Asterix

Asterix

Gaulish comic book character

Moustache type: Fu Manchu

Created by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo in Pilote magazine (1959)

Asterix is a warrior from the first century BC and the titular hero of a series of comic books by Goscinny and Uderzo, the first of which was written in 1961, two years after the character’s debut in a French magazine. Asterix is prime defender, alongside his friend Obelix (qv), of the only Gaulish village which retains its independence from the Roman Empire. The continued failure of the Roman army to conquer Asterix’s village is attributable to the secret potion brewed by the village’s venerable druid, Getafix. This potion gives superhuman strength to those who ingest it, and Asterix is the most frequent beneficiary.

The village’s colourful characters include Chief Vitalstatistix, whose only fear is that the sky will fall on his head, Cacofonix, the tone-deaf bard and Geriatrix, an ancient man with a beautiful, buxom young wife.

The fact that all the male Gauls have moustaches and none of the Romans do is almost certainly a contributing factor in their ability to hold out, although Goscinny and Uderzo presume upon the individual reader’s literary perspicacity to work this out.