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There are large variety of animals (動物 dōbutsu) seen throughout the Dragon Ball series.
In the Dragon Ball series, 17% of sapient Earthlings are animal-type.[1][2] It is common to see anthropomorphic animals living among humans as city residents; the two most recurring animal characters being Puar and Oolong. Other significant anthropomorphic animals in the franchise include Captain Yellow (a high-ranking member of the Red Ribbon Army who is a tiger), Korin (a cat deity who lives atop Korin Tower), and King Furry (the King of the Earth, who is a dog). Man-Wolf, one of the eight finalists of the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament, is part animal as well as part Human.
Some animals are capable of speaking Human dialect without even being anthropomorphic, such as Turtle or the dolphin who gives Goku and Chi-Chi directions to Kame House.[3]
In Dr. Slump, the Dragon Ball manga, and Dragon Ball Online, humanoid animals were very common, but they do not appear as much in Dragon Ball Z. This is likely due to the more serious tone the series began taking. In an interview, Akira Toriyama stated that the reason why he draws animal-type characters so often, is because he likes animals, but basically, it is because it is easy to do a greater number of variations. Dogs in particular have an image of being more loyal and purer than humans, so he says he make good use of them (like King Furry or the World Tournament Chairman).[4]
In Dragon Ball Online, it is stated that an ethnologist named Doctor Hunbalt releases the Animal Data, a catalogue of animals of the Earth, in Age 974.
Animal species
A Bat is show outside Bulma's Capsule House when Bulma discovers that Goku's tail is not fake. Bats are inside of Pilaf's Castle, as shown in "The Dragon Balls are Stolen!" Fangs the Vampire has the vampiric ability to turn into a bat. In Dragon Ball Z, a bat is seen in Diablo Desert when Chi-Chi and Ox-King travel through it to go to Kame House, and ask Roshi about her son (who is training under Piccolo at Break Wasteland). Another bat is seen in Break Wasteland.
Bats are common enemies in the video games Dragon Ball: Dragon Daihikyou, Dragon Ball: Shenron no Nazo, Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure, Dragon Ball: Origins, Dragon Ball: Origins 2, and Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans. In Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury, the vampire enemies have the ability to turn into bats.
Bears are big furry creatures that usually eat meat. The first time bears are seen is when an anthropomorphic Bear Thief tries to attack Goku so he can eat Turtle. A faction that consists of Bear Thieves called the Kuma Mercenary Clan (Kuma means bear in Japanese) exists in the video game Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II. At the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament, Krillin defeats a British Karate Bear (Fighter 97) in the ring. An unnamed Bear Man working for the Red Ribbon Army can be seen several times talking to Commander Red in the command room of the Red Ribbon Army Headquarters (this Bear Man appears in Dragon Ball: Origins as an enemy in Oolong's mansion and Pilaf's Castle, and in the same role he had in the manga in Dragon Ball: Origins 2). Two other anthropomorphic bears are seen as Red Ribbon soldiers (a polar bear with a pink-haired soldier, and a brown bear with a soldier wearing goggles) when Goku attacks the base.
Another anthropomorphic bear, dressed in snow wear, is shown in the background with all the residents of Jingle Village when Goku departed to continue his journey (this anthropomorphic bear holds the Jingle Village shop in Attack of the Saiyans). In a filler in the episode "Kame House: Found!", while at the market, Krillin and Launch meet an anthropomorphic bear who runs a groceries shop; Launch sneezes and attacks him. In Goku's Traffic Safety, an anthropomorphic bear speeding in a truck almost hits a boy who was playing with his toy car in West City; the Traffic Agent Lady quickly arrives and yells at the bear for driving really fast and not paying attention. At the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament, a black bear with a British accent is shown talking to an anthropomorphic tiger, which the tiger responds by saying he did not get a single thing he said. Another bear, who can speak fluently, is the commander of the Royal Military Army.
During the King Piccolo Saga, a father and son bear in Animal Village were bullied by Giran, when Tambourine arrives and kills the Giras. The two animals come out to thank Tambourine for saving them, but Tambourine kills the father bear mercilessly. Father Bear and Son Bear have similarities to Little Bear and Papa Bear from the show Little Bear. Another bear, who looks almost identical to the Bear Thief, is the captain of a crew of pirates seen in "Tien's Atonement".
Non-anthropomorphic bears appear on Mount Paozu at the end of the Kid Buu Saga, and in the movies Dragon Ball: The Path to Power and Dragon Ball GT: A Hero's Legacy.
Hungry Bear, Snow Bear, and Strong Bear are enemies in the video game Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans.
A lot of birds appear in the series, notably Ostrich Chicken. Master Roshi owned an Immortal Phoenix unseen during the series because the supposedly undying bird ironically died from being fed "tainted bird seed" prior to the events of Dragon Ball. There is at least one chicken on Training Island, seen in "The Turtle Hermit Way". Chickens are also seen in a farm in the East District, near Vodka's fortress.[5]
Crows appear in the cave Master Roshi, Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu explored while searching the Dragon Balls during the King Piccolo Saga. They also appeared flying away from the energy of Goku and Vegeta's fight at Gizard Wasteland.[6] Chuu Lee's bird pet is called Pippi. Pippi ran away causing Chuu Lee to wait for it. Pippi is female in the Japanese dub but male in the English dub. The Hikui Bird is a rare and near extinct bird that dwells in volcanoes and appears in the episode "The Fire-Eater".
An owl wearing a cap is seen on Mount Paozu in the episodes "The Emperor's Quest" of Dragon Ball and "I'll Fight Too!" of Dragon Ball Z. An owl with glasses, like the one that appear in Dr. Slump chapter 12, is seen at the location where Tien Shinhan is training in the episode "Conquest and Power". Owls wearing caps appear as enemies in the video game Dragon Ball: Origins. A vulture is seen flying away when Goku begins his second quest for the Dragon Balls. Vulture are also enemies in Dragon Ball: Origins 2, and regular hawks are enemies in Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II.
- See also
In the very first episode of Dragon Ball Z, Gohan is looking at a blue bird on a log, but the bird flies away and the log spills into a river, sending Gohan flying off a waterfall for Goku to save him. Later in Dragon Ball Z, a Sand Eagle[7] attacks Gohan when he was at Break Wasteland, another one attacks him when he was in the desert, and a third of those giant eagles is seen leaving Paprika Wasteland right before the battle against the Saiyans.[8] Gigantic tree birds called Treedons live on Fake Namek. In the movie Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge, a Robin dies as a result of Cooler tearing the planet apart; when Goku transforms into a Super Saiyan, he revives the bird by picking it up and holding it in his hands. Birds also appear with Android 16, and a large beak bird appears after Piccolo and Krillin were turned into stone by Dabura in Dragon Ball Z.
Various seabirds appear in Dragon Ball Z: Broly - Second Coming when Goten, Videl, and Trunks attempts to locate a Dragon Ball they lost and are also almost attacked by various seagulls due to Goten accidentally sitting on one of the eggs. Birds also live in the area surrounding Beerus' Castle.[9] Colm, the boy who tricked Oceanus Shenron, owns a seagull pet named Gull (ガル). Seagulls also appear in the sky of the Kame House stage in the video game Dragon Ball Z: Shin Butōden.
Strange-looking birds called Roks and Egg Layers are enemies in the video game Dragon Ball GT: Transformation.
Bison appears in the movie Dragon Ball: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle, as well as in the "Pilaf and the Mystery Force" episode of the Red Ribbon Army Saga.
InoShikaCho is a strange boar that was raised by Master Shen. Another huge wild boar chases Chi-Chi in "Goku's Ordeal". Finally, a boar-like demon called Lord Yao appears in Dragon Ball GT: A Hero's Legacy.
Warthogs are common enemies on the Northern Mountains in the video game Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II. Wild Boar, Champion Boar, and Snow Boar are enemies in Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans. Boar Bandits are among the enemies encountered on Mount Paozu in Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure.
After Arale Norimaki sends General Blue flying into the air, he lands in an Egypt-like land where he is seen riding on a camel. Camels also appear in the city where Mercenary Tao forced a tailor to make a new copy of his uniform for free.
Cats (猫, Neko) are feline animals who like to eat fish and rodents. They are common domesticated animals often kept as pets.[10]
Puar is considered by Toriyama to be a mix between a cat and a rabbit. Korin is a major character in the cat race. In the fillers of Dragon Ball, Commander Red has a pet cat, which he frequently used to attack the Red Ribbon Army personnel entering his office to test their reflexes, such as Colonel Silver. It is also implied that any soldier who fails to effectively evade the cat (such as one soldier who allegedly lost an eye due to not reacting quick enough) is executed. Dr. Brief has a black cat named Scratch that is frequently seen on his shoulder. Mr. Popo owns a cat that looks very similar to Puar, as it is seen in the filler episode "Quicker Than Lightning". A stray cat was in Tapion's hideout in the movie Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon. The Destroyer Beerus, who appears in the movie Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, is a purple sphinx cat-like humanoid, as is Beerus' counterpart Champa. In the "Future" Trunks Saga, when Future Trunks goes to check on Future Mai in a old run down apartment, Mai shares food with Trunks while also feeding Future Scratch.
The Neko Majin race are anthropomorphic cats and the main characters to Akira Toriyama's Nekomajin manga. In the spin-off manga Dragon Ball Heroes: Victory Mission, the Majin Hero Kabra has a Neko Majin pet named Abra who usually hangs atop his head. Contrary to most animals, cats are not enemies in the video games they appear in: Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku, The Legacy of Goku II, and Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans.
Crabs are shown to live on the beach near and on Master Roshi's island; one most notably is seen playing Rock-Paper-Scissors with the young Gohan and then blows bubbles at him after losing.
A giant crab appears on Namek in "Destination: Guru", and is shown to be extremely territorial and protective of its offspring, as evidenced by it attacking Bulma when she discovered its eggs, as well as when Blueberry and Raspberry mistook its eggs for a set of Namekian Dragon Balls and attempted to steal them. This crab looks versy similar to the giant crab that appear in Toriyama's 1981 manga Pola & Roid.
