literature
The Jungle Book characters
Fictional elephants
Fictional colonels
Anthropomorphic elephants
Fictional recipients of the Victoria Cross