History Main / TarzanBoy

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/TheSuperMarioBrosSuperShow'': In "Mario of the Apes," Mario hits his head and is "adopted" by a gorilla couple. To cement the ''Tarzan'' parody, he's renamed as "Marzan" until he gets his memories back.
[[/folder]]

An {{Expy}} of ''Franchise/{{Tarzan}}'', and the SpearCounterpart to JunglePrincess. A Tarzan Boy is a [[MightyWhitey white man]] who lives in [[JungleOpera the jungle]], usually in the DarkestAfrica. He's usually RaisedByWolves after being marooned in the jungle as a child. Expect the NubileSavage trope to be in play, as the Tarzan Boy will always be handsome and surprisingly well-groomed for a guy who lives completely isolated from civilization. Often he will have one or several animal companions and [[SpeaksFluentAnimal is able to communicate with them]]. He'll wear a LoinCloth and travel around by VineSwing.

* In the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' episode "The Kangaskhan Kid", the titular kid is a human boy who got lost in the Safari zone and was raised by a pack of Kangaskhan. He's even known as ''Tarsan'' in the Japanese version.

%%* ''The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty:'' Catzan.

* ''The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty:'' Catzan.

* Creator/DCComics: ''ComicBook/{{Kamandi}}'' is a young hero in a post-apocalyptic, post-{{Cyberpunk}} future. After a huge event called "The Great Disaster", [[AnimalIsTheNewMan humans have been reduced back to savagery in a world ruled by intelligent, highly evolved animals]]. Created by Creator/JackKirby in the time he was in DC, Kirby was asked to make something similar than ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes'' comic books, resulting into this. Different from Tarzan, Kamandi is a blonde guy in a post-{{Cyberpunk}} world with similar traits as Tarzan, also known for being the grandson of ComicBook/{{OMAC}} and even he was part of the heroes' group during the ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths''.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jungle_stories_1940sum.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Most definitely ''not'' Franchise/{{Tarzan}}]]

* ''Literature/TheJungleBook'': Mowgli could be considered the UrExample, since he appeared years before Tarzan himself did. Actually, Rudyard Kipling himself accused Tarzan of being an {{Expy}} of Mowgli, however, Edgar Rice Burroughs denied it.

Subtrope of NatureHero. Contrast FrazettaMan (these are usually present as Tarzan Boy's enemies, to further emphasize the contrast between them).

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

** ''ComicBook/{{Ka-Zar}}''. He started as a short-lived cheap Tarzan knock-off in the 30s, described as an American kid who was raised by lions after his parents' plane crashed in the Congo jungle. Ka-Zar was revived decades later by StanLee and JackKirby in an ''XMen'' comic and given a more fleshed-out characterization. Surprisingly, they made him ''more'' similar to Tarzan. Now he was Kevin Plunder, son of a British nobleman who had discovered the tropical LostWorld of Savage Land in the middle of the Antarctic. After his father got killed by a local FrazettaMan tribe, Kevin was raised by a mutant intelligent sabertooth tiger named Zabu. He eventually hooked up with Marvel's flagship JunglePrincess, ''ComicBook/ShannaTheSheDevil''.
** Before the revival, Ka-Zar got his own cheap knock-off called ''ComicBook/{{Lo-Zar}}''. He was also a blonde muscle man, with unknown origins. He lived in the Republic of Congo and helped local tribes and wild animals. Unlike other Tarzan Boys, Lo-Zar's enemy of choice were DirtyCommunists.

[[folder:Film -- Live Action]]
* ''Film/TheWorldsGreatestAthelete'': The plot centers around a college track coach discovering a jungle man in Africa and bringing him home to give his team a boost.
* [[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094325/?ref_=nv_sr_6 Wild Thing]] is an urban twist on this trope. In this film the main character grows up wild in the city's slums after witnessing drug dealers murder his parents. The story revolves around him helping the city's residents who are being terrorized by street gangs and drug dealers.

