Rastapopoulos

Lore & Background

A visual prototype for Rastapopoulos appears in Tintin in America, where he is among the assembled dignitaries at a Chicago banquet held in Tintin's honour. Here he is seated next to the actress Mary Pikefort, an allusion to the real-life actress Mary Pickford. Michael Farr asserted that this was indeed a depiction of Rastapopoulos, and that it would be expected for a film director to be seated next to a Hollywood actress. The name 'Rastapopoulos' had been invented by one of Hergé's friends; Hergé thought it was hilarious and decided to use it. He devised Rastapopoulos as an Italian-American with a Greek surname, as a Greek American, or simply as a Greek born on the island of Leros. Despite allegations of antisemitism, Hergé was adamant that the character was not Jewish. With his lampooned Greek surname, large nose and morally dubious involvement in shipping, Hergé arguably modelled Rastapopoulous off Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis.

In Their Own Story

Hergé first introduced the character of Rastapopoulos in Cigars of the Pharaoh, which was serialised in Le Petit Vingtième from 8 December 1932 to 8 February 1934. Tintin runs into him at the start of the adventure aboard the M.S. Isis, a cruise ship docking at Egypt. Here, the Egyptologist Sophocles Sarcophagus bumps into Rastapopoulos, and Rastapopoulos threatens to beat him until Tintin intervenes. He then shouts at Tintin, accusing him of being an 'Impudent whipper-snapper!' Tintin recognises Rastapopoulos, commenting that he is 'the millionaire film tycoon, king of Cosmos Pictures... And it's not the first time we've met...' Later in the story, Tintin runs into Rastapopoulos again, this time running into his desert film set, interrupting an apparent assault on a young woman before realizing that it was only part of the film. Although many of the actors are annoyed, Rastapopoulos is affable, and invites Tintin into his tent where, over a pot of Turkish coffee, Tintin informs him of everything that has happened to him since leaving the cruise ship, and Rastapololous subsequently provides him with clothes and directions to another village. Rastapopoulos reappears— this time disguised in a trench-coat and hat— at the end of the story, where he and a fakir kidnap the crown prince of Gaipajama in vengeance for the Maharajah's war against the opium trade. Tintin pursues them, and a car chase ensues, before Tintin encounters the still-disguised Rastapopoulos on a rocky mountainside, with the criminal boss apparently falling to his death when the cliff-ledge he is on breaks under his foot.

Reader's Guide

Hergé reintroduced Rastapopoulos in the following adventure, The Blue Lotus, which was set in China and dealt with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. In one scene, Tintin hides in a Shanghai cinema that is screening The Sheik's House, Rastapopoulos' film that Tintin witnessed being filmed in the preceding story, later learning that Rastapopoulos, currently staying in the city, was the last person to see a famous doctor who Tintin believes could cure the dangerous poison of madness (Although he accepts Rastapopoulos' story that he dropped the doctor off at his house after a party). At the end of The Blue Lotus, Rastapopoulos is exposed as the leader of the international opium smuggling organisation that Tintin had previously battled in Cigars of the Pharaoh, and is subsequently imprisoned. Rastapopoulos subsequently resurfaces in the guise of the Marquis di Gorgonzola, a millionaire magnate and slave trader in The Red Sea Sharks, having been forced to assume a new identity after he was arrested for his previous crimes. When Tintin, Haddock, and Skut end up on his yacht (a caricature of Aristotle Onassis' luxurious yacht Christina), he tricks them into getting on Allan's ship, which he later tries to have torpedoed after the crew evacuate and a plan to destroy it in a fire fails. Rastapopulos fakes his death by making his boat sink, while escaping in a submarine from the bottom. He later kidnaps the millionaire Laszlo Carreidas in Flight 714 to Sydney to gain the number of his multi-million Swiss Bank account, concluding that it is easier to steal Carreidas's money than make his own fortune all over again. When he is accidentally injected with truth serum by Dr. Krollspell, he reveals various evil deeds, such as his plan to kill Dr. Krollspell afterwards. He is taken hostage by Tintin. Like Krollspell and Carreidas, he is tied up and gagged with sticking plaster. Throughout the course of the story he suffers more and more injuries. First when Haddock breaks his gun chasing Rastapopoulos, he throws part of it away, and it hits the hiding Rastapopoulos on the head. When he continues to run away and is called to by Allan, he is distracted and crashes into a tree. He experiences pain to the face when Allan pulls the sticking plaster off. When Allan is about to throw a grenade at Tintin and Co, he remembers that Rastapopoulos wants Carreidas alive and throws it away. Rastapopoulos is caught in the blast, leaving his clothes in tatters. When Allan pulls Carreidas' hat from under a stone head, he accidentally elbows Rastapopoulos, giving him a black eye. Later his bump on the head goes away, which he takes as a good omen. However a piece of rock falls onto his head just after he notices this as the result of an earthquake, causing another bump. When explosives are used by the gang to break through a stone barrier, a volcanic eruption is set off, forcing them to flee from the Island in a rubber dinghy. He and his gang are hypnotized by Mik Kanrokitoff and taken onto a UFO. What happens next to them is unrevealed.

