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Uprising

"Hannibal Chau" is the alias of a organ harvester once affiliated with the Pan Pacific Defense Corps.

Biography[]

Hannibal Chau is a black market dealer who profited off the arrival of the Kaiju, harvesting their internal systems and bones for personal gain. He was eventually able to build a business out of it, naming it "Kaiju Remedies".[3]

Near the end of the Kaiju Wars, Chau began working with original Pan Pacific Defense Corps, following their official decommission and loss of funding by the United Nations. Stacker Pentecost promises Chau "exclusive rights" to the Kaiju remains in the region.[3]

2022[]

January 2022, while in Kowloon, Hannibal Chau orchestrated a party, treating "the great and not-so-good" to a screening of Vulcan Specter and Striker Eureka's fight against Spinejackal in Sydney, Australia. During the party, he attempted to sell Kaiju Bone Wine for $300.[4]

Pacific Rim[]

Following Newton Geiszler's attempt to Drift with the secondary brain of a Kaiju, Stacker Pentecost orders Newton to find Hannibal Chau in order acquire another to replicate his Drift experiment in the hopes of gaining more information on the Precursors plans. Newton manages to locate Kaiju Remedies on the corner of Fong and Tull in Hong Kong using the information provided by Stacker Pentecost, and enters the shop in search of Chau.[3]

Chau, annoyed by Newton's presence, demands to know why he's in his shop. Under the threat of having his nose cut off, Newton tells him he's in search of a secondary brain. Chau, reluctant to help Newton, tells him it would be nearly impossible to obtain a brain, and asks why he wants one. Newton disregards the sensitive nature of his information, and admits to successfully pulling off a Drifting with Kaiju. Chau is doubtful at first, but checks Newton's eyes to confirm the validity of his claims.[3]

Realizing what his bloodshot eye meant, Chau and his men begin to mobilize and prepare to relocate to his personal Anti-Kaiju Shelter. Chau tells Newton that the two-way connection created by the Drift will inevitably lead the Kaiju rampaging through the city straight to him and effectively leaves him for dead when he refuses to allow Newton to accompany him to his private shelter.[3]

Chau emerges from his shelter and is confronted by an angry Newton, demanding a secondary brain. Chau, impressed that Newton survived the Kaiju attack, decides to help Newton retrieve the secondary brain from the fallen Otachi killed by Gipsy Danger. At the crash site of Otachi's body, Chau monitors the activities of his men harvesting her body.[3]

At the same time, he oversees several men venturing into the body of Otachi to retrieve the secondary brain. They report that the secondary brain is damaged upon locating it, but are taken by surprise by the realization that Otachi is pregnant. Chau and the rest of men outside manage to evade the Baby Kaiju's rampage when it emerges from its mother womb while Newton is nearly eaten.[3]

Chaulives

Hannibal Chau emerging from the belly of the Baby Kaiju.

Chau comes out of hiding to inspect the Baby Kaiju and deduces that it emerged too early form the womb. He tosses his knife at the Kaiju and it becomes lodged in its nose. As he retrieves the weapon, the Baby Kaiju revives and swallows him up whole. It pursues Newton and other harvesters a for a short distance before appearing to choke on Chau's body. Following the collapse of the Breach, Chau cuts his way out of the Kaiju's body and demands to know what happened to his shoe.[3]

Illness[]

While he survives being swallowed by the Baby Kaiju, his exposure to Kaiju blood leaves him horribly scarred and suffering from a physical ailment that is killing him. Kaiju blood appears to be permanently circulating throughout his system, blue veins in his body visible and glowing.[4]

He begins suffering from an irregular heartbeat and experiences chest pain. Parts of his face, marred by the incident, are covered with protective molds. Against his better judgement, Chau begins taking medication he once sold to those looking for miracle cures in the hopes of postponing the effects of his illness.[4]

Aftermath[]

2026[]

A year following the end of the Kaiju Wars, Chau's organ harvesting business goes dry. With no resources to make money, Chau returns to his hometown in Los Angeles. Following his return, Chau sets up another business, Chau Industries. With the help a woman named Elora Reddy, Chau begins collecting mummified Kaiju body parts.[4] Using the Kaiju remains, Elora and Chau begin attempting to clone and replicate Kaiju on their own in the absence of the Breach.[5]

Chinatown Murder[]

While eating at a restaurant in Chinatown, Chau observes Jaeger Pilot Joshua Griffin fight with a dealer who knocks his bowl of noodles over when walking past. When Griffin spots him watching, he demands to know what Chau is looking at. Chau chooses not to respond.[1]

