Zorro
Zorro (Spanish for ‘Fox’) was created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley. The character appeared in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles during the era of Spanish California (1769–1821).
He was typically portrayed as a dashing masked vigilante who defended the commoners and indigenous peoples of California against corrupt and tyrannical officials and other villains. His signature all-black costume included a cape, a hat known as a sombrero cordobés, and a mask covering the upper half of his face.
In the stories, Zorro had a high bounty on his head, but was too skilled and cunning for the bumbling authorities to catch, and he also delighted in publicly humiliating them. Because of this, the townspeople started calling him “El Zorro” due to his fox- like cunning and charm. Zorro was an acrobat and an expert in various weapons, but the one he employed most frequently is his rapier, which he used often to carve the initial “Z” on his defeated foes, and other objects to “sign his work”. He was also an accomplished rider, his trusty steed being a black horse called Tornado.
Zorro was the secret identity of Don Diego de la Vega (originally Don Diego Vega), a young man who was the only son of Don Alejandro de la Vega, the richest landowner in California, while Diego’s mother was dead. In most versions, Diego learned his swordsmanship while at university in Spain, and created his masked alter ego after he was unexpectedly summoned home by his father because California had fallen into the hands of an oppressive dictator. Diego was usually shown living with his father in a huge hacienda, which contains a number of secret passages and tunnels, leading to a secret cave sometimes called “the Fox Den” that served as headquarters for Zorro’s operations and as Tornado’s hiding place. In order to divert suspicion about his identity, Diego hid his fighting abilities while also pretending to be a coward and a fop.
Zorro made his debut in the 1919 novel The Curse of Capistrano, originally meant as a stand-alone story and was serialized in five parts between August 9 and September 6, 1919 in the pulp magazine All-Story Weekly. At the denouement, Zorro’s true identity is revealed to all.
However, the success of the 1920 film adaptation The Mark of Zorro starring Douglas Fairbanks convinced McCulley to write more Zorro stories and in response to public demand fueled by the film, McCulley wrote more than sixty more Zorro stories, beginning in 1922 with The Further Adventures of Zorro, which was also serialized in Argosy All-Story Weekly.
At first, production of new Zorro stories proceeded at irregular intervals: the third novel, Zorro Rides Again (not to be confused with the 1937 theatrical serial) was published in 1931, nine years after the second one. Then, between 1932 and 1941, McCulley wrote four short stories and two serialized novels. Zorro stories were published much more frequently between 1944 and 1951, a period in which McCulley published 52 short stories with the character for the West Magazine. “Zorro Rides the Trail!”, which appeared in Max Brand’s Western Magazine in 1954, is the last story to be published during the author’s lifetime, and the second-to-last story overall. The last, “The Mask of Zorro” (not to be confused with the 1998 film), was published posthumously in Short Stories for Men in 1959. These stories ignore Zorro’s public revelation of his identity.
The Curse of Capistrano eventually sold more than 50 million copies, becoming one of the best-selling books of all time. While the rest of McCulley’s Zorro stories did not enjoy the same popularity.
Appearance
The character’s visual motif was typically a black costume with a black flowing Spanish cape or cloak, a black flat-brimmed hat known as sombrero cordobés, and a black sackcloth mask that covers the top half of his head. Sometimes the mask was a two piece, the main item being a blindfold-type fabric with slits for the eyes, and the other item being a bandana over the head, so that it was covered even if the hat was removed: this is the mask worn in the movie The Mark of Zorro (1920) and in the television series Zorro (1957–1959). Other times, the mask was a one piece that unites both items described above: this mask was introduced in The Mark of Zorro (1940) and appeared in many modern versions. Zorro’s mask has also occasionally been shown as being a rounded domino mask, which he wore without also wearing a bandana. In his first appearance, Zorro’s cloak was purple, his hat was generically referred to as a “wide sombrero,” and his black cloth veil mask with slits for eyes covers his whole face. Other features of the costume may vary.Abilities
His favored weapon was a rapier, which he also used to often leave his distinctive mark, a Z cut with three quick strokes, on his defeated foes and other objects to “sign his work”. He also used other weapons, including a bullwhip and a pistol.The fox was never depicted as Zorro’s emblem. It was used as a metaphor for the character’s wiliness, such as in the lyrics “Zorro, ‘the Fox’, so cunning and free ...” from Disney’s television series theme.
His heroic pose consisted of rearing on his horse, Tornado, often saluting with his hand or raising his sword high. The logo of the company Zorro Productions, Inc. used an image of Zorro rearing on his horse, sword raised high.
Zorro was an agile athlete and acrobat, using his bullwhip as a gymnastic accouterment to swing through gaps between city roofs, and was very capable of landing from great heights and taking a fall. Although he was a master swordsman and marksman, he has more than once demonstrated his prowess in unarmed combat against multiple opponents.
