Zoot

Zoot
Personal details
Status	Deceased
Died	Fell over the mall balcony
Residence	Rail yards
Also known as	Martin (Real name)
Physical description
Sex	Male
Skin color	White
Hair	Blonde dreads
Eye color	Light icy blue (as Zoot) Blue (as Martin)
Affiliation
Tribe	Locos
Position	Leader of Locos
Relations
Partners	Ebony (Girlfriend) Trudy (One Night Stand)
Parents	Unnamed Parents †
Children	Brady (daughter; with Trudy)
Siblings	Bray (Older Brother)
Appearances
Episode count	8
Introduced	Series 1 Episode 1
Last appeared	Series 1 Episode 8
Portrayed by	Daniel James
S1

"Power and chaos — it's the only way!"

―Zoot

Zoot, named Martin before the virus, was the infamous founder and leader of the Locos, a dangerous tribe of warriors who ruled the city following his slogan "power and chaos." A powerful presence in the post-virus world, Zoot left a legacy that would remain long after his death, with religious cults formed in his name and his image used to spread terror in the city.

Before the virus he was Martin, a shy and sensitive boy. He hated Bray, his brother, and he was jealous of him. When their father died of the virus, in class he declared his ideals of power and chaos and began the Locos. Seen in a flashback, The Guardian (known as Jaffa then) joined him along with Ebony and others. The name "locos" is also seen in a flashback, from class when their teacher lectured them on viruses, and locusts.

Personality

Ebony said "Zoot was a visionary. He was a natural leader. He was the first to realize the virus had changed everything forever," but Trudy reckoned that he was just scared and running from himself.

Style

Zoot was tall and skinny, with defined facial features. Though his eyes were naturally blue, he wore light blue contacts, giving his eyes a menacing and cold look. His face paint was intense, with lots of black and red.

His eyes were pronounced by thick, black circles painted around them. On his right cheek, in red, was a pattern of stripes, a few of which extended across his nose and chin, bordered by a long black line stretching from his eye to the bottom of his jaw. Across his forehead he had a red and yellow horizontal zig zag pattern.

He kept his blonde hair in dreadlocks, a little shorter than shoulder length with colored beads attached at the ends, usually slicked back behind his ears. It was usually kept underneath a navy band-player's hat with a gold brim and red band, with silver goggles attached to the front.

A very iconic part of Zoot's outfit was his jacket; an old navy blue suit jacket with several safety pins and chains attached, lines of white chalk on the shoulders, and three metal commander's stripes at the top of each sleeve. His left breast pocket had a patch with the words "Cress Earth" and a turtle painted onto it, in white. A white patch on the back of his jacket pictured a molotov cocktail sorrounded by the anarchist slogan "Keep Warm. Burn Out The Rich."

Beneath the jacket, he wore a basketball jersey in red, white and blue with the number 14, below a torn up white shirt, only held together at the neck by a rugged navy tie and the talisman he always wore.

His pants were tapered leather biker pants, blue behind and red in the front, with an oblong panel of white leather stretching down to the mid-thigh on either side, accompanied by large, black knee-guards. His shoes were a pair of worn out black army leather boots that rose just above the ankles.

History

Pre-Tribe

Martin and Trudy at the school dance

Martin was the younger brother of Bray. He was the baby of the family, a very gentle boy, and his parents would take him everywhere. When he first started school, he was bullied by some kids and Bray had to protect him.

In their teenage years, Martin was shy and innocent and found it hard to find a girlfriend, while Bray was confident and one of the most popular boys in school. Martin was jealous of Bray and felt that his behaviour was patronizing, so he grew hostile towards his brother. Martin once stated that "everything I try to do he's always there first, and he does it better."

Martin went to Lincoln High School, the same as his brother Bray, who was captain of the basketball team. He was in the same class as Trudy, and everyone knew he was smitten with her.

As the virus started spreading, Martin's parents fell ill, though nobody knew exactly how dangerous it was. Martin asked Trudy to the school dance, but she rejected him on the grounds that she didn't feel like dancing with the virus going around, though Martin realized that she was waiting to be invited by Bray. However, Bray rejected Trudy out of concern for his brother.

