Diego de la Vega

Zorro
Artwork for the cover of Zorro #2 (March 2008 Dynamite Entertainment). Art by Mike Mayhew
First appearance	All-Story Weekly (August 1919)
Last appearance	Short Story Magazine (April 1959)
Created by	Johnston McCulley
Portrayed by	Douglas Fairbanks Robert Livingston Reed Hadley Tyrone Power George Turner Clayton Moore José Suárez Guy Williams Frank Langella George Hamilton Rodolfo de Anda Duncan Regehr Anthony Hopkins Antonio Banderas Alain Delon Christian Meier
Information
Full name	Diego de la Vega
Aliases	Zorro
Gender	Male
Occupation	Nobleman Vigilante
Nationality	Novohispanic / Mexican

Zorro (Spanish for "fox") is the secret identity of Don Diego de la Vega, a fictional character created in 1919 by pulp writer Johnston McCulley. He is a Californio living in Los Angeles during the era of Mexican California (between 1821 and 1846), although some movie adaptations of Zorro's story have placed him during the earlier Spanish rule.

The character has undergone changes through the years, but the typical image of him is a dashing black-clad masked vigilante who defends the commoners and indigenous peoples of the land against corrupt and tyrannical officials and other villains. Not only is he too cunning and foxlike for the bumbling authorities to catch, but he also delights in publicly humiliating them.

The character has been featured in numerous books, films, television series, and other media. Tiburcio Vásquez, Juan Nepomuceno Cortina and Joaquin Murrieta are cited as inspirations for Zorro.

Zorro debuted in McCulley's 1919 story The Curse of Capistrano in the pulp magazine All-Story Weekly. At the denouement, Zorro's true identity is revealed to all.

Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, on their honeymoon, selected the story as the inaugural picture for their new studio, United Artists, beginning the character's cinematic tradition. The story was adapted as the film The Mark of Zorro (1920), which was a commercial success. McCulley's story was rereleased by publisher Grosset & Dunlap under the same title, to tie in with the film.