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Antonin Dovchenko

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Polkovnik Antonin Dovchenko (Russian: Антонин Довченко) was a Siberian high-ranking Soviet officer in the Spetsnaz. In 1957, Dovchenko and his soldiers served under the orders of Colonel Doctor Irina Spalko during their quest to harness the psychic powers of the Crystal Skull of Akator in order to brainwash the minds of the American military personnel for the decisive edge in the Cold War.

During the mission, Dovchenko became driven to fight archaeologist Indiana Jones after being defeated by him at Hangar 51 in Nevada. When they met again in South America on the journey to Akator, Dovchenko decided to have his rematch against Jones during an attack of siafu ants, but this decision would cost him his life as he was devoured by the ants after Jones defeated him again (albeit with a last ditch dirty move).

Biography[]

Early life[]

Native from Siberia, Russia,[2] Polkovnik[3] Antonin Dovchenko was a grizzled war veteran[4] and a battle-hardened career soldier[5] regarded as a national hero of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics due to his military services.[3] He had a lifetime of combat experience behind him.[6] Around the globe, Dovchenko was able to enforce the ruthless Soviet regime over countless of battles[2] and KGB's most vital missions.[4]

His formidable reputation made him the perfect choice to lead the Russian commando team in charge to assist Polkovnik Vrach Irina Spalko's undercover mission to the West to find the Crystal Skull of Akator[7] and take it to its owner back there at the the city's temple[1] in order to brainwash the United States of America's military and gain advantage to win the Cold War.[8]

As Dovchenko lacked an appreciation for ancient relics, Spalko decided to try to "educate" him, with no success apparently.[9] She once tried to instruct Dovchenko so he could learn fencing, intending to train him as a dueling partner, but Dovchenko gave up as he couldn't tell what was a moulinet or a coup d’arrêt, though he truly appreciated the sport.[10]

Mission in the States[]

"You recognize building, yes?"
―Antonin Dovchenko to Indiana Jones[src]

In 1957, Antonin Dovchenko led a group of Soviet soldiers to the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico and, as an unmarked force, they captured Indiana Jones and George McHale[1] at a set of coastal Mayan ruins[10] in Quintana Roo, where Dovchenko pummeled Indy into submission[9] before killing everyone else sans Mac after securing the "key" as per his given orders, taking the two and a bag of Jones' recent possessions. Upon arriving to Nevada, USA, Dovchenko spotted railroad tracks heading out into the desert.[10] Dovchenko and his men, now disguised as an American army convoy, approached the military base housing Hangar 51. Under the guise of an American army officer "Colonel Truman", Dovchenko commanded the team that infiltrated Hanger 51. To break into the facility, Dovchenko and his men first confronted Sergeant Jimmy Wycroft and his fellow MPs, who politely informed them that they couldn't be here due to some weapons testing taking place in the area, but Dovchenko distracted them by crouching to tie up his shoelaces while his men gunned down Wycroft and his men. With no enemies around, Dovchenko pulled Jones and McHale out of the trunk of a staff car, his men stood aside as Dovchenko tried to question Jones about the building. After punching Jones in the jaw for not answering him, he was forced to give up when Spalko arrived and took over the operation, explaining where Jones and McHale had been by breaking their finds and later giving powder for Jones to find the crate they were looking for.[1]

Antonin Dovchenko fighting .

Antonin Dovchenko fighting Indiana Jones.

After the New Mexico specimen were acquired, Jones escaped, Dovchenko caught up to the professor after throwing his gun así de and they crashed into the launch room for an experimental rocket sled. Dovchenko battled Jones, after being thrown through the glass into a control room, accidentally starting the ignition sequence. Dovchenko attacked Jones with a chain, but failed when the rocket sled activated and the two were shot out into the desert on a rail track, incinerating some of Dovchenko's men in the process.[1] His ribs squeezing toward his heart, Dovchenko barely perceived a blinding light[10] and closed his eyes during the process. The rapid speed rendered the Russian officer unconscious, and when it stopped, Jones was able to push him off the vehicle into the dirt and slipped away.[1]

