Captain Haddock: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|Comic character by Belgian cartoonist Hergé}} |
{{Short description|Comic character by Belgian cartoonist Hergé}} |
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}}'''Captain Archibald Haddock''' ('''''Capitaine Archibald Haddock''''') is a character in the [[comic book]] series [[The Adventures of Tintin]]. He is Tintin's best friend, a seafaring captain in the [[Merchant Navy]] or [[Merchant Marine]], who was introduced in ''[[The Crab with the Golden Claws]].'' Haddock was initially depicted as a weak and alcoholic character, but in later albums he became more respectable and genuinely heroic (notably in the seminal [[Tintin in Tibet]], where he soberly volunteers his life to save his friend). Although when introduced Haddock has command of a freighter, in later volumes he is clearly retired. The Captain's coarse humanity and sarcasm acts as a counterpoint to Tintin's often implausible heroism; he is always quick with a dry comment whenever the boy reporter gets too idealistic. |
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==History== |
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'''Captain Archibald Haddock''' ({{lang-fr|'''Capitaine Archibald Haddock'''|link=no}}, {{IPA-fr|kapitɛn aʁʃibald adɔk|pron}}) is a fictional character in ''[[The Adventures of Tintin]]'', the comics series by Belgian cartoonist [[Hergé]]. He is one of [[Tintin (character)|Tintin's]] best friends, a seafaring pipe-smoking [[Merchant Marine]] [[Captain (naval)|Captain]]. |
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Captain Haddock was introduced in ''[[The Crab with the Golden Claws]]'', depicted as a weak and alcoholic character.<ref name="Farr">[[Michael Farr]] ''Tintin: The Complete Companion'', John Murray (2001) ISBN 0-7195-5522-1</ref> Up until Haddock's introduction, supporting characters would recur with irregularity, and mainly in the background, used more to build continuity than serve as protagonists. Hergé however realised Haddock's potential as a foil to Tintin, and established the character as a permanent addition to the cast. This was at the expense of Snowy, whose role was reduced to accommodate Haddock. |
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Haddock is initially depicted as a weak and alcoholic character under the control of his treacherous first mate [[Allan Thompson (comics)|Allan]], who keeps him drunk and runs his freighter. He regains his command and his dignity, even rising to president of the Society of Sober Sailors (''[[The Shooting Star]]''), but never gives up his love for [[rum]] and [[whisky]], especially [[Loch Lomond single malt|Loch Lomond]], until the final Tintin adventure, ''[[Tintin and the Picaros]]'', when Professor Calculus 'cures' him of his taste for alcohol. In the adventure ''[[Secret of the Unicorn]]'' (and continuing in ''[[Red Rackham's Treasure]]'') he and Tintin travel to find a pirate's treasure captured by his ancestor, [[Sir Francis Haddock]] (François de Hadoque in French). With newfound wealth and regaining his ancestral home [[Marlinspike Hall]], Captain Haddock becomes a socialite; riding a horse, wearing a monocle, and sitting in a theatre box seat (''[[The Seven Crystal Balls]]''). |
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He then evolves to become genuinely heroic, volunteering to sacrifice his life to save Tintin's own in the pivotal ''[[Tintin in Tibet]]''. In later volumes he is clearly retired. |
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Haddock's character swiftly grew from his beginnings. In his initial adventure he is almost as hazardous to Tintin as the villains of the piece. He is shown as short-tempered, given to emotional and expletive ridden outbursts, and capable of infuriating actions. However, the character is also portrayed as a kindly soul in need of reform, and by the end of the adventure Tintin has managed to reform the alcoholic and gained himself a loyal companion, albeit one still given to uttering the occasional 'expletive'.<ref name="Farr"/> |
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Throughout it all, the Captain's coarse humanity and sarcasm act as a counterpoint to Tintin's often implausible heroism. He is always quick with a dry comment whenever the boy reporter gets too idealistic. |
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Hergé also allowed himself more artistic expression through Haddock's features than with Tintin's. Michael Farr, author of ''Tintin: The Complete Companion'' notes: "Whereas Hergé kept Tintin's facial expressions to a bare minimum ... Haddock's could be contorted with emotion." Farr goes on to write that "In Haddock, Hergé had come up with his most inspired character since creating Tintin" and sales of the volume in which Haddock was introduced indicated the character was well received. After a fairly serious role in ''The Shooting Star'', where he is shown to have become the President of the Society of Sober Sailors, replete with a cabin full of whisky, Haddock takes a more central role in the next adventure, split over two books, ''The Secret of the Unicorn'' and ''Red Rackham's Treasure''. |
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== Character history == |
