Editing Zorro (section)

==Characteristics==
[[File:Zorro gip.jpg|thumb|Zorro ([[Reed Hadley]]) in the serial ''[[Zorro's Fighting Legion]]'' (1939)]]
In ''The Curse of Capistrano'', Diego is described as "a fair youth of excellent blood and twenty-four years, noted the length of [[El Camino Real (California)|El Camino Real]] for his small interest in the really important things of life." It is also said that "Don Diego was unlike the other full-blooded youths of the times. It appeared that he disliked action. He seldom wore his blade, except as a matter of style and apparel. He was damnably polite to all women and paid court to none.&nbsp;... Those who knew Don Diego best declared he yawned ten score times a day." Though proud as befitting his class (and seemingly uncaring about the lower classes), he shuns action, rarely wearing his sword except for fashion, and is indifferent to romance with women. This is, of course, a sham. At the end of the novel, Diego explains that he has planned his double identity since he was fifteen:

<blockquote>"It began ten years ago, when I was but a lad of fifteen", he said. "I heard tales of persecution. I saw my friends, the {{lang|es|frailes}}, annoyed and robbed. I saw soldiers beat an old native who was my friend. And then I determined to play this game."

"It would be a difficult game to play, I knew. So I pretended to have small interest in life, so that men never would connect my name with that of the highwayman I expected to become. In secret, I practiced horsemanship and learned how to handle a blade—"

"By the saints, he did", Sergeant Gonzales growled.

"One half of me was the languid Don Diego you all knew, and the other half was the Curse of Capistrano I hoped one day to be. And then the time came, and my work began."

"It is a peculiar thing to explain, {{lang|es|señores}}. The moment I donned cloak and mask, the Don Diego part of me fell away. My body straightened, new blood seemed to course through my veins, my voice grew strong and firm, fire came to me! And the moment I removed cloak and mask I was the languid Don Diego again. Is it not a peculiar thing?"</blockquote>

This part of the backstory was changed in the 1920 film ''[[The Mark of Zorro (1920 film)|The Mark of Zorro]]''. Diego recently returned from [[Spain]] at the movie's start. Zorro later tells Lolita that he learned swordsmanship in Spain. The 1925 sequel ''[[Don Q, Son of Zorro]]'' expands on this concept by saying that: "Though the home of the De Vegas has long been on California soil, the eldest son of each new generation returns to Spain for a period of travel and study." The 1940 film ''[[The Mark of Zorro (1940 film)|The Mark of Zorro]]'' keeps the idea of Diego learning his swordsmanship in Spain and adds the idea of him being unexpectedly summoned home by his father, Don Alejandro, when California fell into the hand of an oppressing dictator. Both ideas would then be included in most retellings of the character's backstory.

With minor variations, McCulley's portrayal of Diego's personality is followed in most Zorro media.

A notable exception to this portrayal is Disney's ''[[Zorro (1957 TV series)|Zorro]]'' (1957–1959), where Diego, despite using the original façade early in the series, instead becomes a passionate and compassionate crusader for justice and masquerades as "the most inept swordsman in all of California". In this show, everyone knows Diego would love to do what Zorro does but thinks he does not have the skill.

The Family Channel's ''[[Zorro (1990 TV series)|Zorro]]'' (1990–1993) takes this concept further. While Diego pretends to be inept with a sword, the rest of his facade exaggerates his real interests. Diego is well-versed and interested in art, poetry, literature, and science. His facade is pretending to be interested in only these things and not interested in swordplay or action. In this version of the story, Zorro also has a well-equipped laboratory in his hidden cave.

In Isabel Allende's novel, Diego is a mestizo, the son of a Spanish aristocrat and a Shoshone warrior woman. Thus, as a child, Diego is caught between the divine right of nobility and the ways of his Native mother, grandmother, and ancestors.