Upon recovering, Dovchenko was found by some of his men who had followed the rocket sled's trail. Getting into a jeep, he commanded a second carload of troops to hunt down and kill Jones,[1] hoarsely requesting them to kill him and anyone he talked to upon spotting Jones' footprints.[10] Dovchenko himself returned to Spalko but Jones ultimately escaped to Doom Town.[1] Indy later noted in his journal that he may had seen him before, drawing a quick sketch of him in a Russian military uniform.[11]

Showdown in the Amazon[]

The Russian went to Nazca, Peru with Mac where they captured Jones and Mutt Williams as they exited the Chauchilla Cemetery with the Crystal Skull of Akator extracted from Francisco de Orellana's grave.[1] Jones tried to lunge at Mac, but Dovchenko, eager to pick up where they left off, brought his gun's butt down on the archaeologist's head, then doing the same with Williams before the greaser could even reach. The colonel proceeded to lift a stone from the ground to kill Indy, but Mac reminded him Spalko wanted him alive. Taking them in trains and boats[9] and through the jungle and a river,[10] Dovchenko and the others brought them to Spalko's military encampment in Ilha Aramacá, Brazil, where her quest to find Akator would begin. Jones and his party tried to escape, but were quickly recaptured.[1]

During the truck ride to Akator, Dovchenko became annoyed by the bickering of Jones and Marion Ravenwood, exclaiming "Oh, for love of God, shut the hell up!", before attempting to gag her, whereupon both Jones and Mutt kicked him in the head and knocked him out. He remained unconscious in the back of the truck for the beginning of the ensuing jungle chase, but when Marion pulled alongside a duck containing Mac, Harold Oxley and several soldiers, Dovchenko awakened,[1] took a full dazed breath to realize that the truck's roof was gone[10] and (barely) regained control of the truck after she (whom he tried to grab to no avail) and Mutt jumped out into the other vehicle.[1] A mile away from them as Jones and his party tried to retake the Crystal Skull, Dovchenko gathered enough of the soldiers thrown out during the chase and drove in a straight line towards Jones, wiping the drip of blood from his nose with just one goal in mind: make the American suffer.[10]

Death[]

Dovchenko's demise at the jaws of the .

Dovchenko's demise at the jaws of the Siafu.

Infuriated with Jones for knocking him out twice, Dovchenko and his straggling soldiers aboard their truck soon caught up to Jones' party - at a nesting site for a supercolony of siafu. Heedless of the ants, Dovchenko leapt out of the speeding truck and tackled Jones and Oxley to the ground, engaging Jones in a second brutal fistfight,[1] with every punch he threw having behind the full weight of Soviet military science and special forces training.[6] This time Indy’s fists seemed little more than pats on the back to the Russian.[10]

The fistfight was allowed to continue unmolested by the ants due to Oxley's use of the Crystal Skull. This time, Dovchenko managed to actually gain the upper hand in the brawl. Following being beaten upside the head with a log by Jones and then punched four times across the face consecutively, a dazed Dovchenko fell into the ant swarm. Dovchenko started screaming when the ants engulfed his entire body, entering into his insides through his screaming mouth and dragged him headfirst into the nest.[1] At first Indy thought the Russian was crawling, then he noted that the body seemed to be floating a couple of inches off the ground, as ants streamed up his nostrils and dug into his ears, with Dovchenko unable to do anything than crashing backward and writhing consumed under their mass, thrashing in silent agony.[10] Dovchenko was last seen as his body was insterted in the nest, where he was devoured alive.[1]

Legacy[]

Seeing what remained to be devoured of Antonin Dovchenko carried into the anthill by a writhing mass of ants was a sight Indiana Jones would never forget for the rest of his life.[9] Once her surviving forces were safe at the Sono River, Irina Spalko reflected that Jones, Mutt Williams and Marion Ravenwood had wiped out three quarters of her forces, consisting on the finest of the Russian army, including Dovchenko, so she shook her head at the impossibility but quickly accepted reality and resumed her quest.[10]

