List of The Adventures of Tintin characters
This is the list of fictional characters in The Adventures of Tintin, the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. The characters are listed alphabetically, grouped by the Main characters, the Antagonists, and the Supporting characters. Before the list, there is an Index of characters for each of the 24 albums.
The supporting characters Hergé created for his series have been described as far more developed than the central character, each imbued with a strength of character and depth of personality that has been compared with that of the characters of Charles Dickens.[1] Hergé used the supporting characters to create a realistic world[2] in which to set his protagonists' adventures. To further the realism and continuity, characters recur throughout the series.
During the German occupation of Belgium during World War II, and the subsequent restrictions this imposed, Hergé was forced to focus on characterisation to avoid depicting troublesome political situations. The public responded positively.[3] Colourful main characters, villainous antagonists, and heroic supporting cast were all introduced during this period.[4][5]
Index of characters by album
Tintin in the Land of the Soviets
- Tintin
- Snowy
- Vlipvlop (Coloured version: Wirchwlov)
- Nokzitov (Coloured version: Lulitzosov)
- Vladimir
- Borschtisov (Coloured version: Boustringovitch)
Tintin in the Congo
- Tintin
- Snowy
- Coco
- Al Capone
- Tom (Tintin in the Congo)
- The Babaorum (Black and White Edition: The Babaoro’m)
- The M’Hatuvu (Black and White Edition: The M’Hatavu)
- Muganga
- The missionary
- Jimmy MacDuff
- Gibbons (Tintin in the Congo)
- Thomson and Thompson (cameo)
- Studios Hergé members (cameo)
Tintin in America
- Tintin
- Snowy
- Big Chief Keen-eyed-Mole
- Bobby Smiles
- Al Capone
- Mike MacAdam
- Bugsy Kidnap
- Maurice Oyle
- Butch
- Pietro
- Nick
- Browsing Bison
- Bull's Eye
- Lame Duck
- Jem and Slim
- Pedro Ramirez
- Fred
- Big Jim
- Jake
- Billy Bolivar
- Rastapopoulos (cameo)
Cigars of the Pharaoh
- Tintin
- Snowy
- Thomson and Thompson
- Sophocles Sarcophagus
- The fakir
- The gunrunner
- Allan
- Rastapopoulos
- Patrash Pasha
- Mr. and Mrs. Snowball
- Oliveira da Figueira
- Maharaja of Gaipajama
- Crown prince of Gaipajama
- Reverend Peacock
- Zloty
- Studios Hergé members (cameo)
The Blue Lotus
- Tintin
- Snowy
- Thomson and Thompson
- Maharaja of Gaipajama
- Crown prince of Gaipajama
- Chang Chong-Chen
- Wang Chen-Yee
- Gibbons
- Dawson
- Mitsuhirato
- The fakir
- Rastapopoulos
- Professor Fang Hsi-ying
- Mrs. Wang
- Yamato
- Ramacharma
The Broken Ear
- Tintin
- Snowy
- Alonso Pérez and Ramón Bada
- Rodrigo Tortilla
- General Alcazar
- General Tapioca
- Trickler
- Corporal Diaz
- Basil Bazarov
- Pablo
- Ridgewell
- The Arumbayas
- The Rumbabas
- Caraco
- Karamelo
- Thomson and Thompson
- Professor Euclide
- Ernestine
- Colonel Barker
- Colonel Jimenez
- Colonel Juanitos
- Jacob Balthazar
- J. Balthazar
- A.J. Walker
- Lopez
- Rodriguez
- Samuel Goldbarr
- Studios Hergé members (cameo)
The Black Island
- Tintin
- Snowy
- Thomson and Thompson
- Dr. Müller
- Puschov
- Ivan
- Ranko
- Fred the fireman
- A. MacLeod
- B. Robertson
- E. McGregor
- T.W. Stewart
- Bert
- Christopher Willoughby-Drupe and Marco Rizotto (cameo)
King Ottokar's Sceptre
- Tintin
- Snowy
- Thomson and Thompson
- Professor Alembick
- King Muskar XII
- Müsstler
- Colonel Jorgen (as Boris)
- Bianca Castafiore
- Igor Wagner
- Mrs. Finch
- Alfred Alembick
- Mrs. Piggott
- Sporovitch
- Captain Wizskitotz
- Trovik
- Sirov
- Zlop
- Lieutenant Kromir
- Major Szplodj
- Kaviarovitch
- Schzlozitch
- Czarlitz
- King Muskar I
- King Ottokar IV
- Staszrvitch
- Colonel Sponsz (cameo)
- Studios Hergé members (cameo)
The Crab with the Golden Claws
- Tintin
- Snowy
- Captain Haddock
- Thomson and Thompson
- Omar Ben Salaad
- Allan
- Mrs. Finch
- Bunji Kuraki
- Jumbo
- Lieutenant Delcourt
- Herbert Dawes
- Tom (The Crab with the Golden Claws)
The Shooting Star
- Tintin
- Snowy
- Captain Haddock
- Bohlwinkel
- Professor Phostle
- Professor Cantonneau
- Professor Philippulus
- Bill the cook
- Captain Chester
- Thomson and Thompson (cameo)
- Studios Hergé members (cameo)
The Secret of the Unicorn
- Tintin
- Snowy
- Captain Haddock
- Thomson and Thompson
- Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine
- Bird brothers
- Aristides Silk
- Barnaby
- Nestor
- Mrs. Finch
- Sir Francis Haddock
- Red Rackham
- Studios Hergé members (cameo)
Red Rackham's Treasure
- Tintin
- Snowy
- Captain Haddock
- Professor Calculus
- Thomson and Thompson
- Bill the cook
- Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine
The Seven Crystal Balls
- Tintin
- Snowy
- Captain Haddock
- Professor Calculus
- Thomson and Thompson
- Sanders-Hardiman expedition members
- General Alcazar (as Ramón Zarate)
- Chiquito
- Rascar Capac
- Professor Tarragon
- Bianca Castafiore
- Nestor
- Madame Yamilah
- Ragdalam the fakir
- Bruno the magician
- Inspector Chambers
- Inspector Jackson
- Studios Hergé members (cameo)
Prisoners of the Sun
- Tintin
- Snowy
- Captain Haddock
- Professor Calculus
- Thomson and Thompson
- Chiquito
- Huascar
- Zorrino
- Prince of the Sun
Land of Black Gold
- Tintin
- Snowy
- Captain Haddock
- Professor Calculus (name mentioned)
- Thomson and Thompson
- Ben Kalish Ezab
- Abdullah
- Bab El Ehr
- Oliveira da Figueira
- Dr. Müller (as Professor Smith)
- Nestor (cameo)
- Bianca Castafiore (cameo)
Destination Moon
- Tintin
- Snowy
- Captain Haddock
- Professor Calculus
- Thomson and Thompson
- Mr. Baxter
- Frank Wolff
- Miller
- Colonel Jorgen
- Dr. Patella
- Nestor
- Studios Hergé members (cameo)
Explorers on the Moon
- Tintin
- Snowy
- Captain Haddock
- Professor Calculus
- Thomson and Thompson
- Mr. Baxter
- Frank Wolff
- Miller
- Colonel Jorgen
- Dr. Patella
The Calculus Affair
- Tintin
- Snowy
- Captain Haddock
- Professor Calculus
- Thomson and Thompson
- Bianca Castafiore
- Irma
- Igor Wagner
- Nestor
- Jolyon Wagg
- Cutts the butcher
- Alfredo Topolino
- Krônik and Klûmsi
- Colonel Sponsz
- Arturo Benedetto Giovanni Giuseppe Pietro Archangelo Alfredo Cartoffoli da Milano
- Marshal Kûrvi-Tasch
- Trickler (cameo)
- Studios Hergé members (cameo)
The Red Sea Sharks
- Tintin
- Snowy
- Captain Haddock
- General Alcazar
- Dawson (as Debrett)
- Ben Kalish Ezab
- Abdullah
- Bab El Ehr
- Oliveira da Figueira
- Piotr Skut
- Rastapopoulos (as Marquis di Gorgonzola)
- Dr. Müller (as Mull Pasha)
- Allan
- Bianca Castafiore
- Professor Calculus
- Thomson and Thompson
- Nestor
- Jolyon Wagg
- Studios Hergé members (cameo)
Tintin in Tibet
- Tintin
- Snowy
- Captain Haddock
- Tharkey
- Blessed Lightning
- Grand Abbot
- Chang Chong-Chen
- The yeti
- Professor Calculus
- Chang Lin-Yee
- Bianca Castafiore (cameo)
The Castafiore Emerald
- Tintin
- Snowy
- Captain Haddock
- Professor Calculus
- Thomson and Thompson
- Bianca Castafiore
- Irma
- Igor Wagner
- Nestor
- Mr. Bolt
- Cutts the butcher
- Jolyon Wagg
- Christopher Willoughby-Drupe and Marco Rizotto
Flight 714 to Sydney
- Tintin
- Snowy
- Captain Haddock
- Professor Calculus
- Laszlo Carreidas
- Piotr Skut
- Spalding
- Paolo Colombani
- Hans Boehm
- Dr. Krollspell
- Allan
- Rastapopoulos
- The Sondonesians
- Mik Kanrokitoff
