Zaphod Beeblebrox

This article is about the fictional character. For the Ottawa nightclub, see Zaphod Beeblebrox (nightclub).

Zaphod Beeblebrox is a fictional character in the various versions of the humorous science fiction story The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

He is from a planet in the vicinity of Betelgeuse, and is a "semi-cousin" of Ford Prefect, with whom he "shares three of the same mothers". Due to "an accident with a contraceptive and a time machine", his direct ancestors from his father (Zaphod Beeblebrox the Second) are also his direct descendants (see Zaphod Beeblebrox the Fourth).

Physical appearance

This character is described across all versions as having two heads and three arms, though explanations of how he came to receive the extra appendages differed between versions. The original radio version never explained the second head, but did explain that Zaphod "grew" the third arm in the six months between meeting the character of Trillian on Earth, and the start of the series. The third radio series implies that he had a third arm whilst growing up - the fifth has him offer to Trillian that "I'd grow my third arm back for you, baby", when they first meet. In the novel, he said the third arm was "recently ^* fitted just beneath his right one to help improve his ski-boxing." According to the original Hitchhiker's radio series script book, an adlibbed comment by Mark Wing-Davey in the eighth radio episode, ("Put it there, and there, and there, and there! Whoa!"), would suggest that Zaphod had grown a fourth arm.

In the Infocom game version of the story, Zaphod blends in on Earth by hiding his second head in a covered bird cage (an alternate Trillian also refers to this in Mostly Harmless). In the television series, Ford Prefect simply remarks to Zaphod that "the extra arm suits you." For the 2005 movie, it's hinted that Zaphod "created" the second head himself when shunting off the parts of his mind that contain portions of his personality that "are not presidential." In this filmed version, the second head appears underneath the first, popping up when the first head is flipped backwards; the third arm is hidden underneath Zaphod's clothing, and only appears when necessary (such as for tormenting Arthur Dent).

Achievements

Zaphod invented the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, and is the only person able to drink more than three of them at one sitting. He was voted "Worst Dressed Sentient Being in the Known Universe" for seven years in a row. He's been described as "the best Bang since the Big One" by Eccentrica Gallumbits, and as "one hoopy frood" by others. In the seventh episode of the original radio series, the narrator describes Beeblebrox as being the "owner of the hippest place in the universe" (his own left cranium), as voted on in a poll of the readers of the fictional magazine Playbeing.

He was briefly the President of the Galaxy (a role that involves no power whatsoever, and merely requires the incumbent to attract attention so no one wonders who's really in charge, which is a role Zaphod was perfectly suited for). He is the only man to have survived the Total Perspective Vortex. However, it was established (in the books and first two radio series) that he survived only because the Vortex he was subjected to existed in an Electronically Synthesized Universe which was created specially for him. This made Zaphod the most important being in it. Also, according to his private brain-care specialist, "Vell, Zaphod's jist zis guy you know?" He used his position as President of the Galaxy to steal the Heart of Gold, a spaceship taking advantage of Infinite Improbability Drive, at its unveiling.

As a character

As a character, Zaphod is hedonistic and irresponsible, self-centered almost to the point of solipsism, and often extremely insensitive to the feelings of those around him. In the books and radio series, he is nevertheless quite intelligent, though he sometimes prefers not to make this obvious, and can be briefly shamed into better behaviour. Douglas Adams has said that Zaphod is always desperately trying to appear relaxed, an aspect well-captured in Mark Wing-Davey's radio and TV portrayal. In the movie, however, he is not very bright (in fact, his opponent in the previous Presidential election had used the slogan "Don't vote for stupid") and perhaps even more boorish than his previous portrayals.

Throughout the book and radio versions of the story, Zaphod is busy carrying out some grand scheme, and has no clue as to what it is and is unable to do anything but follow the path that he laid out for himself. Zaphod's grand schemes have included, over time, a second hand ballpoint pen business (which may or may not have been established with the help of Veet Voojagig). He was forced to section off the part of his brain that stored the plan so that scans of his mind, which would be necessary for him to become president, wouldn't reveal his plan, which included his being President of the Galaxy. In the second radio series and the book version of The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, we learn (and so does Zaphod) that he ordered the destruction of the Earth by the Vogons, apparently as part of a plot by the galaxy's psychiatrists, philosophers and other professional thinkers to prevent the "Ultimate Question" (to which the answer is 42) from becoming known.

According to screening tests that Zaphod ran on himself in the Heart of Gold's medical bay, he is "clever, imaginative, irresponsible, untrustworthy, extrovert, nothing you couldn't have guessed" (Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide, page 98).

In non-print media

In both the radio and television versions of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Zaphod was played by Mark Wing-Davey. The jokes about Zaphod having two heads and more than two arms were written for the original radio version, where the details could be filled in by the listener's imagination. In the television version Wing-Davey wore a false arm (when the arm was required to gesture it was replaced by the arm of Mike Felt, designer of the animatronic head, standing behind Wing-Davey), and a radio-controlled second head with an eyepatch. Unfortunately, the second head's mechanics seldom worked properly and so for most of the time it just sat on Zaphod's shoulder looking inanimate, although in one scene it manages to have a brief conversation with Wing-Davey's real head. Wing-Davey also suggested to the TV series' costume designer that Zaphod's costume should be made to indicate that the character has two penises. Special padding was thus arranged, though the first attempt was deemed to be "too long" and was "cut back" for the final version.

Zaphod is played by Sam Rockwell in the film version of the story that was released in April 2005. In that version, his second head is where a human's neck is and occasionally pops out to express the parts of his personality that are (as the main head puts it) "less than Presidential." Rockwell's interpretation of the character, which includes a vaguely Texan drawl and a vacuous, superficially charming manner, was cited by some critics as a thinly veiled parody of George W. Bush. Rockwell himself described the character as starting with "a Bill Clinton impersonation but that didn't really work. ^* Zaphod has to be more aggressive and so we went rock star, Freddie Mercury, Elvis, a little Brad Pitt."

To coincide with the April 2005 release of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy film, a "campaign music video" was released on the Internet. The music, "Beeblebrox for President", comes from the film's soundtrack, though it is not heard in the film itself. It can be found here.

References

The Making of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Kevin J. Davies

External Links

Characters in written fiction | Fictional extraterrestrials | Fictional politicians | Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | Fictional narcissists