Tri-Island Area
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The Tri-Island Area is a fictional archipelago which serves as the setting for the Monkey Island video game series.
Since the first game in the series, The Secret of Monkey Island, each game has visited the titular island of Monkey Island while introducing its own set of islands to explore. Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge features four new islands, The Curse of Monkey Island introduces three, and Escape from Monkey Island, which revisits some of the older islands, features three new islands as well.
The main islands of the Tri-Island Area are Mêlée, Booty and Plunder which are all ruled by Governor Elaine Marley in place of her long lost grandfather, Horatio Torquemada Marley. Elaine moves from island to island at her convenience, though she considers her governor's mansion on Mêlée Island, the capital island of the area, as home.
Additional islands seen in maps of the area but never visited include Spittle and Pinchpenny.
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[edit] The Secret of Monkey Island
[edit] Mêlée Island
Mêlée Island is a fictional Caribbean island in the Monkey Island series of adventure games from LucasArts. It is the capital island of the Tri-Island Area and the home of governor Elaine Marley. Mêlée, which appears only in the first and fourth games of the series (The Secret of Monkey Island and Escape from Monkey Island), with a brief cameo appearance in the second (Monkey Island II: LeChuck's Revenge) and third (The Curse of Monkey Island), is largely covered by a thick forest of pine trees despite the games' Caribbean setting.
In The Secret of Monkey Island, Mêlée Island is sparsely populated. Apart from one small town, appropriately called Mêlée Town, the island features a used ship lot run by Stan, a small traveling circus, a swordfighting school run by Captain Smirk, and the hidden home of the Sword Master. Just off the northeastern shore of Mêlée is tiny Hook Island. A pirate named Meathook lives here, attempting to express his artistic side. Mêlée town is also home to a pirate bar (The SCUMM Bar), a general store, a church, a jail, a voodoo shop run by The Voodoo Lady, and the governor's mansion.
By the fourth game, Escape from Monkey Island, both the town and the island have changed considerably. The governor's mansion has somehow moved further away from Mêlée Town, and the former site of Stan's Used Ship Lot is now the official island harbor where ships are issued for official use. Meathook has finally built a bridge leading to Hook Island. Many of the familiar stores in town have been closed; eventually, even the SCUMM Bar gets replaced by a trendy, tourist-friendly place called the Lua Bar. (This is an in-joke: EMI marked one of the first games that used the Lua programming language rather than LucasArts' venerable SCUMM engine.)
The alley behind the church appears briefly in MI2. Portions of The Curse of Monkey Island also allows Guybrush Threepwood to briefly "revisit" Mêlée Island. Guybrush's head emerges from a stump in a forest; this stump was the basis of an infamous joke in The Secret of Monkey Island. He quickly retreats because "stunningly-rendered rabid jaguars" are coming to get him. Several dozen commands to walk into the sea on the Blood Island shore eventually give access the scene on Mêlée where Guybrush drowns.
[edit] Monkey Island
Monkey Island is the namesake and the most well-known location in the Monkey Island series of adventure games. The games involve Guybrush Threepwood, the main character, searching for Monkey Island or being stranded on the island and trying to escape.
The island's general geography remains pretty much the same through the series, though one can only explore the island freely in the first, The Secret of Monkey Island (SMI), and the fourth game, Escape from Monkey Island (EMI). The south end of the island is mainly covered by jungle, at the west end there is a volcano, at the east end lies the famous Giant Monkey Head and located at the north end of the island is the cannibal village. The North and South sides of the island used to be separated by a mountain-line, but between the third game, The Curse of Monkey Island (CMI), and EMI the volcano turns active once more and the island is divided by a river of lava.
The island's only inhabitant besides the local cannibals is Herman Toothrot, who moved to Dinky Island between the first two games and back to Monkey by the time of EMI. During the time between SMI and EMI the Giant Monkey Head was surrounded by the infamous Carnival of the Damned named Big Whoop. The Carnival is destroyed by LeChuck before the happenings of the fourth game. (It should be noted that in CMI, it is revealed that the carnival actually drove the vegetarian cannibals away. Most of them, including Lemon Head, relocated to Blood Island.)
