Universe of Monkey Island
Each entry in the Monkey Island series of adventure games takes place in a fictional archipelago in the Caribbean known as the Tri-Island Area, during the Golden Age of Piracy. The first island to appear in the games, Mêlée Island, is identified as being "Deep in the Caribbean" in the opening sequence of The Secret of Monkey Island.
The games have a wide cast of characters and locations, many of which reappear throughout the series. Each entry in the series revolves around the three main characters: The protagonist, Guybrush Threepwood; Elaine Marley, the object of his affection (and governor of multiple islands); and LeChuck, the villain of each game, intent on making Elaine his bride.
The Tri-Island Area
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. Additional islands seen in maps of the area but never visited include Spittle and Pinchpenny.
Each game in the series introduced its own set of islands to explore. Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge featured four new islands, and The Curse of Monkey Island and Escape from Monkey Island each introduced three new islands.
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Blood Island
Blood Island, close to Skull Island, is one of the few islands seen at night. It was previously a recreational island with the finest hotel in all of the Caribbean, the Goodsoup Family Resort, with two rooms for rent. Blood Island also has a lighthouse, which plays a part in the tragic tale of the Lost Welshman, and a grave-yard featuring the Goodsoup family crypt and tombstones with lyrical epitaphs similar to those on Scabb Island. 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 who specializes in tarot reading; Mort the gravedigger, Stan, and the Vegetarian Cannibals.
Blood Island houses a volcano, Mount Acidophilus, which was quite active due to the Cannibals of Monkey Island, who had relocated and were constantly trying to appease Sherman the Volcano God through human sacrifice, until they discovered that he was lactose intolerant. 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 feeds the volcano cheese to provoke an eruption. According to Griswald Goodsoup, reservations for the resort began pouring in as soon as the volcano erupted.
Booty Island
Booty Island celebrates Mardi Gras all-year-round. 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.
There are a number of businesses on the island: Stan's Previously Owned Coffins, an Antique store (in which it is possible to buy items such as Indiana Jones' whip) and a costume shop (with Sam & Max, Bart Simpson, Huckleberry Hound, Popeye and Fred Flintstone costumes).
Dinky Island
Dinky Island is a small island believed to be the hiding-place of the legendary treasure of Big Whoop. None of the characters in LeChuck's Revenge spell the name of the island correctly suggesting that Dinky is fairly unknown. 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.
Dinky Island was the source of continuity issues in later games. In The Curse of Monkey Island, Big Whoop is revealed to be the name of the Carnival of the Damned on Monkey Island. This, along with Herman's arrival on the island, was explained later on when Dinky Island was revealed to be close to Monkey Island, and connected by a series of tunnels. This in turn caused issues regarding the back-story 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.
Jambalaya Island
Jambalaya Island was the second of two new islands 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, and that all the real pirates have been driven off the island to the neighboring Knuttin Atoll. 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.
Knuttin Atoll
Knuttin Attol is a small Atoll off the coast of Jambalaya Island. By contrast, Knuttin is a dark and decaying place where pirates are afraid to amass in groups of three or more 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, founded by Ozzie Mandrill to train pirates into productive members of society. The school 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.
Lucre Island
Lucre Island is the first new island featured in Escape from Monkey Island. Lucre is home to the Second Bank of Lucre (there is no first bank — it is named as such in order to suggest experience in the field) and smaller businesses such as a Bait Shoppe, a Cane Shop and a Prosthesis shop. Ozzie Mandrill owns a mansion on the island, and it is also home to the villain Pegnose Pete.
Guybrush and his crew go 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.
Mêlée Island
Mêlée Island is the capital island of the Tri-Island Area and the home of governor Elaine Marley. Mêlée 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 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 Swordmaster's house. Just off the northeastern shore of Mêlée is tiny Hook Island, on which Meathook has a house. Until Escape From Monkey Island there is no bridge, so Guybrush visits using a rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle.
Mêlée town itself is home to a pirate bar (The SCUMM Bar), which has been replaced by the time of Escape from Monkey Island with a trendy, tourist-friendly place called the Lua Bar. Both bars are named after the scripting languages used to create the respective games: EMI marked one of the first games that used the Lua programming language rather than LucasArts' venerable SCUMM engine. The town also houses a general store (closed by the third game), a church, a jail, a voodoo shop run by The Voodoo Lady, and the governor's mansion.
