- Dr. J. W. Müller
Doctor J. W. Müller is a fictional character from "
The Adventures of Tintin " series of classiccomic books drawn and written byHergé . He is a doctor whose position and qualifications serve as a cover for more villainous activities, including that of criminal,Nazi secret agent andmercenary .Crook
Müller's first appearance was in "
The Black Island " which was first published in 1937, colourised in 1943 and redrawn completely in 1966.Müller was the director of a
psychiatric clinic based inEngland . It was his cover for his activities as a member of a gang which counterfeitedbanknotes . He would use the clinic to dispose of his enemies by giving them a "treatment" which made them insane.A cautious man, Müller had
man-trap s laid about his estate. He also owned a fierce guard dog. On the trail of the gang, Tintin broke into Müller's estate. Snowy's bone distracted the guard dog but Tintin got caught in one of the man-traps and was captured by Müller and his chauffeur-accomplice Ivan. In the fight that followed Müller'smock Tudor residence got burnt down.Tintin pursued Müller and Ivan all the way to
Scotland where he tracked them and their accomplices to the island of the title. Müller and his associates were all rounded up and arrested by the British police.Inspiration
In "Tintin The Complete Companion", author
Michael Farr suggests that this version of Müller was based onGeorg Bell , a British adventurer who was an associate of Nazi leaderErnst Röhm . Bell later fell out with the Nazis and was murdered by them in 1933.Bell is said to have been part of a plot to destabilise the
Soviet Union by forgingRoubles . Some have speculated that Müller (a German name) is an agent ofNazi Germany who is up to the same thing with the British economy, but the fact that the gang is led by theJewish -like Puschov makes this unlikely. The gang is probably just another group of crooks and no political sub-text is intended.Ivan's name implies that he is a White Russian exiled by the
Bolshevik revolution .ecret Agent
Müller's next appearance was in "
Land of Black Gold ". Here he assumed the name of Professor Smith, pretending to be anarchaeologist and representative of the Skoil Petroleum oil company.In fact, Müller was a
secret agent for a foreign power out to disrupt the fuel supplies of enemy countries. (The original story, which was first started in 1939, was set in theBritish Mandate of Palestine . In this edition Müller would definitely have been an agent of Nazi Germany. Later editions moved it to the fictional state of Khemed, but the basic background theme of imminent war remained.)Müller was based in a mansion at the top of a mountain near Wadesdah, capital of Khemed. Under this mansion was a network of
bunkers which hid an arsenal of weapons. He undertook a campaign ofsabotage by blowing upoil pipeline s and contaminating other oil supplies with special tablets codenamed "Formula 14". These tablets would cause an increase in the driving power of the contaminated oil causing car engines to explode. The idea was to eventually prevent militarytanks andaircraft from being used.The attacks were blamed on
Sheikh Bab El Ehr who had the support of Müller's Skoil Petroleum. Bab El Ehr was the enemy ofEmir Ben Kalish Ezab , the ruler of Khemed. Ben Kalish Ezab preferred to stick to his contract with another oil company, Arabex, and refused Smith/Müller's offer to sign a new one with Skoil Petroleum.Müller therefore kidnapped the Emir's young son, Abdullah, and held him prisoner in his bunkers. A note was sent to the Emir with Bab El Ehr claiming responsibility and demanding that Arabex be expelled from Khemed. From the start Tintin suspected that it was Müller and not Bab El Ehr who was responsible — he had, after all, seen Müller's sabotaging of the pipelines which had been blamed on the Sheik (who was, admittedly, a nasty piece of work himself). Abdullah used
sneezing powder on Müller and his men and thus provided a confirmation of Tintin's suspicions. With a great deal of trouble he rescued the spoilt, uncooperative brat from Müller.Pursued into the desert and surrounded from all sides, Müller could not face the prospect of being tortured, beaten and executed by Ben Kalish Ezab for the kidnapping of his son. He thus attempted suicide. The problem was that he tried to use a gun given to him by Abdullah, which turned out to be a
water pistol filled with black ink.Tintin's friends
Thompson and Thomson found and swallowed the Formula 14 tablets thinking that they wereaspirin . This caused them to be violently ill and cause a minor, if volatile, mutation which made their hair grow rapidly and change its color. Müller tried to bribe Tintin into destroying the tablets, but, more concerned with his friends' health, Tintin had them sent toProfessor Calculus for analysis and a cure. A way of countering the contaminated oil supplies was also found.Tintin did, however, guarantee Müller a fair
trial where the truth of his activities was exposed. What became of him straight afterwards is not revealed.Mercenary
Müller's final appearance was a small but important one in "
The Red Sea Sharks ". In this story he was just one of a number of Tintin's enemies, including Dawson from "The Blue Lotus " andAllan Thompson , linked to the main villainRastapopoulos , who led a wide-ranging business empire, which included legal and criminal activities, and mixed with people in high places.When Emir Ben Kalish Ezab threatened to expose Rastapopoulos' involvement in the
slave trade (albeit not for moral reasons), Müller helped to cause trouble in the region and the Emir was overthrown. Sheikh Bab El Ehr was able to seize power using aircraft supplied by Rastapopoulos. Under the name of Mull Pasha, Müller assumed an important role as amercenary military leader in Khemed's new regime, dressing in military uniform.He actually only made a
cameo appearance in this story when he ordered armoured cars andde Havilland Mosquito fighter-bomber s to be sent to wipe out Tintin andCaptain Haddock , who were escaping Wadesdah on horseback. However the order was misinterpreted by his aide, Colonel Achmed, who instead ordered the fighter-bombers to destroy the armoured cars. In his fury, Müller had Ahmed reduced to the ranks.As part of an attempt to expose the slave trade, Tintin and Haddock left for
Mecca on board a sailing ship, but were seen leaving by a patrol of soldiers serving Bab El Ehr. Müller sent Mosquitos to sink the ship. The pilots included theEstonia n mercenaryPiotr Skut , whose plane was shot down by Tintin. The ship did however catch fire and had to be abandoned.Müller then reported to Rastapopoulos by coded radio message stating that "Parasites 1 and 2" (i.e. Tintin and Haddock) had been eliminated. In fact they had managed to make a raft and, along with Skut, were rescued by Rastapopoulos's own yacht.
By the end of the adventure, Khemed was again under the control of Emir Ben Kalish Ezab.
A newspaper clipping at the end of the book confirms that Müller was Mull Pasha and the organiser of the revolution, but does not reveal what became of him.
Inspiration
Müller's appearance in "The Red Sea Sharks" is believed to have been based on British General
John Bagot Glubb , aka Glubb Pasha of theArab Legion .In other media
In the video game "", Dr. Müller was the second boss.
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