Harlequin (; , , Old French Harlequin) is the best-known of the zanni or comic servant characters from the Italian Commedia dell'arte. Traditionally believed to have been introduced by Zan Ganassa in the late 16th century, the role was definitively popularized by the Italian actor Tristano Martinelli in Paris in 1584–1585 and became a stock character after Martinelli's death in 1630.