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Until Haddock's introduction, [[Tintin (character)|Tintin]]'s constantly positive, optimistic perspective was offset by his faithful companion [[Snowy (character)|Snowy]]. Before Haddock, Snowy was the source of all dry and cynical side-commentary for the series. Hergé, however, realised Haddock's potential as a foil to Tintin. After he brought Haddock into the series, the Captain took over the role of the cynic, relieving Snowy and establishing Captain Haddock as a permanent addition to the cast.<ref name="Farr-Companion">{{harvnb|Farr|2001|p=92}}</ref> |
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Hergé builds the adventure around Haddock, furnishing the character with an ancestral home, [[Marlinspike Hall]], or "Moulinsart" in the original French. Harry Thompson, author of ''Tintin:Hergé and his creation'' writes that the introduction of this country mansion was "to provide a suitable ancestral home for Tintin and himself to move into." To achieve this in terms of the plot, Hergé also details Haddock's ancestry, something Thompson regards as distinctive: "Haddock is the only regular character whose relatives turn up in the Tintin stories at all (if one discounts Wagg)"<ref name="Thompson">{{cite book | last=Thompson | first=Harry | authorlink=Harry Thompson | year=1991 | title=Tintin: Hergé and his creation | edition=First | publisher=Hodder & Stoughton | isbn=0-340-52393-X }}</ref> |
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Hergé introduced Captain Haddock in ''[[The Crab with the Golden Claws]]''<ref name="Farr-Companion" /> as the whisky-sodden captain of the ''Karaboudjan'', a merchant vessel used—without Haddock's knowledge—by his first mate [[Allan Thompson (comics)|Allan Thompson]] for [[smuggling]] drugs inside crab tins. Because of his alcoholism and temperamental nature, his character was weak and unstable, at times posing as great a hazard to Tintin as the villains of the piece. He was also short-tempered, given to emotional expletive-ridden outbursts, and capable of infuriating behaviour; at one point he even attacks Tintin when, while traversing the [[Sahara|Moroccan desert]], he has the sun-induced delusion that Tintin is a bottle of [[champagne (wine)|champagne]]. However, Haddock is a sincere figure in need of [[sobriety|reform]], and by the end of his first adventure Tintin has gained a loyal companion, albeit one still given to uttering the occasional "expletive". |
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==Naming== |
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Hergé also allowed himself more artistic expression through Haddock's features than with Tintin's, and with Haddock offering more range in dynamism, Hergé found himself connecting with his stories less through Tintin over time. [[Michael Farr]], author of ''Tintin: The Complete Companion'' (2001), notes: "Whereas Hergé kept Tintin's facial expressions to a bare minimum, Haddock's could be contorted with emotion. In Haddock, Hergé had come up with his most inspired character since creating Tintin." |
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Haddock's name was suggested by his wife, who noted that [[haddock]] was a "sad English fish" over a fish dinner. Hergé then utilised the name for the English captain he'd just introduced. Haddock remained without a first name until the last completed story, ''[[Tintin and the Picaros]]'' (1976), when the name ''Archibald'' was suggested. As Haddock's role grew, Hergé expanded his character, basing him upon aspects of friends, with his characteristic temper somewhat inspired by Tintin colourist E.P. Jacobs and his bluffness drawn from [[Bob de Moor]]. <ref name="Thompson"/> Harry Thompson has commented on how Hergé utilised the character to inject humour into the plot, notably "where Haddock plays the fool to smooth over a lengthy explanation."<ref name="Thompson"/> |
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Sales of the volume in which Haddock was introduced indicated the character was well received. After a fairly serious role in ''[[The Shooting Star]]'', where he has risen to become the President of the Society of Sober Sailors (replete with a cabin full of whisky), Haddock takes a more central role in the next adventure, split over two books, ''[[The Secret of the Unicorn]]'' and ''[[Red Rackham's Treasure]]''—indeed, his family history drives the plot. He discovers Marlinspike Hall, the chateau owned by his forebears, which during ''Unicorn'' is owned by the villainous [[Bird brothers]]. Upon locating the treasure, the newly wealthy Haddock retires to Marlinspike, where [[Nestor (comics)|Nestor]], the former butler of the Bird brothers, is reemployed as Haddock's own. Haddock attempts, to mixed success, to become more refined and posh in ''[[The Seven Crystal Balls]].'' He does so by, among other things, attending the Opera, making greater use of Nestor, parting his hair and wearing formal dress (a running joke in the book is how he goes through about a dozen [[Monocle|monocles]] after they keep breaking). This phase ends before the book is over, as Haddock's grief over the abduction of [[Professor Calculus]] causes him to abandon his attempts at being aristocratic, and return to his iconic "old seadog" way of dressing. This shows the persistent nature of his seafaring humility, and deep down, his undeniable dislike of the pretentious. |
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Although it has not been suggested that Hergé based Haddock on any historical persons, it transpired that there were several Haddocks who had served in the navy. Many of the Haddocks of [[Leigh-on-Sea]] served in the [[British Navy]] of the [[17th century]], with Admiral Sir Richard Haddock serving in the [[battle of Sole Bay]].<ref name="Thompson"/> |
