Characters by Name: B
Ba Baoro'm
Début: Tintin in the Congo (1946 edition) - page 21, frame 6 - King of the Ba Baoro'm people.
Trivia: The King has no name in the French edition.
Bab El Ehr
Début: Land of Black Gold - first mentioned on page 7, frame 11; first seen on page 16 (see frames 2 and 3) - Arab Sheik, and enemy of Emir Ben Khalish Ezab.
Trivia: Bab El Ehr = babbeleer (babbler) = "chatterer" in Brussels dialect.
Also appears in: The Red Sea Sharks [named in the newspapers - page 14, frame 6; and page 30, frame 11.]
Bada, RamÓn
Début: The Broken Ear - page 4, last frame; identified on page 11, frame 17 and on page 53, frame 8 - Villain. Thug.
Balthazar, Jacob
Début: The Broken Ear - mentioned in page 3, frame 14 - Artist who made an imitation copy of the Arumbaya Fetish for the crooks, and was silenced by Rodrigo Tortilla.
Trivia: Lives at 21 London Road. Balthazar was one of the three Magi, Balthazar, Caspar and Melchior.
Balthazar, J.
Début: The Broken Ear - named first mentioned on page 57, frame 8; person first appears on page 57, frame 12 (man in white lab coat); identified on page 58, frame 1 - Businessman and brother of murdered artist, Jacob.
Barker
Début: The Broken Ear - first seen on page 8, frame 16; identified on page page 9, frame 1 - Army colonel. Resident of 21 London Road and neighbour of dead artist, Jacob Balthazar.
Barnaby
Début: The Secret of the Unicorn - page 3, frame 13; name mentioned on page 56, frame 7 - Villain. Antique Collector. Collaborator with the Bird Brothers. He was wounded when he tried to betray the Bird brothers.
Barrett, Peter
Début: Land of Black Gold - name heard on the radio, on page 42, frame 17 (last frame) - Head of the Fuel Research Division of the Ministry of Transport.
Baxter
Début: Destination Moon - page 10 - Director General of the Sprodj Atomic Research Centre.
Also appers in: Explorers on the Moon
Bazarov, Basil
Début: The Broken Ear - page 33, frames 15, 16 - Opportunist. Arms dealer and representative of Korrupt Arms GMBH.
Trivia: This character is inspired by a real life armaments magnate and financier, Sir Basil Zaharoff (1849-1936). Turkish born Zaharoff made a fortune from arms sales between 1880-1900. He became a French citizen in 1913, and was knighted by the British in 1918 for his services to the Allies in the First World War. [Source: Biography.com]
Ben Ali, Mohammed
Début: The Crab with the Golden Claws - name mentioned on page 46, last frame; first appears on page 48, frame 1; Owner of grocery store in Bagghard, Morrocco. Cans of crab meat with the Golden Claws label were found in his shop, and it was his information that lead Tintin to the drug trafficking merchant, Omar Ben Salaad.
Ben Kalish Ezab, Mohammed
Début: Land of Black Gold - first mentioned on page 7, frame 11; first seen and identified on page 34, frame 10 - Ruler / Emir of Khemed.
Trivia:
- Ben Kalish Ezab = kalichesap = liquorice juice in Brussels dialect.
- Ben Kalish Ezab also appears in The Red Sea Sharks (page 29, frame 3).
- Ben Kalish Ezab's signature can be seen in The Red Sea Sharks (page 6, frame 2).
Ben Mahmud, Ali
Début: Land of Black Gold - page 36, frame 5 - The Royal Tutor at the Court of Khemed.
Ben Mulfrid, Yussuf
Début: Land of Black Gold - page 38, frame 9 - Military Advisor at the Court of Khemed.
Trivia: In French, the name is Youssouf Ben Moulfrid. Moule-frite (Belgian or French Fries and mussels) is a famous Belgian dish.
Ben Salaad, Omar
Début: The Crab with the Golden Claws - name first mentioned on page 48, frame 3; first seen on page 48, frame 8 (man on donkey) - Villain. Merchant in Bagghar. Opium smuggler.
Ben Yussef
Début: The Red Sea Sharks - page 31, frame 12 - Villain. Undercover agent for Sheik Bab El Ehr.
Bert
Début: The Black Island - page 34, frame 11/D2 - Train driver who got clobbered by either Dr Müller or his assistant, Ivan.
Biddup, James and Co.
Début: Red Rackham's Treasure - name seen in the newspaper on page 58, frame 7/C1 - The agent selling Marlinspike Hall.
Trivia: In French, the agent's name is Stasse.
Big Jim
Début: Tintin in America - page 37, frame 12 - Member of the lynch mob who mistook Tintin as the robber of the Old West Bank.
a journalist who try to know more about the Sirius’s expedition by asking questions to Calculus
Bill
Début: The Shooting Star - page 23, frame 5 - The cook on board the Aurora.
Also appears in: Red Rackham's Treasure - page 1, frame 1 (identified in frame 3) - The Cook on board the Sirius.
Trivia: In French, the name is Van Damme.
Bird Brothers (Max Bird and G. Bird)
Début: The Secret of the Unicorn - Villain. Antique Dealers who once owned Marlinspike Hall.
