History Series / Zorro1957

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Captain Toledano is one of Los Angeles's few honest commandantes. His just and competent administration of the garrison frustrates the Magistrado to no end by denying him opportunities to sow dissent among the people, and while he does try to capture Zorro due to the latter being a wanted outlaw, he's willing to let Zorro go to prioritize dealing with more dangerous criminals like the Eagle's men. Naturally, he proves too good to stick around; the Eagle's agents see to it that his tenure only lasts a few episodes.
** Gracia actually proves himself to be this when he's acting commandante, he's still a buffoon who would rather hang out at the Tavern, but there's a notable increase in his competency.

* RankScalesWithAsskicking: The various evil commandantes, starting with Commander Monastario, are the only members of the army who can last more than a minute in a swordfight against Zorro. Not that they ever ''win'', of course, but at least they can give him a workout, unlike the rank-and-file soldiers (including Sergeant García), who just get humiliated even when outnumbering the masked outlaw. Partially justified as it'd be mostly the upperclass who become officers and have the time to dedicate themselves to fencing -- or they climb up the ranks by being very good at their jobs.

* Gracia actually proves himself to be this when he's acting commandante, he's still a buffoon who would rather hang out at the Tavern, but there's a notable increase in his competency.

* ClarkKenting: Although Zorro is only wearing a mask covering the upper half of his face, nobody ever recognizes him as the mild Don Diego. Confronted once with the notion, Sergeant García just laughs it off and tells Diego -- no offense! -- that Señor Zorro is much taller and muscular than him. Justified by the fact that many people in the Pueblo resemble Zorro while wearing his costume, even one of the Commandante's own men. There is also the fact that for most of the run, Zorro mainly operates at night, making it hard for people to get a good look at him. Bernardo has also donned Zorro's costume as a decoy on a few occasions, muddying the waters further.

* CoverBlowingSuperpower: Diego hides his impressive swordfighting skills from everyone in the pueblo to distance himself from Zorro. However, this leads to trouble when he is forced to participate in duels as himself, especially when (as is frequently the case) his life is on the line. [[spoiler:Diego does blow his cover once, when Monastario watches him fight a skilled swordsman. Though Diego does his best to make it look like he won by sheer luck, his unlikely victory is enough for the ''Commandante'' to put the pieces together.]]

* EnemyMine: Yes, Zorro is an outlaw and Sergeant García is supposed to capture him. More often than not, however, they end up on the same side against the villains of the week. García sure doesn't mind much, almost gushing toward Zorro at times, and even if Diego is sometimes annoyed by the Sergeant's klutziness, he's still fond of him too.

** Capítan Toledano's is jealousy over his wife, Raquel. The Magistrado quickly seizes on the opportunity to weaken the newly arrived Commandante's authority over the pueblo by engineering a situation where someone is caught serenading Raquel and suffers the full force of Toledano's anger. Luckily, Zorro is able to manipulate the situation to make it look like a practical joke played on an unwitting García.

* FatIdiot: Sergeant García is not the sharpest tool in the drawer (which he readily admits himself) and always has lots of trouble following the ''commandante''[='s=] most convoluted plans. Although he does a decent job when commander by interim, and he's still smarter than Corporal Reyes.

* GenreSavvy: A group of prisoners who have been unexpectedly given amnesty by Monastario are rightfully suspicious of the Commandante's uncharacteristic generosity. One even lampshades the Commandante's common tactic of releasing prisoners and then shooting them down for "trying to escape." They outright refuse to leave their cells until García promises them free wine at the tavern.

** In general, most of the Dons do subvert this trope, they're either actively managing their ranches, or are taking part in the local politics and seem to culturally look down on anyone resting on their laurels. Justified as most of the Dons had to actually work on the lands their haciendas are on in order to actually claim ownership by Spanish law.

** In an early episode, Zorro grapples hand-to-hand with one of Los Angeles's many corrupt ''Commandantes'' on a rooftop. The ''Commandante'' seizes his chance and makes a grab at Zorro's mask, learning his true identity. Cue the villain [[OhCrap realizing what a bad idea that was]] and backing away while begging Diego not to kill him. However, he promptly saves Zorro from grappling with the dilemma of whether to do just that by [[SelfDisposingVillain backing straight over the edge of the rooftop]]. García, attracted by the commotion, confirms that the fall killed him.

* MistakenForanImposter: Happens a few times to Zorro over the course of the series, having been mistaken for the man the Commandante hired to discredit him, and during his time in Monterey, Zorro tried to warn Gracias and Reyes from riding into an ambush, but because he was riding the white Phantom instead of the familiar black Tornado, they believed he was an imposter trying to steal the money they're carrying and ends up retreating to where the bandits were waiting.