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Hergé built the next adventure around Haddock, furnishing the character with his ancestral home of Marlinspike Hall. [[Harry Thompson]], author of ''Tintin: Hergé and his creation'', writes that the introduction of this large and luxurious [[English country house|country house]] was "to provide a suitable ancestral home for Tintin and himself to move into." To achieve this in terms of the plot, Hergé also details Haddock's ancestry, something Thompson regards as distinctive: <blockquote>"Haddock is the only regular character whose relatives turn up in the Tintin stories at all (if one discounts [[Jolyon Wagg]] and his dreadful family)."<ref name="Thompson">{{harvnb|Thompson|1991}}</ref></blockquote>As Haddock's role grew, Hergé expanded his character, basing him upon aspects of friends, with his characteristic temper somewhat inspired by Tintin colourist [[Edgar P. Jacobs|E.P. Jacobs]] and his bluffness drawn from Tintin artist [[Bob de Moor]]. Harry Thompson has commented on how Hergé utilised the character to inject humour into the plot, notably "where Haddock plays the fool to smooth over a lengthy explanation."<ref name="Thompson" /> |
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==Expletives== |
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Captain Haddock is especially notable in ''[[The Red Sea Sharks]]'', where his skillful captaining of the ship he and Tintin seize from [[Rastapopoulos]] allows them to survive until they are rescued, and is especially noble in the pivotal ''[[Tintin in Tibet]]'', volunteering to sacrifice his life to save Tintin's own. By the time of their last completed and published adventure, ''[[Tintin and the Picaros]]'', Haddock had become such an important figure that he dominates much of the story. |
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At the time Captain Haddock was first introduced, just before the [[World War II|Second World War]], his manners presented a moral problem to [[Hergé]]. As a sailor, Haddock ought to have a very colourful language. However, Hergé had to balance that against the character's appearing in a [[Catholic]] children's magazine, which would dictate he would be unable to use any swearwords. The solution reportedly came when Hergé took advantage of a situation he had become embroiled in during 1933, shortly after the "Four Powers Act" had come into being. Hergé tried to intervene in a discussion between a shopkeeper and customer, but before he could the shopkeeper became so enraged that he lost his composure for a moment and accused his customer of being "''a peace treaty''".<ref name="Thompson"/> This was the solution Hergé sought: what if the captain would use strange or difficult words that were not offensive in themselves, but would hurl them out as if they were very strong cusswords...? |
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{{anchor|AnchorAlcohol}}Captain Haddock's taste for [[alcoholic beverage]]s is a constant feature of the character. He is especially fond of [[whisky]] from the Loch Lomond distillery (which was fictional at the time when the character was developed, the real [[Loch Lomond distillery]] was only founded later), and at the end of the album ''[[Explorers on the Moon]]'', he falls into a [[coma]] upon re-entry to Earth, but he immediately wakes up upon hearing the word "whisky". In the last completed Tintin album ''[[Tintin and the Picaros]]'', Haddock is involuntarily cured from his alcoholism by an invention of Professor Calculus's, a pill that causes the taste of alcohol to turn horribly repulsive upon ingestion. |
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The idea took form quickly and in his first anger-scene the captain storms towards a party of [[Bedouin]] raiders yelling expressions like 'Hydromeduse' (a form of [[jellyfish]]), '[[troglodyte]]' (cave-dweller) and '[[Ectoplasm (cell biology)|ectoplasm]]'. (The bedouins immediately take flight, but from French [[Mehariste]]s (North African desert police) appearing behind the captain's back.) The trick with the false swearwords proved successful and was a [[mainstay]] in future books. Consequently Hergé actively started collecting difficult or dirty-sounding words for use in the captain's next anger attacks and on occasion even searched dictionaries to come up with inspiration.<ref name="Thompson"/> |
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Captain (Archibald) Haddock's ancestor, [[Sir Francis Haddock]], is hinted at being the illegitimate son of the [[Louis XIV|French Sun King (Louis XIV)]], a possible reference to [[Hergé]]'s own family history—Hergé liked to believe that his father was the illegitimate son of the Belgian king [[Leopold II of Belgium|Leopold II]].<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Phillips |first1=Sarah |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2011/oct/18/tintin-versus-asterix-captain-haddock |title=Tintin v Asterix : An interview |date=18 October 2011 |work=The Guardian |access-date=10 March 2014 |last2=Kingsley |first2=Patrick}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Screech|2005|p=34}}</ref> |