The famous landmark of Monkey Island, the Giant Monkey Head is a key element in the Monkey Island games and was once worshipped by the Cannibals of Monkey Island. When first encountered in SMI, the Giant Monkey Head was the gateway to the Caverns of Meat, which originally lead to LeChuck's hideout. In CMI it was rigged as the infamous "Roller coaster of Death" which went through the mouth of the Giant Monkey Head and led its passengers to a horrific death in pools of lava below which transformed them into undead skeletons. In EMI it is revealed that the Giant Monkey Head is in fact the control room of a giant Monkey Robot, powered by a combination of steam and pedalling monkeys and fueled with the power of the Ultimate Insult. Guybrush and his crew travel back to Mêlée Island in this robot for a decisive round of Monkey Kombat.
[edit] LeChuck's Revenge
[edit] Scabb Island
Scabb Island is the first island featured in Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge. The island is inhabited by an anarchistic yet peaceful community of pirates. As the game opens, the island is terrorized by Largo LaGrande, a short but physically mighty pirate and former right-hand-man of LeChuck. He bullies the other pirates for their money and prevents any ships from leaving the island (referred to as The Largo Embargo).
Scabb is the only "all-night island" in MI2. Despite the fact that it's sunny on both Booty and Phatt Island, Scabb is always covered in darkness. The capital town of Scabb is Woodtick, located on the island's north coast. Much of Woodtick is formed from ships which have been wrecked on the rocks. Woodtick has several businesses and was the original home of Wally.
Located on the beach near Woodtick is "Steamin' Weeinie", a hot dog shack owned by the late Rapp Scallion. In the eastern part of the island is a swamp which houses the "International House of Mojo", run by the Voodoo Lady. A graveyard is located at the southeast end of the island, and the houseboat (named the Jolly Rasta) of the Jamaican pirate Captain Dread is docked at a peninsula in the southwest.
According to a book in the Phatt Island Library, "Scabb Island History. An Introduction.", Scabb island was first settled as a quarantine island for skin diseases. It later became a haven for pirates because of its distinctive lack of authority figures.[1]
The "Men of Low Moral Fiber (Pirates)" make their second (and last) appearance on Scabb Island. The tombstones in the cemetery have amusing, lyrical epitaphs similarly to those on Blood Island.
[edit] Booty Island
Booty Island is known for celebrating Mardi Gras all-year-round. It is packed with various injokes via an antique store and a costume shop, both of which play into important puzzles within the game. The governor's mansion is located on a secluded island on the Northwest part of Booty. Being a part of the Tri-Island Area, Booty Island's governor is Elaine Marley. There is also a bizarre treehouse located at the Eastern end of the island.
Stan's Previously Owned Coffins is also located on the island. The Antique store sells various items, including ones that the player doesn't actually need to finish the game, such as the whip of Indiana Jones. In the costume shop the player can see a pair of Sam & Max costumes as well as costumes of Bart Simpson, Huckleberry Hound, Popeye and Fred Flintstone. The Tiki Lights at the Antique store are seen again in The Curse of Monkey Island on Blood Island.
Elaine mentions that she left the post of governor on Mêlée Island in order to take up the job of governing Booty and to get away from Guybrush. This is believed to create a plothole since in Escape from Monkey Island when Guybrush and Elaine return to Mêlée she is still governor and indeed, the manual of Curse also mentions her as the governor of the Tri-Island Area. However, because the time gap between MI2 and CMI has not been disclosed it is possible that Elaine may have somehow combined the governing duties of an entire set of islands. Additionally the old man at Booty Town is the former governor as revealed by the in-game dialogue.
[edit] Phatt Island
Phatt Island is one of three fictional islands Guybrush Threepwood can explore in Part Two in the north-west area of the Caribbean. It also appears briefly at various points in Escape from Monkey Island on a revised map which departs considerably from earlier ones. Phatt island is known for being the sole island in the Caribbean to possess a dictatorship. Its ruler, Governor L. Phatt, a severely obese pig-like man who dwells in a mansion on the south end of the island, has cut a deal with the game's antagonist, the zombie pirate LeChuck, and intends to collect the sizeable bounty placed on the game's protagonist, Guybrush Threepwood's, head. The island's law enforcement consists of a single large, muscular guard armed with a sword, a pistol, and a large helmet which obscures his eyes, and his dog Walt, the jail-keeper. Phatt Island is also noted for having the Caribbean's only library, which is located in Phatt City, a coastal town within a bay, in the northern part of the island. On the island's north-west side there is a water-fall containing a secret passage to a smaller island immediately to the left of Phatt island, on which dwells the drunkard Rum Rogers Jr. in a cottage. Rum Rogers Jr. is the son of Rum Rogers Sr., the first mate on the ship captained by Horatio Torquemada Marley which sailed to find the legendary treasure of Big Whoop. At the end of their journey, Marley tore the map to Big Whoop into four pieces, one of which he left with Rum Rogers Sr., and which remains in said cottage. Guybrush Threepwood must defeat Rum Rogers Jr. in a drinking contest if he is to attain the map piece.