When Frieza is torturing Vegeta and holding him underwater, after he separates him from the water a crab is crawling on Vegeta's head, Frieza plucks it off him and eats it.[11] A crab is seen on the beach where one of the Dragon Balls was during the Cell Games Saga.[12]
In video games, Crabs appear as enemies on Mount Paozu in Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku, and in the Mushroom Forest in Dragon Ball: Origins and Dragon Ball: Origins 2. In Dragon Ball: Origins, giant crabs terrorize the population of Training Island; as part of their training, Goku and Krillin have to fight a giant crab everyday and deliver its meat to the population of the island. Giant crabs are also enemies in Dragon Ball: Shenron no Nazo, Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans, and Dragon Ball Online. Ice Crabs are enemies encountered on Polaris in Dragon Ball GT: Transformation.
Crocodilians are a family of reptiles that usually eat meat. They are alligators and crocodiles. An alligator that seems to know Master Roshi is shown sunbathing on a beach chair next to Kame House when he is interrogated by Emperor Pilaf and his gang. Pilaf pulls a knife on him asking where Master Roshi is. The threatened alligator points out the location of Master Roshi to the two henchmen and their boss.[13] The alligator with sunglasses is later seen in a group of fighters waiting outside Fortuneteller Baba's Palace,[14] and later again in a team of three criminals trying to burglarize Kame House.[15] Pilaf himself keeps several alligator at his place as seen when he is treating Mai in "The Dragon Balls are Stolen!"
An anthropomorphic crocodile/alligator is seen as one of General Blue's soldiers who is ordered to sanitize a work area of another soldier executed for picking his nose. An alligator kills two of Colonel Violet's men after she throws them overboard so that she can escape with the Dragon Ball those two henchmen found.
In Dragon Ball Z, a crocodile is seen trying to attack Gohan during his survival training under Piccolo. On Namek, alligator like aliens served as low-class soldiers under Frieza. Bulma got followed by one of them, Blueberry.
In addition, alligators appear as common enemies on the Tropical Islands stage in the video game Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II.
Deer are seen living at Mount Paozu in "The Secret of the Dragon Balls", "Goku's Alive!!", and "I'll Fight Too!" In the movie Cooler's Revenge, several are shown to have survived the bombardment of the area by Cooler's Armored Squadron (targeting Goku and Gohan) and they later watch over Goku (who had been wounded by Cooler) alongside Krillin and Oolong. Later in the film, when making a final ambush attempt on the Dragon Team, Salza compares their situation to being like "deer caught in the headlights."
Although not seen, the animal is mentioned by a hunter during the Z Fighters pursuit of Dr. Gero in the Northern Mountains, where he accidentally shot the evil android due to mistaking him for the animal.
In Dragon Ball GT, Pan plays with a baby deer on planet Pital while exploring the hospital grounds.
Dogs are often kept as obedient pets. Most dogs walk on all fours, but some dogs in the series stand on their hind legs.[10] An anthropomorphic dog is the Chairman to the World Martial Arts Tournament. Emperor Pilaf's minion Shu is the most recurring character of the species; specifically, he resembles the Shiba Inu species. Anthropomorphic dogs occasionally appear as soldiers in the Red Ribbon Army. The king of Earth, King Furry is an anthropomorphic dog as well. Another anthromorphic dog, is seen as an admiral leading a fleet of ships in an attempt to defeat Nappa
Shu is also shown to have a non anthropomorphic Dog Police that were used to hunt down Goku and the others after they ruined Pilaf's wish. During the Piccolo Jr. Saga, Piccolo Jr. blasted away the dog of Tai's family, thereby discovering some of his power.[16] In the episode "Clash of the Super Powers", Mrs. Brief mentions that she used to have a poodle that got lost. A dog is seen in the Other World when Goku telepathically communicates with his family thanks to King Kai. Another regular dog is Bee, the dog that was saved and adopted by Mr. Satan and Majin Buu. The specific type of dog Bee is would be a Labrador Retriever. A dog-like creature is Lord Jaguar's pet in Dragon Ball Z: Bio-Broly. Although no dogs appear in Dragon Ball Z: Super Android 13!, Dr. Gero did reference them just before being killed by a rebellious Android 17, where he cited him and his sister as being worse than them and that unlike them, dogs at least held obedience to their masters.
Dogs appear in Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II, but they are not enemies. Stray Dog, Red Ribbon Spy Dog, and Super Watchdog are enemies in the video game Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans.
Dogs that died and went to afterlife are seen in Goz and Mez (Evil dogs) and the manga only version of Strongest in the Heavens! (Good dog, with body) when Goku is talking to his son (for some reason the dog is cut in the anime version)
A dolphin appeared on the episode "The Ox King on Fire Mountain", when Goku and Chi-Chi were looking for directions the dolphin told them to keep going straight. This dolphin also appears in Dragon Ball: Origins.
Dolphins are also seen swimming in "The Fire-Eater", after Goku and Chi-Chi think they found out how to make a Bansho Fan.
Dolphins are also seen in the movie Dragon Ball Z: Bio-Broly, while Men-Men takes Mr. Satan to Jaguar's island.
Donkeys appear at Spindletop Flats in the Dragon Ball Z episode "Piccolo's Plan" ("Gohan's Hidden Powers" in the Ocean version).
A Giant Electric Eel that lives in the Pirate Cave. The creature was killed by General Blue.
Elephants appear a few times in the series. One is seen leaving Paprika Wasteland along with other animals during the Vegeta Saga.[8] A herd is seen in the savanna where Goku finds the Two-Star Dragon Ball during the Cell Games Saga.[12]
Elephants are also used as a "unit" of measurement by Mr. Satan's disciples, Pirozhki having a strength that rivals 20 elephants according to Miss Piiza.
The Universe 10 God of Destruction, Rumush, is an anthropomorphic elephant.
Fish (魚, Sakana) are shown throughout the series. A notable type of fish in the series is the Giant Fish, who are ofter caught by Goku and his sons for dinner. During their first day on Training Island, Launch prepares a puffer fish for dinner, and Krillin, Master Roshi, and Launch soon feel ill as puffer fish is poisonous. Different type of fish are in an aquarium in Mei Queen Castle. Small fish live in the river of the Sacred World of the Kai, as shown in a flashback when the North Supreme Kai catches one. As he is a gourmet, the temple of the God of Destruction, the cat-like humanoid Beerus, is stocked with fish and other food.[17] Also in the movie, a fish which has prophetic powers, the Oracle Fish is the one who helps Beerus to find Goku, the one who defeated Frieza. A fish named Yamada Haruo is Neko Majin's pet in the manga Nekomajin. Fish also appear on planet Pital, and one even tries to eat Goku.
- Video game appearances
In the video game Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II, fish can be found by killing enemies next to bodies of water (within the same frame of the map) with there being only one type of fish available. In Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury, there are 3 different types of fish that can be caught: small fish, big fish, and red snappers. However, the fish in Buu's Fury are obtained through a fishing system in specific locations (fishing docks over water), rather than defeating enemies like in The Legacy of Goku II. If the heroes give Korin fish in The Legacy of Goku II, he will trade Senzu Beans in a 1:1 ratio up to a limit of three Senzu Beans in the inventory, while in Buu's Fury, he will give money or Holy Water. Fish are seen jumping out of water in the background of the Namek battle stage in Super Dragon Ball Z. In Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z, Launch's handmade Fugu Hot Pot is an item that decreases all abilities.
Foxes have only appeared as anthropomorphic animals in the Dragon World. Donbe and his girlfriend Kitsuneko from Dr. Slump are foxes. Another fox is seen as one of General White's Red Ribbon soldiers who accompanied a human sergeant while searching to kill Goku in Jingle Village. Konkichi is the most well known character of the species; Goku met this green fox while on his way to the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament. Gohan also met two orphans who are foxes named Jinku and Yordon.
In the video game Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans, three types if anthropomorphic foxes appear as enemies: Thief Fox, Veteran Fox, and Racketeer Fox.
A frog is first seen in the Dragon Ball episode "Look Out for Launch". Later, after his first battle against Tambourine, Goku wakes up in Yajirobe's Prairie to a frog licking his nose.[18]
Frogs also live on Planet Namek. Captain Ginyu was trapped in a frog's body when Goku tossed a Namekian Frog within the trajectory of his Body Change technique. Re-colored versions of the Namekian frog appear as regular enemies in Dragon Ball: Origins and Dragon Ball: Origins 2. In Dragon Ball Super, Frog Ginyu manages to switch bodies with Tagoma during Frieza's revenge, resulting in Tagoma becoming trapped in the body of the Namekian Frog that Ginyu previously inhabited after Ginyu is killed in Tagoma's body by Vegeta.
Before the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament, while Gohan is teaching Videl how to control her energy, Goten tries to catch a frog with a net.[19]
Kibito mentions a planet inhabited by frogs that have golden yellow droppings, Planet Popol, when he brought Gohan back to Earth for the battle against Super Buu.
Gorillas are seen in both normal and anthropomorphic forms. An Unnamed Gorilla that appeared in Dr. Slump can be seen in the table of contents of the first volume of the Dragon Ball manga, "The Monkey King". The Great Ape forms Saiyans can take are based off this animal. An anthropomorphic gorilla wearing boxing gloves can be seen in Krillin's daydream about the World Martial Arts Tournament. Another gorilla makes a brief appearance as one of General Blue's soldiers during a submarine chase after Goku, Bulma, and Krillin. Also, in the Other World Tournament, appears a gorilla-like fighter.
A hamster is seen in Dragon Ball GT when Goku is saving animals before Earth's explosion.
Several horses appear in the series. A demon is seen on a horse at the beginning of Dragon Ball: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle. In "Goku Goes to Demon Land", King Kress and his knights are seen riding horses while escorting Goku to the Demon Realm Gate. A horse is seen in front of the house of the fighter Tien injured by past in "Tien's Atonement". During the King Piccolo Saga, one horse was the victim of Tambourine's Ki Blast. One is seen leaving Paprika Wasteland along with other animals during the Vegeta Saga.[8]
Zombies are seen riding horses at the beginning of the movie Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn.
