Sabor (Tarzan)

Edgar Rice Burroughs first published Tarzan of the Apes in October 1912 in the pulp magazine The All-Story before it was published as a book in 1914.[2] In the initial publication, Burroughs used and intended the term Sabor to mean "tiger" in his fictional language Mangani used by the great apes and Tarzan in the African jungles. However, when Burroughs was later informed that tigers were not native to Africa, he subsequently changed the meaning of the term to "lioness."

Burroughs had originally intended the term Numa to represent all lions, but in adding Sabor to refer to lionesses, "Numa" referred only to male lions. The difference of the two words was explained as due the visual distinction that male lions possess manes, unlike females. It became the only animal in Mangani to have separate terms for male and female.

"Sabor" is the term used to refer to lionesses in Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan book series. In the first novel, Tarzan of the Apes, there are four notable incidents involving lionesses, each one called Sabor. At least two are known to be separate lionesses, although all four are likely distinct. The first occurs in Chapter Five where a lioness attacks young Tarzan at a lake, forcing him to flee by leaping into the water and learning to swim.[3] Later, in Chapter Eight, Tarzan encounters a lioness and attempts to kill her by lassoing her with his rope, but fails.[3] Then, in Chapter Eleven, Tarzan uses his bow and arrow to kill a lioness, which prompts a jealous attack by the ape king Kerchak, resulting in a battle in which Tarzan emerges as king of the apes.[3] The fourth instance of the term occurs in Chapter Fourteen, when a lioness attempts to break into Tarzan's cabin, where Tarzan's love interest Jane Porter and her maid Esmeralda are hiding. Tarzan rescues the two women when he drags the lioness from the window and kills it.[3]

In later novels of the series, Burroughs uses lionesses more sparingly, while still employing for them the term Sabor. Most notably, in the fifth chapter of Jungle Tales of Tarzan (1919), a lioness is seen mourning her deceased cub.[4] In Tarzan and the Golden Lion (1923), a lioness is killed by a black African warrior, leaving an orphan cub that Tarzan adopts and raises under the new name "Jad-bal-ja", and it becomes one of his primary animal companions.[5]

Sabor is most recognizable as the second antagonist in the 1999 animated film, Tarzan, by Walt Disney Animation Studios. In the film, Sabor is a vicious leopard who acts as a predator against the gorillas by killing the offspring of the gorilla king, Kerchak, and his mate, Kala. Most notably, Sabor also kills Tarzan's mother and father in their newly constructed tree house shortly after they are shipwrecked on the shores of Africa. This is presented when Kala enters the tree house and observes evidence of their struggle, such as a spent pistol, blood-stained paw prints, and the dead bodies of Tarzan's parents. After Kala discovers the infant Tarzan, she is attacked by Sabor, but is able to flee when Sabor becomes tangled in a rope.

Sabor encounters the adult Tarzan years later by attempting another surprise attack. She is initially fought off by Kerchak, whom she manages to wound with her claws and teeth. Tarzan intervenes before Sabor can kill Kerchak, and the two engage in a battle on the ground and in the trees. Tarzan ultimately defeats Sabor and holds her body over his head while making his famous "Tarzan yell." He then presents Sabor's corpse to Kerchak as a trophy, finally earning the respect of the gorilla leader.

In the 2002 Disney-Square video game, Kingdom Hearts, for the PlayStation 2 console, Sabor the leopard appears as a main boss in the "Deep Jungle" location meant to evoke the setting from Disney's Tarzan. She attacks the player character, Sora, when he crash-lands in the tree house. Tarzan appears and assists in driving Sabor away. She attacks the player afterwards in multiple encounters until finally defeated.

Although Sabor was stated to be female[1] by the supervising animator of the 1999 animated film, Sabor is nonetheless referred to as a male at least once Kingdom Hearts, specifically in Jiminy Cricket's journal, where Sabor is described with a masculine pronoun ("he").