Dejah Thoris
Encyclopedia
Dejah Thoris is a fictional character
in Edgar Rice Burroughs
's series of Martian
novels. Princess of the Martian city state/empire of Helium, Dejah Thoris is the love interest and later the wife of John Carter
, an Earthman mystically transported to Mars, and subsequently the mother of their son Carthoris and daughter Tara. She plays the role of the conventional damsel in distress who must be rescued from various perils, but is also portrayed as a competent and capable adventuress in her own right, fully capable of defending herself and surviving on her own in the wastelands of Mars.
's inhabitants because they do wear clothing. Burroughs describes Dejah Thoris thus:
(1917). She reappeared in subsequent volumes of the series, most prominently in the second, The Gods of Mars
(1918), the third, The Warlord of Mars
(1919), the eighth, Swords of Mars
(1936), and the eleventh, John Carter of Mars (1964). Dejah Thoris is also mentioned or appeared in a minor role in other volumes of the series.
's Sundays comic strip and various comic book series featuring her husband John Carter. She is mentioned in the first issue of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II
during a conversation between John Carter and Gullivar Jones
.
She is a prominent character in Dynamite Entertainment
's 2010-11 comic miniseries Warlord of Mars, based on A Princess of Mars. She first appears in issue 4. Dejah Thoris is also the main character of the Dynamite spinoff comic, Warlord of Mars: Dejah Thoris. Set 400 years before A Princess of Mars, the first story arc portrays Dejah's role in the rise to power of the Kingdom of Helium, as well as her first suitor. The second story arc will depict her as the "Pirate Queen of Mars".
's The Number of the Beast
. Burroughs's Dejah Thoris is also referred to in Heinlein's novel Glory Road
by the protagonist when contemplating his accompanying female companion Star.
In the story "Mars: The Home Front
", Dejah Thoris is kidnapped by the sarmaks
and taken to their space gun
base. John Carter assembles a Barsoomian force to both rescue her and foil the sarmaks' plan to invade Jasoom
.
In the earlier prequel short story "Allan and the Sundered Veil
" a "time lost" Carter sees a vision of himself fighting a Green Martian and winning Dejah Thoris in a "chrono-crystal aleph" (from Jorge Luis Borges's "The Aleph")
In The Apocalypse Troll
by David Weber
, Richard Aston refers to the very human looking female he has rescued from a sinking UFO as Dejah Thoris.
In the Junot Diaz
book The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
, Oscar describes a neighbor girl as being "so pretty she could have played young Dejah Thoris."
In the board game ANDROID, one of the six murder suspects is named Dejah Thoris, a human woman from the Mars colony.
portrayed Dejah Thoris in The Asylum
's direct-to-DVD film Princess of Mars
.
In the upcoming film John Carter, she will be played by Lynn Collins
.
Character (arts)
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.-Biography:...
's series of Martian
Barsoom
Barsoom is a fictional representation of the planet Mars created by American pulp fiction author Edgar Rice Burroughs, who wrote close to 100 action adventure stories in various genres in the first half of the 20th century, and is now best known as the creator of the character Tarzan...
novels. Princess of the Martian city state/empire of Helium, Dejah Thoris is the love interest and later the wife of John Carter
John Carter (character)
John Carter is a fictional character, created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, who appears in the Barsoom series of novels. Though actually a Virginian from Earth and a visitor to Mars, he is often referred to as "John Carter of Mars" in reference to the general setting in which his deeds are recorded, in...
, an Earthman mystically transported to Mars, and subsequently the mother of their son Carthoris and daughter Tara. She plays the role of the conventional damsel in distress who must be rescued from various perils, but is also portrayed as a competent and capable adventuress in her own right, fully capable of defending herself and surviving on her own in the wastelands of Mars.
Description
Except for some jewelry, all of the planet's races seem to eschew clothing and look down upon EarthEarth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
's inhabitants because they do wear clothing. Burroughs describes Dejah Thoris thus:
- And the sight which met my eyes was that of a slender, girlish figure, similar in every detail to the earthly women of my past life... Her face was oval and beautiful in the extreme, her every feature was finely chiseled and exquisite, her eyes large and lustrous and her head surmounted by a mass of coal black, waving hair, caught loosely into a strange yet becoming coiffure. Her skin was of a light reddish copper color, against which the crimson glow of her cheeks and the ruby of her beautifully molded lips shone with a strangely enhancing effect.
- She was as destitute of clothes as the green Martians who accompanied her; indeed, save for her highly wrought ornaments she was entirely naked, nor could any apparel have enhanced the beauty of her perfect and symmetrical figure.
Publication history
Dejah Thoris first appeared as the title character in the initial Mars novel, A Princess of MarsA Princess of Mars
A Princess of Mars is a science fiction novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the first of his Barsoom series. It is also Burroughs' first novel, predating his famous Tarzan series. Full of swordplay and daring feats, the novel is considered a classic example of 20th century pulp fiction...
(1917). She reappeared in subsequent volumes of the series, most prominently in the second, The Gods of Mars
The Gods of Mars
The Gods of Mars is a 1918 Edgar Rice Burroughs science fiction novel, the second of his famous Barsoom series. It was first published in All-Story as a five-part serial in the issues for January-May 1913. It was later published as a complete novel by A. C...
(1918), the third, The Warlord of Mars
The Warlord of Mars
The Warlord of Mars is a science fiction novel written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the third of his famous Barsoom series. Burroughs began writing it in June, 1913, going through five working titles; Yellow Men of Barsoom, The Fighting Prince of Mars, Across Savage Mars, The Prince of Helium, and The...
(1919), the eighth, Swords of Mars
Swords of Mars
Swords of Mars is an science fiction novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the eighth of his Barsoom series. It was first published in the magazine Blue Book Magazine as a six-part serial in the issues for November, 1934-April, 1935. The first book edition was published by Edgar Rice...
