60 Fun Facts About Asterix

In which magazine did Asterix first appear, on 29 October 1959?

Goscinny and Uderzo had earlier had success with Oumpah-pah in Tintin magazine.

Who wrote the Asterix stories until his death in 1977?

Uderzo, the illustrator, then took over the writing himself until he sold the rights in 2009.

In what year is the Asterix series set?

The famous introduction explains that Gaul is entirely occupied by the Romans. Well, not entirely.

What are the four Roman camps surrounding the Gaulish village called?

Their garrisons, the introduction notes, do not have an easy life.

What is the name of the village druid in the original French editions?

He is Getafix in English and Miraculix in German; only Asterix and Obelix keep their names across languages.

The '-ix' ending of Gaulish names in the series echoes which real chieftain's name?

The Gaulish suffix -rix meant 'king', like Latin rex; Orgetorix and Dumnorix are other examples.

Why does Obelix have permanent superhuman strength?

Getafix refuses to let him drink any more, and Asterix and Obelix All at Sea reveals why: he would turn to granite.

What is Obelix's job?

He carves and carries the standing stones on his back, and his name may echo both 'obelisk' and the typographic obelus.

What is Obelix's catchphrase?

In Italian it became 'Sono pazzi questi romani', a joke expansion of the abbreviation SPQR.

What is the name of Obelix's dog in the original French?

From idée fixe, an obsession; the English 'Dogmatix' keeps the meaning and adds a pun on 'dog'.

In which album does Obelix's dog first appear, trailing the heroes all the way round Gaul?

He is only named in the following book, Asterix and Cleopatra.

What is the name of the village chief?

He travels on a shield carried by two bearers, and falling off it is a running gag.

Which character is usually tied up and gagged at the feast that ends most albums?

In Asterix and the Normans it was the blacksmith who ended up tied up instead.

From Asterix and the Magic Carpet onward, what does the bard's singing cause?

It plays on an old French saying that bad singing brings rain.

Which Asterix running-gag characters, first seen in Asterix the Gladiator, parody the Belgian comic Barbe Rouge?

Their ship is sunk in almost every album; the parody has become better known than the original.

What is the name of the village chief's wife?

She thinks him unambitious; her name is Bonemine in French.

How old is Geriatrix said to be in Asterix at the Olympic Games?

Drunk, he says he feels ten years younger, to which Asterix replies that makes him 83 and it's time he was in bed.

The village fishmonger Unhygienix insists his fish are transported from where?

Even though he owns a fishing boat and lives by the sea, so the fish are always off, and fights ensue.

What does the name Asterix derive from?

In Icelandic he is Ástríkur, 'rich of love'; the Turks first called him Bücür, 'shorty'.

In the English translations, Roman names end in -us and British names often end in what?

Examples include the chief Mykingdomforanos, the druid Valuaddedtax and the mercenary Selectivemploymentax.

What is Dubbelosix, a Gaulish druid-spy in Asterix and the Black Gold, a reference to?

Other names are pidgin puns, like the Spanish chief Huevos y Bacon.

Roughly how many copies had Asterix albums sold by 2025?

That makes it the best-selling European comic series and the fourth best-selling comic series in the world.

Which manga is the only comic series to outsell Asterix in collected-volume format?

Asterix ranks fourth among all comic series worldwide when strips and periodicals are counted.

Into how many languages and dialects had Asterix been translated as of 2009?

Some albums exist in Latin and Ancient Greek with teachers' guides, and one was done in Mirandese for Portugal.

How many copies did the first album, Asterix the Gaul, sell in its year of publication?

By the ninth volume in 1967, a new album sold 1.2 million copies in two days.

Which team took over the series in 2013?

Fabcaro replaced Ferri as writer for volumes 40 and 41.

Which publisher bought the Asterix rights from Uderzo in December 2008?

Dargaud, the original publisher, had lost the rights to the first 24 albums after a long lawsuit in 1998.

Which real place in Brittany is the unnamed village rumoured to be based on?

The village lies in Armorica, the Gaulish name for the region.

For volumes 4 through 29, what pattern did the settings of the albums follow?

Later books used science-fiction elements too, including aliens in Asterix and the Falling Sky.

Where did the writer of Asterix spend his childhood?

Born in Paris to Polish-Jewish immigrants, he attended French schools in Buenos Aires and later met Morris in New York.

Besides Asterix, the series' writer created which cowboy comic with the Belgian artist Morris?

He also wrote Iznogoud with Jean Tabary and the Petit Nicolas books illustrated by Sempé.

