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As Spain asserted control, the colonial authorities were incredibly harsh and oppressed the native peoples in particular. This is the setting for the adventures of Zorro. Although some later versions of the story set his story in Mexican California (1812-1850). He is typically portrayed as an extraordinary masked swordsman, who also used a whip. Zorro is the champion of the poor and the exploited and a friend to the native tribes. He is shown fighting for their rights against the Spanish officials and army.<ref> Alexander, p 89</ref>
The character is shown as wearing a black cape and a sombrero. He often publicly humiliated officials and soldiers as punishment for their treatment of Californians. Zorro marked the oppressors of the people with a Z, his personal mark. Because of his struggles with the colonial government , he is outlawed and has a bounty placed on his head but is loved by the common people, who help him.
However, Zorro was, in reality, the alter-ego of a young Californian aristocrat Don Diego de la Vega. He is the only son of the richest man in all California, whose mother died many years ago. Diego went to university in Spain where he studied swordsmanship.<ref>McCulley, Johnston. The mark of Zorro (London, Penguin, 2005), p 19</ref> He returned home after he hears of the oppression of the Spanish in California.