Secret origins
My mother was an ape, She couldn't tell me much of my birth. I never knew who my father was
- --Tarzan
in England a british lord, John Clayton, lord Greystoke, having just married is traveling to africa on a mission involving french teritorial disputes between france, belgium and England for control of the Gabon area of equuitorial africa. Traveling with his wife alice, Lord Greystoke travels to africa and settles the disputes but on his way back the ship is mutinied due to the captains fanatical madness, causing the crew, made up of criminals to revolt. but the Claytons are spared having saved the life of the new captain. when the grew are asleep the new captain helps the claytons escape the ship to save their lives.
They claytons are sailing to out in a lifeboat when they shore on africa. When debating what to do, John builds a cabin for them around the area near the beach. they settle comfortably. Back with the apes Kala having mourned the loss of her baby is in a depression when on of the apes, Gozan, discovers the claytons and informs the troop, which attack the cabin. due to the shock Alice goes mad, and dies after giving birth to their son, John the third. in his grief he doesn't fight back when kerchak kills John, as the apes enter the cabin. Kala finding the baby John after seeing his dead mother takes the young human baby as her own. soon the apes are frightened away by a gun going off.
When Kala is with her new baby, she names him white skin or in the language of the apes, Tarzan. Tarzan Grows up diferent from other apes dueu to his slower growth and strange appearance. when at a drinking pool he covers his face in mud to try and hide it. but when he does so Sabor the lioness attacks and kills an ape, to which Tarzan escapes by jumping into the water and learning to swim. he also becomes enemies with Tublat his Adopted father. Later when older he discovers his father's cabin and looks around discovering his mother's locket and his father's knife as well as an asortment of books. over the years he gradually starts to self educate himself and learns to read. Soon he's attacked by a Chimp during a Chimp war and injured but Kala nurses him back to health.
Later during an event called a Dum-Dum where the Apes celebrate wining a war against a rival tribe. during this Tublat becomes enraged and fights Tarzan to which Tarzan kills Tublat giving a victory cry. Soon a native tribe hunts and kills Kala but tarzan frightens them off but is too late to save Kala, in a rageful fury he finds the hunters and kills and robs their village.
when Tarzan's fully grown, a large ship arrives with strangers. among them are Professor Archimedes Porter, his daughter Jane porter, Their black maid Emserelda Porter, Archimedes' Financial Backer William Clayton and their Guide Philip D'arnot. They're there because they were marooned and forced to survive. They find the Cabin to which William realizes was the home of his uncle. They set up camp but get a message from a peice bark with a message from Tarzan. Later Tarzan spies on Jane, Esmerelda, and D'Arnot walking through the jungle when Kerchak attack and snatchs Jane in a rage fit, to which Tarzan swings down and proceeds to fight Kerchak ending with Tarzan stabbing kerchak in the heart killing him.
In confusion Jane backs away from tarzan and faints Tarzan begins examining her when she wakes up. After a bit of confusion they introduce each other and she finds the others and describes her events, to skepticism from William and Archimedes. The next day the humans are surrounded by Mangani but don't attack but then Sabor attacks but Tarzan jumps on his back and battles the Lioness. He's victorious. After few more interactions they begins teaching Tarzan more abouut their world, in return Tarzan helps them survive. He soon develops a relationship with Jane. soon they are rescued, and stays.
However a few months later he sneaks aboard a boat when he learns of a war developing and decides to intervine. he soon remembers where Jane lived, Baltimore. Meeting with D'arnot he gives him his father's Journal and D'arnot finds a baby handprint that resembles tarzan's hand. He goes to see if it's true. He soon develops social skills and manages to get to the Porter's home and realizes that Jane's engaged to William, and gets a message telling him about his inheritance. He realizes that telling the truth will take Jane from the Fortune William provides. so he rejects his own name. Later, in France, Rokoff tries time and again to eliminate the ape man, finally engineering a duel between him and the count by making it appear that he is the countess's lover. Tarzan deliberately refuses to defend himself in the duel, even offering the count his own weapon after the latter fails to kill him with his own, a grand gesture that convinces his antagonist of his innocence. In return, Count Raoul finds him a job as a special agent in the French ministry of war. Tarzan is assigned to service in Algeria.
