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[edit] Cast of Tintin
[edit] Snowy (Milou)
Snowy, an exceptionally white wire fox terrier, is Tintin's four-legged companion, who travels everywhere with him. The bond between the dog and Tintin is deeper than life, and they have saved each other from perilous situations many times.
With a few exceptions, Snowy never speaks (although he is regularly seen thinking in human words), since he is only a dog. However, he always manages to communicate well with Tintin despite this. Snowy often adds to the story in many interesting ways. For instance, Snowy is the only character in Flight 714 to remember that he was abducted by aliens.
Like Captain Haddock, Snowy is fond of alcohol, and is first seen partaking as early as the closing scenes of Tintin in the Land of the Soviets, where he is depicted drinking champagne.[1] His occasional bouts of drinking tend to get him into trouble, as does his raging arachnophobia.
The character of Snowy evolved through the course of the Tintin series, and was most dramatically affected by the introduction of Captain Haddock into the series in The Crab with the Golden Claws. Before Haddock's entry into the series, Snowy was the source of dry and cynical side-commentary, which balanced out Tintin's constantly positive, optimistic perspective. When Haddock entered the series, the Captain took over the role of the cynic, and Snowy gradually shifted into a more comical role, serving to create comic relief by chasing the Marlinspike cat, drinking the Captain's whisky, etc. Mills.
Milou was named after Hergé's first girlfriend, a contraction of the name Marie-Louise ("Malou") , although the character is referred to as male throughout the books. The English translation of the name to Snowy was inspired in part by the need to use a five letter name to fit into the speech bubbles. [2]
[edit] Captain Haddock
Captain Archibald Haddock (Capitaine Archibald Haddock) was introduced in The Crab with the Golden Claws, depicted as a weak and alcoholic character[1]. Up until Haddock's introduction, supporting characters would recur with irregularity, and mainly in the background, used more to build continuity than serve as protagonists. Hergé however realised Haddock's potential as a foil to Tintin, and established the character as a permanent addition to the cast. This was at the expense of Snowy, whose role was reduced to accommodate Haddock.
Haddock's character swiftly grew from his beginnings. In his initial adventure he is almost as hazardous to Tintin as the villains of the piece. He is shown as short-tempered, given to emotional and expletive ridden outbursts, and capable of infuriating actions. However, the character is shown as being a kind soul in need of reform, and by the end of the adventure Tintin has managed to reform the alcoholic and gained himself a loyal companion, albeit one still given to uttering the occasional expletive.[1]
Hergé also allowed himself more artistic expression through Haddock's features than with Tintin's. Michael Farr, author of Tintin: The Complete Companion notes: "Whereas Hergé kept Tintin's facial expressions to a bare minimum ... Haddock's could be contorted with emotion." Farr goes on to write that "In Haddock, Hergé had come up with his most inspired character since creating Tintin" and sales of the volume in which Haddock was introduced indicated the character was well received. After a fairly serious role in The Shooting Star, where he is shown to have become the President of the Society of Sober Sailors, replete with a cabin full of whisky, Haddock takes a more central role in the next adventure, split over two books, The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure.
Hergé builds the adventure around Haddock, furnishing the character with an ancestral home, Marlinspike Hall, or "Moulinsart" in the original French. Harry Thompson, author of Tintin:Hergé and his creation writes that the introduction of this ancestral home was "to provide a suitable ancestral home for Tintin and himself to move into." To achieve this in terms of the plot, Hergé also details Haddock's ancestry, something Thompson regards as distinctive: "Haddock is the only regular character whose relatives turn up in the Tintin stories at all (if one discounts Wagg)"[3]
Haddock's name was suggested by his wife, who noted that haddock was a "sad English fish" over a fish dinner. Hergé then utilised the name for the English captain he'd just introduced. Haddock remained without a first name until the last completed story, Tintin and the Picaros (1976), when the name Archibald was suggested. As Haddock's role grew, Hergé expanded his character, basing him upon aspects of friends, with his characteristic tempre somewhat inspired by Tintin colourist E.P. Jacobs and his bluffness drawn from Bob de Moor. [3] Harry Thompson has commented on how Hergé utilised the character to inject humour into the plot, notably "where Haddock plays the fool to smooth over a lengthy explanation."[3]
Although it has not been suggested that Hergé based Haddock on any historical persons, it transpired that there were several Haddocks who had served in the navy. Many of the Haddocks of Leigh-on-Sea served in the British Navy of the 17th century, with Admiral Sir Richard Haddock serving in the battle of Sole Bay.[3]
At the time Captain Haddock was first introduced, just before the Second World War, his manners presented a moral problem to Hergé. As a sailor, Haddock ought to have a very colourful language. However, Hergé had to balance that against the character's appearing in a Catholic children's magazine, whih would dictate he would be unable to use any swearwords. The solution reportedly came when Hergé took advantage of a situation he had become embroiled in during 1933, shortky after the "Four Powers Act" had come into being. Hergé tried to intervene in a discussion between a shopkeeper and customer, but before he could the shopkeeper became so enraged that he lost his composure for a moment and accused his customer of being "a peace treaty".[3] This was the solution Hergé sought: what if the captain would use strange or difficult words that were not offensive in themselves, but would hurl them out as if they were very strong cusswords...?
The idea took form quickly and in his first anger-scene the captain storms towards a party of Bedouin raiders yelling expressions like 'Hydromeduse' (a form of jellyfish), 'troglodyte' (cave-dweller) and 'ectoplasm'. (The bedouins immediately take flight, but from the Foreign Legion appearing behind the captain's back.) The trick with the false swearwords proved successful and was a mainstay in future books. Consequently Hergé actively started collecting difficult or dirty-sounding words for use in the captain's next anger attacks and on occasion even searched dictionaries to come up with inspiration. [3]
On one occasion however the scheme backfired. In one particularly angry state, Hergé had the captain yell the 'cussword' Pneumothorax (a medical emergency caused by the collapse of the lung within the chest). One week after the scene appeared in Tintin Magazine, Hergé received a letter from a father whose boy was a great fan of Tintin, but also was a heavy tuberculosis sufferer and had experienced a collapsed lung. According to the letter, the boy was devastated that his favorite comic made fun of his own condition. Afterwards it turned out that the letter was a fake written and planted by Hergé's friend and collaborator Jacques Van Melkebeke. [3] [1]
[edit] Professor Cuthbert Calculus (Professeur Tryphon Tournesol)
Professor Cuthbert Calculus is a distracted, hard-of-hearing professor, who invented many objects used in the series, such as a one-person shark-shaped submarine, the Moon rocket, and an ultrasound weapon. Calculus seeks to benefit mankind by inventions such as a pill that cures alcoholism by making alcohol taste horrible to the patient.