- Gino
- Jolyon Wagg
Tintin and the Picaros
- Tintin
- Snowy
- Captain Haddock
- Professor Calculus
- Thomson and Thompson
- General Alcazar
- General Tapioca
- Colonel Alvarez
- The Picaros
- Pablo
- Bianca Castafiore
- The Jolly Follies
- Nestor
- Colonel Sponsz (as Colonel Esponja)
- Peggy Alcazar
- Jolyon Wagg
- Ridgewell
- The Arumbayas
- Cutts the butcher
- Christopher Willoughby-Drupe and Marco Rizotto
Tintin and Alph-Art
- Tintin
- Snowy
- Captain Haddock
- Bianca Castafiore
- Nestor
- Endaddine Akass
- Martine Vandezande
- Ramó Nash
- Henri Fourcart
- Ben Kalish Ezab
- Abdullah
- Professor Calculus
- Thomson and Thompson
- Jolyon Wagg
- Irma
- Igor Wagner
- Gibbons
- Trickler
- Cutts the butcher
- Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine (cameo)
Main characters
Tintin
Snowy
Captain Haddock
Professor Calculus
Thomson and Thompson
Bianca Castafiore
Rastapopoulos
Chang Chong-Chen
Nestor
Jolyon Wagg
Antagonists
Endaddine Akass
Endaddine Akass is a
In the two completed versions of Tintin and Alph-Art by Yves Rodier and a pseudonymous writer called Ramó Nash, respectively, Endaddine is indeed revealed to be Rastapopoulos. "They'll never take me alive!" he says in the dramatic conclusion.
Colonel Alvarez
Colonel Alvarez is the polite
Bab El Ehr
In Land of Black Gold, he is shown allied with Dr. Müller and his Skoil Petroleum Company and fighting a guerrilla war against Ben Kalish Ezab, the Emir. Bab El Ehr's men mistake Tintin for a weapons smuggler working for the sheikh, and rescue him from Ben Kalish Ezab's soldiers. After discovering the mistake, Bab El Ehr accuses Tintin of being a spy for the Emir and makes him a prisoner. Tintin collapses from thirst after a long march on foot through the desert, and is left behind by Bab El Ehr.
Bab El Ehr plays a major behind-the-scenes role in The Red Sea Sharks, having used Mosquito fighter planes provided by Mr. Dawson to carry out a successful coup d'état and overthrow the Emir. After Dawson discovers Tintin spying on his arms dealership, he warns Bab El Ehr, who puts out a reward for the capture of Tintin and Haddock. At the close of The Red Sea Sharks, Bab El Ehr's regime is overthrown.
His name is derived from the Brussels dialect word babbelaar or "tattler".
Ramón Bada
See Alonso Pérez and Ramón Bada,
Barnaby
(French: Barnabé)
Barnaby is the man hired by the antique dealers, the Bird brothers, to acquire the three parchments from the three model ships of the Unicorn—the first of which he finds in the Brussels Place du Jeu de Balle old market in The Secret of the Unicorn. When he failed his employers and Tintin purchased the ship instead, first he stole Tintin's Unicorn, then ransacked Tintin's flat after he broke the mast and did not find the parchment. Later, he chloroforms Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine and breaks the mast of his ship, acquiring a parchment. When he brings it to the Bird brothers and then asks them for more money to get the other two, then threatens to expose them when they refuse, he is shot and wounded outside Tintin's flat. He turns from his employers and tries to warn Tintin of them but could only point to feeding birds.
In the
Basil Bazarov
(French: Basil Bazaroff)[6]
Basil Bazarov (formerly Mazarov in an early edition) of the Korrupt Arms Company (Vicking Arms Company in the French edition)
Hergé's Basil Bazarov was "characterised in every detail"
Bird brothers
(French: Les frères Loiseau)[6]
The Bird brothers, Max and G. Bird (French: Maxime et G. Loiseau) are the main adversaries in The Secret of the Unicorn. They are antique dealers who learn about a treasure left by the pirate Red Rackham, and are willing to kill in order to possess it.
In the original French, their names are Loiseau (French for "the bird"). Maxime is renamed Max in the English version. In the
The Bird brothers, like Tintin, are looking for the three parchments from Sir Francis Haddock that hold the secret of Red Rackham's Treasure. They operate from their manor, Marlinspike Hall, where at one point they hold Tintin prisoner to force him to surrender the parchments. Furthermore, they threaten him with torture while refusing to accept Tintin's explanation that a pickpocket had earlier stolen his wallet containing the parchments. Amongst their other crimes is the attempted murder of their helper, Barnaby, just before he can tell Tintin of their plot. The Bird brothers are eventually captured by Thomson and Thompson. Max escapes, but is later caught while trying to flee the country.
In Red Rackham's Treasure, Max Bird is said to have escaped again and is spotted near the Sirius, a ship about to set sail with Tintin and Haddock in their search for the treasure. Thomson and Thompson are thus sent as part of the expedition in order to look out for him, but he never appears. The detectives conclude at the end of the adventure that he was discouraged because of their presence.
At one point of the early development of what became Tintin in Tibet, Hergé originally considered bringing back the Bird brothers in a story in which they frame Nestor for a crime he did not commit. However, Hergé dismissed the idea.[9]
The Bird brothers have not been seen since, though they were depicted in sketches for the unfinished Tintin and Alph-Art, in which they are at the inauguration of Ramó Nash's art exposition.
The Bird Brothers appear in The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of The Unicorn (Video Game Console Version). In the game, they are appear only in Marlinspike.
Hans Boehm
Hans Boehm, who appears briefly in Flight 714 to Sydney, is one of the pilots and hijackers of that flight. Rastapopoulos planned to eliminate him and the other conspirators.
Bohlwinkel
Mr. Bohlwinkel is a financier from the fictitious South American country
Bohlwinkel has physical traits reflecting a
Al Capone
Al Capone is a Chicago crime boss and the main villain in Tintin in the Congo and Tintin in America. In Tintin in the Congo, he runs a criminal diamond smuggling operation, trying to gain control of the African diamond production. He orders thugs to face Tintin in Tintin in America. Capone's main rival in Chicago is Bobby Smiles.
Tintin arrests 355 members of Capone's Central Syndicate of Chicago Gangsters. Capone himself is tied up by Tintin and arrested, but he escapes.[11]
The character is based on the real-life Al Capone of Chicago. Al Capone was alive in 1931 when Hergé depicted him in his comics.[11] He would be the last real-life individual to appear as a character in the Adventures under their real name.
Chiquito
Chiquito, or Rupac Inca Huaco, is a full-blooded Peruvian
He assists General Alcazar in his knife-throwing act, but this serves as a cover since Chiquito, unknown to the General, is out to punish the Sanders-Hardiman expedition members who violated the tomb of his ancestors. He does so by breaking into the homes or offices of the explorers and breaking crystal balls in their presence. The balls contain a coca-derived drug that plunges them into a deep sleep.
One night, at the home of Calculus's friend
Paolo Colombani
Paolo Colombani, is Skut's co-pilot and hijacker of that flight. Rastapopoulos planned to eliminate him and the other conspirators.
