, showing some of the antagonists of The Adventures of Tintin''. From left to right:
Hans Boehm and
Spalding are against
Captain Haddock and
Tintin Endaddine Akass Endaddine Akass is a
guru and main
antagonist of the unfinished book
Tintin and Alph-Art, the last of
The Adventures of Tintin by
Hergé. An odd-looking man with a large nose, long hair, beard, moustache, and large spectacles, Endaddine Akass holds a conference on "health and magnetism" for crowds of followers including
Bianca Castafiore. Tintin recognises his voice. He could be Dr. Müller or Max Bird, but more than likely he is
Rastapopoulos in disguise. His name, like many in the series, is based upon the Brussels
patois marols. In the two completed versions of
Tintin and Alph-Art by Yves Rodier and a pseudonymous writer called Ramó Nash, Endaddine is indeed revealed to be Rastapopoulos. "You will never take me alive!" he says in the dramatic conclusion.
Colonel Alvarez Colonel Alvarez is the polite
aide-de-camp to
General Tapioca who appears in
Tintin and the Picaros. He is the one who receives
Captain Haddock and
Professor Calculus when they arrive in
San Theodoros and takes them to their apartment. When he is first introduced in the adventure, he seems to be friendly and good-natured, which impresses the Captain. However, it is then revealed that Alvarez is a part of the plot orchestrated by
Colonel Sponsz to eliminate Tintin, the Captain, and the Professor, and Alvarez is enraged when his men fail. When General Tapioca is overthrown, Alvarez shifts over to Alcazar's side, even expressing disappointment that Tapioca will not be executed. He then assists Tintin and the Captain in rescuing
Thomson and Thompson and also freeing
Bianca Castafiore and her entourage.
Bab El Ehr Sheikh Bab El Ehr is an
Arab insurgent who fights Emir
Ben Kalish Ezab, ruler of the fictional Arabian state of
Khemed; though overall he comes across as a villain rather than a noble fighter. 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 declared over. His name is derived from the Brussels dialect word
babbelaar or "tattler".
Barnaby () 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
motion capture film
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, Barnaby is an
Interpol agent investigating
Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine. It was implied that he did not survive after being shot by Sakharine's accomplices.
Basil Bazarov () Basil Bazarov (formerly Mazarov in an early edition) of the Korrupt Arms Company (Vicking Arms Company in the French edition) is a German arms dealer who appears in
The Broken Ear. He sells weapons to both sides of the conflict between
San Theodoros and neighbouring Nuevo-Rico. He also works with his associate Mr.
Trickler in an attempt to bring an end to their mutual enemy Tintin. Hergé's Basil Bazarov was "characterised in every detail" by the real life Greek
Vickers arms dealer
Basil Zaharoff, who profited by selling weapons to both sides of the conflict between Bolivia and neighbouring Paraguay during the
War of the Gran Chaco (in
The Broken Ear, Bazarov fuels the "War of the Gran Chapo"). Sir Basil Zaharoff enjoyed a good reputation at the time
The Broken Ear appeared; he was made a
Grand-officier de la Légion d'honneur and made member of the
Order of the British Empire.
Bird brothers () The Bird brothers, Max and G. Bird () 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
Golden Books edition (American English), their name is spelled Byrd. 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. 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
São Rico, who appears in
The Shooting Star. As the owner of a major banking concern and a petroleum firm called Golden Oil, he uses his wealth and resources to attempt to beat Tintin and his friends 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, helmed by Captain Haddock. This includes depositing lit
dynamite onto its deck (which Snowy puts out), instructing another ship under his control to ram the
Aurora during a storm, refusing to allow the
Aurora to refuel at a Golden Oil depot (only to have Haddock's old friend
Captain Chester fuel the
Aurora by siphoning oil being pumped into his tanks), and sending a fake S.O.S. to throw the
Aurora off course (Tintin contacting multiple shipping agencies to determine that the ship and company that sent the distress call do not exist).
The Shooting Star ends with a dismayed Bohlwinkel listening to a radio announcement that reveals that the police are onto him. Bohlwinkel has physical traits reflecting a
stereotypical Jew in
Nazi propaganda. In the original edition of
The Shooting Star published during
World War II, he was named Blumenstein, an American Jew from a bank in New York. For the later edition of the book, Hergé altered the financier's antecedents by relocating him to the fictitious South American country São Rico and changing his name to a
Brabantian dialect word for "sweet shop":
bollewinkel, also modifying the spelling of the new name. After the edition was published, Hergé subsequently learnt that Bohlwinkel is a Jewish surname.
