Alex (real name Alakay) is the main protagonist of DreamWorks Animation's Madagascar franchise.
Background[]
Alex was born in Africa as Alakay to Zuba and Florrie, who were the leaders of their pride. One day, when he was a young cub, Alakay was being given fighting lessons by Zuba, however Alakay was more interested in dancing, much to his father's dismay.
Just then, Zuba's rival Makunga shows up and battles him for the title of Alpha Lion. Whilst this was going on, Alakay was lured away and captured by poachers, who placed him in a crate in their truck and drove off. After he defeated Makunga, Zuba goes after the truck in an attempt to rescue his son, but he gets shot in the ear by one of the poachers and he has been forced to watch helplessly as the truck drives off. The crate containing Alakay falls out of the truck and lands into the ocean and he has been swept away.
The crate drifts to New York at long last, where it is found and taken to Central Park Zoo. Alakay is renamed Alex and is placed in his own enclosure and meets three other young animals: a zebra named Marty, a hippopotamus named Gloria (who thinks Alex is cute) and a giraffe named Melman (who has feelings for Gloria), who later become his friends.
Personality[]
In the first film, Alex is a full-of-himself, flamboyant performer to the people of New York, and he's loving the life he has in Central Park Zoo. He's not supportive of Marty's notions of going to the wild, and blames him for getting them all shipped off in a zoo transfer. He goes somewhat into despair and defiance when it turns out they end up on the shores of Madagascar (he initially tried to swim back to New York and even tried to make a pseudo-Lady Liberty for a fire signal). He eventually apologizes for being antagonistic to Marty, showing he can forgive and forget (to an extent). Alex regards himself as a monster and too dangerous to be near his friends when, after regressing somewhat to his primal instincts, bites Marty's butt. He goes off to seclusion and feel sorry for himself. When Marty tries to convince him to come back, he refuses, but is convinced when Marty tries to get him to singalong to "New York, New York," and when he saves his friends from the Fossa, their friendship strengthens.
In the second film, Alex is still set on going back to New York. When they end up in Africa and Alex is reunited with his parents, he and the others decide to stay. But after a ceremony goes wrong that results not only in his parents and himself being banished, and losing any respect he had from his father, Alex has second doubts about Africa, and it gets worse when he gets in an argument with Marty, who's having an identity crisis. He also reveals he never thought much of Marty's problems because to Alex, Marty never seemed the guy to have problems.
Physical appearances[]
Alex is a brown and yellow lion with a glossy mane, which is usually shaped like a pentagon in most viewpoints, like the back or front, with a portion over his eyes extending outward. On certain angles, his mane looks more hexagonal because of this. Since the second film, he's had an Africa-shaped birthmark on his right hand. He also has blue eyes, just like his mother's. In most of the franchise, it is said that Alex has a soft fur and a silky mane. His color varies as the animation progresses, in the first film his fur was darker and in the third film his fur is lighter.
Appearances[]
Madagascar[]
The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper[]
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa[]
Merry Madagascar[]
The Penguins of Madagascar[]
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted[]
Madly Madagascar[]
Penguins of Madagascar[]
All Hail King Julien[]
Madagascar: A Little Wild[]
Other media[]
Alex makes a small appearance in The Penguins of Madagascar. He is voiced by Wally Wingert.
Trivia[]
- During casting of the first film, Adam Sandler was rumored to voice Alex, but DreamWorks dislikes him for actual inappropriate and finally Ben Stiller took over.
- Alex is similar to Simba from Disney's The Lion King and Leo the Lion from King of the Jungle.
- A plush doll of Alex can be seen at the beginning of Flushed Away.
- His shadow can be seen in Penguins of Madagascar.
- Alex can be seen in Harvey Girls Forever! on Super Todd's t-shirt.
- Alex has been injured or almost injured on the groin more than any other DreamWorks character. The only other character from Madagascar that had been kicked in the groin too is Makunga, but he was kicked there just once, and Melman is the only one except Alex that almost got hit there. Alex had been harmed or almost harmed six times onscreen:
- Being kicked by Nana during their fight on Grand Central Station.
- Being kicked by Nana in front of the police.
- Being knocked by the wooden beam of the box that Melman was in, right after Alex broke the whole box with his body.
- Being kicked by Nana during their fight in Africa.
- Being kicked by Nana, right after she won their fight and he was too weak to stand up.
- His testicles were almost harmed by the knife that Vitaly threw at him.
- In Monsters vs. Aliens, when the hologram Gallaxhar is talking to the people over the world, Alex and Marty can be seen on the large TV on a building in Japan.