Bees, butterflies and beetles are among insects that appear in the series. As a kid, Gohan is often seen with books about insects (as seen in Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone, or when he was in Wukong Hospital).
During one of their training exercises in Dragon Ball, Goku and Krillin were tied up with rope to a tree and had to dodge a swarm of bees. A single bee appears on the Lookout and disturbs Goku's meditation in "Quicker Than Lightning". Giant bees live on Monmaasu; they kidnap Pan thinking she is their queen.[20] Bees also appear as enemies in the video games Dragon Ball: Shenron no Nazo, Dragon Ball: Origins and Dragon Ball: Origins 2. Bees, Bumble Bees, and Hornets are enemies in Dragon Ball GT: Transformation.
In "The Emperor's Quest", Goku caught a centipede for dinner. During a filler in "Korin Tower", when Goku opens a jar in Korin Tower, a giant centipede comes out and grabs him. In Dragon Ball GT, Sandipedes live on the desert planet Rudeeze, a planet where a Black Star Dragon Ball is located by Giru.[21] Centipedes are also enemies in Dragon Ball: Origins and Dragon Ball: Origins 2, and Sandipedes are enemies in Dragon Ball GT: Transformation (with a giant Sandipede named Scorpulon being the boss on Rudeeze).
At least forty butterflies live in Mr. Popo's ancient butterfly garden on Kami's Lookout,[22] as well as in the area where Beerus' temple is located.[9] Butterflies are also seen at Mount Paozu in "The Secret of the Dragon Ball". In the first episode of Dragon Ball Z, "The New Threat", Gohan sees a beautiful blue and black butterfly land on the tree stump in the woods and chases after it. Another butterfly is seen in the Dragon Ball Z episode "Piccolo's Plan". Giant butterflies live on Monmaasu.[20] Butterflies are in the cemetery seen at the beginning of Dragon Ball GT: A Hero's Legacy. Butterflies are seen on Mount Paozu, in the Triceratops Jungle and on the Northern Mountains in the video game Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II; they can be scanned with the scouter. They also appear in Dragon Ball: Origins 2.
Beetles are seen in the Dragon Ball episode "Tien Shinhan vs. Mercenary Tao". In Dragon Ball Z, Goten is seen catching a beetle during his training period with Gohan.[22] Giant beetles live on Monmaasu, Goku is even shown riding one.[20] A remote tracking device disguised as a ladybug was created by Dr. Gero after the Red Ribbon Army is defeated by Goku, in order to study Goku and the Z Fighters. King Kai owns a cricket pet called Gregory that only appears in the Dragon Ball Z anime, as well as in a few movies. The elder Montgomery is another cricket of the same race as Gregory (the Sprites) that appears in the Nintendo DS game Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans.
Some guards from the insectoid Arlian race are seen riding giant Worms. In Dragon Ball GT, giant worm-like creatures called Mouma infest the asteroid Beehay.
A kangaroo intends to punch Goku a couple of times after he wakes up to a frog licking his nose in Yajirobe's Prairie.[18]
Lions appear a few times in the series. One is seen leaving Paprika Wasteland along with other animals during the Vegeta Saga.[8] Others are seen in a zoo in the movie Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon, and one even bites Goku with no effect when the Saiyan enters the cage to get a Dragon Ball. A lion is also seen leaving Earth before its explosion in Dragon Ball GT. Also in Dragon Ball GT, a lion Machine Mutant named Leon appears on Planet Luud.
Fighter 83 in the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament is a master of the Lion-style Kempo. Hercule's in-universe theme song in Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II is "Eyes of the Lion" by Silver Spider, of which he made a cover that tore up the charts by the time of Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury.
Many lizards appear in the series. The first lizard encountered lived in the Cave of Darkness.[23]
Another big lizard was seen in Mount Kiwi's volcano. Although he is very aggressive towards intruders, Goku easily calms him down by petting him. Shu later tries to do the same, but he starts to jump repeatedly while trying to reach the lizard's head to pet him. The lizard on the other hand thought Shu was being hostile and bites Shu's paw.[24]
Monty, the young son of X.S. Cash who appears in Dragon Ball Z: Bojack Unbound, has a small pet lizard. Goten finds a huge lizard while Gohan is training.[22] Other small lizards are seen on Krillin's statue in "Next Up, Goku", on Goten's head after Majin Buu's Angry Explosion in "The Warrior's Decision", and another frightens Mr. Satan when he arrives at Majin Buu's house.
In Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!, the Son family are seen eating toasted lizards.
Lizards also live on planet Imecka, as seen in Dragon Ball GT.
A Mole is seen in the Mushroom Forest in the episode "The Dragon Balls are Stolen!", a mole that looks like Suno's rodent pets is seen in "Piccolo's Plan", and another mole is seen in the area where Majin Buu builds his house.
In Dragon Ball GT, the Seven-Star Shadow Dragon, Naturon Shenron, absorbed a mole to gain the ability to start earthquakes before Goku and Pan encounter him.
Monkeys mostly live in jungles and forests and their diet consists of fruit. They have been seen to be very friendly towards Goku since they share common traits, like his tail, which many times Goku is seen playing with them. Goku learned to strengthen his tail by having monkeys swing off his tail; Goku is called "monkey boy" when he is a kid, and Frieza and his henchmen frequently refer to Saiyans as monkeys in a derogatory manner. Parzan has a pet monkey named Cheeta that appears with him in Dr. Slump and the Dragon Ball anime. King Kai has a pet monkey named Bubbles.
Monkeys appear in Dragon Ball: Origins 2, stealing Goku's Power Pole in level 1-1. In the bonus level 6-5, because there was a lack of soldiers in the Red Ribbon Army, Colonel Silver's soldiers kidnapped monkeys in the forest they burnt in order to brainwash and train them at the Red Ribbon Army Headquarters. After Commander Black's defeat, Bulma tells Goku that someone is still using the Battle Jacket in the Red Ribbon Headquarters. Goku finds that a monkey is controlling it and after defeating the brainwashed monkey, he brings all the kidnapped monkeys back to their forest.
In Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury, a monkey steals Goten and Trunks' bandanas while they are in the Thieves Den trying to get the One-Star Dragon Ball, thus obliging them to fight the bandits there.
Mice are seen when Turtle first appears in the series (only in the manga).
Mice appear in the Pirate cave, the most famous one is called Mousey named by Goku. Mousey startled Blue and made his telekinesis on Goku wear out giving Goku the upper hand again. After Krillin and Bulma go ahead of Goku while he gets the Dragon Ball, he stops to save him and runs off with him in his mouth, intending to repay him for his involvement in saving him. When they reached the surface again and ended up at General Blue's Camp, they let Mousey go.
In a flashback told by Frieza soon after he has destroyed Planet Vegeta, a young Vegeta is seen blasting a mouse inside his ship.
A purple mouse is seen in the sewer Mr. Satan tried to use to escape Battle Island 2.
A giant octopus named Octopapa lives in the Pirate Cave. Goku encounters him in "The Pirate Treasure".
Krang, an alien scientist who works for Paragus, resembles an octopus with a mustache.
Pigs are mammals, who are omnivores. They will eat almost anything but mainly grass, leaves, fruits etc. Pink, blue, and red pigs appear as regular enemies in Dragon Ball: Origins and Dragon Ball: Origins 2. In the third episode of Dragon Ball Z we see that Raditz has killed and partially eaten one after he locks Gohan in his pod.
Excluding boars, the majority of pigs that appear in the TV series and the manga are anthropomorphic. Examples of a pigs who appear in the series are Oolong, a long time friend of Goku, and Mr. Pig, a resident of Penguin Village. In the anime only, Jasmine and Oonaan are two other anthropomorphic pigs who live in Octagon Village and are friends with Oolong. In GT, however, non-anthropomorphic pigs appeared with Goten and Pan while they were saving people on Earth from the planet's explosion.
Rabbits, along with other animals, live in forest where Gohan and his friends like camping as seen in the movies Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might and Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge. One is seen leaving Paprika Wasteland along with other animals during the Vegeta Saga.[8] Two rabbits are seen near Goku's house at the beginning of the TV special Looking Back at it All: The Dragon Ball Z Year-End Show!.
Monster Carrot, the leader of the Rabbit Mob, is an anthropomorphic rabbit. Another anthropomorphic rabbit lives in Jingle Village. At the Red Ribbon Army Headquarters, a third rabbit makes an appearance as a Red Ribbon soldier who was one of the last two defeated by Goku when he and his human comrade were pushed into a wall by a speeding table, knocking them out (the rest of the soldiers who were still conscious fled after this).
Giant rays appears in the episode "Bulma's Bad Day".
During the anime filler, while Goku is on the Muscle Tower, pink rodents appear in Suno's room.
Several rodents appear in Dragon Ball Z: Bojack Unbound: two pink ones that look like Suno's pet are seen in the Battle Zone where Future Trunks fights Kogu.
Sabertooth Tiger
Sabertooth Tigers are extinct in the real world. They are usually at an average height or larger than a human child and usually eat meat. One is first seen in a filler scene involving Goku running away and outsmarting it. One is later seen in "Find that Stone!" near Krillin.
It appears in the first Dragon Ball Z episode, with Gohan running away from it scared losing his Four-Star Dragon Ball Hat in the process which the Sabertooth Tiger ened up wearing causing Gohan to chase after it while crying. It managed to escape Gohan only to encounter Goku who it tried to attack when Goku noticed it was wearing his son's hat and talked to it though Goku scared it off when he got serious and raised his voice dropping the hat which was retrieved by Goku and returned to Gohan. It continues to make various appearances in filler scenes during the early and mid parts of the Vegeta Saga until it ironically ends up being left stranded on an island by Gohan. One is seen leaving Paprika Wasteland along with other animals during the Vegeta Saga.[8] The Sabertooth Cat also makes a brief appearance in Gohan's dream in the movie Dragon Ball Z: The World's Strongest. It reappears in the Garlic Jr. Saga, where he tries to eat Gohan again, but Gohan moves out of the way and the Sabertooth cat bumps into a rocky wall.