Calculus's deafness is a frequent source of humour, as he repeats back what he thinks he has heard, usually in the most unlikely words possible: "attachez votre ceinture" (fasten your belt) is repeated as "une tache de peinture?" (a paint stain). He does not admit to being near-deaf and insists that he is merely 'hard of hearing' in just one ear. The two "Moon" books notably depart from this pattern, when Calculus is fitted with a hearing aid. For the duration of the album he has near-perfect hearing, making this a more serious character (as long as the word "goat" is not uttered in his presence). However, in later adventures Calculus loses his hearing aid and goes back to being his old eccentric, deaf self. Calculus is a fervent believer in dowsing, and carries a pendulum for that purpose.
Calculus first appeared in Red Rackham's Treasure, and was the end result of Hergé's long quest to find the archetypal mad scientist or absent-minded professor: for instance, Dr. Sarcophagus in Cigars of the Pharaoh, and Prof. Alembick in King Ottokar's Sceptre.
NOTE: A literal translation of his French name would be Tryphonius Sunflower or Tryphonius Litmus Paper.
Professor Cuthbert Calculus (Professeur Tryphon Tournesol, literally Professor Tryphonius Sunflower) is a fictional character in the series The Adventures of Tintin. He's a distracted, hard-of-hearing professor, who invented many objects used in the series, such as a one-person shark-shaped submarine, the Moon rocket and an ultrasound weapon. Calculus seeks to benefit mankind by inventions such as a pill that cures alcoholism by making alcohol taste horrible to the patient. These inventions are usually disliked by Captain Haddock, although Calculus usually interprets this the other way round: his deafness often prevents him from hearing Haddock's real opinion. But if he ever hears the Captain (or anyone else) call him a "goat", he flies into a rage: "Goat, am I?"
Calculus's deafness is a frequent source of humour, as he repeats back what he thinks he has heard, usually in the most unlikely words possible: "attachez votre ceinture" (fasten your belt) is repeated as "une tache de peinture?" (a paint stain). He does not admit to being near-deaf and insists on having poor hearing in only one ear. Notably in the "Moon" books, Calculus has a hearing aid inserted, and for the duration of the album has near-perfect hearing: this made him a more serious character (that is, as long as the word "goat" is not uttered in his presence). However, in later adventures Calculus once again lost his hearing aid, and went back to his old deaf self. Calculus is a fervent believer in dowsing, and carries a pendulum for that purpose. It is possible that this trait, along with Calculus' deafness were based on French physicist Yves Rocard[citation needed]. Calculus occassionally comments that he was a great sportsman in his youth, with a very athletic lifestyle. He is a former practitioner of the French martial art savate, although a demonstration in Flight 714 shows him to be a bit rusty.
Calculus first appeared in Red Rackham's Treasure, and was the end result of Hergé's long quest to find the archetypal mad scientist or absent-minded professor: for instance, Dr. Sarcophagus in Cigars of the Pharaoh, and Prof. Alembick in King Ottokar's Sceptre.
The Calculus character was most likely inspired by Swiss scientist Auguste Piccard. In The Castafiore Emerald, Bianca Castafiore mistakes Calculus for Piccard in claiming that Calculus is "famous for his balloon ascensions".
[edit] Thomson and Thompson (Dupond et Dupont)
Thomson and Thompson are two bumbling detectives who, although unrelated, look like twins with the only discernible difference being the shape of their moustaches.[4] They provide much of the comic relief throughout the series, as they are afflicted with chronic spoonerism. They are thoroughly incompetent, and always bent on arresting the wrong character, but in spite of this their superiors always charge them with surprisingly complex missions, such as ensuring security for the Syldavian space project. When they get into a terrible mess (like falling over) they come up with lazy excuses such as 'Well I was following you' to make themselves seem less buffoonish.
The detectives usually wear bowler hats and carry walking sticks, except when abroad, when they insist on wearing the "national costume" of the country they are visiting so as to blend into the local population, but in general only manage to find some ridiculous folkloric attire that makes them stand out even more.
The detectives were in part based on Hergé's father and uncle, identical twins who wore matching bowlers.
Thomson and Thompson (Dupond et Dupont) are a pair of detectives in Hergé's classic European comic strip The Adventures of Tintin. Although unrelated, the two clumsy detectives look like twins and can only be told apart by the shape of their moustaches. They provide much of the comic relief throughout the series, as they are afflicted with spoonerism. They are thoroughly incompetent, and always bent on arresting the wrong character, but in spite of this they somehow get entrusted with delicate missions, such as ensuring security for the Syldavian space project.
The detective with the flared mustache is Thomson (without a "P"), who often describes himself as "Thomson, without a 'P', as in Venezuela!". The detective with the flat mustache has described himself as "Thompson with a 'P', as in..." and then used words with either a silent "P," or in which the "P" is combined with another letter, as to change the sound, such as Philadelphia, psychology and so on.
The detectives usually wear bowler hats and carry walking sticks, except when abroad: during those missions they insist on wearing the "costume" of the country they are visiting so as to blend into the local population, but in general only manage to find some ridiculous folkloric attire that actually makes them stand apart. Thomson and Thompson were originally only side characters, but later became more important. In the redrawings of the earlier albums, especially The Black Island, the detectives gained their now traditional mannerisms.
The detectives were based on Hergé's father and uncle, who were twins, both of whom wore matching bowlers.
Translators of the series have tried to find names that are similar or identical in pronunciation for this pair. Dupond and Dupont thus become Thomson and Thompson in English, دوپونت و دوپونت in Persian, Schultze and Schulze in German, Jansen and Janssen in Dutch, Hernández and Fernández in Spanish and 杜本 and 杜朋 (Dùběn, Dùpéng) in Chinese, Johnson and Ronson in Bengali and Skapti and Skafti in Icelandic. Other versions may keep the original names or slightly alter them, for instance Dupon and Dubon in Japanese (デュポン and デュボン).