Personality and traits[]

An imposing and ruthless[7] giant of a person estimated by Sergeant Jimmy Wycroft to be over six feet, thick with muscle and having a good 260 if he was an ounce,[10] Antonin Dovchenko was a tall and lean man as well as a capable hand-to-hand fighter.[11] As noted by Wycroft, his face had thin lips and was so hard as the desert rock, icy and cold, with a hardening demeanor and a feral going in his pale blue eyes.[10] A fanatic follower of Soviet dogma[12] and undyingly loyal to his country,[4] Dovchenko was well-known for his devotion to the Soviet cause and his reputation for brutality,[7] stop at nothing to bring glory to Russia.[6] He was cruel and relished on inflicting pain to others,[4] using his strenght and physical fitness to defeat all his opponents[13] and controlling his own unit of soldiers through violence and fear,[4] being able to silence them with a mere glare.[10] Coming across Dovchenko several times, Indiana Jones considered the Russian with the shaved head to be a "thug" and not very intelligent, according to his journal.[11] In addition to his native Russian, Dovchenko also spoke English; albeit brokenly, but he was a man of few words, more focused on carrying out missions.[2] No matter how well enemy secrets could be guarded, no secret could be safe when a man like Dovchenko was directed to uncover it, no matter who could stand on his way.[3]

While he took a liking to beat up Jones since the moment he abducted him,[9] Dovchenko took an instant dislike to the American archaeologist following his encounter with him at Hangar 51, being tempted to supersede the orders that forced him to keep the man alive.[2] He felt a dark amusement at holding down Jones at his seat at their Ilha Aramacá, Brazil after Jones broke George McHale's nose.[10] Dovchenko became so consumed with fighting Jones to the point that he risked his own security, a trait which culminated in his death. He jumped off a truck carrying him to safety to face down Jones who was being pursued by the deadly siafu,[1] either ignorant or indifferent to them,[9] which were repelled by the Crystal Skull and created a natural arena in which the pair could do battle. Although able to absorb several blows to the head, Dovchenko was eventually knocked into the swarm which carried him to his doom.[1] Thus, while good in a fight, Dovchenko didn't think for himself.[14]

As Irina Spalko noted, Dovchenko lacked an appreciation for ancient relics, which is why she tried to "educate" him. This was demonstrated when he dropped carelessly to Hangar 51's tarmac, pieces from the coastal Mayan ruins that Jones had been painstankingly digging for months as, according to Dovchenko, they were nothing more than "junk",[9] hence why Spalko felt Dovchenko didn't understand history.[14] He felt drawn and frightened to his superior, admiring her fencing abilities but knowing she challenged ghosts from her past by challenging and proving herself.[10] Dovchenko also had a distaste for insects, especially ants.[2] Having accustomed himself to his native cold Siberia, Dovchenko couldn't stand the idea of living in the hot South American jungle compared to his native Siberia or the Nevada desert, wondering if maybe a place full of tarantulas and snakes was precisely where the Americans would hide their secrets, barely standing the miserable heat of which he had enough after breaking into Hangar 51 but smiling at the thought to being there to accomplish their orders, always saluting his superior with no condescension and having a flicker of fear in his pale eyes.[10]

Behind the scenes[]

Antonin Dovchenko was portrayed by Igor Jijikine in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.[1] Jijikine, a high-wire trapeze artist in the Cirque du Soleil, performed mandatory military service in the Soviet Special Forces from 1982 to 1984. Jijikine's large fighting character follows in the tradition of the late Pat Roach's characters from the previous three films.[15][16][17] Like many of the Soviet Special Forces who infiltrated Hangar 51, Dovchenko uses the name of a US president as a cover identity, in his case Harry S. Truman.[1]

Although the character was created by Kingdom of the Crystal Skull writer David Koepp, Dovchenko seems to be developed from Himmelman, a character in Frank Darabont's unmade Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods script, one of that many which were considered for the fourth Indiana Jones film.[18] Himmelman was a Swiss anthropologist who ended up being eaten alive by the siafu.[19]

