Zorro (Spanish: [?soro] or [??oro], Spanish for "fox") is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley. He is portrayed as a dashing masked vigilante who defends the commoners and Indigenous peoples of California against corrupt, tyrannical officials and other villains. In most versions, Diego learned his swordsmanship while at university in Spain and created his masked alter ego after he was unexpectedly summoned home by his father because California had fallen into the hands of an oppressive dictator. The character also appears in over 40 films and in ten TV series.