In Mask of Zorro, how did the Spanish Governor Rafael find out the true identity of Zoro?

Question

When Rafael goes to don Diego's house, he says something about "Blood never lies" but how did he know that don Diego was Zorro???

Answer 1

It doesn't say in the movie, but I'm willing to speculate ...

My guess is that Don Rafael already suspected Diego of being Zorro (maybe due to things like Diego being nowhere to be found whenever Zorro showed up, like Lois Lane suspecting Clark in Superman II), but didn't have enough evidence to really act on his suspicions.

Then, at the beginning of the movie, Zorro gets winged in the arm. With the Mexican army coming and the Spanish administration ready to flee, Don Rafael decides he's got nothing to lose by putting his suspicions to the test. So he visits Diego and grabs his arm in the same spot where Zorro was shot. Diego winces and the wound starts bleeding again. Rafael now has him dead to rights. "Blood never lies."

Later in the movie, when Alejandro takes up the Zorro mantle, it doesn't take long before Rafael starts suspecting Alejandro of being the new Zorro. Therefore, it's reasonable to conclude that he had previously suspected Don Diego of being Zorro twenty years before. Rafael may be a slimeball, but he's no dummy.

Answer 2

I concur--the injury to Diego's arm proved his identity.

I found it to be not completely believable that Diego would have stayed in prison all those years. A man like him would have escaped and followed Rafael to Spain for revenge. *shrug*

Finally, why did they change Alejandro's last name in the second movie? His name was Alejandro Murrieta, not de la Vega.