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Other Gauls
Vercingetorix
A Gaulish chieftain who united the warring Gaulish tribes in an attempt at opposing the Roman conquest, and did a better job of it than most who had tried before him, but was eventually defeated by Caesar at the historic battle of Alesia. Only appears in brief flashbacks, but his influence is still felt in the comics present day.
- Agony of the Feet: In a final moment of rebellion, he literally threw down his arms at Caesars feet, giving the Roman conqueror a minor injury.
- Big Good: The Gauls, especially those like Vitalstatistix who fought directly for him, see him as this.
- Last of His Kind: The last of the great Gaulish chieftains, unless you count Vitalstatistix.
- Minor Major Character: Given his defeat prior to the start of the series, he only appears through rare flashbacks, but remains an inspiration for the Gauls as a whole (along with, out of universe, inspiring the Theme Naming of every male Gaul name ending in -ix).
- Shocking Defeat Legacy: His defeat at Alesia remains an enormously sore point for all of Gaul.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Maybe...? The real Vercingetorix was executed in Rome in 46 BC as part of Caesar's victory parade, but the comic never actually makes any mention of him being dead. It's possible he remains a prisoner here. Or that he will be executed later, since the comics happen before 46 BC.
Justforkix Doubleheligos (Goudurix Oceanonigos)
A trendy teenager and Vitalstatistix's nephew by way of his brother, Doublehelix.
- A Day in the Limelight:
- The Alea jacta est! series of Gamebooks can be said to be this for him. While he only really appeared in one album, he was chosen to be the star and the player character of those books — probably because, being young and inexperienced he made for a better and less invincible reader stand-in than Asterix or Obelix.
- He also gets a major role in the animated Vikings film, where he ends up a love interest and husband to a female Viking.
- Lovable Coward: To the point where the Normans want him to teach them (fear, not lovability).
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: After spending the entire book cowering in fear from the Normans and generally behaving like a spoiled brat, he Took a Level in Badass and, apart from beating up a Norman without the magic potion, angrily turned on the Normans for wasting everyone's time with their idiotic idea that they'd be able to fly. He's also the only character ever to give Cacofonix praise and encouragement.
- Totally Radical: Is a caricature of contemporary teens, even to the point of playing Cacofonix's harp like a guitar (and appreciating his music, as a teenager would have appreciated rock and roll the way the older generation wouldn't).
Panacea (Falbala)
Played by: Laetitia Casta (1999), Angèle (2023)
A beautiful villager. First introduced in Asterix the Legionary.
- All Love Is Unrequited: Obelix has a crush on her... but she's engaged (and later married).
- Ascended Extra: While she only appeared in one album while Goscinny was the author, she began making occasional appearances again after Uderzo took over the writing.
- Beautiful Singing Voice: She beautifully sings a lament every night when she's prisoner at the Colosseum in Rome in Asterix Versus Caesar.
- Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: Her stunning blonde bombshell appearance was based on actress Brigitte Bardot.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Blond-haired, and the series' apex of female youth and innocence.
- Happily Married: She heads off with her lover Tragicomix to Condatum (Rennes) to get married at the end of Asterix the Legionary.
- Head-Turning Beauty: Downplayed on her account, but the sight of her is enough to send Obelix in a bedazzled stupor.
- Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: The Light Feminine to Latraviata's Dark Feminine in Asterix and the Actress.
- She's All Grown Up: In her début.
- Stealth Pun: Obelix' crush on her makes him so out of it that the others think he's sick. A Panacea is a mythical cure for all illness. Crosses over into Meaningful Name, since Obelix gets better after she kisses him.
Homeopathix
Impedimenta’s brother, who has made a fortune as a merchant and loves to flaunt his success.
- Boomerang Bigot: Despite being a Gaul himself, he is full of disdain for his countrymen just because they're not rich and sophisticated like him.
- The Bus Came Back: He and his wife Tapioca make their return in Asterix and the White Iris.
- Hate Sink: He's not a villain, but aside from his loving relationship with his sister, he has virtually no sympathetic qualities at all. He's a stuck-up snob, treats Vitalstatistix like dirt, and looks down on other Gauls for being barbarians. Even after Vitalstatistix succeeds in a nearly impossible goal (obtaining Caesar's laurel wreath to spice a stew with), he STILL acts smug and condescending to him.
- Megaton Punch: Is on the receiving end of one when Vitalstatistix finally has enough of his bullshit and punches him into Cacafonix's tree during the ending feast.
- Obnoxious In-Laws: Is this to Vitalstatistix.
- Pet the Dog: Despite what a jackass he is, he still loves his sister dearly.
- Self-Made Man: He’s made good for himself under the Pax Romana.
- Ungrateful Bastard: After Vitalstatistix gets Caesar's laurel wreath with a lot of trouble, Homeopathix has the audacity to complain about the meat. The result is Vitalstatistix punching him hard with the full power of the potion.
Orthopaedix
An innkeeper who finds himself in possession of Caesar's gift from Tremensdelirius. He ends up getting into a political spat with Vitalstatistix that distracts them from Roman attacks until it's almost too late.
- Henpecked Husband: It's clear that his wife is in charge of the house and pressures him to be more antagonistic to Vitalstatistix.
- Hero Antagonist: He is a rival to Vitalstatistix and uses Caesar's gift to lead the village, but he is not a bad person at all, in fact he is less antagonistic than the current chief of the village.
- Heroic Sacrifice: He attempts this by deciding to try to negotiate with the Romans attacking the village, without magical potion. This brings about an end to the political strife, as Vitalstatistix asks Panoramix to brew potion for him.
