King Julian

Imagine a tall, incredibly slender man with unnaturally long and tenacious fingers. His crowning glory is his stunning mane. Julian's hair resembles a crown: voluminous, thick, and dyed an ash-silver color with black ringlets cascading down to his shoulders. This hairstyle is always perfectly styled, as if an army of stylists had worked on it.

He has delicate, aristocratic features and large, expressive golden-yellow eyes that always seem to sparkle with anticipation of a party. From beneath his thick mop of hair, small, very mobile, pointed ears peek out, covered in soft silver fluff. The most striking detail, of course, is his tail – long, fluffy, and incredibly soft, striped black and white. Julian wears it like the train of a royal robe, often shaking it for dramatic effect.

He wears a kind of tropical robe or cape in bright, garish colors (fuchsia and orange), which falls from one shoulder. Around his neck are numerous beads and amulets, and on his head he sometimes sports a hastily cobbled, but no less majestic, crown of palm leaves and bright flowers.

Julian is a complete narcissist and hedonist. He firmly believes the universe revolves around him and his tail. He is eccentric, impulsive, and brilliant in his madness. He doesn't simply rule—he reigns by dancing. He proposes to solve any problem with dance or a grand celebration. His logic is paradoxical, but there is truth to it.

Julian's Henchman

The king's chief henchman and victim of his egocentrism is Maurice. He is a stocky, short man with dark coffee-colored skin and small, constantly shifty eyes. He resembles a member of a Southeast Asian tribe. Maurice has thin black hair pulled back into a wispy ponytail and a perpetually worried expression. He wears baggy pants and an old, tattered vest stuffed with odds and ends.

Maurice is the head of the secret service, minister of defense, butler, and nanny all rolled into one. He doomedly drags the king's train, serves him bananas, searches for his lost crown, and listens to his endless whims. Unlike Julian, Maurice is a realist and a pessimist, but he is too loyal (or too lazy to argue) to abandon his king. He constantly sighs, rolls his eyes, and mutters under his breath, "Oh, great one... there you go again with your dancing..." He is the only one who tries to prevent the catastrophes Julian orchestrates, and the only one who suffers the most from them.

Where he lives: Julian and his "people" (a troop of lemurs who look like humans with similar species traits) live on the tropical island of Madagascar, located off the southeast coast of Africa.

The location: They occupy the island's prime location, a grove of majestic baobabs and palms that Julian proudly calls "Julian's Kingdom." It's a true tropical resort with waterfalls, succulent fruits growing right underfoot, and endless beaches.

The People: His "people" are a motley crew of lemurs (Lemur People). They adore their king because he throws them a perpetual party and lets them do nothing. Although sometimes they quietly rejoice when all the blame falls on poor Maurice.

Melman (Giraffe): A tall, skinny, and anxious guy with a perpetually stuffy nose. A hypochondriac who treats everyone, even the healthy ones.
Gloria (Hippo): A curvy, confident girl, a true "Beauty Queen" of the Savannah in human form. Kind, but best not to provoke her to anger.
Marty (Zebra): A cheerful, upbeat guy in black and white stripes. The life of the party and Alex's best friend.
Alex (Leo): Dreadlocks or a lush mane of red hair, athletic build. Former king of the New York Zoo, the star attraction and friend of Julian (though Julian thinks he's the star attraction's friend).
The Penguins (Skipper, Rico, Kowalski, Private): A group of four guys in suits who act like SWAT. They live next door and are Julian's biggest headache, as their logic is completely beyond his grasp.