Characters / Tarzan

Characters from the Disney film and here is the link to the movie's sequel TV series.

BEWARE OF UNMARKED SPOILERS

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Main Characters

Tarzan

"Hnh, Tarzan! Taaaarrrrzaaaaan."

Voiced By: Tony Goldwyn (original movie), Alex D. Linz (younger), Michael T. Weiss (TV series), Harrison Chad (Tarzan II) BRIAN BLESSED (his signature yell); Reuben Sallmander (Swedish dub); Emmanuel Jacomy (adult), Maxime Nivet (child) (European French dub)

Tarzan is the protagonist and titular character of Tarzan. Commonly known as the "King of the Jungle", Tarzan was rescued and raised by a colony of apes after his parents were killed by the bloodthirsty Sabor. As the years passed, he turned into an ape man, protecting all of the apes and never knowing the world outside the jungle.

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• Accidental Pervert: During his first interaction with Jane, he lifts up her dress. She kicks him away in retaliation, mistaking his curious actions for perverted ones.
• Action Hero: He's one of the most athletic Disney protagonists out there and a very proficient fighter.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: Black-haired in the books, brown-haired in this adaptation.
• Adaptational Modesty: Despite his lack of dress this is still in place, as book Tarzan didn't bother with any clothes at all for his childhood and much of his teenage years, only taking to wearing a loincloth after copying the style from some local tribesmen.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: Book Tarzan is still a basically decent person but his wild upbringing make him much less hesitant to resort to violence than the Disney version.
• Adoption Angst: He was raised by gorillas after his parents were killed; although he has a positive relationship with his adoptive mother Kala, he initially struggles to integrate himself with the troop and is distrusted by their leader, Kerchak, who refuses to acknowledge Tarzan as his son even though Kala is his mate. Tarzan desperately tries to gain Kerchak's approval and is upset when he learns Kala never told him there were other humans out there, feeling increasingly torn between his life in the jungle and the possibility of rejoining human society. He ultimately stays in the jungle, though he's accompanied by his love interest Jane and her father, getting the best of both worlds. He also finally gains Kerchak's love and respect after saving the gorillas from poachers, though it's a bittersweet moment as Kerchak soon dies from a bullet he took for Tarzan.
• Affectionate Nickname: Called "T" by Terk.
• All-Loving Hero: He cares deeply about his family and friends and is willing to risk his life to save them. He has also been known to be willing to rescue his enemies; an example of this is when Clayton is about to fall to his death, and Tarzan exclaims "Clayton! Clayton, don't!" and reaches out to save him, even though Clayton had fatally wounded Kerchak and attempted to kidnap his whole gorilla family. In the TV Series, Tarzan doesn't try to kill his enemies, more of just defeat them, and only rarely does so when there is absolutely no options, such as the giant python who was hunting the Gorillas.
• All of the Other Reindeer: Aside from Kala and Terk, all of the other gorilla's were disturbed by him for being "ugly" and an unfamiliar species (just like Kerchak but less outwardly hostile) and had no instincts on how to cope with him. Their disturbance with him for his appearance was only hightened by Tarzan's occasional screwups within the troop due to his physical difficulties to adapt to gorillas ways of life (such as him accidentally knocking over their children during a race). And when an accident leads them to believe he's dead, Tarzan overhears a group of mother apes say that Kala's probably better off without him since he almost got her killed (Kala had tried to save Tarzan from falling off a cliff before getting hit in the face with a log) and even going as far as to say that they're all better off without him. However, they adapt to Tarzan as he grows up — and vice versa.
• Animal Motifs: Apes. First, he was raised his entire life by them. Second, his famous Primal Chest-Pound is the same thing apes do (though the ululating yell he lets out while doing so is this franchise's creation). Thirdly, he will usually knuckle-walk. Fourthly, Clayton refers to him as an "ape man".
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: As an adult, Tarzan's speed, athleticism, strength, and smarts are above his gorilla family. And he ends up as his family's protector.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: After witnessing some of Tarzan's biggest feats such as killing a leopard and grappling a gorilla much bigger than him, viewers are treated to seeing the King of the Jungle wear his father's suit; unfortunately, the most we get of him with the suit on is a brief Le Parkour sequence that ends with his capture and the eventual stripping down back to his loincloth.
• Badass in Distress:
  • Following the ambush at the ship, Clayton's crew manages to lock him up there with no possibility of escaping, and they would've gotten away with it if it wasn't for Terk and Tantor coming to his rescue.
  • In a similar circumstance in the cartoon series, Prof. Porter's rival, Prof. Philander, manages to not only trap Tarzan onboard a ship but he nearly kills our hero while doing so. Only the intervention of Mangani, the white ape with the power to heal, saves Tarzan's life.
  • He also got captured by Queen La in her debut episode, and tied to a sacrificial slab with a laser threatening to slice him in half and his life was saved by Jane when she used smoke to block the sunlight used for the laser.
• Beware the Nice Ones: He's a pretty affable guy until you threaten him, or worse, his family.
• Braids of Action: In a Dreadlock Rasta style.
• Brainy Brunette: Tarzan has brown hair and don't let his demeanor fool you. He's shown to be quick-witted, an avid book lover, and a Gadgeteer Genius.
• Calling Parents by Their Name: Justified. Tarzan refers to Kerchak by name unlike with Kala. This is due to the fact that unlike the latter, the former was openly suspicious and aloof towards Tarzan since his youth and Kerchak never referred to him as a son.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: Thanks to living in the jungle all his life, Tarzan was able to develop skills no other human can have. These skills include the following: Swinging through the trees, sliding across branches, holding things with his feet, and having a good sense of hearing and smell. He's able to fight and win against leopards, hyenas, gorillas, baboons, hippos, rhinoceros, snakes, crocodiles, elephants, jackals, and dinosaurs. At one point, Tarzan manages to physically pin down the much larger Kerchak.
• Chick Magnet: Jane is instantly smitten with him, even before they start spending time together. The TV series has Tarzan being immediately swooned over by Jane's friends, and to a darker extent, Queen La.
• Child of Two Worlds: He was born in human society, but raised in the jungle through the rest of his life.
• Child Prodigy: As a child, Tarzan was able to make impressive traps and stone-age inventions.
• Clueless Chick-Magnet: The TV series shows that Tarzan doesn't understand the concept of flirting. Justified considering he had no interaction with other humans after his parents were killed until Jane came along.
• Color-Coded Eyes: Green eyes befitting his jungle home.
• Cultured Badass: He's well read and is the King of the Jungle.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Downplayed. Tarzan's parents were killed while he was present, but since he was only an infant, he doesn't remember. He then spent an early part of his childhood ostracized by his gorilla family (sans Kala), and especially by Kerchak. But, as he grew to adapt to the jungle, they grew to adapt to him.
• Determinator: As the "Son of Man" montage demonstrates, Tarzan's struggle to be accepted as a member of the ape pack didn't stop him from standing up after every failure and trying time and time again to overcome the jungle's challenges, eventually having paid off by the time he reached adulthood since he became as efficient and self-sufficient as any other gorilla in the pack, and probably even more.
• Dreadlock Rasta: His hairstyle... or, in this case, his complete lack of a hairstyle.
• Eloquent in My Native Tongue: He's fluent (and even a bit of a Deadpan Snarker) when talking to gorillas and elephants, but uses Hulk Speak when talking to humans. This is clearly a Translation Convention, as the gorillas and the elephants use Animal Talk and the humans speak English.
• Experienced Protagonist: By the time he is an adult, Tarzan is fully skillful and experienced when handling the daily chaos of the jungle.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • He refuses to shoot Clayton, despite him mortally wounding Kerchak and trying to imprison the other gorillas. When he non-lethally restrains him with vines, and Clayton recklessly tries to cut himself free, Tarzan actually begs him to stop, knowing exactly what fate he's setting himself up for.
  • Tarzan has nothing but dislike towards Tublat but was conflicted when he was captured by Niels and Merkus, citing the jungle is Tublat's home as well as his and his family. As such, Tarzan goes to rescue the gorilla knowing full well the latter won't be grateful.
• Failed a Spot Check: Justified. Before Sabor attacks him and the gorillas he's staring directly at the leopard's hiding place, and a viewer will be able to see her if they look closely. Thing is, she's so well camouflaged it's almost impossible to spot her unless you pause the film or know exactly where to look.
• Fantastic Racism: Justified. The TV series explores Tarzan's bigotry and animosity towards leopards, which isn't very surprising given how Sabor killed his parents, the first child of Kerchak and Kala, and attacked his family when he became an adult. However, in the episode where he and Jane take in a leopard separated from his mother, he gradually learns to let go of his prejudice.
• Fish out of Water: Downplayed, but still applies to Tarzan during his escape from the thugs on the ship; he's able to perform his jungle acrobatics on the ship's masts and cages for the most part, but wearing shoes while doing so promptly makes him lose his stability at moments, to the point where he's rendered unable to climb the ship's funnel because of this and winds up getting captured despite managing to outperform his pursuers.
• Flowers of Romance: He's inspired by one of the human development slides he witnessed to present Jane with a batch of flowers.
• Genius Bruiser: He develops stone-age technology by himself as a child with nothing to go on but his own intuition. And manages to figure out reading and human language conventions in a matter of months.
• Good Is Not Dumb: Tarzan is a benevolent and peaceful man, and while he may be ignorant about human ways due to being raised by gorillas, he's not stupid in the least. He's learned a variety of skills from his life in the jungle, is able to mimic any sound he hears, and picks up on what Jane and her father teach him about humanity very quickly (including a broken but still decent grasp of English).
• Hairstyle Inertia: Has the same dreadlock hairstyle from his childhood.
• Handy Feet: The result of being raised by primates. Restricting them with shoes is a hindrance to him.
• Happily Adopted: By Kala, and he grew as happy and loved as any child.
• Happily Married: As seen in the sequel TV series, he and Jane form a stable and loving marriage.
• He Cleans Up Nicely: When he wears human clothing for the first time, he looks pretty darn dapper. Not that he was hard on the eyes before that.
• Honor Before Reason: Tublat had been a terror to Tarzan and the other gorillas, trying to kill them every chance he got. When he gets captured by poachers, the gorillas celebrate, happy to be rid of the murderous Tublat and be free of his attacks. Tarzan, however, despite not liking the guy himself, decides to try and save him even if the other gorillas try to tell him that Tublat deserves whatever fate awaits him.
• Hulk Speak: He spoke this way initially when communicating with humans. He moved past this by the end of the film.
