- "The famous American sense of humor! I never really understood it."
- ―Albrecht Von Beck[src]
Standartenführer Albrecht Von Beck was a high-ranking Nazi official in the German Third Reich's SS, tasked by the most important Nazi leaders (believed to include Adolf Hitler himself) to obtain and weaponize the legendary Heart of the Dragon in 1935.
Biography
In 1935, Von Beck made a deal with Marshall Kai Ti Chan of the Black Dragon Triad to find the first piece of the Mirror of Dreams, called the Heart of Kouru Watu, in Ceylon. Dressed in hunting fatigues, Von Beck led a group of ivory hunters to an ancient temple in Ceylon only to find that the American archaeologist Indiana Jones was also searching for the Heart of Kouru Watu. Von Beck decided to follow Jones quietly and wait for him to get the treasure. After seeing him escape from a giant albino crocodile with the Heart in hand, Von Beck held Jones at gunpoint and demanded that the idol be given to him. Jones did so but then punched Von Beck causing him to drop it. He then tossed Von Beck into the water where he was pulled under by the crocodile. Jones incapacitated the ivory hunters and escaped, presuming Von Beck to have been killed by the reptile.
Von Beck in Ceylon, before the crocodile attack.
Von Beck, however, survived although he was left scarred in his right cheek and his right eye was replaced with a glass ball. He captured Jones in a castle in Prague who had, by then, recovered the second piece of the Mirror of Dreams. Now dressed in a black business suit with a black leather trenchcoat displaying the swastika on the sleeve, Von Beck took Jones to Istanbul where he would be tortured by Turkish mercenaries. Unbeknownst to the German, Jones was freed by Mei-Ying and found the third and final piece of the Mirror of Dreams before the Nazis.
Frustrated, Von Beck and Marshall Kai kidnapped Mei-Ying and took her to Peng Lai Island where the Nazis had built a submarine pen and airbase. Jones followed them and overheard Von Beck and Marshall Kai talk about their plans. Kai proposed that he would give the Heart of the Dragon to Von Beck after he took control of China first. Von Beck knew, however, that Marshall Kai was going to double-cross him and take the Heart of the Dragon for himself. After Kai left, Von Beck remained suspicious of Kai's intentions and went ahead to the Emperor's Tomb in Xi'an, China.
Von Beck and a team of soldiers entered the tomb, navigated through its booby traps and arrived at the terra cotta maze. With a driller tank in tow, Von Beck planned to break through the walls and find the entrance to the Emperor's crypt. Soon, he was the only one left as his troops either perished or abandoned him.
Von Beck eventually encountered Jones in the maze, this time pursuing him with the tank in hopes of gaining revenge for his facial injuries. Jones managed to elude Von Beck and used his whip to swing over a seemingly bottomless pit. Von Beck was unable to brake the vehicle in time and it plunged down into the chasm, perishing with a scream of terror.