The Adventures of Tintin partially deaf physicist and a regular character alongside Tintin, Snowy, and Captain Haddock. He was introduced in "Red Rackham's Treasure", and based partially on Auguste Piccard, a Swiss physicist. The leading characters do not initially welcome his presence, but through his generous nature and his scientific ability, he develops a lasting bond with them. Eventually, by the end of "Land of Black Gold", he becomes a resident of Marlinspike Hall. Normally mild-mannered and dignified, Calculus occasionally loses his temper and acts in a spectacularly aggressive manner in response to actual or perceived insults, such as when Captain Haddock belittles his
Tintin (character) the firing squad (in "The Broken Ear") or too angry when informing Captain Haddock that he nearly cost them their lives (in "Explorers on the Moon"). However, as Michael Farr observed, Tintin has "tremendous spirit" and, in "Tintin in Tibet", was appropriately given the name Great Heart. By turns, Tintin is innocent, politically crusading, escapist, and finally cynical. If he had perhaps too much of the goody-goody about him, at least he was not priggish; Hergé admitting as much, saying, "If Tintin is a moralist, he's a moralist who doesn't take things too seriously, so humour is never far away