They (or at least their Roman-era equivalents) also make a brief cameo appearance in the Asterix book Asterix in Belgium.
The characters inspired the name of the British 1980s pop band, the Thompson Twins.
[edit] Minor characters
Ben Kalish Ezab and Abdullah (Mohammed Ben Kalish Ezab et Abdallah) are characters from The Adventures of Tintin series of classic comic books drawn and written by Hergé. Ben Kalish Ezab was the gentle Emir of Khemed who has a very spoiled, mischievous, hyperactive son, who is a real nuisance. Abdullah can be very frustrating and tiresome at times, as Tintin finds out when rescuing them in Land of Black Gold and again in The Red Sea Sharks.
Abdullah is the Captain's biggest nightmare, spreading terror where he goes, preferably with classic gags like fake spiders and exploding cigars. In fact, Haddock is so afraid of this young menace, he expresses concern regarding Tintin's friend Chang in the album Tintin in Tibet. He asks Tintin if Chang is like Abdullah, upon which Tintin assures him that Chang is quite the opposite. Not taking Captain Haddock's fears into account, Ben Kalish Ezab has sent Abdullah to live with Haddock at Marlinspike Hall at points of unrest in Khemed.
Haddock and Abdullah's rendezvous can be compared to the ones between Dennis Mitchell and George Wilson.
The arab-sounding name of the Emir is a pun on the marollian (a Brusselian local dialect) "Kalische Zap" (licorice juice)
General Alcazar is a character in The Adventures of Tintin series of classic comic books drawn and written by Hergé. A general in the army of San Theodoros, Alcazar switches with comedic frequency between being president of the country and leading a rebellion to battle the government led by his arch-rival General Tapioca. As the political climate of San Theodoros becomes too heated in The Seven Crystal Balls, he plies his trade as a knife thrower in a variety show with assistant Chiquito.
His first appearance was as president of San Theodoros in The Broken Ear, his last being in Tintin and the Picaros, where he once again is in power.
Bianca Castafiore, the Milanese Nightingale, was the only major recurring female character in The Adventures of Tintin: the opera diva first appeared in the album King Ottokar's Sceptre. Her name is Italian for "white flower". Although apparently one of the leading opera singers of her generation, the only thing that Castafiore is ever heard to sing are a few lines of the Jewel Song, l'air des bijoux, from Faust, always at ear-splitting volume: "Ah my beauty past compare, these jewels bright I wear!...Was I ever Margarita? Is it I? Come reply!...Mirror mirror tell me truly!".
Unsurprisingly, opera was one of Hergé's pet hates. She is said to have been modeled on the real-life opera singer Maria Callas, although she first appears long before Callas' arrival on the operatic scene. She has a crush on Haddock, for whom she has a strong mothering instinct. She always pronounces his name incorrectly (Fatstock, Drydock, Hopscotch, Stopcock, Hammock, Paddock, Maggot, Bartok, Bootblack, Bedsock, Hatbox, Stockpot, Harrock, Hemlock, Padlock, Hassock, Havoc, Halibut), and whenever she showers him with tokens of affection the results are disastrous. She later gets involved in rumours surrounding an affair with Haddock — much to the Captain's chagrin.
Chang Chong-Chen (originally romanized as Tchang Chong-Chen in French) is a character from The Adventures of Tintin series of classic comic books drawn and written by Hergé. Based upon Zhang Chongren, a real friend of Hergé, Chang is perhaps Tintin's dearest friend, and is the only character for whom Tintin ever sheds a tear. In his first appearance Chang is ten years old. In his second appearance he is in his mid-teens.
Chang first appears in The Blue Lotus, as a young orphan who Tintin saves from drowning and befriends. Chang shows his wit at fooling Thompson and Thomson as they arrest Tintin, and is courageously helping Tintin defeat the evil plots of Mitsuhirato and Rastapopoulos. He is later adopted by Wang Yen-Chi.
Chang later appears in Tintin in Tibet, which concerns Tintin and Haddock's mission to find Chang in the Himalayas when his plane crashes. The book is perhaps Hergé's most deeply personal. When he wrote it, he had not seen the real-life Chang for several decades. Later, in 1981, the French media managed to find Chang in China and arrange a trip to Europe for a reunion with Hergé. In 1985, he received French citizenship and settled in Paris to teach, where he died in 1998.
Oliveira de Figueira is a character from The Adventures of Tintin series of classic comic books drawn and written by Hergé. Native of Lisbon, Portugal, he is a friendly salesperson who has the ability to sell even the most trivial of items from umbrellas to roller skates to patrons throughout the Middle Eastern region, though he eventually set up shop in Khemed. He first encounters Tintin in Cigars of the Pharaoh as a bustling trader, and then in Land of Black Gold as a retailer/supplier for Emir Ben Kalish Ezab, where he offers to help Tintin infiltrate Dr. J.W. Müller's palace and uncover his oil control scheme. Oliveira da Figueira makes a third appearance in The Red Sea Sharks where he provides Tintin and Captain Haddock with information on the rebel forces in the Khemed capital of Wadesdah, and a means of escaping the city undetected, as they had a price on their heads.
He has a remarkable gift of the gab, even managing to convince Tintin to purchase a huge amount of useless items. This gift proved invaluable when breaking into Muller's palace, as he was able to keep the villain's henchmen occupied with a long and extremely moving story about the origins of his "nephew", the disguised Tintin.
Mitsuhirato is a character from The Adventures of Tintin series of classic comic books drawn and written by Hergé. He is a sadistic Japanese double agent who appears in The Blue Lotus. He owns a women's clothing shop in the big, quiet street (direct Danish translation) in Shanghai, but is also involved in a drug trafficking cabale with Rastapopoulos and is also working for the Japanese government. Mitsuhirato is, along with the other Japanese prinicpal characters, characterized as an evil, scheming person, exploiting political turmoil in China to his and his country's advantage. He is also a Japanese government agent, and as witnessed by Tintin, a prominent agent in the Mukden Incident, as the events are portrayed in the The Blue Lotus.