* RankScalesWithAsskicking: The various evil ''commandantes'', starting with Commander Monastario, are the only members of the army who can last more than a minute in a swordfight against Zorro. Not that they ever ''win'', of course, but at least they can give him a workout, unlike the rank-and-file soldiers (including Sergeant García), who just get humiliated even when outnumbering the masked outlaw. Partially justified as it'd be mostly the upperclass who become officers and have the time to dedicate themselves to fencing - or they climb up the ranks by being very good at their jobs.

* Gracia actually proves himself to be this when he's acting Commandante, he's still a buffoon who would rather hang out at the Tavern, but there's a notable increase in his competency.

* SayMyName: Very rare is the episode where someone doesn't dramatically exclaim "Zorro!" upon seeing the masked outlaw (or sometimes just his ZorroMark). Whether it be Sergeant García, the Commandante, the villain of the day or mere bystanders.
* ScarecrowSolution: Trying to catch an unjustly accused man who has taken sanctuary in the church of a monastery, Commandante Monastario invades the place with his soldiers to "protect" the church from a fictitious Indian attack. The monastery is so well-guarded that Zorro almost gets caught trying to reach the prisoner. Trading force for wits, Don Diego spreads a story about a vengeful ghost by telling it to the impressionable Sergeant García. Later that night, Zorro appears disguised as the ghost and scares all the soldiers into fleeing.

* ShaggyDogStory: When Monastario learns that the viceroy is coming to Los Angeles, he pulls out all the stops to make himself look like a respectable Commandante running a model pueblo. He declares amnesty for everyone in jail, pays for them all to get free drinks at the tavern, and forcibly recruits crowds of bystanders to put on the appearance of happiness and prosperity. Then, when the viceroy does arrive, he spends the entire day trying to flatter and impress him. Finally, to top off his cover-up, he parades in Diego, whom he had arrested shortly before receiving news of the viceroy's impending arrival, and publicly unmasks him as Zorro. [[spoiler:At which point his careful schemes fall apart. Not only does Diego turn out to be a personal friend of the viceroy's family, giving him the advantage in being able to defend himself, the viceroy reveals that he had plenty of evidence of Monastario's corruption even before arriving in Los Angeles. All Monastario's cover-up did was delay the inevitable.]]

* StoutStrength: Sure, Sergeant García isn't that fast -- not surprising, considering his bulk -- nor is he a skilled swordsman... but if a bandito falls into his grasp, ''he's not getting away''. Just asks Pablo, an evil Indio, who ends up in his grip and is almost choked to death by García (mostly unintentionally, though the Sergeant is quite upset at the bad guy for trying to kill him).

* NeverBringAGunToAKnifeFight: There '''are''' guns in the setting, and Zorro eludes a shot now and then; but most of the time, when Zorro is on the scene, everybody tries to best him in a sword fight (and, of course, loses). This is partially justified by the fact that all the guns and rifles are single shot (the series is set in 1820, before repeating firearms were common). Thus Zorro only has to worry about a single bullet at a time.

''Zorro'' is a 1957-1959 Creator/{{Disney}}-[=produced=] {{swashbuckler}} television series starring Creator/GuyWilliams as [[Franchise/{{Zorro}} the eponymous character]]. Four feature-length TV specials were made until 1961 after the series' end.

* CastTheExpert: Guy Williams and Britt Lomond got to show off their fencing skills at least once an episode.

* PunchClockVillain: Sergeant García. Though he rarely fails to obey orders, he has a good heart, showing decency and respect to those he arrests and frequently expressing remorse when he is ordered to do something unjust by his superiors.

* SympatheticInspectorAntagonist: Sergeant García fits this trope to a T. Though he's often the one who rides in pursuit of the masked bandit, García comes to respect Zorro early in the series. He frequently expresses his hope that Zorro will intervene in unjust situations, and is sometimes visibly gleeful when Zorro eludes capture yet again.

* RankScalesWithAsskicking: The various evil ''commandantes'', starting with Commander Monastario, are the only members of the army who can last more than a minute in a swordfight against Zorro. Not that they ever ''win'', of course, but at least they can give him a workout, unlike the rank-and-file soldiers (including Sergeant García), who just get humiliated even when outnumbering the masked outlaw.

