The Mark of Zorro By Johnston McCulleyZorro (Spanish for "fox") is a
fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston
McCulley, and appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles during
the era of Spanish California (1769-1821). He is typically portrayed as
a dashing masked vigilante who defends the commoners and indigenous
peoples of California against corrupt and tyrannical officials and other
villains. His signature all-black costume includes a cape, a hat known
as a sombrero cordobés, and a mask covering the upper half of his
face.In the stories, Zorro has a high bounty on his head, but is too
skilled and cunning for the bumbling authorities to catch, and he also
delights in publicly humiliating them. Zorro is an acrobat and an expert
in various weapons, but the one he employs most frequently is his
rapier, which he uses often to carve the initial "Z" on his defeated
foes, and other objects.He is also an accomplished rider, his trusty
steed being a black horse called Tornado.Zorro is the secret identity of
Don Diego de la Vega (originally Don Diego Vega), a young man who is the
only son of Don Alejandro de la Vega (originally Don Alejandro Vega),
the richest landowner in California, while Diego's mother is dead. In
most versions, Diego learned his swordsmanship while at university in
Spain, and created his masked alter ego after he was unexpectedly
summoned home by his father because California had fallen into the hands
of an oppressive dictator. Diego is usually shown living with his father
in a huge hacienda, which contains a number of secret passages and
tunnels, leading to a secret cave that serves as headquarters for
Zorro's operations and as Tornado's hiding place. In order to divert
suspicion about his identity, Diego hides his fighting abilities while
also pretending to be a coward and a fop.Zorro made his debut in the
1919 novel The Curse of Capistrano, originally meant as a stand-alone
story. However, the success of the 1920 film adaptation The Mark of
Zorro starring Douglas Fairbanks convinced McCulley to write more Zorro
stories for about four decades: the character was featured in a total of
five serialized stories and 57 short stories, the last one appearing in
print posthumously in 1959, the year after his death. The Curse of
Capistrano eventually sold more than 50 million copies, becoming one of
the best-selling books of all time.