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On one occasion however the scheme backfired. In one particularly angry state, Hergé had the captain yell the 'cussword' [[Pneumothorax]] (a medical emergency caused by the collapse of the lung within the chest). One week after the scene appeared in Tintin Magazine, Hergé received a letter allegedly from a father whose boy was a great fan of ''Tintin'' and also a heavy tuberculosis sufferer who had experienced a collapsed lung. According to the letter, the boy was devastated that his favourite comic made fun of his own condition. Afterwards it turned out that the letter was a fake written and planted by Hergé's friend and collaborator [[Jacques Van Melkebeke]].<ref name="Thompson"/><ref name="Farr"/> |
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== Name == |
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As Hergé was considering names for his new character, he asked his wife, Germaine, what she had cooked for dinner. She told him, "a sad English fish—[[haddock]].” Hergé thought this was a perfect name for Tintin’s new mariner friend, and so Captain Haddock was born.<ref name="official">{{Cite web |url=http://us.tintin.com/meet-the-characters/captain-haddock/ |title=Captain haddock : Real Life Inspiration |website=Characters of Tintin |publisher=Herge official website |access-date=3 March 2014}}</ref> |
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The most famous of Haddock's expressions is any of a number of permutations of 'Billions of blue blistering [[barnacle]]s!' (''mille millions de mille milliards de mille sabords!''), used to the extent that [[Ben Kalish Ezab and Abdullah|Abdullah]] actually addressed the captain as 'Blistering Barnacles'. |
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There was a real 20th-century ship's master bearing this unlikely but appropriate surname: Captain [[Herbert Haddock]] had been the skipper of the famous [[White Star Line]]'s passenger vessel ''[[RMS Olympic|Olympic]]''. He had also been temporarily at the helm of Olympic's even more famous sister ship ''[[RMS Titanic|Titanic]]'' before ''Titanic'' was officially handed over to White Star for her doomed 1912 maiden voyage. |
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==Notes and references== |
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Another famous namesake, and a possible inspiration for the Captain's ancestor Sir Francis, was the English admiral [[Richard Haddock]], a veteran of the [[Anglo-Dutch Wars]].<ref>^ J. D. Davies, 'Haddock, Sir Richard (c.1629–1715)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008.</ref> The grandfather of Richard Haddock, also a sea captain, commanded the [[ship of the line]] [[HMS Unicorn (1634)|HMS ''Unicorn'']] during the reign of [[Charles I of England|Charles I]].<ref>{{harvnb|Lavery|1983|p=158}}</ref> |
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<div class="references-small"> |
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[[Bianca Castafiore]] has a difficult time remembering Haddock's name. In ''[[The Castafiore Emerald]],''<ref name="Thompson" /> she confuses his name with [[malapropism]]s such as "[[Paddock]]", "Harrock", "[[Padlock]]", "[[Hopscotch]]", "[[Drydock]]", "[[Stopcock]]", "[[Maggot]]", "[[Béla Bartók|Bartók]]", "[[Hammock]]", and "[[Conium|Hemlock]]". |
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<references/> |
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</div> |
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==External links== |
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The fictional Haddock remained without a first name until the last completed story, ''[[Tintin and the Picaros]]'' (1976), when the name ''[[Archibald (name)|Archibald]]'' was suggested.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Assouline |first=Pierre |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YsyEMjvdYJgC&q=captain+haddock+picaros+name+archibald&pg=PA222 |title=Herge: The Man Who Created Tintin |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2009 |pages=222 |isbn=9780195397598 |author-link=Pierre Assouline}}</ref> |
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*[http://www3.sympatico.ca/brooksdr/haddock/main.htm David's Favourite Captain Haddock Curses] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140528115105/http://www3.sympatico.ca/brooksdr/haddock/main.htm |date=28 May 2014 }} |
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*[http://www.tintinologist.org/guides/lists/curses.html Captain Haddock's Curses - an A to Z list] |
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{{Tintin characters}} |
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The name appears in Hergé's notes in 1938. According to [[Philippe Goddin]], author of ''Hergé – Chronologie d'une oeuvre''{{citation needed|date=March 2016}}, it is inspired by the German French-language film ''[[Captain Craddock]]''. In ''[[The Crab with the Golden Claws]]'', Haddock sings one of the film songs, ''Les gars de la Marine''. |
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[[Category:Tintin characters|Haddock, Captain]] |
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== Expletives == |
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[[Category:Fictional sailors|Haddock, Captain]] |