Sabertooth Tigers are common enemies in Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II, the Dragon Ball: Origins video game series, and Dragon Ball RPG: Shōnen-hen. A single Sabertooth Tiger appears in Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo as the boss of the temple in the Sacred Land of Korin.
Scorpions are arachnids with large claws and a tail ending with a poisonous stinger.[10] They are enemies in the video games Dragon Ball: Origins 2 and Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II.
As part of their training for the World Martial Arts Tournament, Master Roshi instructed Goku and Krillin to do 10 laps of swimming in the lake. However, swimming in this lake was not an easy task as expected, and sharks patrolled the lake. So they swam for their lives while a group of sharks chased them.
A shark-like monster named Asagiri Zame appears in the manga Nekomajin. Shark are enemies in the Pirate Cave level of Dragon Ball Origins 2, as well as in Dragon Ball RPG: Shōnen-hen.
In Dragon Ball Super, Pilaf, Mai, and Shu are in the ocean trying to aboard the Princess Bulma, when a shark comes to try and eat them, they get saved by Goten and Trunks.
A giant snake appears at the beginning of "Terror and Plague" in Dragon Ball. A snake is seen in Dragon Ball Z during Gohan's survival training at Break Wasteland, and another one is seen with a Stone Giant on Fake Namek. Later in series, a giant snake attacks the pterosaurs' nest Goku is guarding right before going to Bulma's celebration party for the victory over Kid Buu. In Episode 1 of Dragon Ball Super, a giant snake attacks Goten and Trunks as they attempt to bottle mineral water as a gift for Videl.
Also, the filler character Princess Snake can transform herself into a giant snake.
Rattlesnakes are extremely aggressive and poisonous[10] enemies in Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku and The Legacy of Goku II. Fish Snakes are enemies found in Diablo Desert in Dragon Ball: Origins, and Giant Snake, Mansion Snake and Poisonous Snake are enemies in Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans.
A spider appears inside Pilaf's Castle in "The Dragon Balls are Stolen!".
Spiders are seen inside Kyodai Pyramid in the video game Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury, but they are not enemies. Arachnids are enemies found on Monmaasu in Dragon Ball GT: Transformation.
Many squirrels appear in the series. This species of rodent is very cute and adorable. They enjoy collecting nuts and have furry tails.[10] They live in areas such as Mount Paozu[25] or the Northern Mountains.
In Dragon Ball, two squirrels were present when Goku was playing with monkeys before going to Colonel Silver's Camp. A squirrel on a tree dropped apples on Pilaf's head while Pilaf was talking about his new Dragon Radar-proof box creation at a picnic near the City Street. In Dragon Ball Z, a squirrel is seen leaving Paprika Wasteland along with other animals during the Vegeta Saga.[8] One was among the animals infected by the Black Water Mist who attacked Gohan and Icarus. Another squirrel can be seen on Gohan's shoulder while he was at a picnic with Lime.
They are enemies in Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku, but not in The Legacy of Goku II where they appear in East Mount Paozu, West City, the Northern Mountains, and the Snowy Highlands. Yamcha owns a hover-vehicle called Jet Squirrel.
Tigers are commonly seen throughout the series. There are also at least two Anthropomorphic tigers in the Red Ribbon army, one being an officer named Captain Yellow and another being a member of General Blue's Unit.
A Turtle (カメ) is Master Roshi's friend and long-time companion.
Turtle's son (タロー Tarō) also makes a brief appearance in "Kame House: Found!" where Goku find him while catching fish at Kame House while they were waiting for Krillin and Launch to return with Master Roshi's submarine.
Baby Gamera is a flying turtle that Master Roshi used to transport him to Fire Mountain in order to extinguish the fire so that Goku and Bulma can get a Dragon Ball.
A Dragon Turtle is the mini-boss of the Monmaasu level in the video game Dragon Ball GT: Transformation, though the creature from the anime it was based off of is intended to be a crocodile.
Shirogame is a giant turtle employed as a mobile fortress by Demigra.
Wolves are aggressive carnivores and often hunt in packs.[10] They are a very common species in the Dragon World and have the same features as their real life counterparts. They frequently show up in the series as minor obstacles for the heroes and sometimes the villains. Goku fought a pack of wolves that were chasing Shu and Mai in Skull Valley. This pack of wolves were also implied to have killed one of Pilaf's spies. Yamcha has an attack called Wolf Fang Fist that is supposedly the powerful strike of a wolf. Yamcha defeats an anthropomorphic wolf in the elimination Round in the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament. In the 22nd World Martial Arts tournament Jackie Chun defeats a wolf that turns into a human called Man-Wolf. Another is seen as one of General White's Red Ribbon soldiers guarding Muscle Tower, as he informs his superior of "a kid storming the tower".
In Dragon Ball Z, a wolfpack is seen in the episode "Gohan's Metamorphosis" and in the movie Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might. One is seen leaving Paprika Wasteland along with other animals during the Vegeta Saga.[8] Mamba protected Goku Jr. and Puck from a pack of wolves in the Dragon Ball GT: A Hero's Legacy special. Those wolves look similar to the ones Goku fights in Skull Valley.
Wolves are enemies in the video games Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure, Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku, The Legacy of Goku II, Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo, Dragon Ball: Origins, Dragon Ball: Origins 2, and Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans. Strange-looking wolves called Fenris and Thundra Wolves are enemies in the video game Dragon Ball GT: Transformation.
- ↑ Daizenshuu 4, 1995
- ↑ Daizenshuu 7, 1996
- ↑ Dragon Ball chapter 12, "In Search of Kame-Sen'nin"
- ↑ Chouzenshuu 1, 2013
- ↑ Dragon Ball Z episode 174, "The Puzzle of General Tao"
- ↑ Dragon Ball Z episode 30, "Goku vs. Vegeta"
- ↑ Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans, 2009
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 Dragon Ball Z episode 22, "The Darkest Day"
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, 2013
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II, 2003
- ↑ Dragon Ball Z episode 85, "The Renewed Goku"
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Dragon Ball Z episode 173, "Dende's Dragon"
- ↑ Dragon Ball episode 3, "The Nimbus Cloud of Roshi"
- ↑ Dragon Ball episode 72, "Goku's Turn"
- ↑ Dragon Ball episode 108, "Prelude to Vengeance"
- ↑ Dragon Ball episode 124, "Temple Above the Clouds"
- ↑ "【敵について】 ビルスとウイスの"2人"で確定。そして2人とも、強くてグルメらしい。 ビルスについて。長い年月眠りにつき、目覚めた数年間は惑星を破壊する。新しい惑星を創るためには破壊が必要らしい。 ウイスについて。ビルスに付き添っている以外は謎。詳細はイヨク編集長がひた隠しした。". Twitter (December 2012).
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Dragon Ball episode 104, "Mark of the Demon"
- ↑ Dragon Ball Z episode 207, "Take Flight, Videl"
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 Dragon Ball GT episode 6, "Like Pulling Teeth"
- ↑ Dragon Ball GT episode 15, "Beginning of the End"
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Dragon Ball Z episode 206, "The Newest Super Saiyan"
- ↑ Dragon Ball episode 116, "A Taste of Destiny"
- ↑ Dragon Ball episode 150, "The Fire-Eater"
- ↑ Dragon Ball Z episode 205, "I'll Fight Too!"


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Soulver Takes the Problem Out of Problem Solving
Jan 22, 2013 5:00 AM PT
Soulver is a number-crunching app by Acqualia, is available at the Mac App Store for US$19.99.
Necessity, however, doesn't make numbers any more interesting to many of us, especially those of us more comfortable with words. Numbers and words need not be mutually exclusive, though, and when they're not, they can be a lot more engaging.
Proof of that can be found in Soulver, a neat program that allows you to use numbers and perform calculations in a more natural way, with both figures and words. When a waiter hands you and your three friends a check for $62.50 for lunch, you think what do we each owe, with tip, if we split the tab equally; not ($62.50/4)+(4*($62.50*.20)).
Smart Parsing
When you launch Soulver, a two-panel display appears. In the left panel, you type your words and numbers. In the right panel, the results from what you typed in the left panel appear. So if you type 2+2 in the left panel, 4 will appear in the right one.
If the answer in the right column is in a unit -- dollars or degrees, for instance -- Soulver will show a pop up box with additional information. For example, beside an answer such as $4.71 will appear that sum converted into other currencies: Australian dollars, Euros and so forth.
What's nice about Soulver is it allows you to use words to add details to your calculations. You can write something like bus fare is $1.17 x 3 trips + one trip at $.57 and your answer, $4.08, will dynamically appear in the right panel.
Soulver, as you can see, is smart enough to parse the words and numbers in a statement and extract what it needs to make a calculation.
Another useful feature of the program is that it will keep a running total of the answers to the statements you enter into the left panel. That's fine if all the results from your statements are in a single unit -- dollars, for instance -- but not so fine if your statements contain a mixture of units like currency, volume and time.
In addition, you can copy lists of items from other applications -- an invoice, perhaps -- paste them into Soulver, and it will total the items for you.
Easy Percentages
Soulver also lets you do some nifty tricks with percentages.
You can do simple percentage calculations such as 3.23% of 2257 (answer: 72.9011).
Typically, you'll see advertisements for 20 percent, 15 percent or such off an item. Soulver simplifies that calculation with a statement like 20% off $39.95 (answer: $31.96).
Even when you buy goods online now, you frequently have to pay taxes. With Soulver you can define a label -- such as tax -- and use it in your calculations. So after defining your tax label -- tax=3.85% -- you can calculate the tithe on a product with a statement like $122.34 + tax (answer: $127.05).
Mark ups and mark downs can also be simply calculated. If you're selling an item for $200 and you want to mark it down 10 percent, for instance, you can do so with 10% on what is $200 (answer: $181.82) or if you want to mark it up: 10% off $200 (answer: $222.22)
Splitting the Tab
Tying together a series of statements is easy with Soulver, too. You can click on a total in the right panel and drag it into another statement in the left one. When you do that, the total becomes a dynamic token so any changes you make in a statement will be automatically applied to your series of statements.