• Humble Hero: His ego never grows despite how much of a badass he is.
• Hunk: Chiseled jaw, muscular body, and a Chick Magnet.
• "I Am Becoming" Song: "Son of Man." Although it's not sung by him, it's played over a montage of him learning to survive like an ape and think like a man, and shows him growing up from a clumsy, out-of-place human child to a true jungle dweller.
  Son of man, look to the sky
  Lift your spirits, set them free
  Someday you'll walk tall with pride
  Son of man, a man in time you'll be!
• If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!: While fighting Clayton, he gets a hold of Clayton's shotgun and threatens him with it, causing Clayton to try to taunt him into pulling the trigger and "being a man." After first mimicking a gunshot to scare him, Tarzan refuses to stoop to Clayton's level and proceeds to destroy the gun:
  Tarzan: Not a man like you!
• I Just Want to Be Normal: Tarzan runs to the edge of the water and puts mud all over himself when Kerchack tells him he'll never be one of them, resenting the fact that he's so different. He is then encouraged by Kala that he's "not that different" at all, but then when three other humans show up in the forest and he starts showing extreme curiosity towards them, Tarzan becomes angry with Kala for not telling him that there were creatures who looked like him.
• In a Single Bound: Tarzan as an adult is perfectly able and prone to jumps like these, owing to his determination to adapt to and survive in the jungle. One notable example is pulled off by him during the escape sequence aboard the ship that was supposed to take him and the rest to England (much to his pursuers' surprise and awe), point A being the top of a mast and point B being the top of the ship's funnel at a rather impressive distance, and all while wearing a suit. Partially justified in that the creators wanted him to be able to pull off stunts no actor could replicate in real life.
• Interspecies Adoption: Tarzan (human) was raised and loved by Kala (gorilla).
• Kubrick Stare: Jane comments on this habit of his: "I'd never seen such eyes."
• Leitmotif: He has a short triumphant theme that plays after he kills Sabor and again once he replaces Kerchak as the head of his gorilla family.
• Le Parkour: Takes this to new heights, especially with his "tree-surfing".
• Lightning Bruiser: He's tall, muscular and broad and has monkey-like agility, being able to jump across the jungle canopy, and wrestle leopards.
• Loincloth: His only clothing throughout most of the franchise.
• Longhaired Pretty Boy: Downplayed. There's no doubt that Tarzan is handsome, but he's more of a hunk than a pretty boy.
• Love at First Sight: Tarzan falls for Jane the first moment they meet.
• Meaningful Rename: Justified. Tarzan was given said name by Kala because he couldn't remember his birth name since he was a baby and his parents were already dead when Kala found him.
• Momma's Boy: Justified. Tarzan was closest to Kala when growing up because she was the only (initial) member to treat him with respect and Kerchak (adoptive gorilla father) didn't consider Tarzan as a son.
• Mr. Fanservice: He is a handsome, muscular young man who walks around in nothing but a Loincloth.
• Muscles Are Meaningless: While averted for the most part, given his displays of strength are plausible for a man of his build, this is played straight when he manages to get a throat lock on a silverback gorilla (none other than his adoptive father Kerchak) who's much more muscular than him.
• Nature Hero: He is basically the Trope Codifier.
• Never Learned to Talk: The animals hear Tarzan speak perfect English, but this is because he Speaks Fluent Animal. Humans can't hear him speak English and just hear him making ape noises. Tarzan eventually learns how to talk to humans.
• Nice Guy: Despite being a Nubile Savage, Tarzan is one of the sweetest, bravest, thoughtful and humble men you'll ever meet.
• No Sense of Personal Space: His first meeting with Jane involves him fiddling with her foot, trying to peek up her skirt, and pressing his ear to her chest to hear her heartbeat. That said, he does it out of pure curiosity and excitement at finally finding someone like him, and of course has no idea how other people feel about their personal space. Lampshaded later on by Jane, who mentions how he has "no respect for personal boundaries".
  Jane: [gets very up close to the Professor to demonstrate] He was this close, Daddy! Staring at me!
• Nubile Savage: He looks very clean for a man living in the jungle. Unusually for an Englishman, he doesn't seem able to grow facial hair.
• Official Couple: With Jane Porter.
• Only One Name: His original human name as a baby is never revealed, as his human parents go nameless. In the books it's John Clayton (same as his father, Lord Greystoke.)
• Papa Wolf: Tarzan is fiercely protective of his family and will defend them no matter what.
• Perma-Shave: He shows no signs of any facial hair, but didn't even have any concept of shaving before meeting other humans.
• Platonic Life-Partners: With Terk; she is his adoptive cousin and closest friend.
• Prefers Going Barefoot: Justified as shoes hinder his ape-like agility. Wearing his father's shoes near the end of the movie puts a real dent in his acrobatic abilities. He's notably taken them off when he's locked up on the ship.
• Primal Chest-Pound: At the end of the movie, he pounds his chest while letting out his Signature Roar.
• Primal Stance: To show his savage upbringing, he walks on all fours, using his knuckles as front limbs, similarly to the gorillas that raised him.
• Protagonist Title: Tarzan is the main protagonist of Disney's Tarzan franchise.
• Raised by Wolves: He was raised by gorillas.
• A Real Man Is a Killer: Defied. When Tarzan has Clayton at gunpoint he tells the hero to pull the trigger and "be a man". Tarzan fakes a gunshot noise and breaks the gun instead.
  Tarzan: Not a man like YOU!
• Red Baron: "The King of the Jungle".
• Related in the Adaptation: Downplayed. In the books, Kerchak isn't his adoptive father.
• Replacement Goldfish: Defied. Kala and Kerchak are well aware that Tarzan won't replace their dead child. However, Kala truly comes to love Tarzan, while it takes Kerchak a long time to accept him.
• Save the Villain: Attempted during the climax of the film. Despite Clayton shooting Kerchak and trying to sell his entire gorilla family, when he sees that Clayton has tangled a vine around his neck in the midst of his reckless hacking to get free, Tarzan attempts to warn him and even reaches out to save him... but it's too late.
  Tarzan: Clayton! Clayton, don't!
• Signature Roar: The Disney team decided to keep the most iconic thing Johnny Weissmuller added to the Tarzan franchise: that primeval, challenging yodel. Credits go to BRIAN BLESSED for doing a near-perfect Johnny Weissmuller impression.
• Silence Is Golden: Suddenly becomes this as he grows up, only speaking in broken English as a result. Jane manages to re-teach him.
• Single-Target Sexuality: Explicitly stated by himself in the TV series — "Jane is the best."
• Smarter Than You Look: Since he was raised by gorillas, many of his adversaries underestimate Tarzan's intelligence.
• Speaks Fluent Animal: Tarzan speaks fluent animal (he even teaches it to other human characters). However, for all his skill, there are some animals who just aren't interested in talking. Like Sabor. He also mentions at some points in the TV series that he's not fluent in the languages of certain animals, like dinosaurs.
• Stripperiffic: Wears nothing but a loincloth for most of the film.
• Strong and Skilled: Tarzan is not only amazingly strong for a human, but thanks to living in the jungle, he is able to adapt to changes and use them to his advantage.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Without the mustache, Tarzan's father looks identical to his son.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: For a man living in the jungle his whole life, he is quite handsome.
• Teen Genius: As a child he is shown to be able to work out how to make spears, slingshots, and hammocks without any guidance. At 18 years old he is shown to be able to learn to read and speak an entire language in what appears to be a few months or weeks. He's also a natural mimic and can teach himself to recreate any sound he's heard.
• Token Human: Before Jane and Professor Porter came, Tarzan was the only human of his gorilla family.
• Took a Level in Badass: Tarzan was an awkward, clumsy kid who couldn't swing on a vine if his life depended on it. Fast-forward into his adulthood, he's the strongest and fastest of his family, who can now surf on the vines. The midquel shows some of the transition when he was still an adolescent.
• Tragic Keepsake: The TV series shows that Tarzan still keeps his deceased father's suit, and that he and Jane live in his parents' home.
• Tranquil Fury: When confronting an enemy, he usually speaks to them in a calm and cold tone.
• The Unfavorite: Downplayed. He is accepted and loved by most of his gorilla family and shares a close relationship with his adoptive mother Kala, but he's still regarded as an outsider by his adoptive father Kerchak, who is adamant that Tarzan will never truly be one of them. He finally accepts Tarzan as his son on his deathbed.
• Unkempt Beauty: He doesn't look bad for a man living in the jungle with no opportunity for hygiene.
• Unrelated in the Adaptation:
  • Played straight with Clayton. In the books, they're cousins. In the Disney film, they aren't.
  • Downplayed with Tublat. In the books, the gorilla is his adoptive father. In the Disney sequel TV series, he isn't.
• Vine Swing: He often travels around the jungle like this.
• Voice Changeling: He has quite the talent for mimicking the sounds of other animals, such as an elephant trumpet and the firing of a shotgun.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: For the majority of the movie and the series he wears nothing but a Loincloth.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Tarzan is constantly seeking the approval of Kerchak, who refuses to accept Tarzan as a member of the gorilla pack, much less as his adopted son. Kerchak almost accepts him when he defeats Sabor, until the arrival of the British expedition team reminds him of his distrust in humans. That all changes when Tarzan comes back to save the gorillas. Sadly, it doesn't last that long, as Kerchak receives a fatal bullet wound from Clayton. After Clayton's death, Tarzan kneels over Kerchak, who passes on leadership of the pack to Tarzan and even acknowledges Tarzan as his son with his last words.
• Wild Child: In the first act of the movie, Tarzan is shown as a child and how it was for him growing up different than his gorilla family.
• Worf Had the Flu: As mentioned in Fish out of Water and Prefers Going Barefoot above, while it's true being in a different environment does affect his movement, the reason he fails to escape from the mooks at the ship despite handily outperforming them at Le Parkour is that he's wearing his father's suit, thus the shoes make it impossible for him to climb up the funnel that he ends up hanging and eventually falling from. It's particularly more jarring when taking into account that no one asked him to wear the suit in the first place.
• The World Is Just Awesome: Due to his extremely remote upbringing, Tarzan is entranced by the rest of the world. He is often shown seeking out things to learn and delighting in science, culture or anything else he’s never seen before, treating everything he experiences with the same sense of wonder and adoration.
• Wrestler of Beasts: As an adult, he kills Sabor with a crude spear he made. He also fights and defeats Kerchak to protect Jane from him.
• You Killed My Father: He killed Sabor before learning that the leopard killed his biological parents and attempted to kill Clayton for shooting his adoptive father Kerchak before deciding not to.
• Young and in Charge: At the end of the movie, Kerchak gives the role of leader and protector of the gorilla tribe to Tarzan before the former's death.
• Younger Than They Look: A side effect of being physically based on previous Tarzan actor Christopher Lambert who played the role at age 27. Tarzan is only 18 years old during the events of the movie and sequel series.

