| “ | I DON'T WANT YOUR BROKEN DOWN CIRCUS IN MY TOWN! | „ |
| ~ Zilch wanting Mulligan to leave Fort Coyote. |
Corduroy "Diamond Tooth" Zilch is the main antagonist of the Lucky Luke comic Western Circus.
He is the host of the West's Toughest Rodeo in Fort Coyote who attempts to get Mulligan's circus out of his town to keep it out of competition. However, as it is safely escorted by Lucky Luke, he decides to smuggle alcohol to the Indians in exchange of their help in destroying the circus, but they get easily scared by Mulligan's elephant pet, Andy.
His multiple attempts of killing Mulligan are all thwarted by Lucky Luke, even hiring the cowardly gunman Rattlesnake Joe being a total failure. Despite this, he later succeeds in destroying the circus when the Indians burn it down with flaming arrows, ruining Mulligan's career and allowing Zilch's rodeo show to continue. Eventually, after Mulligan and his troupe joined the rodeo, he reforms himself and he and Mulligan are employed by Jules Framboise, who plans to host a circus tour all around Europe.
Appearance[]
Corduroy Zilch is a man wearing a pink shirt with a black tie, as well as a black coat and black pants with brown boots. He also has a diamond tooth in his mouth, hence his nickname.
Biography[]
D.T Zilch is first seen when Lucky Luke asks Lucius, the barman, to meet him so he can sign the papers to participate in the annual rodeo he is hosting, but he is interrupted by a drunk man who informs Zilch that Mulligan's circus troupe is arriving in Fort Coyote. This makes Zilch angry that a circus is now competing with his rodeo, as the citizens were bored of the same old rodeo that happened every year. As Mulligan enters the saloon and places a poster promoting his circus over Zilch's saloon promotion, he rips it off and tells Mulligan that Fort Coyote isn't big enough for both of them, but he ignores it and continues to drink his whiskey.
Tired of his competition, he attempts to shoot him from behind with his revolver, only to be stopped by Lucky Luke, who was also about to drink his beer. He then attempts to beat him up, but gets thrown into a stock of Zilchcola, dropping his diamond tooth. Humiliated, he orders Mulligan and his troupe to never come back to Fort Coyote again. As the troupe leaves, Zilch kicks the elephant, hurting his foot in the process. His diamond tooth is then found and put back on his teeth as he returns inside the saloon.
Unfortunately for him, Mulligan's troupe returns to Fort Coyote for a parade. Not wanting to see the circus again, he attempts to block their way, but Andy did not forget the time Zilch kicked him in the leg, which results in Zlich getting hit with his own carabine and being chased until he reaches the saloon, with the elephant causing a large amount of damage to it. After this failed attempt, Zilch decides to hire Rattlesnake Joe, a cowardly but professional gunman who is currently residing inside a hotel nearby, but his henchmen are too scared, causing him to smash his own slot machine to force them, but this also drops money on the floor.
Zilch then greets Rattlesnake Joe inside his saloon and offers him a drink, as he offers a business proposition to get rid of Mulligan's elephant so he can no longer use it to scare Zilch away. This makes Joe scared, as it is the very first time in his paid killing career that he has to deal with an elephant. As expected, Joe failed, as his aiming was completely messy due to him being so scared of the large animal standing before him. He then decides to host a grand meeting in his saloon to lure the circus there, which successfully works. During this time, he also freed Nelson, Mulligan's lion, out of his cage and into the town, only for him to be tamed by a drunk Mulligan.
Meanwhile, Zilch was about to close the saloon for the night when all of a sudden, Nelson goes inside the saloon, causing Lucius to panic and hide inside the closet, not allowing Zilch inside as long as the "bloodthirsty beast" is inside. Without a hiding spot, he decides to get his gun in an attempt to kill the lion, but Lucky Luke arrives and uppercuts him, sending him flying behing the counter, losing his tooth again in the process. The next day, he sees that Mulligan is hosting a gala outside of his town with the purpose of improving the jail food. Not wanting his rodeo's public reputation to be ruined, he decides to strike a deal with the Indians to have the circus burned down, but they are reluctant at first because of the large monster that lives in there( the same one who chased them away earlier in the story). Zilch then offers a large amount of "good medecine" if they succeed in their job.
Zilch's plan would finally succeed, as the gala is cancelled due to the Indians burning down the circus with flaming arrows, ruining Mulligan's business. Happy about this success, he has Lucius take twelve cases of whiskey to Lame Bull as a reward for burning down the circus, but by mistake, he brings cases of Zilch Orange instead of Zilchcola. Zilch then encounters Lucky Luke and removes his diamond tooth, claiming that he isn't responsible for anything that has happened. Lucky Luke, however, actually planned to join the rodeo with his pals. Zilch agrees and gives him the necessary papers to sign for it.
At the day of the rodeo, Zilch celebrates by hiring Lulu Breechloader and her girls to perform in the saloon. Seeing how successful the rodeo may be, he says he will soon be able to see his dentist for some work. He then meets Jules Framboise, a French impresario from Paris, who he offers a Zilch Orange. However, Lucius brought the cases of Zilch Orange to Lame Bull instead of whisky. Zilch isn't too bothered by this and decides to sort the issue after the rodeo, while also giving Jules some lemonade.
As the rodeo begins, everything seems to be normal at first. However, Zilch quickly notices that Mulligan's troupe also joined the rodeo, much to his displeasure. Eventually, he encounters Lame Bull and the other Indian warriors, who are furious for bringing bad medecine to them. Despite this, this entertains the audience and Jules, impressed by the performance, offers to engage the troupe for a tour around Europe. Zilch and Mulligan both agree, sorting it out with the Indians as well. After a game of poker to decide the name of the tour, they have a photographer take a picture of them for a large promotional poster. It is unknown what happens to him afterwards, but it is very likely that his triumphal tour with Mulligan was a huge success across the European capitals.
Trivia[]
- During the day of the rodeo, he hired Lulu Breechloader, a saloon singer who previously appeared in Dalton City, which was released a year prior to Western Circus.
- He is one of the only Lucky Luke antagonists to ultimately redeem themselves and sort things out with their arch-enemy.
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 Villains
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Dalton Family Other Outlaws Comics Movies The New Adventures of Lucky Luke Kid Lucky | ||