Dawson
Mr. J.M. Dawson is the corrupt British Chief of Police of the
Appearing in a more sinister role in
Although he does not reappear after this, Dawson is depicted in some sketches of the unfinished Tintin and Alph-Art, in which he is at the inauguration of Ramó Nash's art exposition.
In the animated series, Dawson's role is highly reduced. He speaks only briefly with first Mitsuhirato (by phone), and then Thomson and Thompson (in person). He does not appear to have anything more than an informal alliance with Mitsuhirato, as he only agrees to help arrest Tintin on trumped-up charges.
Corporal Diaz
(French: Caporal Diaz)
Corporal Diaz was a colonel for
The fakir
The fakir is the loincloth-wearing ascetic appearing in Cigars of the Pharaoh as a high-ranking member of an opium smuggling ring. He shoots darts soaked in the dangerous Rajaijah juice that drives people mad. Among his talents are hypnosis, the Indian rope trick, and escapology (to the point where he is offended by Tintin thinking he could tie him up). He is eventually captured when the leader accidentally knocks him out with a rock that had been intended for Tintin. When the Blue Lotus was originally published in black-and-white, the fakir tells his boss on the phone how he intends to bribe an asylum guard into arranging Tintin's "suicide". It is also later hinted that he is the chairman of the meeting of the hooded leaders of the drug cartel.
In the sequel
Gibbons
Mr. W.R. Gibbons is an American steel trader in The Blue Lotus. Gibbons is portrayed as an overweight, loud-mouthed, racist bigot.[12] He is rude and abusive to a Chinese rickshaw driver, prompting Tintin to intercede. Gibbons also physically assaults a Chinese waiter at the "Occidental Private Club". He reports Tintin to the Japanese authorities in retaliation only to be arrested as a liar when his information is found inaccurate. He is a friend of the Shanghai police chief Dawson who arranges for Gibbons to be released in return for expelling Tintin from the International Settlement into Japanese hands.
In the unfinished adventure Tintin and Alph-Art, Haddock and Tintin visit Bianca Castafiore at an island villa. There they meet a number of guests, including Mr. Gibbons; "He's in import-export", Castafiore says.
Not to be confused with another Gibbons, who is an American criminal worker affiliated with Al Capone and appears only in Tintin in the Congo.
The gunrunner
The gunrunner, who appears in Cigars of the Pharaoh, is an arms trafficker who rescues Tintin from a storm at sea, then turns him over to his enemies when Tintin discovers his weapons of contraband.[14] After he and his men learn that Thomson and Thompson are about to board his ship, he escapes.
He is based on the real life French gunrunner Henry de Monfreid, a writer and adventurer whom Hergé initially admired. When Hergé learnt that Monfreid was providing guns for war, his attitude about him changed.[14]
Huascar
Huascar, in
At Santa-Clara, he arranges a train "accident" that nearly gets them killed by threatening a guard with the consequences of disobeying the orders of the Inca.
At Jauga, however, he sees Tintin defending a young orange seller named
Prisoners of the Sun, originally published in Tintin magazine with additional panels not included later in book form, included a scene with Huascar. In the magazine version, Tintin and Haddock are at the bridge waiting for an unknown guide when they meet Huascar, who tells them that their guide has gotten sick. He smiles at Haddock's insults and walks away. Zorrino then calls them over to the bridge. He claims that Huascar took him prisoner but that he escaped.
Huascar is not to be confused with the more ruthless Chiquito who bears a close resemblance to him.
Ivan
Ivan is a character who appears in The Black Island. He is a chauffeur and henchman of the villainous psychiatrist Dr. Müller, involved in counterfeit money trafficking. He is knocked out, tied and gagged by Tintin at the Black Island, but is later released by Puschov to plot against Tintin, then is finally taken into custody by the police.
Colonel Jorgen
Colonel Boris Jorgen is a sworn enemy of Tintin. They first meet in King Ottokar's Sceptre, where he is known as Colonel Boris and is a relatively minor character, supposedly in the service of King Muskar XII as his aide-de-camp. In fact, Jorgen is one of a number of Syldavian conspirators seeking to overthrow the king, in collaboration with the neighbouring republic of Borduria. As such, the colonel is in direct contact with the Central Committee of the revolutionary Iron Guard movement. Tintin delivers a humiliating knockout punch to him shortly before the Bordurian plot is foiled.
Colonel Jorgen returns in Destination Moon and confronts Tintin again in Explorers on the Moon, having stowed away on the Moon rocket that Tintin and his friends are piloting. Frank Wolff was told he would be a journalist; Jorgen reveals his true plan to steal the rocket when on the Moon. When most of the group leaves on the Moon-tank, Jorgen knocks Tintin out from behind, ties him up, and leaves him on a lower deck. He forces Wolff to help him maroon the others on the Moon, but is prevented from doing so by Tintin, who severs the wires to the engine and holds Jorgen at gunpoint. Jorgen escapes custody during the return flight and attempts to kill the rocket crew. Wolff turns on Jorgen for this, and in the ensuing struggle, Jorgen is inadvertently shot, dying instantly. His body is subsequently ejected into space.
Jumbo
Jumbo is a henchman of Allan while aboard the Karaboudjan in The Crab with the Golden Claws. Allan asks him to watch for Tintin to return through a porthole window, while Tintin emerges instead from his hiding place under the bed. Allan returns to find him tied up with ropes.
Jumbo was a black
Big Chief Keen-eyed-Mole
(French: Taupe-au-regard-perçant)
Big Chief Keen-eyed Mole is the sachem of the Blackfoot Native Americans in the United States and is convinced by crime boss Bobby Smiles that Tintin is attempting to steal their land. He addresses Tintin as "paleface" and plans to execute him using a tomahawk. Tintin then flicks resin at the Chief, who believes that it was done by other members of the tribe using slingshots, and escapes while they all exchange blows. After coming around, Keen-eyed Mole realises that Tintin discovered the secret cave after Smiles speaks with him. He decides to leave the reporter in the hole, and is last seen being forced to leave by the military after an oil discovery in the area.
Dr. Krollspell
Dr. Krollspell is a German doctor and associate of Tintin's enemy Rastapopoulos in Flight 714 to Sydney, but he later changes sides when it is in his best interest to turn from his employer. Krollspell is an ex-Nazi scientist, probably based on Josef Mengele[16] or Adolf Hitler's personal doctor, Theodor Morell. In an interview, Hergé himself suggested that Krollspell had worked in a concentration camp—Flight 714 to Sydney having been published some 20 years after the war. The name "Krollspell" is Brussels dialect for krulspeld, which means "hair curler".
Dr. Krollspell is the head of a psychiatric clinic in New Delhi (Cairo in the English version). He developed a truth serum that Rastapopoulos intends to use on kidnapped millionaire Laszlo Carreidas in order to learn where Carreidas had left a large part of his personal fortune. However, when Rastapopoulos was injected with the serum by accident and "confessed" that he planned to eliminate Krollspell rather than pay him for his assistance, Krollspell joined forces with Tintin and his allies to try to escape from the island. Before the eruption of the volcano, Krollspell is taken away by the aliens along with Rastapopoulos and his gang. By the end of the adventure, a news programme announces that Krollspell was found near his clinic with no memory of how he got there.
Krollspell is depicted in some sketches of the unfinished Tintin and Alph-Art.
Krônik and Klûmsi
(French: Kronick et Himmerszeck)
Krônik and Klûmsi are inept Bordurian ZEP Secret Police agents ostensibly assigned by Colonel Sponsz to ensure Tintin and Captain Haddock's safety and well-being during their visit to the Bordurian capital Szohôd in The Calculus Affair. Their real objective is to prevent the two visitors from making indiscreet inquiries in their hunt for Professor Calculus. Tintin and Haddock neutralise the agents by plying them with drinks at dinner and then locking them in their respective hotel rooms. Their names are undoubtedly puns on "chronic" and "clumsy". They appear to be the Bordurian equivalents of Thomson and Thompson.
