Antonio Morello

CHARACTER
Antonio Morello
Gender	Male
Birth	c. 1892 Southern Italy
Nationality	Italian
Profession(s)	Soldier (formerly) Priest
Allegiance(s)	God

"Subtlety is a virtue."

―Antonio's telegram to Indiana Jones

Father Antonio Morello was a Vatican priest and an old friend of American archaeologist Indiana Jones.

A veteran of the Great War, Antonio found God during the conflict and dedicated himself to the clergy afterwards.

By October 1937, he kept an office at the Vatican Apostolic Library where was head librarian.

Biography

Early life

Antonio Morello was born to a moderately wealthy family in southern Italy around 1892.

World War I

He served in World War I, an experience which exacted a toll on him both mentally and physically. He found God during his ordeal but Antonio's injuries would cause the man to lose his hearing as he aged. Around 1918, Morello met and befriended future archaeologist Indiana Jones, an American going by his nom de guerre Henri Defense, at the infirmary by Piave while Jones was serving as a soldier in Italy. Although Jones' stay in the country was brief, Antonio found his friendship invaluable in coping with the war. After the conflict, Antonio joined the priesthood in Rome.

The Great Circle

Decades later, the priest had become head of the Vatican Apostolic Library and was disturbed by Father Cesare Ventura's close association with Prime Minister Benito Mussolini, which took advantage of the Pope's ill-health. By that point, Antonio had become acquainted with Father Orlando Ricci, a fellow academic with an office at the Tower of Winds. In need of help in October 1937, Jones wrote to Antonio to meet him in Vatican City but his friend wired back that the area wasn't safe and directed him to rendezvous at the "village steps" instead. Making their way through the Passetto di Borgo, the priest warned Jones that Ventura's oversight of the Vatican had allowed the city-state to become riddled with Fascista.

Resting overnight in Antonio's office, Jones informed the priest that he was searching for a Cat Mummy stolen from Marshall College by a giant man who had left behind a pendant leading back to the Vatican. Antonio provided Jones with a clergyman disguise to help him move about without rousing too much suspicion and supported the archaeologist in chasing the mystery despite how fantastical it all sounded. For all their effort at subterfuge, they were being monitored by the Vatican's intelligence network (having closely observed Jones's initial recovery of the mummy in Siwa earlier that year) which sought to prevent the archaeologist learning of the artifact's ties to the Great Circle. However, any control of the situation was quickly lost when, at Mussolini's behest, Ventura gave Third Reich Special Antiquities Collection agent Emmerich Voss access to the Vatican Secret Archive and the Nazi's forces looted the treasury of the Holy See's collection of Great Circle artifacts.

Morello and Jones went their separate ways as the archaeologist chased after Voss, with the priest well enough aware of his friend's lifestyle to not be surprised when he looked out of his office window to be greeted with Jones hanging by a bullwhip from a Nazi zeppelin on its way back to Egypt. He simply wished Jones well and got back to dancing to his jazz record.

The following month in Sukhothai, Siam, Jones was incapacitated by frog poison and, in his delirium, encountered a version of Antonio at Marshall College.

Personality and traits

Antonio Morello recalled his time serving the military during World War I as "dark", opining that it would have been unbearable had his good friend Indiana Jones not been by his side. He enjoyed American music, hence why Jones gifted him the "latest humdinger" from New York City, a decade old jazz record, when he visited him to uncover the Great Circle's mystery. By October 1937, Antonio required the use of a hearing aid in both ears.

Behind the scenes

Antonio Morello was performed by Enrico Colantoni in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Early press access gameplay depicted Antonio greeting Indiana Jones as "Henri", Indy's nom de guerre from World War I as seen in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles television series. A Lucasfilm.com article highlights that the pair had first met while Jones was serving in Italy. Jones fought in the country during the episode "Northern Italy, June 1918", later edited into Tales of Innocence.

Appearances

• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (First appearance)

Sources

•  First Look at Playing Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on Lucasfilm.com (backup link on Archive.org) (First mentioned)
• The Faces & Places of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle™ on Bethesda.net
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Digital Art Book
•  How Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Changes How We Watch the Indy Films on Lucasfilm.com (backup link on Archive.org)