| “ | The famous American sense of humor! I never really understood it. | „ |
| ~ Albrecht Von Beck's taunts to Indiana Jones. |
| “ | Ahhhhh... Indiana Jones. If I had known the trouble you were capable of causing, I would have killed you in Prague. This time I will finish the job myself! Yes! Run! Hahaha! | „ |
| ~ Von Beck announcing his intentions to personally kill Indy, minutes before his death. |
Albrecht Von Beck is the secondary antagonist of the 2003 action-adventure video game Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb, the third original Indiana Jones video game.
He is a Schutzstaffel (SS) colonel and member of the Nazi Party who assists Kai Ti Chang in searching for the Heart of the Dragon to gain power over all men's will, unaware of Chang's plans to betray him. In 1935, Von Beck comes across the American archaeologist Indiana Jones during his search, leading to a disastreous encounter that obsesses Von Beck with hunting Jones down.
He was voiced by Nick Jameson, who also played Hans Ubermann in Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Richard Fisk and Morbius in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, the Bando Gora Captain in Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, Mudslinger, Gigawatt and the Skyway Patrol Lieutenant in My Life as a Teenage Robot, the Head Techno Union Scientist in Star Wars: Clone Wars, Edward Hill in Criminal Minds, Darts D'nar in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Toxic Reapa in Hero Factory.
History[]
Background[]
Albrecht Von Beck was known as a colonel of the Nazi Party who apparently had good ties with Adolf Hitler. In 1933, Von Beck came into contact with Kai Ti Chang, the Chinese crime lord who served as the leader of the Black Dragon Triad and who shared Von Beck's interest in the legendary Heart of the Dragon, a magical black pearl with the power to controll all men's will, allegedly hidden inside the tomb of China's first emperor Qin Shi Huang. To navigate the tomb once found, Von Beck was ordered by Chang to look for the three fragments of the Mirror of the Dreams, which could help them to find the emperor's crypt once they got there. Von Beck was also allowed to set up a German military facility of his own at Kai's Peng Lai Island, in exchange of supplying the Black Dragon Triad with German weaponry.
Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb[]
In 1935, Albrecht Von Beck is looking for one of the Mirror of Dreams' fragments in the jungles of the British Ceylon with the help of South African ivory hunters he has hired as his muscle, but is soon informed by his men that an American is interfering with the operation, so Von Beck orders them to kill him. His men don't succeed and Von Beck comes across the American, none other than the intrepid archaeologist Indiana Jones, after he retrieves the Kouru Watu idol in a cavern and comes out of the cavern's river.
Holding Jones at gunpoint, Von Beck demands the American into surrendering the idol or be shot, but Indy, deducing that Von Beck is gonna kill him anyway even if he gives up the idol, tricks him into believing that he will give him the idol, only to punch him and knock him into the river, where an albino crocodile that Jones had encountered earlier attacks Von Beck. Indy proceeds to defeat Von Beck's men and leaves, without verifying if Von Beck survived or not.
After Indy gets hired by Chang to retrieve the other fragments for him (as he is secretly planning to double-cross the Nazis), Von Beck reveals himself to actually have survived (though horribly scarred) after Jones finds the second fragment in the Prague Castle in Prague. Neutralizing Jones with a gas grenade, Von Beck orders his men to take the unconscious professor to their train as they head off to Istanbul, Turkey, where the third and last fragment is hidden.
Once Indy wakes up chained to the wall of the ancient ruins of Belisarius' city, Von Beck faces him again and tells him that he will be tortured by the Turkish mercenaries he has hired to assist his Nazi soldiers before leaving him to his fate. Unknown to Von Beck, Indy gets to escape thanks to Mei Ying, Chang's apparent assistant, freeing him from his shackles, leading Indy to kill all Nazis and mercenaries he finds on his way to the city's sunken amphitheather, where he obtains the third and last fragment after facing a Kraken.
Furious at the lack of progress from his men's part, Von Beck informs Kai about Jones' interference and Ying's betrayal, so Kai has him and his men abduct Mei during an opera she attends with Indy. Indy and his friend Wu Han pursue Mei's captors, but Von Beck is able to take her with him to a U-boat submarine and escapes from the heroes, setting his submarine en route to Kai's headquarters at Peng Lai Island, forcing Indy and Han to follow them in the latter's junk.
Once at the Peng Lai Island base of the Black Dragon Triad, Von Beck and Kai had an argument about the latter hiring Jones after previously hiring the former (unaware that they are being spied by Indy from an adjacent window), which Kai dismisses as his impatience at how Von Beck and his men have taken so long to find clues to the Heart of the Dragon. Intimidating him because he is on his island, Kai promises Von Beck to give him the Heart of the Dragon so he can take it to Hitler once Kai takes over China first, hastily leaving Von Beck to make a ritual to summon Kong Tien at his part of the island. However, given his right suspicions that Kai may not keep his word, Von Beck assures his bodyguards that he will personally kill Kai once the Heart is found. He then leaves the Black Dragon Fortress to go on his own to the Emperor's Tomb at Xi'an, China, leaving most of his troops behind, who do their best to try to stop Jones from reaching the Black Dragon Fortress, with no success.
After Indy and Mei find the Emperor's Tomb, Indy comes across Von Beck one last time. As he explores one of the catacombs in search of Qin Shi Huang, Indy is surprised by Von Beck, who is exploring the catacombs with a bulletproof drill tank. Swearing revenge on the American archaeologist, Von Beck maniacally announces to Jones his intentions to personally kill himself for all the troubles he has been causing, inciting Indy to run as Von Beck pursues him through the maze. Eventually, Indy slides through a ramp that ends in a seemingly bottomless pit, with Von Beck following him. While Indy safely whipswings to the other side, Von Beck has no time to brake and falls down into the pit with his drill tank to his doom.
Trivia[]
- Albrecht Von Beck was the second Indiana Jones villainous role that Nick Jameson had, following Hans Ubermann from Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. Interestingly, both characters are Nazis.
- The level in which Von Beck chases Indy down the maze is considered the most tedious and difficult of Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb. That's why some fans often say that Von Beck dying at the end of the level in such a stupid manner is so satisfying.
- According to the video game's instruction manual, Albrecht Von Beck is another one of the rivals of René Belloq, Indy's archenemy and the main villain of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Furthermore, the manual reveals that the reason Indy managed to claim the Kouru Watu idol was because Belloq tipped him off about Von Beck's plans out of spite.
External Links[]
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 Villains
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Nazi Party Thuggee Soviet Union Others | ||