Martin's parents were getting worse, but he still went to the school dance. Trudy agreed to dance with him and they both had a good time, until Trudy ran off upon seeing Bray making out with Ebony. She slept over at Martin's and they had a one night stand.

Martin becomes Zoot

Some time later, Martin's father succumbed to the virus in the hospital, leaving Martin devastated, angry and full of hatred towards the world. He realized that the adults would all perish and leave them in a new and different world, which gave him an entirely different outlook on life. In school, professor Dunbar informed them about the evacuation of kids to the countryside. He assured them that everything would return to normal and they would have classes as usual. Martin, now wearing white contact lenses, asked "What's the point of lessons unless you're gonna teach us survival?" and told his teacher "You're next, Dunbar." He declared that his name was Zoot, his eyes had changed because he'd seen the light, and he had a message for all of them. "There's gonna be a new order, and you have two choices: You can join me, or you can die." He stood up on his desk repeatedly chanting "Power and chaos!" Jaffa was inspired and joined him, while other students were frightened.

With charisma and leadership skills, Zoot recruited a band of like-minded teens who followed his vision of "power and chaos" and sought to rule the new world without adults. They were one of the very first tribes to form, and he called them "The Locos." Ebony, seeking to stay close to power, stopped seeing Bray and became Zoot's woman.

Unbeknownst to Zoot, Trudy had become pregnant with his child during their one night stand. Bray and Trudy tried to contact him before the baby was born, but people like Ebony always got in the way.

Series 1

Zoot's body

He is seen in episode one terrorizing the city with the Locos. He, Lex, Ryan, Glen and Zandra, who wanted to join the Locos. Lex angers them by shoving Zoot, and the 3 of them escapes from the Locos leaving Glen behind. He is last seen on the night he came to see Trudy and their baby, Brady. In defense of Bray when Lex attacks him, Zoot charges at Lex, but accidental is pushed off of the balcony of the staircase.

After he dies, the Mall Rats send his body down a boat to burn in a warrior's funeral. They had originally planned to bury him in the local graveyard, however, some Demon Dogs were camping there at the time. When Zoot is sent off to sea, it is at this point when it's revealed that he is Bray's younger brother.

Series 2

After the Locos disbanded, The Guardian and other Locos join him. Their tribe, The Chosen believed Zoot to be a god, and Trudy and their child part of a Holy Triangle, the sacred family. They kidnap Trudy and Brady and brainwash the former, believing this to be Zoot's will.

Series 3

Zoot appears in The Guardian's hallucinations just before The Chosen's defeat. The Chosen are eventually overthrown by the Mall Rats and Gaians, but The Guardian escapes who continues to spread about Zoot.

Series 4

After Ram and the Technos were defeated, a seemingly undead Zoot appears to Ebony, saying the Technos were all part of his plan to sing power and chaos to the city.

Series 5

Zootists Flag

The Technos use their technology to create images of Zoot around the city and to persuade Ebony he has been resurrected, along with Darryl to impersonate him. The basis of which forms the newly made Zootists tribe lead by Ebony, Java and Siva.

However all of this was nothing but a ploy by Mega and Java, whose plan was to scare the city using the Zootists and create barriers to protect the people. Slowly over time, Mega had planned to enlarge the barriers until the whole city comes under his control. But Mega was eventually defeated and the Zootists were disbanded.

Zoot is also seen as the face of Ram's Artificial Intelligence program. It is this AI which becomes unstoppable, releasing a virus that Mega had been creating into the atmosphere and forces a mass-evacuation of the entire City.

The Tribe: A New World

In a shocking turn of events, it is revealed that Zoot’s legacy has reached far beyond the confines of the City. As we are introduced to the mysterious Collective tribe, we learn that a new breed of Zootists has emerged, led by the beautifully seductive Eloise, who want to continue Zoot’s vision of ‘power and chaos’. Their agenda is three fold – to use Bray in ensuring the bloodline of Zoot, to get their hands on the Divine Child – Brady, and to also indoctrinate individuals into their cult and power base. Bray had always been disgusted by the Chosen for their manipulation of his brother, and he detests Eloise just as much for what she has twisted his brother into.