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.
Monkey Island
Monkey Island is the island from which the series takes its name. 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.)
Phatt Island
Phatt Island is one of three fictional islands Guybrush Threepwood can explore in the second game. It also appears briefly at various points in Escape from Monkey Island on a revised map which departs considerably from earlier ones.
Phatt is run as a fascist dictatorship by Governor L. Phatt, a morbidly obese man, who lives in a mansion on the south side of the island. 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 has the Tri-Island Area's only library, which is located in Phatt City, a coastal town on the northern part of the island. The books in the library contain numerous inside jokes about Guybrush Threepwood, modern popular culture, game design, et cetera.[1] To the north-west there is a waterfall containing a secret passage to a smaller island immediately to the left of Phatt island, where the drunkard Rum Rogers Jr lives in a cottage.
Plunder Island
Plunder Island is one of the primary islands of the Tri-Island Area, under the rule of governor Elaine Marley. Although it does not have a governor's mansion like Mêlée or Booty Island, it does have a seaside fortress in the island's port, Puerto Pollo, on the eastern side of the island. The town's barbershop, Barbery Coast has its own barbershop quartet currently consisting of Haggis McMutton, Cutthroat Bill and banjo virtuoso Edward Van Helgen. The town also has a Shakespearian theatre, the shady young businessman Kenny Falmouth, and Blondebeard's Chicken Shoppe, in which a skeletal pirate, apparently Manny Calavera from Grim Fandango, wears a button reading "Ask me about Grim Fandango," a parallel with the "Ask me about Loom" button in the first game.
The name of the town actually means Chicken Port in Spanish, after the native feral chicken population, which were briefly on the menu at Blondebeard's Chicken Shoppe, until they were supposedly freed by the feral demon chicken El Pollo Diablo and were once again scattered throughout the island. The islanders remained deadly afraid of the ancient evil that came from the forest. The island itself is erroneously referred to as Puerto Pollo by Guybrush and the Voodoo Lady in Escape from Monkey Island.
On the outskirts of Puerto Pollo lies a swamp which houses Voodoo 'n' Things, the Voodoo Lady's latest establishment. To the east lies the Brimstone Beach Club and Smorgy, a members beach reserved for retired, rich pirates. To the north of the town lies a large grass field where competitions are fought, most famously the caber toss. On the North-West part of the island lies Danjer Cove, which is a small bay where some local pirates have dropped anchor, and which lies in eternal darkness.
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).
Despite the fact that it's sunny on both Booty and Phatt, 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.[2] 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.
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 needs to get to Skull Island in order to get a diamond he needs to lift the curse cast on Elaine by LeChuck's cursed ring. In order to get to Skull Island, he must fix the lighthouse and make a compass for the Welshman.
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). 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".
Activities
Insult Swordfighting
In Monkey Island, Insult Swordfighting consists of a series of Call and Response exchanges, in which an insult must be countered with a witty retort. Should the responder counter with an appropriate retort, they win the right to call the next insult; fail to respond, and the caller gains an advantage. Win enough of these exchanges, and the duel is won.
A well known insult from The Secret of Monkey Island, in which the insults were written by author Orson Scott Card[3], is "You fight like a dairy farmer!" to which the correct response would be "How appropriate, you fight like a cow!"
The series introduced several variations on the theme. In The Curse of Monkey Island, the call and response were required to rhyme, for example the correct response to "You're as repulsive as a monkey in a negligee!" is "I look THAT much like your fiancée?". In Escape from Monkey Island, Insult Arm-Wrestling with Ignatius Cheese operated in much the same manner as Insult Swordfighting. Also in the fourth game, the player, as Guybrush Threepwood, can enter into a swordfight with Ozzie Mandrill, but the Australian's use of slang confuses Guybrush, rendering him unable to respond.
Insult Swordfighting in both the first and third games begins with a series of duels with lesser pirates. Every time his enemy uses an unknown insult or response, Guybrush remembers it and it is available for the player to select in subsequent duels. Later, when Guybrush encounters his enemy (the Swordmaster of Mêlée Island in the first game, or Captain Rottingham in the third), they use an entirely separate set of insults. The player is forced to choose responses from the original set, which may involve a clever twist of meaning in relation to the new insult, until the duel is won. Insult Arm-Wrestling in the fourth game skipped the initial duels, unlocking all insults from the start.
