Barranca

"If they knew we were here, they would've killed us already."

- Barranca on the Hovitos

Barranca was a Peruvian guide and thief who tried to kill Indiana Jones to claim a Chachapoyan Fertility Idol.

Biography
Barranca and his partner, Satipo, based their guide business from the jungle outpost of Machete Landing. In 1936, the two, along with several porters, helped guide Indiana Jones to the Temple of the Chachapoyan Warriors in Peru.

After sighting Mount Shubet, Barranca helped to tie off one of the mules carrying supplies. Later, while Satipo examined a freshly poisoned Hovitos dart that Jones had found, Barranca commented that the Hovitos were probably unaware of their presence. When they reached a pond, Jones stopped to review a map he had kept from his guides. Seeing the map, Barranca attempted to silently draw his pistol and cocked it. Jones' keen hearing sensed the weapon being primed and Jones used his bullwhip to disarm his traitorous guide.

Without his pistol, Barranca fled into the jungle. He encountered René Emile Belloq and a group of Hovitos. Barranca directed Belloq and his men to the location of the others before he was hunted down and killed by the darts of the Hovitos for violating the valley of their ancestors.

After Jones escaped from the temple with the Chachapoyan Fertility Idol, Jones saw his former guide's dead body fall to the jungle floor, his back riddled with darts.

Behind the scenes
Barranca was played by Vic Tablian, who also played Monkey Man in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Tablian also later played Demetrios/Claw in Young Indiana Jones and the Curse of the Jackal.

The character actually survives in the Raiders comic book adaptation as he isn't present when Belloq and the Hovitos meet Jones at the temple entrance later on. He also survives in LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures, chased away by bats to an unknown fate in the opening scenes, instead of the Peruvian Porter.

In Lawrence Kasdan's first draft of the film, Indiana Jones was the direct cause of Barranca's death. When Barranca pulls his gun out on Jones, the archaeologist uses his whip to make Barranca shoot himself, killing him.

Appearances

 * Raiders of the Lost Ark novel
 * Raiders of the Lost Ark
 * Raiders of the Lost Ark comic
 * LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
 * LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues

Notes and references
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