His calculating and precise dexterity as a tactician has enabled him to use his two main weapons, his sword and bullwhip, as an extension of his deft hand. He never used brute strength. Instead and more likely, he used his fox-like and sly mind, and well-practiced technique to outmatch an opponent.
In some versions, Zorro kept a medium-sized dagger tucked in his left boot for emergencies. He has used his cape as a blind, a trip-mat and a disarming tool. Zorro’s boots were also sometimes weighted, as was his hat, which he has thrown, Frisbee-style, as an efficiently substantial warning to enemies. But more often than not, he used psychological mockery to make his opponents too angry to be coordinated in combat.
Zorro was a skilled horseman. The name of his jet-black horse has varied through the years. In The Curse of Capistrano, it was unnamed. In Disney’s Zorro television series the horse got the name Tornado, which has been kept in many later adaptations. In most versions, Zorro kept Tornado in a secret cave, connected to his hacienda with a system of secret passages and tunnels.
Character Concepts
McCulley’s concept of a band of men helping Zorro was often absent from other versions of the character. In McCulley’s stories, Zorro was aided by a deaf-mute named Bernardo. In Disney’s Zorro television series, Bernardo was not deaf but pretended to be, and serves as Zorro’s secret agent. He was a capable and invaluable helper for Zorro, sometimes wearing the mask to reinforce his master’s charade.
In The Curse of Capistrano, Diego was described as “a fair youth of excellent blood and twenty-four years, noted the length of El Camino Real for his small interest in the really important things of life.” It was also said that “Don Diego was unlike the other full-blooded youths of the times. It appeared that he disliked action. He seldom wore his blade, except as a matter of style and apparel. He was damnably polite to all women and paid court to none. ... Those who knew Don Diego best declared he yawned ten score times a day.” Though proud as befitting his class (and seemingly uncaring about the lower classes), he shuns action, rarely wearing his sword except for fashion, and was indifferent to romance with women. This was, of course, a sham. At the end of the novel, Diego explained that he had planned his double identity since he was fifteen:
In The Curse of Capistrano, Diego was described as “a fair youth of excellent blood and twenty-four years, noted the length of El Camino Real for his small interest in the really important things of life.” It was also said that “Don Diego was unlike the other full-blooded youths of the times. It appeared that he disliked action. He seldom wore his blade, except as a matter of style and apparel. He was damnably polite to all women and paid court to none. ... Those who knew Don Diego best declared he yawned ten score times a day.” Though proud as befitting his class (and seemingly uncaring about the lower classes), he shuns action, rarely wearing his sword except for fashion, and was indifferent to romance with women. This was, of course, a sham. At the end of the novel, Diego explained that he had planned his double identity since he was fifteen:
“It began ten years ago, when I was but a lad of fifteen,” he said. “I heard tales of persecution. I saw my friends, the frailes, annoyed and robbed. I saw soldiers beat an old native who was my friend. And then I determined to play this game.
“It would be a difficult game to play, I knew. So I pretended to have small interest in life, so that men never would connect my name with that of the highwayman I expected to become. In secret, I practiced horsemanship and learned how to handle a blade—”
“By the saints, he did,” Sergeant Gonzales growled
“One half of me was the languid Don Diego you all knew, and the other half was the Curse of Capistrano I hoped one day to be. And then the time came, and my work began.”“It is a peculiar thing to explain, señores. The moment I donned cloak and mask, the Don Diego part of me fell away. My body straightened, new blood seemed to course through my veins, my voice grew strong and firm, fire came to me! And the moment I removed cloak and mask I was the languid Don Diego again. Is it not a peculiar thing?
This part of the backstory was changed in the 1920 film The Mark of Zorro: Diego was recently returned from Spain at the start of the movie, and Zorro later told Lolita that he learned his swordsmanship in Spain. The 1925 sequel Don Q, Son of Zorro expanded on this concept by saying that: “Though the home of the De Vegas has long been on California soil, the eldest son of each new generation returns to Spain for a period of travel and study.” The 1940 film The Mark of Zorro kept the idea of Diego learning his swordsmanship in Spain, and added the idea of him being unexpectedly summoned home by his father Don Alejandro when California fell into the hand of an oppressing dictator. Both ideas would then be included in most retelling of the character’s backstory.
McCulley’s portrayal of Diego’s personality, with minor variations, was followed in most of the subsequent Zorro adaptations.
A notable exception to this portrayal is Disney’s Zorro (1957– 59), where Diego, despite using the original façade early in the series, instead became a passionate and compassionate crusader for justice and simply masqueraded as “the most inept swordsman in all of California”. In this show, everyone knew Diego would love to do what Zorro did, but thought he did not have the skill.