The literary precedent for the concept is Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac, who composed an insulting ode to his opponent while beating him in a duel.
Monkey Kombat
Monkey Kombat is a parody of well known fighting games such as Mortal Kombat. It operates on similar principles to Rock, Paper, Scissors, where combatants move from one battle stance to another in order to beat each other, and each battle stance beats two other, and is beaten by two others. The Battle stances in Monkey Kombat are given the names Anxious Ape, Bobbing Baboon, Charging Chimp, Drunken Monkey, and Gimpy Gibbon.
To move from one stance to another combatants must use the correct combinations of the four basic monkey-words: eek, oop, ack and chee. Repeating the same word thrice allows the combatant to remain in his current pose. In the game, which insults correspond to which stances and the order of stance precedence is randomized in every game.
Key Plot Elements
Big Whoop
Big Whoop was supposedly the greatest of pirate treasures. In Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge, Guybrush Threepwood sets off to find the map that will lead him to Big Whoop. Exactly what Big Whoop is and where exactly it is located are never decisively explained. In The Curse of Monkey Island, LeChuck explains that Big Whoop is a gateway to Hell located on Monkey Island; when LeChuck passed through it, he became a ghost. Big Whoop is also the name of the Carnival of the Damned where Guybrush was trapped between MI2 and Curse of Monkey Island. It may mean that the carnival is the gate to hell, called Big Whoop.
The name of the carnival itself is likely a reference to the fact that, although legends speak of it as the greatest of all pirate treasures, the secret of Big Whoop proves to be... hellishly disappointing. This probably bears a relation to the phrase "big whoop", a sarcastic remark about making much ado about nothing.
Giant Monkey Head
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.
The Ultimate Insult
In MI4, the Ultimate Insult is a Voodoo talisman that can dissolve the egos of even the mightiest pirates, turning them into cowards. The talisman flings insults spoken in an ancient forgotten language (the root-language or Monkey Jabber), insults which are so vile that they are capable of breaking the very soul of the victim. The Ultimate Insult is formed from three parts of which one looks like a golden man, the second like a silver monkey-head and the third like a bronze hat.
It is revealed near the very end of the game that the ancient language of the insults is the first four words of the monkey language, and that the Ultimate Insult is another manifestation of Monkey Kombat.
Later in the game, Herman Toothrot reveals there is a hidden fourth part to the Ultimate Insult, the Gubernatorial Seal of Mêlée Island. Also in Escape from Monkey Island, Ozzie Mandrill is seeking the Insult in an attempt to gentrify the pirate-infested Caribbean.
Recurring Items
Grog
Grog is mentioned multiple times as a pirate's choice of drink. The Monkey Island version of grog is acidic enough to dissolve a pewter mug and solid metal bars, and is also sold in bottles through Coca-Cola-style vending machines. According to the Important-Looking Pirates in the first game:
"Grog is a secret mixture that contains one or more of the following: Kerosene, Propylene Glycol, Artificial Sweeteners, Sulphuric Acid, Rum, Acetone, Battery Acid, red dye #2, Scumm, Axle grease and/or pepperoni".
Rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle
This famous inventory item was first featured in The Secret of Monkey Island. It was used as a means of transport between Mêlée Island and Hook Island, which were connected by a cable. This item was later turned into a running gag in the games' fan community. The item also appears in Escape from Monkey Island, wherein Guybrush briefly finds the item in Grandpa Marley's heirlooms and is given another (or the same one) by his future self in the Mystes O' Tyme Marshe. The rubber chicken also appears in another Lucasarts game, Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine, activated with a certain cheat code. In episode 3 of the first season of Sam and Max (The Mole, the Mob and the Meatball) a reference to this item is made by Sam when trying to purchase a random item in Bosco's Inconvenience Store.
Major Characters
Guybrush Threepwood
Guybrush Threepwood is the protagonist of all four games. On a quest to become a pirate, he encouters the love of his life, Elaine Marley, and repeatedly fends off the evil LeChuck. He can also hold his breath for ten minutes.
