Everyone's heard of the infamous legend of Zorro. But have you heard of The Scarlet Pimpernel? Some speculate it was Johnston McCully's inspiration to write the tale of the much adored Zorro.

The Scarlet Pimpernel is a play and adventure novel written in 1905 by Baroness Emmuska Orczy and set during the early days of the French Revolution. It tells the saga of a secret society of English aristocrats, known as “The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel.” Their leader, The Scarlet Pimpernel, is a man of many disguises who is always one step ahead of his enemies. As one of the richest men in England, he keeps his true identity known only to his closest ally and masked to all others. He has helped scores of captured French aristocrats escape from France, thereby prolonging their lives by helping them avoid the dreaded guillotine. All of his messages to his aristocrats are always signed by the drawing of The Scarlet Pimpernel.

The parallels to the legend of Zorro are undeniable. Both Don Diego (Zorro) and Sir Percy (The Scarlet Pimpernel) are known throughout their towns as fops; and both men hide their true identities and personalities from everyone, even their closest family members. Each man is also romantically involved with a beautiful woman who is not fully satisfied with his personality and instead is in love with his alter-ego; Zorro or The Scarlet Pimpernel. Furthermore, each character marks his work with a certain trademark; a special drawing or signature that ties each of the masked men to a particular action or event he has executed.

From this, it is quite possible that Johnston McCully had read The Scarlet Pimpernel, which in turn inspired him to create The Curse of Capistrano in 1918, where Zorro is referred to as The Curse of Capistrano just as often as he is referred to as the name we know and love, Zorro.

Other inspirations have also been aroused and credited to The Scarlet Pimpernel. Take for instance, “The Tartan Pimpernel.” This was a nickname given to the Reverend Donald Caskie for aiding in over 2000 Allied service personnel to escape from occupied France during World War II.

Or how about “The American Pimpernel,” who is known as the man who saved the artists on Hitler's Death List.

And finally, Nelson Mandela was given the name, “The Black Pimpernel” prior to his arrest and long incarceration due to his effective use of disguises when evading capture by the police because of anti-apartheid activities in South Africa.