< Indiana Jones

Indiana Jones/Characters


Here we have the daring heroes and blackhearted villains of the Indiana Jones saga of films, directed by Mr. Steven Spielberg and produced by Mr. George Lucas.

(Under Construction)

The Heroes

Indiana Jones (AKA Colonel Professor Doctor Henry Walton Jones Junior, Associate Dean of Princeton University's Department of Archeaology, 1957. AKA Corporal Henri Defense of the Belgium Army.)

  • Absent-Minded Professor: At one point, Indy tries to return to his office and is besieged by students because he hasn't been grading any of their work. He has to climb out the window to escape.
  • Ace Pilot: "Fly, yes. Land, no." Interestingly, in Temple of Doom, he says he doesn't know how to fly a plane. Guess he learned how to fly between then and Last Crusade.
    • It should be noted that Temple of Doom is a prequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Last Crusade being a sequel to the latter.
      • In the novelisation for Temple of Doom, it's made pretty clear that Indy was joking with Willie that he didn't know how to fly to mess with her.
  • Action Duo: With Short Round, his father, or Mutt.
  • Action Survivor: Indy may have styled himself as a Badass Action Hero, but in practice he's not much more than a slightly-greedy college professor who doesn't know when to quit.
  • Adventure Duo / Battle Couple: With Marion.
  • Adventurer Archaeologist: Duh.
  • Agent Scully: To a point. In Crystal Skull, Indy is a big skeptic about the existence of alien races, and in Raiders, considers the Ark of the Covenant nothing but a fancy gold box, but when the Ark is opened at the end of the film he insists that he and Marion avert their eyes.
  • Anti-Hero: Type II on the Sliding Scale. He's a Deadpan Snarker and somewhat cynical Knight in Sour Armor, but a generally good guy.
  • Badass
  • Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Marion.
  • Berserk Button: One of the few ways to truly enrage the normally logical Henry Jones Junior is to harm an innocent child... just ask the shredded remains of Mola Ram in the bellies of a dozen satisfied crocodiles.
    • "I HATE SNAKES, JOCK, I HATE 'EM!!!"
    • And don't call him "Junior"!
  • Bunny Ears Lawyer
  • Captain Crash: "Fly, yes! Land, no!!"
  • Colonel Badass: By the end of World War II.
  • Combat Pragmatist: The poster boy.
  • Cultured Badass: Equally at home in a Duchess's party as he is in the moldy depths of an ancient ruined city.
  • Cutting the Knot: Indy's favorite solution to problems tends to include this.
  • Cynical Mentor: To Mutt Williams.
  • Deadpan Snarker
  • Disney Death: Similar to Basil from The Great Mouse Detective. In The Last Crusade Indy seems he's fallen to his death in a deep chasm along with Vogel. While his father, Brody, and Sallah peering over the cliff, believing that he died, Indy climbs onto the cliff edge, revealing he's jumped from the tank before it fell..
  • Disappeared Dad: Indy complained that his father was more concerned about artifacts in a museum than his own son. Notably, however, it was Indy that walked out on him.
  • Eagle Land
  • Estrogen Brigade Bait: He's played by Harrison Ford, so this is a given.
  • Fedora of Asskicking: Basically codified this trope for modern times.
  • The Gump: In the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, if he or she has been written down in the history books in the last 100 years, Indy has met/befriended/fallen in love/fought/slept with him or her.
  • Harrison Ford: The role that made his career.
  • He Cleans Up Nicely: Can pull off a dam fine Tux.
  • Honor Before Reason: In his younger days, as chronicled by the TV series. Becomes cold and jaded in adulthood, but regains this trope after reconciling with his father.
  • Hot-Blooded
  • Hot Dad - To Mutt Williams, aka Henry Jones the Third
  • Hot Teacher
  • Iconic Item: His fedora and bullwhip.
  • I Know Karate: Young Indiana Jones has shown proficiency in Northern Style Kung Fu in his TV series; though this is not retconned into the movie series proper, Indy has consistently been shown to be skilled in US Marines CQC (Close Quarters Combat, made famous by The Boss and Big Boss) since Temple of Doom; justifiable considering his extended experience in the military.
  • Indy Ploy: THE Trope Namer
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold
  • Jumped At the Call: He may be a world weary cynic but no one optionally does the kind of stuff Indy does without enjoying it just a bit.
  • Knight in Sour Armor: He is cynical most of the time, but has his romantic moments as well.
  • Line-of-Sight Name: "Henry Defense" came into being when he was asked to give a name while enlisting for the Belgium Army in World War I, and the French word "Defense' just happened to be on a plate resting on the desk.
  • Loveable Rogue
  • Memetic Outfit: He does wear a wide variety of clothes in the films but He just isn't Indy without the Leather Jacket and fedora.
  • Mighty Whitey: Skirts the line in that he actually wants to preserve and protect the cultures he researches rather than lord and dominate over them.
  • Missing Mom: Indy's mother died while he was at a young age.
  • Nice Hat: Can You imagine Indy kicking ass without his trademark fedora? Didn't think so.
  • The Obi-Wan: To Mutt.
  • Omniglot: Latin, Greek, Japanese, German, Mayan, Egyptian, French, Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin, Cantonese, Irish, Vietnamese, Hungarian, Hindi, Dutch, Old English, Quechua, and most likely others. Word of God says he speaks 27 languages. Unfortunately, he didn't take that summer course in Hovitos...
    • This trope largely came about in the Sequel films; in Raiders, scriptwriter Lawrence Kasdan intended Indy to be a rather poor hand with foreign languages (which is why he needs someone else to translate the Staff of Ra headpiece inscription).
  • One-Man Army
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: All of his friends consistently refer to him as "Indiana" or "Indy". It wasn't until the third movie that people learned his first name is actually Henry, and that he got his nickname from their dog.

