History YMMV / Asterix

* AcceptableTargets: Asterix encounters people of many different nationalities, their idiosyncracies all good-naturedly spoofed. Except in ''Recap/AsterixAndTheGoths'', in which the Goths are depicted as even more villainous than the Romans, not a single one of them possessing any redeeming qualities. Throwing their entire nation into centuries of civil war so they can't invade others is seen as a heroic act. [[note]]Throwing the Goths into war with each other can also be seen as a "funny" explanation as for why Germany wasn't a united country until 1871: they had been too busy fighting each other and creating several tiny principalities.[[/note]]. Later appearances by Goths (for example in ''Asterix the Legionary'') rectified this, making them more sympathetic, neutral or even heroic.

* AcceptableTargets: Asterix encounters people of many different nationalities, their idiosyncracies all good-naturedly spoofed. Except in ''Recap/AsterixAndTheGoths'', in which the Goths are depicted as even more villainous than the Romans, not a single one of them possessing any redeeming qualities. Throwing their entire nation into centuries of civil war so they can't invade others is seen as a heroic act. [[note]]Throwing the Goths into war with each other can also be seen as a "funny" explanation as for why Germany wasn't a united country until 1871: they had been too busy fighting each other and creating several tiny principalities.[[/note]] This is somewhat understandable though, when you remember that the Goths are early Germans and the comic was written not too long after World War II (and Goscinny was Jewish, he lost family members in UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust). Later appearances by Goths (for example in ''Asterix the Legionary'') rectified this, making them more sympathetic, neutral or even heroic.

* DesignatedVillain: On paper, Romans are the villains, TheEmpire that tries to defeat LaResistance. However, in some stories (and save for the cases of {{big bad}}s or TheHeavy such as Tortuous Convolvulus), Romans are not really trying to do even that, they are just doing their own business, with the Gauls simply getting in the middle of it. It helps that the majority of legionaries are nothing more than {{punchclock villain}}s, [[JoinTheArmyTheySaid poor conscripts suffering from the Empire's expansion, anyway.]]

** ''Asterix at the Olympic Games'' is considered the worst of the live-action films, although ''Film/AsterixAndObelixGodSaveBritannia'' isn't much well-regarded either.

** Critics were kinder to ''Film/AsterixAndObelixGodSaveBritannia'' than they were to ''The Olympic Games''.

** ''Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom'' is now considered pretty much on par with ''The Olympic Games'' for the title of worst film in the frachise.

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: The second live-action film, ''Film/AsterixAndObelixMissionCleopatra'', is usually seen as much better, funnier and closer to the comics than ''Film/AsterixAndObelixTakeOnCaesar''. Only a few comics fans would disagree (and [[DisownedAdaptation Albert Uderzo himself]] back in the day).

* CriticalDissonance: The live action movie adaptations' critical reception ranged from well received to trashed. All of the movies were box-office successes but the second movie (''Mission Cleopatra'') is the only one well received (and none of the others reached its massive success in France), due to its particular brand of humor. The third (''The Olympic Games'') is considered as the worst.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Erix, the pirate captain's son, could be an interesting character, but he never appeared after ''Asterix and the Banquet'' (and had no characterization there either).

** A curious two-panel scene in ''Recap/AsterixInSpain''. It depicts Julius Caesar publicly pardoning a captured barbarian chief he has just been parading before the Roman public, after receiving much applause from everyone (including the prisoner!). While fairly amusing in providing the excuse for a few puns about having a "captive audience", it has no relevance at all to the story, and seems to serve no other purpose than being a page filler (it served as the last two panels on the page it appeared on).

** The black pirate is a ButtMonkey even for the other pirates, while the orginal Baba of the ''ComicBook/BarbeRouge'' comics (which the Asterix pirates are based on) was a BookDumb ex-slave, but nevertheless a brave, ressourceful and respected man who did not have a speech impediment.

** There are caricatures of black people which have been around since the early albums. They are wildly racist and offensive and would NOT be allowed in a new work today, but in the 1960s they were, sadly, not treated as an issue. On the other hand, this appearance is treated as no different than the general cartoonish caricaturization of other characters, and the actual stereotypes they're attributed are [[FairForItsDay no more mean-spirited than those given to any other ethnicities]].

* HoYay: Let's see, Asterix and Obelix live together, go pretty much everywhere together, have a dog together, and seem to be the only unmarried men in their village. Even for (supposedly) HeterosexualLifePartners, that's awfully close.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The 1992 arcade game has a very amazing soundtrack fitting the franchise' humorous tone. Notably [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR2oZspvHX0&t=97s "Wave"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzrCjgVJfvk "Save Falbara"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8pjGEcvn9M&t=43s "Asterix in Gauls Village"]], and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp47-B9WAJk "Asterix Vs. Caesar"]].

* DorkAge: At the very least, ''Recap/AsterixAndTheMagicCarpet'' through to ''Recap/AsterixAndTheFallingSky'' are considered markedly weak. Some fans take it even further, lumping everything created after Rene Goscinny's death (not counting ''Recap/AsterixInBelgium'', which was half-complete at the time of his death) into this category.

