La (Tarzan)

La
Tarzan confronting La, from the cover of a paperback edition of Tarzan the Invincible by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Ballantine Books, 1974
First appearance	The Return of Tarzan
Created by	Edgar Rice Burroughs
Portrayed by	Mademoiselle Kithnou
Information
Species	Human
Gender	Female
Occupation	Queen and High priestess, Witch
Nationality	African

La is a character in Edgar Rice Burroughs's series of Tarzan novels. She first appeared in the second Tarzan novel, The Return of Tarzan (1913), and reappeared in the fifth, Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar (1916), the ninth, Tarzan and the Golden Lion (1923), and the fourteenth, Tarzan the Invincible (1930). She is also mentioned in the juvenile Tarzan story Tarzan and the Tarzan Twins, with Jad-Bal-Ja, the Golden Lion (1936), the events of which occur between Tarzan and the Golden Lion and Tarzan the Invincible.

La is the queen and high priestess of Opar, a lost city located deep in the jungles of Africa. Opar is portrayed as a surviving colony of ancient Atlantis in which incredible riches have been stockpiled down through the ages. The city's population exhibits extreme sexual dimorphism caused by a combination of excessive inbreeding, cross-breeding with apes, and selective culling of offspring. Consequently, female Oparians are physically perfect, while male Oparians are hideous bestial creatures.

On her first encounter with Tarzan, La falls in love with him, he being so much more physically perfect and attractive than the male Oparians. But Tarzan spurns her advances, as he is already committed to Jane Porter. This endangers his own life, as the religion of Opar condones human sacrifice, and La comes close to dedicating him to her city's "Flaming God" on a number of occasions. The two encounter each other time and again, as Tarzan keeps returning to Opar to replenish his personal wealth from its hoarded treasure.

La first appeared on screen in The Adventures of Tarzan (1921), an early black and white silent Tarzan film based on The Return of Tarzan. She was portrayed by actress Lillian Worth, who played opposite Elmo Lincoln, the first screen Tarzan.