Sallah: What does it mean, this "junior"?
Henry: That's his name. Henry Jones, Junior.
Indy: I like Indiana.
Henry: We named the dog "Indiana"!
Sallah: You are named after a dog?!
Indy: I've got a lot of fond memories of that dog!

Marion Ravenwood

  • Action Girl: Actually helps in Indy's battles, quite unlike the Damsel in Distress staple to "normal" pulp adventures.
  • Adventure Duo / Battle Couple: With Indy in "Raiders" and "Crystal Skull".
  • Badass Adorable
  • Badass Damsel: She knows pretty well how to use fire weapons and to fight. Moreover she must have a lot of nerves to face a sadist torturer like Toht and blowing smoke in his face.
  • Belligerent Sexual Tension - With Indy, of course. She punches him in the face when he first shows up in her bar.
  • Bottle Fairy: As demonstrated with Belloq, she could drink any man under the table.
  • Bound and Gagged: In both movies she appears in.
  • Deadpan Snarker
  • Disney Death: In Raiders, Indy thinks she's dead when the truck she was thrown in while she was in a basket explodes. But he finds her alive at the Tanis site since they have switched baskets.
  • Fetish Fuel Station Attendant: Most in "Raiders", but also in Crystal Skull she hasn't lost her beauty.
  • First Girl Wins: Given the backstory in "Raiders", Marion WAS Indy's girlfriend before Willie. It was the reason why Indy and Abner had a falling out.
  • Foot Focus: Spends half of "Raiders" barefoot.
  • Hot-Blooded: A rare female example.

JONES, DON'T YOU DARE LEAVE ME HERE BY MYSELF!

Professor Henry Walton Jones Senior

"I suddenly remembered my Charlemagne. 'Let my armies be the rocks and the trees and the birds in the sky.'"

  • Bus Crash: He's mentioned in the fourth film to have died sometime after the third. Justified since Sean Connery refused to come out of retirement just to make some cameo that would ultimately be insignificant.
  • Captain Obvious:

Henry: These people are trying to kill us!
Indy: I know, dad!
Henry: It's a new experience for me.

Sallah

  • The Big Guy
  • Boisterous Bruiser: A large man, fond of singing and beating up Gestapo agents in equal measure. He's very rarely upset.
  • Cuddle Bug: Sallah really likes to hug the people that he cares about, and it doesn't make him any less manly!
  • Deadpan Snarker: Of Indy's caliber.

"Asps. Very dangerous. (to Indy) You go first."

