FAQ: What Is Asterix?

People ask Google the strangest things. I’m here to answer all their questions today.

Is Asterix Based on a True Story?

The key moment in French history that the Asterix series spins off from is the moment when the Gallic leader, Vercingetorix, surrenders to Julius Caesar, signifying the end of the Gallic War.

That part really happened.

Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo make light of that moment:

The Asterix series posits that one village held out against Caesar, driven by their fierce French determination and the help of their Druid’s magic potion to fight off their Roman aggressors.

There’s no historical evidence of such a hold-out village. On the other hand, if there was, I doubt Julius Caesar would have written about it in his book, “The Gallic Wars”, that forms the basis of most of our knowledge of the war.

So, maybe? But nothing is proven.

Even if such a village existed, the Magic Potion likely didn’t. Sorry to disappoint you.

Is Asterix a Celt?

Yes, he is.

In America, our cultural touchstone for a “Celt” is Boston’s NBA team, the Celtics, whose mascot is Lucky the Leprechaun. So, immediately, we confuse “Celt” with Irish. It’s not entirely wrong — a “Celt” is someone today who speaks a Celtic language, which encompasses both Ireland and Wales.

But the Celts include a far larger accumulation of people, depending on how far back in history you go. It’s really a group of people that started in Central Europe and expanded over time. It was Caesar’s Gallic War that eventually pushed the Celt tide back into the northern section of what today we think of as the United Kingdom.

At the time of the Gallic War, all inhabitants of France would be considered Celts, especially the area in the north of France known as Brittany, which is where Asterix’s Village is located.

This is all a very broad outline of the events that took place over hundreds of years in Europe. It’s an interesting history, but for the sake of Asterix: Yes, he’s a Celt.

Is Asterix a gaul?

Yes, he is. “Gaul” refers to the area of Western Europe that the Romans defined as being France (home of Asterix’s Village), Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and a few other bits and pieces.

Caesar further broke Gaul up into three regions, one of which he described as Gallia Celtica. That is how Asterix can be both a Gaul and a Celt.

The map above shows the state of Europe just before the Gallic War.

Is Asterix French?

Yes. The character was created by two first-generation Frenchmen, Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. He was published in a French magazine. He remains a cultural hero to the French to this day.

Asterix is as French as a comic book character can get.

In the scope of the time that the comic is set, you could argue that France didn’t exist yet. However, the series is set in the north of what we today call France. Close enough for me.

Is Asterix Belgian?

No. What we refer to as “Franco-Belgian” comics would include Asterix, but it’s definitely on the “Franco” half that phrase.

Tintin is Belgian, as are Blake and Mortimer and the works of Francois Schuiten. Lucky Luke was created by the Belgian, Morris. The Smurfs came from the mind of Belgium’s Peyo.

Asterix, though, is the creation of two French men and was originally published in a French magazine.

Asterix, did, however, visit Belgium in the last book Goscinny did with Uderzo, “Asterix in Belgium.”

Is Asterix racist?

No. There may be some caricatures that didn’t age well and some word balloons that were tweaked from the earliest printings of the series to correct accents, but “Asterix” is not racist. It is, at worst on occasions, a product of its time. Some people might want to pounce on that and amplify it today, but that’s intellectually dishonest and usually done by people desperately looking for attention rather than truth.

Is Asterix a Viking?

No. Vikings are limited to the Scandinavian countries just north and west of where Asterix is set: Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark. In fact, the concept of “Vikings” didn’t even start until almost 800 years after the events of Asterix. Where the word “viking,” itself, derives from is a long-contested thing, too.

Asterix does, however, meet Viking-like folks in “Asterix and the Normans.” Normans were folks who came to existence from the mixture of Vikings and the early French and the Greco-Romans — and that didn’t happen until hundreds of years after Asterix, too.

But don’t start complaining about Asterix being anachronistic if you laughed at the Rolling Stones reference in the same book.

Is Asterix a superhero?

Not exactly, though there are similarities.

He does have super powers when he takes a drink of Magic Potion, much like DC’s Hour Man has powers for an hour when he pops a certain pill. Batman’s back-breaking villain, Bane, needs an injection of a serum called Venom to have his powers for a limited time.

Captain America gets his strength from a one-time injection of super serum decades ago, which means he matches up well with Obelix, who fell into a vat of magic potion as a baby and kept all the powers.

Asterix doesn’t wear a cape and cowl, but he does wear the same costume every day. It’s not form-fitting, so does it count?

And then there’s Uderzo’s final book, “Asterix and the Falling Sky,” in which Asterix meets up with actual American superhero style characters. The differences are obvious.

So, no, he’s not a superhero.

Asterix is much more like Popeye, who gets his temporary strength when he needs it from eating spinach. Would you consider Popeye a superhero?

Is Asterix and Obelix real?

They live in our hearts, which makes them real.

Is Asterix a word?

Yes. It’s a proper noun, so don’t try playing it in Scrabble. It’s also seven letters, so it won’t work in Wordle.

In fact, the word has multiple meanings. The small French character who could single-handedly fend off Roman invasions is only one of them. There’s also the open-source telephony project named Asterix, the granite, the award-winning dog, the optometrist, and others.

Click through to read about all of those things that aren’t the comic Asterix, but sound a lot alike.

Is Asterix and Obelix on Netflix?

Not yet. There is an animated limited series coming in the next couple of years, though.

None of the previous Asterix movies (live action and animated) are streaming on Netflix in the United States at the time of this writing. That might change when the limited series gets closer. We’ll see.

To find where you can see those movies streaming, check out “The Complete Asterix and Obelix Streaming Guide.” Be prepared to be disappointed, though.

Is Asterix and Obelix XXL2 Multiplayer?

There is no local multiplayer cooperative play. Nor is there online multiplayer play or even a leader board online where you can compare your score and see how badly you fared compared to the 13-year-old who’s been playing non-stop since Christmas.

For those of you who are unaware, that’s a video game. I don’t play those much these days, either, so I had to look this one up.

Is Asterix Disney?

No. Asterix’s rights are held by Les Editions Albert-Rene, named for the characters’ two creators, Albert Uderzo and Rene Goscinny.

Their mission is defined on their LinkedIn page:

• Publishing the Asterix the Gaul albums created by Albert Uderzo since 1980 and re-publishing other series created with René Goscinny, such as Jehan Pistolet and Oumpah-Pah.
• Initiating new projects: films and animations, local and international shows.
• Managing the international rights of the Asterix universe by granting licences for tie-in products and for promotional purposes, including those for Parc ASTERIX.

Many in France, in fact, would likely revolt if the character was sold to Disney.

There is a rivalry, though. The Asterix theme park, Parc Asterix, opened in the north of France on April 30, 1988.

Disney showed up and built EuroDisney, opening on April 12, 1992, just 20 miles east of Paris, less than an hour away from Parc Asterix. That park is now called DisneyLand Paris and is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

Is Parc Asterix in Paris?

No. Neither is DisneyLand Paris, but at least Asterix doesn’t try to pretend it is.

Parc Asterix is located in the town of Plailly, about 19 miles north of Paris.

DisneyLand Paris is technically two parks — Walt Disney Studios Park in Marne-la-Vallée, and DisneyLand Paris in Chessy, 20 miles east of Paris.