Elaine Marley
Elaine Marley is the heroine of the series, and the governor of the Tri-Island Area. She is also the granddaughter of Captain Marley who searched for the legendary treasure of Big Whoop.
LeChuck
LeChuck is the main villain of the series, an undead pirate who takes on a different form in each of the first three games, and is able to transform between them in the fourth. He is intent on marrying Elaine, even if he has to kill her first.
Ozzie Mandrill
Ozzie was introduced in the fourth game as an antagonist. He is a land developer who plans to buy out the entire Caribbean, and to transform pirates into "productive members of society". He enlists LeChuck's help in this by promising him Elaine's hand in marriage.
Minor Characters
Bob the Ghost Pirate
Bob is LeChuck's right hand man in the The Secret of Monkey Island. He warns LeChuck of Guybrush Threepwood's arrival on Mêlée Island and discusses Guybrush's progress with LeChuck throughout the game.
Bob's head often comes loose from his body and is often seen bouncing around like a hackysack. At the end of the first game, Guybrush finally encounters Bob, who had been left behind by the Ghost Pirate ship after his head had fallen into the surrounding lava. Bob informs Guybrush of LeChuck and Elaine's wedding and then apparently leaves with Guybrush and his friend Herman Toothrot to Melee Island. Alternatively, tenacious players have the option of having Guybrush destroy Bob.
Captain Dread
Captain Dread appeared in the second game, Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge. Though foreshadowed as something of a fearsome pirate, the captain's name is actually a reference to his hairstyle. When Guybrush first meets Dread, one of the comment options is "Natty Dreads", to which Dread replies "Thanks, Mon".
In the second act, after the lifting of the Largo Embargo and securing a new 'eye of the world' lucky necklace; Captain Dread serves as Guybrush Threepwood's mode of transportation between Scabb Island, Booty Island and Phatt Island, on board his houseboat, the Jolly Rasta.
Captain Smirk
Captain Smirk was a fight trainer on Mêlée Island. A gruff chain smoking man, he had a long history of training and piracy on Melee Island. After training Guybrush with his strange fighting apparatus known as "THE MACHINE", Smirk introduces Guybrush to the concept of insult swordfighting. At the end of the lessons Guybrush is able to do battle with any and all pirates he encounters on Mêlée Island on his way to meet Captain Smirk's old friend Carla the Swordmaster.
It is later revealed in Escape from Monkey Island, that Australian Land Developer Ozzie Mandrill drove Smirk off Mêlée Island after he beat him in a game of Insult Gin Rummy; Smirk was rendered homeless and was so ashamed he got the next ship out of Mêlée Island.
Australian politician Peter Costello has the nickname of Captain Smirk.
Carla the Swordmaster
In the first game in the series, Carla was the famed Swordmaster of Mêlée Island, living in secret isolation. The Storekeeper of Mêlée Island is known to have a huge crush on Carla and mistakenly lead Guybrush Threepwood right to her. After her defeat at Insult Swordfighting and the kidnapping of Governor Marley, Carla agrees to join Guybrush's crew and set sail to Monkey Island. She and her crew mates, Meathook and Otis, mutiny and are later marooned on Monkey Island and captured by the Cannibals. By the fourth game, she had escaped Monkey Island, and joined Guybrush's crew again when he managed to arrange a Cushy Government Job for her on her return.
Carla was voiced in Escape From Monkey Island by Pamela Tyson.
El Pollo Diablo
El Pollo Diablo ("The Devil Chicken") is a legendary creature said to have freed the chickens from their fate at Blondebeard's Chicken Shoppe on Plunder Island. According to rumor he destroyed the pens and cages that housed the chickens and set them loose upon the island, and he now lurks in the jungle waiting to capture and kill the humans who ate his smaller brethren.
The beast itself is never seen in the games apart from a dramatic painting found in the Chicken Shoppe — whether the beast exists in the game world is yet to be seen.
Herman Toothrot
Herman Toothrot spends all four games shipwrecked on Monkey Island and its neighboring island, Dinky. He suffers from amnesia and he can't remember his real name, although it is later revealed in the fourth game.