(1936), and the eleventh, John Carter of Mars (1964). Dejah Thoris is also mentioned or appeared in a minor role in other volumes of the series.
Comics
Dejah Thoris has appeared in numerous adaptations of the Martian stories, notably in a 1995 storyline of TarzanTarzan
Tarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungles by the Mangani "great apes"; he later experiences civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...
's Sundays comic strip and various comic book series featuring her husband John Carter. She is mentioned in the first issue of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II is a comic book limited series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill, published under the America's Best Comics imprint of DC Comics...
during a conversation between John Carter and Gullivar Jones
Lieutenant Gullivar Jones: His Vacation
Lieutenant Gullivar Jones: His Vacation is a novel by Edwin Lester Arnold combining elements of both fantasy and science fiction, first published in 1905. The last of Arnold's novels, its lukewarm reception led him to stop writing fiction...
.
She is a prominent character in Dynamite Entertainment
Dynamite Entertainment
Dynamite Entertainment is an American comic book company that primarily publishes licensed franchises of adaptations of other media. These include adaptations of film properties such as Army of Darkness, Terminator and RoboCop, literary properties such as Zorro, Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, Alice in...
's 2010-11 comic miniseries Warlord of Mars, based on A Princess of Mars. She first appears in issue 4. Dejah Thoris is also the main character of the Dynamite spinoff comic, Warlord of Mars: Dejah Thoris. Set 400 years before A Princess of Mars, the first story arc portrays Dejah's role in the rise to power of the Kingdom of Helium, as well as her first suitor. The second story arc will depict her as the "Pirate Queen of Mars".
Other novels/short stories/games
Dr. Dejah Thoris "Deety" (for D.T.) Carter, née Burroughs, is a protagonist in Robert A. HeinleinRobert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
's The Number of the Beast
The Number of the Beast (novel)
The Number of the Beast is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein published in 1980. The first edition featured a cover and interior illustrations by Richard M. Powers...
. Burroughs's Dejah Thoris is also referred to in Heinlein's novel Glory Road
Glory Road
Glory Road is a fantasy novel by Robert A. Heinlein, originally serialized in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and published in hardcover later the same year...
by the protagonist when contemplating his accompanying female companion Star.
In the story "Mars: The Home Front
Mars: The Home Front
"Mars: The Home Front" is a short story by George Alec Effinger, published in War of the Worlds: Global Dispatches. It is a crossover between H. G...
", Dejah Thoris is kidnapped by the sarmaks
Martian (War of the Worlds)
The Martians, also known as the Invaders, are the fictional race of extraterrestrials from the H.G. Wells novel The War of the Worlds. They are the antagonists of the novel, and their efforts to exterminate the populace of Earth and claim the planet for themselves drive the plot and present...
and taken to their space gun
Space gun
A space gun is a method of launching an object into outer space using a large gun, or cannon. It provides a method of non-rocket spacelaunch.In the HARP Project a U.S...
base. John Carter assembles a Barsoomian force to both rescue her and foil the sarmaks' plan to invade Jasoom
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
.
In the earlier prequel short story "Allan and the Sundered Veil
Allan and the Sundered Veil
Allan and the Sundered Veil was a six-part story written in the style of a boy's periodical by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill, included at the back of each issue of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume I and collected at the back of that volume...
" a "time lost" Carter sees a vision of himself fighting a Green Martian and winning Dejah Thoris in a "chrono-crystal aleph" (from Jorge Luis Borges's "The Aleph")
In The Apocalypse Troll
The Apocalypse Troll
A novel by David Weber, The Apocalypse troll is a story about time travel and alien invasion.- Plot summary :The story opens in the 25th Century, when a small force of human warships encounter a larger group of Kanga ships 'forty light-months from anywhere in particular'...
by David Weber
David Weber
David Mark Weber is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Weber and his wife Sharon live in Greenville, South Carolina with their three children and "a passel of dogs"....
, Richard Aston refers to the very human looking female he has rescued from a sinking UFO as Dejah Thoris.
In the Junot Diaz
Junot Díaz
Junot Díaz is a Dominican-American writer and creative writing professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology . Central to Díaz's work is the immigrant experience...
book The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is a best-selling novel written by Dominican author Junot Díaz. Although a work of fiction, the novel is set in New Jersey where Díaz was raised and deals explicitly with his ancestral homeland's experience under dictator Rafael Trujillo...
, Oscar describes a neighbor girl as being "so pretty she could have played young Dejah Thoris."
In the board game ANDROID, one of the six murder suspects is named Dejah Thoris, a human woman from the Mars colony.
Films
Traci LordsTraci Lords
Traci Lords , also known as Traci Elizabeth Lords and Tracy Lords, is an American film actress, producer, film director, writer and singer...
portrayed Dejah Thoris in The Asylum
The Asylum
The Asylum is an American film studio and distributor which focuses on producing low-budget, usually direct-to-video productions. The studio has produced titles that capitalize on productions by major studios; these titles have been dubbed "mockbusters" by the press.-History:The Asylum was founded...
's direct-to-DVD film Princess of Mars
Princess of Mars
Princess of Mars is a 2009 direct-to-DVD science fiction film made by American independent studio The Asylum, based on the 1917 novel A Princess of Mars by author Edgar Rice Burroughs. The novel shares some elements with James Cameron's Avatar, as mentioned on the film's promotional art...
.
In the upcoming film John Carter, she will be played by Lynn Collins
Lynn Collins
Viola Lynn Collins , better known as Lynn Collins, is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Kayla Silverfox in the live-action film X-Men Origins: Wolverine.-Life and career:...
.