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At the time of Captain Haddock's introduction to the series in 1940, the character's manners presented a problem to [[Hergé]]. As a sailor, Haddock would need to have a very colourful vocabulary, but Hergé could not use any swear words as he knew his audience included children. The solution reportedly came when Hergé recalled how around 1933, shortly after the [[Four-Power Pact]] had come into being, he had overheard a market trader use the word "four-power pact" as an insult.<ref name="Thompson" /> Struck by this use of an "irrelevant [[insult]]", Hergé hit upon the solution of the Captain using strange or esoteric words that were not actually offensive, but which he would project with great anger, as if they were very strong curse words. These words ranged across a variety of subject areas, often relating to specific terms within scientific fields of study. This behaviour would in later years become one of Haddock's defining characteristics. |
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[[Category:Fictional sea captains]] |
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[[Category:Comics characters introduced in 1941]] |
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[[da:Kaptajn Haddock]] |
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The idea took form quickly; the first appearance of the Haddockian [[argot]] occurred in ''[[The Crab with the Golden Claws]]'' when the Captain storms towards a party of [[berber people|Berber]] raiders yelling expressions like "[[jellyfish]]", "[[caveman|troglodyte]]" and "[[ectoplasm (cell biology)|ectoplasm]]". This use of colourful insults proved successful and was a mainstay in subsequent books. Hergé started collecting these types of words for use in Haddock's outbursts, and on occasion even searched dictionaries to come up with inspiration.<ref name="Thompson" /> |
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[[es:Capitán Haddock]] |
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[[fa:کاپیتان هادوک]] |
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As a result, Captain Haddock's colourful insults began to include "[[bashi-bazouk]]", "[[visigoths]]", "[[kleptomania]]c", "[[sea gherkin]]", "[[anacoluthon]]", "[[Acne scarring|pockmark]]", "[[megacycle]]", "[[nincompoop]]", "[[abominable snowman]]", "[[Idiot (usage)|nitwits]]", "scoundrels", "[[steam roller]]s", "[[parasite]]s", "[[vegetarianism|vegetarians]]", "floundering oath", "carpet seller", "blundering [[Bazooka]]s", "[[Dandy|Popinjay]]", "[[Boast|bragger]]", "[[List of disability-related terms with negative connotations|pinheads]]", "miserable [[slug]]s", "[[ectomorphic|ectomorph]]", "[[mania]]cs", "[[pickled herring]]"; "[[freshwater]] [[Sailor|swabs]]", "miserable [[molecule]] of [[mildew]]","Logarithm", "bandits", "[[orangutan|orang-outangs]]", "[[cercopithecus]]es", "[[Polynesians]]", "[[iconoclast]]s", "ruffians", "fancy-dress [[wikt:freebooter|freebooter]]", "[[wikt:ignoramus|ignoramus]]", "[[sycophant]]", "[[dizzard]]", "[[wikt:black beetle|black-beetle]]", "[[pyrography|pyrographer]]", "[[slave-trader]]" and "Fuzzy Wuzzy", but again, nothing actually considered a swear word.<ref name="David's">{{Cite web |url=http://www3.sympatico.ca/brooksdr/haddock/main.htm |title=David's Favourite Captain Haddock Curses |last=Brooks |first=David |date=3 June 2012 |website=[Personal website] |access-date=2013-07-24}}</ref> |
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[[fr:Capitaine Haddock]] |
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[[id:Kapten Haddock]] |
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On one occasion, this scheme appeared to backfire. In one particularly angry state, Hergé had the captain yell the word "[[pneumothorax]]" (a medical emergency caused by the collapse of the lung within the chest). One week after the scene appeared in ''[[Tintin (magazine)|Tintin]]'' magazine, Hergé received a letter allegedly from a father whose boy was a great fan of ''Tintin'' and also a heavy [[tuberculosis]] sufferer who had experienced a collapsed lung. According to the letter, the boy was devastated that his favourite comic made fun of his own condition. Hergé wrote an apology and removed the word from the comic. Afterwards, the letter was discovered to be fake, written and planted by Hergé's friend and collaborator [[Jacques Van Melkebeke]].<ref name="Thompson" /> |
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[[nl:Kapitein Haddock]] |
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[[sv:Kapten Haddock]] |
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In addition to his many insults, the most famous of Haddock's expressions relate to any of a number of permutations of two phrases: ''"Billions of bilious blue blistering [[barnacle]]s!"'' (''"Mille millions de mille milliards de mille sabords!"''; lit.: ''"A thousand millions of a thousand billions of a thousand portholes!"'') and ''"Ten thousand thundering [[typhoons]]!"'' (''"Tonnerre de [[Brest, France|Brest]]!"''; lit.: ''"Thunder of Brest"''). Haddock uses these two expressions to such an extent that [[Abdullah (comics)|Abdullah]] actually addresses him as "Blistering Barnacles" (''"Mille sabords"'' – ''"A thousand portholes"'' – in the original version). |
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[[Émile Brami]], biographer of [[Louis-Ferdinand Céline]], claimed in a 2004 interview with the French book magazine ''[[Lire (magazine)|Lire]]'' that Hergé took his inspiration from Céline's anti-Semitic pamphlet ''Bagatelles pour un massacre'' (1937) to create some of Haddock's expressions, as some of them ("aztec," "coconut," "iconoclast," "platypus") appeared explicitly in Céline's book. |