- Took a Level in Badass: He starts as a civilian who only has political skills and is manipulated by his wife. In the end, he fights and doesn’t hurt Tremensdelirious, far from it. He just returns Caesar’s gift to him... by hitting him on the head with it. He also stands up to his wife.
Winesanspirix (Alambix)
A Gaul residing in the Auvergne whom Asterix and Obelix befriend in the "Chieftain's Shield" story.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Turns out that not only was he Vitalstatistix's old friend from years ago, but he had handled Vercingetorix's shield and passed it on to him.
- Conscience Makes You Go Back: On seeing how patriotic Asterix and Obelix were, he was ashamed and ran into hiding. But he felt even more ashamed of his action and returns to confess his history of the shield to them.
Bravura (Maestria)
A feminist bard who arrives to the Gaulish village in Asterix and the Secret Weapon, to replace Cacofonix as the village teacher and to empower the village's female citizens.
- Abhorrent Admirer: Zig-zagged. Bravura has a very obvious crush on Asterix, openly flirting with him and even going so far as to kiss him. Asterix, for his part, doesn't reciprocate due to his suspicions of her and her coming on too strong. She loses this over the course of the book.
- Didn't Think This Through: Bravura isn't worried by the Roman's secret weapon - a century of women soldiers - since she assumes that, as women and fellow "sisters", they would want to listen to her proposal of peace. This is forgetting, of course, that they are trained soldiers loyal to Rome. This results in her getting thumped by the guard of the women's camp, while her peace offering is laughed off by Claphamomnibus.
- Dreadful Musician: Her singing and drum-playing enchants the village women, but Asterix considers it much the same as Cacofonix, but without the rain.
- Flirtatious Smack on the Ass: Does this to Asterix. He's not amused.
- Les Collaborateurs: Downplayed. Bravura genuinely seems to think, at least at first, that things would be better under the Pax Romana, going so far as to offer peace between the Romans and the Gaulish village. Her attitude quickly changes when said offering is rejected violently.
- The Starscream: Implied. When she proposes We Can Rule Together to Asterix, he accuses her of plotting to overthrow Vitalstatistix and become chief of the village herself. She doesn't deny it, but she never makes a move on the throne once Impedimenta is chief, so it's uncertain if that was her real motive all along.
- Straw Feminist: Her character in a nutshell - at least at the start. Even so, she's ready to put her issues aside to face the Romans once they betray her trust.
- We Can Rule Together: Proposes this to Asterix due to her less-than-subtle feelings for him. This doesn't go down well with Asterix, however.
Cleverdix and Majestix (Tournedix and Ségrégationnix)
Two feuding chiefs who rule a divided village.
- Adipose Rex: Much like Vitalstatistix, they're quite fat and in charge of different halves of a village.
- Everyone Has Standards: Codfix offered Cleverdix's supporters to the Romans as slaves, but Majestix will not have any Gauls be slaves to Romans, even to become chief. Similarly, Cleverdix isn't comfortable with becoming chief after Majestix and his lot are captured, and when Codfix briefly abducts Melodrama, Cleverdix offers his rival his sincere condolences for his current loss.
- Feuding Families : Their conflict is what what drives the "Great Divide" tale.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Majestix, to the point where it's tempting to say that Cleverdix was the more qualified to be chief of the village, simply because he wasn't dumb enough to have anyone like Codfix as an advisor.
- Les Collaborateurs: Downplayed and ultimately defied. Majestix is extremely reluctant to let the Romans solve the dispute between him and Cleverdix, only agreeing when Codfix reassures him that the Romans won't trouble the village beyond that. When he learns that the Romans want Cleverdix and his supporters as slaves, though, he is outraged and goes back on the deal.
- Old Friend: Cleverdix served alongside Vitalstatistix in the Battle of Gergovia, and thus doesn't hesitate to call for his aid when he learns of Majestix's plot to get the Romans involved.
- This Is My Side: Taken to the extreme! Cleverdix rules the left side of the village while Majestix rules the right side, and neither side is permitted to interact with the other.
Histrionix and Melodrama (Comix and Fanzine)
The respective son and daughter of Cleverdix and Majestix, who are in love with each other and wish to unite their divided village.
- Large Ham: Well, it’s more on Histrionix's side.
- Only Sane Man: They both have more sense than their parents, and the village they rule.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: The Romeo and Juliet comparisons could not be more obvious with these two.
Adrenalin (Adrénaline)
Vercingetorix's daughter. Before surrendering to Caesar at Alesia, her father sent her away with two of his lieutenants, Monolithix and Sidekix, in order to protect her. Because of Bindwatchflix's betrayal however, the Romans learned about her existence. They are now trying to find and capture her, both to use her as a hostage and to get their hands on her father's torc, which he gave to her and that could be used as a rallying symbol by the Gaulish resistance.
- Babies Ever After: The ending shows her having started a family with Peacenix, though with adopted children.
- Damsel in Distress: The Romans want to kidnap her to turn her into a hostage. Bindwatchflix manages to capture her during the climax, and Asterix and Obelix have to rescue her.
- Fiery Redhead: She's temperamental, longs for her independence, and has red hair.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: Has no interest in becoming a symbol for the Gaulish resistance, and leaves that job to Asterix, departing for Thule with a young man named Peacenix.
- Refusal of the Call: The other Gauls, especially her adoptive fathers, wish she'd become a leader of the Gaulish resistance, to respect her father's request of always resisting and always remaining free. However, Adrenaline doesn't like the idea of war and fighting; and hates that everywhere she goes, her mere name is enough to spark fights. She simply wants to live in peace. At the end of the tome, she leaves Gaul with Peacenix for a faraway island in which even Romans won't find her to live her life free and as she sees fit, following her father's request in her own way.