For example, the result from the statement "lunch with Bob, Ted, Alice $62.50," which is $62.50, can be dragged to a second statement that divides the tab evenly -- $62.50 per 4 people -- which displays a result of $15.63
Then you can add a gratuity statement -- tip=20% -- then drag $15.63 to a new line and with the statement "$15.63 + tip" arrive at your final result: $18.75.
Now when you change any of the factors in the series of statements, all the statements will be adjusted to accommodate that change. So if you change $62.50 to $65.50, for example, your per person share will change to $16.38 and your total to $19.95.
Soulver allows you to save a set of statements and reuse them, which would be useful for our split-the-tab example. You can also export your work in the software in formats like HTML and CSV.
Conversions Galore
Since I'm always trying to convert units of something into units of something else, I found Soulver's conversion features very useful.
Converting currencies is as simple as typing a statement like "$100 USD in Euros." You can also mix and match currencies in a statement. "300 Japanese yen + 50 Euros in USD," for example, would yield 71.19 USD. Since exchange rates are always fluctuating, though, currency conversions in Soulver are more approximate than precise.
A wide array of units are addressed by the program in categories such as time, mass, volume, length, area, speed, frequency, pressure, energy, power and computer storage.
Soulver has some specialty functions, too. You can store stock symbols in it so when you type a statement like "10 AAPL," it will give you the worth of those stock shares. It also supports higher math functions and will convert numbers into binary and hex -- a useful tool for programmers.
As unbelievable as it may seem to many people, Soulver makes numbers fun to work with. That's because it lets you focus on problem-solving and leaves the chore of calculation to your computer.

subset: commoncrawl


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Tony Furtado is a multi-instrumentalist, singer / songwriter, and bandleader who has become a contemporary standard-bearer for the American music from many different traditions.
Furtado has embraced the indie musician spirit throughout his career, crafting his own style that defies easy categorization. However, the joy he generates from mixing influences was captured on his most recent album and DVD release, Live from Mississipi Studios.
Tony Furtado will bring what he describes as "a power trio" with him to play at Monterey Court in Tucson on Saturday, May 31st, 2014, in an evening that also features the music of Southern Arizona artist Salvador Duran.
Although most of us can recognize the sound of bluegrass when we hear it, Mark McLemore began by asking Tony Furtado to describe what he feels are the most important elements of the music...


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The Catholic and the Convert: A Brief Exploration and Comparison of the Spiritual Influences Behind J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-Earth and C.S. Lewis's Narnia
Both J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis are known to have been committed Christians for most of their professional lives (all of Tolkien's professional life, actually), and it is also well known that this commitment to Christ greatly influenced the writings of both authors. While Lewis was quite outspoken about his faith both in his apologetic writing and in his fiction, Tolkien's spiritual focus was much deeper, beneath the surface; it was by no means less real or important, but it was definitely more difficult to detect to the casual observer. For example, in Lewis's Narnia, it almost takes conscious willpower to not see the obvious parallels between Christianity and the world Lewis created.
However, it was not until after several readings (and the help of other books about Tolkien and LOTR) that I began to see and understand the importance of the fundamental spiritual underpinnings of Middle-Earth. Authors such as Ralph C. Wood, Devin Brown, and Tom Shippey have helped me to see the important role that Tolkien's faith had in shaping all of Middle-Earth. And while Lewis's faith is easy to detect in his writings, my own readings of Narnia have been supremely aided by the writings of David C. Downing and Alan Jacobs. I recommend all of these authors to anyone interested in an in-depth look at the lives and writings of Tolkien and of Lewis.
It is my belief and the contention of this essay that the primary (though by no means the only) reason for this drastic difference in writing style is not due to any major differences in the authors' beliefs, but that it is due to their drastically different spiritual experiences. Thus, this paper will first explore the different paths that each author took in coming to Christianity, and then together we will explore the different ways each author wrote about and examined common spiritual themes, looking to detect the influences of their own journeys on their writings. Far from being an exhaustive study, this essay will simply seek to illustrate the differences by using a few well-known examples from each author's stories.
Different Journeys to Similar Conclusions: Tolkien's and Lewis's Paths to Faith
Tolkien was a staunch Catholic, taught the faith by his mother beginning in childhood, and so his writing reflects this deep confidence and abiding trust in God's sovereignty over all things. Rather than write about spiritual truths or apologetics or use allegory to talk about his faith, Tolkien simply wrote great stories about timeless truths based on his Christian worldview. Tolkien referred to The Lord of the Rings as "a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision." This shows that his writing, even before he was aware of it, was being informed and shaped by the beliefs he had held dear since he was eight years old. In fact, his beliefs had become even more dear to him due to his mother "who clung to her conversion and died young, largely through the hardships of poverty resulting from it." Thus, his mother's teaching and her example of self-sacrifice resulting from her faith deeply shaped Tolkien's understanding of and commitment to Christianity. (Letters, #142, pg.172)
Because of this deep and sincere commitment to the faith of his childhood, and also due to Catholicism's historical lack of emphasis on evangelism, at least when compared to much of Protestantism's history, Tolkien did not set out to write a "religious work" even after it was published; he simply wrote, and what he wrote was religious because he was religious. As Devin Brown put it, "The Christian viewpoint, and Tolkien's own words tells us that he has included one, has been absorbed, has been embedded into his stories and so, except for a few very minor instances, cannot be seen on the surface…We could say that Tolkien's fiction is permeated with his beliefs, that the Christian element has been infused into the story." (Brown, 'Christian World of The Hobbit' pg. 25-26)
C.S. Lewis's journey to Christianity is much different and has been told in detail in numerous scholarly works, including his autobiography Surprised by Joy, which tells his own remembrances about how he came to the faith. Other worthy works on the topic include David C. Downing's The Most Reluctant Convert: C.S. Lewis's Journey to Faith and a shorter introduction to it in the opening chapter of his Into the Wardrobe: C.S. Lewis and the Narnia Chronicles. As a child, Lewis attended the Anglican Church in his hometown, only to actively turn his back on faith as a teenager, becoming an atheist until his early thirties when he journeyed through spirituality to Theism and eventually back again to Christianity. When describing his atheism, Lewis wrote in Surprised by Joy, "I maintained that God did not exist. I was also very angry with God for not existing. I was equally angry with him for creating a world." (p. 115)
Upon returning to the faith of his childhood, it is apparent that Lewis was not only wholly committed to Christ but also that he was grateful that God had called him back to that faith, rather than letting him continue in his atheism to the point of destruction. Because of this gratitude and his desire to share his Joy with others, Lewis felt compelled to discuss his faith with others. However, as Alister McGrath wrote in If I Had Lunch with C.S. Lewis, it is possible that Lewis might not have begun actually writing about it had he not received an invitation from Ashley Sampson to "contribute a volume to a series of books he had edited, dealing with challenges to Christianity." As a result of accepting this invitation, The Problem of Pain became Lewis's "first work of apologetics." (pg. 166) Thus began Lewis's journey of writing Christian works of fiction and non-fiction, of apologetics and adventure, works of profound thought and enduring enjoyment.
Having explored the differences in the spiritual journeys of Tolkien and Lewis, the remainder of this essay will focus on the different approaches used by each as a result of their experiences, looking at the influences of their own journeys upon their exploration of common spiritual themes: first, life as part of a Grand Narrative, or Story; second, the nature of Evil; third, the power and purpose of Good; and finally, their contrasting ways of focus in terms of the End. In many ways, the two authors had similar views of life as a story, of good and evil, the power and importance of friendship, and of the need to keep the End in mind throughout life's journey.
That they had such different paths yet nonetheless came to similar conclusions should come as no surprise since they were indeed friends themselves for much of their adult lives and greatly influenced each other, though in different ways: one of the immediate causes of Lewis's conversion (or re-conversion, depending on which authors one reads) was a late-night conversation with Tolkien and Hugo Dyson (another fellow Inkling) in September 1931 about how Christianity is a 'true myth'. It could be said that without Tolkien, the world at large (i.e., outside of academia) might not have ever heard of Clive Staples Lewis. If this is so, it is equally true that if not for the persistence and encouragement of C.S. Lewis, few people outside of Oxford would have learned of an obscure philologist named John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. This theme of friendship, which so strongly linked these two titanic twentieth-century authors, will be further explored later.
Tolkien, Lewis, and Life as Story
Both Lewis and Tolkien wrote much about the importance of understanding that life, as it comes to us, is only part of a much greater story. If asked, they might both say that this was due to their own understanding of the Christian worldview, with its story of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Consummation. However, the ways in which they each explored this theme were informed and shaped by their own spiritual experiences: in Middle-earth, Tolkien almost playfully explores this theme in a conversation between Sam and Frodo, whereas in Narnia, Lewis mentions the importance of one's story in a serious exchange between Aslan and Shasta.
From comments by Elrond relatively early in The Hobbit to comments made by Gandalf both late in The Hobbit and in The Return of the King, in various passages throughout the stories set in Middle-Earth characters have conversations that let the reader know the characters are aware that they are only a part of a much larger Story. In perhaps the most fully developed treatment of this topic, Sam and Frodo discuss how their story is part of a much larger story. This particular dialogue comes in chapter eight of The Two Towers when the two hobbits, being led by Gollum, have left the Crossroads and are heading toward the Stairs of Cirith Ungol. Sam has realized that his view of stories has changed due to his own experiences on their travels, from thinking that people went looking for adventure to realizing that most of the time people simply find themselves part of a great Story.
From here the conversation continues into a discussion of how the readers may be able to guess what sort of Story the characters are a part of, but the characters themselves do not know. Not only that, but we find out that the characters themselves may not even know which side of a story they are on, as evidenced by Sam asking Frodo if Gollum thinks of himself as the hero or the villain. Sam even realizes that their story is quite explicitly tied to the larger Story of Middle-Earth through the light of the Silmaril that is captured in the star-glass that Galadriel gave to Frodo.