-->Nature boy, nature man, take me along
-->Deep in the woods we're undiscovered

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': In one strip, Calvin declares himself to be [[https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/da/8e/9a/da8e9a9f27be485cba030b65d5bac5c7.jpg Wonga-Taa, King of the Jungle]], after getting fed up with Suzie's make-believe dinner, and runs off in underpants to find Hobbes. He has also pretended to be Tarzan [[http://www.edstephan.org/Tarzan/strips/calvin.8-22.gif a few]] [[http://marcel-oehler.marcellosendos.ch/comics/ch/1994/08/19940806.gif times]].
[[/folder]]

Tarzan Boy usually finds his "Jane" in a civilized [[LikeGoesWithLike white]] woman [[RescueRomance he has to rescue]]. Sometimes, however, he will choose his DistaffCounterpart, the JunglePrincess, or occasionally the native [[TheCheifsDaughter Chief's Daughter]] (who will inevitably be drawn in a much more attractive manner than the other natives who are seen).

Tarzan Boy usually finds his "Jane" in a civilized [[LikeGoesWithLike white]] woman [[RescueRomance he has to rescue]]. Sometimes, however, he will choose his DistaffCounterpart, the JunglePrincess, or occasionally the native [[TheCheifsDaughter Cheif's Daughter]] (who will inevitably be drawn in a much more attractive manner than the other natives who are seen).

Tarzan Boy usually finds his "Jane" in a civilized [[LikeGoesWithLike white]] woman [[RescueRomance he has to rescue]]. Sometimes, however, he will choose his DistaffCounterpart, JunglePrincess, or occasionally the native CheifsDaughter.

Tarzan Boy usually finds his "Jane" in a civilized [[LikeGoesWithLike white]] woman [[RescueRomance he has to rescue]]. Sometimes, however, he will choose his DistaffCounterpart, JunglePrincess, or occasionally the native ChiefsDaughter.

Tarzan Boy usually finds his "Jane" in a civilized [[LikeGoesWithLike white]] woman [[RescueRomance he has to rescue]]. Sometimes, however, he will choose his DistaffCounterpart, JunglePrincess. But for some reason, [[UnfortunateImplications it will almost never be a native woman]].

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In eli,s drawing bart does

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* ''Literature/{{Ki-Gor}}'' was the most popular Tarzan imitator during the 40-50s. He was a blond muscular guy in leopard tights who had a [[HeroesWantRedheads gorgeous redheaded wife]] with a similar fashion sense. His story cycle was quite FairForItsDay, featuring a black Massai chief who was shown to be a noble and resourceful hero in his own right, and was treated as a brother by Ki-Gor.

* Creator/DCComics: ''ComicBook/{{Kamandi}}'' is a young hero in a post-apocalyptic, post-{{Cyberpunk}} future. After a huge event called "The Great Disaster", humans have been reduced back to savagery in a world ruled by intelligent, highly evolved animals. Created by Creator/JackKirby in the time he was in DC, Kirby was asked to make something similar than ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes'' comic books, resulting into this. Different from Tarzan, Kamandi is a blonde guy in a post-{{Cyberpunk}} world with similar traits as Tarzan, also known for being the grandson of ComicBook/{{OMAC}} and even he was part of the heroes' group during the ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths''.

** A gag from ''Gorilla My Dreams'' has a vine-swinging gorilla pausing at a stoplight to let a Tarzan {{expy}} swing across.

* ''WesternAnimation/GeorgeOfTheJungle'': The main character is a parody of Tarzan, a dumb and oblivious but good-natured Tarzan Boy who often has to save the jungle and its inhabitants from various threats. He's klutzy as well, slamming into trees and falling into the river as he's swinging on vines.

* ''Tarzan Boy'' by ''Music/{{Baltimora}}'': The TropeNamer. Its lyrical hero is this type of character, who lives the "jungle life" "far away from nowhere".
** There's also a remixed version called ''Tarzan Boy 2000'' by ''Jungle Groover ft. Mr. Z''. The rather campy music video features a ditzy parody of Tarzan (somewhat similar to ''WesternAnimation/GeorgeOfTheJungle''), who is lusted upon by a Jane-esque MsFanservice.

* In the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' episode "The Kangaskhan Kid", the titular kid is a human boy who got lost in the Safari zone and was raised by a pack of Kangaskhan.