Mitsuhirato attempts several covert assassinations of Tintin, and finally tries to turn Tintin insane by injecting him with the fictional "Rajaijah" juice, which induces madness (see Cigars of the Pharaoh). After this fails, he tries to kill Tintin with his knife, then discovers that is has been substituted with a tin knife and the poison replaced by water, by order of Wang Yen-Chi.
After his plots are ultimately foiled, he commits hara-kiri.
Dr. J.W. Müller is a character from The Adventures of Tintin series of classic comic books drawn and written by Hergé. He is a villainous doctor, whose main appearance was in The Black Island as director of a psychiatric clinic (which he also used to dispose of his enemies by giving them a "treatment" making them insane), which was his cover for his activities as member of a group counterfeiting banknotes. His chauffeur Ivan is also a member of the gang; the name implies that Ivan is a White Russian, exiled by the Bolshevik revolution.
Later, Müller appears in Land of Black Gold as Professor Smith -- working once more to destabilize the world economy and contaminate British fuel supplies in the Middle East (this would be changed in subsequent issues where the setting was moved from British Palestine to the fictional Gulf state of Khemed).
His final return was in The Red Sea Sharks under the pseudonym Mull Pasha, where he had assumed the role of an advisor to the usurper regime in Khemed, a clear allusion to British General John Bagot Glubb.
Nestor is a character from The Adventures of Tintin series of classic comic books drawn and written by Hergé. Before he was under the employment of Captain Haddock at Marlinspike Hall, he dutifully served as a butler for the Bird Brothers, the estate's previous owners. Haddock, however, respected Nestor for his loyalty, and refused to turn him in to the police when the Bird Brothers were arrested, eventually making him his own butler once he obtained Marlinspike Hall. Nestor made his first appearance in The Secret of the Unicorn, and proves to be a staple character in numerous Tintin stories.
In The Castafiore Emerald, he proved to be a bit xenophobic, while in Tintin and the Picaros he was shown drinking his master's whisky in secret and listening at doors as Tintin and Haddock argue.
Pablo is a character from The Adventures of Tintin series of classic comic books drawn and written by Hergé. Native of San Theodoros, Pablo first appeared in The Broken Ear where he was a long-moustached hitman trying to kill Tintin but then ends up saving Tintin from a firing-squad of General Alcazar.
Later, in Tintin and the Picaros he became General Tapioca's inside spy on General Alcazar, and took a major role in a plot to get Tintin and his friends killed. However, Tintin survived, and Pablo got captured during Alcazar's coup during the Carnival. Instead of killing Pablo, Tintin set him free out of gratitude for having saved his life.
Roberto Rastapopoulos from The Adventures of Tintin series of classic comic books drawn and written by Hergé, is a Greek American tycoon (also known under fake name Marquis di Gorgonzola); he was apparently partly inspired by the Greek shipping tycoon Onassis.
He is Tintin's arch-nemesis, who (debatably) first appeared in Tintin in America at a banquet. His first major appearance is in Cigars of the Pharaoh, initially as a seemingly sympathetic character. It was not until the denouement of The Blue Lotus, the follow-up to Cigars of the Pharaoh, that Rastapopoulos was revealed to be the head of the sinister opium-smuggling ring against which Tintin had been pitting his wits for two books.
Rastapopoulos is the owner of Cosmos Pictures (Production in some titles) a studio house, and a front for many of his illegal activities and a good excuse for moving to various locations.
The man sitting next to Tintin at the banquet in Tintin in America does look a lot like Rastapopoulos. Next to him is a young blond-haired woman: in the 1932 black-and-white edition of the book this woman is referred to as the actress Mary Pickford, an appropriate companion for a movie mogul!
Rastapopoulos subsequently resurfaced as a slave trader in The Red Sea Sharks, and kidnapped the billionaire Laszlo Carreidas in Flight 714 to gain the password to his multi-billion Swiss Bank account, but he was captured by aliens. In the unfinished Tintin and Alph-Art, a character often thought to be Rastapopoulos in disguise -- under the name of Endaddine Akass -- appeared. The unofficial version of Tintin and Alph-Art by Yves Rodier revealed that Akass was indeed Rastapopoulos, with a few surgical alterations. Rastapopoulos died at the end of Rodier's version when an attempt at hanging Tintin and Captain Haddock went badly wrong, resulting in him being thrown off a cliff.
Rastapopoulos also appeared in Tintin and the Lake of Sharks, an album adapted from an animated feature of the same name, and into which Hergé had no creative input. It is not considered to be part of the Tintin canon.
Jolyon Wagg (in the original French version: Séraphin Lampion) is a character from The Adventures of Tintin series of classic comic books drawn and written by Hergé. He is an intensely gregarious, simple, and overbearing man. He is strongly disliked by Captain Haddock (although Wagg remains cheerfully oblivious to this, believing himself to be a great friend of the Captain) who finds him frustrating. Wagg is often portrayed as a clueless tourist in the exotic places where Tintin and the Captain have their adventures. Wagg is an insurance salesman by trade, and he often tries to sell the other characters insurance.
He offers to sell "Rock bottom" insurance, the brand name of his insurance.
He is generally seen as a more "modern" character, as opposed to the older archetypes (crusty sea captain, absent-minded professor) that inhabit Hergé's earlier works. Wagg only appeared relatively late in the series; his first appearance was in The Seven Crystal Balls, the thirteenth of the 24 Tintin books. Wagg also appears in The Calculus Affair, The Red Sea Sharks, The Castafiore Emerald, Flight 714 and Tintin and the Picaros.
[edit] Professor Hector Alembick
Professor Hector Alembick is a sigillographer - that is, an expert on seals - who appears in King Ottokar's Sceptre. Tintin meets him when returning a briefcase which the professor had forgotten on a park bench. Professor Alembick - a bespectacled, chain-smoking academic - tells Tintin of his desire to visit Syldavia to research an ancient seal belonging to the Syldavian monarch King Ottokar IV that he had discovered recently; he subsequently hires Tintin as a secretary to accompany him on his journey. On the day before the trip, Alembick calls Tintin by telephone; in the midst of the conversation, Tintin hears a struggle and a cry for help before the connection is cut short. When Tintin rushes to the professor's apartment to investigate, he is startled to find the professor calmly packing his bags. Although Alembick's appearance seems unchanged, subtle changes in his behavior lead Tintin to suspect that something is amiss. At the end of the album, Tintin discovers that Hector Alembick had indeed been kidnapped and impersonated by his twin brother Alfred (who has unimpaired vision and does not smoke). His name is a pun on Alembic.