Marshal Kûrvi-Tasch
(French: Maréchal Plekszy-Gladz)[6]
Marshal Kûrvi-Tasch is the dictator of the fictional regime of
Kûrvi-Tasch's Bordurian government closely resembles the
Miller
Miller is the calculating spymaster from an unnamed power who masterminds the plot to hijack the Syldavian rocket programme in Destination Moon and Explorers on the Moon. He was the man who offered to help Frank Wolff out of his gambling debts in exchange for information on the rocket programme: Miller is shown in one panel checking a list of personnel at the Centre and finds Wolff's name among them.
Miller is first seen on the plane to Syldavia in Destination Moon. He was seated in the row ahead of Tintin and Captain Haddock and was astonished to hear the Captain mention the name "
Like any good spymaster, Miller designated various codenames to his targets and operations: the Centre was referred to as the "Main Workshop"; Calculus and Haddock were "Mammoth" and "Whale"; and the operation to hijack the crewed rocket to the Moon was called "Ulysses" (after the Greek hero who also goes on an epic journey and is himself a master of intrigue and deception).
Mitsuhirato
Mitsuhirato is a Japanese double agent who appears in The Blue Lotus. He owns a women's clothing shop on the Street of Tranquility in Shanghai and appears friendly to Tintin, but Mitsuhirato also plots with Dawson and is involved in a drug trafficking cabal with Rastapopoulos while working for the Japanese government. Mitsuhirato is characterised as an evil, scheming person, exploiting political turmoil in China to his and his country's advantage. He is depicted as unscrupulous and militaristic, with stereotypically rectangular teeth.[12] After his subsequent capture at the end of The Blue Lotus, he committed suicide by hara-kiri.
Dr. Müller
(French: Docteur Müller)
Dr. J. W. Müller is the evil German psychiatrist
Müller's first appearance is in The Black Island where he is in league with British counterfeiters. He tries to send Tintin to his psychiatric clinic, but Tintin defeats him and Müller accidentally burns his own house. He and his henchman Ivan manage to recover some of the counterfeit money and fly away to the Black Island. Once there, Tintin knocks out and gags Müller, but he is subsequently released by his employer Puschov and the other members of the counterfeit gang. Müller is ultimately taken into custody.
Dr. Müller also appears in
Dr. Müller is based on Dr. Georg Bell , a Nazi counterfeiter of Scottish descent whom Hergé had learnt about from the February 1934 issue of Le Crapouillot, a source of information for him at the time. Dr. Bell was linked to the Nazi party at its highest levels and was involved in a plot to destabilise Soviet Russia through counterfeiting Russian roubles.[19][21]
Müsstler
Müsstler is the unseen powerful despot in King Ottokar's Sceptre; a Syldavian political agitator and leader of the "Iron Guard", cover for the ZZRK (Syldavian Central Revolutionary Committee). He plots the deposition of the Syldavian king and the annexation of the country by Borduria.
Hergé arrived at the character's name by combining the surnames of Italy's National Fascist leader Benito Mussolini and Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. Müsstler's group, the Iron Guard, is named after a Romanian fascist group.[22] Bordurian officers wear uniforms based on those of the German SS.[23] Literary critic Jean-Marie Apostolidès of Stanford University asserted that the inclusion of the Iron Guard evoked Colonel François de La Rocque's Croix-de-Feu,[24] noting that the figure of Müsstler was "the Evil One without a face".[24]
Omar Ben Salaad
Omar Ben Salaad is a wealthy
Tintin, however, discovers him to be behind an opium trafficking ring, which uses tins of crab to smuggle the drug. When Tintin was captured early in the adventure, it was Salaad who wired the initial order to have Tintin thrown overboard, but Tintin's escape prevented it. Later, Tintin discovers the base where the opium is stored is in Salaad's cellar, with an entrance behind a bookcase. Salaad tries to shoot Tintin but is knocked out when Snowy bites him, causing him to shoot a chandelier onto himself, and is arrested. It is later revealed that his activities went all the way to the Far East.
Omar Ben Salaad's city Bagghar sounds like bagarre, the French word for "fight" or "brawl". "Omar" is a common Arabic name, but Omar Salaad also sounds like homard salade ("lobster salad").
Omar Ben Salaad is portrayed by
Pablo
Pablo is a native of
Pablo returned in Tintin and the Picaros, where he appeared to help Tintin and his friends escape their current captivity, but really putting them in a position where they could be shot while trying to escape. When Tintin discovered his treachery, he allowed Pablo to go free, as he remembered Pablo once saved his life.
Alonso Pérez and Ramón Bada
(French: Alonzo Perez et Ramon Bada)
Alonso Pérez and Ramón Bada are the chief antagonists in
Puschov
(French: Wronzoff)
Puschov is leader of the international gang of banknote counterfeiters in The Black Island, handler of Ranko the gorilla and superior to Dr. Müller. He is a cunning and deceptive figure, framing Tintin for the assault on the train, tricking Tintin when he "returns from the dead" (he falls on his knees and begs the "ghost" for mercy, only to trip him and acquire his gun). He wields Ranko against his pursuers. He is handcuffed by Tintin, but he manages to escape and release the other members of the counterfeit gang. He and his allies are ultimately taken into custody.
Ranko
Ranko is a gorilla who is used by Puschov, employer of Dr. Müller, to frighten inquisitive intruders away from The Black Island, where forgers are printing counterfeit banknotes off the Scottish coast. At first, Ranko seems very fierce and bloodthirsty, but he is easily controlled by Snowy's barking, which terrifies him. He develops an affection for Tintin after receiving first aid from him for a broken arm. After the events of The Black Island, he is sent to a zoo in Glasgow (London in the original), as shown in the newspaper clippings at the end of the story.
Rascar Capac
Rascar Capac is the
Red Rackham
(French: Rackham le Rouge)[6]
Red Rackham is the pirate who attacks the Unicorn, the ship captained by Sir Francis Haddock (Captain Haddock's ancestor). Rackham engages Haddock in battle, resulting in the almost total destruction of Rackham's ship. As his ship is sinking, Rackham and his men board the Unicorn and manage to gain control of the vessel. Haddock is captured and tied to the ship's mast and the crew is cast overboard. Rackham intends to have Haddock tortured by his men the following day, but before he can, Haddock frees himself and they engage in single combat using cutlasses. Rackham is killed in the duel and Sir Francis manages to destroy the Unicorn and escape.
The character Red Rackham was based on the 17th century buccaneers John "Calico Jack" Rackham, Blackbeard, and Montbars the Exterminator.
In the
Bobby Smiles
Bobby Smiles is a Chicago crime boss whose rival is Al Capone (Tintin in America). He begins by offering Tintin a salary to join him against his rival. After Tintin refuses, Smiles kidnaps him and orders his gangsters to drop him into Lake Michigan, where Tintin outwits them. Smiles flees to the fictional Redskin City, where he manages to convince the Native Americans to turn against Tintin. He is eventually arrested, delivered to Chicago police headquarters, and brought to justice.[26]
In the animated series, Smiles works for Capone, rather than against him.
The Sondonesians
(French: Les Sondonésiens)
The Sondonesians are the fictional Southeast Asian people who appear in Flight 714 to Sydney. The name sounds similar to "Indonesians" and may also refer to the Indonesian Sunda Islands.
Rastapopoulos hires the Sondonesians as mercenaries to collaborate in his scheme to steal the fortune of Laszlo Carreidas, explaining that he will help them in their war for independence. They assist in capturing Carreidas' plane and diverting it to an Indonesian island, keeping the passengers and pilot imprisoned in old Japanese WWII bunkers. Rastapopoulos has mined the Sondonesians' junks so that they will be eliminated.
When
Hergé depicts the Sondonesians using the real Indonesian language. While on duty, two of Tintin's captors talk about a particular Indonesian dish that originated in Java:
Spalding
Spalding appears in Flight 714 to Sydney; he is the British secretary for millionaire Laszlo Carreidas and is one of the hijackers of that flight. Captain Haddock mistakes him for Carreidas when they first meet. Rastapopoulos planned to eliminate him and the other conspirators. He is finally seen being abducted by the aliens and brought to an unknown fate.
In an interview with the Sunday Times in 1968, Hergé is quoted as saying that Spalding was "a British public school man, obviously the black sheep of his family". Spalding has a formal manner, stiff upper lip, and fashionable clothes.