Jane Porter

"I was saved by a flying wild man in a loincloth!"

Voiced by: Minnie Driver (original movie), Olivia d'Abo (subsequent appearances); Valérie Lemercier (original movie), Julette Degenne (series) (European French dub), Manjola Merlika (Albanian dub), Mayumi Suzuki (Japanese dub)

Jane Porter is the love interest and eventual wife of Tarzan. Once a sheltered London girl, she becomes significantly more outgoing and adventurous after meeting Tarzan.

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• Action Survivor: Jane wasn't raised in the jungle and isn't a fighter, but survives using her wits and the lessons she learned from Tarzan and their family.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: Jane had blonde hair in the books, but has brown hair here.
• Adaptational Modesty: At the end of the film, she wears a female variant of Tarzan's attire. In the sequel series, The Legend of Tarzan, she typically wears her blouse and skirt. However, in one episode, she wears the Fur Bikini again (as a bathing suit).
• Adaptational Nationality: American from Baltimore in the books, but British here.
• Adrenaline Makeover: Provides the main image. In the beginning, her hair is a bun and in a large yellow dress. When she brings Tarzan back her hair is loose, and she starts wearing a shirt and skirt and occasionally goes barefoot. When she falls in love she's wearing loose fitting clothing, and by the end of the film she's wearing animal skins like Tarzan.
• Badass Bookworm: Is smart throughout the entire movie, but when she takes a level in badass in the climax, it really comes to shine.
• Barefoot Loon: She is free-spirited and a bit quirky, and the fact that she goes barefoot by choice illustrates that.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Jane can only take the high road for so long until she snaps.
• Brainy Brunette: Runs in the family: her father is a professor, and she must have learned a lot from him.
• British Stuffiness: She's a proper English lady when she first shows up. She gradually gets out of it as her relationship with Tarzan develops.
• Character Development: After she marries Tarzan, Jane becomes less ladylike and more like an ape, as is stated by Tarzan.
• Crush Blush: She's endearingly shy about her attraction to Tarzan and blushes often.
• Daddy's Girl: She's a favourite of a Bumbling Dad, as was tradition in the 90s with Disney, or so it would seem.
• Damsel in Distress: Despite being an independent and brave woman, she often needs to be rescued by Tarzan due to the jungle being an alien environment to her.
• Deadpan Snarker: How she gets by when being a Fish out of Water.
• Endearingly Dorky: She's nerdy and bookish, with a tendency to talk a lot, but this doesn't make her any less attractive. Tarzan certainly falls in Love at First Sight with her.
• First Girl Wins: She's the first human female Tarzan meets, and he instantly falls in love with her.
• Fish out of Water: She's a well-educated, independent, and reasonably brave young woman, but she's out of her depths in the African rain forest, resulting in her becoming a Damsel in Distress.
• Friend to All Living Things: She came to the jungle (with her dad) to study gorillas. Jane even playfully converses with a baby baboon.
• Going Native: At the end of the film, she decides to stay in the jungle with Tarzan. By the last scene, she has ditched her fancy dress and is wearing a more fitting outfit.
• Happily Married: As seen in the sequel TV series, she and Tarzan form a stable and loving marriage.
• Hartman Hips: While rather slim, Jane has wide hips and a posterior worth mentioning.
• Held Gaze: Her first meeting with Tarzan.
• Horrible Judge of Character: In the series when Hugo and Hooft debut, Jane has a low opinion of them since they seem to be con artists, and warns Tarzan to be wary of them. She winds up inadvertently helping Colonel Staquait into capturing them since he's an officer, so he couldn't be bad, right? Until she finds out the colonel is a sadistic bastard who abuses his authority and that he plans to execute Hugo and Hooft simply because they refused to burn down a village full of innocent people. Jane realises that she had made a grave error in judgement.
• I Choose to Stay: She would rather stay with Tarzan in the jungle than go back to England.
• Ink-Suit Actor: Just look at Minnie Driver. Plus, a lot of Jane's scenes were ad-libbed.
• Lady of Adventure: Jane is a gentleman's daughter. She accompanies her father to a completely unexplored region of Africa and certainly doesn't stay in camp while the others explore.
• Letting Her Hair Down: To symbolize that she loses her stuffiness.
• Losing a Shoe in the Struggle: She loses a boot in the escape from the baboons. It leads to her ditching footwear altogether.
  Jane: And Daddy, they took my boot! [points at her bare foot]
• Mama Bear: By the TV series, Jane has grown so close to her ape family that she is willing to take on a giant python to protect one of them.
• Motor Mouth: Due to Minnie Driver's hilarious ad-libbing, she tends to talk a lot when she's excited and she says it all very quickly.
• Ms. Fanservice: She's already attractive, beautiful and cute, but becomes a bit more... relaxed with her attire as the film goes on.
• Nice Girl: Jane is kind, empathetic, proper, charming, and sweet.
• Official Couple: With Tarzan.
• Parasol of Pain: While she and Tarzan are escaping the baboons, she uses her parasol as a shield to knock them out of the way.
• Prim and Proper Bun: She initially wears her hair like this, in line with her British Stuffiness. She eventually loses it as she accommodates to the jungle environment.
• Rescue Romance: Her relationship with Tarzan starts after he saves her from a group of angry baboons.
• Sherlock Scan: She's able to remember every single minuscule detail about her first encounter with Tarzan, to the point that she's able to accurately draw him from memory, down to his eye structure.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Her attraction to Tarzan starts after he saves her from a family of angry baboons. As they start to spend more time together, she becomes more enraptured by his sweetness. In one of the episodes in the TV series, she mentions how she loves his gentle and kind nature.
• Slapstick: The movie makes quite a bit of comedic use out of her inexperience in the jungle, though this eventually dies down as she gets more used to things — still, chances are if there's a scene where she's in that huge, fancy looking dress, it's going to be ruined in some kind of slapstick scene.
• Spirited Young Lady: A high-society, 19th century woman who dresses the part and follows the decorum, but is also a scientist and a capable Action Girl.
• Stripperiffic: In her final scene she's in a somewhat revealing two-piece, particularly by Victorian standards. Although bared midriffs have become common in kid's movies since The '90s, they are still considered a bit scandalous.
• Strong Family Resemblance: In the TV series it's revealed that Jane looks exactly like her mother.
• Tempting Fate: "It can't get much worse, can it? [cue rain] Obviously, it can."
• Tickle Torture: She's so ticklish that even just Tarzan wiggling her toes makes her burst out laughing.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: She's the Girly Girl (proper lady who practices decorum) to Terk's Tomboy (admits to knowing little about etiquette and is One of the Boys).
• Took a Level in Badass: One episode of the TV series has Jane showing her survival skills when her friends come to visit. A huge leap from her helplessness in the movie. Also, in "Tarzan and the Prison Break," she tackles Colonel Staquait and saving Tarzan's life while wearing her yellow dress.
• Uptown Girl: Jane is a London girl. Tarzan literally lives with gorillas. She ends up loving life in the jungle far more than life in the city.
• Younger Than They Look: Like Tarzan, Jane is only 18 years old during the events of the movie and sequel series.

Kala

"Forget what you see. What do you feel?"

Voiced By: Glenn Close (movies), Kat Cressida (vocal effects, first movie), Susanne Blakeslee (TV series); Frédérique Tirmont (European French dub)

Kala is the adoptive gorilla mother of Tarzan and is very loving to him.