[edit] The Bird brothers
The Bird brothers, two brothers named Max Bird and G. Bird (Bird being English slang for time spent in prison i.e. Max Bird meaning a long sentence and G suggesting Gaol (jail) Bird), are the main adversaries in The Secret of the Unicorn. They, like Tintin, are looking for three scrolls to unlock the secret of Red Rackham's treasure. They operate from their manor, Marlinspike Hall, where at one point they hold Tintin hostage and threaten him with torture, convinced he is behind their failure in collecting all three scrolls. Amongst their other crimes is attempted murder, as Max shot their helper, Barnaby, just before he could tell Tintin of their plot. The Bird Brothers were captured by Thompson and Thomson. Max escaped, but was later caught by the police, trying to leave the country.
In Red Rackham's Treasure, Max Bird escapes again and is spotted near the Sirius, a boat used by Tintin in the search of Red Rackham's treasure. He never moves to strike, supposedly due to the presence of Thompson and Thomson. The Bird brothers have not been seen since, though they were depicted in sketches for the never finished Tintin and Alph-Art.
[edit] Mr. Bohlwinkel
Mr. Bohlwinkel is a financier who appears in The Shooting Star. As the owner of the Bohlwinkel Bank of São Rico and a petroleum firm called Golden Oil, he uses his wealth and resources to attempt to beat Tintin in the race to find a recently fallen meteorite. Apart from financing the exploratory vessel Peary, he (unsuccessfully) attempts to sabotage the competing expedition's ship Aurora by depositing lit dynamite on its deck, instructing another ship under his control - the S.S. Kentucky Star - to ram the Aurora during a storm, refusing to allow the Aurora to refuel at a Golden Oil depot, and sending a fake S.O.S. to throw the Aurora off course. The Shooting Star ends with a dismayed Mr. Bohlwinkel listening to a radio announcement revealing that the police are on his trail.
It is conspicuous that Bohlwinklel has the exact physiognomy of the stereotypical Jew in Nazi propaganda; in the original edition of The Shooting Star, moreover, he was referred to as "Blumenstein" and his bank was explicitly stated as being located in New York. In later editions of the album, Herge attempted to alter the financer's antecedents by relocating him to a fictitious South American country, changing his name to a Belgian dialect word for a sweet shop - Bolwinkel - and modifying the spelling of the new name. Alas, he subsequently learned that Bohlwinkel is also a Jewish surname. Several other changes were made in later editions of The Shooting Star.
[edit] Mr. Bolt
A joiner who appears in The Castafiore Emerald, he was hired by Captain Haddock to fix the broken step in Marlinspike Hall. However, Mr Bolt is an immensely lazy man and he tends to put off the repairs due to many reasons he gives, namely: catching the flu, his cousin's marriage, etc. Because of his put-offs, the Captain has been thinking about finding someone else, but, strangely, never gets around to doing that either. Mr. Bolt was one of the people who sent the Captain a telegram when a magazine article about the Captain about to marry Bianca Castafiore. At the end of the book, Mr. Bolt finally comes and fixes the broken step. However, the Captain trips up on the step, instantly undoing Mr. Bolt's work!
[edit] Laszlo Carreidas
A wealthy business tycoon, Laszlo Carreidas is kidnapped (along with his new jet) by Rastapopoulos in Flight 714. His unassuming figure notwithstanding, Carreidas is revealed to be a cunning individual with a long history of unscrupulous behavior not limited to the business world; he is not above cheating Captain Haddock at a game of Battleships with the help of a closed-circuit television.
Carreidas is the owner of a brand of soft drink called "Sani-Cola" (a pun on the French pronunciation of "Saint Nicolas"), which apparently contains chlorophyll. The healthfulness of this beverage is brought into question when the whisky-loving Captain Haddock discreetly empties a cup forced upon him by Carreidas into a potted plant that wilts dramatically immediately thereafter.
Carreidas' name is a pun: carré d'as means 'four aces' in French. Accordingly, the logo on the tail of his Carreidas 160 supersonic business jet consists of four aces. This aircraft appears to be a combination of a Gates Learjet and the Mirage G swing-wing fighter, and possibly is the purest - and most practical - example of the concept to date. It was designed by Roger Leloup, an artist working in the Studios Hergé.[5]
It seems that Hergé based Carreidas on Marcel Dassault, who possessed a similar combination of wealth, aeronautics engineering genius, and quaint notions of fashion (Dassault's wardrobe remained frozen in the mid 1930s).
[edit] Captain Chester
An old friend of Captain Haddock, Captain Chester is a gruff merchant skipper with red hair and a bushy red moustache. He first appears in The Shooting Star in Iceland, where he bumps into Captain Haddock at the docks and launches into a bizarre greeting ritual with Haddock which Tintin interprets as a fight. However, Haddock and Chester warmly clasp hands and take Tintin to a local bar to reminisce over a bottle of whisky. Chester is captain of the Sirius, a merchant trawler, and uses his trawler to secretly refuel Haddock's research vessel in Iceland.
[edit] Chiquito
Chiquito appears as the sidekick of General Alcazar (under the stage name "Ramon Zarate") in The Seven Crystal Balls. Later, in Prisoners of the Sun, it is revealed that Chiquito is actually the High Priest of the Sun God of an Inca temple in Perú. One night, at the home of Calculus's friend Professor Tarragon, Chiquito hides himself in the trees after casting a spell on Tarragon. In the morning, Calculus is kidnapped by Chiquito and his men. Chiquito takes the professor to Perú and Tintin and Captain Haddock go after them.
Chiquito is known to be a practitioner of black magic. He casts a spell on all seven members of the Sanders-Hardiman expedition, and holds them in a drug-induced trance. He is also able to torture them remotely from his temple. His real name is Rupac Inca Huaco and he is one of the few remaining descendants of the Incas.
