Dogmatix

Citizenship : Gaulish dog

French name : Idéfix
German name : Idefix
Dutch name : Idefix

 

Spanish name : Ideafix
Italian name : Idefix
Portugese name : Ideiafix

Environmental protection agent and guide in the pyramids.

How life has treated Dogmatix! Nothing more than ‘a small mutt’ in the script for Asterix and the Banquet, he made his beginning in a brief appearance at the door of a butcher’s shop in Lutece. Based on René Goscinny’s script notes, Albert Uderzo first talked it over with his friend before slipping the little dog from Lutece into later scenes in the album. This is why Dogmatix does not play a direct part in the adventure.

 

Only the very last sketch shows Obelix bending down to the little dog as if to welcome him to the village. Since then, not only has Dogmatix made many appearances (and several puppies as in Asterix and the Actress), he has also taken on a full-fledged role in the series. He owes his name to a contest in the magazine Pilote (chosen by the authors from among suggestions such as ‘Patracourcix’ or ‘Papeurdurix’), Dogmatix plays an important part starting with Asterix and Cleopatra, infallible sixth sense allows him to save our heroes from certain death in a pyramid (true, there are worse places to be entombed, but nonetheless!).

 

He later becomes famous for his environmental concerns which are very much ahead of their time (he can’t bear the thought of anyone harming a tree). In the 1970s, Dogmatix even had his own collection of albums, along with new animal friends to accompany him in his adventures, albums which are highly prized by collectors today. The little Gaulish dog even showed the famous Metro Goldwyn Mayer lion a thing or two by barking as part of the logo for Dogmatix Studios, a company created by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo for their animated film ‘The Twelve Tasks of Asterix’.

 

And his success seems to know no bounds since Albert Uderzo, who has never disguised his pleasure in drawing Dogmatix, has given him a regular role in the albums for which he writes the scripts. Much to Asterix’s surprise, he even gave Dogmatix the gift of speech in the 2003 story Chanticleerix, which can be found today in the Asterix and the Class Act album.