 This article is about a/an villain in Chōdenji Machine Voltes V.
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Emperor Zu Zambajil is the ruler of the Boazanian Empire, the cousin of La Gour and the main antagonist of Chōdenji Machine Voltes V.
Zu Zambajil is extremely racist, viewing horned Boazanians with higher regard than the hornless ones. He uses this to take advantage of the throne, manipulating the Boazanians to consider him as the worthy ruler since he has horns while La Gour lacks. However, under his reign, Boazanians, horned or hornless alike, are imprisoned, enslaved and executed, showing that he doesn't care about either of them at all and only uses the racism to take over the throne. By the end of the war, his obsession to destroy Voltes V has also grown so great that he doesn't care if his own troops get within range of his electromagnetic rings, as long as it is defeated.
Zu Zambajil's ambitions know no bounds, as despite having successfully ruled Boazania, he still seeks to take over Earth to expand his empire and get more slaves. To this end, he sends his nephew Heinel to invade Earth while also to remove a threat to his rule, and exiles the latter for his failures against the Voltes team, further demonstrating his lack of love for his family. Zu Zambajil is also paranoid, fearing that Heinel can overthrow him to take over the throne, which is why he tries to have the latter killed at all cost, even though Heinel always displays loyalty to him.
At the end of the day however, Zu Zambajil is nothing more than a coward hiding behind power, getting easily panicked when his side loses a battle, be it to the Voltes team or Heinel. When the Boazanians rebel against him and his loyalists leave him, he tries to run away with a load of riches and lets Heinel take the fall, only for the latter to find and kill him as a punishment for his actions.
Biography[]
Past[]
Zu Zambajil was the bastard son of the previous emperor of Boazania and his mistress. As a child, he often faced humilation for his heritage and desired the throne. When the time to choose the 124th king of Boazania arrived, due to the actual heir being mentally disabled and unfit to rule, the other candidates were La Gour, the minister of sciences, and Zambajil. To prevent him becoming king, Zambajil entrusted his spies with anything incriminating in La Gour. Eventually, one found La Gour's doctor and tortured him into confessing La Gour was hornless.
Although his cousin, La Gour, was the rightful heir to the throne, Zu Zambajil revealed La Gour's "hornlessness" and banished the latter mere moments before La Gour ascended to the throne, allowing Zu Zambajil himself to be crowned instead. La Gour then led a coup against Zu Zambajil, but was defeated and fled to Earth, immigrating with humans as Professor Kentaro Goh. Despite successfully taking over the throne, Zu Zambajil sought to expand his empire further through force.
Years later, Goh returned to Boazania to convince Zu Zambajil not to invade other planets, but the Emperor refused to listen and imprisoned him.
Voltes V[]
A decade later, Zu Zambajil sends Prince Heinel, La Gour's son to lead an invasion against Earth with legions of fleets. In truth, he wants to send Heinel away to remove a perceived threat for his rule. To ensure Heinel's death, he sends his chief inspector Duke Zaki and Zuhl to pretend aiding Heinel, but in truth to kill him if necessary.
Boazania's forces easily slaughter Earth's forces and destroy many cities, while survivors retreat. Professor Goh's half-Earthling children, Kenichi, Daijiro and Hiyoshi, alongside Ippei Mine and Megumi Oka, are then summoned by Professor Hamaguchi and Mitsuyo Goh (Kentaro's wife) to pilot Goh's greatest invention, the giant robot Voltes V, forming the Voltes team. Ever since then, the team has caused a lot of troubles for Zu Zambajil's henchmen, threatening his ambition to take over Earth. Halfway through the war, Ri Katherine exposes a plot of Zaki and Zuhl to send Heinel to his death, allowing Heinel to kill Zaki. Zuhl is eventually executed in a later plot to betray Heinel. Zu Zambajil then sends general Do Bergan to keep an eye on Heinel. Later on, Do Bergan and General Gururu betray Heinel and try to blow up Earth with a Magmite Bomb, but this once again fails, foiling Zu Zambajil's plan to have Heinel killed. However, due to Heinel's repeat setbacks against the Voltes team, Zu Zambajil demotes and exiles him back to Boazania.
Eventually, Voltes V and Big Falcon reach Boazania and free Professor Goh. The Voltes team then convince the Boazanians about Zu Zambajil's tyranny. As a result, the Boazanians rebel against the Emperor, while his loyalists desert en masse to save their own skins. With the Boazanians' help, the Voltes team manage to defeat Zu Zambajil's men. Terrified, Zu Zambajil tries to escape with a load of riches and a grenade, but is found by Heinel, who then kills him as a punishment for betraying his planet and people, ending his reign of terror once and for all. Unfortunately, Zu Zambajil accidentally drops the grenade in the process, causing it to explode and engulf the castle in flames. Heinel then sacrifices himself to rescue Kenichi from the fire.
