Zorro (Spanish: [?soro] or [??oro], Spanish for "fox") is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp writer Johnston McCulley. He is typically 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.