Nkima


Nkima is a fictional character in Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan novels, and in adaptations of the saga to other media, particularly comics.
His name comes from either the word N'kima, or, after the Meru language nickname for Ugali, a dish popular in Kenya and Tanzania made from maize flour.

Character

An African monkey, Nkima serves as a companion and servile assistant to Tarzan; provides comic relief in storylines; covertly conveys messages between Tarzan and his allies ; and, even occasionally leads Tarzan's Waziri warrior and/or animal friends to the ape-man's rescue. Overall, Nkima's role in the novels is somewhat similar to that of Cheeta the chimpanzee in the Tarzan movies. He is portrayed as being especially close to Jad-bal-ja, the lion who served as Tarzan's other primary animal companion.
In personality, Nkima is fearful and paranoid when alone, miserably certain that all other jungle creatures view him as prey. When with Tarzan he is emboldened, becoming proud, boastful, and bloodthirsty, constantly urging his protector to kill any strange animal they encounter. However, he is also fiercely loyal, often providing valuable assistance to the ape-man at great personal risk. In Tarzan's Quest, Nkima's merit was recognized when he was given an immortality treatment along with the novel's human protagonists.

In the Tarzan novels

Monkeys friendly to Tarzan and his allies appear under the generic name of Manu in a number of early Tarzan novels, including the fourth Tarzan novel, the sixth Tarzan novel, the seventh and the ninth. Some of these precursors to Nkima may in fact be Nkima himself, before he received that name. The first appearance of Nkima by name, however, is in the twelfth Tarzan novel. The character re-appears in the fourteenth ; eighteenth ; nineteenth ; twenty-fourth ; and twenty-sixth books. Nkima is also mentioned in passing in the twenty-second novel, Tarzan and the Foreign Legion.

In other media

The character of Nkima was also featured in the Tarzan comic strip and comic books, both in adaptations of the original/Burroughs novels, and in stories newly written for those media. He had one film appearance, in the 1935 serial, The New Adventures of Tarzan.
Nkima was also a main character in Filmation's 1976-1981, Saturday morning animated series Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle; the depiction was faithful to Burroughs' characterization. His monkey-like 'speech' was voiced by Lou Scheimer.