Gaulish Antagonists
Cassius Ceramix (Aplusbégalix)
The chief of a neighbouring Gallo-Roman village, who has thrown in his lot with the Romans, and who Vitalstatistix has to fight in Asterix and the Big Fight.
- The Brute: He's big, rude, aggressive, only half-educated about Roman ways, and obnoxious. Until he gets hit by a menhir.
- Contempt Crossfire: The Gauls despise him for sucking up to the Romans, the Romans secretly plan to get rid of him once he's no longer useful in case he gets ideas above his station.
- Cultured Badass: Tries to be this by aping Roman customs. After being hit by a menhir, in common with all the other characters in the book that this happens to, he becomes incredibly polite.
- Dirty Coward: For all his casual aggression and brutality, he exhibits traits of this whenever the thought of fighting a Vitalstatistix juiced up in magic potion comes up; at one point, when it seems that the Roman attempt to neutralize Getafix has failed and it's too late for him to withdraw without automatically submitting to Vitalstatistix, he seriously entertains the possibility of it in preference to getting himself "murdered."
- Dumb Muscle: Was recruited by the Romans to fight Vitalstatistix in a clan battle because he is strong and stupidly into Roman culture, asking aqueducts to be made even though the river is right next to his village because it's Roman.
- I Control My Minions Through...: Power and authority. He's the chief of his village, so his word is law. However, in his opening scene it's clear that the main reason his village has followed him in adopting Roman customs is the fact that he'll punch anyone who questions his orders.
- Mean Boss: Responds to anyone questioning his methods (like building an aqueduct when the river already goes through the village fields) by punching them.
- Meaningful Rename: It's implied he took the Roman first name "Cassius" to symbolise his allegiance to them. Notably, the Gauls of Asterix's village will only call him Ceramix, suggesting they don't approve.
- Punny Name: Doubles as a Shout-Out to Muhammad Ali's birth name, Cassius Clay, although that and ability in the ring are the only two things he has in common with Ali (and unlike Ali
, is defeated by letting himself get tired out in the ring). In the original, his name (a+b=x) is a mathematical formula he's too stupid to understand. - The Quisling: He's cut his hair short, shaved off his moustache, wears Roman clothes and has a part-Roman name (in the English version), but more than that he's forcing his people to speak Latin and behave like Romans. He has no problem at all with fighting Vitalstatistix in order to take over the village, and the fact that the village will finally be absorbed into the Roman Empire is, for him, a side bonus.
- Top-Heavy Guy: Has an enormous chest and arms, but small legs. Fittingly, Vitalstatistix defeats him by running circles around him until he's too tired to fight.
Whosemoralsarelastix (Moralélastix)
A chief who rules a neighboring village next to the main village. He asks Vitalstatistix and Asterix to look after his village's savings, which kicks off the Cauldron story.
- Fatal Flaw: Greed.
- Hypocrite: He charges Romans twice the normal business price in comparison to normal trade with Gauls... but he only does business with Romans.
- Laser-Guided Karma: He ends up losing his money, which drives him to tears.
- The Reveal: Turns out he was the one who stole the money from Asterix, to pay the Romans off for their taxes. This also means he landed Asterix with the trouble of trying to get back the money to save his village's honor, essentially meaning Asterix would be paying his taxes for him.
Prolix
A soothsayer who comes to the village. He easily fools them with his prophecies.
- Breakout Villain: Kinda, he never came back in the comics but was a villain that impressed durably the readers due to his frightening introduction (just look at the cover of Asterix and the Soothsayer). He was featured in adaptations twice (Asterix and the Big Fight and Asterix & Obelix Take on Caesar) despite he disappear mid-story from the latter movie, that does not adapt Asterix and the Soothsayer as its main plot. It was like Prolix has to be there, somehow. Also, Demonix/Sulfurix in The Secret of the Magic Potion is obviously inpired by him, but made more evil and terryfing.
- Gone Horribly Right: Most of his prophecies come true, but as Asterix points out they were easy to predict, eg the end of a storm brings sunshine. Getafix turns this on him by engineering a foul gas that he predicted, leaving him to wonder what/how it happened.
- Manipulative Bastard: He is a fraud of a medium, but he is a schemer only inferior to Asterix himself and can easily trick most of the Gauls.
- Villain with Good Publicity: He plays this for all it's worth.
Codfix (Acidnitrix)
Majestix's right-hand man, who has designs for Melodrama and the village.
- Abhorrent Admirer: To Melodrama, whom he plans to marry and even kidnaps to do so. However, she dislikes him because he is ugly on the outside and worse on the inside.
- Evil Chancellor: He is the stereotype of a leader's right-hand advisor who appears loyal but plots against his master.
- Fish People: His beady bulging eyes, sallow skin, weak chin, small nose, wide mouth and distinct lack of facial hair (something uncommon amongst Gauls) give his face a distinct fishy aspect, and he is often remarked on by other characters as smelling like fish. The fish-like appearance is emphasised by the scale armour he wears.
- Hand Rubbing: Has his own variant of this he does when his evil plots are progressing nicely - instead of the more typical cupped hands style he holds the hands parallel with fingers straight and rubs back and forth.
- Obviously Evil: His weird, ugly appearance makes him stand out immediately from his fellow villagers, and he is a thoroughly despicable individual.
- Oh, Crap!: Has a moment of this when Majestix, outraged at the idea of Gauls being made slaves, defies the Romans and ends up in chains.
- Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: After a sound thrashing from Histrionix, his final fate is slave labor for the Romans. Having promised the Romans his own people as slaves, this is also Laser-Guided Karma.
- The Starscream: He plays every side against each other and will betray them for his own benefit.
