Wickedpedia
Register
Advertisement

Tublat is a monstrous ape and a villain from The Legend of Tarzan. A rival of Kerchak's tribe, he aggressively tried to take over control of the family, but he was quickly banished. With Tarzan now in charge, he seeks to defeat him and assert himself as the leader of the apes. Strangely enough, while the books portrayed Kerchak as being the violent one, but was made more sympathetic by Disney, using the book's portrayal of Tublat as being benevolent, Disney's version of Tublat suffered the complete opposite (he is changed into a villain using the original version of Kerchak's personality). He was voiced by Keith David. His strength is extreme, even by gorilla standards.

Personality[]

Tublat is incredibly mean, aggressive and angry. He challenged Kerchak for leadership but was defeated and cast out. He is considered dangerous by all the gorillas. He is based on Kala's husband (and Tarzan's foster father) in the original Tarzan novel. His personality is also very much like the original Kerchak or Terkoz from the novel. He once took over another gorilla family that Gobu belonged to by killing the leader of that family. But the family (with Tarzan's help) overthrew him and Gobu replaced him. He often calls Tarzan a hairless runt. He has four toes on his right foot, and this is one way to tell he is in the area.

Appearances[]

The Legend of Tarzan[]

"Tublat's Revenge"[]

A violent thunderstorm has Tarzan, Jane, and the rest of the gorilla family seeking shelter in nearby caves, but they have chosen the same cave that the banished gorilla Tublat lives in. Tarzan is no physical match for Tublat. But using his superior cunning, speed, agility and ingenuity, he manages to defeat him.

"Caged Fury"[]

Niels and Merkus return to the Jungle to mine diamonds. Tarzan agrees to this as long as they stay away from the gorillas. Neils and Merkus are threatened by Tublat, who they capture and plan to make money out of. Tarzan sets out to rescue Tublat, despite Terk's protests and the past conflict between them.

"Enemy Within"[]

In this episode, Tublat appeared as the leader of the family of a gorilla named Gobu, whom Tarzan had earlier nursed back to health after he found him being attacked by a pack of hyenas. Gobu states that a few months before the events in that episode took place, Tublat killed the family leader and took over control, content to take over another family rather than Kerchak's. He also forced Gobu to gain Tarzan's trust and bring him to him directly under threat of mutilating or killing Gobu's relatives. Relishing the long waited opportunity to kill Tarzan, Tublat has his minions pursue him after the ape man escapes and blackmails him into compliance by threatning Terk (who had also traveled to find Gobu and pursue a relationship with him). To save his friend Tarzan concedes to allow Tublat to have his way with him. Eagerly intending to do so, Tublat is intercepted by Gobu himself. Emboldened by Tarzan's earlier speech towards him, Gobu openly speaks out against Tublat claiming he is dependent on the family to secure his victory over Tarzan. Seething with rage, Tublat attacks Gobu with lethal intentions for his defiance stating maliciously he has outlived his usefulness. After beating aside the intervening Tarzan, Tublat grabs Gobu in a bear hug to crush him to death. Gobu cries out to his family encouraging them to stand together and face Tublat and that they are stronger then him together. Reinspired, the family turns on Tublat and overpowers him. Driven off, Tublat lets out a roar of anger before fleeing. With he and his family now free from Tublat's malign overrule, Gobu steps up to lead them.

Trivia[]

  • Tublat first appeared in the original novel Tarzan of the Apes. However, in the novel, he was Kala's mate and was more like the Disney version of Kerchak. Whilst Kerchak in the novel was a lot more like the Disney version of Tublat. 
  • Tublat's name ironically means "broken nose."
Advertisement