Baron Bomburst

Baron Bomburst is a fictional character in the film "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang". The character did not appear in Ian Fleming's original novel; it was created by the film's screenwriter, Roald Dahl.. Played by Gert Fröbe, Bomburst rules the Barony of Vulgaria together with his wife, Baroness Bomburst.

In the film

First appearing as a gentleman pirate when the Potts and Truly Scrumptious are picnicking on the beach, he reveals a cruel and greedy streak by attempting to steal the enchanted car, and then, after failing, and seeing that the car is able to float and move like a speedboat on the sea, he sabotages the Potts' home by air and kidnaps Grandfather Potts, mistaking him for the inventor of Chitty.

Later, when the Potts follow Bomburst's airship to his native Vulgaria, they discover how cruelly the Baron treats his subjects. Although it is stated that "the Baroness hates children" and that it is the Baroness who sends for the Childcatcher, it's obvious that the Baron himself hates children as well, and his greed is evident all the more when it is revealed that all the toys made by Vulgaria's toymaker are for him.

Personality

His relationship with his wife appears to be twisted: when Grandfather Potts inadvertently ejects her out of the captured Chitty, Bomburst automatically opts for a gun as the best means to get her down, and there is a darkly comical sequence shortly afterwards where he alternately sings of his love for her and attempts to kill her.

Cruel though he is, there is a juvenile side to him as well. His envy for the Potts' car is more akin to a spoiled schoolboy than a psychopathic killer; he sulks mightily when the toymaker has apparently made him a doll, and he sobs near the end when he loses his crown in fleeing from the children. His wife then starts pampering him.