Chapter 6: The Terror of the Transvaal
Dates: 1887-1889
Scrooge's first attempt at gold prospecting takes him to South Africa, where he meets a Boer also on his way to the Johannesburg goldfields who offers to be his guide. Scrooge awakens the next morning to find his new "friend" has vanished, stolen his supplies, and left him to perish out on the rand. Furious at being double-crossed, he makes his way to civilization in his typical badass fashion, finds the scoundrel, vents his anger in a Humiliation Conga, and throws him in jail. He doesn't strike it rich in the low-grade Transvaal soil and eventually packs up and leaves with the vow never to trust anybody again, thanks to a lesson from his least noble enemy yet, whatever-his-name-was note .
This chapter provides examples of:
- Amoral Afrikaner: Flintheart Glomgold is introduced as a diamond thief, who upon getting caught immediately takes to making up outlandish lies in a feeble attempt to cover up his crimes. He goes on to steal Scrooge's cart and abandons him in the middle of the savanna. And all this after Scrooge had saved his life and shared his supplies with him.
- The Beast Master: Scrooge pressgangs a lion into serving as an emergency transport back to civilization.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Flintheart pretends to be an innocent duck stranded in the middle of the savannah as he plans to steal Scrooge's cart and abandon him in the middle of the savanna.
- Bottomless Magazines: Averted. Scrooge fires exactly twelve shots from his two six-shooters and is clearly seen reloading afterwards.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Scrooge will soon forget the young, ruthless Boer. He is neither the first nor the last thief Scrooge meets. But the humiliations inflicted on him convince the thief to start seeking power, to ensure that no one humiliates him again. A young Flintheart will never forget Scrooge as he tries to make his own way to the top.
- Continuity Nod: The Kaffir de Gaffir gold mine opened during the episode. That was the gold mine Scrooge and Glomgold tried to outbid each other for in Carl Barks's story So Far and no Safari (1966).
- Cynicism Catalyst: This is the first confrontation from which Scrooge actually comes out worse than before. The betrayal he felt from someone who was pretending to be a friend, turns Scrooge into a more distrustful and cold person. Illustrated by this line below:Scrooge: Villains of a more noble ilk than you made me cautious and resourceful and scrappy...but you...you just made me mean!
- Does Not Like Guns: Scrooge uses guns but doesn't want to shoot anyone, even someone who stole from him.
- Downer Ending: A mild one, but Scrooge's adventure in South Africa doesn't even result in getting money, and his encounter with Flintheart makes him more jaded than optimistic.
- Et Tu, Brute?: Scrooge feels all the more betrayed because, until then, all of his enemies were antagonistic from the start or neutral towards him. This is the first time someone pretended to be his friend to take advantage of him. His misplaced trust in a "friend" hurts more than the encounters with unashamed villains.
- The Farmer and the Viper: Glomgold steals all of Scrooge's supplies and abandons him even after Scrooge saves his life. The trope is even mentioned:Scrooge: I saved his life and shared my food with him, and this is how he repays me! What a... a viper!
- Freudian Excuse: Glomgold is the reason Scrooge decided not to trust anybody. Until then, Scrooge never had an enemy who pretended to be a friend.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: A talentless anonymous thief swears revenge on Scrooge, and in several years, will become one of Scrooge's archenemies.
- The Gloves Come Off: When Scrooge goes on his Roaring Rampage of Revenge, he monologues about cutting himself loose and trash-talks the animals of the savanna he fights his way through.
- Good Samaritan: Scrooge stops to help an Afrikaner tied to a bull but soon sees how much his trust was rewarded.
- Humiliation Conga: Scrooge's way of taking revenge on the thief who left him in the middle of the savanna before throwing him in prison.
- I'm Your Worst Nightmare: Scrooge says this to Glomgold before he calls him out, guns ablazing.
- King of Beasts: Scrooge uses a lion as a mount after outroaring it.
- Never Be Hurt Again: After Scrooge humiliates and arrests Flintheart Glomgold, Glomgold vows to become rich enough to avoid being humiliated again.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Scrooge tries to rescue Flintheart, only to be betrayed because Flintheart is still a thief.
- Save the Villain: When Glomgold runs into the lion Scrooge rode into town, Scrooge laments, "Drat the luck! Now I gotta save his hide rather than tan it!"
- Separated by a Common Language: Scrooge and his Afrikaner counterpart both speak English, but some things get lost in translation:
- When Flintheart identifies himself as a Boer, Scrooge hears "bore" and worries about having to spend a long trip in his company;
- While Scrooge is stalking the town for Flintheart, someone tells the latter that a "cowboy" is looking for him; Flintheart, unconcerned, responds, "A cowboy? What's that? Some kind of apprentice milkman?"
- After the aforementioned Humiliation Conga, Scrooge drags Flintheart to the local sheriff's office:Scrooge: Are you the law west of the Pecos around here?
Sheriff: Uh... south of the Limpopo, actually.
Scrooge: Whatever. I'm pressing charges against this bushwhacker!
Flintheart: (dazed) I never whacked a bush in my life...
- Spit Take: Flintheart spits out his soda when Scrooge reappears in town. He thought he had gotten away with murder when his enraged victim arrives and seeks revenge. What makes it a hilarious visual gag is the soda bottle is still in his mouth, and he spits hard enough to blow out the glass bottom of it.
- Start of Darkness:
- Glomgold was a thief and a jerk even before running into Scrooge for the first time, but this encounter is what set him on the path to becoming the monstrous Corrupt Corporate Executive that will remain Scrooge's bitter enemy for the rest of their lives.
- Scrooge's failed attempt to befriend someone, also teaches him to distrust everyone. Turning him into a loner. A few decades later, Scrooge no longer trusts anyone, including his own sisters and loyal employees (suspecting them of embezzlement for no obvious reason, other than his own paranoia). By the time Scrooge and Flintheart meet again (in 1956), they have become nearly identical in thought process.
- Taught by Experience: Scrooge is proud to have learned his ways in the field. After being betrayed by Flintheart, Scrooge doesn't even want to discuss it with him.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Even after Scrooge saves his life, Glomgold betrays him the first chance he gets.
- Unknown Rival: Glomgold is determined in the end to get revenge on Scrooge for humiliating him, but Scrooge just casually leaves him in jail without even bothering to learn his name...for now...
- We Will Meet Again: The nameless thief (a younger Flintheart Glomgold) swears that he will get back at Scrooge for his Humiliation Conga one day.
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Woolseyism: In the original, the thief calls himself a Boer (Dutch-South-African), which Scrooge mistakes as him calling himself a bore. In the Norwegian translation, Scrooge's answer is "Oh? Well, we all have to live somewhere", since "Bo" in Norwegian means Inhabit or Live (...in a place).
