History Recap / TintinFlight714

While making a stop in Jakarta on their way to a scientific conference in Sydney, Tintin, Haddock and Calculus happen to run into the former two's friend Piotr Skut, the Estonian pilot from "[[Recap/TintinTheRedSeaSharks The Red Sea Sharks]]". He is currently the personal pilot of eccentric aircraft tycoon Lazlo Carreidas, "the man who never laughs", whom he introduces to the rest. After Calculus inadvertently makes Carreidas laugh, twice, the latter decides to give them a lift to Sydney on his private jet. Due to that Spalding, Carreidas' assistant, decides to make a quick call to his accomplice to cancel their secret plan. However his accomplice refuses even the fact that he seems to recognize Tintin from afar.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Kanrokitoff sends a telepathic message to Tintin after he races back into the erupting volcano to save Calculus. Apparently Tintin's response was rather rude, telling Kanrokitoff to "Go to..."

* AbsenteeActor: Detective Thomson and Thompson are completely absent from the story.

* AnalogyBackfire: Rastapopulos tells Tintin he will crush him like he crushes a spider. However he proves unable to stamp on the spider.

* ArtisticLicenseMartialArts: The savate kick Calculus tries to demonstrate in the airport, which he names ''coup de pied de figure'' in the original text, doesn't resemble the real technique from the art (which is actually just a roundhouse kick to the head; savate actually discourages jumping attacks). If anything, it looks more like he was trying to do a stationary ''Franchise/KamenRider'' style DivingKick and lost his balance while high in the air. This confusion is strange, as Hergé had already portrayed an interestingly obscure but accurate savate kick in ''Recap/TintinTheBlackIsland'', although he might have included intentionally this error in order to show Calculus's savateur days were well behind him.

* EvilerThanThou: Played for Laugh with Rastapopoulos and Carreidas. After Rastapopoulos also gets jabbed with the serum that makes him confess his misdeeds, they get into an EscalatingWar argument about which of them is more evil.
* EvilIsPetty: Many of the evil boasts of Rastapopoulos and Carreidas consist of cruel pranks and petty theft, for instance Carreidas starts off with his first theft: a pear. Allan also jabs a hat down on Haddock's eyes, then laughs at how Tintin has to lead him everywhere.

* FarEastAsianTerrorists: Rastapopoulos's {{mook}}s are a group of Sondonesian nationalists, whose cause he has promised to help. [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness Turns out he's planted bombs under their ships,]] though they leave the Island before the eruption and without the explosives.

** In the interview after the return to civilization Carreidas is asked why he has needle-marks on his arms [[note]]Carreidas was made to forget, but they're from being injected with Krollspell's truth-serum.[[/note]] but not the others, his response is: "I'm entitled to special treatment, aren't I?"

** Kanrokitoff is basically Jacques Bergier under a different name. Bergier, a famous Russian-French scientist and UFO researcher, even founded a magazine named ''Planète'', just like Tintin says in the text. (Contrary to popular belief, he's not based on Erik Von Daniken, the popularizer of the AncientAstronauts trope, despite the character's original name, ''E''z''dani''toff, can look like some kind of anagram; see Punny Name for the real pun of his name.)

* TheyHaveTheScent: Averted; Snowy sniffs Carreidas hat so the heroes can find where he's being held prisoner, but just goes straight to Haddock, who's been made to wear the hat.

** Tintin attacks several mooks when he thinks Snowy has been shot.

* EvilerThanThou: Rastapopoulos and Carreidas. After Rastapopoulos also gets jabbed with the serum that makes him confess his misdeeds, they get into an EscalatingWar argument about which of them is more evil.

* EleventhPartyRanger: Mik (the man who is in contact with the aliens) doesn't appear until the third act of the story.

** Kanrokitoff is basically Jacques Bergier under a different name. Bergier, a famous Russian-French scientist and UFO researcher, even founded a magazine named ''Planète'', just like Tintin says in the text. (Contrary to popular belief, he's not based on Erik Von Daniken, the popularizer of the AncientAstrounauts trope, despite the character's original name, ''E''z''dan''itoff, can look like some kind of anagram; see Punny Name for the real pun of his name.)

