Kerchak

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kerchak is a fictional ape character in Edgar Rice Burroughs's original Tarzan novel, Tarzan of the Apes, and in the Walt Disney-produced animated movie Tarzan based on it.

[edit] History

In the novel, Kerchak is a ferocious creature, prone to fits of rage and madness, the "king" of a band of Great Apes, a fictional species intermediate between real life chimpanzees and gorillas. He leads his band against Tarzan's marooned parents early in the novel and kills them; the infant Tarzan is saved by the she-ape Kala, who rears the baby and protects him against Kerchak. When Tarzan reaches adulthood, he fights and kills Kerchak and succeeds him as king of the apes.

[edit] Disney

In Disney's Tarzan (1999) and its direct-to-video sequel, Burroughs's "Great Apes" are gorillas, and Kerchak is a much more benign figure, not only the dominant male of the gorilla band but the mate of Kala. He is not connected with the deaths of Tarzan's real parents, who in the film's retelling are killed by Sabor the leopard. When Kala saves the infant Tarzan from Sabor, Kerchak become's Tarzan's adoptive "father." While not initially accepting of the human child, he comes to recognize him as his son after Tarzan kills Sabor and when he himself is mortally wounded by the villainous Clayton at the end of the movie. Kerchak was portrayed by actor Lance Henriksen.

The film's Kerchak is essentially a combination of the novel's Kerchak and another of the novel's ape characters, Tublat. In Burroughs's original story Tublat was Kala's mate, a fairly passive figure resentful of his foster-son Tarzan. The Kerchak of the film is closer in personality to Tublat than to the original Kerchak. However, in the spin-off series "The Legend of Tarzan", Tublat appeared with a personality much like the original Kerchak, being violent and seeking revenge on Kerchak through Tarzan (being his successor as leader of the gorillas), having been cast out many years ago after he challenged Kerchak for leadership and lost.

Kerchack also appears briefly in the video game Kingdom Hearts.