After Zu Zambajil's death, Goh, now going by his real name La Gour again, is finally crowned as the Emperor of Boazania.
Relationships[]
La Gour[]
La Gour is the half-brother of Zambajil, sharing the same father but having different mothers (Zambajil was the child of a mistress). Zambajil always despised La Gour and was jealous of him since he was the rightful heir to the throne. Even after he had La Gour publicly humiliated, his first wife, Lozaria, taken away, his reputation ruined and subject to constant police brutality, La Gour still tried to appeal to him, hoping that he had some goodness in his heart. However, Zambajil responded by throwing La Gour in prison. Zambajil also despised Heinel as he was the son of La Gour (and had a more powerful claim to the throne) but kept him at a distance and once Heinel was of age, had him sent to earth in the hopes to kill him. He was unsuccessful.
Heinel[]
Heinel is the nephew of Zambajil. While Heinel sees his uncle as a respectable man who wants to do what's right for Boazania, Zambajil despises him as Heinel is the true heir to the throne, being the son of La Gour, while he is the son of the Emperor and a mistress. Their relation is technically first cousins once removed, though Heinel calls him "uncle" as their fathers are brothers.
Even though Heinel makes it clear he loves his uncle and has no intentions of opposing him, Zambajil still sends assassins to kill him and is infuriated when his attempts fail. Zambajil also mocks Heinel relentlessly to his court and encourages them to also dehumanize him. In episode 8 Duke Zaki reveals that Zambajil thinks Heinel leading the earthern invasion was a mistake, and calls him "stupid" and "a failure".
The fact that Heinel has a higher claim to the throne than he does makes Zambajil heavily insecure, hence him going through every effort to keep Heinel at a distance. He only appointed him to his court out of reluctance. In episode 40, once it's clear that Zambajil is losing the war, he tries to pin the blame on Heinel. Upon realizing that his uncle is nothing but an insecure coward, Heinel throws his dagger at him, putting an end to Zambajil once and for all.
General Gururu[]
Gururu is endlessly devoted to Zambajil, but Zambajil sees him as a mere pawn, chiding him for not giving him his standard salute when entering the room (in contrast to Heinel who, while honour-obsessed, is more lenient to his comrades and treats them with respect). Even though Gururu is visbly distressed upon being told he has to combat Voltes V, Zambajil sends him on the mission regardless. Unsurprisingly, Gururu and Bergan end up annihilated.
Zaki[]
According to Jangal, Zaki loves feeding Zambajil bad news, hence Zambajil putting many to death based on whatever Zaki reports. In a sense of karma, Zaki himself would meet his end trying to humiliate Heinel by deliberately sabotaging him. His plan failed because Katherine overheard it, and Heinel thanked her during his battle the next day.
Trivia[]
- His name has been spelled as Zambajil, Zambojil, Sanbasil and Zanbasil in various English translations.
- The Phillipine live-action adaption Voltes V: Legacy calls him Zambojil in advertisements and promotional posters.
- His style of dressing is reminiscient of that of a French aristocrat.
- Zambajil has a fondness for drinking wine, something his nephew inherited as well.
- In many ways, Zambajil is a foil to Heinel:
- While both pride themselves for their Boazanian heritage, Heinel also places importance on flesh and blood, and was willing to cease fighting once he found out La Gour was his father. Zambajil on the other hand viewed La Gour as a threat to the throne first and a member of his family second, and had him abused and imprisoned even as La Gour begged for peace.
- Heinel treats his comrades with respect and mercy. He was willing to forgive Bergan for an assassination attempt, and also cried at Jangal's death. He allows his comrades to participate in battles if they prove themselves. When Katherine disobeyed him and took Kenichi on her own in episode 30, he was angry, but he did not punish her. In episode 40, as he advances towards the castle, he yells at Katherine, his last surviving comrade, to save herself. In contrast, Zambajil humiliated Gururu for forgetting his salute and when he was losing the war, he tried to pin the blame on Heinel instead of taking responsibility.
- Heinel worked to get where he was, graduating as the top cadet at the Boazanian Institute of Military Sciences and Warfare, but Zambajil was handed everything to him based on his birthright and has no experience in fighting.
- Heinel actively takes charge in missions, while Zambajil dispatches troops to do his bidding.
External Links[]
- Zambajil on the Villains Wiki