Colonel Sponsz
Colonel Sponsz is the monocle-wearing military official and Chief of Police of the Bordurian capital Szohôd, as well as head of the ZEP Secret Police, which operates on behalf of the country's dictator Marshal Kûrvi-Tasch. He first appears in The Calculus Affair; he is the mastermind behind the kidnapping of Professor Calculus by ZEP to force Calculus to use his research on ultrasonic waves to create a weapon of mass destruction. He also arranges for Tintin and Captain Haddock, who are attempting to rescue Calculus, to be shadowed by ZEP agents Krônik and Klûmsi, who pose as translators. After Tintin and Haddock escape from Krônik and Klûmsi and hide in the Opera, Sponsz orders the police to surround the Opera while going to hear Bianca Castafiore sing. Unbeknownst to Sponsz, Tintin and Haddock are hiding in Castafiore's closet when Sponsz visits her in her dressing room. The two protagonists thus hear the entirety of the Bordurian plan for Calculus. Tintin and Haddock also manage to steal passes for two Red Cross representatives and a release order for Calculus from Sponsz's coat; they use these and some disguises obtained from the Opera to sneak Calculus out of the fortress of Bakhine, into neighbouring Syldavia, and home.
Sponsz reappears in
Hergé used his own brother, Paul Remi, as the model for Sponsz, although he was also influenced by the image of the
Mr. and Mrs. Snowball
Mr. and Mrs. Snowball are members of the secret Kih-Oskh organization, a gang of international opium-smugglers in
General Tapioca
General Tapioca is the arch-rival of
In The Seven Crystal Balls, Tapioca has exiled Alcazar from San Theodoros, taking his role as the dictator of the country. By The Red Sea Sharks, Dawson is selling planes to Tapioca and to Alcazar. At the end of the adventure, a newspaper clipping reports that Alcazar has again ousted Tapioca.
In Tintin and the Picaros, Tapioca, who appears in person for the first time, is now being helped by Colonel Sponsz of Borduria, an old foe of Tintin and Captain Haddock, who was assigned by Marshal Kûrvi-Tasch to San Theodoros and serve as Tapioca's technical adviser. General Tapioca's regime is overthrown by Alcazar with the help of Tintin and Captain Haddock. Although Tapioca approves of Alcazar's plan to execute him, he and Alcazar both submit to Tintin's petition to spare Tapioca and exile him to Borduria.
Allan Thompson
Allan Thompson, commonly Allan, is a British-American criminal henchman and merchant seaman,[29] often involved in smuggling and other criminal activities. His complete name is Allan Thompson in the original French, but English translations leave out his surname to avoid confusion with the detectives Thomson and Thompson.
Originally, Allan was the treacherous
Also, he neither appeared in Tintin and Alph-Art, nor was he supposed to appear, but in Rodier's version of Tintin and Alph-Art, Allan quit his life as a mariner and became a mailman in the mainland United States. At some point, Rastapopoulos attempted to reach out to Allan and offer him a job, but Allan refused to return to the criminal empire. In another completed version of that unfinished comic by a writer using the pseudonym Ramó Nash, Allan is again portrayed as an associate of Rastapopoulos.
Allan is portrayed by
Trickler
(French: Chicklet)
Mr. R.W. Trickler is an unscrupulous American businessman in
Trickler tries unsuccessfully to bribe Tintin into convincing General Alcazar to start a war against Nuevo-Rico. When that fails, he tries to have Tintin assassinated and bribes Alcazar in person, then has Tintin framed as a spy and nearly executed. At the end of the adventure, it turns out the Gran Chapo region has no trace of oil.
He appears anonymously in
In the unfinished adventure Tintin and Alph-Art, Haddock and Tintin visit Bianca Castafiore at an island villa. There they meet a number of guests, including Mr. Trickler; "Director of an important oil company", Castafiore says.
Supporting characters
Abdullah
(French: Abdallah)
Abdullah is the spoiled, mischievous young prince of the fictional
Abdullah is a serial practical joker whose favourite victim is the short-tempered Captain Haddock. He is doted upon by his father. Abdullah has a tendency to dislike people and promise punishments from his father to everyone who annoys him—even as he is playing pranks on them. He begins to heavily like Captain Haddock (mistaking his name as Blistering Barnacles), finding his tantrums and general behaviour hilarious.
General Alcazar
(French: Général Alcazar)
General Alcazar is a friend of Tintin and is the occasional dictator of the fictional
Peggy Alcazar
Peggy Alcazar is the wife of General Alcazar in Tintin and the Picaros. Appearing first in hair curlers and later with a high ponytail, she dominates General Alcazar and makes him do the housework.
Professor Alembick
(French: Professeur Nestor Halambique)[6]
Professor Hector Alembick is a
Professor Alembick's name is a pun on alembic, an alchemical still.
The Arumbayas
The Arumbayas are an indigenous people living in the South American
Mr. Baxter
Mr. Baxter is the Director General of the Sprodj Atomic Research Centre, appearing in Destination Moon and Explorers on the Moon. He is humble, refusing to go to the Moon in Captain Haddock's place when it is offered to him, and he works well with Professor Calculus, whom he supports completely. He misses most of the excitement of the Moon journey, having to stay and man the Centre, but acquires some of it when the returning Moon rocket nearly lands on his car.
Ben Kalish Ezab
Mohammed Ben Kalish Ezab is the
Ben Kalish Ezab is depicted as kind and jovial to his friends and vicious and cruel to his enemies. On one occasion, Dr. Müller attempted suicide rather than be handed over to him. More than anything else, he dotes on his son Abdullah.
Kalish Ezab is a wordplay; in Brussels dialect, kalisjensap means "liquorice juice".
Bill the cook
(French: Van Damme)
Bill, a ship's cook, is the cook on board the Aurora during The Shooting Star. He then returned as cook on board the Sirius during Red Rackham's Treasure and was the first character seen in that adventure, meeting a friend at a pub before sailing. His indiscreet talk of treasure hunting was overheard by a newspaper reporter, which, after that story was published, caused Tintin and Captain Haddock to be besieged with more newspaper reporters. Bill was beleaguered by both Snowy and Professor Calculus, the former who stole a chicken and the latter who stole a box of biscuits.
Blessed Lightning
Blessed Lightning is a
Mr. Bolt
(French: Isidore Boullu)
Mr. Arthur Bolt is a
Laszlo Carreidas
Laszlo Carreidas, a wealthy aircraft manufacturer
His unassuming figure notwithstanding, Carreidas is revealed to be a cunning individual with a long history of unscrupulous behaviour not limited to the business world; he is not above cheating Captain Haddock at a game of
Carreidas' name is a pun: carré d'as means "four aces" in French. Accordingly, the logo on the tail of his business jet consists of four aces. Hergé based Carreidas on Marcel Dassault, the French aircraft industrialist, who possessed a similar combination of wealth, aeronautical engineering genius, and quaint notions of fashion (Dassault's wardrobe remained frozen in the mid-1930s).
Carreidas is depicted in some sketches of the unfinished Tintin and Alph-Art, in which he is seen at the inauguration of Ramó Nash's art exposition.
Captain Chester
Captain Chester, an old friend of Captain Haddock, 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 that Tintin at first interprets as the build-up to 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 it to secretly refuel Haddock's research vessel in Iceland when their competitors block the supply, allowing his friend to continue his voyage.
Chester later lends the Sirius to Haddock when he and Tintin set off to find Red Rackham's Treasure. Chester is briefly mentioned in The Seven Crystal Balls—Tintin and Haddock attempt to visit him while he is docked at a port—but he departs before they arrive. He is one of the people to send Haddock a telegram in The Castafiore Emerald.
Coco
Coco is a Congolese boy who is Tintin's assistant in Tintin in the Congo. He speaks in an old-fashioned pidgin dialect. Fiercely loyal, he is the one person whom Tintin can fully rely on during his travels there.
Cutts the butcher
(French: Boucherie Sanzot)[6]
Cutts the butcher runs the local butcher's shop whose phone number of 431 is frequently mistaken for 421 to Marlinspike Hall. As a result, the mansion's inhabitants are endlessly plagued by orders for lamb chops and sausages. The irony is that when making calls himself, Captain Haddock usually ends up getting put through to Cutts' shop, rather than the place he was actually calling.