Chau continues watching the dealer shortly after he leaves the restaurant, long enough to catch Griffin knock down the dealer who attacked him a second time. Afterward Chau stalks the dealer through the district. When the man finally notices him, Chau scares off a potential buyer, telling her to leave. The dealer threatens to attack Chau, but Chau hits him first, slicing him across the mouth with his knife. Chau tells the man he was attempting solicit on his turf and kills him.[4][1]

Acquisition of Kaiju Parts[]

While visiting Hollywood Boulevard, Chau observes the Sisters of the Kaiju preaching before a mummified claw of Category IV Kaiju Spinejackal. Though surrounded by a crowd of anti-Kaiju protesters, the cult leader preaches that the Kaiju are gods sent save them from suffering and evil. When a fight breaks out between the protesters and the cultists, Chau returns to his headquarters where the mummified hand is transported.[4]

Chau begins to congratulate his associate Elora for bringing the mummified claw to his headquarters when he grabs his chest in pain. He leaves abruptly and retreats into the locker room where he begins to take pills for his illness. Removing his clothes he regards his scarred body in the mirror and is taken aback by the intrusion of Elora, who asks if he's alright. Furious, he tells her to leave. He shoves her out of the room and slammed the door shut in her face.[4]

Recreating the Kaiju[]

Kaiju (Aftermath 4)

Elora and Hannibal observe their experiment, trapped safely behind glass.

Elora introduces Chau to the only Homegrown Kaiju to survive the incubation period long enough to reach a somewhat mature state. While observing the surviving subject, Elora reassures that she embedded a "limiter" within the Kaiju's brain that would kill it the moment it begins to display any kind of aggression.[5]

Chau begins plotting how to use the cerebral fluid to formulate a cure for Alzheimer's, a plan he originally intended on following through before the Breach was destroyed by the PPDC. Elora sarcastically remarks that all of Chau's long hours put toward cloning a Kaiju will pay off and he'll be able to save what's left of his skin.[5]

Irritated by her words, Chau grabs Elora by the neck and demands that she repeat what she said. Elora tries to pass it off as a joke; Chau tells her that there's nothing funny about what happened to him. He threatens to kill Elora on the chance that she'll tell anyone about their experiments, however, she promises that her "lips are sealed".[5]

Chau is otherwise impressed that she dare "push him around". Elora believes it takes more guts to recreate the Kaiju than push him around and reminds him that he hasn't paid her for taking the risk. Chau doesn't promise, but reassures that Elora's financial gain will come when she's able to mass produce Kaiju for him and "phase two" of their experiment begins.[5]

Encounter with Jake Pentecost[]

At some point, Hannibal had a deal with Jake that went bad when Jake skipped out on him and left Hong Kong abruptly.

Role in Pacific Rim: Uprising[]

Following Guillermo del Toro's departure from Pacific Rim: Uprising as director, actor Ron Perlman, who portrayed Hannibal Chau in the original Pacific Rim, declined to reprise his role.[6][7] Perlman, historically, has demonstrated no interest in cameo roles.[8][9] Uprising director Steven S. DeKnight would go on to state "scheduling conflicts" were the reason production cut the character from the film.[10]

According to DeKnight, Hannibal Chau's role in the film would've been a cameo appearance. Jake Pentecost (John Boyega) double-crosses Hannibal Chau at some point and Chau is looking to get even. Chau uses Sonny (Nick Tarabay), an associate, to ensure that Jake will steal the Jaeger part from the Santa Monica Scrapyard for him under the threat of death. Chau's message is conveyed to Jake through a holographic device (owned by Sonny) that would project Chau's likeness repeating the message.[note 2]

Trivia[]

  • May 25, 2017, During a panel at Motor City Comic Con, Ron Pearlman confirmed that he would not reprise his role as Hannibal Chau.[6][7]

Notes[]

  1. The personnel dossier provided by Stacker Pentecost in the film states Hannibal Chau is 62 years old.
  2. Steven S. DeKnight: “[...]The scene in question comes early in the movie, when John Boyega’s character, Jake Pentecost, is trying to steal a valuable tertiary plasma capacitator from a junked Jaeger for a gangster who operates a black market in Jaeger parts. “(The gangster), played by Nick Tarabay, comes to Jake with a gun on him, puts down a little hologram device, and (on there) it's Ron Perlman,” explains DeKnight. It turns out that Jake cheated Perlman’s character, Hannibal Chau -- which is referenced in a line that’s still in the movie -- and Chau has sent some buddies after Jake for payback. “Chau says (in the hologram), ‘You're going to go steal this thing for me, or Sonny here is going to kill you,’” continued DeKnight.

References[]

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