The Tribe: A New Dawn

As events continue with the Mall Rats gaining more knowledge and encounters with the Collective, we see more of the extent of the Zootists and their operation – including massive indoctrination programs, birthing programs and slavery. But with the defeat of Eloise, the Mall Rats attempt to put Zoot’s legacy to rest.

Quotes

"No more schools, no more teachers, no more books! Power and chaos!"

―Zoot

"I'm gonna be the strongest. Me and my warriors, we're gonna take over the world. This city is just the start."

―Zoot

Gallery

Pre-Tribe

Series 1

Series 2

Series 4

Series 5

Trivia

• Zoot's name originated from Raymond Thompson reading about musician Zoot Money in a music newspaper called Melody Maker and being very fascinated with the name, thinking it sounded amazing. Thompson even used the name Zoot for a job application.
• During pre-production, Zoot was originally going to ride a Tank instead of a Police Car. But this was scrapped because it would be difficult in terms of logistics and costs. The idea however, ended up being used in The Tribe: Birth of the Mall Rats (2012).
• Creator Raymond Thompson made the decision to kill Zoot very early in the show as he felt it would become repetitive if Zoot had lived and kept riding in his Police Car, even possibly becoming good down the line which was a mantle the Mall Rats already carried. He believed the storylines would be more rich to explore if Zoot died, such as the Mall Rats becoming the target of Zoot's followers, Bray dealing with his brother's loss, Trudy living with the fact that the infamous Zoot is the father of her child, Ebony's character evolving and the rise of The Guardian.
• Even though he died in the 8th episode of the show, Zoot has appeared in every season of The Tribe in one form or another.
• Zoot, along with Ned and Mega, are the only characters on the show whose death was planned and not affected by their actor's sudden unavailability. Unlike most of the characters who were written out due to their actors quitting.
• One could argue that due to Zoot being the basis for The Chosen and his image used by Mega to control the city, Zoot is the ultimate antagonist of the show.
• Zoot is one of seven characters to appear in all five seasons of the show. The others being Lex, Ebony, Salene, Jack, Trudy and Brady.
• Zoot is seen wearing a white-themed outfit in the Abe Messiah music video which is never seen in the show. Fans have theorised that this is the outfit he would have worn if he had lived and joined the Mall Rats.
• An unused storyline considered by Raymond Thompson was that Bray and Zoot shared the same mother but had a different father, which would explain why both brothers took completely different paths. However, he did not explore this in the show as there wasn't time and felt it would be better explored in a future novel, if the idea becomes used at all.
• In The New Tomorrow, Zoot is viewed as a Satan-like entity while Bray is viewed as God-like one.
• Zoot's 'Cress Earth' patch of his jacket is a possible reference to the anarcho-punk band Cress and their song Earth, the lyrics of which would fit well with Zoot's anarchic, nihilistic outlook of Power and Chaos. The style of the patch is also very similar to their band logo. The lyrics are as follows:
  • "Do you think we'll see two thousand, do you think we'll live that long, it wasn't till mankind was born, things started to go wrong, we copulate to populate and the generations flow, the earth is getting weaker, and her heart is beating slow, i feel the earth beneath my feet, but to you it feels like dirt, we poison, we rape it, it took two thousand years of hurt, we fake it, forsake it, progress is always on the take, destroy it or enjoy it, the choice is there for you to make, no solution to evolution, we're genocidal or suicidal, incineration, extermination, exploitation, that's mans creation "
• Zoot was voted by fans as 3rd Greatest Villain and 7th Best Hero in 2015 polls.
• Zoot shares similarites with a character called Becca Franko from The 100 TV series (2014-2020). Their actions continue to affect the characters even though they both died very early, having a god-like persona throughout their shows. Zoot was the first to welcome the new world after the adults died and formed the notorious Locos that spread fear in the city. After his death, The Chosen and the Zootists worship Zoot and terrorize others believing it was what he wanted. Similarly, the Grounders worship Becca as their first commander who died a martyr. The technology left behind by Becca made her the center of the storylines until the end of the show.