Asterix and the Chieftain's Daughter

Asterix and the Chieftain's Daughter (La Fille de Vercingétorix)
Series	Asterix
Creative team
Writers	Jean-Yves Ferri
Artists	Didier Conrad
Original publication
Date of publication	24 October 2019
Language	French
Chronology
Preceded by	Asterix and the Chariot Race

Asterix and the Chieftain's Daughter (French: La Fille de Vercingétorix, "The Daughter of Vercingetorix") is the 38th book in the Asterix series, and the fourth to be written by Jean-Yves Ferri and illustrated by Didier Conrad. The book was released worldwide in more than 20 languages on 24 October 2019 with an initial print run of over 5 million copies.

Plot

One night, the Gaulish village is visited by two Averni chieftains, Monolithix and Sidekix, who were lieutenants to Vercingetorix up to the fateful battle of Alesia and thus good acquaintances of Vitalstatistix. To everyone's surprise, they have a young girl in their company who is revealed to be Adrenalin, Vercingetorix's daughter. She and her companions were sent away just before the final battle in order to carry on the fight against the Romans, with Vercingetorix's torc to identify her as his successor as a symbol of resistance. However, Julius Caesar has learned of her existence and wishes to have her taken captive and re-educated to the Roman ways; as a result, the Romans are hunting her, led by a Gaulish traitor named Binjwatchflix, a former scout for Vercingetorix who felt unappreciated by his leader and now serves the Romans. Consequently, the two chieftains took Adrenalin to the village, the only place avoided by the Romans, to keep her safe until they can relocate her to Britain, where the Romans will not expect to find her.

Vitalstatistix agrees to safeguard the girl, telling only Asterix, Obelix, Getafix, Impedimenta and Geriatrix about her origins, although the latter two swiftly make the whole village know. Asterix and Obelix are assigned as her bodyguards; but Adrenalin, in her teenage years, is rebellious and self-reliant, and quickly becomes weary of the ways of the village's adults while at the same time making friends with the younger generation, particularly Selfipix and Blinix, the eldest sons of Fulliautomatix and Unhygienix respectively. Soon, she decides to run away from her role as a figurehead of war, and her new friends help her sneak out of the village.

However, Binjwatchflix has managed to track down Adrenalin and puts the surrounding Roman garrisons on alert. During the chaotic search between the Gauls, the Romans and Binjwatchflix for her, Adrenalin comes across two of the Pirates collecting fresh water and, to Redbeard's consternation, commandeers their ship in order to sail to Thule and live her own life in peace. However, Asterix and Obelix spot the pirate ship sailing away and take up pursuit, along with Selfipix, Blinix and Dogmatix; and additionally, Binjwatchflix has stowed away on the ship. In a rapid sequence of events, the Gauls and Pirates are forced to contend with Adrenalin's stubborness and a Roman galley attacking them, and amidst the fighting Binjwatchflix grabs the girl and the torc and entrenches himself in the pirate ship's lookout post. Obelix simply rips out the mast, causing the ship to sink and dropping Binjwatchflix and Adrenalin into the water. As he tries to get into the boat the Gauls have come in, Binjwatchflix drops the torc, which sinks to the bottom of the sea. Determined not to be thwarted, Binjwatchflix jumps overboard to swim to shore, but is unknowingly followed by a shark, leaving his fate in doubt.

Once safely back in the village, Adrenalin openly defies Monolithix and Sidekix, wishing to be no part of their rebellion. However, the Averni soon find that one of their warriors is wearing Vercingetorix's ceremonial helmet and so make him the new figurehead of their resistance. After giving her blessing to Asterix's village as Vercingetorix's true successors, Adrenalin departs for Thule, but eventually ends up at another, multi-ethnically inhabited island. The Gauls and their Averni guests end the story with their traditional feast.

Notes

• Details of the book were announced at a press conference on 10 April 2019 at Parc Asterix. Writer Ferri described the titular character as a typically rebellious teenager but with the temperament of her famous father. A theme of the book is dealing with adolescence. "Adolescence is finding one's way, despite one's parents", said Ferri.
• This album is the second instance following Asterix and the Chieftain's Shield in which the Gauls demonstrate their shame over the defeat at Alesia, here symbolized by most of the story characters' refusal to speak aloud the name of Vercingetorix or even formulate it in the first place.
• After a 38-year absence, the Phoenician trader Ekonomikrisis makes a cameo appearance as a recent victim of the Pirates.
• The character Adrenalin is the first female lead character in the history of the Asterix series not to serve as a femme fatale character or Obelix's love interest.
• The sea captain Peacenix, on whose ship Monolithix and Sidekix are returning to Gaul, is quoting from the song Imagine by John Lennon.
• One of the Pirates is a caricature of Charles Aznavour, who had died one year before this story's publication.
• Near the end of the book, after learning of his troops' failure to capture and re-educate Adrenalin, Julius Caesar tells his adopted son Brutus, "Looks like you won't be getting a step-sister after all", to which Brutus replies "Well, you know, me and family ties..." This is another reference to Brutus' future murder of his own adopted father in the series.
• At the customary banquet at the end of the book, Cacofonix the bard is only playfully tied up by the village children, and left ungagged.