Zorro ( or , Spanish for "fox") is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo de Los Ángeles in Alta California. Zorro is typically portrayed as a dashing masked vigilante who defends the commoners and Indigenous peoples of California against corrupt, tyrannical officials and other villains.
His signature all-black hero's attire includes Spanish noblemen clothes, a flowing cape, a wide-brimmed Cordovan hat (sombrero cordobés), fencing gloves, equestrian boots, and a domino mask. It is completed with a rapier sword and often features a "Z" emblem on the belt or hat.
In the stories, Zorro has a high bounty on his head, but he is too skilled and cunning for the bumbling authorities to catch; Zorro also delights in publicly humiliating them. The townspeople thus started calling him "El Zorro", because of his fox-like cunning and charm. Zorro is an acrobat and an expert in various weapons. Still, the one he employs most frequently is his rapier, which he often uses to carve the initial "Z" on his defeated foes and other objects to "sign his work". He is also an accomplished rider, his trusty steed being a black horse named Tornado.
Zorro is the secret identity of Don Diego de la Vega (originally Don Diego Vega), a young Californio man who is the only son of Don Alejandro de la Vega, the wealthiest landowner in California. Diego's mother is 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 is usually shown living with his father in a vast , which contains many secret passages and tunnels leading to a secret cave that serves as headquarters for Zorro's operations and as Tornado's hiding place. To divert suspicion about his identity, Diego hides his fighting abilities while pretending to be a coward and a fop.
Zorro debuted in the 1919 novel The Curse of Capistrano, originally meant as a stand-alone story. However, the success of the 1920 film adaptation The Mark of Zorro starring Douglas Fairbanks and Noah Beery, which introduced the popular Zorro costume, convinced McCulley to write more Zorro stories for about four decades; the character was featured in a total of five serialized stories and 57 short stories, the last one appearing in print posthumously in 1959, the year after his death. 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, as most of them were never reprinted until the 21st century, the character also appears in over 40 films and in ten TV series, the most famous being the Disney production, Zorro, of 1957–1959 starring Guy Williams. Other media featuring Zorro include stories by different authors, audio/radio dramas, comic books and strips, stage productions, and video games.
Being one of the earliest examples of a fictional masked avenger with a double identity, Zorro inspired the creation of several similar characters in pulp magazines and other media and is a precursor of the superheroes of American comic books, with Batman and the Lone Ranger drawing particularly close parallels to the character.
Publishing history
Zorro debuted in Johnston McCulley's novel The Curse of Capistrano, serialized in five parts between August 9 and September 6, 1919, in the pulp magazine All-Story Weekly. The story was initially meant as a standalone tale; at the dénouement, Zorro's true identity is revealed to all.
Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, on their honeymoon, selected the story as the inaugural picture for their new studio, United Artists, beginning the character's cinematic tradition. The novel was adapted as the film The Mark of Zorro (1920), which Fairbanks produced, co-wrote, and starred in as Diego/Zorro. The movie was a commercial success, and the 1924 reprint of McCulley's story by publisher Grosset & Dunlap used the same title, capitalizing on the movie's popularity. The novel has since been reprinted using both titles.
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, also serialized in Argosy All-Story Weekly. Fairbanks picked up the movie rights for the sequel that year. However, Fairbanks's sequel, Don Q, Son of Zorro (1925), was based more on the 1919 novel Don Q's Love Story by the mother–son duo Kate Prichard and Hesketh Hesketh-Prichard than on The Further Adventures. Thus, McCulley received no credit for the film.
At first, the production of new Zorro stories proceeded irregularly: 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 when 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. For the most part, McCulley's other Zorro stories remained overlooked and out-of-print until the 21st century. Bold Venture Press collected all of McCulley's Zorro stories Zorro: The Complete Pulp Adventures, in six volumes.
