| Sheeta | |
|---|---|
 From Brehm's Life of animals (Page 117) | |
|
Real Name |
Sheeta |
|
First Appearance |
The All‐Story vol. 24, no. 2 (Oct. 1912) |
|
Created by |
Edgar Rice Burroughs |
Origin[]
From the Tarzan Comic Strip (1929)
Sheeta was the proper term in the fictional ape language of Mangani for leopards in the novels.
During the event of The Beasts of Tarzan (1914), Tarzan wins the help of Sheeta, the vicious panther, a tribe of great apes led by the moderately intelligent Akut, and a native warrior, Mugambi. With their aid, Tarzan reaches the mainland and begins a lengthy pursuit to find Jane Porter and his son Jack.
By the end of the story, Jack has been rescued, the villain Rokoff has been killed by Sheeta, and Paulvitch is presumed dead but manages to escape into the jungle. The family returns to London along with Mugambi, who is offered a place at Tarzan's Waziri estate.
Public Domain Appearances[]
All published appearances of Sheeta from before January 1, 1931 are public domain in the US.
Some notable appearances are listed below:
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- Tarzan of the Apes (1912)
- The Beasts of Tarzan (1914)
Public Domain Comic Appearances[]
- Tarzan Comic Strip (1929)
Notes[]
- As lions are not found in jungles and only live on open savannahs, Sabor was changed from a lion to a leopard for the Disney animated film, which is the real apex predator of the jungle area depicted.
- The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is a distinct big cat species from leopards. As Earth's fastest land animal, it has a slender build, spotted coat, and iconic tear markings, native to Africa and Iran. In the past, the cheetah was often called "hunting leopard" because they could be tamed and used for coursing.
- In Tarzan movies and TV shows, Cheeta refers not to a feline, but to Tarzan’s chimpanzee sidekick, a playful, trainable primate chosen over the literary N’kima.