* GoneHorriblyRight: Krosspell's TruthSerum is an incredibly potent concoction that will make people tell the whole truth uncontrollably. Unfortunately for Carreidas, this includes rambling on and ''on'' about childhood secrets and anything else the uninhibited person deems worth talking about.

* {{Telepathy}}: Mik's device and the aliens both have the capacity for this. It becomes important in the final act, both leading Tintin to the AncientAstronaut ruins where he and his friends can be saved and for wiping everybody's memories.

* EleventhHourPartyMember: Mik (the man who is in contact with the aliens) doesn't appear until the third act of the story.

* ChekhovsVolcano: Which erupts on the third act, destroying everything... especially including the evidence of aliens.

* EleventhHourPartyMember: Mik (the man who is in contact with the aliens) doesn't appears until the third act of the story.

* HowUnscientific: The alien encounter

%%* AncientAstronauts

%%* ChekhovsVolcano

%%* GainaxEnding

%%* {{Telepathy}}

%%* VictoryGuidedAmnesia

* EvilerThanThou / EvilVersusEvil: Rastapopoulos and Carreidas. After Rastapopoulos also gets jabbed with the serum that makes him confess his misdeeds, they get into an EscalatingWar argument about which of them is more evil.

* GagNose: Allan [[RightBehindMe notes the similarity]] between Rastapopoulos's nose and that of a proboscis monkey. [[TooDumbToLive Rastapopoulos, who was beside him, is not amused.]]

* LeftHanging: Due to this being the penultimate book, we never find out what became of Rastapopoulos and his men after they were taken away by the saucer. [[spoiler:Among Herge's notes for "Recap/TintinTintinAndAlphArt", it was discovered that he had at least considered the idea of bringing Rastapopoulos back by revealing that the Ennadine Akass character had been nothing more than another of his disguises. Nothing in the partially-completed script confirms this, however.]] As Doctor Krollspell is dropped close to the clinic he was from with amnesia, it is likely that the villains may have been mind-wiped and dropped elsewhere.

* AncientAstronauts

* ChekhovsVolcano

* GainaxEnding

* [[MeaningfulName Meaningful]] PunnyName: Carreidas is a homophone for "Carré d'as", a four-ace hand in poker. The Carreidas company logo even has the four symbols in it.

* {{Telepathy}}

* VictoryGuidedAmnesia

* BerserkButton: Don't hit Calculus' hat off, for he will give you a thrashing that you won't forget!

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Laszlo Carreidas was to a large extent inspired by French industrial mogul Marcel Dassault. There is an urban legend that a French photojournalist doing a feature about the homeless in Paris took a picture of him thinking he was one.

* CataclysmClimax

* IslandOfMystery: Secret Villain Base, Ancient Ruins, Volcano, Aliens, the island has it all. Or had.

While making a stop in Jakarta on their way to a scientific conference in Sydney, Tintin, Haddock and Calculus happen to run into the former two's friend Piotr Skut, the Estonian pilot from ''[[Recap/TintinTheRedSeaSharks The Red Sea Sharks]]''. He is currently the personal pilot of eccentric aircraft tycoon Lazlo Carreidas, "the man who never laughs", whom he introduces to the rest. After Calculus inadvertently makes Carreidas laugh, twice, the latter decides to give them a lift to Sydney on his private jet. Due to that Spalding, Carreidas' assistant, decides to make a quick call to his accomplice to cancel their secret plan. However his accomplice refuses even the fact that he seems to recognize Tintin from afar.

Turns out that Splading's plan is to hijack the plane, with the two new replacement crew (whom the regulars end up in an 'accident'), and they succeed in this. They land on an abandoned volcanic island in the South Pacific and are held at gunpoint by armed gunmen who, to Tintin's horror, apparently kill Snowy. They are greeted by none other than Tintin's nemesis Rastapopoulos and TheDragon Allan. Having lost most of his fortune in his previous scheme, Rastapopoulos plans on stealing the money in Carreidas' SwissBankAccount. To do this he hired the services of [[HerrDoctor Dr. Krollspell]], who has developed an experimental TruthSerum. Rastapopoulos and Krollspell take Carreidas away while the rest are held prisoner in a bunker. Eventually they escape with the help of Snowy, who turns out to be alive.

