Asterisk vs. Asterix

Main Difference

The main difference between Asterisk and Asterix is that the Asterisk is a typographical symbol or glyph and Asterix is a series of French comic books.

• Asterisk

  An asterisk (*); from Late Latin asteriscus, from Ancient Greek ἀστερίσκος, asteriskos, “little star”) is a typographical symbol or glyph. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star.

  Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as star (as, for example, in the A* search algorithm or C*-algebra). In English, an asterisk is usually five-pointed in sans-serif typefaces, six-pointed in serif typefaces, and six- or eight-pointed when handwritten. It is often used to censor offensive words, and on the Internet, to indicate a correction to a previous message.

  The asterisk is derived from the need of the printers of family trees in feudal times for a symbol to indicate date of birth. The original shape was seven-armed, each arm like a teardrop shooting from the center.

  In computer science, the asterisk is commonly used as a wildcard character, or to denote pointers, repetition, or multiplication.

• Asterix

  Asterix or The Adventures of Asterix (French: Astérix or Astérix le Gaulois, IPA: [asteʁiks lə ɡolwa]) is a series of French comics. The series first appeared in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine Pilote on 29 October 1959. It was written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo until the death of Goscinny in 1977. Uderzo then took over the writing until 2009, when he sold the rights to publishing company Hachette. In 2013, a new team consisting of Jean-Yves Ferri (script) and Didier Conrad (artwork) took over. As of 2017, 37 volumes have been released.

  The series follows the adventures of a village of Gauls as they resist Roman occupation in 50 BC. They do so by means of a magic potion, brewed by their druid Panoramix (named Getafix in the English translations), which temporarily gives the recipient superhuman strength. The protagonists, the title character Asterix, along with his friend Obelix have various adventures. The “ix” ending of both names (as well as all the other pseudo-Gaulish “ix” names in the series) alludes to the “rix” suffix (meaning “king”) present in the names of many real Gaulish chieftains such as Vercingetorix, Orgetorix and Dumnorix. Many of the stories see them travel to foreign countries; though others are set in and around their village. For much of the history of the series (Volumes 4 through 29), settings in Gaul and abroad alternated, with even-numbered volumes set abroad and odd-numbered volumes set in Gaul, mostly in the village.

  The Asterix series is one of the most popular Franco-Belgian comics in the world, with the series being translated into over 100 languages.

  The success of the series has led to the adaptation of several books into 13 films: nine animated, and four live action (one of which, Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra, was a major box office success in France). There have also been a number of games based on the characters, and a theme park near Paris, Parc Astérix. The very first French satellite, Astérix, launched in 1965, was also named after the comics character. As of October 2009, 325 million copies of 34 Asterix books had been sold worldwide, making co-creators René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo France’s bestselling authors abroad.