Obelix
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. Specific concerns may be found on the talk page. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions.(April 2008) |
Obelix (Fr. Obélix) is a sidekick with superhuman strength in the Asterix comic books. He is Asterix' closest friend (they even have the same birthday) and works as a menhir delivery man when not bashing Romans. Obelix also owns the quarry where he chisels the menhirs himself. It is never directly stated what the menhirs are used for, though it is hinted that they are just oversized knick-knacks. Obelix usually trades the stones away for whatever he needs, resulting in the village having a literal field of menhirs. He has a little dog named Dogmatix (Fr. Idéfix). His parents live now in Condatum and he has relatives in Lutetia including distant cousin Metallurgix, a golden sickle maker.
He is a large man who does not see himself as fat, preferring euphemisms such as being "well covered" or having a chest that has "slipped a little bit," and may not even be aware when people are talking about him in that regard, being confused as to who is fat. On the other hand, when he does notice such allusions being made about him, he gets very, very angry about the so called "mistake". Sometimes, when he is in a bad mood, just hearing the word "fat" can quickly enrage him. Being called fat, or being hinted as being fat, is one of the main causes of conflicts between Asterix and Obelix which leads to more developing conflicts in which they must work together, in each album. Although conflicts between the two friends invariably degenerate into insults being screamed back and forth, Obelix and Asterix inevitably make up swiftly.
Unlike the other villagers, Obelix has no need to drink Getafix the druid's magic potion that gives superhuman strength, because he fell into the cauldron as a baby and its effect on him became permanent. The story of that incident is told in How Obelix Fell into the Magic Potion When he was a Little Boy. Since this effect was not intended or expected, Getafix refuses to allow him even one more drop except under the direst circumstances (either out of fear for his life, or fear for the lives of others' should the inattentive and uncoordinated strongman become any stronger), which annoys him greatly. (In Asterix and Obelix All at Sea, it is revealed that too much of the potion can turn the drinker to stone; exactly how much is not known, but a whole cauldron will certainly do the trick.) However, in Asterix and Cleopatra, Getafix gives him a few drops when opening a door in the Great Pyramid's Labyrinth; however, it is shown that a few drops of the potion do nothing but increase his strength further.
Obelix is kind-hearted, but is socially inept — possibly because his strength means that others have had to adapt to him instead of vice-versa. He is still not completely aware of his own strength and almost invariably breaks any door he gently knocks on. He is frequently used as a human battering ram for opening locked doors or breaking through walls. Similarly, he is unaware that others do not share his superhuman strength, and shows great surprise when others are crushed by what he calls "a small menhir", or when Asterix attempts to explain to him that a small dog like Dogmatix cannot lift a menhir. He also has little interest in subjects of formal education or intellectual pursuits, since sheer strength usually solves his problems; he generally leaves any decisions to Asterix.
Although he has his own house, Obelix is occasionally shown staying overnight at Asterix's.
His passions in life are hanging around with Asterix, beating up Roman legionaries (and occasionally collecting their helmets), eating, and making and carrying menhirs, in about that order. Like Asterix, Obelix is a bachelor, but he is easily smitten by a pretty face. He harbours a hopeless crush on Panacea, the daughter of Soporifix (one of the other villagers), and occasionally other young women, most notably Mrs. Geriatrix (which enrages her husband).
Obelix' favourite food is roast wild boar which he usually hunts with Asterix, but he has a voracious appetite, and will try eating nearly anything with few exceptions. In fact, he eats nuts and oysters in the shell, and is completely oblivious to drugs and poisons. However, when he consumes alcohol, he gets very drunk very quickly.
His trademark phrase is "These Romans are crazy" ("Ils sont fous ces romains"), although he has applied a variant of it to nearly every group he's met in his travels.
Aside from eating, his greatest passion is fighting.
Obelix does sometimes display twisted views, especially when it comes to the relationship between the Gauls and the Romans. As far as he is concerned the more Romans he can beat up the better and nobody should deny him this, not even the "selfish" Roman victims themselves:
- In Asterix in Britain, he dismisses the claim that the Romans have invaded Britain; he believes that the Britons dragged the Romans over there in order to have all the fun for themselves.
- In Asterix in Corsica, it is revealed that the villagers attack the Romans at least once a year in order to celebrate the Gaulish victory at Gergovia. When the Romans leave their camps in order to avoid the attacks, Obelix sees this behaviour as crazy and detrimental to their "friendly" relationship.
- In Asterix and Obelix All at Sea, he has a dream (or nightmare as he puts it) in which the Romans pull out of Gaul. He's horrified at the idea of such a dream coming true. He also declares that the idea of peace with the Romans is offensive to the memory of Vercingetorix. Far more likely is the fact that peace will mean that he won't be able to bash the Romans anymore, a prospect he dreads. He then comments on the good "sense" of the Romans in attacking the village.
- The Roman civil war between Caesar and Pompey features in Asterix and the Actress. When he witnesses a battle between Roman troops, Obelix murmurs "What a waste!". But this is not so much on the wasted lives as the fact that it means that he has fewer Romans to bash himself.
[edit] Name
Obelix's name is usually noted to be a play on the French word obélisque (obelisk), suggested by rotund physique and his habit of casually carrying heavy stone monuments (Menhirs) around with him. In fact "obelisk" is also (in both French and English) a variant of the word obelus (obèle), a typographical mark ("†") often found in a companion role to that of the asterisk, after which his friend Asterix is named.
[edit] See also
- Dogmatix - his pet dog