The important part here, though, is not whether the characters know what story they are in, nor whether they are good or bad; the key is that it is entirely understood, even taken for granted, that the characters realize their part of the tale is minor and that the Story existed long before they came along and will continue long after their individual parts have ended. This understanding is crucial, because it is a large part of what motivates the hobbits to do their part in the fight against Evil. They do not expect any reward for their efforts; they hardly expect to survive. And yet, they continue to journey on, through toil and suffering, heartbreak and tragedy, until their part of the Story has reached its conclusion.
In Narnia, C.S. Lewis also weaves many stories together as part of a larger Story. His common thread is the will and work of the lion Aslan who is at work in Narnia, either explicitly or implicitly, from its very creation as told in The Magician's Nephew through its final destruction in The Last Battle. As the Story progresses and the books continue, there are various references to previous events, thus helping the reader tie the story together and remember the importance or significance of things that came before.
Here we already see one major difference in the writing: the narrative style of Lewis is much more obviously geared toward being 'reader-friendly,' if such an expression can be used. That is, Lewis was writing not to create an entire mythological universe that was consistent in every way; rather, he was writing to tell an enjoyable story, and in doing so he thought it would be helpful to remind readers of important things that had already happened, so that they could more easily make connections between current and past events in the timeline of Narnia.
Of the many discussions of the importance of knowing one's place or role, the most telling passage in The Chronicles of Narnia takes place in the third book (for the purposes of this essay, the books are treated in the order of their narrative, rather than publication, beginning with The Magician's Nephew through The Last Battle), The Horse and His Boy. This book differs from the first two volumes in the series in that much of what takes place has less to do with the country of Narnia and more to do with the neighboring kingdom of Calormen.
Toward the end of this story one of the main characters, Aravis, the daughter of a Calormene nobleman, is learning from Aslan that he is the lion who attacked and her earlier on in her journeys. He explains the reason for this is to teach her what her actions caused to happen to another person, her stepmother's slave whom Aravis caused to fall in to a drugged sleep so that Aravis could escape. Upon learning this, Aravis asked Aslan if any more harm would come to the slave because of Aravis' actions. Aslan's telling response is, "Child, I am telling you your story, not hers. No one is told any story but their own." (Horse, pg. 202) This echoes a similar statement that Aslan made to Shasta earlier in the story, and reemphasized the point that our stories are our own, and that when we recognize that we are part of a larger story, our life is put into much better perspective.
Though Lewis's focus here is different than Tolkien's as seen above, it is important to note that it is taken for granted that each story is connected with a larger Story, and that each person is only given a small part. Here, Lewis reveals his own understanding of Story, that each person has a part to play, and it must be played to the full, even while understanding that the entire Story is known only to Christ. As with the Hobbits, so with the Narnians and Calormenes.
A final point to note about the importance of Story is the importance of the act of story-telling in the writings of both authors. Throughout the tales of Middle-Earth, various characters recount past deeds of heroes or villains, both as entertainment and as ways to teach or instruct. In The Horse and His Boy, Lewis does much the same thing, even having a bit of fun at the expense of people like himself who spend much of their time reading and writing essays. Having just introduced Aravis' character to his readers, Lewis the narrator gives Aravis the task of telling her story. But before Aravis does so, Lewis ends the chapter with the witty observation that, "in Calormen, story-telling (whether the stories are true or made up) is a thing you're taught, just as English boys and girls are taught essay writing. The difference is that people want to hear the stories, whereas I never heard of anyone who wanted to read the essays." (Horse, pg. 35) The importance of Story is not easily missed.
Lewis, Tolkien, and Similar Views about the Nature of Evil
In Narnia and Middle-Earth, evil is a very real and present thing. Throughout its many forms—human, natural (meaning: from what we would call 'nature'), supernatural, bestial, physical, and even spiritual—it has at least three common threads that will be explored here. First, at its core, evil starts with pride. Second, evil is often the result of an over-pursuit of knowledge stemming from a motive of a selfish desire for power over others. And third, evil ultimately results in a loss of 'self' for the evil being. These traits are seen at every level of evil in the writing of both Tolkien and Lewis, and they strongly reflect the Christian worldview and subsequent understanding of evil that informs the writing of each author.
In Middle-Earth, evil resulting from pride is seen at every level of character. In the first chapter of The Gospel According to Tolkien, Ralph C. Wood argued that Tolkien structured Middle-Earth in a hierarchy that reflected his own understanding of the world; not to say that certain beings are somehow lesser than others, but to reflect the reality that people have different callings which position them at different levels of Creation. Accepting this structure, then, allows the reader to also see that evil is present at every level, from the highest orders of Creation to the lowliest creatures.
The way in which evil is manifested differs according to the creature and the power of the creature, but it is evident nonetheless. It is seen from the greatest of the Valar (powerful spiritual forces that help in the shaping of Middle-Earth in its very creation), through Wizards such as Saruman, further down through fallen Elves and Men and even down to lowly hobbits, such as Ted Sandyman, whose relatively low status causes his evil to be manifested in simple meanness and selfishness. However, Tolkien also makes clear in his writing that the evil is not any different or worse at the various levels: evil is evil no matter how it is shown, and evil is, at its core, selfish and prideful.
In Narnia, Lewis demonstrates a similar understanding of evil, showing that it exists in various forms from high to low, from Queen Jadis in The Magician's Nephew all the way down to Shift the Ape in The Last Battle. How much damage is done by the different characters depends on their power, their status, and their own situations; but Lewis also pulls no punches in showing that evil is what it is, no matter who is practicing it. Lewis does not seem to purposefully structure Narnia in a hierarchy, even going so far as to challenge traditional English views about the importance of understanding one's place in the social order, especially in his character of the cabbie-turned-king at the foundation of Narnia.
However, Lewis also does point out that evil is fundamentally self-centered and prideful: from Queen Jadis's selfish desire to destroy her own world rather than concede victory in Charn's civil war in The Magician's Nephew, through her desire to rule all of Narnia as her own in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; it is seen in the selfish pursuit of Queen Susan by Prince Rabadash in The Horse and His Boy, all the way to Shift's selfish desire to rule over others in The Last Battle. In every case, evil is done in the name of selfish and prideful ends.
Another observation about the understanding of the nature of evil is that in both worlds, evil is often the result of an over-pursuit or a lust for knowledge, based on a motive of using that knowledge to exercise domination over others. Obviously neither Tolkien nor Lewis (great Oxford men, remember) is against learning or knowledge; quite the opposite in fact. However, both authors point out that the motivations behind one's pursuit reflect both one's true desire and one's true goal: in both worlds, desire for power is shown to turn quickly to evil, while desire for wisdom (most often resulting in humility, not pride) is shown the be the proper motive for desiring knowledge. In addition, both writers also created characters that are set up as examples of how knowledge gained from improper motives also corrupts proper morals, resulting in evil.
In Narnia, this is most clearly seen in both Queen Jadis, as already mentioned, and in Uncle Andrew, whose pursuit of knowledge results in some destruction in London and the introduction of evil into Narnia from its very creation. In both cases, the characters set themselves up as beings to whom traditional rules of morality do not apply, with Uncle Andrew saying, "Men like me, who possess hidden wisdom, are freed from common rules just as we are cut off from common pleasures. Ours, my boy, is a high and lonely destiny." (Nephew, pg. 21) Later, Jadis repeats the same sentiment about a 'high and lonely destiny,' which even the character of Digory remarks as ominous. A final observation to make here is how Uncle Andrew falsely equates knowledge with wisdom, a mistake also made by various characters in Middle-Earth.
In Middle-Earth, two examples will serve to show the point of the danger of an over-pursuit of knowledge that stems from an impure motive. The first is the character of Saruman, known as Saruman the White. He is a Wizard and thus of supernatural origin, originally sent to Middle-Earth as a type of guide and guardian for the other dwellers there. He played a positive role at various times, from the White Council that took place concurrently with the events in The Hobbit to having been a friend and ally to Rohan for many years. However, it is made clear that his original research into the lore of the One Ring that stemmed from his time leading the White Council eventually resulted in a prideful desire to obtain the Ring for himself. Because of that, he slowly but surely turned to evil. In doing so, he left behind traditional views of morality, he forgot his original calling to be a guide and helper, and he eventually revealed himself as openly evil in creating his own army of Uruks to pursue the Ring transported by the Fellowship.
In the conversation between Gandalf and Saruman at Isengard, Saruman showed himself to be on the same immoral path of both Uncle Andrew and Jadis, asking for Gandalf's aid while also justifying his own corruption, saying, "We can bide our time, we can keep our thoughts in our hearts, deploring maybe evils down by the way, but approving the high and ultimate purpose: Knowledge, Rule, Order…There need not be, there would not be, any real change in our designs, only in our means." (Fellowship, pg. 260) Here Saruman reveals his improper motives, his evil intentions, and his mistaken equating of knowledge with wisdom in much the same way as Queen Jadis and Uncle Andrew did in Narnia.
A final observation about Tolkien's view of evil concerns his many references to how evil is more than simply the absence of good; it often results from the perversion of good. Things that were created with a proper purpose become corrupted, misused, or otherwise changed in ways that result in evil. Again I am indebted to Ralph C. Wood for showing clearly how Tolkien's understanding of evil comes from his biblical understanding of the world: in the beginning, evil did not exist; it was allowed to come into being because of free will; and it continues so long as creatures are allowed to make choices. But in all of that, evil is incapable of Creation. In The Two Towers, Treebeard explains the origins of trolls as evil's attempt at creating Ents, and Frodo further explains this to Sam in The Return of the King when he says of the orcs that, "The Shadow that bred them can only mock, it cannot make." (pg. 893) This idea of evil attempting and failing at real original creations is also related to the last point to be explored here: despite its inherent selfishness, evil ultimately results in a loss of self for the practitioner.
Evil as de-humanizing (or de-characterizing, since some of the characters are not strictly human) is a theme seen in various places of the literature of both Lewis and Tolkien. The examples to be explored here are the characters of the Nazgul and of Gollum in Middle-Earth, while in Narnia this is seen in both Eustace Scrubb and in Prince Rabadash (though for those most interested in this theme, it would be worth reading Lewis' Space Trilogy and paying attention to the character of the Un-man).
