Characters from the Adventures of Tintin
Created | Updated Apr 8, 2002
Written originally by the Belgian comic strip writer Hergé in the 1930s for the magazine Le Petit Vingtième, the stories of Tintin still entertain children today. Over 20 books following Tintin1 and his friends are still avaiable.
The Companions
Throughout his travels Tintin met many companions, from the ever present Snowy to the unbearable insurance salesman Jolyon Wagg. Each had their own set of quirks and characteristics:
| Tintin: | The character around which all of the stories are based. Tintin is a reporter, and an all round do-gooder. Drug smuggling, fighting the Mob and tackling forgery are all within his scope, although he does surprisingly little work on journalism. |
| Snowy: | Tintin's faithful friend, wherever his master goes Snowy is sure to follow (including to the moon!). He saves Tintin's life on several occasions, although he is tempted by whiskey. |
| Captain Haddock: | President of the Society of Sober Sailors (and at the same time a great fan of whiskey), Captain Haddock bears the brunt of a variety of misfortunes. As a sailor he constantly swears, although for some reason he has an obsession with barnacles and typhoons. He later becomes the owner of Marlinspike Hall (due to some uncharacteristic good fortune). |
| Thomson2 and Thompson3: | At first these identical twin policemen were following Tintin for suspected drug running, but on his exoneration they became two of his most frequent companions. Ever the subjects of mistakes and all forms of bad luck Thomson and Thompson are the clowns of the Tintin stories. They are fans of bowler hats, walking sticks and precision, and are very careful with their wallets. |
| Professor Calculus: | Professor Calculus met Tintin while on a voyage to search for lost treasure. He is the creator of a whole range of weird and sometimes dangerous inventions, including an oddly shark shaped submarine, a hypersonic weapon and a nuclear powered space rocket. He is very hard of hearing, but mention "acting the goat" to him and you're in serious trouble. |
Nestor: | Nestor is the butler of Marlinspike hall and is loyal to his employer. Unfortunately his first employers were the infamous Bird Brothers, but despite this he was forgiven by Captain Haddock. As the only member of staff in the country house he is indispensible. |
| Chang: | An orfan who once helped Tintin on a visit to China, where Tintin became a devoted friend to him. Chang was once the victim of a plane crash from which he was only saved by the yeti. |
| General Alcazar: | Tintin encountered Alcazar after barely escaping from a firing squad in one of the many civil wars in San Theodoros. He is the leader of one of the two revolutionary groups in the country, the other being that if his arch rival General Tapioca. Alcazar and Tapioca are constantly swapping control of the country, with their vanity and lust for power being almost indistiguishable. |
Bianca Castafiore: | This opera singer appears often in Captain Haddock's life despite his attempts to avoid her. She is a powerful opera singer, but rather type-cast with the Jewel Song from Faust. Always at her side are her quiet maid Irma and her gambling pianist Wagner. |
Doctor Ridgewell: | One of the world's most famous explorers, and the first outsider to meet peacefully with the Arumbaya tribe (a tribe who live in the forests of San Theodoros). He has chosen to leave civilisation to live in the forest. Ridgewell is master of the blowpipe, but unable to teach the Arumbaya people even to play golf. |
Abdullah: | A prankster who can age his carers in weeks. Despite owing his life to Tintin for saving him from Doctor Müller, he still plays continual tricks. Abdullah is adored by his father (a Sheikh in the country of Khemed) but dreaded by Captain Haddock and Nestor. |
Jolyon Wagg: | An insurance salesman for Rock Bottom Insurance, this optimist is always turning up at unexpected moments. None more so than when (as leader of the band for a charity concert party The Jolly Frollies) he turned up in the middle of the South American Rainforest in a tourist bus. |
Oliveira da Figueri: | An incredidibly successful salesmen who chooses the most unlikely places to set up shop, quite literally able to sell skis in the desert. He can tell stories that last for hours, but is always ready to help in an emergency. |
Skut: | An Estonian pilot who attacked Tintin and Captain Haddock in the Red Sea. Despite not always knowing what is happening around him he always tries to do what he thinks is right. |
The Adversaries
Tintin was not liked by all the people he met. The leaders of the crime rings that Tinin broke sometimes came back for revenge and became his sworn enemies:
Rastapopoulos: | Possibly Tintin's deadliest enemy. He started out as a movie director who in his secret life was the leader of a mysterious hooded band, but on its infiltration by Tintin he was forced out of his rich lifestyle. He tried his hand at the slave trade in the Red Sea before trying to regain his fortune by stealing that of another (the infamous millionaire Mr. Carreidas). All of his schemes were foiled by Tintin and his friends. He will try anything for revenge. |
Allan: | Many of Tintin's foes used other people to do their dirty work, and Allan was one of those who did it for them. Most commoly he was involved in drug smuggling, but he tried his hand at almost anything. As first mate aboard the Karaboujan he kept Captain Haddock drunk on whiskey so as to use the ship to smuggle opium for Omar Ben Salaad. He later became Rastapopoulos' right hand man. |
