Zoltab
Encyclopedia
Zoltab is a fictional character
, the main antagonist of the novel
Blart: The Boy Who Didn't Want To Save The World
, by Dominic Barker
.
. The Creator made all the lords swear to never interfere with the affairs of mankind
directly, and to never use their powers for glory on Earth. Zoltab, after swearing the oath, was tempted by evil and his own power. Some say this is because his name was last on the register of the Creator's training school and this gave him an inferiority complex, although the real reason for his name being last is obviously because they were in alphabetical order. Using his powers, he made man worship him. His ultimate plan was to use the will of his followers to overthrow the Creator. When the other lords heard of this, they opposed Zoltab and a great war began. Zoltab was eventually defeated, and was imprisoned beneath the ground, in the Great Tunnel of Despair.
Zoltab, still imprisoned beneath the Earth, had lasting influence on his remaining followers. A cult was made, its goal to free Zoltab. Minions and Ministers (the two classes of Zoltab followers) united and began a great dig to the Great Tunnel of Despair. When Capablanca
, the wizard, finds Blart
, he thinks he is the chosen one who will stop Zoltab. But Zoltab has interpered the prophecy. The first born son of Blart's family is destined to stop Zoltab's return. But Zoltab has recruited two new servants: Blart's grandfather (The Master) and |Blart's mysterious older brother, who is the rightful chosen one. When Zoltab is freed, he plans to wed. His chosen bride is Princess Lois, of Illyria. He captures her, Beowulf
and Pig the Horse. When he finally brings Blart and Capablanca into custody, he orders his most evil servants to kill Blart: Famine, Disease, Pestilance and Death. When all four are defeated, Zoltab introduces Blart to his older brother. But, one of Zoltab's guards turns into a dragon. The cause of this being Blart's shouting of random magic spells early on. The dragon crushes Blart's brother, and the blood of the first-born son of Blart's family splashes on Zoltab. His power gone, he shrinks down to minuscule size, ending his evil reign. Capablanca then vows to create another Great Tunnel of Despair and place Zoltab in it and put a Cap of Eternal Doom over it.
genre, the character of Zoltab is basically the stereotypical Dark Lord character, an incredibly powerful villain who was defeated years ago but whose vengeful spirit is ever waiting to return and whose name people fear to speak. His character was probably inspired by that of Sauron
from The Lord of the Rings
by J. R. R. Tolkien
, an evil Dark Lord who was banished from the world long ago but whose minions seek to bring about his return. As Dominic Barker's novel largely pokes fun at the fantasy genre, particularly the works of Tolkien this is probably the case. Zoltab is also very similar to Melkor
from The Silmarillion
, being one of the divine beings that were appointed by a god-like figure to protect the world but who fell from grace and sort to use his power for his own ends. However as Melkor fell because of pride, Barker turns the tale on its head by having Zoltab turn evil due to feelings of inferiority. Zoltab is also very reminiscent of Satan
from John Milton
's Paradise Lost
. John Milton's depiction of Satan also heavily influenced Tolkien in his creation of Melkor and Sauron.
On an interesting side-note Zoltab sports a slight scar that causes his upper lip to be permanently wrinkled. As a result, Barker describes his face as being fixed in "a sneer of cold command." This may be a reference to the Percy Shelley
poem, Ozymandias
in which the sculpture of a proud king's is said to possess "a wrinkled lip" and a "sneer of cold command." Like Ozymandias, Zoltab is an arrogant ruler whose hubris leads to his downfall.
Fictional character
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...
, the main antagonist of the novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
Blart: The Boy Who Didn't Want To Save The World
Blart: The Boy Who Didn't Want To Save The World
bla bla blaBlart: The Boy Who Didn't Want To Save The World is a fictional comedy novel by Dominic Barker. It was published in 2006, by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc in Great Britain. It tells the tale of Blart, a young boy on a pig farm, who refuses to save the world. The book is largely a...
, by Dominic Barker
Dominic Barker
Dominic Barker is a British children's author.-Biography:Dominic Barker was born in Southport in 1966. He graduated from the University of Birmingham with a degree in English and then spent two years as part of a comedy double act before deciding to become a teacher...
.
Origin
Zoltab was one of the seven lords created by the Creator. Zoltab, along with the other lords (Andromeda, Baikal, Centaur, Dub, Efcheresto and Fluther), foresaw the creation of the 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...
. The Creator made all the lords swear to never interfere with the affairs of mankind
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
directly, and to never use their powers for glory on Earth. Zoltab, after swearing the oath, was tempted by evil and his own power. Some say this is because his name was last on the register of the Creator's training school and this gave him an inferiority complex, although the real reason for his name being last is obviously because they were in alphabetical order. Using his powers, he made man worship him. His ultimate plan was to use the will of his followers to overthrow the Creator. When the other lords heard of this, they opposed Zoltab and a great war began. Zoltab was eventually defeated, and was imprisoned beneath the ground, in the Great Tunnel of Despair.