The books in the library contain numerous inside jokes about Guybrush Threepwood, modern popular culture, game design, et cetera. The wanted poster of Guybrush has an extensive list of all the crimes he's committed, including: The murder of G.P. LeChuck, possession of library books not checked out to oneself (the book of pirate phrases), Resurrecting a corpse within city limits (Rapp Scallion), destroying a historical miniature (the model lighthouse), Using a falsified I.D. to obtain alcohol (the library card being used to get grog), Using witchcraft on Largo LaGrande (the voodoo doll) the theft of prescribed hair replacement (something of the Head) and clothing (something of the Thread) for said witchcraft. Graverobbing (something of the Dead) as well as numerous other offenses that describe almost everything done in the game
[edit] Dinky Island
Dinky Island is a small island believed to be the hiding-place of the legendary treasure of Big Whoop. It is a small tropical island inhabited by Herman Toothrot in MI2 who has started to teach philosophy on the beach. Dinky Island is also home to much exotic topiary, thought to be created by Herman Toothrot.
It is somewhat controversial whether MI2 actually ends on Dinky or Monkey Island. As it was retconned in later games, Dinky Island exists just off the coast of Monkey Island. Dinky and Monkey are connected by a series of tunnels. Big Whoop is in truth the name of the Carnival of the Damned on Monkey Island and the same gates of hell that LeChuck passed through before he died.
Dinky Island's location (to the east from Monkey) has also caused some continuity issues regarding the backstory of LeChuck and Horatio Torquemada Marley, since Monkey Island is often featured as being located South-East from the rest of the Tri-Island Area. None of the characters in MI2 spell the name of the island correctly suggesting that Dinky is fairly unknown.
[edit] The Curse of Monkey Island
[edit] Plunder Island
Plunder Island is the first island featured in The Curse of Monkey Island, and is considered one of the primary islands to belonging to the Tri-Island Area under the rule of governor Elaine Marley, though it does not have a governor's mansion like Mêlée or Booty Island, but instead a seaside fortress. At the beginning of the game Guybrush Threepwood drifts to Plunder Island in a bumper car and finds himself in the middle of a battle between LeChuck's ghost ship Death Starfish and Elaine Marley on the coastal fortifications.
The few notable locations on the island include Puerto Pollo, the island's port town which is located on the eastern side of the island and is built around a bay. The town's barbershop, Barbery Coast has its own barbershop quartet currently consisting of Scotsman Haggis McMutton, Cutthroat Bill and banjo virtuoso Edward Van Helgen. The town also has a Shakespearian theatre, the shady young businessman Kenny Falmouth, as well as Blondebeard's Chicken Shoppe, a chicken restaurant whose proprietor, Blondebeard, fears nothing more than the monstrous Demon Chicken El Pollo Diablo. The skeletal pirate sitting in Blondebeard's Chicken Shoppe appears to be Manny Calavera from Grim Fandango. He is wearing a button that says "Ask me about Grim Fandango," a reference to the "Ask me about Loom" button in The Secret of Monkey Island.
The name of the town actually means Chicken Port in the Spanish language. The native feral chicken had populated greatly across the island and the islanders decided to live in harmony with the fellow poultry until the local Puerto Pollo restaurant Blondebeard's Chicken Shoppe captured the chickens, caged them and put them on the menu. The chickens were eventually freed by the feral demon chicken El Pollo Diablo and are scattered throughout the island.