As seen in the film's two-set disc featurette Pre-Production, pre-visualization on the siafu attack scene shows that Dovchenko's fight with Indiana Jones was originally envisioned to be a lot more shorter, ending with Dovchenko not throwing Indy's fedora into the ant swarm, but Indy knocking Dovchenko into the swarm when he charged at him, subsequently leading the ants (depicted a bit bigger) to asphixiate him and drag him to the anthill.[20] To shoot Dovchenko's death, Igor Jijikine dropped to the empty floor of the Hawaiian jungle where the film crew was filming and then screamed hard, while the ants were later inserted as CGI as seen in the film's featurettes.[21]

Though more accurate in the pre-viz,[20] the way in which the ants kill Dovchenko by getting into his mouth to suffocate him[1] is the technique that siafu use in real life to do away with their victims. Once they pass out, the siafu devour them. However, in real life, it's very easy to escape from the siafu by running, since these aren't as fast as they appear in the film. In addition, real siafu eat more lions or hyenas than humans and seldom bring large prey to their anthill, they only devour them there.

Dovchenko demonstrates proficiency in the Russian Military martial art of Sambo. When he is dragged towards the siafu nest, he can be heard screaming "Pomogi mne!" which is Russian for "Help me!".[1] In the comic book adaptation by Dark Horse Comics, he yells "Nyet!" – "No!" – instead.[3]

Dovchenko's role in James Rollins' novelization is the same, but his demise differs sligthly. He charges at Indy who uses the big colonel's own momentum to flip him into the ants,[10] which was also how it ended in the pre-viz animatics.[20] In the comic book adaptation by Dark Horse Comics, Dovchenko never wears a cap and he is still conscious after the rocket sled comes to halt, getting knocked out by Jones instead.[3] In the LEGO comic book LEGO Indiana Jones: Escape from the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull!, Dovchenko is depicted as having survived his encounter with the siafu and attempts to took his revenge against Jones and his party with a bazooka. However, the ants return and chase him away to an unknown fate.[22]

In LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues, Dovchenko is depicted as a bald soldier and his confrontation with Jones in the Amazon is very different. The siafu form a giant man and a giant dolphin made of ants that Dovchenko can control to attack Jones and his friends. However, after being defeated, Dovchenko falls to the side of an anthill and seven ants carry him to their nest. In the portable versions of the game, he manages to escape from the anthill twice during his fight with Jones before succumbing to his movie fate.[23]

Hasbro released 3 ¾" and 12" action figures of Dovchenko as well as an Adventure Heroes model. The 12" figure came packed with a few siafu ants. LEGO included a minifig of him in the playsets of the Peru plane and the Jungle Cutter.

Appearances[]

Sources[]

Notes and references[]

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Indiana Jones: The Ultimate Guide
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull comic
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Indiana Jones Activity Annual
  5. ↑ Indiana Jones Action Figures (Pack: Colonel Dovchenko)
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Indiana Jones Deluxe Action Figures (Pack: Commemorative DVD Collection 2)
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Top Trumps Specials: Indiana Jones (Card: Colonel Dovchenko)
  8. ↑ Topps-Logo Indiana Jones Movie Photo Cards (Card: Dr. Irina Spalko)
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull junior novelization
  10. ↑ 10.00 10.01 10.02 10.03 10.04 10.05 10.06 10.07 10.08 10.09 10.10 10.11 10.12 10.13 10.14 10.15 10.16 10.17 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull novel
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 The Lost Journal of Indiana Jones
  12. ↑ Indiana Jones Deluxe Action Figures (Pack: Jungle Chase)
  13. ↑ Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Annual 2009
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull audio pack
  15. ↑ Raiders of the Lost Ark
  16. ↑ Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
  17. ↑ Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
  18. ↑ The Complete Making of Indiana Jones
  19. ↑ Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 Pre-Production, section "Pre-viz"
  21. ↑ Production Diary: Making of "The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"
  22. ↑ LEGO Indiana Jones: Escape from the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull!
  23. ↑ LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues
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