Largo LaGrande
Largo LaGrande is named after the town La Grande, Oregon, where Monkey Island designer Ron Gilbert grew up. His name is also a joke within the game, from Spanish it translates as 'The Great Length' which is playing on the fact that Largo is actually quite small. He was a local bully on Scabb Island who prevented any ships from leaving (a situation known as the "Largo Embargo"). As such, he was universally loathed on Scabb Island, with many island inhabitants playing tricks on him, such as the barkeeper slipping laxatives into his drinks. Guybrush constructed a voodoo doll of Largo using, among various other things, Largo's bra.
He was one of LeChuck's original followers when the pirate was still alive. After LeChuck's demise in the first game, he and some others had been scouring the Caribbean looking for a living piece of LeChuck that will enable him to bring back his old master. Later in the game, Largo resurrects LeChuck as a zombie using his beard. Largo has not reappeared in any game since, although he was mentioned in one of the lines of dialog when Guybrush uses the ventriloquist book with Captain Rottingham in the barber shop ("Make me balder than Largo LaGrande!") and had a drink named after him at Planet Threepwood, "Largo Lemonade."
In 2002, the mixnmojo.com fan site released three soundbites along with an announcement of a fifth game, supposedly named Return to Monkey Island. In these, later revealed to be an April Fools' joke, Largo reappeared voiced by Dominic Armato, the voice of Guybrush. The sketches were largely written by Andrew Langley of the site, and were not from any planned game.[4]
Marco de Pollo
Marco de Pollo, the world's plank-diving champion, appears on Jambalaya Island. He 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).
Meathook
Meathook is bald, and has lost both of his hands (replaced by hooks) and an eye to a "ferocious beast" similar to one that he keeps locked up in his house, which was later revealed to be a parrot. Meathook also has a skull-shaped tattoo on his chest that he can manipulate so it appears to be talking, using his ventriloquist skills.
Meathook lived as a hermit on the former vacation spot of Hook Isle on Mêlée Island. After Guybrush proved his courage by touching the "ferocious beast", Meathook became one of the three original members of Guybrush's crew sailing to Monkey Island. However Meathook, along with Carla and Otis, are marooned on Monkey Island after their ship is sunk by a flying rock. In Escape from Monkey Island, he returned to his home on Mêlée Island and took up wax painting as a hobby.
Meathook was voiced in Escape From Monkey Island by Cam Clarke.
Men Of Low Moral Fiber
These three pirates known as the Men of Low Moral Fiber are shifty characters and tell long tall tales to Guybrush when pressed for information. The tallest pirate, wearing a hat, is named Frank and acquires a peg leg because of an accident with a rodent that occurs in between the first and second games. Fred is the heavy-set balding pirate who says little and laughs a lot; while Fin is the other pirate, with a goatee and headband, and is rather fond of rats.
In The Secret of Monkey Island they have stopped pirating (due to fear of the Ghost Pirate LeChuck) and claim to be starting a circus troupe. They also pay Guybrush to take their minutes from the Mêlée Island PTA meeting claiming it was a treasure map. In Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge the men have taken to hanging out up on ledge (afraid this time of Largo LeGrande) in the village of Woodtick on Scabb Island. The Men of Low Moral Fiber claim to have abandoned their prior circus troupe idea in favour of a successful catering business, which they later sold to the Governor of Phatt Island.
After that venture they claim to have set out to find "Drinky Island" in search of the treasure of Big Whoop in a glass bottomed boat. After being shipwrecked they encountered a philosopher, presumed to be Herman Toothrot; and upon returning to Scabb Island with Herman's advice they began their new business of "performing" (sleeping) up on the ledge of a boat. This time around Guybrush can polish Frank's peg leg for a few pieces of eight (or saw it off), wake the three pirates up with a blow horn, trap their pet rat "Muenster Monster" and argue with them for the possession of a wooden bucket.
Monkey Island Cannibals
The Monkey Island Cannibals, Red Skull (who appears to be the leader), Sharptooth (the most ferocious of the three) and Lemonhead (who is somewhat gullible) are heavily featured in the first game. They lock Guybrush up for stealing a banana, and later negotiate with Guybrush for items such as the wimpy idol, the banana picker and the Head of the Navigator. The Cannibals also help Guybrush to finally dispose of the Ghost Pirates by brewing up ghost-killing root beer. By the time of the third game they have gone vegetarian.