Bindwatchflix (Adictosérix)
A Gaulish traitor working for Caesar. Former tracker and scout for Vercingetorix, he felt unappreciated by his leader and now serves the Romans. He has been tasked with finding and capturing Adrenalin, Vercingetorix's daughter.
- Badass Normal: Probably one of the most competent opponents the Gauls ever faced, especially since he has no magic potion to enhance his strength. He's a good archer and a Scarily Competent Tracker.
- The Comically Serious: Bindwatchflix acts with the competence and intensity of the antagonist of a serious epic. The few jokes that revolve around him involve other characters being taken aback by his seriousness - notably the incompetent Roman legionaries.
- The Heavy: In Asterix and the Chieftain's Daughter. Julius Caesar is, as always, the Big Bad of the story, who wants to capture Vercingetorix's daughter, in order to get the former chieftain's torc that could be used as a rallying symbol by the Gauls and to use his daughter as a hostage. However, Bindwatchflix is his main enforcer and, given the Romans' general incompetence, he's the main threat to Adrenalin's safety.
- Knight of Cerebus: At least by Asterix's standards. He's, with Caesar and Brutus, the only antagonist who's taken almost entirely seriously by the narration - the humor around him actually revolves around the fact he acts as if he was in a serious epic, while his allies are the usual incompetent Roman legionaries. While he doesn't go as far as Brutus, his threat to Adrenalin's safety is taken seriously by all parties involved.
- The Quisling: He chose to betray Vercingetorix and works for the Romans.
- Scarily Competent Tracker: He's an exceptionally good tracker.
- Uncertain Doom: The last time he's seen, he's swimming away while swearing that he will come back to find the torc that fell in the sea. The last comic strip box featuring him shows a shark fin heading towards him...
Pirates
The Pirates
Played by: Bernard Farcy (Barbe Rouge, 2002), Gérard Jugnot (Barbe Rouge, 2012), Franck Gastambide (Barbe Rouge, 2023)
A crew of unlucky pirates who constantly get beaten senseless and have their ship sunk by the Gauls. An Affectionate Parody of the Barbe-Rouge series.
- Better to Die than Be Killed: Well, Better to Sink than Be Sunk... on occasion, they will scuttle their own ship when Asterix and Obelix turn up; it saves them a few knocks and amounts to the same thing in the end. It gets pretty hilarious if they sink it when Asterix and Obelix don't intend to attack them anyways.
- Chew Toy: They almost always getting their ship destroyed, no matter if they deserved it or not.
- In the movie Asterix and the Secret of the Magic Potion, during a map view of the Gauls' travels across the land to find a new druid, they go out of their way to sink the pirates' ship even though they did nothing to deserve it.
- Deadpan Snarker: Expect Baba and Pegleg to toss some snark at their captain, the latter in the form of a Pretentious Latin Motto, whenever they get sunk. Occasionally they will swap roles with Baba or Pegleg being the one being snarked at by the other two, and sometimes Redbeard or Baba will say a Pretentious Latin Motto.
- The Ditz: In at least one occasion (see Asterix and the Roman Agent) they manage to easily get talked into beating each other up and sinking up the ship on their own. Even the captain lampshades on how little prodding they need to make a fool out of themselves.
- Expy: All of the pirates are expies of the characters from the Barbe-Rouge (Redbeard) comics created by Jean-Michel Charlier and Victor Hubinon (and which, like Asterix itself, first appeared in the French comics periodical Pilote).
- Elmuh Fudd Syndwome: The Funetik Aksent of Baba, the African lookout, has blanks instead of the letter "R". Later books dispense with this.
- Failure Is the Only Option: They're never shown to successfully pillage anyone, always getting beat up, having their ship sunk, or both.
- Frankenstein's Monster: An extra among the crew looks like Frankensteins' Monster.
- Goldfish Poop Gang: An accidental example since they never attempt to follow the Gauls and always happen to meet them by the cruelest of ironies. Its more like the goldfish following the poop.
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Most meetings with them have the following pattern: They threaten to attack, they see who is it that they threaten and they try to scram/helpfully knock themselves out (or not so helpfully from Obelix's perspective). This isn't necessarily their fault but more their eternal bad luck's, as almost no-one in-universe could physically stand up to the Gauls, but the willingness with which they do their own fatalities to avoid suffering ones at their hands makes them truly pitiable. And then there are the times where they become self-disposing villains even without such opposition waiting for them.
- Morton's Fork: As their captain puts it, if they encounter and get boarded by the Gauls, they'll get beaten up and their ship sunk. So might as well scuttle their own ship as it spares them a few knocks and amounts to the same thing in the end anyway.
- No Name Given: Until Asterix and Obelix all at Sea (the captain is still unnamed). Mission Cleopatre and other media indicate that three principal pirates have the same names as their Barbe Rouge inspirations: Barbe Rouge/Redbeard, Triplepatte/Pegleg and Baba.
- Oh, Crap!: "The Gau-Gau-Gauls!"
- Origins Episode: One album shows that the pirates were originally Roman slaves that were put to work on a Roman villa resort near Asterix village (The Mansions of the Gods). After they talk the Gauls into letting them finish the project so the overseer will set them free, they are paid a wage they have earned, and are on their way, with the future pirate captain mentioning that they might invest in a ship.
- Pirate Booty: Subverted; they always manage to cross paths with our heroes before they can steal enough to pay off their latest ship loan.
- Pretentious Latin Motto: Pegleg likes to utter Latin mottos. It gets on Redbeard's nerves.
- Reformed, but Rejected: In Asterix and the Cauldron, they give up piracy and open a restaurant instead. Unfortunately, Asterix and Obelix assume that they're the ones who stole the cauldron of coins and beat them up as per usual. To make up for that, however, see below.