** In Japan, the only things translated to Japanese are the first three books and the live-action films, partly due to how difficult is to translate its trademark's humor to Japanese. Much of the history from the European ancient era pre-Medieval times, like the one from the Roman Empire, is quite alien for the Japanese to follow, in the same way classical Asian history could be considered exotic for western eyes. Coupled with the fact the protagonist are Gauls, whose historical deeds aren't very-well known outside western Europe, much less outside western countries, and the fact one of the authors, Albert Uderzo, wasn't very fond on Japanese media, this probably caused to prevent further translations to that country.

** ''Recap/ObelixAndCo'' features a character based on Jacques Chirac back when he was a Prime Minister, in 1976; the resemblance is not so striking today.

** The series was interpreted by some as a promotion of nationalism by defending traditional French values and to encourage fighting off foreign invaders, [[UnfortunateImplications which could be seen as racist and xenophobic]].

** ''Rcap/ObelixAndCo'' features a character based on Jacques Chirac back when he was a Prime Minister, in 1976; the resemblance is not so striking today.

* SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames: The Creator/{{Konami}} [[VideoGame/{{Asterix}} arcade game]]. The ''Asterix & Obelix XXL'' series was also pretty well received, especially the second game's [[ReferenceOverdosed numerous]] [[ShoutOut/AsterixAndObelixXXL2 Shout-Outs]]. On the other hand, some fans of the original comic book found [[PlayTheGameSkipTheStory the story and humor really weak]] for an ''Asterix'' game and too focused on [[WereStillRelevantDammit pandering to the gamers crowd]].

** French audiences would have immediately recognized the parade of Corsican stereotypes on display in ''Recap/AsterixInCorsica'', in which most Corsicans are lazy, work-shy, quick to anger over generations-old vendettas the cause of which they can't actually remember (and always with a vendetta knife at the ready to defend their honour), and fond of cheese the smell of which is enough to knock out an elephant. To readers outside France, however, these stereotypes mean nothing. The plethora of references to Corsican native UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte would also have gone over the heads of most readers outside France.[[note]] For this reason, although this is the best-selling ''Asterix'' volume in France, it has never reached similar levels of popularity elsewhere.[[/note]]

*** the French version, while still somewhat random, has a far more Caesar-relevant pun: when asked what Caesar is doing, one of the bystanders explains "il affranchit le rubicond" ("he is freeing the red(head)"). Which is almost the same, in French, as "il a franchi le Rubicon" ("he has crossed the Rubicon"). Which is, of course, one of Caesar's most famous historical deeds, and the one that started the civil war that Caesar is now returning victorious from. Still a bit of a random scene, but far more relevant.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Dogmatix was introduced as a visual gag in ''Recap/AsterixAndTheBanquet'', and it was intended that he would not appear again after that book. He proved far more popular than Goscinny and Uderzo anticipated, however, and rapidly ascended to being one of the most important characters in the series.
* FandomRivalry: A mild one with fans of ''Tintin''.

** ''Recap/AsterixAndTheChariotRace'' features a masked chariot racer named "Coronavirus", who competes in a race across Italy. Roughly two years after its publication, the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic occured, with Italy being one of the first countries outside Asia to be affected (and one of the hardest hit by it), ''and'' Uderzo himself died during the pandemic (albeit from unrelated cause).

** The caricatures of black people that appear in the early albums are wildly racist and offensive and would NOT be allowed today, but in the 1960s they were, sadly, not treated as an issue. On the other hand, this appearance is treated as no different than the general cartoonish caricaturization of other characters, and the actual stereotypes they're attributed are [[FairForItsDay no more mean-spirited than those given to any other ethnicities]].

** The caricatures of black people that appear in the early albums are wildly racist and offensive and would NOT be allowed today, but in the 1960s they were, sadly, not treated as an issue.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:
** ''Recap/AsterixAndTheBlackGold'' has the Romans burning all the petroleum in Palestine so the Gauls can't bring it back home. The book was written in 1981, ten years before an actual military-induced oil fire in the Middle East (the Iraqi troops setting fire on Kuwait's reserves as they left following UsefulNotes/TheGulfWar). There's also a scene where oil is thrown off a boat and hits a bird. While it's a reference to a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amoco_Cadiz_oil_spill spill on the French coast]] in 1978, the seagull covered in oil ends up evoking the ''Exxon Valdez'' in 1989 (and the ''Deepwater Horizon'' 19 years later).
** ''Recap/AsterixAndTheChariotRace'' features a masked chariot racer named "Coronavirus", who competes in a race across Italy. Roughly two years after its publication, the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic occured, with Italy being one of the first countries outside Asia to be affected (and one of the hardest hit by it), ''and'' Uderzo himself died during the pandemic (albeit from unrelated cause).

* OlderThanTheyThink: It is often believed in France that Creator/RogerCarel was the first to voice Asterix, in 1967's ''WesternAnimation/AsterixTheGaul''. That's technically not true -- Guy Piérauld (the most iconic French voice of WesternAnimation/BugsBunny himself) was the first, in a 1960 radio play. This still makes Carel ThePeteBest, as he remains the most iconic French voice of Asterix by a long shot.