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• Adaptational Species Change: She's a gorilla here, when in the original Burroughs books Tarzan was raised by a fictional ape species called Mangani.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Although she is usually a gentle person, Kala is capable of aggression when necessary and is also very brave, fighting against the deadly leopard Sabor in order to protect the baby Tarzan.
• Curtains Match the Windows: Kala has brown fur and brown eyes.
• Cute Little Fangs: As a gorilla, she has pointy canines, but they are small and don't make her look ferocious at all (except when she fights Sabor to defend Tarzan).
• Cuteness Proximity: Her initial interaction with Tarzan is governed by this: she has no long-term plans, she just doesn't want the cute (admittedly stinky!) mystery creature to be eaten.
• The Cutie: Rounded features, placid eyes and gestures, and a loving and sympathetic heart.
• Gentle Gorilla: She's kind, sweet, motherly and a loving parent to Tarzan.
• Good Parents: She loves her son Tarzan so unconditionally, although she said that she knew Tarzan wouldn't replace her firstborn son who was killed by Sabor.
• Interspecies Adoption: Kala (gorilla) raised and loved Tarzan (human) since he was an infant.
• Mama Bear: She performs some impressive feats when trying to get the baby Tarzan away from Sabor.
• Morality Pet: Acts as one to her mate, Kerchak. She's probably the sole person he listens to, and the reason the latter allows Tarzan to live with them.
• My Greatest Second Chance: Averted; Despite Kerchak's belief that Kala was seeking to make up for the recent loss of their child with Tarzan, Kala adopted Tarzan simply because he needed someone to take care of him and there was no one else.
  Kerchak: Kala, it won't replace the one we lost.
  Kala: I know that, but he needs me.
• Nice Girl: Kala is calm, gentle, kind, loving, and beautiful.
• Outliving One's Offspring: Her and Kerchak's biological son was murdered by Sabor.
• Pale Females, Dark Males: With her mate, Kerchak. She has light brown fur while he has black.
• Parental Substitute: She takes Tarzan in after his parents are killed by Sabor. Her own son was killed by the same leopard.
• Related in the Adaptation: Downplayed. In the books, Kerchak wasn't her mate. He is in the Disney film.
• Spared by the Adaptation: In the book, she's killed by a native hunter. In the movie, she's still alive at the end.
• Unrelated in the Adaptation: Downplayed. Tublat was her mate in the books.

Kerchak

"I said he could stay. That doesn't make him my son."

Voiced By: Lance Henriksen (also vocal effects, first movie); Jean-Bernard Guillard (European French dub); Jose Lavat (Latin Spanish dub)

Kerchak is the leader of the gorillas, Kala's mate, and Tarzan's adoptive gorilla father. Unlike Kala, he thinks of Tarzan as a threat and doesn't consider him his son.

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• Abusive Dad: May be subverted on the grounds that he never declared himself Tarzan's adoptive father, instead just letting his mate raise him. While Kerchak was never physically abusive to Tarzan, he was emotionally — he would never hide his suspicions of Tarzan being a threat and, at one point, said that he would never be like their gorilla family.
• Action Dad: He often gets in fights to protect his family; first with Sabor and then with Clayton. He also has a big fight with Tublat in a flashback scene of the TV series.
• Adaptational Heroism: He was a villain in the books, where he was the one who killed Tarzan's father (Tarzan's mother had died in her sleep just the night before) and later tries to kill Tarzan after the latter challenges him for leadership. Here, Kerchak is deeply suspicious of the title character, but only because he considers him a potential threat. Other than that, he's a heroic figure and good leader.
• Adaptational Species Change: He's a gorilla here, when in the original Burroughs books Tarzan was raised by a fictional ape species called Mangani.
• Animal Eyes: He has yellow sclerae, unlike the rest of the gorillas who have white, humanlike sclerae, giving him a more ferocious look.
• Animals Not to Scale: He's typically drawn much larger than real life gorillas. But at certain points, such as his death, he is shrunken slightly to a more accurate size.
• Ape Shall Never Kill Ape: He is determined to protect his gorilla family at any cost and his reasons for distrusting and disliking Tarzan from the minute Kala brought him to the nest as an infant is because "He isn't one of us."
• Berserk Button: Anything or anyone that threatens his family will send him into attack mode.
• Big Good: While he's an Anti-Hero that's opposed to Tarzan being part of the band, he's still the Alpha of the gorilla band that Clayton hunts in the end.
• Changed My Mind, Kid: His first instinct upon seeing Tarzan chased by Sabor or held at gunpoint by Clayton is to attack. Turns out Tarzan is family, after all.
• Character Development: For most of Tarzan's life, Kerchak was cold and emotionally distant to Tarzan, as he perceived the latter as a threat. However, when Tarzan (as an adult) killed Sabor, Kerchak grew to respect him. And by the end of the film, he finally referred to Tarzan as his son.
• Composite Character: Of the book's Kerchak (his name, leader of the tribe) and Tublat (Kala's mate, unfriendly father figure to Tarzan). He's far more sympathetic than either though, ESPECIALLY the original Kerchak.
• Dark Is Not Evil: He is an imposing silverback with jet-black fur and is usually wreathed in shadows wherever he appears, but he is without doubt a righteous individual.
• Death Glare: Kerchak would often these glares to Tarzan, mostly during his boyhood, whenever they so much as bumped into each other. In the interquel, he also gives one to Terk for mocking him.
• Everyone Has Standards: Though he makes it clear he doesn’t like Tarzan or consider him part of the family, he still pulls Sabor away from him when she attacks. In a flashback in the TV series, he also tackles Tublat when he charges at young Tarzan. This shows that, at the very least, he doesn’t wish physical harm on Tarzan. Though he also dislikes humans in general and was perfectly willing to scare Jane, he didn’t try to attack the humans until they discovered their nest.
• Face Death with Dignity: He gets fatally shot by Clayton, who later ends up being hanged on a vine after a fight with Tarzan. However, he accepts this fate while apologizing for his uncaring behavior towards Tarzan, calmly entrusting him to take over the gorilla troop as its new leader. He even says so with his last words:
  Kerchak: "No, forgive me for not understanding that you have always been one of us. Our family will look to you now. Take care of them..... my son. Take care of them."
• Fantastic Racism: Harbors a hatred of anything outside of/different than his gorilla family, perceiving them as a possible threat, which extends to Tarzan and other humans.
• Forgotten Fallen Friend: Averted. Kerchak's memory still has an impact on the sequel TV series, with Tarzan still seeking his approval.
• Freudian Excuse: It's implied the death of his child had a serious impact on him, which could explain why he refuses to accept Tarzan as his son for most of the movie.
• Gentle Gorilla: In the opening scene, he's shown happily playing with his and Kala's child. After the child is killed by Sabor, he becomes much more gruff and stern, and will go full Killer Gorilla on anyone who threatens his family.
• Good Is Not Nice: Kerchak is a good character who cares about the safety of his pack, but is very irritable and distant, and hostile to anyone he perceives as a threat, and spends much of the movie refusing to acknowledge Tarzan as his adoptive son. It takes getting fatally shot by Clayton for him to finally do it.
• Good Parents: Key word being "parent". While he doesn't consider Tarzan his son until the end of the movie, he was an absolute softie when it came to his and Kala's child. It's implied that the death of his child had a serious impact on him.
• Hero Antagonist: Although he comes off as obstinate and hostile, Kerchak is loving to his family and dedicated to his entire community. He regularly risks his life for their safety. Although he's suspicious of mankind and can't bring himself to accept Tarzan as a gorilla, he doesn't repudiate him for being a human.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Following his change of heart, he discovers Tarzan being held at gunpoint by Clayton and runs toward the hunter to save his adoptive son, unwittingly taking the shot in the process.
• Jerkass Has a Point:
  • While Kerchak does come around to Tarzan, he made a good point about the possibility of Tarzan putting them in danger. As a child, he caused an elephant stampede which almost killed a young gorilla. Kerchak lampshades this by saying "you almost killed someone" and says to Kala "You can't keep defending him".
  • Later, he forbids everyone from going near the humans again. He was partially right about them being dangerous because when Tarzan brought them to the jungle, Clayton would've shot an unnamed gorilla if Kerchak didn't stop him. Tarzan regrets bringing them to the jungle when Clayton locks everyone up to ensure they don't stop him and his men from selling the gorillas. While Clayton would be stopped, Kerchak was not spared.
• Jerkass to One: While occasionally getting annoyed with Terk, he cares deeply for much of his family, but treats Tarzan with nothing but contempt throughout the boy's childhood, only gaining somewhat of a respect for him after he kills Sabor.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He is never friendly towards Tarzan over the course of the movie... because he sees Tarzan as a threat to the gorilla family. And yet he considered him a member of the family enough to attack Sabor when she threatened Tarzan. He has a change of heart when Tarzan saves the gorillas from Clayton.
• Killer Gorilla: Subverted. He often gets in fights, and immediately attacks the humans when they get close to the gorillas, but he only does this to defend his family, and he's otherwise docile, if pretty grumpy.
• Large and in Charge: He's the biggest gorilla, and the leader of the family.
• Leitmotif: He is accompanied with a somber and serious tune that plays when Kala first shows him Tarzan, when he gives a speech about the human visitors, right before he attacks Clayton and during his death scene.
• Mighty Glacier: Kerchak is incredibly strong but when it comes to faster, more agile opponents like Sabor, he's at a disadvantage.
• Mighty Roar: Often gives one before and while attacking. He lets out a particularly scary one when he and Kala first argue about whether to keep the infant Tarzan.
  Kerchak: "Kala, I cannot allow you to put our family in danger!"
  Kala: " Does he look dangerous to you?"
  Kerchak: (Roars and pounds his chest)
• My Greatest Failure: Failing to save his birth son from Sabor was arguably the worst moment of his life.
• Non-Standard Character Design: He is designed more realistically than the other gorillas, to give him an intimidating appearance.
• Outliving One's Offspring: His and Kala's biological son was murdered by Sabor.
• Pale Females, Dark Males: With his mate, Kala. He has black fur while she has light brown.
• Papa Wolf: He menaces Jane and her father when they get close to the gorillas — and he's not bluffing. Before that, he effortlessly sweeps through a herd of rampaging elephants to rescue a baby gorilla and flies out without a scratch.
  • He displays this protective side towards Tarzan a few times as well. In the first half of the film, his immediate action upon seeing Sabor attacking Tarzan is to jump to Tarzan's aid. Later, in the film's climax, he protects him again from Clayton's men and when Clayton shoots Tarzan's arm.
• The Patriarch: Fittingly for a silverback gorilla, he's the stern, badass head of his family.
• Perpetual Frowner: An exceptionally serious character, as many gorilla alpha males are, Kerchak is never seen smiling in the film (except for a few scenes such as when he bonds with his biological son at the beginning) or in any other Disney media, often presenting an indifferent or angry look on his face.
• Posthumous Character: In the TV series due to his death in the movie. He remains a vital influence in Tarzan's life, as his son is still looking for Kerchak's approval.
• Primal Chest-Pound: He does this twice in the movie: first when he's angry at Kala for adopting Tarzan, and then when he encounters and menaces Jane in the camp. He's a silverback gorilla, after all. He does it with open hands like real gorillas do, unlike the clenched fists like most cartoon gorillas (although the TV series forgets this and has him do it with clenched fists).
• Properly Paranoid:
  • Kerchak turns out not to be entirely wrong about not trusting the humans once Clayton's true plans are revealed.
  • In "The Face from the Past", he suspects correctly that Tarzan had something to do with the fire.
• Related in the Adaptation: Downplayed. In the books, Kerchak was neither Kala's mate nor Tarzan's adoptive father. Here, he is both.
• Redemption Equals Death: Once Tarzan returns to save his gorilla family from Clayton's men, Kerchak finally accepts him and even shields him from one of the crooks. Unfortunately, this would end with the silverback taking a bullet for Tarzan, and in his dying words he apologizes for his past behavior and calls Tarzan his son.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Kerchak is cold, aloof, and doesn't hide his dislike over Tarzan. However, he has his family's safety at heart.
• That Thing Is Not My Child!: Kerchak coldly rejects the idea of Tarzan being his son.
  Kerchak: [about Tarzan] I said he could stay. That doesn't make him my son.
• Top-Heavy Guy: Being an adult gorilla, his muscled forearms and torso are massive whereas his legs are relatively short.
• Ungrateful Bastard: In a flashback in "Tublat's Revenge", it's shown that Tarzan once saved his life via distracting Tublat (the hostile silverback that was going to kill Kerchak) long enough for him to regain his senses and banish him. He continued to treat Tarzan coldly after that and said he shouldn't have gotten involved. Tarzan II also ends with him saving Kala's life. Neither of which seemed to make Kerchak any nicer to him. It wasn’t until Tarzan killed Sabor (the leopard that killed his and Kala's baby) that he decided to stop hating him.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: An older example. When his and Kala's biological son was alive, Kerchak was shown to be more cheerful and happier. After his son's death, he became more bitter and cold.
• Would Not Hurt A Child: Losing his own child to Sabor doesn't stop him from protecting the other young gorillas of his troop. And even though he makes it very clear that he doesn’t like Tarzan, he never goes out of his way to physically hurt the human child (though he did try to convince Kala to leave him in the jungle before being pushed into letting him stay).
• Yellow Eyes of Sneakiness: Downplayed. His eyes are yellow, but he is more of a Hero Antagonist than a true villain (though he plays into sneakiness by appearing behind Jane when they first met).