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== Adaptations == |
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<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Haddock in The Adventures of Tintin.jpg|thumb|right|upright|alt=A computer-illustrated, realistic-looking image of Captain Haddock, a screenshot from the new movie|Captain Haddock as he appears in [[Steven Spielberg]]'s 2011 [[motion capture]] feature film ''[[The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn]]'']] --> |
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Captain Haddock was portrayed by [[Georges Wilson]] in ''[[Tintin and the Golden Fleece]]'', by [[Jean Bouise]] in ''[[Tintin and the Blue Oranges]]'', and by [[David Fox (actor)|David Fox]] in ''[[The Adventures of Tintin (TV series)]]''. |
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On [[BBC Radio 4]], he was portrayed by [[Leo McKern]] in Series One and by [[Lionel Jeffries]] in Series Two. |
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In both the 1960s and 1990s television series, Haddock spoke with an [[Hiberno-English|Irish accent]]. In the latter he was voiced by [[David Fox (actor)|David Fox]] with a light Northern Irish/Ulster accent.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0179552/ Adventures of Tintin on IMDB]</ref> |
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In the animated movie ''[[Tintin and the Lake of Sharks]]'', he was voiced by [[Claude Bertrand (actor)|Claude Bertrand]]. |
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In the 2011 film ''[[The Adventures of Tintin (film)|The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn]]'', [[Andy Serkis]] supplies the voice and motion capture performance of Captain Haddock (adopting a [[Scottish accent]]) as well as his ancestor, [[Sir Francis Haddock]]. Just as in the comic, he is initially portrayed as a [[drunk]], who is always in search of [[alcohol (drug)|alcohol]]. Tintin endeavours to cure the captain of his [[alcoholism]], but eventually discovers that it is an essential component of his character. |
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== Commemorative statues and murals == |
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* A mural on a building at Rue de l'Etuve recreates a scene of [[Tintin (character)|Tintin]], Captain Haddock and Snowy coming down a building fire escape from [[The Calculus Affair]].<ref name="huff" /> |
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* The [[Brussels-South railway station|Gare du Midi]] station in [[Brussels]] contains a huge reproduction of a panel from [[Tintin in America]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://maps.google.be/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=201677403464380647352.0004631a82908c3f42e5b |title=Tintin in Brussels |last=Studios Hergé |first=Moulinsart |website=Official route drawn by Moulinsart and Studios Hergé |publisher=Moulinsart and Studios Hergé |access-date=3 March 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Cook |first=William |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/travel/brussels-adventures-with-tintin-in-the-belgian-capitall-a3113506 |title=Brussels: adventures with Tintin in the Belgian capital |date=13 November 2015 |work=The Evening Standard |access-date=3 March 2014}}</ref> |
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* The [[Brussels Metro|Stockel subway station]] in [[Brussels]] has huge panels with scenes from Tintin comic books painted as murals.<ref name="huff">{{Cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/21/tintin-tracking-in-comic-_n_1160537.html#s555986 |title=Tintin Tracking in Comic-Crazy Brussels |date=21 December 2011 |work=HuffPost|access-date=3 March 2014}}</ref> |
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* One of the high speed trains of [[Thalys]] (Tintin train) running between [[Brussels]] and [[Paris]] is covered with images from Tintin comic books including those of Captain Haddock.<ref name="huff" /> |
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* An advertisement of [[Thalys]] shows Captain Haddock on a train platform with his trademark [[seabag]], appearing to have stepped out of a Thalys train.<ref name="huff" /><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.a113animation.com/2013/07/field-report-tintin-and-herge-in-brussels.html |title=Field report – Tintin and Herge in Brussels |publisher=A 113 Animation |access-date=5 March 2014}}</ref> |
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* A life size resin statue of Captain Haddock was created and displayed at the 2012 [[San Diego Comic-Con International|San Diego International Comics Convention]] (WETA booth)<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://us.tintin.com/2012/07/san-diego-comic-con-2012-photos/ |title=Happenings |publisher=Tintin USA Official website |access-date=5 March 2014}}</ref> |
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== See also == |
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* [[List of The Adventures of Tintin characters|List of ''The Adventures of Tintin'' characters]] |
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== References == |
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{{Reflist|30em}} |
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=== Bibliography === |
