René Emile Belloq

"So once again, Jones, what was briefly yours is now mine."

- René Belloq

René  Emile Belloq was a French archaeologist and rival of Indiana Jones. Like Jones, Belloq scoured the globe for antiquities, but would rather eep them for himself or sell them for his own profit instead of giving them to a museum as Indy did. On several occasions, he simply let Indy do the dirty work and then stole the prize from him.

Biography


In 1936, Indy recovered the Chachapoyan Fertility Idol from a Peruvian temple, only to be and then ambushed by Belloq and a group of Hovito warriors.

Later that year, René sided with the Nazis during their search of the Ark of the Covenant, using the imprint of Marion's medallion burned onto Major Toht's right hand. However, crucial information was contained on the other side of the medallion and, as a result, his people ended up digging in the wrong place to find the Well of Souls.

Noting their lack of progress, the Nazis suggested that Marion Ravenwood might hold the answers, but Belloq insisted that she knew nothing. René attempted to extract information from her to placate the Nazis. He seems to be more friendly with Marion than the Nazis; he gave her a new dress and joined her in a drinking contest.

The next morning, he saw a group of diggers in the far distance and it was soon discovered that Indy had found the Ark. Gloating, Belloq stole the Ark from him, but he was more than a little disappointed when Marion was thrown into the snake-infested Well of the Souls along with Indiana Jones. However, he quickly accepted her fate and left with Nazis.

After Indy and Marion escaped and destroyed the Flying Wing that was going to be used to fly the Ark out of Tanis, it was put on a truck and Belloq traveled with Dietrich and Toht to guard the Ark on the trip to the dock so it could be taken to Germany. However, Indiana intervened and stole the Ark back. Indy and Marion escaped with the Ark on a liner, but the Nazis recaptured the Ark and took Marion with a German U-boat. Indiana Jones managed to hitch a ride on the U-boat in an attempt to save Marion. Belloq was quite shocked to encounter Indiana once again while he and the Nazis were on their way to make sure the Ark was genuine. Indy threatened to destroy the Ark unless they turned Marion over, but Belloq called his bluff and Jones was captured.

With Indy and Marion bound to a stake, Belloq eventually began the ritual, but to his dismay, there appeared to be nothing more than dust and sand inside the Ark. However, spirits flew down on them and Belloq, believing this was going to be a wonderful experience shouted that it was beautiful. However, one spirit tarnsformed into the hideous Angel of Death and howled menacingly at Belloq. As Toht and Dietrich were screaming in fear, Belloq's jubilant face turned into horror as his body absorbed the holy fires of the Ark like a conduit. The fires then shot outward and struck all of the soldiers dead. As the altar became surrounded by a fiery inferno, Belloq let out a final scream of agony before his entire body exploded and disintegrated into nothingness.

Behind the scenes


Belloq was portrayed by Paul Freeman in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Lawrence Kasdan's script for the film originally identified Belloq's first name as Emile, which IndianaJones.com has established as his middle name.

Belloq was going to be a character in the unproduced third season of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. He was to be introduced in "Honduras, December 1920", and reappear in "Brazil, December 1921".

The character was also set to make an appearance in the opening of Dark Horse Comics' Indiana Jones and the Lost Horizon set on a New York City skyscraper in 1926 involved with a fake Shroud of Turin. However, the whole project had to be stopped when the Indiana Jones comic series was cancelled.

Appearances

 * The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
 * "Honduras, December 1920"
 * "Brazil, December 1921"
 * Indiana Jones and the Lost Horizon
 * Indiana Jones and the Dinosaur Eggs
 * Indiana Jones and the Hollow Earth
 * Raiders of the Lost Ark novel
 * Raiders of the Lost Ark