The unseen delivery man from Cutts' butcher shop plays a vital 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.
It would appear that Cutts is also the local mayor, since he can be seen dressed very formally along with the local municipal band congratulating Haddock and Bianca Castafiore on their "engagement" in The Castafiore Emerald. He had one last reference at the start of Tintin and Alph-Art, where a call for him was made.
In the original French, the name of the butcher's shop Boucherie Sanzot is a pun. Sanzot sounds like sans os, which means "without bones". The English translation uses Cutts to make a different pun.[31] Cutts also appeared in a French TV ad for cooking oil with Professor Calculus in 1979.[32]
Lieutenant Delcourt
Lieutenant Delcourt is a French officer of the Méharistes (desert camel corps), who appears in The Crab with the Golden Claws. He is in command of the outpost of Afghar, in the Sahara desert. He assists Tintin and Captain Haddock on their way to find the missing freighter Karaboudjan.
Christopher Willoughby-Drupe and Marco Rizotto
(French: Jean-Loup de la Battellerie et Walter Rizotto)
Christopher Willoughby-Drupe and Marco Rizotto are a writer and photographer 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 announcing that the Captain and the Diva are engaged. They later appear briefly in Tintin and the Picaros. They make a cameo appearance in the redrawn version of The Black Island; Willoughby-Drupe is shown interviewing the old man in the pub while Rizotto is in the crowd of reporters welcoming Tintin at the docks (page 61).
Hergé created the pair after being interviewed for Paris Match and finding the resulting piece dubious.
Professor Euclide
Professor Euclide is an absent-minded professor appearing in The Broken Ear who forgets his glasses, wears his cleaning-lady's overcoat, holds his cane upside down as if it were an umbrella, mistakes a parrot for a man, and leaves his briefcase next to a lamp post.[28] In the original edition published in 1935, his name is given as Professor Euclide (after the Greek mathematician). He is one of Hergé's many prototypes for Professor Calculus.[28]
Oliveira da Figueira
Senhor Oliveira da Figueira (or Oliveira de Figueira) is the friendly Portuguese salesman who can sell even the most trivial of items. He and Tintin first meet in Cigars of the Pharaoh.[14] Tintin and Snowy have been cast adrift in the Red Sea when they are picked up by a dhow; Figueira is a passenger. He quickly talks Tintin into buying a variety of superfluous objects. He later appears in Land of Black Gold, where he plays a valuable role in helping Tintin infiltrate Dr. Müller's headquarters, taking Tintin there disguised as his nephew while keeping the guards distracted with an elaborate story. In The Red Sea Sharks, he hides Tintin and Captain Haddock in his house so they can speak to the Emir. He gets a brief mention in The Castafiore Emerald, when he sends good wishes to Captain Haddock following news claiming that he and Bianca Castafiore are engaged.
Oliveira de Figueira is the form used by Hergé in the later appearances of this character. He is named Oliveira da Figueira (lit. "Olive-tree of the Fig-tree") in his initial appearances. For The Red Sea Sharks Hergé changed his name to Oliveira de Figueira. (Both spellings are correct in Portuguese: "de" means "of", while "da" means "of the".)
Mrs. Finch
(French: Mme Pinson)
Mrs. Finch is Tintin's landlady at 26 Labrador Road , where Tintin lived before joining Captain Haddock at Marlinspike Hall. A simple soul, she was badly frightened when Bunji Kuraki of the Yokohama police force was kidnapped from the street outside Tintin's flat during The Crab with the Golden Claws.
The address 26 Labrador Road (French: 26, rue du Labrador) is also the real-life address of the Musée Hergé.
Henri Fourcart
Henri Fourcart is director of Fourcart Gallery that hosts the Alph-Art exhibition of artist Ramó Nash in Tintin and Alph-Art. When he is introduced to Captain Haddock, he recognises him as the friend of the famous Tintin and requests to meet him. He is killed in a car accident under suspicious circumstances before the meeting can take place.
Grand Abbot
The Grand Abbot is head of an order of
Sir Francis Haddock
(French: Chevalier François de Hadoque)[6]
Sir Francis Haddock is an ancestor of Captain Haddock. He is a
He is mentioned obliquely in Flight 714 to Sydney by the Captain, who says "one of my ancestors went in for naval warfare."
There are hints that Sir Francis Haddock is an illegitimate son of the
Sir Francis Haddock is portrayed by
Irma
Irma is the maid of Bianca Castafiore. Irma first appears in The Calculus Affair before appearing in The Castafiore Emerald. Castafiore describes her as a faithful, loyal, and honest servant. Despite giving a meek impression, she has a strong sense of personal pride: when Thomson and Thompson accuse Irma of stealing Castafiore's emerald, she becomes angry and assaults them with a walking stick. In Tintin and the Picaros, she is arrested and put in jail along with Castafiore and Igor Wagner. She also appears in Tintin and Alph-Art as a background character and is the person who informs Castafiore of Tintin and Captain Haddock's arrival to Endaddine Akass's villa.
Mik Kanrokitoff
(French: Mik Ezdanitoff)[6]
Mik Kanrokitoff (Russian: Михаил Канрокитов Mikhail Kanrokitov) is a Russian writer for the magazine Space Week. His name is Ezdanitoff in the original version, another example of Hergé's Bruxellois wordplay; is dat niet tof in Dutch means "isn't that nice".
His fortuitous appearance in
Although he was never seen by Tintin and his friends after this, Kanrokitoff is depicted in some sketches of the unfinished Tintin and Alph-Art, in which he is at the inauguration of Ramó Nash's art exposition, apparently recognizing Tintin.
This character was inspired by French ufologist Jacques Bergier.[35]
Bunji Kuraki
Bunji Kuraki is a Japanese detective of the Yokohama police force appearing in The Crab with the Golden Claws. He was investigating a powerful gang of drug smugglers in the Far East and followed their trail to Europe, but was kidnapped from the street outside Tintin's flat before he could warn him. He was finally able to meet Tintin at the end of the adventure after he had been freed by police.
Maharaja of Gaipajama
(French: Maharadjah de Rawhajpoutalah)
The Maharaja of Gaipajama is the monarch of a fictional princely state of India. He is kind and immediately trusting of Tintin, whom he meets in Cigars of the Pharaoh. The Maharaja explains that his family have long been fighting a criminal opium-smuggling gang. The Blue Lotus opens in the Maharaja's palace, where Tintin has been his guest.
Gaipajama is a nonsensical mix of two Hindi words: Gai (cow) and pajama.[36] The original French name is Rawajpoutalah.
Arturo Benedetto Giovanni Giuseppe Pietro Archangelo Alfredo Cartoffoli da Milano
(French: Arturo Benedetto Giovanni Giuseppe Pietro Archangelo Alfredo Cartoffoli dé Milano)
Arturo Benedetto Giovanni Giuseppe Pietro Archangelo Alfredo Cartoffoli da Milano is the expert Italian driver of a
King Muskar XII
King Muskar XII is the monarch of
Tintin discovered a plot to steal the sceptre and set out to warn King Muskar XII, though traitorous elements in the king's entourage, led by his aide-de-camp Boris (Colonel Jorgen), were ready to stop him. Upon hearing of the plot, the monarch was fair-minded enough to investigate Tintin's claims, which turned out to be true: the sceptre had been stolen, a constitutional crisis was imminent, and Syldavia was about to be plunged into an invasion by its long-term enemy Borduria. Muskar then orders his ministers and generals to prevent the invasion. The revolutionary party in the adventure, called the Iron Guard, may have been inspired by the Fascist paramilitary groups widespread in Europe between the wars. The abdication crisis was very similar to that of the Anschluss in Austria in 1938, though the conclusion was not the same.
King Muskar XII and his country do not appear to have been based on definitive models; both were inspired by various Eastern European and
King Muskar XII is noticeably absent from the post-war stories set in Syldavia: he does not appear at the launching of the Moon rocket in Destination Moon and Tintin does not call on him for help when his friend Professor Calculus is kidnapped by Bordurian and later Syldavian agents in The Calculus Affair. The post-war Syldavia may no longer be a monarchy; the later Adventures set after World War II come at a time when the Balkan royal models for the fictional Syldavia had been overthrown and their rulers exiled.