Trivia:
- G. Bird - first appears on page 40, frame 9 (in blue suit); actual name seen on an envelope, on page 45, frame 2.
- Max Bird - first appears on page 40, frame 9 (in black suit); actual name seen on an envelope, on page 45, frame 2; identified on page 56, frame 9; also named in Red Rackham's Treasure.
Björgenskjöld, Eric
Début: The Shooting Star - page 14, frame 1 - Swedish scholar, author of papers on solar prominences. He is a member of the Professor Phostle's Arctic expedition team.
Blessed Lightning
Début: Tintin in Tibet - page 44, frame 3 (on the left) - Tibetan Buddhist Monk, of the Monastery of Khor-Biyong, with psychic powers. He took an avalanche as a sign of divine wrath. He described Tintin as 'Great Heart'.
Boehm, Hans
Début: Flight 714 - page 8, frame 8 - Flight radio operator employed by Carreidas.
Bohlwinkel
Début: The Shooting Star - page 22, frame 3 (man with cigar); identified on page 22, frame 3 - Villain. Director of the Bohlwinkel Bank of São Rico that financed the "Peary Expedition" for his personal gain.
Trivia: Originally Hergé used the name Blumenstein, however, he did not like its Jewish overtones, therefore, Hergé decided on Bohlwinkel, inspired by the word bollewinkel which in Brussels dialect means a small confectioner's shop (winkel means shop). Of course, Hergé was much distressed when he later found out that this too was a Jewish name. [Source: Peeters, Benoît Tintin and the World of Hergé]
Boldoff
Début: The Calculus Affair - page 41, frame 3 - Villain. The pilot of the Syldavian kidnappers' getaway plane.
Trivia: The registration code on the plane reads: SY-ONF
Bolero y Calamares, Porfirio
Début: The Shooting Star - page 14, frame 1 - Scientist from the University of Salamanca. He is a member of the Professor Phostle's Arctic expedition team.
Note: According to reader Ignacio Egea y Rodriguez, Spaniards have two surnames. Bolero is the first surname and Calamares the second, and Porfirio is the given name. The 'y' here means 'and'.
Bolivar, Billy
Début: Tintin in America - page 60, frame 1 (man on the right) - Stage artist and phony.
Trivia: Also known as the Great Bolivar, the Strongest Man in the world.
Bolt
Début: The Castafiore Emerald - page 5, frame 4 / frame 8 - Handyman from Marlinspike village.
Trivia:
- Bolt and his wife were among the many who wrote to congratulate Captain Haddock when the news of his "engagement" with Castafiore broke out. [The Castafiore Emerald: page 28, last frame] Also, Bolt is probably an appropriate name for a handyman, for bolt is a bar that can be slid into a socket to lock a door or a gate.
- In French, the character's name is Isidore Boullu (first name on page 57, frame 9). He is also member of the Music Society of Moulinsart.
Bonvault, Louis
Début: The Black Island - page 54, frame 10 - A name that appears on a list Tintin found on the Black Island.
Boris (1)
Début: King Ottokar's Sceptre - page 35, frame 11 - Villain. King Muskar's Aide-de-Camp, who also conspired to bring the monarchy down.
Trivia: Also known as Colonel Jorgen in Destination Moon (page 52, frame 16).
Also appears in: Destination Moon, Explorers on the Moon
Boris (2)
Début: The Calculus Affair - name mentioned on page 25, frame 13 - Villain. Professor Topolino's Bordurian servant. He discovered Calculus' letter to Topolino about the ultrasonic instrument capable of destroying glass from a distance. Seeing the potential of the instrument as a weapon, Boris tipped off his country's secret service.
Bounce Brothers
Début: The Castafiore Emerald - page 17, frame 12 - Removalists who were hired to deliver Castafiore's piano.
Brown
Début: The Blue Lotus - page 35, frame 19 (man on the right in brown suit) - Detective of the Shanghai International Settlement Police.
Browsing Bison
Début: Tintin in America - page 20, frame 12 (man in blue top, in the background); identified on page 22, frame 15 - The innocent Blackfeet who was wrongly accused of catapulting a pebble which hit Big Chief Keen-Eyed-Mole.
Bruno
Début: The Seven Crystal Balls - page 16, frame 2/A2 (name mentioned on page 7, frame 4/B1) - Master magician .
Brutus
Début: The Secret of the Unicorn - page 48, frame 12 - The Bird Brothers' dog.
Trivial: The dog was probably named after Marcus Junius Brutus who was one of the assassins of Julius Caesar.
Bugsie
Début: Tintin in America - page 47, frame 3 (man on the right) - Villain. Chicago gangster.
Bull's Eye
Début: Tintin in America - page 20, frame 10 (man in red top); identified on page 23, frame 2 - The brother of Browsing Bison who stood up for his wrongly accused brother and in turn caused chaos among the Indians and allowed Tintin to escape.
Butch
Début: Tintin in America - page 4, frame 6 (name first mentioned in page 4, frame 4) - Villain; Chicago gangster. He was the driver who rammed his car into the cab Tintin and the Policeman were in at the start of the story.