Lopez was the interpreter for A.J. Walker's expedition in San Theodoros.
History[]
The Broken Ear[]
Lopez, a man of mixed heritage (possibly part Arumbaya), became the interpreter for British explorer A.J. Walker's expedition into the forests of San Theodoros. The expedition encountered found the Arumbayas, indigenous tribe that lived along the banks of the River Coliflor, who they quickly befriended.
After Walker gained the trust of the Arumbayas, they showed him the Heart of the Jungle, an ancient gemstone that the Arumbayas claimed had magical healing powers. Lopez would prowl around the hut where the gemstone was kept and would later steal the gemstone, hiding it in the Idol of the Broken Ear, which, ironically, was a gift given to Walker in gratitude of his vow of silence about the gemstone.
Once the Arumbayas discovered that the gemstone was missing, they realized Lopez must've taken it and they began chasing after Walker's party. The Arumbayas engaged the expedition, resulting in everyone in Walker's party except Walker and Lopez being killed; Lopez was highly wounded but managed to escape while Walker escaped with the idol and brought it to Europe. As he was dying, Lopez' wrote down his secret in a note that somehow ended up in the possession of Rodrigo Tortilla.
Television show[]
In Nelvana's television adaption The Broken Ear, Lopez's role is substantially enlarged and re-imagined as Rodrigo Lopez. He completely replaces the character Rodrigo Tortilla as the murdered initial antagonist. Lopez is also featured in the flashback tale of Dr. Ridgewell translating the story of Walker's visit to Tintin as told by the Arumbaya chieftain in the TV adaptation, rather than only being mentioned in the original comic strip.
Trivia[]
- In the original book, Lopez was said to be a half-caste (métis in the original French), an outdated term for someone of mixed heritage, while in the Nelvana adaptation his racial background isn't specified though he's drawn to be tanner than Walker, an Englishman.
- In the television show, Lopez was reimagined as being an adolescent when he was a part of Walker's expedition as opposed to the original book which never specified the character's age, but it can be assumed that he was an adult.