The Cannibals have also been known to leave memos around Monkey Island addressing grievances to either Herman Toothrot or LeChuck and his Ghost Pirates. In the sequel, the Cannibals have apparently written many books listed in the Phatt Island library.
By the time of The Curse of Monkey Island the cannibals have left Monkey Island as they can no longer stand the racket caused by LeChuck's Carnival of the Damned. Some of them moved to Blood Island and became vegetarian, most notably Lemonhead, who now appears to be their leader.
Lemonhead was voiced in The Curse of Monkey Island by S. Scott Bullock.
Murray the Demonic Talking Skull
Murray was formerly a member of the Zombie Pirate LeChuck's (literal) skeleton crew until, at the start of the third game, Guybrush blows Murray's boat out of the water and thus separates him from his body. Murray's arm is later of use to Guybrush, while his skull appears in various places around the Tri-Island Area, attempting to spread evil and occasionally helping Guybrush.
At the very end of the credits in the third game, Murray announces that he will return, which he does in the fourth game, when he is a greeter at the Planet Hollywood-inspired "Planet Threepwood", in which his arm from the previous game is also visible on display. There is also a secret mini-game based on pong, called "Murrayball", that features Murray's skull as the ball. He appears on-screen and laughs if the word "skull" is typed during the game.[citation needed]
Originally, Murray was only intended to appear in the opening scene of The Curse of Monkey Island, in which Guybrush "decapitates" him with a cannon and then knocks him off a piece of timber. However, when the opening scene of the game was released as a demo, his delusions of grandeur and over-the-top mannerisms were so popular with gamers that the developers decided to write him into the rest of the game. Despite being a disembodied skull, he has become one of the game's most popular characters.[citation needed]
Murray was voiced by Denny Delk.
Otis
Otis appears in the first and fourth games of the Monkey Island series. He was dark-haired in the first game and wore a moustache, and turns red-haired in the fourth game and gets a beard without the moustache. He is most often seen locked up in jail (frequently for picking protected flowers); though he constantly protests his innocence and claims to be a "victim of society". Many of his friends try to help him escape, including his Aunt Tillie and the Cook on Melee Island, by baking him various food items with files concealed inside. Unfortunately for Otis, he is seemingly too stupid to recognize that he is being helped at all. He has also been known to suffer from halitosis and claims to despise rats. Otis was named after the town drunk from The Andy Griffith Show, who was also frequently jailed.
Otis has been one of Guybrush Threepwood's crewmen on two occasions. The first time, he was marooned on Monkey Island, an experience which scarred him psychologically. The second, he joined at the insistence of Carla, another of the original crewmembers, when Guybrush managed to give them contractual "Cushy Government Jobs".
Otis was voiced in Escape from Monkey Island by S. Scott Bullock.
Pegnose Pete
Pegnose is a minor villain in Escape from Monkey Island and mostly plays his role in the first act of the game. He resides on Lucre Island and is the main cause of all the crime that occurs there. According to Inspector Canard, the sole police force on the island, Pete is responsible for well over 300 crimes with many of them being disappearances and murders. He is hired by LeChuck and Ozzie as part of their plans to seize control over the entire Caribbean. Pegnose does not seem to care for their plans and only sticks around in hopes that Ozzie will finally pay him. During his time on Lucre Island, Pegnose Pete eluded capture by Inspector Canard by living secretly in the Mystes O'Tyme marsh, a swamp that was very difficult to navigate through, where he lived by catching his own fish and brewing his own rum.
Pegnose Pete also has a strong fear of ducks, this is rumoured to be because it was a duck who nibbled off his nose and lead him to have to wear a prosthetic one.
In the game, he is hired to obtain the Marley Heirlooms and frame Guybrush. He succeeds by robbing the bank disguised as Threepwood but is eventually caught, though he is able to escape. Later, he appears on Mêlée Island and captures Elaine under the orders of LeChuck who was just elected as governor and now controls the island. His final fate in the game is being exposed to the Ultimate Insult, a voodoo talisman capable of shattering the egos of pirates. He is reduced to a wimp and a coward. Ozzie tells him to "take a long walk off a short pier" and Pete seems to take the order. Whether or not he actually did it is open for interpretation.
Pegnose Pete was voiced by Tom Kane.