Prof. Archimedes Q. Porter

"Archimedes Q. Porter at your service."

Voiced By: Nigel Hawthorne (original movie), Jeff Bennett (subsequent appearances); Henri Labussiere (European French dub)

Professor Archimedes Quincy Porter is a major character from Tarzan. He is both Jane's father and Tarzan's father-in-law.

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• Absent-Minded Professor: An eccentric, bumbling scientist.
• Adaptational Nationality: In the original novel, he and his daughter were Americans from Baltimore, not British.
• Berserk Button: Being the Friend to All Living Things he is, Professor Porter is infuriated when he hears Clayton's plans to abduct the gorillas and sell them.
  Porter: "All those magnificent creatures shivering in cages... what is this world coming to?!"
• Beware the Nice Ones: He is overall a nice guy who tends to be a comic relief, but he is unafraid to go tough when things go rough.
• Big Ol' Eyebrows: He has thick gray eyebrows.
• Bumbling Dad: Following a tradition of fathers of Disney's female leads. He's a short, physically unimpressive, absent-minded old man who mainly serves as comic relief.
• City Mouse: Not quite as strongly as in the books, but he's still a man accustomed to civilized life and its comforts. Just look at all the stuff he brought on safari. In The Legend of Tarzan, one episode revolves around how much he misses genuine English tea.
• Cloudcuckoolander: He's obsessive in a goofy way, easily distracted and scatterbrained. Jane clearly thinks he's not fit to live by himself, which makes her decision much more difficult.
• Color-Coded Eyes: Like his daughter, his green eyes probably reflect an affinity with the natural world.
• Ditzy Genius: He's a brilliant professor, but clumsy, bumbling and spacey.
• Friend to All Living Things: He's fascinated by Gorillas and pretty much all other forms of life in the jungle. When he finally gets to meet them, he approaches the gorillas with bumbling good will, and — aside from Kerchak — the gorillas quickly overcome their suspicion of him.
• Good Parents: He's a loving father to Jane, and also supportive of her relationship with a wild man.
• Horrible Judge of Character: He had no idea that Clayton was a poacher.
• I Choose to Stay: Decides to remain in Africa with his daughter to live out his remaining years studying nature.
• Ignored Expert: In the TV series episode "The Outbreak", he warns Bob Markham that his logging in the jungle and tampering with the ecosystem will lead to dire consequences. Bob doesn't listen, and it almost costs him dearly when his men and daughter get infected with a dormant disease unleashed by the bulldozing, just as Porter was concerned about.
• Miniature Senior Citizens: His daughter towers over him.
• Mysterious Middle Initial: His middle name starts with a "Q", but it's unknown what exactly it stands for.
• Nice Guy: Professor Porter is caring, brave, joyful, and fatherly.
• Open-Minded Parent: Porter has zero qualms with the growing attraction between Jane and Tarzan and encourages her to stay with him.
• Papa Wolf: He can be highly protective of his daughter Jane.
• Parental Substitute: He becomes a surrogate, paternal figure to his son-in-law Tarzan, giving him advice reminiscent of a father to his son.
• Shipper on Deck: He's the one that makes Jane realize she's in love with Tarzan and convinces her to stay with him.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: He's short and goofy-looking while his deceased wife looked exactly like Jane.

Terk

"The fun has arrived! Thank you very much."

Voiced By: Rosie O'Donnell (original movie, also vocal effects), April Winchell (TV series), Audrey Wasilewski (Kingdom Hearts), Brenda Grate (Tarzan II); Muriel Robin (original movie), Isabelle Leprince (Tarzan II and TV series) (European French dub)

Terk is Tarzan's 'cousin' and best friend from childhood.

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• Adaptational Heroism: In the books, her original counterpart Terkoz was Tarzan's enemy and even kidnapped Jane. In this adaptation, Terk is one of Tarzan's closest and most trusted friends.
• Adaptation Name Change: Terkoz in the book, Terkina (Terk for short) in this adaptation.
• Angrish: When Tarzan leaves Africa, she angrily starts throwing rocks and sand, telling him to never come back.
• Big Sister Instinct: While she is Tarzan's cousin, she acts more like his sister. And protects him from danger the best she can.
• Butt-Monkey: A large part of the comedy present in the film is played at her expense.
• Character Development: In the film's beginning, Terk was embarrassed to be seen with Tarzan and often tried to ditch him. However, after he nearly died trying to perform a task Terk made up, she actually becomes a true friend and protective figure towards him.
• Composite Character: She's a composite character of Terkoz, a villainous male mangani whom Tarzan exiles from his tribe, and Teeka, a female mangani from Jungle Tales of Tarzan who was Tarzan's friend (and first crush) when he was younger. Teeka herself appears in the television series as a separate character.
• Cool Big Sis: After becoming nicer to Tarzan, Terk acts as a surrogate sister to him.
• Cowardly Lion: She's often willing to bail at the first sign of trouble. But when the chips are down, Terk will be in the action.
• Deadpan Snarker: She's always in for a sarcastic remark.
  • One of her best comes from Tarzan and Jane after being sat on by Tantor.
  Tantor: Sorry, sorry Terk! You should've said something!
  Terk: I did. You must not have heard me through the two tons of BUTT!
• False Friend: Early in the movie, Terk is willing to help Tarzan and shows concern for his safety, but she is unwilling to be seen with him by her other friends. Thankfully, she stops being one.
• Gender Flip: Zigzagged. She is loosely based on a male (villainous) character from the books called Terkoz, if the name is any indication. She becomes male in the stage production based on the film.
• Incoming Ham: "THE FUUUUN HAS ARRIIIIIIIVED!"
• Interspecies Friendship: Between her (a gorilla), Tarzan (a human), and Tantor (an elephant).
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Underneath her crude and obnoxious personality, she has a soft and caring heart.
• Lady Looks Like a Dude: She sounds, looks and acts tough and masculine. While in the film this only led to Viewer Gender Confusion, in the TV series it becomes an In-Universe Running Gag.
• The Lancer: She is Tarzan's closest friend in the gorilla troop, and her brash attitude contrasts his gentle personality.
• Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: The tough-talking and crude Masculine Girl to Tantor's sensitive and thoughtful Feminine Boy.
• Never My Fault: She never takes responsibility for her actions.
• One of the Boys: She's very loud and masculine, and all her best friends are boys.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: According to a book featuring her as the narrator, she notes that she only lets her mother call her by her full name, Terkina.
• Platonic Life-Partners: With Tarzan and Tantor, as they are her closest friends who happen to both be males.
• Silly Simian: She's a wisecracking gorilla.
• Spared by the Adaptation: In the books, Terkoz is killed by Tarzan. Here, Terk is alive by the end of the film and sequel TV series.
• Stepford Snarker: It's implied that underneath her tough talking attitude, she's afraid of being isolated or rejected.
• The Power of Friendship: Always looks out for her friends especially Tarzan, even preventing him from falling when he was struggling to climb a tree and smiling to assure him she's there for him no matter what.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: The Tomboy (admits to knowing little about etiquette and is One of the Boys) to Jane's Girly Girl (proper lady who practices decorum).
• Tomboy with a Girly Streak: The TV series shows she has a soft spot for cute things, even leopard cubs. In one episode, she only agrees to help cure the loggers' disease (she insists they'll go back to bulldozing the jungle even after they get better) when she learns that their boss's cute little girl is also sick with it.
• Took a Level in Kindness: In the first movie, Terk becomes friendlier to Tarzan after initially ignoring him. She takes another level in the TV series, becoming nicer to Jane.

