Talk:Zaphod Beeblebrox/Archive 1

2heads
In the book and radio scripts, Zaphod Beeblebrox originally had two heads. In the April 2005 movie, his second head was added.

I agree. Also "He is the only man to have survived the Total Perspective Vortex, although it may only have been a replica of the real Vortex" is incorrect, as it was established he survived only because the vortex he survived existed in an Electronically Synthetised Universe which was created specially for him so he was the most important being in it.
 * Sotek 13:35, 1 Jun 2005 (UTC)


 * If anyone wants to revise the article to indicate something along the lines of "All versions/adaptations of Hitchhiker's until the movie indicated that he'd always had two heads, but kept one camouflaged at times. In the movie, it's hinted that he had to "create" the second head, hidden under the first, to help protect the real reasons he became President of the Galaxy." I think this would work. I'd hold off on revisions to the "Total Perspective Vortex" until after series five is completely transmitted - the Vogons hinted in series four that THEY were the ones who had Zaphod "shoved into the vortex." --JohnDBuell 14:06, 1 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Okay Zaphod mentions that the the Vogons shrank the Vortex into a portable unit. Though this is similiar to the unit of the artificial universe, it is probably related. Sotek 19:42, 7 Jun 2005 (UTC)


 * There's still two more weeks of episodes to go. Yes we can change the article and change it again, but I'd rather wait until the 5th series is complete. --JohnDBuell | Talk 21:35, 7 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Image
We could use an image of Zaphod on the article.


 * Done. Share and Enjoy. --JohnDBuell 20:32, 15 May 2005 (UTC)


 * Can we use the image of Zaphod from the movie from the website that's been cited? Or is this copyvio? --JohnDBuell | Talk 01:01, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)


 * Wouldn't any images be copyvio? Besides this article could really use an image that doesn't look like some idiot has a crappy Papier-mâché head on his shoulder.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.185.6.18 (talk) 19:06, 16 November 2008 (UTC)
 * The image could be used under WP:NOTFREE and I totally agree use an image from the most recent movie so it doesn't look like "some idiot has a crappy Papier-mâché head on his shoulder." Raeky (talk) 22:34, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

Peril Sensitive Sunglasses
I had heard something about Zaphod having peril sensitive sunglasses. Oddly enough, searching Wikipedia doesn't turn up anything. Can someone who remembers the story rectify this? --Astronouth7303 01:35, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC)


 * The sunglasses appear in the TV adaptation, when everyone is on Magrathea (it's unclear if that's what Zaphod wears in the movie, until and unless the screenplay is published). A 'pair' (a solid black cardboard cutout, glasses shaped) was included with the Infocom computer game. Can't find the reference in the first book at the moment.... --JohnDBuell | Talk 02:00, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC)


 * They are first mentioned in the second book when Zaphod arrives at Ursa Minor Beta. "They were a double pair of Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Sunglasses, which had been specially designed to help people develop a relaxed attitude to danger. At the first hint of trouble they turn totally black amd thus prevent you from seeing anything that might alarm you." Sotek 18:51, 22 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Peril Sensitive Sunglasses : Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Sunglasses have been specially designed to help people develop a relaxed attitude to danger. At the first hint of trouble, they turn totally black and thus prevent you from seeing anything that might alarm you. A double-pair is frequently worn by Zaphod Beeblebrox.


 * That MIGHT be what Sam Rockwell was wearing in the movie, but it was never stated explicitly. There IS a line about those sunglasses in the TV series, when Zaphod, Ford and Trillian are in the tunnel under the surface of Magrathea. --JohnDBuell | Talk 18:43, 29 August 2005 (UTC) (darn idle time-outs)

"As a character, Zaphod is hedonistic and irresponsible, self-centered almost to the point of solipsism" I just wanted to point out that i think the wording used in this sentence is stupid. It makes perfect sense, but have you followed the link to 'solipsism'? It doesnt even have a definite meaning. What im trying to get at here is we dont want to go on a wild goose chase running after word after word in wiktionary141.168.46.13 06:57, 29 September 2006 (UTC)sammy


 * What would you suggest as an alternative then? Perhaps megalomania would fit, but it seems to lack the emphasis on self-centeredness that solipsism conveys. I think it is an apt description of his character as it stands.Nazlfrag 07:36, 3 July 2007 (UTC)

=Appearance= "As such, the movie is also the only version that explains the second head. (However, in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy novel, the ghost of Zaphod's great-grandfather also has two heads. This and other information presented in the narrative prose seem to indicate that having two heads is a common -- possibly even universal -- trait of Zaphod's species.)

It's actually in the second book "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe" that the ghost of his great-grandfather appears.


 * Indeed it is: chapter 3 of The Restaurant at the End of the Universe describes the "two small wipsy-haired heads" of the great-grandfather. It even says that Zaphod "gave the intricate little double nod which is the traditional Betelgusian gesture of familian respect" to his great-grandfather.   I assume "double" refers to the two heads, though it might not be so.  &#x2013; b_jonas 21:20, 26 November 2007 (UTC)

Master plan
Zaphod's master plan was to find the man who ruled the universe - that's why he stole the Heart of Gold, because the Man in the Shack's house was protected by an improbability field. His ordering of the destruction of Earth in the radio series and film was not part of the master plan. There are two conspiracies happening in the first two books & radio series: one is the psychiatrists' conspiracy (which includes Gag Halfrunt and the Vogons) to destroy Earth & all Earth life so that the Ultimate Question is never discovered, and the other is Zaphod's conspiracy (which also includes Zarniwoop, Zaphod Beeblebrox IV and Yooden Vranx) to find the ruler of the Universe. The two aren't related to each other. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 211.28.135.221 (talk) 13:29, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Ruler of the Universe
"In the second radio series and the book version of The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, we learn (and so does Zaphod) that the object of his plan was to find the man who actually ruled the universe - who turns out to be a man living in a shack with his cat who doesn't believe anything is real or certain except that which is seen or heard by him at any present moment in time."

This isn't true. The ruler of the universe isn't even sure if what he sees or hears is real, he's unsure of whether it really is real or if he's just imagining it (because according to him you can't prove what is or what is not real). Suggestions on changing this bit? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.55.72.210 (talk) 06:11, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Would you like to sing some songs to my cat? Beeblbrox (talk) 17:46, 23 August 2008 (UTC)

Beeblebrox's Gambit
I added this stuff to the Cultural References section:


 * The logic behind one of Zaphod Beeblebrox's drinking accomplishments, in which he "sent in" multiple drinks to check on, give support to, or report back on previous drinks he had just drunk, has become memorialized as Beeblebrox's Gambit, as demonstrated in this episode of the webcomic Questionable Content, for example.

Does anyone know where the passage from which Beeblebrox's Gambit came from occurs (approximately which part of which book) so that we can cite a page number here? Politizer (talk) 05:54, 23 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Life, the Universe and Everything, Chapter 11. In my copy (paperback, published by Macmillan) it's page 55. --Tango (talk) 21:09, 23 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Thanks! I'll add it to the article. --Politizer (talk) 19:12, 24 August 2008 (UTC)