A sequence of adventures among the local Arab's ensues, including another brush with Rokoff. Afterward Tarzan sails for Cape Town and strikes up a shipboard acquaintance with Hazel Strong, a friend of Jane's. But Rokoff and Paulovitch are also aboard, and manage to ambush him and throw him overboard.
Miraculously, Tarzan manages to swim to shore, and finds himself in the coastal jungle where he was brought up by the apes. He soon rescues and befriends a native warrior, Busuli of the Waziri, and is adopted into the Waziri tribe. After defeating a raid on their village by ivory raiders, Tarzan becomes their chief.
The Waziri know of a lost city deep in the jungle, from which they have obtained their golden ornaments. Tarzan has them take him there, but is captured by its inhabitants, a race of ape-like men, and is condemned to be sacrificed to their sun god. To Tarzan's surprise, the priestess to perform the sacrifice is a beautiful woman who speaks the ape language he learned as a child. She tells him she is La, immortal high priestess of the lost city of Opar. When the sacrificial ceremony is fortuitously interrupted, she hides Tarzan and promises to lead him to freedom. But the ape man escapes on his own, locates a treasure chamber, and manages to rejoin the Waziri.
Meanwhile, Hazel Strong has reached Cape Town where she meets Jane and her father, Professor Porter, together with Jane's fiancé, Tarzan's cousin William Cecil Clayton. They are all invited on a cruise up the west coast of Africa aboard the Lady Alice, the yacht of another friend, Lord Tennington. Rokoff, now using the alias of M. Thuran, ingratiates himself with the party and is also invited along. The Lady Alice breaks down and sinks, forcing the passengers and crew into the lifeboats. The one containing Jane, Clayton and "Thuran" is separated from the others and suffers terrible privations. Coincidentally, the boat finally makes shore in the same general area that Tarzan did.
The three construct a rude shelter and eke out an existence of near starvation for some weeks until Jane and William Clayton are surprised in the forest by a lion. Clayton loses Jane's respect by cowering in fear before the beast instead of defending her. But they are not attacked, and discover the lion dead, speared by an unknown hand. Their hidden savior is in fact Tarzan, who leaves without revealing himself, not realizing whom he was rescuing. Jane breaks off her engagement to William.
Later Jane is kidnapped and taken to Opar by a party of the Oparian ape-men who were pursuing their escaped sacrifice, Tarzan. The ape man learns of her capture and tracks them, managing to save her from being sacrificed by La. La is moved by Tarzan's saving of Jane, to the point where she seals off the entrance to Opar, sealing it off forever.
Tarzan and Jane make their way up the coast to the former's boyhood cabin, where they encounter the remainder of the castaways of the Lady Alice , safe and sound after having been recovered by Tarzan's friend D'Arnot in another ship. "Thuran" is exposed as Rokoff and arrested.
Tarzan weds Jane and Tennington weds Hazel in a double ceremony performed by Professor Porter, who had been ordained a minister in his youth. Then they all set sail for civilization, taking along the treasure Tarzan had found in Opar.
Skills
Powers
none
Abilities
- Acrobatics
- Gymnastics
- Indomitable Will
- Interrogation
- Intimidation
- Investigation
- Multilingualism
- Skillled stealth
- Escapology
Strength level
Unknown.
Weaknesses
He's human and can be killed easily.
Paraphernalia
Equipment: None known.
Transportation: None known.
Weapons: None known.
Notes
- No special notes.
Trivia
- No trivia.
See Also
- Appearances of Tarzan (Chronological)
- Appearances of Tarzan (Unordered)
- Character Gallery: Tarzan
- Fan-Art Gallery: Tarzan
- Quotations by Tarzan
Discover and Discuss
- Search News for: John Clayton, lord Greystoke · Tarzan
Links and References
- None.