The difference between a "Tintin fan" and a "Tintinologist"?

What or who is a tintinologist?

'ologist' means the 'study of' and we know who Tintin is, so a 'Tintinologist' is someone who studies anything and everything about Hergé and Tintin.

A Tintinologist does not only refer to the person studying anything and everything about Hergé, Tintin, and their companies.

A "certified Tintinologist" internalizes all he/she learned about them as one applies most 'lessons' in one's life. Therefore, a "Tintinologist" should be an avid fan of them.

tintinagalog
A Tintinologist does not only refer to the person studying anything and everything about Hergé?, Tintin, and their companies.

I'm not sure I agree with you. Surely the suffix "ologist" does simply mean one who studies, and doesn't in itself mean believer or fan. For instance, a criminologist is one who studies crime, not someone who is necessarily a fan of crime! And a Kremlinologist was a cold-war term for someone who studied the higher levels of Russian internal politics, without necessarily being a Communist themselves.

Of course, in our case, most Tintinologists also happen to be Tintin fans; but I don't think the word Tintinologist in itself implies that they have to be. Someone who hated Tintin but who nonetheless studied the books in great depth in order to gain evidence for their anti-Tintin opinions, could accurately describe themselves as a Tintinologist of sorts.

A "certified Tintinologist" internalizes all he/she learned about them as one applies most 'lessons' in one's life.

I think the practice you describe - "internalizes all he/she learned about them as one applies most 'lessons' in one's life" would be more accurately described as Tintinism. And disciples of this approach would perhaps be best described as Tintinists, rather than just Tintinologists.

Of course, you could be a Tintinist and a Tintinologist simultaneously. Maybe (following the way religious scholars are called theologians rather than theologists) such a person could be called a Tintinologian.

Balthazar
Maybe (following the way religious scholars are called theologians rather than theologists) such a person could be called a Tintinologian.
Hmmm, Tintinolatry as opposed to Tintinology: I suppose that, given that these forums sprang from the Cult of Tintin that it may be an inevitable out-come...

What I intended to ask was, "What the difference is between a Tintin fan and a Tintinologist?

Moderator Note: Ah, that's a bit clearer! The thread title has been changed to reflect this new clarification. :-)
There are no formal qualifications, no exams, no certification needed, so really what they are whatever you want them to be: if you feel you are a fan, you're a fan; if you want to be a Tintinologist, you're a Tintinologist.
It might be possible to say that a fan is someone who takes delight in something, but an -ologist is someone who is a student of something, and thus looks at more than the finished work (perhaps examining technique in art or writing or structure, or maybe finding out more about the author, or the circumstances under which the work was created.
But as it's all just a bit of fun, then it's really up to you to decide! :-)
The Open-Doors Tintinology Policy Tintinologist Team

Oh Balthazar, that cracks me up! Tintinism! Tintinologian! I haven't laughed so well in days!!!
(tintinolatry.org)
XD
zaveri_tintin, I've thought about the term "Tintinologist" before. I have simply considered it an official term for "Tintin fan". For instance, if you ride horses, you are a "horse rider". But you are also an "equestrian". You may not know the exact term, but the fact is that you are.
Still, "Tintinologist" is a big name for someone who reads the books occasionally and likes them somewhat. Maybe it really means "the Tintin fan who likes Tintin more than he/she likes most comics or books and acts upon that preference in thought and deed".

Maybe I'm taking this too deep, and am evolving from Tintinologist to Tintinologian.
eep!