The Many Names Of The Phantom

The Phantom is known as “The Ghost Who Walks” and “Man Who Cannot Die” because of his secretive and amazing accomplishments and the fact that every time a Phantom dies, his son immediately takes over the role, thus to the natives and superstitious criminals, The Phantom seems supernatural and immortal. Only the Bandar Pygmies and a few friends and family (including Diana and her family, Dr. Axel, and President Luaga) know the true identity and secret of the Phantom line. Another title, “Guardian of the Eastern Dark,” has been used in recent years, referring to The Phantom’s role in crushing the evil rulers of that mysterious kingdom.

Lee Falk’s Inception Of The Name

The Phantom underwent some major changes during his first adventures.

“For the first few months, The Phantom was intended to be Jimmy Wells, a wealthy playboy who fought crime by night in a mask and costume. This was, of course, several years before Batman and Superman appeared on the comics scene. I never came out and actually revealed that the playboy was really The Phantom and in the midst of the first story I suddenly got the other idea. I moved The Phantom into the jungle and decided to keep him there. Gradually the whole concept of The Phantom developed; the generations behind him, the Skull Cave, his wolf Devil and horse Hero and the Bandar pygmies.” – Lee Falk

Lee Falk was a great fan of Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book, and paid it homage by calling the Phantom’s pygmy friends “the Bandar”, which comes from the monkey tribe who were friends with Mowgli.

It took some time before Lee Falk warmed up to the title he had selected for his new strip. “I tried to think up a more original title. There was already The Phantom of the Opera, the phantom of this and the phantom of that. For a while I considered calling him The Gray Ghost but I let it ride because I really couldn’t come up with a title I liked better than The Phantom.”

Translation

Language	Name
English	The Phantom
Afrikaans	Die Skim
Arabic	الشبح (Alshabah)
Bengali	অরন্যদেব (Aranyadev)
Czech	Fantom
Croatian	Fantom
Danish	Fantomet
Dutch	Het Spook
Dutch	Fantoom, De Fantoom, Het Fantoom
Estonian	Fantoom
Fijian	Bera-Na-Liva
Finnish	Fantom, Urja, Mustanaamio
French	Le Fantôme
German	Phantom
Greece	Φάντασμα (Fantasma), Φαντομ (Fantom), Φαντομασ (Fantomas)
Hebrew	דמיוני (Phantom), פנטומאס (Phantomas)
Hindi	वेताल (Vetaal)
Hungarian	Fantom
Icelandic	Dreki
Indonesian	Phantom
Italian	L’Uomo Mascherato
Kannada	ಬೆತಾಳ (Bethala), ಫ್ಯಾಂಟಮ್ (Phantom)
Malayalam	ദി ഫാന്റം
Norwegian	Fantomet
Polish	Fantom
Portuguese	O Fantasma, Fantasma
Russian	Фантом (Fantom)
Serbian	Фантом (Fantom), Fantom
Slovak	Fantóm
Spanish	Fantomas, La Sombra, El Fantasma
Spanish	El Fantasma
Spanish	Fantomas, El Fantasma, El Hombre Enmascarado
Swedish	Fantomen, Dragos
Tamil	தமிழ் (Mayavi)
Thai	แฟนธ่อม (Phantom)
Tok Pisin	Fantom
Turkish	Kızılmaske