Tantor

"It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye!"

Voiced By: Wayne Knight (original movie), Taylor Dempsey (younger), Jim Cummings (TV series), Harrison Fahn (Tarzan II); Camille Donda (child), Jean-Eric Bielle (adult, first movie), Boris Rehlinger (adult, TV series) (European French dub)

Tantor is Terk and Tarzan's highly neurotic elephant friend.

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• Adaptation Personality Change: The mentioned bull elephant from Tarzan of the Apes whom Tantor is based on is stated to be the only thing Kerchak feared. With this character being a Cowardly Lion that would be unlikely.
• Ascended Extra: In Tarzan of the Apes there is one specific Tantor mentioned, indeed the only one in the entire novel due to "Tantor" being the Mangani word for "Elephant." He never appears in the flesh and is only stated to be the only creature that Kerchak fears. The Disney film gives this bull elephant an onscreen role, made "Tantor" his given name and gives him an Adaptation Personality Change.
• The Baby of the Bunch: There are contextual hints that Tantor is younger than Tarzan and Terk, with his high-pitched voice and limited vocabulary as a baby elephant. Furthermore, the males in Tantor's species (the African Forest Elephant) do not grow tusks until around 16 months of age, so Tantor, when first seen as a tusk-less baby elephant, is several years younger than Tarzan and Terk.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Apart from being very, very big, he is loyal to Tarzan to such an extent that he puts aside his fear to jump off a cliff, climb onto a boat and beat the ever loving shit out of everyone and everything until Tarzan is rescued.
• The Big Guy: He is an elephant, and he has the strength that comes with one.
• Big Damn Heroes: His getting tired of Terk's sulking about Tarzan leaving leads him to pull a massive rescue for Tarzan and the rest of the non-mutinous crew when Clayton locks them in the brig.
• Butt Sticker: Him sitting on Terk is a Running Gag in the television series.
• Chekhov's Skill: Tarzan shows him how to use his trunk like a snorkel so he can breathe while submerged underwater. He later uses this ability to sneak aboard the ship with Terk to rescue Tarzan.
• Cowardly Lion: He has all sorts of phobias, despite being a gigantic African Elephant. He also displays courage and, surprisingly enough, calmness during chaos.
• Early Personality Signs: He's been a Nervous Wreck ever since he was an elephant calf, since his Establishing Character Moment involves him being hesitant to enter the water just in case there are germs in it.
• Gentle Giant: He's a large elephant, but he wouldn't hurt a fly.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: No matter what, he has Tarzan's back.
• Honorable Elephant: He may be cowardly, but when he needs to help Tarzan, his heart is at the right place.
• Ink-Suit Actor: He bears a facial resemblance to his original voice actor, Wayne Knight.
• Insane Troll Logic: Downplayed. He claims that Tarzan could be a subspecies of elephant because he enjoys peanuts.
• Interspecies Friendship: With everyone he interacts with, but most notably Tarzan and Terk. On the broader sense, he's shown to accompany the gorilla troop wherever they go, as if he himself were a member.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: Near the end of the film, when he rescues Tarzan.
• Lightning Bruiser: Despite being the largest main character, he displays sufficient speed and agility in battle. This is Truth in Television, as elephants can move surprisingly fast despite weighing five tonnes.
• Literal-Minded: When Terk quips "What kind of animal are you?" after Tarzan accidentally hurts her arm, Tantor goes on about a wacky "theory" about Tarzan being a subspecies of elephant.
• Lovable Coward: He's afraid of pretty much everything, but he's also very kind and friendly.
• Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: The sensitive and thoughtful Feminine Boy to Terk's tough-talking and crude Masculine Girl.
• Nervous Wreck: Is he ever! See Cowardly Lion above.
• Nice Guy: Tantor is friendly, sensitive, pleasant, caring, and ultimately brave.
• Not So Above It All: Initially creeped out by the prospect of playing around with man's equipment and worried about Kerchak's reaction, he soon relaxes and joins in on the fun.
• Platonic Life-Partners: With Terk, she is his closest female friend.
• Rage Breaking Point: When Terk hears Tarzan cry out in distress and refuses to help him (because she's still upset that he left), Tantor finally shows her what he can do when he gets angry.
  Tantor: That's IT! (grabs Terk with his trunk and glares right into her face) I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU AND YOUR EMOTIONAL CONSTIPATION! Tarzan needs us, and we're gonna help him! YA GOT THAT?! (throws Terk onto his back) Now pipe down, and hang on tight! We got a boat to catch.
• Red Is Heroic: He's a red elephant who befriends Tarzan and Terk, later coming to the rescue when Tarzan is captured.
• Shown Their Work:
  • Tantor's red coloring may seem odd, but yes, elephants can appear red as a result of bathing in mud and red clay.
  • In Part 1 of the TV series 2-parter episode, "The Poisoned River", he drinks by sucking up water with his trunk and squirting it into his mouth rather than using his trunk like a straw as common in cartoon elephants.
• Took a Level in Badass: Tantor shows this in spades in the third act when Tarzan is imperiled after Clayton's betrayal, throwing all his neurotic worries & fears aside to give Clayton's mooks a heck of a Curb-Stomp Battle during his impromptu rescue of Tarzan and the Porters.
• Tuft of Head Fur: More so a bunch of loose hairs on the top of his head, but it still qualifies.
• Undying Loyalty: To Tarzan. Even when the former has left the jungle, he immediately goes into action when he hears his friend cry out in distress.

Antagonists

Clayton

"I was born for Africa, and Africa was created for me!"

Voiced by: BRIAN BLESSED; Gerard Rinaldi (European French dub), Banjo Ginga (Japanese dub)

Clayton is one of the two main antagonists of Tarzan (alongside Sabor). He serves as the main antagonist of the second act.