All islanders are deadly afraid of an ancient evil that came from the forest, in the form of El Pollo Diablo, the Devil Chicken. The beast itself is never seen apart from a dramatic painting found in the Chicken Shoppe. According to the rumour it destroyed the pens and cages that housed the chickens and set them loose upon the island. He lurks in the jungle waiting to capture and kill the humans who ate his smaller brethren. At one occasion Guybrush was tarred and feathered and was mistaken for the Devil Chicken, but whether the beast exists in the game world is yet to be seen; El Pollo Diablo remains a mystery.
On the outskirts of Puerto Pollo lies a swamp which houses Voodoo 'n' Things, the Voodoo Lady's latest establishment. On the North-West part of the island lies Danjer Cove, which is a small dark bay where some local pirates have dropped anchor. On the eastern shore lies the Brimstone Beach Club and Smorgy, reserved for retired rich pirates. On the south-eastern shore of the island lies a fort of which was across the bay from the town. North of the town lies a large grass field where competitions are fought; most famously the caber toss.
The eastern side of the island is shown in full daylight, while the western side lies in eternal darkness. The island is a retirement place for pirates and many decided to settle down on the island. Plunder Island apparently has an active Naturalists' Society who leave behind small plaques explaining the names of various native plants, sites and animals, though they are never seen.
The island itself is erroneously referred to as Puerto Pollo by Guybrush and the Voodoo Lady in Escape from Monkey Island.
[edit] Blood Island
Blood Island, the second island featured in The Curse of Monkey Island, is one of the night-time islands in the games, such islands include Mêlée Island and Scabb Island. It lies in close proximity to Skull Island. Blood Island was previously a recreational island with the finest hotel in all of the Caribbean, the Goodsoup Family Resort of the proud Goodsoup family, with two rooms for rent. Apart from the resort, Blood Island also has a lighthouse, which plays a part in the tragic tale of the Lost Welshman, a wind-mill which appears to serve no real purpose, as well as the grave-yard featuring the Goodsoup family crypt.
The island has become quite desolate, the only occupants of the island being Griswold Goodsoup, the resort owner; Madame Xima (whom Guybrush calls "Eczema"), a creepy fortune teller specialized in tarot cards; Mort the gravedigger, Stan, and the Vegetarian Cannibals. They are led by LemonHead from who first appeared in The Secret of Monkey Island with the two other cannibals RedSkull and SharpTooth, who do not appear on Blood Island - either they did not become vegetarian or they are the BananaHead and PineappleHead cannibals, now wearing new masks.
Blood Island houses a volcano, Mount Acidophilus, that was quite active due to the Vegetarian Cannibals of Monkey Island who moved to Blood Island, where they were constantly trying to appease Sherman the Volcano God, through human sacrifice, and stop the violent eruptions. However, the cannibals worked out that Sherman was lactose intolerant, and then fed Sherman vegetarian alternatives. This, however, hurt the business of the Goodsoup Family Resort which had previously entertained tourists with a barbecue built over the continuous stream of lava. During the game Guybrush learns of Sherman's lactose intolerance and feeds the volcano cheese to cause an eruption (in order to melt some cheese into a sustitute tar to trade with his mutinous crew, for slippery hand lotion). As a side effect, the Goodsoup Family Resort is back in business. According to Griswald Goodsoup, reservations began pouring in as soon as the volcano erupted. It is, however, short-lived as the Cannibals will probably try to re-appease Sherman into dormancy.
The tombstones in the cemetery have lyrical epitaphs similar to those on Scabb Island. The tiki lights from Booty Island make their return at the Goodsoup Hotel. If you 'use' the water on the beach 25 times, Guybrush will go into the water. The player will then see the drowned Guybrush from The Secret of Monkey Island. If you 'look' through the crack in the Goodsoup crypt, Guybrush will stick his head out into the forest on Mêlée Island from The Secret of Monkey Island. He will not be able to climb out though.
[edit] Skull Island
Skull Island is home to the infamous smuggler known as "King Andre". It is only reachable via a small dinghy operated by the ghostly "Flying Welshman" (an allusion to the legend of The Flying Dutchman). While living, the Welshman became lost in the fog surrounding Skull Island when the lighthouse on neighboring Blood Island was broken. Guybrush Threepwood needs to get to Skull Island in order to get a diamond he needs to lift the curse cast on Elaine Marley by LeChuck's cursed ring. In order to get to Skull Island, he must fix the lighthouse and make a compass for the Welshman.