Over 40 Zorro-titled films were made over the years, including The Mark of Zorro, the 1940 classic starring Tyrone Power and Basil Rathbone. The character was also featured in ten TV series, the most famous being Disney’s Zorro series (1957–59), starring Guy Williams. Zorro appears in several stories written by other authors, comics books and strips, stage productions, video games, and other media. McCulley died in 1958, just as Zorro was at the height of his popularity thanks to the Disney series.
Fictional character biography
In The Curse of Capistrano, Señor Zorro became an outlaw in the pueblo of Los Ángeles in California "to avenge the helpless, to punish cruel politicians, to aid the oppressed" and is dubbed the "Curse of Capistrano". The novel features Don Diego Vega and Zorro extensively, but the fact that they are the same person is not revealed to the reader until the end of the book. In the story, Diego and Zorro romance Lolita Pulido, an impoverished noblewoman. While Lolita is unimpressed with Diego, who pretends to be a passionless fop, she is attracted to the dashing Zorro. The main villain is Captain Ramon, who also focuses on Lolita. Other characters include Sgt. Pedro Gonzales, Zorro's enemy but Diego's friend; Diego's deaf and mute servant Bernardo; his ally, Fray (Friar) Felipe; his father, Don Alejandro Vega, the wealthiest landowner in California and a widower; Don Carlos Pulido and his wife, Doña Catalina, Lolita's parents; and a group of noblemen () who, at first, hunt Zorro but are then won over to his cause.
In later stories, McCulley introduces characters such as pirates and Native Americans, some of whom know Zorro's identity.
In McCulley's later stories, Diego's surname became de la Vega. Other continuity issues are also evident: For instance, the first magazine serial ended with the villain dead, and Diego was publicly exposed as Zorro; however, in the sequel, the villain was alive, and the next entry had the double identity still secret.
Several Zorro productions have expanded on the character's exploits. Many continuations feature a younger character taking up the mantle of Zorro.
McCulley's stories are set during the era of Spanish Alta California (1769–1821) and, although exact years are often vague, the presence of the Pueblo of Los Angeles means the stories cannot happen before 1781, the year it was founded. Some media adaptations of Zorro's story have placed him during the later era of Mexican Alta California (1821–1848).
Character motifs
The character's visual motif is typically a black costume with a black flowing Spanish 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 is a two-piece, the main item being a blindfold-type fabric with slits for the eyes, and the other item is a bandana over the head so that it is covered even if the hat is 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 is 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 a rounded domino mask, which he wore without wearing a bandana. In his first appearance, Zorro's cloak is purple, his hat is 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.
His favored weapon is a rapier, which he also uses 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 uses other weapons, including a bullwhip and a pistol.
The fox is never depicted as Zorro's emblem. It is 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 consists of rearing on his horse, Tornado, often saluting with his hand or raising his sword high. The logo of the company Zorro Productions, Inc. uses an image of Zorro rearing on his horse, sword raised high.
Douglas Fairbanks, Tyrone Power, and Guy Williams used an epee dueling blade with a saber hilt. Antonio Banderas used a transitional rapier.
Skills and resources
Zorro specializes in infiltrating heavily guarded enemy structures or territories, espionage, and improvised explosive devices. He is a weapons expert and a master of escape and camouflage. He is also good at deciphering numerous spoken and written languages, facilitating communication with locals regardless of ethnicity or language. Zorro is acrobatic, using his bullwhip as a gymnastic accouterment to swing through gaps between city roofs, and can land from great heights and take a fall. Although he is a master swordsman and marksman, he has repeatedly demonstrated his prowess in unarmed combat against multiple opponents.
In some versions, Zorro keeps a medium-sized dagger tucked in his left boot for emergencies. He has used his cape in creative ways as a blind, a trip-mat, and a disarming tool. Zorro's boots are also sometimes weighted, as is his hat, which he has thrown, Frisbee-style, as an efficiently substantial warning to enemies. He is also a skilled tactician, using mockery to goad his opponents into traps or to irritate them into fighting poorly.
Zorro is 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 gets the name Tornado, which has been kept in many later adaptations. In most versions, Zorro keeps Tornado in a secret cave, connected to his with a system of secret passages and tunnels.