It’s been a long wait for fans to be able to return to Monkey Island in, well, Return to Monkey Island. Many of us thought it would never happen. But Guybrush is back with all the point-and-click humour and puzzle-solving we’ve come to expect from the series. Better still, the cast of characters includes many old favourites alongside some new ones.
Choosing the best side characters from Return to Monkey Island is a tough task, as so many are memorable. Everyone from Elaine to Otis brings back memories from early iterations, while new characters such as the Queen of Brrr Muda Island play pivotal roles. So, who made the cut for us?
The following character descriptions contain spoilers for Return to Monkey Island, so don’t read further if you haven’t completed the game yet.
7 Herman Toothrot
Herman has been with us since the original Monkey Island games and, despite only making a small cameo appearance here, still manages to steal his scene with ease. Herman certainly isn’t getting any younger, and his mind is once again a bit of a problem. But none of these stop Guybrush from tackling him to get one of the Golden Keys he needs to open up the chest containing the Secret to Monkey Island. While our hero leaves Herman to his fate in a deep hole on Terror Island, thankfully we find out later that granddaughter Elaine went and saved him herself.
6 Locke Smith
Locke is definitely one of the coolest new characters in Return to Monkey Island, and one we see a lot of during the adventure. Her suave Grace Jones-style looks suggest she’s got a lot more going on than a boring life running the Melee Island locksmith’s shop. But she does have a big part to play in our story.
She is a member of the semi-secret society Chums, who will help you learn how to tell brilliant angling stories. But better still, she is the holder of one of the Golden Keys Guybrush needs to open the chest allegedly containing Monkey Island’s secret.
5 Scumm Bar Chef
The Scumm Bar Chef is one of Elaine’s biggest fans and a good friend of Stan and Otis. He even seems to like Guybrush, which is rare. He’s another returning favourite in Return to Monkey Island, who has been around since the original 1990 game. And again, he plays a pivotal role, this time teaching Guybrush how to make his own mop so that he can join the crew of his nemesis LeChuck’s ship. An earthquake later leaves the Scumm Bar in ruin and the poor chef in floods of tears. Hopefully, now he can finally retire.
4 Bob
Bob has been a favourite member of LeChuck’s undead pirate crew since the first game in the series, the Secret of Monkey Island. It’s great to see him still on the ship and no surprise to find he still doesn’t like LeChuck. He’s always happy to speak to Guybrush and plays a pivotal role here. You first need to convince him and the rest of the crew to agree to go to Monkey Island. And later, a book you borrow back from him proves vital in winning one of the contests to become Queen on the island of Brrr Muda.
3 Murray
Murray’s sardonic humour has been ever-present since The Curse of Monkey Island. While he may see himself as a somewhat independent object of pure evil, his lack of a skeleton body makes him pretty reliant on others – a predicament Guybrush continuously takes advantage of.
And there’s no change here, as poor old Murray is flattened, thrown in a cauldron, and shot from a cannon. And that’s just in the earlier chapters. He was a little side-lined in the previous few games but has a much more significant role to play in Return to Monkey Island – even if it is as a musical instrument.
2 Stan
Ah, Stan and his hypnotic suit. Everyone’s favourite used ship salesman is back and in trouble once again. Poor old Stan always seems to be on the wrong side of the law, whether it's pyramid schemes, insurance scams, or timeshares. His business has gone to the wall, and he’s back in jail. But you can’t shake his infectious optimism. Well, that is until you change his sentence from one month to 10 years in the icy jail on Brrr Muda. Thankfully you can bust him out in time to work on Elaine’s scurvy prevention flier, moving Guybrush one step closer to one of those valuable Golden Keys.
1 LeChuck
Who else could be in the number one slot than Guybrush’s evil pirate nemesis, LeChuck? It’s funny how much they have in common, from their love of Elaine to their obsession with the secret of Monkey Island. One of our highlights of Return to Monkey Island was reading LeChuck’s diary, and it was good of him to save you the job of dealing with the massively annoying Captain Maddison. We’ve lost count of how many times LeChuck had Guybrush Threepwood at the end of his sword with no possible chance of escape. But isn’t that always the way with a good nemesis?