[edit] Cutts the Butcher
- In French: fr:Boucherie Sanzot
The local butcher shop where calls from Marlinspike Hall usually connect to first by accident, as the butchers' number of 431 is frequently mistaken for 421 to Marlinspike. Marlinspike Hall is similarly plagued by incoming calls from customers who have dialled the wrong number, infuriating the mansion's inhabitants by endlessly calling to order lamb chops and sausages.
The delivery man from the butcher plays a vital (but invisible) role in The Calculus Affair by offering Professor Calculus a lift to the village just in time to save him from a Bordurian kidnapping attempt.
[edit] The Fakir
This unnamed fakir appeared in Cigars of the Pharaoh, and was a high-ranking member of an opium smuggling ring. He created the dangerous Rajaijah Juice, the "poison of madness," and among his talents were hypnosis, the Indian rope trick and escapology (to the point where he was offended by Tintin thinking he could tie him up). The fakir caused Sophocles Sarcophagus and Mr. Zloty to go mad with his poisoned darts, and made an attempt on the Maharajah of Gaipajama, though Tintin had placed a dummy in the Maharajah's bed which took the dart instead. Once Tintin unmasked the members of the ring, the fakir helped the head of the ring (later revealed to be Rastapopoulos) escape, but was captured when a falling rock knocked him out. In the next book, The Blue Lotus, the fakir was never actually seen, but it was mentioned that he escaped from prison, and probably poisoned a messenger sent to warn Tintin of Mitsuhirato.
[edit] Irma
- In French: fr:Irma
The maid of Bianca Castafiore. In The Castafiore Emerald, she went with Bianca Castafiore and her pianist Igor Wagner to Marlinspike Hall. Castafiore describes her as a faithful, loyal and honest maid. Despite giving a meek impression, she has a strong sense of personal pride. When Thompson and Thomson accuse Irma of stealing Castafiore's emerald, in the titular album, she becomes very angry and assaults the Thompsons with a walking stick.She also appears in The Calculus Affair as La Castafiore's maid that Colonel Sponz wants to meet.
[edit] Kronik and Klumsi
Kronik and Klumsi are inept Bordurian secret service agents ostensibly assigned by Colonel Sponz to ensure Tintin and Captain Haddock's safety and well-being during their visit to the Bordurian capital Szohôd. Like the KGB agents on whom they are presumably based, their real objective is to prevent the visitors from making indiscreet inquiries in their hunt for Professor Calculus. Tintin and Haddock neutralize the agents by plying them with drinks at dinner and then locking them in their respective hotel rooms.
[edit] Professor Decimus Phostle
The director of an observatory who calculates the end of the world at 8.12½a.m. the morning after the night Tintin went to the observatory to inquire about a large, bright star he saw in Ursa Major in The Shooting Star. He turns out to be wrong, however, in his calculations, as the meteor supposed to collide with the Earth instead passed 48,000 km away. Instead, a piece of the meteor broke off and collided with the Earth, not destroying it but still causing an earthquake. Professor Phostle discovers an unknown metal in the meteorite that fell in the Arctic Ocean which he names phostlite. An expedition was organised to find the meteorite including Tintin and Captain Haddock. Despite a rival exedition trying to get the upper hand, the group was successful in finding the meteorite and studying phostlite.
[edit] Puschov
- In French: fr:Wronzoff
Apparently of Russian origin, Puschov is the leader of the international gang of counterfeiters in The Black Island. He is also the master of Ranko, a gorilla inhabiting the gang's hideout on the Black Island whose nightly screams inspired legends of the island being occupied by a murderous beast.
[edit] Sanders-Hardiman Expedition Members
They are members of an expedition which brought an Incan mummy named Rascar Capac back to Europe in The Seven Crystal Balls. The members of the expedition are: Peter Clarkson (photographer), Professor Sanders-Hardiman, Professor Reedbuck, Mark Falconer, Professor Paul Cantouneau (who made an appearance in The Shooting Star), Doctor Midge (director of the Darwin Museum), and Professor Hercules Tarragon, who has the Rascar Capac mummy in his possession. They were cursed by the Incas as punishment for the theft of the mummy. They were put into comas and made to suffer nightmares by Chiquito. The Expedition's members were saved by Tintin who visited the Incas' temple to save Professor Calculus, who was also kidnapped by them.
[edit] Sophocles Sarcophagus
- In French: fr:Philémon Siclone
Sophocles Sarcophagus is an absent-minded Egyptologist in search of the tomb of the Pharaoh Kih-Oskh whom Tintin meets on a cruise ship at the beginning of Cigars of the Pharaoh. Later in the album, he goes mad and imagines himself to be the Pharaoh Rameses II; he is eventually committed to a sanitarium in India for treatment. He does not appear in any other Tintin stories.
[edit] Bobby Smiles
- In French: fr:Bobby Smiles
Chicago boss of the rival gang fighting Al Capone. Smiles makes an appearance in Tintin in America and he and the reporter go after each other throughout much of the story. Smiles even manages to turn the American Indians against Tintin. He is eventually captured and sent to the police by Tintin.
[edit] Tharkey
Tharkey is a Sherpa guide who helps Tintin locate the ill-fated Patna-Kathmandu flight carrying Chang Chong-Chen in Tintin in Tibet.
Although reluctant to risk the perilous attempt to find Chang, whom he believes to be dead, Tharkey leads Tintin and the Captain to the crash site of the aircraft. After initially leaving the site to return to his village, he feels guilty for leaving them alone and returns just in time to save Tintin and Haddock, who are stranded on a cliff in a storm. However, he subsequently breaks his arm and must remain convalescing at a Buddhist monastery while Tintin and the Captain continue their search for Chang.
[edit] Professor Topolino
A scientist who is an expert in ultrasonics with whom Professor Calculus arranged to meet with in The Calculus Affair to talk about his ultrasonic invention that is capable of shattering glass and china and a full scale model presumably metal, bricks, concrete and other stronger materials. When Tintin and Captain Haddock first meet him, he was bound and gagged in his cellar. After he is freed and given an explanation of the recent events, Professor Topolino reveals that he received two letters from Calculus regarding his invention and arranged to meet with him. But on that day, an intruder pretendind to be Calculus bound and gagged Professor Topolino and left him in the cellar. The intruder would then pretend to be Professor Topolino and kidnap Calculus when he arrived. A minute after Professor Topolino finished explaining, his house was blown up by the enemy. However, everyone survived.