- The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Or rather, the pirates who can't get to do anything before their ship is sunk.
- Throw the Dog a Bone:
- At the end of Asterix and the Cauldron, money literally falls out of the sky onto their ship. Given the Reformed, but Rejected example above, they deserve this happy ending for a change.
- They were also seen happily relaxing in one panel of Asterix and the Griffin.
- In Asterix and the Chieftain's Daughter, they also finally get to loot Ekonomikrisis' ship for once, though since their loot is a shipload of Phoenician wine, they end up spending the entire album drunk off their asses, save for Redbeard and Pegleg.
- Villainous Underdog: The first few times, the Gauls had legitimate reasons to fight them, but in later albums would beat them all up and sink their ship as soon as they saw them. It gets to the point that they never get the time to be villains as much as victims.
- Yank the Dog's Chain:
- "They're all in Roman uniform; we can take 'em." Guess who's on board!
- In Asterix and the Magic Carpet, Baba emerges from below deck, revealing he scuttled the ship as per usual... completely unaware that the Gauls merely looted them, but left the pirates and the ship unscathed.
Britons
General Tropes
- British Stuffiness: As part of their national tropes, they act with restraint and the Stiff Upper Lip. Jolly good show, eh, what?
- Brits Love Tea: They start out having hot water and milk, then later they invoke this for real thanks to Asterix improvising with wild tea leaves when the magic potion is lost.
- Foreign Queasine: They serve their meat boiled with mint sauce, and take warm beer. Obelix, despite being THE Big Eater, can't stand the stuff.
Anticlimax (Jolitorax)
Voiced in French by: Graham Bushnell (1986)
Played by: Guillaume Gallienne (2012)
Asterix's cousin, who comes to Gaul to ask for help in holding the Romans at bay.
- The Stoic: As befits his name, he takes most things with a Stiff Upper Lip, except for the British rugby games where he is absolutely enthusiastic about.
Mykingdomforanos (Zebigbos)
Anticlimax's chieftain, who runs an Undefeatable Little Village in Britain.
- Punny Name:
- His name in the French version is a phonetic pronunciation of "The big boss".
- His name in the English version means "My Kingdom for a Horse", a line from Richard III.
Hispanics
General Tropes
- Pride: They're extremely proud.
- Spicy Latina: They are proud and hot-tempered Spaniards.
Pepe Y Bacon (Pepe Y Crouton)
A Hispanic hostage that is brought to Asterix's village, and whom Asterix and Obelix help return home in "Asterix in Spain".
- Breath-Holding Brat: The poster child, no pun intended. It's even the trope page's picture. Whenever he's denied something, he'll be frustrated and hold his breath to the point his face turns red.
- Enfant Terrible: Even his father acknowledges that he is a handful to deal with.
- The Rival: Becomes this to Obelix for Dogmatix's affections.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: His real name is Pericles, since he has Greek ancestry. He is best known by the Spanish name of Pepe.
- Royal Brat: He is the son of a chief, and demands to be treated as such.
- Spoiled Brat: Whenever he doesn't get what he wants, he will hold his breath until he gets it.
Huevos Y Bacon (Soupalognon Y Crouton)
Pepe's father, and the chieftain of an Undefeatable Little Village in Spain.
- Crown of Horns: Wears a bull's horn as the chief of his tribe.
- Punny Name: His name means "Eggs and Bacon" in Spanish.
Egyptians
Cleopatra (Cléopâtre)
Voiced in French by: Micheline Dax (1968-1976)
Played by: Monica Bellucci (2002), Marion Cotillard (2023)
Cleopatra VII, the queen of Egypt.
- Bad Boss: The whole reason that the Gauls make the trip to Egypt is to save Edifis from the consequences of failing her.
- Behind the Black: It's a recurring joke that Cleopatra makes her entrance completely unnoticed by the characters currently on-panel despite her usually traveling on a giant golden throne carried by several dozen slaves, with armed guards and sometimes animals by her side. And despite the sheer size, opulence and crowd around her, no-one is ever aware she's here until she makes her presence known. Asterix and Son sees her arriving on a two-story tall golden Sphinx on ten wheels, pulled by dozens of slaves, and yet she's only noticed once she tells Caesar the baby Brutus is pursuing is his — this is despite the fact that Obelix and Brutus were BOTH facing the direction from which she arrived the previous panel!
- Character Development: From being bratty, spoiled and rather childish to a much calmer and wiser woman.
- Early Installment Character-Design Difference: In her first appearances she's quite pretty apart from her Gag Nose. In later appearances she no longer has the Gag Nose and is just pretty.
- Face Death with Dignity: When she thinks Asterix wants to assassinate her, she holds a long speech about "showing the barbarians how a queen dies". Asterix eventually gets impatient and manages to throw a word in.
- Gag Nose: Almost every character in Astérix is drawn with a huge nose. However, the nose that is frequently remarked upon is Cleopatra's, whose is rather noticeable (being at an extremely acute angle) on her otherwise gorgeous appearance but far smaller than that of any of the characters constantly remarking on how "very pretty" it is . Thanks to Art Evolution, though, she grows Progressively Prettier later in the series, losing her Gag Nose altogether.
- The remarks about her nose are likely intended to be reminiscent of a famous comment from French polymath Blaise Pascal of Pascal's Wager's fame, that had her nose been shorter, "the whole face of the earth would have changed".
- Hide Your Children: To protect her son with Caesar in Asterix and Son, she sends him to the Gauls' Village. It leads for a Dramatic Reveal when Caesar finds out the truth of Brutus' treachery.
- Historical Domain Character: She is this series' version of the historical Cleopatra VII.