  • Fake Nationality: Mr John Rhys Davies, a Welshman playing an Arab.
  • Gentle Giant
  • The Glomp: Sallah's speciality in Raiders.
  • Large Ham: When John Rhys-Davies is involved, there is no other path.
  • Took a Level In Dumbass: In Raiders, Sallah was competent, brave and intelligent. In Last Crusade, he was a borderline idiot savant comic relief character whose only redeeming characteristic was he could hit really hard.
    • YMMV on that. He knew that there was no museum in Iskendun, but the Nazis were too clever with the fake storefront leading to a truck. Is it because he wanted a few camels to compensate for his brother-in-law's car being blown up? That just makes him a good in-law! Also, do you realize how far it is to drive from Cairo in Egypt to Hatay in southern Turkey? Hundreds of miles. He was doing Indy a huge favor.

Professor Marcus Brody, Dean of Princeton University's Department of Archaeology.

  • Absent-Minded Professor: Smart enough to become the Dean of Archaeology at Princeton University, and yet can get lost inside his own museum, if Indy's word is to be believed.
  • The Cast Showoff: Mr. Elliot was an accomplished equestrian and so was able to safely nearly-fall-off-the-horse in the third movie.
  • The Character Died with Him: Denholm Elliott's death was written into the fourth film.
  • Flanderization: From a slightly absent-minded professor who was implied to have Indy-like adventures himself to someone who needed to be handheld through every situation.
  • The Fool: Though he's not stupid, just a little bit of a clutz.
  • Nice Guy
  • The Load: Not all of the time, but often.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Dean of Archaeology at Princeton University.
  • Too Dumb to Live:

Sallah: (smiles to the bad guys) Papers? Of course... (to Marcus) Run.
Marcus: (stands around looking clueless) ...Yes?
Sallah: Papers. (takes out a newspaper) Got it here. Just finished reading it myself... (trying to provide cover for an escape) Run...
Marcus: ('STILL clueless) ...Yes?
 Sallah: "Egyptian Mail," morning edition. (exasperated, to Marcus) Run!
Marcus: Did you say, uh...
Sallah: (yelling) RUN!

Wilhelmina "Willie" Scott

Indy: "You wear your jewelry to bed, princess?"
Willie: "Yes. And nothing else."

Short Round (AKA Wan Li)

Mutt Williams (AKA Henry Jones the Third)

The Villains (Under Construction)

Doctor René Belloq

  • A God Am I: You'd almost think René got into this business just so he could hold idols over his head and make people bow to him.
  • Adventurer Archaeologist: The bad guy version of the trope. Plus, he's willing to let someone else do the adventuring while he waits outside to hold them up for the treasure at gunpoint.
  • Arch Enemy: Well, the closest thing to it that Indy has.
    • In the Novelization, it's revealed that Belloq built his career around letting Jones do all the work, then swooping in to steal his artifacts/research papers.
  • Be Careful What You Wish For
  • Blue Eyes
  • Dragon-in-Chief: Nominally the main antagonist of the film, it's actually Nazi Colonel Dietrich who is the one in charge of the quest of the Ark and the one who calls all the shots. However Belloq uses his smooth talk and archeological expertise to sway Dietrich around to his point of view and get the colonel to do what he wants.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Draws the line at rough treatment of women. René repeatedly tries to shield Marion from harm, though he's not overly enthusiastic about it.
  • Evil Counterpart
  • Evil Genius
  • Fake Nationality: Paul Freeman, a Brit, plays Belloq, a Frenchman.
  • French Jerk
  • Irony: If it weren't for the test he suggested that ultimately resulted in his and his co-villains Karmic Death on a remote island and delivered it to Berlin as is, there most likely would not have been a World War II because of the Ark blowing it up.
  • Karmic Death
  • Loveable Rogue: Tries to present himself as this to Marion, and succeeds at first. This illusion is probably shattered for good later when a captured Marion gets shoved around by a soldier and Belloq coldly brushes by without a word.
  • Manipulative Bastard: Gets into the heads of and manipulates the natives of South America, Marion, and even Indy himself.
  • Nice Hat: A white fedora.
  • Not So Different: Gives a standout example of such a speech to Indy in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
  • Omniglot: Taking that summer course in Hovitos really came in handy down in Peru, 1936.
  • The Quisling: René is French; France and Germany have not been on the best of terms since 1914 1870, mind.
  • Smug Snake
  • Wicked Cultured
  • Worthy Opponent: "Where shall I find a new adversary so close to my own level?"
    • "Try the local sewer."
  • You Wouldn't Shoot Me: Successfully pulls a variant of this on Indiana freaking Jones, for god's sake.
  • Your Head Asplode