Did You Know?

• The name 'Rastapopoulos' was invented by one of Hergé's friends; Hergé thought it was hilarious and decided to use it.
• Hergé arguably modelled Rastapopoulous off Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis.
• In The Red Sea Sharks, Rastapopoulos fakes his death by making his boat sink, while escaping in a submarine from the bottom.
• In Flight 714 to Sydney, Rastapopoulos is accidentally injected with truth serum by Dr. Krollspell and reveals various evil deeds.
• In the unfinished Tintin and Alph-Art, a character often thought to be Rastapopoulos in disguise—under the name of Endaddine Akass—appears.

Origins and Visual Conception

Roberto Rastapopoulos serves as a recurring antagonist within Hergé's iconic comic series, debuting in the serialized adventure *Cigars of the Pharaoh* between 1932 and 1934. Before his official introduction, visual prototypes of the character appeared earlier in *Tintin in America*, where he was depicted as a dignitary at a Chicago banquet seated beside an actress resembling Mary Pickford. The character's distinctive name was reportedly coined by one of Hergé's friends, who found it amusing enough to adopt for his criminal mastermind. While Rastapopoulos is often described with Greek or Italian-American traits, including a large nose and a surname that sounds lampooned, Hergé explicitly denied any antisemitic intent behind the design. Instead, critics suggest the character was heavily modeled after the real-life Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis, particularly regarding his involvement in maritime commerce and immense wealth. This blend of fictional invention and real-world caricature established Rastapopoulos as a formidable figure whose moral ambiguity and international reach would define his conflicts with Tintin for decades.

The Pharaoh's Deception

In his first full appearance aboard the M.S. Isis, Rastapopoulos initially presents himself as an affable millionaire film tycoon known as the king of Cosmos Pictures. When Tintin intervenes to stop him from assaulting an Egyptologist, the villain insults the reporter but later invites him into a tent for Turkish coffee on his desert film set. During this encounter, Rastapopoulos appears helpful, providing clothing and directions after listening to Tintin's misadventures, a narrative device Hergé borrowed from influences like Alfred Hitchcock where heroes mistakenly trust their adversaries. However, this hospitality masks his true nature as the leader of an opium smuggling ring. By the story's conclusion, Rastapopoulos reappears in disguise alongside a fakir to kidnap the crown prince of Gaipajama. The confrontation ends with Tintin pursuing the villains up a rocky mountainside, where the criminal boss seemingly meets his demise when the cliff ledge beneath him collapses, sending him plummeting into oblivion.

Resurgence and Disguises

Despite his apparent death, Rastapopoulos proves resilient by resurfacing in *The Blue Lotus* as the head of an international opium organization before being imprisoned. He later escapes justice by adopting the identity of the Marquis di Gorgonzola, a millionaire slave trader who commands a luxurious yacht that parodies Aristotle Onassis's vessel, the Christina. In this guise, he orchestrates complex schemes involving Tintin and Captain Haddock, eventually faking his own death by sinking his ship while escaping via submarine to evade capture. His criminal ingenuity leads him to kidnap millionaire Laszlo Carreidas in a desperate bid to steal access to a multi-million dollar Swiss bank account, reasoning that theft is easier than rebuilding his fortune from scratch. Throughout these later adventures, he suffers numerous physical indignities, including head injuries from falling debris and accidental blows from his own henchmen, yet remains undeterred until the final confrontation on an island where volcanic eruptions force his gang to flee in a rubber dinghy.

The Final Enigma

In the climactic events of *Flight 714*, Rastapopoulos's fate takes a surreal turn after he is accidentally injected with truth serum by Dr. Krollspell, forcing him to confess his evil deeds and plans to murder the doctor. Following this exposure, he becomes a captive of Tintin, enduring further physical trauma including black eyes and tattered clothing caused by explosions and chaotic struggles with his own crew. The narrative reaches its bizarre conclusion when Rastapopoulos and his gang are hypnotized by Mik Kanrokitoff and subsequently abducted onto a UFO. Unlike previous villains in the series whose fates are clearly resolved through imprisonment or death, Hergé leaves Rastapopoulos's ultimate destiny ambiguous after this extraterrestrial abduction. This open-ended conclusion adds a layer of mystery to his legacy, ensuring that while he is removed from Tintin's immediate world, his final whereabouts remain a subject of speculation among fans and scholars alike.