Alcoholix

Alcoholix is a character in the Asterix album Asterix and the Golden Sickle.

Biography

Even for the most savvy Asterix fans, Alcoholix is an impenetrable mystery. What is he like? What is the pun behind his original name in French, Saingésix?

You can quit searching - it's a private joke for Albert Uderzo, who put this name on the sign of an Aquitanian wine merchant in the streets of Lutetia. It turns out to be a nod to an acquaintance of the Asterix artist, a wine dealer named Saintgès.

This impenetrable word play has played havoc with Asterix translators: some have improvised by creating a local pun, others have left the name as is, thereby giving international notoriety to Saintgès, instead of shedding light on the mystery. And then there was the Castillian translator, who solved the problem by removing all references to the sign!