In Middle-Earth, evil corrupts from within, and as it does so it chips away at the being's inner self until it is entirely corrupted. This is seen in a relatively minor being like Gollum (minor in the sense of his place in the cosmos), as well as in the much more powerful Nazgul. In the case of Gollum, he had been an ordinary hobbit until he encountered the Ring. Upon seeing it, his selfish desire for it caused him to commit murder, and then he continued to travel down the path of evil by spying on friends and neighbors until he was finally exiled from his community. In his many years of living, he survived by killing and eating orcs, stealing from them, and, if rumors of Middle-Earth are to be believed, preying on other sentient creatures as well. By the time of the events of The Lord of the Rings, he is little more than a shell of a creature: shrunken, misshapen, starved-looking, and with no ties to any community whatsoever.
This is also seen in the case of the Nazgul, though they are a group of Nine and so are not as isolated as Gollum. Still, once they had been great kings and rulers in Middle-Earth until they accepted the gifts of the Nine Rings. The desire for control, for Rule (as Saruman put it), caused them to accept these gifts; and once that was done, it was only a matter of time until they fell totally under the control of Sauron. Rather than being better or even more powerful rulers, they became less human and less in control of even themselves. And while the evils of the Nazgul had larger effects than that of Gollum, the result for all of them was very similar: both the Nazgul and Gollum lose their names, their homes, their very selves, due to the enslaving power of evil.
In Narnia, the same theme is seen in the character of Prince Rabadash in The Horse and His Boy and in Eustace Scrubb in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Prince Rabadash is a powerful heir to the throne in Calormen, and his desire is to marry a Narnian queen. In his desire, he invades the neighboring area of Archenland as part of his preparation for kidnapping Queen Susan, who has previously spurned his advances. In this, Rabadash is responsible for various deaths and much destruction, and he is ultimately defeated. However, despite his defeat, he remains unrepentant, even go so far as to mock and spurn the good will and grace and mercy of the Narnians and Archenlanders who have captured him. As a result of this, he is turned into a donkey by Aslan himself. Only by returning to his homeland and staying there forever can Rabadash regain his true self. He does this, yet his nickname of Rabadash the Ridiculous stuck with him forever, and he even became a warning for others, who when they acted ridiculous were often referred to as "a second Rabadash."
A similar fate happened to Eustace Scrubb, a young boy who was transported to Narnia and quickly involved in adventures there. Like Gollum compared to the Nazgul, Eustace's evils are much smaller than those of Rabadash: he is not guilty of murder or attempted kidnapping, but only of pettiness, meanness, and selfishness. However, on his adventures, and due to his selfish desire to keep the gold of a dragon that he has stumbled upon, Eustace wakes up one morning to find that he has been transformed into a dragon. His desire for gold, his meanness toward his traveling companions, and his lack of any sort of compassion, result in his transformation. Only through the direct and very painful intervention of Aslan is Eustace restored to his true self. And here we see the main exception of Eustace: of the characters explored in this essay, he is the only one who ever regains his true self, and when he does, he finds that he has been transformed into a very different sort of boy than he had been. He is by no means perfect, but he does begin to show compassion and kindness toward others, even if he does still fail sometimes.
So here, in both worlds, we see that evil stems from selfish or prideful motives, and we also see that this desire eventually corrupts and de-humanizes. The main difference in how these themes are explored is in the seriousness, or rather, the gravity with which evil is treated. Tolkien's exploration of evil has very little, if any, humor, whereas Lewis chooses to make evil the object of its own mockery, as seen in Rabadash. This can perhaps be attributed to the different audiences intended for the books of each author, though it might be more accurately ascribed to the different ways in which Lewis and Tolkien chose to focus their writings and their understanding of the End. This idea of the End will be explore later; before we get to the End, and having discussed Evil, now it is time to explore how Tolkien and Lewis understand and write about the Power and Purpose of Good.
Power and Purpose of Good
The idea of Good is often oversimplified, so it is important to understand what Lewis and Tolkien meant by 'Good' in order to properly view how they wrote about the concept. Both authors, because of their common Christianity, viewed Good as something that exists for its own sake and as part of something larger. They also made it a habit to point out that Good can be done by anyone and everyone, not just the great and powerful; in fact, both made it a point to use unremarkable creatures as heroes in their tales. In addition to their heroes being relatively ordinary in many ways, it is also important to notice that these heroes were never heroic in isolation, but rather they were always part of a community that was greater than themselves. And last, both authors used their stories to show that the Good that exists in this world is important for its own sake and also as a signpost or allusion to an even Greater Good that exists beyond this world.
In order to understand how Tolkien and Lewis wrote about the Good, one must first distinguish between the idea of Good and the common understanding of what might be considered Kind or Nice. Often, what the characters of these tales have to do is not Kind (toward themselves anyway) or Nice, but rather it is difficult, dangerous, and costly to themselves and sometimes others. Yet for all that it remains Good, because it is done in service to a larger group or because it serves some higher End that the characters themselves are not in control of. It is also important here to distinguish between a 'greater good' of society and the Greater Good of serving one's fellow creatures; the first one is more of a political interpretation of events (e.g. serving the greater good by allowing certain groups to suffer so that the more powerful parts of society might benefit), while the second is the honorable and proper service of mankind (e.g. the way a soldier willingly sacrifices in wartime).
Doing Good is always right in both Narnia and Middle-Earth, though what constitutes Good differs among varying characters. In Narnia, Good is most often seen as serving others at one's own risk or expense, as in Digory Kirk returning the apple to Aslan rather than taking it to his mother to try to heal her in The Magician's Nephew. In the story, Digory's mother is sick and dying, Narnia is in the process of being created by Aslan, and Digory is charged with bringing back an apple from a certain tree to Aslan. Digory does so, but in the process he is confronted by the White Witch, who tempts him to eat the apple himself and so gain immortality or to take the apple to his mother and so save her life. She even makes reference to how, if he fails to take his mother the apple, it must be because he does not truly love her the way he confesses to.
However much he is tempted, Digory recognizes that his duty is not to himself or even to his mother, but to the task he was assigned and to which he agreed. Because of this, he duly returns the apple to Aslan despite the great internal pain this cost him. But in the story, even Digory knew that his mother wouldn't want him to keep the apple or bring it to her, saying, "Mother herself wouldn't like it—awfully strict about keeping promises—and not stealing—and all that sort of thing. She'd tell me not to do it—quick as anything—if she was here." (Nephew, pg. 177) He had given his word, and he was to keep it no matter the cost; that is one of the major aspects of doing Good in Narnia.
In Middle-Earth, doing good for its own sake and as part of a larger good is seen most clearly in the character of Samwise Gamgee. Sam is a hobbit of relatively low standing, a gardener and the son of a gardener, servant (and friend) to Frodo. His task is simply to do whatever is required of him to help Frodo accomplish the goal of destroying the One Ring. This means Sam has to give up home, family, and possibly his very life in order to help accomplish the Good of saving Middle-Earth. Thus, it is seen that both authors shape their worlds based on their own Christian understanding of life: there is Good to be done, and it must be accomplished, even if it costs us everything; our role is to play our part as well as we can, not to serve our own ends. And while there is much more that could be said on this topic, Sam also serves as an excellent example of the second aspect of the Good in both worlds, namely, the use of the ordinary to accomplish the extraordinary.
In both Narnia and Middle-Earth, many of the heroes are ordinary characters, devoid of any special strength or power. In fact, they are often both lowly in society and small in stature, from the hobbits of Middle-Earth to the children-heroes in Narnia. This was an idea that was especially dear to Tolkien: "There are of course certain things and themes that move me specially. The inter-relations between the 'noble' and the 'simple' (or common, vulgar) for instance. The ennoblement of the ignoble I find specially moving." (Letters, pg. 220) Here Tolkien gives us a glimpse of just how special this idea is to him, and from it we see just how often this takes place in Middle-Earth. Again, Sam serves as the seminal example in that he began as a humble gardener and servant and went on to win renown throughout the World of Men and, perhaps more importantly, he became the Mayor of Hobbiton for many years.
In Narnia, my favorite example of how Lewis also followed this same theme is in the character of Reepicheep. Throughout the Chronicles of Narnia, children are used as the main characters and indeed are the heroes of many of the tales. However, it is the valiant mouse Reepicheep that best encompasses the theme of using the small to accomplish great things. In Narnia, Reepicheep is a valiant, well-spoken, courtly-mannered mouse; yet he is a mouse: small in stature, with a long tail of which he is perhaps over-fond. Despite the obvious disadvantages of being a mouse, Reepicheep is important in many of the major events in both Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; in fact, it is Reephiceep who is chosen to sail into the East of East at the end of Dawn Treader, there to meet whatever fate Aslan has in store for him.
The second important aspect of Good in Narnia and Middle-Earth is that good is never done in isolation from community; rather, Good is always accomplished by those working together. Of the many instances of this in Middle-Earth, the most appropriate to examine is the Fellowship of the Ring, in which nine different creatures, representing the races of the four Free Peoples, are given the task of seeing that the Ring of Power is destroyed. In the Fellowship, there is Gandalf the Wizard, two men, a dwarf, an elf, and four hobbits; it is just this blending of races that enables the Fellowship to ultimately accomplish the task, though by the time it is accomplished one member has died and the rest are split into smaller groupings. Yet, those who remain continue to work toward the Good task assigned to them even when things seemed hopeless. Most important in this Fellowship, indeed in the entire saga of The Lord of the Rings, is the friendship between Frodo and Samwise.
To any reader of the story, it is abundantly clear just how much Frodo needed Sam if the task was ever to be accomplished; interestingly, it is equally true that without the often reluctant and never altruistic help of Gollum, the task also would have failed utterly, even at the bitter end. Even the characters within the story understood the importance of friendship; one example will serve: as Frodo and Sam prepare to depart from the company of Faramir, Frodo thanks him for his hospitality, saying, "Most gracious host, it was said to me by Elrond Halfelven that I should find friendship upon the way, secret and unlooked for. Certainly I looked for no such friendship as you have shown. To have found it turns evil to great good." (TT, pg. 701-702) This importance of friendship occurs again and again throughout Middle-Earth, and it strongly reflects Tolkien's own understanding and valuation of friendship and fellowship, both in his personal life and in his spiritual life.
