Caliban - Other Works

Other Works

Caliban is the protagonist of Aimé Césaire's 1969 play A Tempest, in which he is a black slave in rebellion against his white master Prospero.

In the Swedish 1989 film The Journey to Melonia, an animated film loosely inspired by The Tempest, there is a character named Caliban, a creature whose face consists of mainly vegetables. Unlike Caliban in The Tempest, this Caliban is kind at heart, and even becomes a hero later in the film.

In The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Caliban appears as part of Prospero's Men, the first incarnation of the League, alongside his master, and Ariel.

A character called Caliban appears in various stories in Marvel Comics X-Men franchise. This version is a sewer-dwelling, simple-minded mutant who first appears along other abnormal-looking mutants called Morlocks. Caliban straddles the line between good and evil until he heroically sacrifices himself during the "X-Men: Messiah Complex" storyline.

Tad Williams' 1997 novel Caliban's Hour (US: HarperCollins, ISBN 978-0-06-105413-6 and UK: Legend Books, ISBN 0-09-926361-0) takes place 20 years after the events of The Tempest. Abandoned on the island by Prospero and Miranda, Caliban manages to escape and make his way to Milan with the intention of avenging himself on Prospero, only to learn that Prospero has died. He then travels to Naples and one night gains entry to Miranda's chamber, where he forces her to listen to his story and make her understand what she and her father have done to him.

Adrian Herrero danced Caliban in the choreographic adaptation of The Tempest (La Tempestad) by the Ballet Contemporáneo of the Teatro General San Martín in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2008.

In the 2010 film adaptation, Caliban is portrayed by Djimon Hounsou.

In the 2010 film The King's Speech, Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) recites Caliban's famous speech from Act 3, Scene 2, to amuse and educate his children.

Oscar Wilde refers to Caliban in the preface of his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Caliban appears as the wild and lustful Greek Kalibanos (played by Raúl Juliá) in Paul Mazursky's film adaptation Tempest (1982).

A monster from the 2007 video game Silent Hill: Origins is named after and inspired by Caliban. Also, at a certain point of the game, protagonist Travis Grady can hear Caliban's famous monologue after obtaining a certain key while exploring the theater level.

In the 1844 preface to his main work, World as Will and Representation, the philosopher Schopenhauer refers to Hegel as a "spiritual Caliban".

In the 1965 movie Doctor Zhivago, during the scene where Victor Komarovsky convinces Zhivago to allow him to rescue Lara by taking her to Vladivostok, Komarovsky refers to himself as a Caliban: "Do you accept the protection of this ignoble Caliban on any terms that Caliban cares to make?"

Caliban is featured as an antagonist in Dan Simmons' Ilium/Olympos duology.

The 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony (directed by Danny Boyle) titled Isles of Wonder (a name inspired by The Tempest) was heavily influenced by The Tempest. The musical piece played during the torch lighting ceremony was entitled "Caliban's Dream", and Caliban's monologue from Act 3, Scene ii was quoted by Kenneth Branagh in character as Isambard Kingdom Brunel at the start of the Industrial Revolution set piece. "And I Will Kiss", the title of another specially commissioned track from the ceremony, is also a quote from The Tempest (2:2:148-149). These two songs also appeared on the ceremony's official soundtrack.