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. 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. He would be the last real-life individual to appear as a character in the
Adventures under their real name.
Pietro Pietro is an Italian-American gangster in
Tintin in America and one of Al Capone's fellow gangsters.
Chiquito Chiquito, or Rupac Inca Huaco, is a full-blooded Peruvian
Quechua and one of the last descendants of the
Incas. He is first seen as the sidekick to
General Alcazar in
The Seven Crystal Balls and is ultimately seen as a leading member of the Incas in
Prisoners of the Sun. 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
Professor Tarragon, Chiquito breaks the final crystal ball in Tarragon's room after climbing down his chimney. He also seizes the jewellery of
Rascar Capac, the Inca mummy whose tomb was violated by the expedition members. As he escapes, he is shot and wounded by a police officer and hides in a tree. In the morning, Calculus finds a bracelet that belonged to Rascar Capac and puts it on. He is promptly kidnapped by Chiquito and his men for sacrilege. To get past a roadblock, he and his accomplices switch cars. Chiquito takes the professor to Peru and Tintin and Captain Haddock go after them. He reappears in
Prisoners of the Sun on the
Pachacamac and catches Tintin who has swum aboard and found Calculus. When Chiquito calls for assistance, Tintin takes the opportunity to jump back into the water, swimming back to safety as Chiquito shoots at him. Their next meeting is at the Temple of the Sun, high in the mountains, where he and the Incas perform the ceremony of burning Tintin and his friends at the
stake, only to be interrupted by a
solar eclipse. He eventually releases his control over the Sanders-Hardiman expedition members by order of the
Prince of the Sun.
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
Shanghai International Settlement in
The Blue Lotus. In revenge for Tintin's rebuking of his American friend, businessman Mr.
Gibbons, Dawson has
Sikh prison guards assault Tintin, but Tintin outwits them. Dawson then plots with
Mr. Mitsuhirato and turns Tintin over to the Japanese, who have put a price on his head, calmly dismissing Tintin's protest that he is on neutral ground, as he did not have a passport to enter the Settlement to begin with. Dawson is ultimately forced to attend the ceremony in honour of Tintin. Appearing in a more sinister role in
The Red Sea Sharks, Dawson sells weapons to both
General Alcazar and
General Tapioca using the pseudonym Mr. Debrett (), and is being patronised by
Rastapopoulos. He has Tintin and Captain Haddock denied entry to
Khemed and plants a bomb on their return plane. Dawson's plan ultimately fails. 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 () Corporal Diaz was a colonel for
General Alcazar until Alcazar demoted him to corporal, replacing him with Tintin, after Diaz complained to the general that
San Theodoros had too many colonels and too few corporals (
The Broken Ear). In revenge, Diaz engaged in repeated, unsuccessful assassination attempts against Alcazar. Diaz expired in the last attempt when the bomb he planted exploded prematurely. Alcazar had just arrested and sentenced Tintin to death due to faked evidence, and had just promoted Corporal Diaz back to colonel.
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
The Blue Lotus, the fakir escapes from prison and again uses his darts to poison a Chinese man sent to warn Tintin against
Mitsuhirato, another leader of the drug smugglers. In that title's original black-and-white version, the fakir can be seen escaping through the forest with his
blowpipe after shooting the dart at the Chinese man. Not taking any chances, Tintin tells the
Maharaja of Gaipajama he will not leave until he knows the fakir is unable to do him any harm. The next day they receive a
telegram from the police announcing the fakir had been recaptured.
Gibbons Mr. W.R. Gibbons is an American steel trader in
The Blue Lotus. Gibbons is portrayed as an overweight, loud-mouthed, racist bigot. 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. 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.
Huascar Huascar, in
Prisoners of the Sun, is one of the last descendants of the
Incas, who worship the Sun in a hidden city in the mountains. Wearing a hat and poncho, Huascar watches Tintin and Captain Haddock when they arrive in Peru to rescue
Professor Calculus. He listens in on their conversation with the chief of police and follows them through the streets of
Callao. 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
Zorrino from two white men. Surprised that a white foreigner such as Tintin should do such a selfless act, he advises him to stop searching for Calculus since he will be risking his life. Tintin states he will continue anyway, so Huascar gives him a
talisman that he claims can keep danger away. Later captured by the Incas, Tintin gives the talisman to Zorrino. The Incas, who intend to kill them for treachery, see the talisman and spare the younger boy's life. Present at the scene, Huascar is revealed to be a High Priest of the Sun. He uses a large magnifying glass to set fire to the
stake used to burn the westerners, but is thwarted by a
solar eclipse that leads to their release.