Colonel Sponsz: | A high ranking member of the Bordurian army who became involved with Tintin after kidnapping Professor Calculus. He also later attempted revenge by assisting General Tapioca is a plot to kill Tintin. He is fond of surveillance rather than confrontation, prefering to hire other people to carry out his orders. |
Doctor Müller: | This corrupt doctor was the leader of a forgery ring on the remote Scottish Black Island, and owner of a mysterious gorilla-like creature called Ranko designed to frighten away curios sailors. He returned later (after having grown a new beard) in an attempt to overthrow the ruling Sheikh of a region rich in oil. He will do anything to save himself from arrest, including hostage taking. |
| General Tapioca: | The enemy of General Alcazar. These two men are battling over control of San Theodoros, but there is very little difference in the way that they run the country. He is more ruthless than Alcazar plotting to murder Tintin and his friends, but if Tintin had met Tapioca first then he may have chosen to side against Alcazar. |
Frank Wolff: | Wolff is not actually a bad person, but he became addicted to gambling. His creditors were able to use this to force him to help in a plot to steal Professor Calculus' moon rocket. Despite betraying Calculus' trust and assisting Colonel Boris in this, he is redeemed when he saves Tintin and his friends' lives. |
Colonel Boris: | King Ottokar of Syldavia trusted this man with his life and even promoted him to the position of aide-de-campe. This trust was misplaced, as the Colonel was in fact in a plot to topple the monarchy to allow an invasion by Syldavia's neighbour Borduria. Tintin gained a medal in foiling this plan. Colonel Boris is ruthless and does not hesitate to kill. He sought revenge by trying to seize professor Calculus' rocket, but was stopped by his co-conspiritor Wolff. |
Pablo: | Essentially a mercenary, Pablo is not actually Tintin's enemy. In fact he saved Tintin from General Alcazar when he was to be shot for espionage. However, he was later involved in a plot with General Tapioca and Colonel Sponsz in an attempt to murder Tintin and his friends. For this he could have be thrown in prison, which was only prevented by Tintin's generosity. |
Their Place in the Stories
In all of the Tintin stories his faithful friend Snowey appeared, but the other various friends and enemies entered the stories as the comic strip progressed:
| Tintin and the Soviets: | The introduction to Tintin. Tintin and Snowey came up against the secret police of Russia in a time of widespread propoganda. |
| Tintin in the Congo: | A controversial story. When this was written the Congo was a Belgian colony, and the story has many colonialist features. Tintin is more vicious than in the later stories with some quite nasty game hunting. Thompson and Thompson made their first appearence at the beginning of this story. |
| Tintin in America: | In the 1930s the Chicago mob were at the height of their powers. On a trip to America Tintin manages to single handedly bring down both mob leaders and become a hero complete with ticker-tape parade. |
| Cigars of the Pharaoh: | While on a leasure cruise Tintin became unintentionally involved with drug smuggling run by Rastapoloulos, with his wrongful arrest by Thomson and Thompson for drug smuggling. This story also briefly featured Allan as Rastapopoulos' henchman, and Oliveira da Figueri setting up shop in the desert. |
| The Blue Lotus: | A sequal to Cigars of the Pharaoh, set at the time of the invasion of China by Japan. Rastapopoulos returned as the revenge seeking smuggler, and once again Thomson and Thompson tried to arrest Tintin but with little success. Chang also appeared for the first time, rescued from a flood stricken area by Tintin. |
Tintin and the Broken Ear, also called The Broken Ear.: | After the stealing of an apparently worthless idol Tintin sought an explaination. Thomson and Thompson were the hopelss investigators of this crime. The idol came from San Theodoros, and here Tintin encountered General Alcazar (who was more easy to anger in this early story) and the recluse Doctor Ridgewell. |
| The Black Island: | This story begins with Tintin running to the aid of a plane that appeared to be in trouble, but was actually being used by a forgery ring run by Doctor Müller (who in his first appearance had only a small moustache not the beard of later stories). The Thompson twins once again took up the role of the bungling investigators chasing their friend Tintin rather than the crooks. Some slightly stereotypical scottish people appear in this story along with a mysterious beast owned by Doctor Müller, Ranko. |
| King Ottokar's Sceptre: | Eccentric sigillographist (an expert in wax seals) Professor Alembick left some of his artifacts on a park bench, and Tintin returned them to their owner little knowing that the professor was under surveillance by Bordurian spies. Tintin accepted a job a secretary to him on a trip to Syldavia, getting involved in a plot to overthrow the heir to the throne to allow a Bordurian invasion. Bianca Castifiore appeared in this story giving a lift to Tintin when he was on the run along with Colonel Boris as the double-crossing spy. Once again the Thompsons took their place as the comic crime fighters. |
Still to do:
The Crab with the Golden Claws
The Shooting Star
The Secret of the Unicorn
Red Rackham's Treasure
The Seven Crystal Balls
Prisoners of the Sun
Land of Black Gold
Destination Moon
Explorers on the Moon
The Calculus Affair
The Red Sea Sharks
Tintin in Tibet
The Castifiore Emerald
Flight 714
Tintin and the Picaros
(Tintin and the Lake of Sharks)
More Soon...
1Pronounced Tan-tan in the original French.2Thomson's the one with a pointed moustache.3Whereas Thompson has a rounded moustache.