What unusual feature was Albert Uderzo born with in 1927?

The extra fingers were removed in childhood; he was born an Italian citizen in France.

Uderzo's first sketches showed Asterix as what?

Goscinny wanted a small, shrewd hero instead, and Uderzo replied that the little man needed a big dim companion: Obelix.

Who translated the first 33 albums into English, alongside Derek Hockridge?

Her father Adrian Bell set the first Times cryptic crossword; she also translated Kafka and W. G. Sebald.

Under what names were early Asterix strips published in 1960s British comics such as Valiant?

Another version, Beric the Bold, relocated the story to Roman-occupied Britain.

Which American entertainer tried to buy Asterix film and TV rights in 1970?

Sales were modest and the publisher gave up the series when the deal fell through.

Which actor played Obelix in every live-action Asterix film until 2023?

The 2023 film The Middle Kingdom recast the role.

What was the first animated feature film in the series, released in 1967?

Goscinny and Uderzo disliked its animation quality and blocked a completed sequel based on the Golden Sickle.

The Twelve Tasks of Asterix (1976) is unusual among the films for what reason?

A rarely reprinted comic adaptation, Asterix Conquers Rome, is not considered canonical.

Which two live-action films were major box-office successes in France?

Mission Cleopatra was directed by Alain Chabat, who later made a Netflix miniseries of The Big Fight.

France's first satellite, launched in 1965, was named after which character?

It made France the third country to launch a satellite on its own rocket, from Hammaguir in Algeria.

In what year did the theme park Parc Astérix open near Paris?

It sits in Plailly, about 35 km north-east of Paris, and averages around 2.3 million visitors a year.

In the 1965 album set in Egypt, why does Getafix travel there?

The 1965 album became an animated film in 1968 and the live-action Mission Cleopatra in 2002.

In Asterix in Britain, what do the Britons drink every day at five o'clock before Asterix arrives?

Asterix eventually brews them tea from the strange herbs he took from Getafix, and a national habit is born.

In Asterix and the Golden Sickle, what is the name of Obelix's sickle-making cousin in future Paris?

It was the second story, serialised in Pilote in 1960 and published as an album in 1962.

In the first album, what does the potion Getafix tricks the Romans into drinking do?

Centurion Crismus Bonus had sent a spy into the village to learn the secret of the Gauls' strength.

In the series, the names of the kilt-wearing Picts all begin with what?

They drink 'malt water' and toss logs, the Asterix take on caber tossing and whisky.

The 2023 live-action film The Middle Kingdom sends the heroes to rescue an empress where?

It was an original story rather than an album adaptation, pitting them against Caesar's ally Prince Deng Tsin Quin.

Which neighbouring people are shown eating sliced roots deep-fried in bear fat?

They also speak with a funny accent, snub the Gauls and tell Belgian jokes, a nod to the national love of frites.

In 1995, UK jars of which spread came with free Asterix coins?

French crisp maker Belin also sold Asterix snacks shaped like Roman shields, gourds and wild boar.

Which album introduced extraterrestrials to the series?

Later books lean on science-fiction and fantasy touches; Atlantis turns up in Asterix and Obelix All at Sea.

Which 2014 film was the first animated Asterix movie made in stereoscopic 3D?

It adapted the album of the same name about a Roman housing estate built beside the village.

The names of the Cimbres, the series' stand-ins for the Danes, all end in what?

They resemble the Normans, but the Gauls are unable to communicate with them at all.

Before Asterix, Goscinny and Uderzo scored a hit in Tintin magazine with which series?

Asterix itself debuted in the first issue of Pilote on 29 October 1959.

What is the village druid called in the German editions?

Most character names are translation-specific puns; the English 'Getafix' plays on his dispensing of the potion.

In Asterix and the Normans, which villager is tied up at the final banquet instead of the bard?

It is the sole exception to the running gag of the bard being gagged so he cannot sing.

Who directed The Big Fight, the CG-animated miniseries that debuted on Netflix in 2025?

He had earlier directed and starred in the 2002 live-action hit Mission Cleopatra.

Which US publisher launched 'all-new more American translations' of Asterix in July 2020?

Translator Joe Johnson took over from the celebrated Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge versions.

Which 1976 comic, adapted from the animated film The Twelve Tasks, is not considered canonical?

Released as the 23rd volume, it has rarely been reprinted and only appeared in English in annuals.

Which writer took over from Jean-Yves Ferri for albums 40 and 41, alongside artist Didier Conrad?

Ferri and Conrad had produced albums 35 to 39 after taking over the series in 2013.