* DressingAsTheEnemy: In "Slaves of the Eagle", everyone except [[CorruptBureaucrat the magistrado]] agrees that selling peons who cannot pay their taxes into slavery is unjust. García so firmly believes it's wrong that he posts only one guard in the cuartel and dresses as Zorro in order to free the prisoners himself. [[spoiler:[[FinaglesLaw It backfires spectacularly]]. Not only is he caught and [[PaperThinDisguise instantly recognized]], the magistrado then orders that every available guard be posted, effectively ruining any chance the ''real'' Zorro might have had of freeing the prisoners.]]

** García 's gluttony and fondness for drink has gotten him into serious trouble or threw a spanner into other people's plans multiple times.

* SecretSecretKeeper: "Amnesty For Zorro" reveals [[spoiler:Don Alejandro]] to be one. He admits that he figured it out some time ago, but was waiting for Diego to come clean himself. However, when Diego considers publicly revealing his identity, he graduates to a regular SecretKeeper by dressing as Zorro and taking Diego hostage to stop him.
* SeekingSanctuary: After Zorro saves Don Nacho from jail, Nacho takes refuge at the San Gabriel Mission. Monasterio has enough religious principles (and fear of priests with flowerpots) to refrain from violating sanctuary to capture him, but he's not above having his men surround the church and using various underhanded means to compel Nacho to break sanctuary himself.

* StoutStrength: Sure, Sergeant García isn't that fast -- not surprising, considering his bulk -- nor is he a skilled swordsman... but if a bandito falls into his grasp, ''he's not getting away''. Just asks Pablo, an evil Indio, who ends up in his death grip and is almost strangled by García (mostly unintentionally, though the Sergeant is quite upset at the bad guy for trying to kill him).

* ClarkKenting: Although Zorro is only wearing a mask covering the upper half of his face, nobody ever recognize him as the mild Don Diego. Confronted once with the notion, Sergeant García just laughs it off and tells Diego -- no offense! -- that Señor Zorro is much taller and muscular than him. Justified by the fact that many people in the Pueblo resemble Zorro while wearing his costume, even one of the Commandante's own men. There is also for the fact that for most of the run, Zorro mainly operate at night and Bernardo acting as a decoy Zorro helps to muddy the details further.

** Even García has his snarky moments, particularly with Reyes, but he did effectively cut Monastario's ego down to size when the latter assumes the Viceroy's daughter will fall madly in love with him.

'''García:''' If I were a woman and look like me, I wouldn't be choosy.

%%* FatComicRelief: Sergeant García.

* NeverBringAGunToAKnifeFight: There '''are''' guns in the setting, and Zorro eludes a shot now and then; but most of the time, when Zorro is on the scene, everybody tries to best him in a sword fight (and, of course, loses). This is partially justified by the fact that all the guns and rifles are single shot (the series is set in 1820, before repeating firearms were common). Thus Zorro only has to worry about the single bullet.

* SecretSecretKeeper: [[spoiler:Don Alejandro.]] He figures out Diego's secret early on, but chooses not to confront him, instead waiting for Diego to come clean. He graduates to regular SecretKeeper in "Amnesty for Zorro", when he dresses as Zorro and takes Diego hostage to stop him from publicly revealing his identity.

* ExactWords: As a soldier in the King's army, Sergeant García is duty-bound to obey the orders of his superiors, no matter how much he might dislike them. However, he's not above creative interpretation of said orders, especially when his good friend Don Diego is around to explain why such interpretations make perfect sense.

Don Diego de la Vega, son of rancher Alejandro de la Vega, lives in California, at a time when it is still a Spanish colony. He returns from Spain at the beginning of the series and finds that the people are being oppressed by the military commander Enrique Monastario. Diego, a master swordsman thanks to his studies abroad, decides to play the part of a pacifist intellectual, and creates a SecretIdentity to fight against evil: El Zorro! He is helped by his servant Bernardo, who also has a secret: he's mute, and pretends to be both deaf and mute. This allows Bernardo to eavesdrop and gather information people would never let slip around someone who could hear.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: The various evil ''commandantes'', starting with Commander Monastario, are the only members of the army who can last more than a minute in a swordfight against Zorro. Not that they ever ''win'', of course, but at least they can give him a workout, unlike the rank-and-file soldiers (including Sergeant García), who just get humiliated even when outnumbering the masked outlaw.

* FatalFlaw: Capítan Toledano's is jealousy over his wife, Raquel. The Magistrado quickly seizes on the opportunity to weaken the newly arrived Commandante's authority over the pueblo by engineering a situation where someone is caught serenading Raquel and suffers the full force of Toledano's anger. Luckily, Zorro is able to manipulate the situation to make it look like a practical joke played on an unwitting García.