# Old Tasio — Noli Me Tangere character guide > Old Tasio in Noli Me Tangere by José Rizal. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** Tasio, Tasio the Sage, the Sage **First appearance:** 0021-xiv-tasio-lunatic-or-sage ## Snapshot The town's mad sage, who reads books, buys lightning-rods nobody wants, and hopes for thunderbolts to wake a people asleep in superstition. ## Who they are Old Tasio spent his fortune on books and now spends his days being called a lunatic by neighbors who once called him Don Anastasio. He argues with the gobernadorcillo about bells and lightning, warns sacristans' children away from belfries in storms, and tells the story of purgatory as a history of human invention. He matters because he is the novel's clearest voice of reason in a town that punishes reason — a man whose eccentricity is the price of seeing clearly. ## Relationships ### [Crisóstomo Ibarra](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/noli_me_tangere_se/characters/crisostomo_ibarra) _friendship_ Ibarra respects Old Tasio as a wise mentor and philosopher, seeking his counsel on reform and education. ### [Crisóstomo Ibarra](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/noli_me_tangere_se/characters/crisostomo_ibarra) _friendship_ Ibarra respects Old Tasio as a wise mentor and philosopher, seeking his counsel on reform and education. ### [Crisóstomo Ibarra](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/noli_me_tangere_se/characters/crisostomo_ibarra) _friendship_ Ibarra respects Old Tasio as a wise mentor and philosopher, seeking his counsel on reform and education. ## In the story ### [All Saints](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/noli_me_tangere_se/chapters/xii-all-saints) Enters the cemetery bareheaded, searches for his wife's skull among the bones, and offers a silver coin to the gravedigger. ### [XIV: Tasio: Lunatic or Sage](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/noli_me_tangere_se/chapters/xiv-tasio-lunatic-or-sage) The eccentric sage, known as both 'Tasio the Sage' and 'Tasio the Lunatic,' who criticizes superstition and discusses the history of purgatory. ### [XV: The Sacristans](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/noli_me_tangere_se/chapters/xv-the-sacristans) Referenced as the Sage who spoke to the boys earlier and promised a fine supper. ### [Sisa](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/noli_me_tangere_se/chapters/xvi-sisa) A neighbor who gives Sisa some dried wild boar's meat and a leg of wild duck for her sons, and informs her that the boys will be late. ### [Basilio](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/noli_me_tangere_se/chapters/xvii-basilio) Mentioned as a good man who does not whip and who believes Crispín has a good head; Basilio wants Crispín to study with him. ### [The Meeting in the Town Hall](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/noli_me_tangere_se/chapters/xx-the-meeting-in-the-town-hall) The sage who advises Don Filipo to propose the rivals' plan so that it will be rejected, but later admits his own foolishness for forgetting the gobernadorcillo's subservience. ### [The Story of a Mother](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/noli_me_tangere_se/chapters/xxi-the-story-of-a-mother) Sisa goes to his house looking for him but he is not home. ### [In the House of the Sage](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/noli_me_tangere_se/chapters/xxv-in-the-house-of-the-sage) The sage writes in hieroglyphics to protect his work from the current generation; warns Ibarra about the power of the friars and the inevitability of a violent uprising. ### [The Eve of the Fiesta](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/noli_me_tangere_se/chapters/xxvi-the-eve-of-the-fiesta) Old Tasio offers a pessimistic quote from Baltazar to Ibarra, warning of hidden dangers despite the festive mood. ### [The Morning](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/noli_me_tangere_se/chapters/xxix-the-morning) Criticizes the fiesta as a senseless orgy and advises Don Filipo to resign. ### [In the Church](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/noli_me_tangere_se/chapters/xxx-in-the-church) Engages in a heated exchange with a leader of the Tertiary Brethren about the cost of the sermon. ### [The Derrick](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/noli_me_tangere_se/chapters/xxxii-the-derrick) Observes the event from a distance and comments 'A bad beginning, huh!' as he moves away. ### [The Procession](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/noli_me_tangere_se/chapters/xxxviii-the-procession) Old Tasio observes the procession from the street and mutters sarcastic comments about the saints and the church's hypocrisy. ### [Right and Might](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/noli_me_tangere_se/chapters/xl-right-and-might) Muttered a sarcastic blessing as the priests left the performance. ### [Il Buon Dí Si Conosce Da Mattina](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/noli_me_tangere_se/chapters/liii-il-buon-d-si-conosce-da-mattina) The Sage, sick and bedridden, delivers a passionate discourse on progress and the changing times in the Philippines. ### [The Accursed](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/noli_me_tangere_se/chapters/lviii-the-accursed) Watches the procession from a hill, then returns home and is found dead the next day. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/noli_me_tangere_se/characters/old_tasio - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/noli_me_tangere_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/noli_me_tangere_se/characters