Giant Sherpa is a minor antagonist in the 1981 action adventure film Raiders of the Lost Ark, the first instalment of the Indiana Jones film series
He resided in Patan, Nepal in 1936, working as a guide and goon-for-hire for travelers. That year, he served as one of the henchmen for Nazi Gestapo intelligence agents Major Arnold Ernst Toht and Otto alongside two others when the Germans visited the settlement to retrieve the Headpiece to the Staff of Ra from Marion Ravenwood at The Raven bar.
He was portrayed by the late Pat Roach who also played German Mechanic in the same movie, and Chief Guard from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
Biography[]
A local of Patan, Nepal, the giant Sherpa was a frequent patron in The Raven. Marion Ravenwood knew that he was the type who could be bought by anybody for a couple of glasses of booze. In 1936, the travelling Nazi Gestapo intelligence agent Major Arnold Ernst Toht and his partner Otto hired the Nepalese, another goon of Mongolian origin and a fellow Sherpa to help them in their mission to find the Headpiece to the Staff of Ral, which they would retrieve from American Marion Ravenwood at her bar The Raven. As with his fellows, Toht secured the Sherpa's loyalty by paying him with a handful of cash.
The five men arrived outside the bar shortly after it had closed following a drinking contest between Marion and an Australian climber, won by the former, but the men could not yet enter the building as American archaeologist Indiana Jones, an old friend of Ravenwood, was visiting the bar that night. After Jones had left, the Nepalese man, the Mongolian and the two Germans entered the bar, leaving the larger goon outside in case they needed backup, such as if Jones interfered in their dealings with Ravenwood. Sure enough, as Toht and his henchmen were about to begin torturing Ravenwood, Indiana Jones returned to the bar and used his bullwhip to fling Toht’s weapon away. A gunfight ensued whilst the bigger man was still outside, but by the time the other Nepalese man had been shot and killed, the giant sherpa burst through the door into the building, slamming the door into Jones, grabbing him and hurling him into a wall. The distraction allowed Marion to disable the Mongolian henchman whilst Toht and Otto watched from a distance.
Pulling Jones away from his doorway hiding place, the Sherpa threw Jones against the bar and pinned him against the bar counter. Toht knocked over some alcohol and ignited it, letting the flame run down the bar toward Jones. The American asked Ravenwood, hiding behind the bar after knocking out the other henchman, for some whiskey. Retrieving a bottle of whiskey, Jones smashed it against the head of the sherpa, who momentarily let go of the archaeologist. Escaping from the line of flames on the counter, Jones was grabbed again by the Sherpa, who simultaneously tried to choke Jones and grapple for his pistol.
As the Sherpa fought with Jones over control of Jones' pistol, Toht ordered Otto to shoot Jones, much to the dismay of the archaeologist and entertainment of the man holding him. But, when Toht said moments afterwards to shoot the sherpa as well simply, the giant man was not so happy. Even if he didn't fully know German, the Sherpa understood Toht's words or sensed his betrayal. Realizing that they had a common enemy, the Sherpa and Jones aimed the gun they were wrestling over in the direction of the machine-gun-toting German and fired it several times, killing Otto. Distracted, Jones slipped away from the Sherpa again, who followed him. Jones tried to push him into the fireplace but only succeeded in losing his gun and setting the goon's arm on fire. Shrugging off the pain, the Sherpa took a swing at Jones with his burning sleeve several times and continued fighting. After the first swing, Jones punched a vulnerable sherpa, sending his hat tumbling off. As their fight continued, Toht grabbed the heated headpiece but burned his hand and sprinted out of the now-burning bar to escape. While his back was turned, Jones took down the sherpa with a chair to the back before he and Ravenwood fled from the scene. The unconscious Sherpa was abandoned inside the burning Raven to be consumed by the flames.
[]
![]() | ||
Nazi Party Thuggee Soviet Union Others |