Rapp Scallion
Rapp Scallion was the cook and one of the four crewmates who sailed to Monkey Island with Captain Marley. Before leaving Monkey Island, Rapp was given one of the four pieces of the map to the secret treasure of Big Whoop. Scallion also ran the "Steamin' Weenie" Hut on Scabb Island but died in a flash fire inside the hut.
It was revealed in The Curse of Monkey Island that Rapp had a habit of leaving the gas on in the Steamin' Weenie hut, and LeChuck had a birthday cake delivered to Rapp on his 35th birthday, which ignited the gas - killing Rapp in the process.
In Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge Guybrush Threepwood discovers the ashes of Rapp Scallion in the Scabb Island cemetery and briefly reanimates Rapp using a magic voodoo powder known as Ash-2-Life. Rapp asks Guybrush to do him a favour and turn off the gas in the Steamin' Weenie hut, and in return gives Guybrush his piece of the map to Big Whoop. Rapp reappears in The Curse of Monkey Island as a Dynamo-Monkelectric Model in LeChuck's "Carnival of the Damned", and also appears in one of Guybrush Threepwood's daydream flashbacks
Rum Rogers Jr
After the death of his father, Rum Rogers Jr inherited the run-down shack that he owned. He soon became irritated at the number of treasure seekers who kept turning up asking to know about Big Whoop. When Guybrush challenged Rogers to a sword fight, Rogers responded by saying that sword fights were for "sissies and weenies" and proposed a drinking contest. He competed frequently in such contests, and had created his own "contest grog" which was so powerful that it knocked out anyone who drank it. Guybrush eventually won by replacing his grog with "near-grog", a low-alcohol substitute, leaving Rum Rogers Jr passed out on the floor.
Rum Rogers Sr
Rum Rogers Sr was one of the four crewmates who sailed to Monkey Island with Captain Marley before the storyline of The Secret of Monkey Island began. He was the first mate on the voyage and was known for being a drunkard. He and his son, Rum Rogers Jr, were known to look and act the same, mostly enjoying vast amounts of Rum. The crew landed on Blood Island as they were diverted from a hurricane, the same storm that destroyed LeChuck's voyage to Monkey Island. LeChuck survived the destruction of his ship and crew and started a conversation with Rum Rogers Sr. Heavily influenced by alcohol, until he spilled the secret of their search for the treasure of Big Whoop.
It is unknown how long Rum Rogers Sr and the rest of the crew stayed on the island, but LeChuck left before them and landed on Monkey Island first (however without map or directions it is hard to know how). According to LeChuck in the Curse of Monkey Island he landed on the island half an hour before them and took the treasure for himself. Marley and his crew witnessed LeChuck's change into the immortal ghost and fled the island. Rum Rogers Sr was entrusted with one of the four pieces of the map to Big Whoop.
Some unknown time later Rum Rogers Sr was bathing in his cabin on Phatt Island, drinking rum and eating toast, when his toaster "mysteriously" fell into the tub with him, suggesting that he was murdered. The map passed to his son, who kept it near his father's decaying body, until Guybrush found it in the second game. He later appeared as a Dynamo-Monkelectric Model in LeChuck's "Carnival of the Damned" in the third game.
Stan
Stan is a fast-talking, fast-moving salesman. His product changes throughout the series, from used ships, to Coffins, Life Insurance, and Timeshare.
Voodoo Lady
The Voodoo Lady, whose name is never revealed, appears in all four games as Guybrush's guide. Travelling between islands, she foretells the future, and in the second game she helped Guybrush to make a Voodoo doll.
Wally B. Feed
Wally is a short, red-haired and meek cartographer, employed by Guybrush in the second game to make a map. Captured by LeChuck, he later joins LeChuck's undead army and calls himself "Bloodnose".
Very Minor Characters
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The Secret of Monkey Island
Monkey Island 2 : LeChuck's Revenge
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The Curse of Monkey Island
Escape From Monkey Island
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References
- ^ "LeChuck's Revenge: Books". The Scumm Bar.
- ^ "The SCUMM Bar".
- ^ "Game Credits for The Secret of Monkey Island".
- ^ "April Fools Madness". mixnmojo.com. 2002-04-01. Retrieved 2008-07-07.
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See also
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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.