[edit] Igor Wagner
- In French: fr:Igor Wagner
The quiet pianist working with Bianca Castafiore. In The Castafiore Emerald he is discovered to be a gambler who bets by telephone on races in secret. He has a small moustache and dresses formally in black with black shoes. After the thievery of Castafiore's emeralds, his attempts to help more often than not incriminated himself, as his footprints were found near Castafiore's window, he was suspiciously rummaging in the attic, and later broke a step on the staircase. He also tries to sneak out of his hour-long training sessions (dictated by Castafiore). His surname is probably a reference to the opera composer Richard Wagner.
[edit] Christopher Willoughby-Drupe and Marco Rizotto
- In French: Jean-Loup De La Batellerie and Walter Rizzotto
Two reporters working for the magazine Paris Flash. They first appear in The Castafiore Emerald, where - to the fury of Captain Haddock and the amusement of Bianca Castafiore - they write a sensational article for their magazine speculating that the captain and the diva are engaged. They later appear in Flight 714 and Tintin and the Picaros. Rizotto makes a small appearance in the redrawn version of The Black Island.
[edit] Wang Chen-Yee
- In French: fr:Wang Jen-Ghié
Chinese leader of the Sons of the Dragon brotherhood, opposed to the Japanese occupation of China. He is first seen observing Tintin defend a Chinese boy from being beaten by rich racists and Gibbons in The Blue Lotus. Wang Chen-Yee sends his son to secretly defend Tintin from the numerous assassination attempts by Mitsuhirato. His son is tragically made mad by the Rajaijah juice (see Cigars of the Pharaoh). Wang Chen-Yee is also mentioned in the newspaper notice that prompts Tintin's rescue mission in Tintin in Tibet.
Wang Chen-Yee is a fictional character in The Adventures of Tintin series of classic comic books drawn and written by Belgian writer-artist Hergé. He is a Chinese leader of the Sons of the Dragon brotherhood, opposed to the Japanese occupation of China. He is first seen observing Tintin defend a Chinese boy from being beaten by rich racists and Gibbons in The Blue Lotus. Wang Chen-Yee sends his son to secretly defend Tintin from the numerous assassination attempts by Mitsuhirato. His son is tragically made mad by the Rajaijah juice (see Cigars of the Pharaoh). Wang Chen-Yee is also mentioned in the newspaper notice that prompts Tintin's rescue mission in Tintin in Tibet.
Red Rackham is a fictional pirate who appears in the comic book series The Adventures of Tintin, inspired by the real life pirate Jack Rackham.[citation needed] He appears in The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure.
[edit] History
Rackham is the pirate who attacks The Unicorn, the ship captained by Sir Francis Haddock (Captain Haddock's ancestor). In the story, Rackham engages Haddock in battle, resulting in the destruction of Rackham's ship. As his ship is sinking, Rackham boards The Unicorn and manages to gain control of the vessel. Haddock is captured and tied to the ship's mast but is able to escape. Before fleeing, he sets a gunpowder fuse alight to destroy the ship with the pirates on it. As he is about to leave, Rackham appears and the two engage in combat. Haddock kills Rackham and makes his getaway by rowboat to a small island before the ship explodes.
Zorrino is a character from The Adventures of Tintin series of classic comic books drawn and written by Hergé. He is a Quechua indigenous Peruvian boy who made a living selling oranges. Tintin saves him from a pair of goons in Prisoners of the Sun, for which Zorrino acts as Tintin's guide to the Temple of the Sun. When Tintin, Haddock and Zorrino are captured, Zorrino's life is spared by the Incas, but must remain with them (not altogether unwillingly, however) for the rest of his life. However, after Tintin and Haddock were freed, Zorrino had a choice of either going back to his normal life or to stay with the Incas. Zorrino chose the latter.
Colonel Jorgen is a character from The Adventures of Tintin series of classic comic books drawn and written by Hergé. He is one of Tintin's foremost enemies, first encountered in King Ottokar's Sceptre.
The Colonel was formerly known as Colonel Boris and also aide-de-camp to King Muskar XII of Syldavia, whom (in Tintin's own words), he shamefully betrayed, taking part in a conspiracy to steal the Ottokar Sceptre and force the king to abdicate his throne. What happened to him immediately after he was exposed is unclear, but he eventually returns as an agent for an unnamed foreign power in Destination Moon, determined to get his revenge on Tintin. With the assistance of Frank Wolff, he is smuggled on board the Syldavian space program's Moon Rocket. On the moon, Jorgen attempted to launch the rocket, leaving Calculus, the Thom(p)sons and Captain Haddock marooned on the Moon, but was prevented from doing so by Tintin. He was bound and taken down to the rocket's hold, but he nevertheless managed to escape due to the stupidity of the Thompsons (who tried to replace the rope that bound the prisoners with handcuffs). Once again, he attempted to take over the rocket, but after a struggle with Frank Wolff, he was shot through the heart when his gun accidentally discharged, and his dead body was released into space.
Jorgen has the rather bleak distinction of being the only person in the Tintin stories to be killed on stage, in the presence of Tintin and his friends.
Piotr Skut (Piotr Szut) is a character from The Adventures of Tintin series of classic comic books drawn and written by Hergé. He is an eyepatch-wearing Estonian pilot and radio expert, who appears in two albums: The Red Sea Sharks and Flight 714.
The surname Skut (or Szut) does not, however, seem to be Estonian. The closest spelling to Estonian should be Sütt. This is because of an inside joke: when he first meets Tintin and Captain Haddock, he is captured by them and the Captain asks his name. He says Szut, which sounds like the French word "zut", which is roughly translated as "damn". The captain thinks he is insulting him, before he tells him that it's his name. In the English version, he pronounces his name like "scoot", leading the Captain to think he's being told to get lost.
In other language versions, the name is likewise changed:
- Dutch: Piotr Stíc - "stik" = "choke (on it)"
- Finnish: Pjotr Pahk - "pah" = "bah!"
- German: Pjotr Klap - "Klappe!" = "Shut up!"
- Spanish: Piotr Pst - "pst" = "onomatopoeia. Means: I don't care!"
