Rodrigo Lopez was the San Theodorian thief that killed Jacob Balthazar to cover up his involvement in the forgery of the Idol of the Broken Ear which the former had stolen from the Museum of Ethnography.
Biography[]
Childhood[]
As a teenager, Lopez became the guide for an expedition into the jungles of San Theodoros led by British explorer A.J. Walker. The expedition encountered the Arumbayas, an indigenous tribe that lived along the banks of the River Coliflor, whose leader happily accepted Walker and allowed his party to live among the tribe; Lopez didn't seem to enjoy being around the tribe, possibly due to racist prejudice.
Lopez spying on the cave containing the Heart of the Jungle
One day, Lopez spied on Walker as he was led by the tribe's chief into a mysterious cave. Once the pair had left the cave, Lopez snuck inside and stole the Heart of the Jungle, a gemstone, that the tribe had hid in the cave.
As the expedition were leaving, Lopez, hiding the gem by holding a red sweater over his torso, quickly ran past Walker who had just been given the Idol of the Broken Ear, to honor his vow of silence, and hopped into the expedition's canoe.
Lopez concealing the gemstone under a jacket
After the expedition had left the chief went back to the cave where he found the gemstone missing; the tribe were enraged and began following the Walker expedition.
Lopez heard the tribe coming after them and quickly ran off into the jungle without the idol and left the expedition to be massacred; the only survivor being an injured Walker who staggered out of the jungle into civilization while clutching only the idol in his arms.
Adulthood[]
As an adult, Lopez ended up in prison where he was cellmates with two men named Alonso Perez and Ramon Bada. For an unknown reason, Lopez told them about the precious gemstone that he had hidden the Arumbayan idol.
After getting out of prison, Lopez learned that the Idol of the Broken Ear had ended up in the Museum of Ethnography in Brussels, and decided to steal the artifact to gain the treasure hidden within.
The Broken Ear[]
Lopez visited the Museum of Ethnography and hid in the building until it had closed for the night. Once the museum's attendant had turned off the lights in the room that held the idol and went into the janitor's closet to put away his cleaning supplies, Lopez came out from where he was hiding and stole the Idol of the Broken Ear. The theft was discovered shortly afterward by the museum's attendant.
The next day, Lopez visited local artist Jacob Balthazar and had him make a replica of the idol that Lopez promptly placed back in the museum. Lopez then murdered Balthazar and made it look like an accident. Lopez went on the boat Ville de Lyon so that he could return to San Theodoros.
Death[]
Lopez falling to his death
During the night, Lopez's cabin was broken into by his former cellmates with one of them striking him over the head with a club. The pair then dragged him out of his cabin and threw him off the boat's deck into the ocean below, Lopez screaming on the way down where he presumably drowned.
Appearances[]
- The Broken Ear (TV episode) (only appearance, death)
Trivia[]
- Rodrigo Lopez is a composite character of two characters from the graphic novel: the unseen original thief of the gem Lopez and the original thief of the idol Rodrigo Tortilla.