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, aware the rocket has oxygen for four people but there are seven on the ship. When the rocket does not launch, he accuses his engineer of letting himself be carried away by his scruples of conscience and prepares to shoot him, but is prevented from doing so by Tintin, who has severed 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
African man in the original serialisations, but Hergé's American publishers objected to any depiction of the mixing of races. Hergé redrew Jumbo and another sailor as
Arabs (and gave Jumbo a shirt) but kept the accompanying text intact, which resulted in Haddock continuing to refer to the Arab man as a "Negro".
Big Chief Keen-eyed-Mole () 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 or
Adolf Hitler's personal doctor,
Theodor Morell. In an interview, Hergé 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 () 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 () Marshal Kûrvi-Tasch is the dictator of the fictional regime of
Borduria. Although he never appears as a character in the series, he is mentioned by name and glimpsed in statues and portraits in
The Calculus Affair and
Tintin and the Picaros. His English name is an allusion to his curved moustache, which also appears as a stylised
circumflex mark in the Bordurian language (an example can be seen in his name). Bordurians are often heard swearing "by the whiskers of Kûrvi-Tasch". The original French name plays on the word
Plexiglas, the "artificial plasticity" of his character. Kûrvi-Tasch's Bordurian government closely resembles the
Nazi regime. The usage of the country's national insignia (naturally resembling the marshal's moustache) on badges and armbands is similar to the swastika. The greeting "Amaïh Kûrvi-Tasch" (meaning "Hail Kûrvi-Tasch") is similar to "
Heil Hitler!"
Miller Miller is the calculating
spymaster from an unnamed power who masterminds a plot to hijack the
Syldavian rocket programme in
Destination Moon and
Explorers on the Moon. He is 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 is seated in the row ahead of Tintin and Captain Haddock and is astonished to hear the Captain mention the name "
Calculus", showing that he was already planning to take over the Moon programme on which Calculus is working. He discreetly follows Tintin and Haddock through
Klow airport but pulls back when he realises that they are being escorted by Zepo, the local secret police. With an associate known as the Baron, he then sets about parachuting agents into the area of the Centre to obtain the plans for the experimental uncrewed rocket X-FLR6. When X-FLR6 is launched, Miller's technicians are able to intercept it and divert the rocket to their own territory. However, Tintin and Calculus had expected this and destroy the rocket before it can land. Miller threatens to have Wolff killed, as he suspects him of double-crossing him, but refrains when it is announced that a crewed rocket would go to the Moon. Miller arranges for
Colonel Jorgen, an old enemy of Tintin's, to be smuggled aboard. Ultimately, his attempt to control the rocket fails, his agents Jorgen and Wolff both perishing in the process. Miller is last seen cursing the rocket's crew and his agents' bungling, wishing that they would all perish in the last stage of the return journey. Like any good spymaster, Miller designated various code names to his targets and operations: The centre is referred to as the "Main Workshop"; Calculus and Haddock are "
Mammoth" and "Whale"; and the operation to hijack the crewed rocket to the Moon is called "
Ulysses" — after the Greek hero who also goes on
an epic journey and is a master of intrigue and deception as well.
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. After his subsequent capture at the end of
The Blue Lotus, he committed suicide by
hara-kiri.
Dr. Müller () Dr. J. W. Müller is the evil German psychiatrist whose position and qualifications serve as a cover for more villainous activities, including mistreatment of patients,
counterfeiting, and later criminal
mercenary. Hergé considered Müller "a
Rastapopoulos-figure prepared to risk his own life." Müller frequently uses
profanities such as "Kruzitürken" that are of
Bavarian origin, suggesting his background to be Bavarian or Austrian, but he could also be Swiss or South-Tirolian. As with Rastapopoulos, his true nationality is never revealed. 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
Land of Black Gold and
The Red Sea Sharks. In both, he helps the rebel
Bab El Ehr in his attempts to overthrow the Emir,
Ben Kalish Ezab. He designed Formula Fourteen, which increased the explosive properties of petrol, and sabotaged the pipelines of Arabex, the Emir's preferred petrol company. While in his initial appearance, he wore a goatee and moustache and had a plump physique, in later appearances, he wears a full-grown beard and is leaner, enabling him to pose as an
Arab. In
The Red Sea Sharks, he had changed his name to Mull Pasha () (shown in the pile of newspaper clippings near the end of the adventure), a clear reference to
Glubb Pasha, the idiosyncratic British commander of the Arab legion who operated out of
Jordan during the Second World War. Once Bab el Ehr is overthrown, Dr. Müller is also captured. 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.