Ramó Nash
Ramó Nash is an artist and the creator of Alph-Art that Captain Haddock purchases at the Fourcart Gallery in Tintin and Alph-Art. Tintin learns that Nash is under the control of Endaddine Akass to fabricate paintings of the masters in an art forgery ring.
In the unofficial completed version of Tintin and Alph-Art by Yves Rodier, Nash is of Jamaican nationality. He saves the lives of Tintin and Captain Haddock by defeating Akass.
Dr. Patella
(French: Docteur Rotule)
Dr. Patella is a ginger bearded
In 2000, on one episode of the French-language version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, 73 percent of the voting audience correctly identified Dr. Patella (French: Docteur Rotule) as the doctor who treated Captain Haddock in Explorers on the Moon.[39] This led to allegations that the show was rigged: one Tintin fan questioned how such a large portion of the audience could pick from four options the correct answer, especially given Dr. Patella's very minor role in the series. A psychoanalyst postulated that children remember proper names much better than adults, hence its retention by members of the audience who read Tintin in their youth.[39]
The name Patella (and Rotule) has a medical origin. It means "kneecap".
Patrash Pasha
Professor Philippulus
Professor Philippulus, or Philippulus the Prophet as he calls himself, is an
Philippulus represents the dilemmas some face over religious belief and scientific research. In his case, the conflict took a toll on his mind when the end of the world appeared to be imminent.
Professor Phostle
(French: Professeur Hippolyte Calys)[6]
Professor Decimus Phostle is an astronomer,
Phostle was to return in Destination Moon and Explorers on the Moon as a villain, but that early draft by Bernard Heuvelmans was abandoned by Hergé.[37] In Hergé's Adventures of Tintin (made from 1957 to 1964), he was replaced by Professor Calculus.
The Picaros
The Picaros are a band of
Tintin offers to cure the Picaros of their alcoholism if Alcazar agrees to refrain from killing Tapioca and his men. Alcazar reluctantly agrees. Moments after the Picaros are cured, a musical troupe called the Jolly Follies arrives, intending to perform at the upcoming carnival in San Theodoros. Alcazar, with a little advice from Tintin, launches an assault on Tapioca's palace during the carnival by dressing the Picaros in the troupe's costumes and sneaking them into the capital.
Prince of the Sun
The Prince of the Sun is the reigning monarch over a lost, Sun-worshipping
Ridgewell
Ridgewell is a British explorer who travelled into the South American rainforest occupied by the Arumbayas. He first appears in The Broken Ear and appears later in Tintin and the Picaros.[41] Ridgewell settled down with the Arumbayas and decided to stay, not caring if the outside world knew if he was dead or alive. When Tintin ventured into Arumbaya territory, Ridgewell initially fired darts at him in order to scare him away, but later agreed to take him to the Arumbaya village for information.
Ridgewell did bring some of Western civilisation to the Native South Americans, such as introducing them to the game of golf. However, the players do not appear to have mastered it well—on one occasion hitting Tintin rather than the hole in the ground.
Ridgewell's influence on the Arumbayas resulted in him gaining an enemy in the local witch doctor. When Ridgewell was captured by an enemy nation called the Rumbabas (Bibaros in the original version), the witch doctor kept this from the other Arumbayas, hoping to be rid of his rival. When one Arumbaya expressed concern for Ridgewell, the witch doctor threatened to turn him and his family into frogs. But Ridgewell got away and fired a dart into the witch doctor's bottom as punishment. Fortunately, unlike the Arumbayas, Ridgewell did not use poisoned darts.
Ridgewell is also a
The character of Ridgewell is strongly reminiscent of the real-life British explorer Percy Fawcett who disappeared in the Amazon in 1925 under similar circumstances.
Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine
Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine lives in Brussels and is a collector of models of ships, among which, one is the Unicorn. He appears in The Secret of the Unicorn, in the old market. Noticing another model of the Unicorn, he and another man Barnaby try to buy it, only to find that it has already been claimed by Tintin. Tintin declines all the offers made by Barnaby and Sakharine to buy the model off him.
Tintin's Unicorn is later stolen and he suspects Sakharine of the theft. Visiting Sakharine, he discovers the other Unicorn model. Sakharine is later attacked by Barnaby who steals the parchment from the model ship. It is one of three parchments that lead to a treasure. The Bird brothers are later arrested and claim that the parchments they obtained have since been stolen. Tintin thinks Mr. Sakharine stole the two parchments, but he soon discovers they were pickpocketed by Aristides Silk and recovers them.
At the end of Red Rackham's Treasure, Mr. Sakharine can be seen attending the exhibition held at Marlinspike Hall, together with his landlady, showing off the various items recovered from the actual ship itself. He appears to have offered Captain Haddock his Unicorn model, which is shown in the display with the other two.
In the unfinished Tintin adventure Tintin and Alph-Art, the surviving drafts of the story suggest that Haddock and Tintin notice Sakharine at a meeting hosted by mystic Endaddine Akass.
In the film adaptation
Sanders-Hardiman expedition members
(French: Les membres de l’expédition Sanders-Hardtmut)
The Sanders-Hardiman expedition members brought the Incan mummy Rascar Capac back to Europe in The Seven Crystal Balls. The members of the expedition are: Professor Sanders-Hardiman (French: Professeur Sanders-Hardtmut, head of the expedition), Professor Reedbuck (French: Professeur Laubépin), Peter Clarkson (French: Clairmont, expedition photographer), Mark Falconer (French: Marc Charlet), Professor Paul Cantonneau (who also made an appearance in The Shooting Star), Dr. Midge (French: Docteur Hornet, director of the Darwin Museum), and Professor Hercules Tarragon (French: Professeur Hippolyte Bergamotte, who has the Rascar Capac mummy in his possession). They were hospitalised while cursed by the Incas as punishment for the theft of the mummy, put into comas and made to suffer nightmares. Tintin visited the Incas' hidden temple in order to save Professor Calculus, who had been kidnapped by them. He persuaded the Prince of the Sun to lift the curse, assuring the Incas that the expedition's purpose was not to steal from their people but simply to teach others about them. The Prince of the Sun releases his control over the Sanders-Hardiman expedition members and they awaken from their curse.
Sophocles Sarcophagus
(French: Philémon Siclone)[6]
Sophocles Sarcophagus is an
Sophocles leads Tintin to the tomb hidden under the sand, but disappears soon after finding it. He, Tintin, and Snowy end up floating in sarcophagi in the middle of the Red Sea. Sophocles is then picked up by a ship captained by Allan, a drug smuggler, whose gang uses the tomb of Kih-Oskh as a base. With Sophocles as a prisoner, the ship sets off for India.
When Cigars of the Pharaoh was first published in the 1930s, Sarcophagus was an unnamed and beardless scholar who wore sunglasses. When Tintin explored the tomb, he found sarcophagi for himself and Snowy but not for the scholar, who does not even turn up in the Red Sea incident—thus, how he ends up in India is unexplained. Tintin finds Sophocles in the Indian jungle completely by chance in a string of absurd coincidences,[43] painting the symbol of Kih-Oskh on palm trees. Tintin even speculates that the scholar is a member of the gang of drug smugglers that he finds himself pitted against. Sophocles is now completely mad because he has been given poison called Rajaijah, imagining himself to be Pharaoh Ramesses II. He is eventually committed to a sanatorium in India for treatment. In The Blue Lotus, an antidote for Rajaijah was developed, but it was never revealed whether Sarcophagus was cured.
Aristides Silk
(French: Aristide Filoselle)
Aristides Silk is a pickpocket who becomes a pivotal character in The Secret of the Unicorn, inadvertently collecting the parchments leading to Red Rackham's Treasure. Silk claims he is not a thief, but admits he is a kleptomaniac. He explains he adores wallets and displays his large collection, none of which have been emptied of their contents.
He is first seen in the market near the beginning of the adventure, moving away from Thomson and Thompson just before they discover that their wallets have been stolen. He later steals Tintin's wallet containing the parchments of Sir Francis Haddock that hold the location of Red Rackham's treasure. He is among the invited guests at the end of that adventure in the Maritime Gallery at Marlinspike Hall.