In Flight 714, there is no joke, and his name is still Szut.
Skut's first name, Piotr, is a Russian form of Peter. Thus, this character's name might be better rendered in Estonian as Peeter Sütt.
Skut is initially a mercenary pilot trying to kill Tintin and Haddock on behalf of the Khemed government, but when his plane is shot down, and the heroes generously rescue their would-be assailant, he becomes an ally. He has retired to a life of commercial piloting by the time Flight 714 takes off.
Colonel Sponz (Colonel Sponsz) is a character from The Adventures of Tintin series of classic comic books drawn and written by Hergé. Former Bordurian Chief of Police of Szohôd, Sponz masterminded the plot to kidnap Professor Calculus in The Calculus Affair. Sponz intended to force Calculus to hand over his plans for the ultrasound weapon, or be imprisoned in Borduria for the rest of his life if the proposition is refused.
In Tintin and the Picaros, Sponz is "lent" as an adviser to General Tapioca, under the pseudonym Colonel Esponja. Sponz forges documents laying out a plan to assassinate Tapioca and plants them into the possession of a touring Bianca Castafiore, framing her as a conspirator. As Castafiore paid a disastrous visit to Haddock in The Castafiore Emerald, Sponz frames Tintin, Haddock, and Calculus as well, out of revenge for the humiliation they bestowed upon him in The Calculus Affair. Sponz is finally revealed after Alcazar's Picaros take over the country, and, defeated once again, is shipped off to Borduria.
The physical appearance of Colonel Sponz is based on Herge's brother, Paul Remi, a career soldier. Paul had been the original inspiration for Tintin himself back in 1929. Dubbed "Major Tintin", he took on a new appearance in an attempt to get away from the image. This new look was to serve as the model for Sponz.
A possible younger Sponsz appears among the audience at Tintin's knighthood investiture ceremony at the end of King Ottokar's Sceptre.
General Tapioca from The Adventures of Tintin series of classic comic books drawn and written by Hergé, was the arch-enemy of General Alcazar. He is first mentioned in The Broken Ear and then appears in Tintin and the Picaros. He is the on-again, off-again dictator of San Theodoros (deposed and re-instated in that fictional country's innumerable coups). During Tintin and the Picaros, after being re-instated thanks to Colonel Sponz, he was finally deposed by Tintin, the Captain, and Alcazar. His fate after this last coup is unknown.
General Tapioca has been seen as a typical corrupt leader, brought to power by people cleverer than him, who rule with an iron hand through him. He is part of an attempt at humour; when he is deposed, San Theodoros's (a land of squalid streets, starving inhabitants, and indifferent policemen) only change in that the advertising signs read 'Viva Alcazar' instead of 'Viva Tapioca'.
Allan Thompson is a character from The Adventures of Tintin series of classic comic books drawn and written by Hergé. He was originally a first mate under an alcoholic Haddock, Allan is often involved in smuggling and other criminal activities as one of Rastapopoulos' henchmen. He was known originally as Allan Thompson, but when English translations began to appear, this was shortened down to Allan to avoid confusion with Thomson and Thompson.
He always appears alongside Rastapopoulos, except in The Blue Lotus, when Allan was not yet introduced in the series (though he did appear in redrawn versions of Cigars of the Pharaoh). Allan was first encountered in the introductory album of Captain Haddock, titled The Crab with the Golden Claws, where he was the captain's first officer.
In the comics he was known for his McLean smile, but in the album Flight 714 he loses all of his teeth in a fight with the local inhabitants of the island.
- For the actor "Frank Wolff", see Frank Wolff (actor).
Frank Wolff is a character from The Adventures of Tintin series of classic comic books drawn and written by Hergé.
He is a meek scientist, who assists Calculus during the Moon mission, Wolff earned Captain Haddock's wrath by refusing to allow him to take any alcohol or tobacco on board the rocket (though the captain managed to smuggle some alcohol on board anyway).
Before coming to Syldavia, Wolff was a rocket scientist in the US Space/rocketry Project at Whitesands. He was a compulsive gambler and was under a heavy debt, but he was helped out of the debt by a group of agents in exchange for secret information to the Rocket Programme. Racked with guilt, he escaped to Syldavia, where he got a job on the Syldavian Moon Rocket Programme while trying to bury his past. However, the agents who had helped him out of his debt rediscovered him and blackmailed him into being an inside spy for them. Wolff smuggled out the plan for the experimental rocket, forcing Tintin to destroy it. Also he smuggled in Colonel Jorgen into the Space rocket, thinking he was a journalist chasing the scoop of the century.
Wolff generally stayed out of the story until they landed on the Moon. Here, Jorgen convinced Wolff to escape in the rocket, taking Tintin as hostage, but an act of sabotage by Tintin grounded the rocket (but also caused extensive damage). On the return trip, Wolff tried to stop Jorgen from shooting the crew of the rocket, and Jorgen inadvertently shot himself, dying instantly.
With the rocket's oxygen running out, Wolff, deciding that the mission's troubles were his fault, decided to exit the rocket out of the airlock to leave them enough air. He was presumably killed by decompression and asphyxiation.
The character is obviously based on the spy Klaus Fuchs. Note that the German word 'Fuchs' is literally 'Fox'.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Michael Farr Tintin: The Complete Companion, John Murray (2001) ISBN 0-7195-5522-1
- ^ Thompson, Harry (1991). Tintin: Hergé and his creation, First, Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-52393-x. p32.
- ^ a b c d e f g Thompson, Harry (1991). Tintin: Hergé and his creation, First, Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-52393-x.
- ^ Visual guide to Thomson and Thompson
- ^ Leloup biography at Dupuis website
[edit] External links
- Tintin official site
- The Cult of Tintin at Tintinologist.org
- The unknown Tintin
- Tintin Online
- The Tintin Trivia Quiz
- Spielberg's Tintin - Comics2Film
- Tintin in different languages
- Fictional flags in the Tintin stories
- Tintin in Italy Web site by Gianfranco Goria
- BBC news story about translation of Tintin into Hindi
- Art of Hergé
- BBC news story about the history of Tintin
- Intertintin : Tintin - Kuifje publications by country.
- David's Favourite Captain Haddock Curses