While making a stop in Jakarta on their way to a scientific conference in Sydney; Tintin, Haddock and Calculus happen to run into the former two's friend Piotr Skut, the Estonian pilot from ''[[Recap/TintinTheRedSeaSharks The Red Sea Sharks]]''. He is currently the personal pilot of eccentric aircraft tycoon Lazlo Carreidas, the "the man who never laughs", whom he introduces to the rest. After Calculus inadvertently makes Carreidas laughs, twice, the latter decides to give them a lift to Sydney on his private jet. Due to that Spalding, Carreidas' assistant, decides to make a quick call his accomplice to cancel their secret plan. However his accomplice refuses even the fact that he seems to recognize Tintin from afar.

Turns our that Splading's plan is to hijacked the plane, with the two new replacement crew (whom the regulars end up in an 'accident'), whichh they succeeded. They land on an abandoned volcanic island in the South Pacific and are held at gunpoint by armed gunmen who, to Tintin's horror, apparently kill Snowy. They are greeted by none other than Tintin's nemesis Rastapopoulos and TheDragon Allan. Having lost most of his fortune in his previous scheme, Rastapopoulos plans on stealing the money in Carreidas' SwissBankAccount. To do this he hired the services of [[HerrDoctor Dr. Krollspell]], who has developed an experimental TruthSerum. Rastapopoulos and Krollspell take Carreidas away while the rest are held prisoner in a bunker. Eventually they escape with the help of Snowy, who turns out to be alive.

Fortunately, even though Krollspell's TruthSerum works, Carreidas [[MistakenConfession starts rattling off every misdeed he did in his life]] instead of answering Rastapopoulos' questions about Carreidas' bank account. Fed up of Carreidas' stories, Rastapopoulos angrily tries to hit Krollspell. However, Rastapopulos accidentally jab himself with the needle, causing both him and Carreidas to bicker of each other misdeeds to prove who's the most evil person. In the end, Rastapopoulos, Krollspell and the uncooperative Carreidas are BoundAndGagged by Tintin and Haddock. However, they are intercepted by Allan, after which Rastapopoulos escapes and orders Allan and his Mooks to find them. Knowing that Rastapopoulos plans to double crossed him thanks to the TruthSerum, Krollspell decides to help Tintin's group and was freed after he tries to warn the group of Carriedas (who tries to run away) and Rastapopoulos' escape.

[[DenserAndWackier Then things get weird]]... Tintin suddenly starts hearing a "voice" directing them to a secret entrance ancient temple to evade their captors. There, they find a strange man named Mik Kanrokitoff, a writer for a space magazine. Apparently the island was visited in the past by AncientAstronauts worshiped as gods by the natives. Mik himself possesses a device that allows him to communicate telepathically and maintains contact with the aforementioned race. While discussing this, Rastapopoulos' men set off explosives hoping to breach the temple which causes the volcano to awaken. Tintin and his friends are rescued by an honest-to-god FlyingSaucer. They are then hypnotized into forgetting everything that happened. Meanwhile Rastapopoulos and his men try their luck by leaving the island via dinghy. However, they are also picked up by the Saucer with their fate unknown.

Tintin's group (apart from Krollspell who was found in Cairo equally amnesic) then gives an interview claiming they don't remember a thing (apart from Snowy who, of course, cannot talk). Calculus however, shows a mysterious item he found in his pocket (which he had picked up inside the volcano) and claims that according to material analysis is made of a material not found on Earth.

!!Tropes
* AbsenteeActor: Thomson and Thompson are completely absent from the story.
* ActuallyThatsMyAssistant: Haddock mistakes Carreidas' dapper right-hand man Spalding for the billionaire himself, under the impression that the actual Carreidas was a homeless man.

* FarEastAsianTerrorists: Rastapopoulos's {{mook}}s are a group of Sondonesian nationalists, whose cause he's promised to help. [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness Turns out he's planted bombs under their ships,]] though they leave the Island before the eruption and without the explosives.

