Citizenship : Roman
French name : Absolumentexclus
German name : Absolutus
Dutch name : Absolutus
Spanish name : Nihablarum
Italian name : Absolumentexclus
Portugese name : Absolumentexclus
A birthday gift for Obelix
As his name implies, Ignoramus has all the finesse and flexibility of Rome at the height of its triumph. Triumph? Really? Well, lets say that at the beginning of Obelix and Co., his intentions are good. Ignoramus takes over the Totorum camp that his predecessor, the centurion Scrofulus, had allowed to run down. Things have gotten so out-of-hand that we even see caricatures of Pierre Tchernia, René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo apparently soused on wine and barely able to stay on their feet!
Ignoramus seems capable of setting this pathetic situation straight (Albert Uderzo managed to render him perfectly terrifying, with plenty of low-angle views) but when presented along with his brand new legion of Roman soldiers as a birthday gift to a deliriously happy Obelix, our hero quickly gives up any dreams of glory.
In fact, Ignoramus stands for the Roman power of the olden days, a brash and domineering legionnaire, filled with a warriors wisdom, which makes him the perfect counterpart for Caius Preposterus, who makes a last-ditch effort, in the same album, to conquer our indomitable heroes by using economics and everyday marketing ruses. Really, theres no one quite like Asterix to illustrate the conflict between the old-fashioned and the modern!