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. Bordurian officers wear uniforms based on those of the German
SS. 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, noting that the figure of Müsstler was "the Evil One without a face".
Omar Ben Salaad Omar Ben Salaad is a wealthy
Arab merchant based in the fictional port city of Bagghar in
French Morocco, who appears in
The Crab with the Golden Claws. A shopkeeper claims he is the wealthiest man in Bagghar. He is seen to own a palace with servants, horses, cars, huge amounts of land, and a plane. 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
Gad Elmaleh in the motion capture film
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn; however, in the film he has no part in any conspiracy, merely owning a palace at which
Bianca Castafiore performs.
Pablo Pablo is a native of
San Theodoros and lives in the capital Los Dopicos. His first appearance is in
The Broken Ear, in which oil oligarch
Mr. Trickler hires him to bring an end to Tintin. Pablo's attempt fails; Tintin captures Pablo, who begs for mercy, and Tintin lets him go. Trickler then frames Tintin for espionage and the young man is soon sentenced to death. In return for Tintin's mercy, Pablo assembles a gang of men, breaks into the prison, and frees Tintin and Snowy. In the 1935 serialised version, Pablo's full name was given as Juan Paolino, the Terror of Los Dopicos and best
shooter in the country. 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 () Alonso Pérez and Ramón Bada are the chief antagonists in
The Broken Ear. They discover that a diamond is being concealed in a Native South American
fetish and do anything to possess it. Pérez, an engineer, is the leader of the two. Bada, the follower, is a
knife thrower, and uses more Spanish in his speech than Pérez. The two villains and Tintin follow the artifact through the Republic of
San Theodoros, with all three being drafted into the Republic's army during the Gran Chapo War with Nuevo Rico over oil rights. While fighting with Tintin in hand-to-hand combat on an ocean liner, Ramón and Alonso fall into the sea, clutching each other's throats as each man believes he is strangling Tintin, and drown. They are last seen being taken to
Hell by smiling winged demons.
Puschov () 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, a newspaper clipping reports Ranko will live in a Glasgow zoo.
Rascar Capac Rascar Capac is the
Incan
mummy in
The Seven Crystal Balls. He is an ancient Incan monarch dug up by the
Sanders-Hardiman expedition members.
Professor Tarragon displays the mummy in his home. When
lightning strikes into the chimney, it sends a
fireball hurtling through the living room and into Rascar Capac, vaporizing him. That night, Tintin, Captain Haddock, and
Professor Calculus all have the same nightmare: Rascar Capac climbs into the room carrying a
crystal ball and smashes it onto the floor. The mummy is not seen again.
Red Rackham () 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 to avenge his dead crew members, 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
Golden Age of Piracy pirates
John Rackham,
Blackbeard, and
Montbars the Exterminator. In the
motion capture film
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, it is revealed that Red Rackham is the ancestor of
Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine. Red Rackham is portrayed by
Daniel Craig (who also portrays Sakharine).
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. In the animated series, Smiles works for Capone, rather than against him.
The Sondonesians () The Sondonesians are the fictional Southeast Asian people who appear in
Flight 714 to Sydney.
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
Allan corners Tintin and his entourage in a cave, the Sondonesians refuse to enter, pointing to signs the gods have left on the cave threatening punishment for anyone who enters. In fact, these "gods" are
extraterrestrials who have been visiting the island for years, and a landing of theirs had occurred just the previous night, as signified by strange lights in the sky that frightened the Sondonesians. When the main characters meet
Mik Kanrokitoff, he explains that he has hypnotised and freed the Sondonesian guards (whom Tintin and Captain Haddock had bound and gagged) and let them spread fear among their compatriots. When an earthquake occurs shortly afterwards, the Sondonesians' nerves are finally stressed beyond their breaking point. Allan frantically attempts to stop them, but they assault him and flee the island. 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:
sambal ulek (ground chili sauce with shrimp paste).
