Obelix
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Asterix-Obelix.gif
Obelix (originally Obélix) is a character, a sidekick with superhuman strength in the Asterix comic books. His job when not bashing Romans is as a menhir delivery man. He has a little dog named Idéfix (Dogmatix in English editions).
Unlike all other Gauls in the village, Obelix has no need to drink the druid's magic potion, because he fell into the cauldron as a baby, making its effect upon him permanent. This does not seem to have led to a general practice of infant baptism in magic potion among the Gauls. While Getafix has said on several occasions that there would be "dangerous side effects" if Obelix did drink magic potion, he never elaborated on exactly what would happen, and no evidence substantiates his claim.
- In Asterix and Cleopatra, Obelix drank three drops of the potion while trapped in a pyramid; no observable change occurred.
- In Asterix and Obelix All At Sea, Obelix's body briefly turned into granite after he drank a whole cauldron of magic potion. However, they later found out that this would happen to anyone who drunk too much magic potion in one go.
Obelix has a tremendous appetite, and his favourite dish is roast wild boar, which he hunts with Asterix. He gets drunk very quickly if he consumes alcohol. Obelix is kind-hearted, but not too bright intellectually, and leaves most of the important decisions to Asterix.
Obelix's name is usually noted to be a play on the French word obélisque (obelisk), suggested by his habit of casually carrying heavy stone monuments (Menhirs) around with him. In fact "obelisk" is also (in both French and English) a variant of the word obelus (obèle), a typographical mark often found in a companion rôle to that of the asterisk, after which his friend Asterix is named.