- Hypocrite: She chews out Caesar for sabotaging the construction of his palace claiming that he shouldn't cheat... while claiming that she CAN use the Gauls to have the palace built in three months as planned. Never mind that the whole thing was to prove that her country was not decadent as Caesar said, yet it's thanks to the Gaulish intervention correcting the blueprints and their magic potion that the palace was built that fast and without falling apart, since Alexandria's best architect was inept. That being said, while allowing the Gauls' aid is not exactly fair in proving Egyptian building skill, her actual point wasn't exactly hypocritical, since she was calling out Caesar actively trying to prevent her side from winning the bet. Given Caesar's display of pride and arrogance throughout the book, one gets the idea that he would've launched this sabotage attack anyway even if the Egyptians did somehow manage to do the job quickly on their own (quality would still not have been great, but Caesar was more concerned about their meeting the deadline).
- I Have Boobs, You Must Obey!: In her case, it's not exactly her boobs. She may be a jerk, but no man dares to discuss with a woman with such a pretty nose.
- Immigrant Patriotism: Despite being of Greek-Macedonian origin and having a very Greek name, she identifies herself as Egyptian and is incensed when Caesar calls her people decadent, ensuing the famous bet.
- May–December Romance: With Caesar who's noticably way older than her. And has a son with Caesar, Ptolemy XV Caesarion, who she hides in the Gauls' Village in "Asterix and Son" when Brutus tries to kill the child.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: They took as many cues from Elizabeth Taylor's Cleopatra as possible.
- Progressively Prettier: Her Gag Nose gets smaller in her later appearances. By the time of Asterix and Son, her nose is downright small and cute.
- Tsundere: Swings wildly between cool and collected and shouting her lungs out and throwing things.
- You Have Failed Me: Threatens Edifis to kill him if he doesn't build her a palace in 3 months.
Edifis (Numerobis)
Voiced in French by: Pierre Tornade
Played by: Jamel Debbouze (2002-2008)
The best architect in Alexandria... which isn't saying much. Edifis's ramshackle buildings are the joke of everyone not living in them. In spite of this, he's given the job of constructing the palace for Caesar in three months, or be fed to the sacred crocodiles. Luckily for him, he happens to be friends with Getafix, and manages to convince him to help with magic potion.
- Accidental Misnaming: In the live-action movie, he can never seem to get the Gauls' names right. He never gets the word "druid" right either.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: In the comic he's short, chubby, and seemingly middle aged. In the live-action movie, he's played by a more handsome 26 year old Jamel Debbouze◊.
- Adaptational Badass: In the comic, he ends up as a Distressed Dude who has to be saved by Asterix and Obelix. In the live-action movie, he turns into a Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass after Getafix gives him magic potion, and eventually manages to defeat a similarly magic potion-empowered Artifis in a duel.
- Bizarrchitecture: His buildings, and his house in particular.
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: He refused Artifis's Heads I Win, Tails You Lose offer not out of pragmatism but on grounds that Artifis works his slaves to death. He's not the least bit intimidated of being fed to the crocodiles; if anything, he fears his constant stress would make him unpalatable to the sacred crocodiles.
- Buried Alive: Artifis wraps him up in bandages and seals him inside a sarcophagus. Fortunately for Edifis, mummies are meant for above-ground burials, so it's just a matter of unwrapping him again.
- Distressed Dude: He gets kidnapped by Artifis in the comics.
- Prefers Going Barefoot: Like most Egyptians, he's never seen with footwear, even sandals. That's understandable in the hot deserts of his homeland, but he doesn't bother with shoes even when visiting Gaul in the middle of winter.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He's in charge of the palace's construction, but does his best to make things run smoothly. His best decision was getting his Gaulish friends involved.
- Skewed Priorities: He's less concerned about the fact that he faces a nasty death of being Eaten Alive by crocodiles if he fails Cleopatra, than the stress of the situation making him stringy and unpalatable, since the crocodiles are sacred animals and you can't just feed them any old thing.
Artifis (Amonbofis)
Played by: Gérard Darmon (2002)
Edifis's rival in architecture. Artifis would like nothing more than see Edifis fed to the crocodiles, and works to sabotage the construction.
- Adaptational Villainy: In the comic, he actually ends up reconciling with Edifis and making a Heel–Face Turn. In the live-action movie, Edifis makes him the same offer, only for him to pull a Redemption Rejection. In the animated film, Edifis receives no such offer (although in a banquet scene near the end, the two are shown sharing a toast, implying they have indeed reconciled offscreen).
- Adapted Out: Artifis neither shows up nor is mentioned in Asterix & Obelix: Slap’em’All’s adaptation of his original comic.
- Ascended Extra: He was a Disk-One Final Boss in the comic, where he is defeated at the end of the first half and replaced by the Romans. In the live-action movie, he gets a bigger role, actually joins forces with the Romans and even has a climatic duel with Edifis.
- Beard of Evil: He’s a villain, and he sports quite the hair along his chin. In the live-action movie, it’s even longer.
- Defeat Means Friendship: In the comic, he reconciles with Edifis after being defeated.
- Easily Forgiven: Despite making attempts on Asterix, Obelix, Getafix, Edifis and Cleopatra's food taster's lives, Edifis reconciles with him after Artifis merely gets to work for his palace without the potion everyone else gets.
- Evil Is Hammy: His actor is much more over-the-top in the live-action movie, although he is still a bit hammy even in the comics.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Decides to sabotage Edifis's construction site because he is jealous the guy was chosen by Cleopatra over him to build the palace. More obvious in the live-action movie, where he didn't know Edifis before that and is motivated solely by jealousy, whereas in the comic they are long-time rivals.
- Heel–Face Turn: He actually ends up reconciling with Edifis in the comic. Averted in the live-action movie, as he pulls a Redemption Rejection.
- Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: Offers a deal to Edifis as a proposal to work together to build Caesar's palace: if the palace is built by the deadline, they share the glory and wealth. If not, Edifis goes to the crocodiles alone. Edifis refused, but on grounds that Artifis works his slaves to death.
- Redemption Rejection: In the live-action movie, during the climactic duel, Edifis comments that fighting each other is stupid and offers Artifis to join forces to finish the palace together. Artifis refuses.
- The Rival: For Edifis. He is also an architect, more vicious than Edifis, who wants to upstage him at all costs.
- Sore Loser: In the live-action movie, after being trounced by Edifis in a magic potion-fueled battle, he demands a best 2 out of 3.
- Villain Song: The "Arsenic Cake Song" from the animated adaption, during which Artifis and his sidekick bounce off each other as they bake the eponymous deadly desert, with the end goal of poisoning the Gauls.
Caesarion (Ptolemy XV Caesar)
The infant son of Cleopatra and Caesar, and thus, the union of two of the most powerful dynasties of the ancient world... which unfortunately also makes him a very prominent target.
- Doorstop Baby: He's introduced when he's left in a basket on Asterix's doorstop, much to the Gauls surprise. The climax reveals that he'd been sent there by Cleopatra to keep him safe from Brutus.
- Enfant Terrible: After drinking magic potion, he enjoys hitting his nannies and breaking furniture, though not out of malice, but because he's a baby who doesn't know any better.
- Foregone Conclusion: Unfortunately, unless Alternate History is in effect, Caesarion faces a brutal death at the hands of his foster brother Octavian.
- Super-Strength: Thanks to getting into some leftover magic potion.
- Walking Spoiler: His very existance makes it difficult to write about him without spoilers.
Goths
General Tropes
- Germanic Efficiency: A squad of German spies kidnap Getafix successfully.
- Villain Decay: They started out as antagonists early in the comic history, partly fueled by anti-German sentiment in a post-WW2 age. But eventually neutral Germans began to appear in the saga.
Metric (Teleferic)
Kuningaz note of the Germanic peoples (called Goths in the album).
- Adipose Rex: Becomes Stout Strength when he gets the potion.
- Bad Boss: And how! Pretty much every time he's contradicted he orders a public execution.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: You wanted to see Getafix' magic? By Tīwaz, you got to!
- The Chew Toy: Gets one victory, one impasse, and three defeats in the campaigns shown.
- Expy: Of the historical Otto von Bismarck, the Prussian chancellor and mastermind of Germany's unification.
- Shoot the Messenger: Why Rhetoric lies about Getafix's response and then tries to bolt, Metric orders him torn apart by wild horses.
Rhetoric (Cloridric)
Metric's interpreter, and later one of at least ten rival kuningōz.
- Blatant Lies: In the hopes of saving his own neck.
- Germanic Depressives: Rhetoric gets upset about being interrupted, to a point where Obelix has to knock him out to shut him up.
- Oh, Crap!: "He speaks Gothic [sic]." "He speaks Gothic."
- Omniglot: He is an interpreter.
- The Starscream: With a little help from Getafix's trademark brew.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Starts off rather pitiable, but becomes chief of the Goths, which goes to his head.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Plans to pressure-boil our heroes when this happens.
Norsemen
General Tropes
- Determinator: Even Asterix and Obelix are impressed by how sturdy they are. Some of them take more than one hit from the magic potion to go down.
- Horny Vikings: They always wear horned helmets.
- Theme Naming: Similarly to the Gauls' -ix pattern, all their names end in -af.
- Trademark Favorite Food: They eat all their food with cream sauce.
Olaf Timandahaf (Olaf Grossebaf)
"Scare me!"
Kuningaz of the Normans, he kidnaps Justforkix to learn the meaning of fear.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: In the comic, his idea of thanking the Gauls after they help him and his men learn fear is to slaughter them all so they will dine in Valhalla. He does no such thing in the animated movie, and his biggest atrocity is against someone who lied to his daughter instead.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: You wanted to learn the meaning of fear? A Dreadful Musician will show you.
- Horrifying the Horror: He's a bit confused at the reaction he provokes in Justforkix (who thinks he's going to be killed by the Normans), because he himself doesn't know the meaning of fear and yet inflicts it on others. Is on the receiving end when Cacofonix terrifies him without even trying.
- Horny Vikings: He leads this setting's version of the Normans.
- Literal-Minded: Takes the claim "Fear gives you wings" a tad literally.
- Related in the Adaptation: In Asterix and the Vikings, because Justforkix ends up marrying his daughter, this makes him Justforkix's father-in-law and the brother-in-law of both Doublehelix and Vitalstatistix.
- Proud Warrior Race Guy: He and his men are Viking, so this is a given.
- What Is This Thing You Call Fear?: He's never felt fear in his life, nor have any of his followers, so they kidnap Justforkix so he makes them learn what fear is.
Belgians
General Tropes
- The Rival: They take this role to the French. They are Gaulish people too, with big appetites and a resistance against the Romans.
Beefix and Brawnix
The two chieftains of the Belgians.
- Bash Brothers: Two brothers who kick ass together.
- Boisterous Bruiser: They love to fight each other as much as they like to fight the Germans.
Indians
Watziznehm (Kiçah)
An Indian fakir who comes to the village asking for help to save his drought-dried kingdom.
- Magic Carpet: He possesses one.
- Punny Name: His names sounds like "What's his name ?"
Hoodunnit (Kiwoàlàh)
A scheming minister who seeks to take over his king's kingdom.
- And Then What?: He blames the kingdom's drought on its rulers, as a means to remove them from office, then he will take the throne. He has no way to fix the drought either, but he doesn't care as long as he gets the throne.