Colonel Herman Dietrich

  • Affably Evil
  • Big Bad: After all he's the one who commands the Nazi squad who searches the Ark. Belloq serves just as his ally.
  • Blond Guys Are Evil
  • Blue Eyes
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Does a very minor one when he seizes the smuggling ship. Captain Katanga tries to protect Marion by implying that he plans to sell her as a Sex Slave, hoping that after the Nazis get their cargo back and find no trace of Indy they'll be satisfied. Instead a visibly disgusted Dietrich immediately grabs Marion and threatens to sink Katanga's ship.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: Has a scar across his left cheek.
  • I Have You Now, My Pretty
  • Kick the Dog: Takes an offered melon from an Egyptian merchant and tosses it at a random offscreen dog.
  • Lantern Jaw of Justice: Actor Wolf Kahler has a serious jawline.
  • Officer and a Gentleman: To a point.
  • Satellite Character: Major Gobler, his ever-present second in command. Even the novelization emphasizes Gobler as "Dietrich's shadow" and little else.
  • The Stoic: Indiana Jones hijacking the truck carrying the Ark and all the wild driving his Mercedes is put through as a result? It barely earns a raised eyebrow and a mild frown from him.
    • Not So Stoic: Although Indy continually coming out of nowhere to ruin his mission eventually starts getting to him, both with the tossing a melon at a dog thing and when his men can't find Indy on the smuggler's ship. "WHAT ABOUT JONES?!!"
  • Wicked Cultured: Listens to a record player and drinks bourbon from a cut crystal decanter outside his tent in Tanis.

Arnold Toht

Mola Ram

Walter Donovan

Dr. Elsa Schneider

Elsa wonders with amazement at the Holy Grail.


Colonel Ernst Vogel

  • All There in the Manual: His first name is given in the Marvel Comics adaptation.
  • Combat Pragmatist: Following on from below, Vogel has no problem using chains and shovels to beat up the good doctor. He also enjoys punching Indy in the face when our hero is strapped into a chair.
  • Disney Villain Death: Averted. We see Vogel's body get thrown around like a ragdoll and crushed when his tank plummets over the side of a cliff.
  • Deadpan Snarker: "This is how we say goodbye... in Germany." *Face punch*
  • Dragon-in-Chief: Donovan may have had the money and knowledge, but it is Vogel who controlled the military might of the Nazi Grail-expedition.
  • Fail O'Suckyname: The German word Vogel, which means "bird," is often used as "idiot." Unfortunately for the colonel, the word ernst also means "seriously." Der Oberst Ernst Vogel ist ernst ein Vogel!
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: When English boxer Pat Roach's obligatory Punch-Punch-Punch Uh-Oh fight scene with Harrison Ford was cut by Executive Meddling, Vogel stepped in to give our hero a vicious, brutal beating with shovels and chains atop a tank careening towards a canyon in The Last Crusade.

Colonel Doctor Irina Spalko

George "Mac" McHale

Indy: (exasperated) So, what are you, like a triple agent?!
Mac: No, I just lied about being a double agent.

Colonel Antonin Dovchenko

  • And I Must Scream: His death, described below.
  • Colonel Badass
  • Cruel and Unusual Death: Having thousands of giants ants eat you from the inside out is never pleasant.
  • The Dragon: Mild subversion as he actually holds equal rank to Irina Spalko, namely a Colonel.
  • Giant Mook
  • I Know Karate: Specifically, the Russian Military martial art of Sambo, which focuses on throws, grappling and painful joint-locks/breaks. Combined with his already impressive size and strength, Dovchenko's mastery of Sambo almost allowed him to kill Indy were it not for the timely presence of a tree branch...
  • Mighty Glacier: Though relying more on technique and skill rather than brute force alone.
  • Punch-Punch-Punch Uh-Oh
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