Chief (Carmen Sandiego)

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For the Canadian television series, see The Chief (television series)

The Chief refers to a series of fictional characters in the Carmen Sandiego franchise of computer games and TV shows. The premise of the franchise centers around a fictional international detective agency known as ACME, which more often than not crosses paths with the equally worldwide criminal organization V.I.L.E. and its ringleader Carmen Sandiego.

The Chief is the head of ACME and the character is never given a name beyond that title. In the original first few computer games "the Chief" was a mysterious male figure hidden in the shadows who had very little personality or role. No Chief character appears in Carmen Sandiego's ThinkQuick Challenge, Carmen Sandiego Word Detective and Carmen Sandiego Math Detective.

[edit] Lynne Thigpen's Chief

In the PBS game shows Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? and Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?, the Chief became a more dynamic character. Played by Lynne Thigpen, the Chief was a comically no-nonsense figure with a strong sense of justice who spoke with dialogue that was riddled with puns, alliteration and other forms of word play. Her catch phrase was "I salute you," which she often uttered while holding a magnifying glass over her eye.

The character proved popular and the computer games Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, Where in the U.S.A. is Carmen Sandiego? and Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego? (Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time) included QuickTime videoes of Thigpen portraying the Chief. Thigpen again played the Chief in the planetarium film Where in the Universe is Carmen Sandiego? and its sequel Where in the Universe is Carmen Sandiego? II.

[edit] The Chief of Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?

In the spin-off animated series Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego, the Chief was drastically retooled, becoming a wise-cracking sentient computer image not unlike Max Headroom. Playing a slightly more important role than his counterparts in the franchise, the Chief was still limited to providing exposition, alerts of Carmen's recent crime and comic relief. He was voiced by Rodger Bumpass.

This version of the Chief had a very intimate professional and personal relationship with Carmen. They were both trained as agents when ACME was in its infancy (the Chief more likely created as an attempt at an autonomous robotic agent, complete with android body), and were often partnered up with each other on many cases. They became fast friends, and although he was angered and shocked at Carmen's defection to a life of crime, he didn't have the heart to close her file. It's clear that Carmen also thinks highly of their friendship, having once entrusted the help of ACME agents Zach and Ivy to help restore a virus-stricken Chief back to health after she 'kidnapped' him for a Christmas night to 'relive the good ol' days', and once again teaming up with him to capture the criminal Maelstrom, whom they had captured during their detective years and had returned to take his revenge.

[edit] Treasures of Knowledge/Secret of the Stolen Drums Chief

The Chief featured in Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego: Treasures of Knowledge and Carmen Sandiego: The Secret of the Stolen Drums was voiced in both games by Marcie Henderson. Perhaps as a tribute, this Chief looks somewhat similar to Lynne Thigpen, although her voice and personality are unmistakably different. In fact, she has little personality beyond getting angry whenever Carmen breaks into ACME communication lines.