In Narnia, this emphasis on friendship and fellowship is also seen clearly from the beginning of Narnia, in which Polly and Digory had a very large role, through all of the adventures of the Pevensie children, through the final destruction (or fulfillment, depending on one's point of view) of Narnia in The Last Battle. One excellent example of the important role of friendship, previously referred to in a different context, occurs late in The Magician's Nephew, when Digory is being tempted by the White Witch to go back to his mother with an apple, leaving Polly with the Witch. Here, though Digory and Polly have only known each other for a matter of a few days, an important and lasting friendship has already begun, which helped Digory to see through the Witch's temptation and make the proper decision: "That was where the Witch made her fatal mistake…The meanness of the suggestion that he should leave Polly behind suddenly made all the other things the Witch had been saying to him sound false and hollow." (MN, pg. 177-178) Here, and in many other places in Narnia, it is one's reliance on friendship that allows the characters to make the proper decisions, and friendship is indeed shown to be the bedfellow of wisdom.
Any person who has studied the lives of Tolkien and Lewis should find their emphasis on friendship unsurprising. Indeed, they were great friends for much of their professional lives, though their friendship admittedly cooled later in their lives, even if their respect for each other remained strong. C.S. Lewis dedicated perhaps his most unique work of apologetics, The Screwtape Letters, to Tolkien, while after Lewis's death Tolkien expressed his gratitude to Lewis for his persistence in helping Tolkien finish writing The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
In a letter to the Tolkien Society of America in 1965, two years after Lewis's passing, Tolkien wrote, "The unpayable debt that I owe to him was not 'influence' as it is ordinarily understood, but sheer encouragement. He was for long my only audience. Only from him did I ever get the idea that my 'stuff' could be more than a private hobby. But for his interest and unceasing eagerness for more I should never have brought The L. of the R. to a conclusion…." (Letters, #276, pg. 362) It would not be an overstatement to say that without Lewis, much of the world might never have heard of Tolkien; and, in return, it was heavily due to the influence of Tolkien that Lewis rediscovered the faith of his childhood, which resulted not only in timeless works of apologetics, but also in the creation of the wonderful world of Narnia.
The final aspect of the Good to be examined is how in both worlds, all of the good and positive things that exist serve as reminders of or signposts toward something greater that exists. As the characters know that their story is part of a larger story, they are also aware that the good things that exist are merely shadows of the Good that exists as part of the greater Story being told. In Middle-Earth this idea is seen in The Two Towers and a comment made by Frodo as he and Samwise Gamgee are passing the Crossroads on their way to Mordor. As they pass, they see an old statue of an ancient king, and they notice the head off to the side of the road; as they look, a beam of light hit the king, and they noticed that a growth of flowers has encircled the king's head, appearing as a crown, and Frodo exclaims, "Look, Sam! Look! The King has got a crown again!..They cannot conquer forever!" In this brief moment, both Frodo and Sam are reminded that their task is part of a much older story and just one aspect of a much greater Good to be accomplished.
In Narnia it is even easier to discern how the good of this earth is but a foretaste of the Good to come after. Indeed, it would be impossible to pick the 'best' example of how this is seen; instead, one will be chosen simply for the sake of simplicity. Toward the end of The Last Battle, Aslan is talking with the children, and explaining to them that, despite their fear of being sent away from Narnia they no longer have anything to fear for they would never be sent away again: "All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before." Every event, every adventure, every bit of joy and happiness experienced until that point, only served as foreshadowing of the greater joy and bliss that was to be found after. And that takes us to the final examination: the different focuses, but similar views, of the End.
Views of the End
If much of C.S. Lewis's work has been characterized as joyful, happy, or encouraging, it is equally true to say that much of Tolkien's writing is characterized by death, and sorrow, and sadness. However, both authors also wrote in such a way as to remind their readers that beyond this world, whether experiences here were happy or sad, there awaited something Greater, an End that would renew all things. But because of their different experiences and viewpoints, each author chose to write about this End by focusing on different things: Tolkien's writing was characterized by a focus on the difficulties of this life, while Lewis's chose to focus on the Joy that was to follow. In both cases, these are legitimate reflections of their understanding of the world as informed by their Christianity; it is simply the difference between people that might be unfairly classified today as optimistic or pessimistic. In truth, both Tolkien and Lewis were hopeful of eternal life after this earth.
Throughout The Lord of the Rings, death is a theme that is thoroughly explored. It is evident from Tolkien's personal life that death played a major role in shaping his personality and thus his writing: from losing both his parents at a young age to losing his best friends in the First World War, death was a very real and powerful influence on Tolkien. That he understood death to be a natural part of life is also due to his Catholic faith; he knew that no one lived on earth forever, and thus in his creation of Middle-Earth he did not shy away from writing about death or its painful influence on those left here to grieve. However, it is also clear that though death was powerful, the fear of death was not something that should shape one's decisions. Rather, people should do their duty, accomplish their tasks, live their lives, and accept death when it comes. As Gimli says just before the Fellowship begins to turn toward Moria, "However it may prove, one must tread the path that need chooses." (FR, pg. 297)
Here is seen both the implication that one's path is influenced by outside forces and also the importance of fulfilling one's task, despite how it may end. It is also important to note that not much of what happens in Middle-Earth could be said to come to a 'happy' ending, despite Sam's arrival at home which makes up the final paragraph in The Return of the King. For this final analysis, one must forgive me for going beyond the normal parameters of the story and into the appendices, but it is there that we find the true end to all the tales: every member of the Fellowship has a continuation of their story until death (or travel to the Undying Lands). It seems as though Tolkien simply could not leave off the story with what people might call a happy ending, and one wonders if this is because of his own experiences with death and his desire to sub-create a world that reflected our own so accurately.
This view of death or inability to write a 'happy ending' which seemed to elude Tolkien did not afflict the writing of C.S. Lewis. In fact, in the Chronicles of Narnia, it seems difficult to find anything other than what might be characterized by a happy ending, even if those endings take different forms due to their place in the storyline of Narnia. It is clear that Lewis's approach to death was to present it in a much more positive light; not that death was without pain or tragedy, but that it was most certainly not the end nor even entirely worthy of causing emotions of anxiety or fear in the characters.
This may be due to Lewis's own life and experience with death: he also lost his mother at a young age, lost friends in the First World War, and later in life experienced the pain of losing his wife to cancer. Thus, it would be erroneous to conclude that Lewis wrote happy endings simply because he had an easy or comfortable life, free of tragedy or pain. Rather, it seems as though, because of his evangelical Christianity, he chose to write about Narnia in such a way as to emphasize the hope and joy rather than the pain. For the characters in Narnia, death was a possibility, but it was never going to be the End. As a result of that, it almost feels as if those stories are more hopeful than the stories of Middle-Earth. Perhaps it is because he wrote about pain in other places, most notably in The Problem of Pain and A Grief Observed, that Lewis reserved Narnia as a place that chose to focus on joy.
I believe, however, that the difference between Tolkien and Lewis here is not really an issue of hope or despair, an issue of happy endings or sad. Rather, I believe that these two authors simply chose to write about the End from similar viewpoints but with a different focus. Think of a two photographers who are taking a picture of the same landscape: a landscape that shows much bare ground, some scrub grass, and a few bright flowers in the foreground all with a breathtaking background of mountains and sky and bright clouds. Tolkien's writing is that of the photographer who focused on the foreground, choosing to emphasize the beauty of the flowers while not glossing over the relative ordinariness or even ugliness of the bare ground. Lewis, then, is the photographer who chose to blur out some of the foreground for the sake of emphasizing the amazing beauty of the background, focusing on what is to come, rather than what is directly at hand. Both authors were masters at their craft; they simply chose to show the picture, the End, in different ways.
The Catholic and the Convert both wrote about life as part of a grand Story, of the dangers and seductiveness of Evil, of the power of Good, and of the End. Ultimately the Christian worldviews of the authors caused them to create worlds in which all of those themes are explored differently but still reflect the same fundamental beliefs. And though their focuses were different, taken together, they give the reader such glimpses of Joy and Hope as can rarely be found elsewhere.
By Joel W. Hawbaker


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New York Times
April 7, 2013
Mr. Muhammad and his followers had been killed by the C.I.A., the first time it had deployed a Predator drone in Pakistan to carry out a "targeted killing." The target was not a top operative of Al Qaeda, but a Pakistani ally of the Taliban who led a tribal rebellion and was marked by Pakistan as an enemy of the state. In a secret deal, the C.I.A. had agreed to kill him in exchange for access to airspace it had long sought so it could use drones to hunt down its own enemies.
That back-room bargain, described in detail for the first time in interviews with more than a dozen officials in Pakistan and the United States, is critical to understanding the origins of a covert drone war that began under the Bush administration, was embraced and expanded by President Obama, and is now the subject of fierce debate. The deal, a month after a blistering internal report about abuses in the C.I.A.'s network of secret prisons, paved the way for the C.I.A. to change its focus from capturing terrorists to killing them, and helped transform an agency that began as a cold war espionage service into a paramilitary organization.
The C.I.A. has since conducted hundreds of drone strikes in Pakistan that have killed thousands of people, Pakistanis and Arabs, militants and civilians alike. While it was not the first country where the United States used drones, it became the laboratory for the targeted killing operations that have come to define a new American way of fighting, blurring the line between soldiers and spies and short-circuiting the normal mechanisms by which the United States as a nation goes to war.
Neither American nor Pakistani officials have ever publicly acknowledged what really happened to Mr. Muhammad — details of the strike that killed him, along with those of other secret strikes, are still hidden in classified government databases. But in recent months, calls for transparency from members of Congress and critics on both the right and left have put pressure on Mr. Obama and his new C.I.A. director, John O. Brennan, to offer a fuller explanation of the goals and operation of the drone program, and of the agency's role.
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What Are The Benefits of Bamboo For Baby?
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