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• Adaptational Villainy: In the novels, he is Tarzan's cousin who inherits the title of Lord Greystoke after Tarzan's parents are presumed dead. His worst fault is that he is not as brave as Tarzan, and his worst crime is concealing Tarzan's true identity after he accidentally learns the truth^note in that last case, he is actually following Tarzan's lead and respecting his wishes, so calling it a crime is a bit of a stretch. In the film, he isn't related to Tarzan, and he's more of a sadistic poacher posing as a tour guide.
• Advancing Boss of Doom: He's portrayed as such in the Play Station adaptation of the movie. In the final stage, Clayton will pursue Tarzan up a steep cliff, and the player as Tarzan must flee all the way to a plateau at the very top before they can fight back.
• Age Lift: William Cecil Clayton was a young man around Tarzan's age, this character has to be late-forties to early fifties at least.
• Alas, Poor Villain: Upon seeing Clayton's corpse hanging on the vines due to his refusal to listen to Tarzan's warnings, Tarzan can show nothing but pity for the evil hunter, despite the notorious things he's done.
• Animal Metaphor: He is intentionally designed as Sabor in human form, being introduced into the story immediately after Sabor's demise. When Clayton makes his physical appearance, the various jungle shadows on his yellow shirt is supposed to invoke Sabor's fur.
• Big Bad Ensemble: He's the biggest threat towards the gorillas, replacing child-and-parent killer Sabor right after she's killed by Tarzan a few minutes before he first appears onscreen. Even worse, he has a band of pirates that proved to be a more dangerous threat to the gorillas than Sabor would ever be. However, Sabor is more dangerous in a one-on-one context to Tarzan who they try to kill.
• Blood Knight: It's implied that he hunts less for money and more for the thrill of capturing and killing. Though he is angered by Tarzan's interference in the finale, he also seems to genuinely welcome the fight Tarzan presents.
• Combat Pragmatist: During his final fight with Tarzan, Clayton actually manages to hold ground against the super athletic wild man, albeit through weaponry or attacking his injured points.
• Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: Clayton was modelled after Clark Gable and other film stars of the 1930's and 40's, with the resemblance to Gable being the most prominent.
• Composite Character: Has the surname of William Cecil Clayton, the explorer aspect of his Weissmuller era expy Harry Holt and the villain role of Nikolas Rokoff of the novels.
• Creepy Shadowed Undereyes: His eyesockets are unusually dark, giving the viewer one of their earliest warning signs of exactly how much trouble he's going to be.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation: Sort of, he gets a Disney Villain Death in the video game too, but instead of hanging himself by accident he gets tackled off a tall platform by Tarzan.
• Disney Villain Death: Subverted. His fall is stopped by a vine. It's just that said vine is wrapped around his throat when it stops, snapping his neck and hanging him.
• Egomaniac Hunter: He used to be the page image for a reason. Clayton believes "I was born for Africa, and Africa was made for me!"
• Even Evil Can Be Loved: The TV series reveal that he has a sister, who goes on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge to avenge him when she learns about his death.
• Evil All Along: He acts as a chivalrous, if a bit trigger-happy guide for the Porters, but he was planning all along to betray them and capture and sell Tarzan's gorilla family.
• Evil Is Hammy: Being voiced by BRIAN BLESSED is probably the reason.
  Clayton: I could use a challenge, because after I get rid of you, rounding up your little ape family will be ALL TOO EASY!!
• Evil Poacher: By modern standards perhaps, but while his objective is to capture gorillas, that is how animals were typically brought to civilization at the time the film is set: by capturing them in the wild. As a result, Clayton is closer to a subversion or an outright aversion of the trope in that while evil, he technically isn't a poacher, with his actual crimes including mutiny (as his men were members of the ship's crew) and attempted murder.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Voiced by Brian Blessed, Clayton has a rather deep and powerful voice.
• Expy: He is a lot like Zaroff from The Most Dangerous Game. Both are egotistical hunters that jump at the opportunity to hunt a real challenge in the form of a skilled human. The video game took it further with his claim that he would have Tarzan stuffed, reminiscent of the fates of some of Zaroff's victims.
• Face Death with Dignity: Clayton never shows any signs of cowardice. When he is faced with his own gun, he is far from begging for his life and composes himself for his end. In contrast to how he frantically tries to take the vines off his neck as he falls screaming to his death.
• Family-Unfriendly Death: Falling out of a tree and accidentally hanging himself with a jungle vine. The scene in which he dies includes the sound of his neck snapping (though this is arguably muffled by the sound of the vine going taut), and his body's shadow can be seen against a tree after a lightning strike.
• Faux Affably Evil: Clayton initially appears to be a chivalrous (if somewhat impatient and trigger-happy) gentleman, but eventually, he is proven to be violent, selfish, greedy and ruthless.
• Fearless Fool: Compared to most egomaniacal but cowardly Disney villains, Clayton is this. He fights and pursues Tarzan and his gorilla clan despite knowing their strength and only gets more incensed and vicious as they retaliate. When Tarzan threatens to blow his head off with his own gun, he sneers at him to even try. The trope is ultimately his own undoing, inadvertently killing himself in his own reckless frenzy, while even Tarzan is lucid enough to try stop him.
• Foil: Unlike Tarzan he was born in civilization but is actually far more of a savage barbarian than Tarzan. Best exemplified by his last moments and death: when Tarzan traps him in vines, Clayton's first instinct is to start biting the vines off, before he remembers that he has a machete to cut them. He practically devolves into a slobbering, rage-filled monster while Tarzan desperately tries to save him from himself. But in the end, the jungle claims him.
• For the Evulz: It’s implied that his motivation for his actions is more for his depravity and love of killing than money.
• Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: Zigzagged. He's shown smoking a pipe in several scenes, but considering the time period it doesn't really serve as an indicator of villainy.
• Great White Hunter: While acting as the Porters' safari escort... but he has his own agenda from the beginning.
• Greed: His main personality flaw and villainous motivation, though it’s heavily implied that his true motivation is his lust for murder.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Even before his reveal as the primary antagonist, he was very irascible.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: He brings about his own demise when, after being caught and suspended in some vines, he sinks into a Villainous Breakdown and starts mindlessly hacking away at them to get to Tarzan. He doesn't notice the one wrapped around his neck until it's too late, even as Tarzan points it out to him.
• Humans Are the Real Monsters: The true monster of the movie. While Sabor could be excused for doing what she does by nature, Clayton is just a sadistic murderer.
• Karmic Death: Ends up strangling himself in the jungle's vines in his frenzied attempts to kill Tarzan, lost in his rage and refusing to hear his enemy's warnings until it is too late.
• Large Ham: He's voiced by BRIAN BLESSED, and it shows.
• Last-Name Basis: He is always referred to as Clayton in the movie. The character from the books he's loosely based on is called William Cecil Clayton, but nothing in the movie confirms if this is his first name here as well. Bizarrely enough, even his sister refers to him by his last name.
• Lantern Jaw of Justice: Inverted; he has one heck of a pronounced chin, but is as far from benevolent as they come.
• Light Is Not Good: Pale-skinned, always wearing yellow and white, and rotten to the core.
• Machete Mayhem: One of his weapons is a machete that he tries to kill Tarzan with in their last encounter.
• Manipulative Bastard: Manipulates Tarzan's feelings for Jane so he'll show him where the gorillas are hiding.
• Manly Facial Hair: A rather small and thin mustache that emphasizes his toughness and masculinity.
• Near-Villain Victory: He orders the thugs to lock Tarzan, Jane, Archimedes, the captain, and his officers up to prevent them from screwing up his plans to sell the gorillas. If Tarzan hadn't yelled in shock attracting Terk and Tantor prompting them to rescue them, he most likely would've succeeding in capturing and selling all of the gorillas on the black market, considering that even Kerchak was no match for him till Tarzan showed up.
• Neck Snap: He dies when he falls with a vine wrapped around his neck, snapping it before he can hit the ground.
• Obviously Evil: Clayton's role as the main villain isn't revealed until the movie's third act, but even before that he's portrayed as being quite smug and condescending towards Tarzan, and being the most trigger-happy character in the entire film, so the plot twist that he's evil doesn't come off as much of a surprise. Adding to that, Clayton's appearance is that of a classical type of villain, with a thin mustache, Creepy Shadowed Undereyes, and slicked back hair.
• Plot-Irrelevant Villain: Although he is the biggest threat to Tarzan's gorilla family in the movie, the main conflict is Tarzan's own personal struggle to fit in with the gorillas, which has little to do with Clayton's plan to capture the apes. Although Tarzan defending the gorillas from Clayton is what makes Kerchak finally accept Tarzan and promote him to the new leader of the tribe, killing Kerchak was irrelevant to that growth.
• A Real Man Is a Killer: During the final fight, Tarzan has Clayton's own gun pointed at him. Rather than begging to for mercy, Clayton implores Tarzan to "go ahead, shoot me. Be a man." However, Tarzan only scares Clayton by faking the gunshot, then smashing it and shouting "Not a man like you!"
• Self-Disposing Villain: While fighting with Tarzan, Clayton gets tangled up in vines. He starts randomly cutting them, too angry to notice that one is wrapping around his neck. Tarzan even tries to warn him with "Clayton, don't!" Too late; one subverted Disney Villain Death later, Clayton's neck snaps, leaving him hanging in the vines.
• Starter Villain: Besides Sabor, he is the first big villain encountered by Tarzan (he will meet more in the TV series).
• Strike Me Down with All of Your Hatred!: When Tarzan points Clayton's rifle at him, Clayton taunts Tarzan to shoot him and be a man. Tarzan refuses and smashes rifle, proclaiming that he'll never be a man like Clayton.
• Surrounded by Idiots: Keep an eye on Clayton's expressions and you'll see this attitude regularly appear as a Funny Background Event. At one point, the only reason he notices gorillas is because he's rolling his eyes at the behavior of Tarzan and the Porters.
• Tactical Suicide Boss: From the video game. As Tarzan players fight him atop a tall platform, and Clayton is invulnerable while he attacks, either with his hunting rifle or by throwing knives. But after dodging Clayton's projectiles, for some reason Clayton will stop to gloat for a few seconds, allowing Tarzan to pelt him with fruits causing Clayton to stagger backwards, at which point he'll bring out his rifle and knives again... dodge his attacks, wait for him to gloat, rinse and repeat until he gets knocked off the platform.
• Trigger-Happy: It's no coincidence that Tarzan and his tribe are first reintroduced to humanity by the sound of his shotgun. Clayton is incredibly aggressive and paranoid, reacting to just about anything and everything with both barrels blazing.
• Unrelated in the Adaptation: In the books, he and Tarzan are first cousins. In the Disney film, they aren't. Or, more accurately, nothing is stated on the matter, making their (presumed) relation a Genius Bonus-type situation of sorts.
• Villainous Breakdown: Although his original plan was to double-cross the Professor in order to "harvest" gorillas to sell at a great profit, he was more unethical than he was amoral. There were no laws or moral judgments involved in "harvesting" unowned animals from a wilderness in 1870. When his get-rich-quick scheme is foiled by the "savage" (and his gun is broken by Tarzan), though, he enters a murderous rage.
• Would Hit a Girl: Hits Jane across the face with the butt of his gun when she tries to stop him from going after Tarzan.

Sabor

Voiced By: Frank Welker (vocal effects)

Sabor is one of the two main antagonists in Tarzan alongside Clayton and the overarching antagonist of Tarzan II. She is a leopard who killed both Tarzan's parents and Kala's baby son at the beginning of the film. Sabor is the main antagonist of the film's first act.