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* {{Cite book |last=Farr |first=Michael |title=Tintin: The Complete Companion |publisher=Egmont Books |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-86719-754-9 |author-link=Michael Farr}} |
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* {{Cite book |last=Farr |first=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=huK1ngEACAAJ |title=Tintin & Co |publisher=John Murray Publishers Ltd. |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-4052-3264-7 |location=London |author-link=Michael Farr}} |
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* {{Cite book |last=Lavery |first=Brian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CH9xQgAACAAJ&q=The+Ship+of+the+Line+-+Volume+1:+The+development+of+the+battlefleet+1650-1850. |title=The Ship of the Line: The development of the battlefleet, 1650–1850 |date=1983 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |isbn=978-0-87021-631-2 |language=en }} |
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* {{Cite book |last=Peeters |first=Benoît |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eS5v-F04AoQC |title=Hergé: Son of Tintin |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |others=Tina A. Kover (translator) |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-4214-0454-7 |location=Baltimore, Maryland |author-link=Benoît Peeters |orig-year=2002}} |
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* {{Cite book |last=Screech |first=Matthew |title=Masters of the Ninth Art: Bandes Dessinées and Franco-Belgian Identity |publisher=Liverpool University press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-85323-938-3 |location=Liverpool }} |
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* {{Cite book |last=Thompson |first=Harry |title=Tintin: Hergé and his creation |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-340-52393-3 |edition=First |author-link=Harry Thompson}} |
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== External links == |
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*[http://www.tintinologist.org/guides/lists/curses.html Captain Haddock's Curses – an A to Z list] |
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{{Tintin and Hergé}} |
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{{Authority control}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Haddock, Captain}} |
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[[Category:Comic book sidekicks]] |
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[[Category:Comics characters introduced in 1941]] |
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[[Category:Fictional alcohol abusers]] |
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[[Category:Fictional astronauts]] |
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[[Category:Fictional British people]] |
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[[Category:Fictional explorers]] |
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[[Category:Fictional sea captains]] |
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[[Category:Fictional smokers]] |
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[[Category:Fictional socialites]] |
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[[Category:Hergé characters]] |
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[[Category:Male characters in comics]] |
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[[Category:Tintin characters]] |
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Latest revision as of 13:20, 22 April 2024
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2024) |
 | You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (November 2021) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
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| Captain Haddock | |
|---|---|
 Captain Haddock (Capitaine Haddock) from The Seven Crystal Balls by Hergé | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Casterman (Belgium) |
| First appearance | The Crab with the Golden Claws (1941) The Adventures of Tintin |
| Created by | Hergé |
| In-story information | |
| Full name | Archibald Haddock |
| Partnerships | List of main characters |
| Supporting character of | Tintin |
Captain Archibald Haddock (Capitaine Archibald Haddock) is a character in the comic book series The Adventures of Tintin. He is Tintin's best friend, a seafaring captain in the Merchant Navy or Merchant Marine, who was introduced in The Crab with the Golden Claws. Haddock was initially depicted as a weak and alcoholic character, but in later albums he became more respectable and genuinely heroic (notably in the seminal Tintin in Tibet, where he soberly volunteers his life to save his friend). Although when introduced Haddock has command of a freighter, in later volumes he is clearly retired. The Captain's coarse humanity and sarcasm acts as a counterpoint to Tintin's often implausible heroism; he is always quick with a dry comment whenever the boy reporter gets too idealistic.
History[edit]
Captain Haddock was introduced in The Crab with the Golden Claws, depicted as a weak and alcoholic character.[1] Up until Haddock's introduction, supporting characters would recur with irregularity, and mainly in the background, used more to build continuity than serve as protagonists. Hergé however realised Haddock's potential as a foil to Tintin, and established the character as a permanent addition to the cast. This was at the expense of Snowy, whose role was reduced to accommodate Haddock.
