Frank Wolff

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For the actor "Frank Wolff", see Frank Wolff (actor).

Frank Wolff is a character from The Adventures of Tintin series of classic comic books drawn and written by Hergé, particularly in Destination Moon and Explorers on the Moon.

He is a meek scientist, who assists Calculus during the Moon mission, Wolff earned Captain Haddock's wrath by refusing to allow him to take any alcohol or tobacco on board the rocket (though the captain managed to smuggle some alcohol on board anyway).

Before coming to Syldavia, Wolff was a rocket scientist in the U.S. space rocketry project at Whitesands. He was a compulsive gambler and was under a heavy debt, but he was helped out of the debt by a group of agents in exchange for secret information to the Rocket Programme. Racked with guilt, he escaped to Syldavia, where he got a job on the Syldavian Moon Rocket Programme while trying to bury his past. However, the agents who had helped him out of his debt rediscovered him and blackmailed him into being an inside spy for them. Wolff smuggled out the plan for the experimental rocket, forcing Tintin to destroy it. Also he smuggled in Colonel Jorgen into the Space rocket, thinking he was a journalist chasing the scoop of the century.

Wolff generally stayed out of the story until they landed on the Moon. Here, Jorgen convinced Wolff to escape in the rocket, taking Tintin as hostage, but an act of sabotage by Tintin grounded the rocket (but also caused extensive damage). On the return trip, Wolff tried to stop Jorgen from shooting the crew of the rocket, and Jorgen inadvertently shot himself, dying instantly.

With the rocket's oxygen running out, Wolff, deciding that the mission's troubles were his fault, decided to exit the rocket out of the airlock to leave them enough air. He was presumably killed by decompression and asphyxiation.

The character is obviously based on the spy Klaus Fuchs. Note that the German word 'Fuchs' is literally 'Fox'.

The Adventures of Tintin
Creation of Tintin · Books, films, and media · Ideology of Tintin
Characters:	Supporting · Minor · Complete list
Miscellany:	Hergé · Marlinspike · Captain Haddock's exclamations