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
Tintin and the Picaros. In this adventure, he has been assigned by Marshal Kûrvi-Tasch as a technical adviser to
General Tapioca, the new ruler of
San Theodoros, and is tasked with reorganising the Secret Police there. In San Theodoros, he takes the Spanish spelling of his name, Esponja, and grows a beard. Sponsz plants false documents in Bianca Castafiore's luggage, which provides "proof" of a conspiracy led by her against General Tapioca, justifying the arrest of Castafiore. Sponsz later arrests
Thomson and Thompson as well. Humiliated by Tintin in
The Calculus Affair, Colonel Sponsz aims for the entrapment and capture of Tintin and Captain Haddock, whom he knows will come to the rescue of Castafiore. He then uses
Pablo, Tintin's ally in
The Broken Ear but now a
double agent for Tapioca in the camp of
General Alcazar and the
Picaros, to set up a second trap for Tintin, Haddock, Calculus, and
General Alcazar. Sponsz appears again in the end of the adventure, as he is captured by the Picaros along with General Tapioca and is exiled and sent back to Borduria as punishment for his crimes. Hergé used his own brother, Paul Remi, as the model for Sponsz, although he was also influenced by the image of the
Austrian American filmmaker
Erich von Stroheim.
Mr. and Mrs. Snowball Mr. and Mrs. Snowball are members of the secret Kih-Oskh organization, a gang of international opium-smugglers in
Cigars of the Pharaoh. They wear hooded garments and meet in a secret hiding-place of the organization. During the evening-party at the Major's
country house, Mrs. Snowball faints, thinking she saw a ghost. But it is actually
Sophocles Sarcophagus, wrapped in a white sheet. They are tied up, knocked unconscious, unmasked, and turned over to the authorities by the end of the adventure.
General Tapioca General Tapioca is the arch-rival of
General Alcazar. Tapioca and Alcazar are both generals in their armies in the
banana republic of
San Theodoros during
The Broken Ear. He and Alcazar depose each other and assume
dictatorial leadership of the country with comedic frequency. 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 appears in person for the first time. He 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 begrudgingly submit to Tintin's petition to spare him, and as such, he is offered transport out of the country.
Allan Thompson Allan Thompson, commonly Allan, is a British-American criminal
henchman and merchant seaman, 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
first mate of Captain Haddock in
The Crab with the Golden Claws, keeping him drunk and running the ship to smuggle opium, Allan takes orders from
Omar Ben Salaad. He appears retroactively when Hergé redrew the earlier adventure
Cigars of the Pharaoh, as he was not in the original. The following year, Hergé featured him in
The Red Sea Sharks in league with
Rastapopoulos, where his ship is used in slave trading. In
Flight 714 to Sydney, he is Rastapopoulos' main accomplice. He is shown savagely beaten after escaping the
Sondonesians, causing him to suffer a loss of his teeth (the original French version specifies that he lost his dentures, suggesting that he had no real teeth to begin with). He escapes a volcanic eruption and flees in a rubber raft with the other criminals, but he and his accomplices are hypnotised and compelled to board a spaceship, whisking them away to an unknown fate. 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
Daniel Mays in the motion capture film
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.
Trickler () Mr. R.W. Trickler is an unscrupulous American businessman in
The Broken Ear who represents General American Oil in the South American republic of
San Theodoros. Trickler attempts to engineer a war in order for San Theodoros to seize total control of the supposedly oil-rich Gran Chapo region from neighbouring Nuevo-Rico and hand it over to his company. He further seeks to profit even more through the sale of arms by his associate
Basil Bazarov to both countries. 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
The Calculus Affair (page 47), staying in hotel Zsnorr; presumably he is in
arms traffic. 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.
Unnamed magpie An unnamed magpie is the main "antagonist" and first character seen (page 1, frame 1) in
The Castafiore Emerald, Hergé's third-last adventure. Magpies are known for stealing shiny things and keeping them in their nests for decoration, and this magpie stole various items such as
Irma's precious golden scissors and
Bianca Castafiore's emerald given to her by the
Maharaja of Gaipajama. Tintin expert Michael Farr pointed out, "Even
The Castafiore Emerald has a culpable magpie." In the end, Tintin solves the mystery of who took the emerald, but after Castafiore had left. So, he gave it to
Thomson and Thompson. Later, it is seen that Thompson and Thomson have lost the emerald. ==Supporting characters==