The Family Channel’s Zorro (1990–1993) took this concept further. While Diego pretended to be inept with a sword, the rest of his facade was actually exaggerating his real interests. Diego was actually well-versed and interested in art, poetry, literature, and science. His facade was pretending to be interested in only these things and to have no interest in swordplay or action. Zorro also had a well-equipped laboratory in his hidden cave in this version of the story.
McCulley’s portrayal of Diego’s personality, with minor variations, was followed in most of the subsequent Zorro adaptations.
A notable exception to this portrayal is Disney’s Zorro (1957– 59), where Diego, despite using the original façade early in the series, instead became a passionate and compassionate crusader for justice and simply masqueraded as “the most inept swordsman in all of California”. In this show, everyone knew Diego would love to do what Zorro did, but thought he did not have the skill.
The Family Channel’s Zorro (1990–1993) took this concept further. While Diego pretended to be inept with a sword, the rest of his facade was actually exaggerating his real interests. Diego was actually well-versed and interested in art, poetry, literature, and science. His facade was pretending to be interested in only these things and to have no interest in swordplay or action. Zorro also had a well-equipped laboratory in his hidden cave in this version of the story.
Inspirations
The historical figure most often associated with the Zorro character is Joaquin Murrieta, whose life was fictionalized in an 1854 dime novel by John Rollin Ridge. As a hero with a secret identity who taunted his foes by signing his deeds, Zorro found a direct literary predecessor in Sir Percival Blakeney, hero of the Scarlet Pimpernel pulp series by Emma Orczy.
The character recalls other figures, such as Robin Hood, Reynard the Fox, Salomon Pico, Manuel Rodríguez Erdoíza, and Tiburcio Vasquez. Another possible historical inspiration is William Lamport, an Irish soldier who lived in Mexico in the seventeenth century. His life was the subject of a fictive book by Vicente Riva Palacio; The Irish Zorro (2004) is a recent biography. Another is Estanislao, a Yokuts man who led a revolt against the Mission San Jose in 1827.
The 1890s penny dreadful treatment of the Spring-heeled Jack character as a masked avenger may have inspired some aspects of Zorro’s heroic persona. Spring Heeled Jack was portrayed as a nobleman who created a flamboyant, masked alter ego to fight injustice, frequently demonstrated exceptional athletic and combative skills, maintained a hidden lair and was known to carve the letter “S” into walls with his rapier as a calling card.
Like Sir Percy in The Scarlet Pimpernel, Don Diego avoided suspicion by playing the role of an effete dandy who wore lace, wrote poetry, and shunned violence. The all-black Fairbanks film costume, which with variations has remained the standard costume for the character, was likely adapted from the Arrow serial film character The Masked Rider (1919). This character was the first Mexican black-clad masked rider on a black horse to appear on the silver screen. Fairbanks’s costume in The Mark of Zorro, released the following year, resembled that of the Rider with only slight differences in the mask and hat.
Regardless of these possible inspiration sources, Zorro is one of the earliest examples of a fictional masked avenger with a double identity and became a source of inspiration for similar characters that followed in pulp magazines and other media, and is a precursor of the superheroes of American comic books, with Batman drawing particularly close parallels to the character.
The character recalls other figures, such as Robin Hood, Reynard the Fox, Salomon Pico, Manuel Rodríguez Erdoíza, and Tiburcio Vasquez. Another possible historical inspiration is William Lamport, an Irish soldier who lived in Mexico in the seventeenth century. His life was the subject of a fictive book by Vicente Riva Palacio; The Irish Zorro (2004) is a recent biography. Another is Estanislao, a Yokuts man who led a revolt against the Mission San Jose in 1827.
The 1890s penny dreadful treatment of the Spring-heeled Jack character as a masked avenger may have inspired some aspects of Zorro’s heroic persona. Spring Heeled Jack was portrayed as a nobleman who created a flamboyant, masked alter ego to fight injustice, frequently demonstrated exceptional athletic and combative skills, maintained a hidden lair and was known to carve the letter “S” into walls with his rapier as a calling card.
Like Sir Percy in The Scarlet Pimpernel, Don Diego avoided suspicion by playing the role of an effete dandy who wore lace, wrote poetry, and shunned violence. The all-black Fairbanks film costume, which with variations has remained the standard costume for the character, was likely adapted from the Arrow serial film character The Masked Rider (1919). This character was the first Mexican black-clad masked rider on a black horse to appear on the silver screen. Fairbanks’s costume in The Mark of Zorro, released the following year, resembled that of the Rider with only slight differences in the mask and hat.
Regardless of these possible inspiration sources, Zorro is one of the earliest examples of a fictional masked avenger with a double identity and became a source of inspiration for similar characters that followed in pulp magazines and other media, and is a precursor of the superheroes of American comic books, with Batman drawing particularly close parallels to the character.