Aristides Silk is portrayed by
Piotr Skut
(French: Piotr Szut)
Piotr Skut, an
In Flight 714 to Sydney, Skut has become a
Neither Piotr, Skut, nor Szut (in the original French) are plausible Estonian names. Piotr is Polish for Peter while the correct Estonian version would be Peeter. The name Skut was rather an excuse for a gag, as Captain Haddock believes he is telling him to "scoot" rather than introducing himself. In the original French, the Captain mistakes the name "Szut" for "zut", the French exclamation of frustration. In other international versions, his last name is changed to entail a rudely dismissive or slightly offensive term befitting the language in question.
The Skut character is based on Remi Milk , an Estonian pilot who escaped to Sweden from Estonia in an Arado floatplane.[44]
Studios Hergé members
Other cameos in the Adventures include Auguste Piccard, whom the character Professor Calculus is based on (appearing in The Shooting Star, page 21, frame 2, as the scientist on the far right) and Quick & Flupke, characters in a separate Hergé series (appearing in Tintin in the Congo, page 1, frame 1, as two boys in the group, and also appearing in The Shooting Star, page 20, frame 8, as two boys running ahead of Thomson and Thompson, who are also making a cameo appearance in that book).
Professor Tarragon
(French: Professeur Hippolyte Bergamotte)[6]
Professor Hercules Tarragon hosts a mysterious evening for Tintin and his friends in The Seven Crystal Balls. He was one of the Sanders-Hardiman expedition members and displays the mummy of Rascar Capac in his home. He had previously been a classmate of Professor Calculus and this connection enables Calculus, Tintin and Captain Haddock to visit him at home one evening while he is under heavy guard during a summer rainstorm.
Professor Tarragon is a large, strong, and ebullient character, whom Calculus formally called "Hercules". Tarragon seems fearless until a fireball bursts through his chimney and vaporises the mummy; he then becomes very shaken and fears that an ancient prophecy is coming true. That same night, he is the last to be attacked by means of the crystal balls.
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 Captain Haddock 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 help Tintin and Haddock out of a dangerous situation. However, he subsequently breaks his arm from an avalanche and must return to the plains after partly convalescing at a Buddhist monastery while Tintin and the Captain continue their search for Chang.
Tharkey was based on
Alfredo Topolino
Alfredo Topolino is a Swiss expert in ultrasonics residing in Nyon, Switzerland, who appears in The Calculus Affair. An acquaintance of Professor Calculus, he survives first an assault on his doorstep then the destruction of his house by Bordurian agents interested in Calculus's work. His manservant Boris works for the secret service of that country. His last name means "little mouse" in Italian, and is also the Italian name of Mickey Mouse.
Martine Vandezande
Martine Vandezande is the attractive assistant of Henri Fourcart at his art gallery in Tintin and Alph-Art. She wears large glasses and is a follower of Endaddine Akass. Tintin realizes "this girl seems sincere" after he inadvertently causes her to cry when evidence he uncovered leads him to accuse her as being part of the plot. Due to a listening device someone has hidden in her necklace, she is made an unwitting informer of Akass and his henchmen.
Igor Wagner
Igor Wagner is the quiet pianist working for Bianca Castafiore. He is driving with his employer when she first encounters Tintin in King Ottokar's Sceptre. He does not contribute to a plotline until The Castafiore Emerald, when he is discovered to be a gambler who bets on races in secret. He has a small moustache and dresses formally in black. After the thievery of Castafiore's emeralds, his attempts to help only incriminate him, as it was his footprints found near Castafiore's window, it was him suspiciously rummaging in the attic, and it was he who broke a step on the staircase. He tries to sneak out of his practice sessions (dictated by Castafiore) and, instead of practising, is caught using a playback tape recorder. He was imprisoned along with Castafiore and Irma in Tintin and the Picaros, before being freed by Tintin.
His name is made up of a humorous reference to two well-known composers: Igor Stravinsky and Richard Wagner.
Wang Chen-Yee
(French: Wang Jen-Ghié)
Wang Chen-Yee is the Chinese leader of the Sons of the Dragon brotherhood featured in The Blue Lotus. He serves as Tintin's host during his stay in China, and later adopts Chang Chong-Chen.
Frank Wolff
Frank Wolff is the rocket engineer who assists Professor Calculus during the Syldavian expedition to the Moon (Destination Moon and Explorers on the Moon). In an interview, Hergé described him as clever, stating he had a PhD in Mathematics with Mechanics and a BEng in Chemical Engineering, but also described him as feeble and quiet.
Wolff is ultimately exposed as a spy who was coerced into helping an unnamed foreign power hijack the Moon rockets he had helped build, after they learnt of his former
Zorrino
Zorrino is an indigenous
References
Footnotes
- ^ McCarthy 2006.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 207–208.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 127.
- ^ Yusuf 2005.
- ^ Farr 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Peeters 2012, p. 341, "Character Names in French and English".
- ^ a b Thompson 1991, pp. 86–88.
- ^ Thompson 1991, pp. 86, 91.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 171; Lofficier & Lofficier 2002, pp. 72–73; Assouline 2009, p. 187; Goddin 2011, p. 94; Peeters 2012, p. 270.
- ^ Handy, Bruce (24 December 2009). "Tintinabulation". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 5 December 2013. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
- ^ a b Thompson 1991, p. 58.
- ^ a b c d Thompson 1991, p. 79.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 90–91.
- ^ a b c Thompson 1991, p. 66.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 103; Farr 2001, p. 96.
- ^ Farr 2001, p. 180.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 85.
- ^ Apostolidès 2010, p. 290.
- ^ a b Farr 2007, p. 113.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 96.
- ^ Farr 2001, p. 71.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 82; Farr 2001, p. 81.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 83; Apostolidès 2010, p. 29.
- ^ a b Apostolidès 2010, p. 29.
- ^ Thompson 1991, pp. 89–90.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 53–55.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 159; Farr 2001, p. 148.
- ^ a b c d e Thompson 1991, p. 90.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 65.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 65–66.
- ^ Farr 2001, p. 149.
- ^ Dailymotion 31 December 2006.
- ^ Phillips & Kingsley 2011.
- ^ Screech 2005, p. 34.
- ^ "N'est-ce pas chouette ?—Les personnages de Tintin dans l'histoire : Les événements qui ont inspiré l'œuvre d'Hergé". Historia (in French). Vol. 2, no. 103. Paris. July 2012..
- ^ Apostolidès 2010, p. ?.
- ^ a b Farr 2001, p. ?.
- ^ Wallace 2002.
- ^ a b BBC News 13 October 2000.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 70.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 89.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 66–67.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 69.
- ^ JSS Gallery 2011.
- ^ Assouline 2009, p. 57.
- ^ Farr 2001, p. 155.
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-0-8047-6031-7.
- ISBN 978-0-19-539759-8.
- ISBN 978-0-7195-5522-0. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
- ISBN 978-1-4052-3264-7.
- ISBN 978-0-86719-763-1.
- ISBN 978-1-904048-17-6.
- McCarthy, Tom (1 July 2006). "Review: From zero to hero". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
- ISBN 978-1-4214-0454-7.
- Phillips, Sarah; Kingsley, Patrick (18 October 2011). "Tintin v Asterix". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 March 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
- Screech, Matthew (2005). Masters of the Ninth Art: Bandes Dessinées and Franco-Belgian Identity. Liverpool: Liverpool University press. ISBN 978-0-85323-938-3.
- ISBN 978-0-340-52393-3.
- Wallace, Natasha (5 August 2002). "King Alfonso XIII of Spain; Portrait by British artist Philip Alexius de Laszlo". JSS Gallery. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
- Yusuf, Bulent (14 November 2005). "Alphabetti Fumetti: H is for Hergé". Ninth Art. Archived from the original on 31 May 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
- "1979 – Fruit d'or (Professeur Tournesol)". Dailymotion.com. 31 December 2006. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
- "Tintin, Estland och Arado" [Tintin, Estonia and Arado]. JSS Gallery (in Swedish). 1 November 2011. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
- "Tintin 'rescues' Millionaire contestant". London: BBC News. 13 October 2000. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
External links
- Tintin.com – List of selected characters on official website
- Tintinologist.org – List of characters on oldest and largest English-language Tintin fan site