Return to power
Main article: Blart: The Boy Who Didn't Want To Save The WorldBlart: The Boy Who Didn't Want To Save The World
bla bla blaBlart: The Boy Who Didn't Want To Save The World is a fictional comedy novel by Dominic Barker. It was published in 2006, by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc in Great Britain. It tells the tale of Blart, a young boy on a pig farm, who refuses to save the world. The book is largely a...
Zoltab, still imprisoned beneath the Earth, had lasting influence on his remaining followers. A cult was made, its goal to free Zoltab. Minions and Ministers (the two classes of Zoltab followers) united and began a great dig to the Great Tunnel of Despair. When Capablanca
Capablanca (Blart)
Capablanca of the Wizard Order of Caissa is a primary character from Dominic Barker's novel Blart: The Boy Who Didn't Want to Save the World and the sequel Blart II: The Boy Who was Wanted Dead or Alive - Or Both. He also plays a smaller, but equally important, role in Blart III: The Boy Who Set...
, the wizard, finds Blart
Blart (character)
Blart is the main protagonist in Dominic Barker's fantasy novels Blart: The Boy Who Didn't Want to Save the World, Blart II: The Boy Who was Wanted Dead or Alive - Or Both and Blart III: The Boy Who Set Sail on a Questionable Quest. He is lazy, rude, obnoxious, self-centred, negative, critical and...
, he thinks he is the chosen one who will stop Zoltab. But Zoltab has interpered the prophecy. The first born son of Blart's family is destined to stop Zoltab's return. But Zoltab has recruited two new servants: Blart's grandfather (The Master) and |Blart's mysterious older brother, who is the rightful chosen one. When Zoltab is freed, he plans to wed. His chosen bride is Princess Lois, of Illyria. He captures her, Beowulf
Beowulf (Blart)
Sir Beowulf, or Beo for short, is a character from Dominic Barker's fantasy novel Blart: The Boy Who Didn't Want To Save The World and its sequel Blart II: The Boy Who Was Wanted Dead Or Alive - Or Both...
and Pig the Horse. When he finally brings Blart and Capablanca into custody, he orders his most evil servants to kill Blart: Famine, Disease, Pestilance and Death. When all four are defeated, Zoltab introduces Blart to his older brother. But, one of Zoltab's guards turns into a dragon. The cause of this being Blart's shouting of random magic spells early on. The dragon crushes Blart's brother, and the blood of the first-born son of Blart's family splashes on Zoltab. His power gone, he shrinks down to minuscule size, ending his evil reign. Capablanca then vows to create another Great Tunnel of Despair and place Zoltab in it and put a Cap of Eternal Doom over it.
Comparisons
As most of the characters in Blart are parodies of archetypes found in the Swords and SorcerySwords and Sorcery
Swords and Sorcery is a 1963 anthology of fantasy short stories in the sword and sorcery subgenre, edited by L. Sprague de Camp and illustrated by Virgil Finlay. It was first published in paperback by Pyramid Books...
genre, the character of Zoltab is basically the stereotypical Dark Lord character, an incredibly powerful villain who was defeated years ago but whose vengeful spirit is ever waiting to return and whose name people fear to speak. His character was probably inspired by that of Sauron
Sauron
Sauron is the primary antagonist and titular character of the epic fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien.In the same work, he is revealed to be the same character as "the Necromancer" from Tolkien's earlier novel The Hobbit...
from The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
by J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
, an evil Dark Lord who was banished from the world long ago but whose minions seek to bring about his return. As Dominic Barker's novel largely pokes fun at the fantasy genre, particularly the works of Tolkien this is probably the case. Zoltab is also very similar to Melkor
Morgoth
Morgoth Bauglir is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth legendarium. He is the main antagonist of The Silmarillion, figures in The Children of Húrin, and is mentioned briefly in The Lord of the Rings.Melkor was the most powerful of the Ainur, but turned to darkness and became...
from The Silmarillion
The Silmarillion
The Silmarillion is a collection of J. R. R. Tolkien's mythopoeic works, edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, with assistance from Guy Gavriel Kay, who later became a noted fantasy writer. The Silmarillion, along with J. R. R...
, being one of the divine beings that were appointed by a god-like figure to protect the world but who fell from grace and sort to use his power for his own ends. However as Melkor fell because of pride, Barker turns the tale on its head by having Zoltab turn evil due to feelings of inferiority. Zoltab is also very reminiscent of Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
from John Milton
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
's Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. It was originally published in 1667 in ten books, with a total of over ten thousand individual lines of verse...
. John Milton's depiction of Satan also heavily influenced Tolkien in his creation of Melkor and Sauron.
On an interesting side-note Zoltab sports a slight scar that causes his upper lip to be permanently wrinkled. As a result, Barker describes his face as being fixed in "a sneer of cold command." This may be a reference to the Percy Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
poem, Ozymandias
Ozymandias
"Ozymandias" is a sonnet by Percy Bysshe Shelley, published in 1818 in the January 11 issue of The Examiner in London. It is frequently anthologised and is probably Shelley's most famous short poem...
in which the sculpture of a proud king's is said to possess "a wrinkled lip" and a "sneer of cold command." Like Ozymandias, Zoltab is an arrogant ruler whose hubris leads to his downfall.