- Knight of Cerebus: He's possibly the darkest villain in the history of the comic and came very close to victory.
- Near-Villain Victory: His scheme to kill Princess Orinjade would have succeeded had Asterix not saved her at the last second.
- Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Hoodunnit says the princess needs to be sacrificed for rain to come. He knows it's utter nonsense, he just wants to eliminate the successor to the throne so he can claim it.
- Punny Name: His name sounds like "Who done it ?"
- Shout-Out: His cousin is Iznogoud, who was created by original Asterix writer René Goscinny. note
Movie-only characters
This section is about original characters who appear in the animated films and not the comics themselves.
The Medicine Man
Voiced in German by: Thomas Piper
A devious Native American medicine man from the tribe Asterix, Obelix and Getafix bump into after landing in North America in Asterix Conquers America. He kidnaps Getafix in order to get his hands on the magic potion.
- Arc Villain: The main antagonist of the Gauls when they are in North America. He has of course nothing to do with the Roman Big Bad far away in Europe, Julius Caesar.
- Bears Are Bad News: He keeps a big and angry grizzly in his lair in case intruders get in.
- Canon Foreigner: He doesn't exist in the original comic book, Asterix and the Great Crossing.
- Fake Wizardry: He "invokes" rain upon The Chief's Daughter... which is just his sidekick holding a holed goatskin bag filled with water over her with said sidekick being hidden a tree. The daughter exposes them when she's empowered by the magic potion and kicks their asses.
Abba
A brave Viking woman who appears in the Asterix and the Vikings film. In that feature she is Timandahaf's daughter, and Justforkix's love interest.
- Punny Name: She is named after the Swedish band Abba.
Sulfurix (Demonix)
A rival druid to Getafix.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Gets turned into a giant, though inadvertently.
- Big Bad: Of The Secret of the Magic Potion. He wants to steal the magic potion's recipe from Getafix.
- Driven by Envy: He wants to beat Getafix, even if it means turning on his own people.
- Obviously Evil: His name spells out that he means no good. Especially in the English translation.
- Sanity Slippage: Goes through one over the course of the film.
Pectine
A smart and inventive young girl.
- Photographic Memory: She remembers how to make the magic potion, after having seen it done once. Getafix considers this a quality for her to be his successor when she is older, though with this series that's not happening anytime soon.
- Punny Name: She is named after pectin, a fruity powder used in foodstuffs.
- Earthy Barefoot Character: Pectin goes around barefoot. But for the setting of the film (ie ancient times) it is a normal thing. She is not the only one in the village.
Asbestos The Greek
An expert marathon runner and champion of the Olympic Games. Serves as the first challenge in The Twelve Tasks of Asterix.
- Always Someone Better: He's an incredibly fast runner with natural skill that borders on Super-Speed. Despite this, Asterix, the greatest runner of the village, can keep up with him with relative ease, and once he takes some potion, it's not even a contest.
- The Voiceless: Doesn't speak at all during his scene, being completely focused on the race. The closest he gets to dialogue is him screaming when he realizes he's about to slam into a tree.
Cylindric The German
A German warrior who carries a reputation for being unbeatable despite his small size, thanks to the foreign combat arts he learned during his journeys. Serves as the third challenge in The Twelve Tasks of Asterix.
- Anachronism Stew: Cylindric uses what is clearly meant to be martial arts such as judo, which he claims to have learned on "a very long journey", even though martial arts as we know them didn't exist until the late 1800's. Not to mention that he's wearing a modern-day judogi robe.
- Defeating the Undefeatable: The only character to ever defeat Obelix in a fight. Suffers this trope himself when Asterix ends up defeating him in turn.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Gets so caught up in showing Asterix how his fighting style works he doesn't realize that he just walked his opponent through how to beat him until it's too late.
- Weak, but Skilled: He's a chubby little man who isn't particularly strong, but his martial arts skill allows him to turn his opponents weight and strength against them, letting him defeat the super-strong Obelix with ease.
Mannekenpix, Chef of The Titans
A Belgian chef famous for his impossibly enormous banquets that no mortal man could possibly finish, as they're meant to be served to giants. Serves as the sixth challenge in The Twelve Tasks of Asterix.
- Anachronism Stew: The first course he serves is a roast boar with a side of french fries, even though there won't be a potato in Europe for another 1500 years. He claims to have invented the dish himself, but hasn't thought of a good name yet, a historical joke about the fact that french fries actually originate in Belgium rather than France.
- Everyone Has Standards: Played for a bit of Black Comedy - the veal served as part of the challenge is the offspring of the ox and cow, because "it's wrong to separate a family".
- Exotic Entree: The challenge includes a roasted camel and an elephant, animals most modern people are unlikely to have even seen in person outside zoos, much less eaten.
- Mega Meal Challenge: The courses he serves Obelix, which are only meant to be the first part of the challenge, include a roast boar with fries, a flock of geese, a flock of mutton, a giant omelette made from 8 dozen eggs, a whole school of fish, a whole roast ox, cow and a pair of calves (because to separate a family would be wrong), a mountain of caviar (and a regular piece of toast), a camel, and an elephant stuffed with olives! Obelix eats every crumb and still wants more.
- Pun: Likes to make silly puns about each meal, such as the sheep being great for someone who's "hungry like a wolf", and a school of fish will "teach you what it's like to eat well".
- Villainous Breakdown: While he's only a villain in the sense that he serves as part of Ceasar's challenge and otherwise seems like a decent guy, it still fits; Mannekenpix has a crying breakdown after Obelix completely cleans him out, eating not just the food the viewer is shown, but everything else in the restaurant, driving him out of business.
