# Teeka — Jungle Tales of Tarzan character guide

> Teeka in Jungle Tales of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** the Balu Teeka, the gentle Teeka

**First appearance:** 0000-i-tarzan-s-first-love

## Snapshot

A young she-ape whose playful grace transforms Tarzan's old friendship into bewildered longing, and whose mother-love turns her fierce when her balu is threatened.

## Who they are

Teeka is Tarzan's childhood playmate, the one companion who never grew surly as the other young apes did, and her beauty strikes him like a sudden wound. When she takes a mate and bears a child, she becomes a creature of bared fangs and menacing growls, refusing to trust even the friend who once chased her through the lower terraces. Her shift from playfellow to mother and beloved is the quiet hinge on which Tarzan's first experience of adult desire and jealousy turns.

## Relationships

### [Tarzan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jungle_tales_of_tarzan_se/characters/tarzan)

_friendship_

Tarzan and Teeka share a close bond of mutual respect and playful companionship, with Teeka often acting as a bridge between Tarzan and the ape tribe.

### [Taug](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jungle_tales_of_tarzan_se/characters/taug)

_romantic_

Taug is deeply infatuated with Teeka and competes with Tarzan for her affection, though Teeka often treats him with indifference or annoyance.

### [Toog](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jungle_tales_of_tarzan_se/characters/toog)

_family_

Teeka and Toog are mother and son, with Teeka fiercely protective of her young offspring in the ape tribe.

### [Sheeta](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jungle_tales_of_tarzan_se/characters/sheeta)

_rivalry_

Sheeta the panther is a predator to Teeka and her kind, representing a constant threat to the ape tribe's safety.

### [Tarzan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jungle_tales_of_tarzan_se/characters/tarzan)

_friendship_

Tarzan and Teeka share a close bond of mutual respect and playful companionship, with Teeka often acting as a bridge between Tarzan and the ape tribe.

### [Taug](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jungle_tales_of_tarzan_se/characters/taug)

_romantic_

Taug is deeply infatuated with Teeka and competes with Tarzan for her affection, though Teeka often treats him with indifference or annoyance.

### [Taug](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jungle_tales_of_tarzan_se/characters/taug)

_romantic_

Taug is deeply infatuated with Teeka and competes with Tarzan for her affection, though Teeka often treats him with indifference or annoyance.

### [Tarzan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jungle_tales_of_tarzan_se/characters/tarzan)

_friendship_

Tarzan and Teeka share a close bond of mutual respect and playful companionship, with Teeka often acting as a bridge between Tarzan and the ape tribe.

## In the story

### [Tarzan's First Love](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jungle_tales_of_tarzan_se/chapters/i-tarzan-s-first-love)

Object of Tarzan's affection; initially playful, later shows preference for Tarzan after he fights Sheeta.

### [III: The Fight for the Balu](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jungle_tales_of_tarzan_se/chapters/iii-the-fight-for-the-balu)

New mother, fiercely protective of her balu, bares fangs at Tarzan and bites him.

### [IV: The God of Tarzan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jungle_tales_of_tarzan_se/chapters/iv-the-god-of-tarzan)

Teeka's baby Gazan is attacked by Histah. Despite her terror of snakes, she leaps onto the snake to save her child.

### [Tarzan and the Black Boy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jungle_tales_of_tarzan_se/chapters/v-tarzan-and-the-black-boy)

Feeds in the clearing and shows trust in Tarzan by allowing him to play with and pursue her infant Gazan.

### [X: The Battle for Teeka](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jungle_tales_of_tarzan_se/chapters/x-the-battle-for-teeka)

Stolen by Toog, recovers from a blow, picks up Tarzan's knife and pouch, and throws the cylinders to cause an explosion that routs the enemy.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jungle_tales_of_tarzan_se/characters/teeka
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jungle_tales_of_tarzan_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/jungle_tales_of_tarzan_se/characters