* HypnosisProofDogs: Snowy is the only one who remembers the whole ordeal but it's unclear whether this trope is in effect, or if the Aliens saw no need to as Snowy can't tell. (Funnily enough, Snowy decides to keep quiet because they'd never believe him)

* ItsAllAboutMe: In the interview after the return to civilization Carreidas is asked why he has needle-marks on his arms[[note]] Carreidas was made to forget, but they're from being injected with Krollspell's truth-serum.[[/note]] but not the others, his response is: "I'm entitled to special treatment, aren't I?"

* KarmaHoudini: Subverted by Rastapopolous. While he escaped at the end of ''The Red Sea Sharks'', it's revealed that Tintin and Haddock's ruining his slave trade operation has nearly bankrupted him.
* KickTheDog: The introduction of Skut's co-pilot has him stepping on Snowy's tail and complaining about the mongrel getting underfoot. This is our first indication he's a villain.
** The villains trying to shoot Snowy.
* LeftHanging: Due to this being the penultimate book, we never find out what became of Rastapopoulos and his men after they were taken away by the saucer. [[spoiler:Among Herge's notes for ''Recap/TintinTintinAndAlphArt'', it was discovered that he had at least considered the idea of bringing Rastapopoulos back by revealing that the Ennadine Akass character had been nothing more than another of his disguises. Nothing in the partially-completed script confirms this, however.]] As Doctor Krollspell is dropped close to the clinic he was from with amnesia, it is likely the villains may have been mind-wiped and dropped elsewhere.

** Mik Ezdanitoff. His last name references the phrase ''Is dat niet tof?'' ("Isn't that swell?") in Dutch. Hergé would often used words and expressions from the Marol dialect, Flemish spoken in Brussels.

* SingleTear: Tintin sheds a tear for Snowy when still under the impression that Snowy's been shot dead.

* {{Spoonerism}}: The name of the makers of Carreidas' prized hat is based on the British food production company Crosse & Blackwell.

* TheyHaveTheScent: Averted; Snowy sniffs Carreidas hat so the heroes can find where he's being held prisoner, but just goes straight to Haddock, who'd been made to wear the hat.

* VillainDecay: Infamously done to Rastapopoulos who spends the entire book wearing a pink shirt and cowboy boots (or rather boot, as one gets knocked off part way through the story), is introduced wearing a stetson hat, and on the receiving end of slapstick comedy. Hergé claims the latter naturally followed the former: he just couldn't take him seriously after putting him in ''that'' outfit. Aside from that, Rastapopolous is reduced from having a large trafficking syndicate and a rich fortune, to being nearly broke and having only a few thugs working for him.

* WhatAnIdiot: [[SarcasmMode Yes, Carreidas]], when you see Tintin about to launch a ConvenientlyTimedAttackFromBehind on Spalding, go right ahead and say ''right out loud'' to him "Good for you! Take his gun!"

* IDontPayYouToThink: This is what Carreidas tells Spalding when Spalding makes an excuse due to Carreidas's decision to let Tintin's gang into his aircraft.

* SkewedPriorities: Carreidas obsession with his hat, to the point he keeps insisting they go back to look for it, and even when there are criminals close behind them and gas is coming through the tunnel he keeps running back for his hat, only being stopped by lava. At the end when his new plane, secretary and two of the crew have vanished he says what really upsets him is losing his hat. "It's a pre-war Bross and Clackwell... And that is irreplaceable!"

* TheyHaveTheScent: Averted; Snowy sniff's Carreidas hat so the heroes can find where he's being held prisoner, but just goes straight to Haddock, who'd been made to wear the hat.

* WhatAnIdiot: Yes, Carreidas, when you see Tintin about to launch a ConvenientlyTimedAttackFromBehind on Spalding, go right ahead and say ''right out loud'' to him "Good for you! Take his gun!"

* HypnosisProofDogs: Snowy is the only one who remembers the whole ordeal but it's unclear whether this trope is in effect if the Aliens saw no need to as Snowy can't tell. (Funnily enough, Snowy decides to keep quiet because they'd never believe him)
* IDontPayYouToThink: This is what Carreidas tells Spalding when Spalding makes an excuse due to Carreidas decision to let Tintin's gang into his aircraft.