Heroes, Villains and Bystanders in Asterix Quiz

Answer: Getafix

If you don't know this one, please go back and study some more. Getafix, the resident druid in the village of invincible Gauls, is the sole manufacturer of the magic potion which gives the villagers the strength to hold out against the Roman invaders.

Answer: False

Lutetia is Ancient Paris, the fashion, political, legislative and economic capital of Ancient Gaul. We never discover the name of Asterix's 'home town'.

Answer: Impedimenta

Impedimenta is forever referring to her husband as 'Piggy-Wiggy', much to his absolute chagrin, and putting him on a diet. Impedimenta is the bane of many of the Gauls' existence.

Answer: Toutatis

Shame on you if you said 'Jupiter' or 'Jove' - the Romans call on him.

Answer: Julius Caesar and Cleopatra

Knowing that Caesar's enemies would be falling over themselves to do away with his heir, Cleopatra left the baby Caesarion in the one place she knew he would be safe from any Roman: the village of indomitable Gauls. Since the Romans razed the village to the ground, this is one of the few books which does not end with a feast under the village's sprawling oak: it closes on Caesar's royal galley!

Answer: Edelweiss

All of the other books three contain the prize in their titles ('Asterix and the Chieftain's Shield', 'Asterix and the Cauldron' and 'Asterix and the Golden Sickle'). The silver star, or edelweiss flower, is a crucial ingredient in the potion Getafix must mix to cure the quaestor ('Asterix in Switzerland').

Answer: Prolix

Prolix prophesies all kinds of unlikely things for the people of the village, and the men all go to live in the forest.

Answer: Fashion

Although magic potion is used in this story, the number one weapon used in this story is women's apparent propensity for shopping.

Answer: No

Other titles include 'The Mansions of the Gods' and, more recently, 'How Obelix Fell into the Magic Potion when He was a Baby'.

Answer: Anticlimax

In this adventure, Asterix and Obelix unwittingly introduce the Britons to tea-leaves... yet utterly fail to cure them of a passion for warm beer!

Answer: Ultimatum

The fourth camp is called Compendium. The soldiers posted at these camps live in constant fear of the Gauls they are sent to attack.

Answer: The Normans

Justforkix utters one of the finest puns in 'Asterix' history: considering his country cousins to be utterly backward, he describes them as living 'out here in the Styx' (the Styx, of course, being the river in Greek myth over which the dead would travel to reach Hades).

Answer: Ptenisnet

A tough one, I know. Ptenisnet, the utterly endearing Egyptian who pre-empts The Artist Formerly Known as Prince by about two thousand years by speaking only in hieroglyphics, labors under the misapprehension that he is on a package tour.

Answer: We never find out

Geriatrix, the village's oldest inhabitant, has the village's most beautiful woman as his wife (except for Panacea, of course!). Although she plays semi-important roles in various books, we never discover her name.

Answer: 50 BC

It is indeed 50 BC. In one adventure, Asterix and Obelix even spend the night in a lowly and as-yet unknown stable in Bethlehem because there's no room at the inn...

Answer: Taming the Nemean lion

Our intrepid heroes grapple with Caius Tiddlus, the Roman javelin champion; Cylindric, the Gothic wrestler; and the inhabitants of The Place That Sends You Mad, amongst others. The Nemean Lion was, of course, throttled by Hercules (or Herakles, for the Greek scholars among you).

Answer: Varius Flavus

The embezzling Flavus is in the process of throwing an orgy such as Geneva has never seen when the quaestor arrives. He pours poison from his ring into the vegetable soup the ascetic auditor demands upon arrival.

Answer: Doubleosix

Doubleosix, who bears a striking resemblance to Sean Connery, keeps in touch with Caesar via carrier bee.

Answer: The silver star

Mistletoe cut with a sickle of pure gold ('Asterix and the Golden Sickle'), oil ('Asterix and the Black Gold') and fresh fish ('Asterix and the Great Crossing' (of course, Unhygienix's wares are thoroughly unsuitable) are all vital to the success of the magic potion.

The silver star is used in an antidote to Varius Flavus's poison. Admittedly, Getafix does later discover that beetroot juice works just as well as oil - but in the book's opening it is cited as a vital ingredient.

Answer: Wild boar

The poor, long-suffering herd of wild boar who live in the forest surrounding the indomitable village provide the staple diet of most of its inhabitants. Obelix tries roast camel in the Middle East, boiled boar in Britain - but nothing compares to his native cuisine.