Roland Tembo

''"Somewhere on this island is the greatest predator that ever lived. The second greatest predator must take him down." - Roland Tembo''

A big game hunter from Mombasa, Roland Tembo was widely regarded as the best of the best. He was chosen by Peter Ludlow to be the team leader of his expedition to Isla Sorna to capture dinosaurs, although he originally turned down the invitation.

The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Bored with hunting because he was always too successful, he believed no quarry existed on Earth that could give him a challenge. He was so bored in fact, that he purposefully picked a fight with some rowdy tourists in his favorite Mombasa bar for harassing a waitress and interrupting his reading. He easily broke one man's jaw. His longtime friend Ajay Sidhu is the one who ended up convincing him to go to Sorna. An extremely levelheaded, serious man, Roland took charge with an iron fist, bossing even Ludlow around.

He made sure the men under his command made no mistakes and performed only to the very best of their ability. Uninterested in money, Roland made certain Ludlow allowed his payment to be the right to hunt one of the Tyrannosaurs. To this end, he attempted to use a baby Tyrannosaur as bait to lure the adult into the open.

This did not go well, as the infant was rescued by Sarah Harding and Nick Van Owen. This also led to the parents stalking the group. Despite being a hunter, Roland was not bloodthirsty or cruel, unlike Dieter Stark. Even after being sabotaged by Van Owen and the rest of Hammond's team, Roland helped the them up the cliff that their trailers had fallen off of. When Dieter was killed he showed a rarely-seen compassionate side and asked that no one tell Kelly, and when he saw Sarah's bloody jacket, thinking it was her blood, he immediately made sure she was alright. This, along with his defense of the waitress in Mombasa, suggests that he respects women.

Because Nick Van Owen had stolen the shells from his elephant gun, Roland had to use a big LAR Grizzly Big-Bore tranquilizer gun (Rocket Launcher) to defeat the male Tyrannosaur when it attacked the hunters' makeshift camp. Afterwards he learned that Ajay had been killed, news that deeply saddened him. Not wanting to spend any more time "in the company of death," Roland wisely quit Ludlow's employment, turning down a job offer at InGen, and went home.

Trivia

 * This character's name is a reference to Warren Zevon's song "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner", as is Nick Van Owen's name.


 * There is some speculation as to Roland's sexuality. His right-ear piercing and his close relationship with Ajay have led some to believe that the characters were lovers rather than just friends, though this is never stated or implied in the movie.


 * Roland thrives on being in control of any situation and really feels right at home in the wilderness.