Kerchak as he appears in the animated Disney Film.
Kerchak is the chief of the Mangani a tribe of anthropoid apes living in the jungles of Africa. After many of the apes in his tribe had been killed by the English noble John Clayton, who was shipwrecked in Africa, Kerchak killed Clayton when he was off guard. Clayton's infant son was raised by the she-ape Kala who named the boy Tarzan. Tarzan became a skilled hunter as he grew up and Kerchak was jealous of him, Tarzan and Kerchak became enemies.