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• Adaptation Species Change: Sort of. In the original novel, Sabor was the term used for lionesses in the apes language (male lions were called Numa). Here it's the personal name of a leopard (whose species was called Sheeta in the book). The name Sheeta gets used in the TV series for one of the 2 recurring black panthers who fight Tarzan.
• Ambiguous Gender: Given her feral nature and lack of Tertiary Sexual Characteristics, Sabor's sex isn't made clear in the film itself, but the creators state that she's female.
• Arch-Enemy: Before Clayton shows up she acts as the most personal threat to Tarzan, having killed his parents years prior and hunting him ever since. Even after her death Tarzan regards her with extreme scorn whenever he mentions her in the series.
• Artistic License – Biology:
  • Leopards live for seventeen years on average. Sabor was already an adult when Tarzan was a baby, and Tarzan is eighteen when he battles her. So she is very old for a leopard, yet still put up a very impressive fight against both Tarzan and Kerchak.
  • Sabor has large and scarce rosettes, which is a trait of jaguars rather than leopards.
  • She also has slitted pupils, which only small cats have in real life; big cats like leopards, lions and tigers have round pupils.
  • In addition, she is portrayed as being much stronger and more durable than a real leopard (and other leopards in the TV series). While they are certainly powerful and deadly predators, leopards cannot afford to sustain any injuries and tend to stick to easier prey as a result. They also prefer to avoid facing stronger animals like adult gorillas in a fight, as the apes are simply too large and strong to be easily killed. Sabor, however, is not only fully willing to engage both Kala and Kerchak in battle, she is even able to defeat the latter without much trouble and not be hurt by his crushing fists.
• Ax-Crazy: Implied to be the case, especially when compared to Nuru and Sheeta and the other miscellaneous leopards in The Legend of Tarzan, who realistically give up and run off when Tarzan puts up too much of a fight, in contrast to Sabor’s mindless persistence. Also, after killing Tarzan’s parents, Sabor leaves their corpses uneaten in the treehouse.
• Big Bad Ensemble: With Clayton. She doesn't appear as much in the story but she is more deadly to Tarzan than Clayton.
• Cats Are Mean: Terrifying and brutal, but no more than a normal predatory animal.
• Dark Action Girl: Sabor is still capable of kicking some serious ass and gives Tarzan and Kerchak an impressive fight even in what should be her extreme elderly years.
• Disc-One Final Boss: Dies about 30 minutes into the movie, before the appearance of the British research team which includes the Big Bad replacement Clayton.
• The Dreaded: Nobody wants to go up against this ferocious feline. Even elephants are scared of her.
• Hero Killer: Sabor is strong enough, fast enough, and cunning enough to kill Tarzan's parents in their own home, while they both outnumbered her and had a gun. Even when Kerchak is willing to fight back against Sabor, her strength makes it too difficult for him to actually kill her. Heck, she's arguably a more dangerous villain in a one-on-one context than Clayton is, since she's fighting in her own territory.
• Incorrect Animal Noise: Her vocal cords are made up of leopard, the ever-so-cliché cougar and, oddly, tiger vocalizations.
• Informed Species: She's supposed to a leopard, but has spots like a jaguar, and a long slender body more typical of a cheetah.
• Karmic Death: She gets fatally stabbed by Tarzan in revenge for murdering his parents (though Tarzan was unaware of this at the time) and Kerchak and Kala's baby child.
• Killed Offscreen: Kind of. She tackles Tarzan into a hole and he takes the opportunity to stab and kill her, but we never see the deed on screen, just the aftermath when Tarzan lifts her corpse and himself out of the hole.
• Panthera Awesome: A leopard, and stronger than the gorillas.
• Predators Are Mean: As the main antagonist in the first act of the movie, she constantly pursues the gorillas. Unlike the gorillas or the elephants, Sabor's not anthropomorphized at all. She also seems more interested in killing her prey than actually eating it, considering that she goes after the baby Tarzan, even though his parents' corpses are still lying around and would be an easier meal.
• Roar Before Beating: This is a sign that Sabor is far more malicious than your typical predator; immediately after sneaking up on the baby gorilla, she roars loudly to scare it, before moving in for the kill. Sabor is stealthy in several other scenes, but the moment she lunges at Kala or adult Tarzan, she yowls.
• Small Role, Big Impact: Sabor only appears for a couple scenes in the first act and is never mentioned after her death, but her killing Tarzan's parents and Kerchak and Kala's baby sets the entire plot into motion.
• Starter Villain: The first foe Tarzan fights as an adult, and is killed by him prior to the 30-minute mark and before the other human characters appear.
• Stealth Expert: Capable of blending in with the jungle so well that you would never know she was there, as seen during the moments before she attacked Tarzan and the gorillas. She's literally in the middle of the screen, but so well camouflaged that a viewer will be unlikely to see her without pausing the film.
• Super-Persistent Predator: Goes through a lot of effort to catch on baby Tarzan, even when he's already defended by Kala, and then puts on an impressive fight with adult Tarzan.
• Talking Animal: The only established animal character to avert this; Sabor is purely feral and dehumanized through and through.
• Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: Sabor delivered the fastest onscreen death in any Disney film; in less than 3 minutes, killing Kerchak and Kala's baby gorilla. Not long after, she offs Tarzan's parents with a fairly graphic aftermath. She is far more sinister than your typical predator, and left the corpses mostly intact. Unlike Clayton, she has absolutely no amusing moments; Kala and Tarzan are in very real danger of dying and proves to be capable of nearly killing Kerchak. Even as an adult, Tarzan had to fight for his life, and no other villain, or even leopard in the films or TV series was as effective.
• Would Hurt a Child: Kills Kala and Kerchak's baby gorilla and tried to kill Tarzan when he was a baby. Not that this is in any way unusual, a predator will get its food where it can, but since this is from the prey's point of view...

Other Characters

Tarzan's Parents

Voiced By: N/A

Tarzan's deceased, biological parents.

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• Action Survivor: The only survivors of the shipwreck, and also able to create an awesome treehouse that would be the envy of the Swiss Family Robinson.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation: In the novel, Tarzan's mom dies of an illness and later his dad was killed by Kerchak. Here, they were both killed by Sabor at the same time.
• Family-Unfriendly Death: They get an off-screen one, courtesy of Sabor. At one point, we see Kala happen upon the treehouse they built. She goes in curiously and we find it a bit too quiet. She soon sees why: the place has been trashed and the bodies of Tarzan's parents are seen next to a set of bloodied pawprints on the floor.
• Happily Married: Implied. When both of them are on the lifeboat, they immediately embrace one another and look lovingly at their son. And while in the African jungle, they work extremely well together in building a new home.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Tried to defend themselves and their infant son from Sabor. By some miracle, Tarzan lived, but the two of them lost their lives for it.
• Killed Offscreen: They're already dead by the time Kala discovers the treehouse; all we see of them is their dead bodies amidst Sabor's blood-coated paw prints, hidden partially behind a table back turned.
• Manly Facial Hair: Tarzan's father has a cool mustache, combined with sideburns, and he's an impressive Action Survivor who struggles on until getting killed by Sabor.
• No Name Given: Their names are not revealed. In the books, they were John and Alice Clayton, Lord and Lady Greystoke.
• Parental Abandonment: To Tarzan, as they were killed by Sabor.
• Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: Tarzan's mother had auburn hair and bluish-green eyes.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Tarzan received his father's hair color and facial structures, while gaining his mother's eye color and hair style.
• The Voiceless: Neither character has any lines: in fact, they're already deceased by the time the movie has its first line of dialogue.

Flynt and Mungo

From left to right: Flynt and Mungo

Voiced by: Erik von Detten (Flynt) and Jason Marsden (Mungo); Mark Lesser (Flynt) and Eric Metayer (Mungo) (European French dub)

Two male gorillas around the same age as Terk.

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• Canon Foreigner: While Mungo was a minor character in Tarzan of the Apes, Flynt is an invention of the screenwriters.
• Fat and Skinny: Both of them are bulky due to being gorillas, but Mungo is among the chubbiest ones whereas Flynt is more slender.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: They hang out all the time. And in "Tublat's Revenge", when Flynt is kidnapped by Tublat, Mungo is beyond worried. And when they're reunited, Tublat threatening them with death doesn't matter, because they're together again.
• Manchild: Even when they become adults, they keep their childish personality.
• Stop Hitting Yourself: Flynt does this to Mungo a lot. Surprisingly, Mungo doesn't seem to mind it.
• Took a Level in Dumbass: In the movie, they are rowdy and goofy but otherwise seem to be of average intelligence. In the tv series though, they become a lot more dimwitted. Perhaps their favorite game of Stop Hitting Yourself took a toll on them?
• Took a Level in Kindness: Though not as evident as with Terk, both of them were dismissive of a young Tarzan because of how he looked but came to respect and trust the latter.

The Baboons

Voiced by: Frank Welker, Debi Derryberry (vocal effects)

A large tribe of vicious baboons who are prone to attacking any trespassers, especially if they upset their baby, Manu.

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• Artistic License – Biology:
  • The leader has the colorful facial markings of a mandrill. Even stranger, since the tv series introduces a trio of actual mandrill characters with completely different designs.
  • At one point, Professor Porter refers to them as “Theropithecus babunious”. Theropithecus is actually the genus name of the related gelada (found only in the Ethiopian highlands), while all baboon species belong to the genus Papio.
• The Baby of the Bunch: Manu is the only notable youngster within their tribe and naturally, they are highly protective of him.
• Early-Bird Cameo: We see a baboon tribe at the start of the movie when Kala passes them in search of baby Tarzan, including a mandrill-like leader and a baby that looks like Manu. They most likely represent an earlier generation.
• Exit, Pursued by a Bear: They are last shown chasing after one of Clayton's men in the climax.
• Fangs Are Evil: Downplayed in that they are not villainous, just fiercely protective of their baby, but all adult baboons have massive fangs (just like in real life), which they both show off while snarling angrily and use for combat, such as when one of them chomps down on Jane's boots.
• Heel–Face Turn: Despite initially being antagonists to Tarzan and Jane, they show up during the final battle to help them fight off Clayton's men.
• Maniac Monkeys: Suffice to say, you do not want to cross them. They were even the page image for a while.
• Mischief-Making Monkey: Unlike the adults, Manu is merely a mischievous Bratty Half-Pint who enjoys exploring the world and is shown to be on friendly terms with Tarzan and his family in the series, as he loves rummaging through their camp and playing with any human objects he finds.
• Papa Wolf: All of them will attack you in droves if you upset Manu, including the leader. Justified, as he's the alpha male, meaning he's likely Manu’s father.
• Parasol Parachute: The leader baboon manages to steal Jane's umbrella and uses it to slowly descend down to the ground.
• Small Role, Big Impact: Only appear a few times in the movie, but they are the reason Tarzan and Jane meet each other.
• Sticky Fingers: Manu steals Jane's sketchbook after seeing her drawing of him, and after Jane steals the picture back, the entire baboon tribe chases after her until they get it back. Manu is also shown to have kept Jane's left boot and umbrella after she lost both of them in the chase.
• Talking Animal: Downplayed as like all the other animals in the movie they have their own language, but Manu does at one point say "Uh oh" in English.
• Wild Card: While they are often a threat to Tarzan and his family, they aren’t inherently hostile to them and will sometimes help out, such as during the movie’s climax. It seems to largely depend on whether or not the protagonists upset Manu.
• Zerg Rush: How they attack. They are a large tribe of close to a hundred baboons and they make good use of their numbers.

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