Haddock's character swiftly grew from his beginnings. In his initial adventure he is almost as hazardous to Tintin as the villains of the piece. He is shown as short-tempered, given to emotional and expletive ridden outbursts, and capable of infuriating actions. However, the character is also portrayed as a kindly soul in need of reform, and by the end of the adventure Tintin has managed to reform the alcoholic and gained himself a loyal companion, albeit one still given to uttering the occasional 'expletive'.[1]
Hergé also allowed himself more artistic expression through Haddock's features than with Tintin's. Michael Farr, author of Tintin: The Complete Companion notes: "Whereas Hergé kept Tintin's facial expressions to a bare minimum ... Haddock's could be contorted with emotion." Farr goes on to write that "In Haddock, Hergé had come up with his most inspired character since creating Tintin" and sales of the volume in which Haddock was introduced indicated the character was well received. After a fairly serious role in The Shooting Star, where he is shown to have become the President of the Society of Sober Sailors, replete with a cabin full of whisky, Haddock takes a more central role in the next adventure, split over two books, The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure.
Hergé builds the adventure around Haddock, furnishing the character with an ancestral home, Marlinspike Hall, or "Moulinsart" in the original French. Harry Thompson, author of Tintin:Hergé and his creation writes that the introduction of this country mansion was "to provide a suitable ancestral home for Tintin and himself to move into." To achieve this in terms of the plot, Hergé also details Haddock's ancestry, something Thompson regards as distinctive: "Haddock is the only regular character whose relatives turn up in the Tintin stories at all (if one discounts Wagg)"[2]
Naming[edit]
Haddock's name was suggested by his wife, who noted that haddock was a "sad English fish" over a fish dinner. Hergé then utilised the name for the English captain he'd just introduced. Haddock remained without a first name until the last completed story, Tintin and the Picaros (1976), when the name Archibald was suggested. As Haddock's role grew, Hergé expanded his character, basing him upon aspects of friends, with his characteristic temper somewhat inspired by Tintin colourist E.P. Jacobs and his bluffness drawn from Bob de Moor. [2] Harry Thompson has commented on how Hergé utilised the character to inject humour into the plot, notably "where Haddock plays the fool to smooth over a lengthy explanation."[2]
Although it has not been suggested that Hergé based Haddock on any historical persons, it transpired that there were several Haddocks who had served in the navy. Many of the Haddocks of Leigh-on-Sea served in the British Navy of the 17th century, with Admiral Sir Richard Haddock serving in the battle of Sole Bay.[2]
Expletives[edit]
At the time Captain Haddock was first introduced, just before the Second World War, his manners presented a moral problem to Hergé. As a sailor, Haddock ought to have a very colourful language. However, Hergé had to balance that against the character's appearing in a Catholic children's magazine, which would dictate he would be unable to use any swearwords. The solution reportedly came when Hergé took advantage of a situation he had become embroiled in during 1933, shortly after the "Four Powers Act" had come into being. Hergé tried to intervene in a discussion between a shopkeeper and customer, but before he could the shopkeeper became so enraged that he lost his composure for a moment and accused his customer of being "a peace treaty".[2] This was the solution Hergé sought: what if the captain would use strange or difficult words that were not offensive in themselves, but would hurl them out as if they were very strong cusswords...?
The idea took form quickly and in his first anger-scene the captain storms towards a party of Bedouin raiders yelling expressions like 'Hydromeduse' (a form of jellyfish), 'troglodyte' (cave-dweller) and 'ectoplasm'. (The bedouins immediately take flight, but from French Meharistes (North African desert police) appearing behind the captain's back.) The trick with the false swearwords proved successful and was a mainstay in future books. Consequently Hergé actively started collecting difficult or dirty-sounding words for use in the captain's next anger attacks and on occasion even searched dictionaries to come up with inspiration.[2]
On one occasion however the scheme backfired. In one particularly angry state, Hergé had the captain yell the 'cussword' Pneumothorax (a medical emergency caused by the collapse of the lung within the chest). One week after the scene appeared in Tintin Magazine, Hergé received a letter allegedly from a father whose boy was a great fan of Tintin and also a heavy tuberculosis sufferer who had experienced a collapsed lung. According to the letter, the boy was devastated that his favourite comic made fun of his own condition. Afterwards it turned out that the letter was a fake written and planted by Hergé's friend and collaborator Jacques Van Melkebeke.[2][1]
The most famous of Haddock's expressions is any of a number of permutations of 'Billions of blue blistering barnacles!' (mille millions de mille milliards de mille sabords!), used to the extent that Abdullah actually addressed the captain as 'Blistering Barnacles'.
Notes and references[edit]
- ^ a b c Michael Farr Tintin: The Complete Companion, John Murray (2001) ISBN 0-7195-5522-1
- ^ a b c d e f g Thompson, Harry (1991). Tintin: Hergé and his creation (First ed.). Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-52393-X.
External links[edit]
- David's Favourite Captain Haddock Curses Archived 28 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- Captain Haddock's Curses - an A to Z list
