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| “ | Justice ain't about bringing back the dead, white man! Justice, is about justice! Your friends, the policemen and the judge... make sure nothing happen to you, they keep you safe. But I make sure something happen to them. That's justice, white man. Gypsy justice. | „ |
| ~ Tadzu to Billy. |
| “ | Die clean, white man from town. Die clean! | „ |
| ~ Tadzu to Billy. |
Tadzu Lempke is the main antagonist of Stephen King's body-horror novel, Thinner. He is the 106 year-old tribal chieftain of a group of Romani that Duncan Hopley and Cary Rossington ran out of town. After his daughter, Suzan Lempke, was killed by Billy Halleck, he cursed both Billy and the men who helped him get off Scott-free. He is Billy’s arch-nemesis.
He is portrayed by Michael Constantine.
Appearance[]
Tadzu Lempke appears to be an old Native-American man with very wrinkly skin. His nails are visibly bruised, implying years of stress having of been on them. Tadzu has long white hair that drapes down the back of his body. He has a visible sour on his nose which he receives medication for. One of his eyes becomes visibly more white towards the end of the story.
Personality[]
Being 106, Tadzu is slow talking and speaks in a low raspy voice. More than anything, Tadzu is revealed to be a strong believer in justice, and highly devout to his family. After his daughter was murdered (albeit by accident), he cursed three men terribly for their role in both the murder and for allowing the killer to get off without punishment. Once someone is cursed, Tadzu is adamant that they die cursed, his punishment to always be justified. He was eventually willing to overlook this over concern for the well-being of his granddaughter, after her life was put in danger. He also shows some level of sympathy for Billy, begging him to not turn into a monster and die a clean man.
Tadzu is implied to have the ability to influence dreams, and if so, he demonstrated a somewhat sadistic side to himself. During one of Billy's dreams, he laughed in the face of his suffering, and continued to do so as he appeared to ram into the side of Judge Cary's car with an oil tanker, which killed Cary in reality.
The spiritual side of Tadzu's personality is never fully explored, but is heavily implied. Tadzu seems to be able to participate in spiritualistic rituals with ease, having demonstrated his knowledge to Billy when removing his curse.
Biography[]
Tadzu is first seen leaving the town after he and his tribe were kicked out by a Duncan and the rest of the police force. He was seen later that evening when he went to a drug store to pick up his prescription. It was here that his daughter, Suzan Lempke, went out to get her coat and was hit by Billy Halleck, killing her.
After the trial the next day, Billy's friends assisted him in getting off without consequence. Because of this, Tadzu cursed Billy and his colleagues with ironic curses, Billy's being that he would become thinner until his eventual death. Billy would spend a large chunk of the story tracking down Tadzu, during which he would have a dream about the old man. In the dream, Billy found him at a street fair, where Tadzu worked as a wise old man that would tell everyone their future. Tadzu mocked Billy, telling him that he would get thinner until his eventual demise. He then proceeded to laugh at Billy as Gina handed him a doll that resembled him and chased him away. After Billy was picked up by Cary in the dream, Cary drove them into a tanker being driven by Tadzu, whom was maniacally laughing.
Billy eventually found Tadzu at a campfire with the rest of the tribe, confronting him about his curse. Billy demanded the old man remove it, to which the old man told him that he never removed his curses. He threatened Billy with making it worse if he didn't leave and laughed at Billy's proposition of his own curse, but became somewhat fearful after Billy began screaming.
Tadzu was later seen again when his camp was ambushed by Richie, coming out of his mobile home to the sound of gunfire. He stood in the field as bullets continued to fire, until they eventually ceased. When they did, a man ran at them. Believing it was Richie, everyone fired, only for it to be revealed to have been Gina's husband. Tadzu read a note that said read "WHITE MAN FROM TOWN SAYS TAKE IT OFF".
Tadzu finally conceded and met with Billy. He told Billy that his dreams smelled bad to him, and also revealed that the pie he had brought. He said that even though be believed Billy was deserving of his punishment, he was more concerned for his granddaughter's safety. He took Billy's injured hand and stabbed it again, causing blood to pour into the pie. He told Billy that whoever ate the pie would die in a horrible way, but that if Billy were to eat the pie, then he would die clean. Billy dismissed Tadzu, and so he left, all the while telling Billy that he should die cleanly.
Powers & Abilities[]
- Dark Magic - Tadzu's main ability is his use of dark magic. With this, he is able to preform spells such and curses.
- Curse Bearing - Tadzu has the ability to curse others, as seen with Billy, Cary, and Duncan. To do this, he must rub his hand on the side of the person he wants to curse's face and then utter a word that generally describes the curse. Although he is highly against it, he can also remove curses, but drawing a cursed person's blood and putting it into something. The curse will then be able to be passed on to someone else.
- Superhuman Mortality - Although it is never explicitly stated that it is connected to his magical abilities, Tadzu has the ability to live for an abnormally long amount of time. In the story, Tadzu was able to said to have lived to the age of 106, so old that he appeared to be his 75 year-old daughter's husband.
- Dream Connections - Tadzu has been shown several times to have some sort of influence/connection to other people's dreams, Billy's in particular. The first instance of this is when he appeared in a dream that ended up reflecting the gruesome real-life event that was Judge Cary's suicide. The second instance was when he met Billy near the end of the story, telling him that he had bad-smelling dreams.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Despite his magical capabilities, Tadzu is not ultimately all powerful, as he was shown to be suseptibale to infections, which he required medication for.
- Despite being a strong believer in morals and justice, the tribe that Tadzu led were known for running dog-fights in order to make money.
- It is unknown whether or not Tadzu has the same role at the fairs that he runs as he did in Billy's dream about him. If so, this might imply that he has the ability to see into the future.