Many characters claim that Skull Island is in the shape of a skull. When the island is finally shown, however, it more closely resembles a duck than a skull. An astonished Guybrush grumbles "It should be called Duck Island." The Welshman (who insists it looks like a skull) reluctantly responds, "Well if you turn your head and squint..." to which Guybrush insists, "If you turn your head and squint it looks like a bunny".
Skull Island is one of the smallest islands in the Monkey Island series (the player can only interact with a few things on the island and it is contained by only four perspective shots). When the Flying Welshman talks to Guybrush before going to Skull Island, Guybrush says "I'm not afraid!", to which the Welshman replies "You will be, you will be" — these remarks were originally exchanged between Luke Skywalker and Yoda in Lucas's The Empire Strikes Back in the scene where it dawns on Luke that Yoda is the Jedi Master he has been looking for.
[edit] Escape from Monkey Island
[edit] Lucre Island
Lucre Island is the first new island featured in Escape from Monkey Island and apparently the largest urban-centre in the Tri-Island Area. Lucre is home to the 2nd Bank of Lucre (there is no 1st bank in order to promote experience in the field) and several smaller businesses such as a Bait Shoppe, a Cane Shop and a Prosthesis shop. Ozzie Mandrill owns a mansion on the island. It is also home to Pegnose Pete, a "no-nosed" pirate and a minor villain in the game. Pete hides in a swamp, in which the only way to traverse it correctly is to follow the hands of a clock, otherwise you are put in a random area of the swamp.
Guybrush and his crew come to Lucre in order to meet with Elaine's family-lawyers in order to place a restraining order on the demolition crew that has been hired to bring down the Governor's Mansion on Mêlée Island. At the law-offices Guybrush receives a letter from Horatio Torquemada Marley which reveals that he left some wedding-gifts at the Lucre Island bank and that they also contain the secret to assembling a Voodoo artifact known as the Ultimate Insult. Pegnose Pete frames Guybrush for bankrobbery and in order for the player to leave the island he must clear his name and retrieve the Marley's Chest which Pete stole.
[edit] Jambalaya Island
Jambalaya Island is the second new island visited in Escape from Monkey Island and supposedly the location of the pieces of a powerful Voodoo talisman called The Ultimate Insult. However, when Guybrush and his crew arrive, they find that the island has been completely overrun by tourists. Guybrush himself comments, "Ozzie must have been real busy here".
Jambalaya's town holds three businesses Planet Threepwood (a theme restaurant parodying the Planet Hollywood chain that tributes Guybrush, with waitresses who, despite being dressed as Elaine, never recognize the real Guybrush), Starbuccaneer's (a parody of Starbucks), and a micro-groggery which also has a mechanical manatee ride. Stan has also started a new business on the island, which is home to (in the period of the game) the biggest artificial plank-dive in the world.
All the real pirates have been driven off the island to the neighboring Knuttin Atoll (an obvious pun on "nothing at all"). In great contrast to the lush and sunny island of Jambalaya, Knuttin is a dark and decaying place where pirates are afraid to amass in great numbers (or at least groups of three) for fear that Admiral Ricardo Luigi Pierre M'Benga Chang Nehru O'Hara Casaba the Third, the paranoid overseer of Knuttin, might suspect a conspiracy and fire a cannonball at them. Knuttin also houses a school which is supposed to train pirates into productive members of society.
Marco de Pollo, the world's plank-diving champion, is named after the great explorer Marco Polo and also makes reference to the pool game in which one person, blind, must attempt to tag other players, yells "marco" and the others answer by yelling "polo" to give up their position (de Pollo even mentions that children used to torment him by playing the game with him when he was younger; to pay them back, he bomb-dove into the pool, thus beginning his career). It seems likely, however, that the children were innocently playing the game which DePollo had not heard of.
The school on Knuttin Atoll holds several in-jokes. For instance, there is a magazine (an obvious parody of Mad Magazine), whose cover is a reproduction of the box cover of The Curse of Monkey Island, a boat on wheels (from Hot Keels) which is in reference to Hot Wheels, and a collecting card (showing LeChuck as "LeChukichu") made in the style of Pokémon.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- The World of Monkey Island - Islands and their contents
- Complete list of books found in the Phatt City Library, as well as Guybrush Threepwood's comments on them.
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