The humour encountered in the
Asterix comics often centers around
puns,
caricatures, and
tongue-in-cheek stereotypes of contemporary European nations and
French regions. Much of the multi-layered humour in the initial Asterix books was French-specific, which delayed the translation of the books into other languages for fear of losing the jokes and the spirit of the story. Some translations have actually added local humour: In the Italian translation, the Roman legionaries are made to speak in 20th-century Roman dialect, and Obelix's famous
Ils sont fous, ces Romains ! ("These Romans are crazy") is translated as
Sono pazzi questi romani, a long-established humorous expansion of the Roman abbreviation
SPQR. In another example:
Hiccups are written
onomatopoeically in French as
hips, but in English as "hic", allowing Roman legionaries in more than one of the English translations to
decline their hiccups absurdly in Latin (
hic, haec, hoc). The newer albums share a more universal humour, both written and visual.
Character names All the fictional characters in
Asterix have names which are puns on their roles or personalities, and which follow certain patterns specific to nationality. Certain rules are followed (most of the time) such as Gauls (and their neighbours) having an suffix for the men and ending in for the women; for example, Chief
Vitalstatistix (so called due to his portly stature) and his wife
Impedimenta (often at odds with the chief). The male Roman names end in , echoing Latin nominative male singular form, as in
Gluteus Maximus, a muscle-bound athlete whose name is literally the
butt of the joke. Gothic names (present-day Germany) end in , after Gothic chiefs such as
Alaric and
Theoderic; for example
Rhetoric the interpreter. Greek names end in or ; for example,
Thermos the restaurateur. British names usually end in or and are often puns on the
taxation associated with the later
United Kingdom; examples include Mykingdomforanos, a British tribal chieftain,
Valuaddedtax the druid, and
Selectivemploymentax the mercenary. Names of Normans end with , for example Nescaf or Cenotaf. Egyptian characters often end in , such as the architects Edifis and Artifis, and the scribe Exlibris. Indic names, apart from the only Indic female characters Orinjade and Lemuhnade, exhibit considerable variation; examples include Watziznehm, Watzit, Owzat, and Howdoo. Other nationalities are treated to
pidgin translations from their language, like Huevos y Bacon, a Spanish chieftain (whose name, meaning
eggs and bacon, is often guidebook Spanish for tourists), or literary and other popular media references, like
Dubbelosix (a sly reference to
James Bond's codename "007"). Most of these jokes, and hence the names of the characters, are specific to the translation; for example, the druid named
Getafix in English "get a fix", referring to the character's role in dispensing the
magic potionis
Panoramix in the original French and
Miraculix in German. Even so, occasionally the wordplay has been preserved: Obelix's dog, known in the original French as
Idéfix (from
idée fixe, a "fixed idea" or obsession), is called
Dogmatix in English, which not only renders the original meaning strikingly closely ("dogmatic") but in fact adds another layer of wordplay with the syllable at the beginning of the name. The name
Asterix,
French Astérix, comes from ''
, meaning "asterisk", which is the typographical symbol indicating a footnote, from the Greek word ἀστήρ (aster
), meaning "star". His name is usually left unchanged in translations, aside from accents and the use of local alphabets. For example, in Esperanto, Polish, Slovene, Latvian, and Turkish it is Asteriks
(in Turkish he was first named Bücür
meaning "shorty", but the name was then standardised). Two exceptions include Icelandic, in which he is known as Ástríkur
("Rich of love"), and Sinhala, where he is known as (Soora Pappa
), which can be interpreted as "Hero". The name Obelix
(Obélix'') may refer to "
obelisk", a stone column from ancient Egypt (and hence his large size and strength and his task of carrying around
menhirs), but also to another typographical symbol, the
obelisk or obelus ().
