Tars Tarkas is the Jeddak of Thark, and a longtime ally of Warlord John Carter. Like all Tharks, he is a brute and can be cruel, but he has aspirations of raising the Tharks to become more than just an angry, subsistant coalition of tribes. He was driven to seek power after his lover Gozava was killed by then-Jeddak Tal Hajus.
History
A Princess of Mars
Early Life
Tars Tarkas was a cruel and heartless fighter who served the evil jeddak Tal Hajus, but Tars Tarkas became a good person when he met a young Tharkian woman named Gozava. He met Gozava when he was in the city one day and he noticed her sitting on a bench, so he sat down beside her and they had a casual conversation. Then Gozava started talking about how she felt about Tharkian society, how she hated the cruelty and heartlessness of her people, Tars Tarkas couldn't help but agree with her. From then on, Tars Tarkas knew love and began to love instead of hate, and he started a romantic relationship with Gozava. Gozava and Tars Tarkas kept their love a secret because Tal Hajus would not be pleased if he knew one of his warriors had become soft and fallen in love. Gozava and Tars Tarkas later had a daughter named Sola but kept her a secret, Gozava hid the child in an abandoned ancient Tharkian structure and visited her everyday. Eventually Sarkoja discovered the child and had Gozava imprisoned in the castle of Tal Hajus, Sola was adopted by an unknown Martian family and never found by Sarkoja. Whilst in the castle of Tal Hajus, Gozava was tortured by Tal Hajus and died a slow and painful death. After hearing what had happened to his wife, Tars Tarkas hated Tal Hajus and vowed one day to kill Tal Hajus and avenge his beloved wife's death.
John Carter
By the time John Carter arrived on Barsoom, Tars Tarkas had risen up in the ranks of the Tharks. He was the first green martian John Carter encountered. After being impressed by Carter's ability to jump extremely high, he convinced the earthman to come with him to the city, Thark. Once there, John Carter quickly earned honors in the Thark community for his fighting skill. This greatly impressed Tars Tarkas.
During this time the Tharks captured the Princess of Helium, Dejah Thoris. Quickly, she and John Carter began a romantic relationship. Tars allowed them to spend time together and put Sola in charge of watching them. John continued to display remarkable fighting skills.
Upon hearing of the Helium princess who was captured, Jeddak Tal Hajus ordered her to be brought to his fortress. After arriving, John and Dejah escaped. During their get away, John Carter had punched Tal Hajus. This angered the Jeddak so much that he ordered if ever the earthman should fall into Thark hands, we would be tortured and die.
Battle of Zodanga
Awhile after John Carter escaped, Tars Tarkas and his party ran into a group of Warhoons. The Warhoons attacked and Tars Tarkas was quickly overwhelmed. Right before the Warhoons finished him, John Carter jumped in and saved Tars's life. John had been flying a damaged air scout and crashed in the middle of the battle. Soon the Warhoons were in retreat.
Reluctantly, Tars Tarkas brought John Cater before Tal Hajus. Tal Hajus demanded John Carter to be killed, but Carter interjected. He convinced the other Tharks that Tars Tarkas would make a better Jeddak. They agreed, so Tars Tarkas and Tal Hajus fought each other in mortal combat. Right before battle John whispered into Tars's ear that Sola was his child. Tarkas defeted Hajus easily and was crowned Jeddak.
John Carter asked his friend to march upon Zodanga where Dejah Thoris was being kept. With the promise of blood and rewards Tars Tarkas agreed. He gathered together many green armies, until they were a force the likes of which Barsoom had never seen. They attacked Zodanga and defeated her. After the fall of Zodanga, the attack the Zodangian army that was sieging Helium.
The help that the Tharks under Tars Tarkas had given Helium allowed for a treaty between the two nations. Both were allowed to prosper more fully without worrying about attack. Tars Tarkas become a well respected leader. His first action after the battle was to publicly declare that Sola was his child.
Atmosphere Factory Disaster
Ten years of peace followed the Battle of Zodanga. This, however, would be disrupted. The keeper of the Atmosphere Factory, for an unknown reason, stopped working it. After a couple of days many of the inhabitants of Barsoom began to fall into comas. Tars Tarkas was a victim of unconsciousness along with many others. When everyone awoke, John Cater was gone and the factory was working again.
The Gods of Mars
Personality
Relationships
- Sola, Tars Tarkas has a good relationship with his daughter, and although having a child like this is forbidden in traditional Thark culture Tars Tarkas did not hide this fact.
- Gozava, the one woman Tars Tarkas ever loved, against thark law and culture he loved her and fathered a child with her.
Other Versions
Asylum Film
Disney Film
In the Disney film, Tars Tarkas is already the Jeddak of Thark, which is presented as a much smaller horde, rather than many hordes of a great nation. He is the first being that John Carter meets after arriving on Mars. His primary rival in power is Tal Hajus, who challenges him for control of the horde. He loses his position after he allows Carter, Dejah Thoris, and his daughter, Sola, to escape down the river Iss in a display of sentiment. When Carter and Sola return to Thark, he and Carter are sentenced to the arena. John Carter saves his life and restores his station. In return, Tars Tarkas leads the Tharks against the armies of Zodanga to fight in defense of Helium.
Dynamite Comics
According to the Warlord of Mars comic series, Tars got his surname after he killed a cruel Tharkian warrior who was named Tarkas.
Marvel Comics
trivia
- Tars tarkas briefly appeared in the DC comic limited collectors edition, vol 1 C-49 during a wedding scene. According to the information at the end of the book he is lacking two of his arms, but that is inconsistent with the image of the character.