Ethnic stereotypes Many of the
Asterix adventures take place in other countries away from their homeland in Gaul. In every album that takes place abroad, the characters meet (usually modern-day) stereotypes for each country, as seen by the French. • Italics (Italians) are the inhabitants of Italy. In the adventures of Asterix, the term "Romans" is used by non-Italics to refer to all inhabitants of Italy, who at that time had extended their dominion over a large part of the
Mediterranean basin. But as can be seen in
Asterix and the Chariot Race, in the
Italian Peninsula this term is used only to refer to the people from the capital, with many Italics preferring to identify themselves as
Umbrians,
Etruscans,
Venetians, etc. Various topics from this country are explored, as in this example,
Italian cuisine (pasta, pizza, wine), art, famous people (
Luciano Pavarotti,
Silvio Berlusconi,
Leonardo da Vinci's
Mona Lisa), and even the controversial issues of
political corruption. Romans in general appear more similar to the historical Romans than to modern-age Italians. • Goths (Germans) are disciplined and
militaristic, but divided into many
factions that fight amongst each other (which is a reference to Germany before
Otto von Bismarck, and to the rivalry between
East Germany and
West Germany in the
Aftermath of World War II), and they wear the
Pickelhaube helmet common during the
German Empire. In later appearances, the Goths tend to be more good-natured. • Helvetians (Swiss) are neutral, eat
fondue, and are obsessed with cleaning, accurate time-keeping, and banks. • The Britons (English) are
phlegmatic, and speak with early 20th-century aristocratic slang (similar to
Bertie Wooster). They stop for
tea every day (making it with hot water and a drop of milk until Asterix brings them actual
tea leaves), play darts and drink warm beer (
Bitter) in pubs, eat boiled food with
mint sauce, and live in streets containing rows of identical houses. In
Asterix and Obelix: God Save Britannia the Britons all wore woollen pullovers and
Tam o' shanters. • Hibernians (Irish) inhabit Hibernia, the Latin name of Ireland and they fight against the Romans alongside the Britons to defend the British Isles. • Iberians (Spanish) are filled with
pride and have rather choleric tempers. They produce
olive oil, provide very slow aid for chariot problems on the Roman roads and (thanks to Asterix) adopt
bullfighting as a tradition. • When the Gauls visited North America in
Asterix and the Great Crossing, Obelix punches one of the attacking
Native Americans with a
knockout blow. The warrior first hallucinates
American-style emblematic eagles; the second time, he sees stars in the formation of the
Stars and Stripes; the third time, he sees stars shaped like the
United States Air Force roundel. Asterix's inspired idea for getting the attention of a
nearby Viking ship (which could take them back to Gaul) is to hold up a torch; this refers to the
Statue of Liberty (which was a gift from France). • Corsicans are proud, patriotic, and easily aroused but lazy, making decisions by using
pre-filled ballot boxes. They harbour
vendettas against each other, and always take their
siesta. • Greeks are
chauvinists and consider Romans, Gauls, and all others to be
barbarians. They eat stuffed grape leaves (
dolma), drink resinated wine (
retsina), and are
hospitable to tourists. Most seem to be related by blood, and often
suggest some cousin appropriate for a job. Greek characters are often depicted in side profile, making them resemble figures from classical Greek vase paintings. • Normans (
Vikings) drink endlessly, they always use
cream in their cuisine, they do not know what fear is (which they are trying to discover), and in their home territory (
Scandinavia), the night lasts for 6 months.Their depiction in the albums is a mix of stereotypes of
Scandinavian Vikings and the
Norman French. Their names end in "-af". •
Cimbres (Danes) are very similar to the Normans with the greatest difference being that the Gauls are unable to communicate with them. Their names end in "-sen", a common ending of surnames in Denmark and Norway akin to "-son". • Belgians speak with a funny accent, snub the Gauls, and always eat
sliced roots deep-fried in bear fat. They also tell
Belgian jokes. • Lusitanians (Portuguese) are short in stature and polite (Uderzo said all the Portuguese who he had met were like that). Their most recent appearance in the albums depicts them with an easy-going and procrastinating nature. • The Indians have elephant trainers, as well as gurus who can fast for weeks and levitate on
magic carpets. They worship thirty-three million deities and consider cows as sacred. They also bathe in the
Ganges river. • Egyptians are short with prominent noses, endlessly engaged in building pyramids and palaces. Their favorite food is
lentil soup and they sail
feluccas along the banks of the
Nile River. • Persians (Iranians) produce
carpets and staunchly refuse to mend foreign ones. They eat
caviar, as well as roasted camel and the women wear
burqas. •
Hittites,
Sumerians,
Akkadians,
Assyrians, and
Babylonians are perpetually at war with each other and attack strangers because they confuse them with their enemies, but they later apologize when they realize that the strangers are not their enemies. This is likely a criticism of the constant conflicts among the Middle Eastern peoples. • The Jews are all depicted as
Yemenite Jews, with dark skin, black eyes, and beards, a tribute to
Marc Chagall, the famous painter whose painting of
King David hangs at the
Knesset (Israeli Parliament). •
Numidians, contrary to the
Berber inhabitants of ancient Numidia (located in North Africa), are obviously Africans from
sub-Saharan Africa. The names end in "-tha", similar to the historical king
Jugurtha of Numidia. • The Picts (Scots) wear a typical dress with a
kilt (skirt), have the habit of drinking "malt water" (
whisky) and throwing logs (
caber tossing) as a popular sport and their names all start with "Mac-". • Sarmatians (Ukrainians) inhabit the North
Black Sea area, which represents present-day Ukraine. Their names end in "-ov", like many Ukrainian surnames. When the Gauls see foreigners speaking their foreign languages, these have different representations in the cartoon
speech bubbles: • Iberian: Same as Spanish, with inversion of exclamation marks ('¡') and question marks ("¿"). • Goth language: Gothic script (incomprehensible to the Gauls, except Getafix, who speaks Gothic). • Cimbres: "Ø" and "Å" instead of "O" and "A" (incomprehensible to the Gauls). • Amerindian: Pictograms and sign language (generally incomprehensible to the Gauls). • Egyptians and Kushites:
Hieroglyphs with explanatory footnotes (incomprehensible to the Gauls). • Greek: Straight letters, carved as if in stone. • Sarmatian: In their speech balloons, some letters (E, F, N, R ...) are written in a mirror-reversed form, which evokes the modern
Cyrillic alphabet. ==Translations==