Arnold Ernst Toht

CHARACTER
Arnold Ernst Toht
Gender	Male
Death	1936 Tabernacle, Geheimhaven, Aegean Sea
Nationality	German
Profession(s)	Gestapo agent Sturmbannführer (Major)
Allegiance(s)	Nazis

"Fräulein Ravenwood, let me show you what I am used to..."

―Toht preparing to torture Marion Ravenwood with a flaming poker

Sturmbannführer Arnold Ernst Toht was a sadistic and ruthless Nazi Gestapo agent and military officer who worked with the French mercenary René Emile Belloq and Colonel Herman Dietrich during the Nazi effort to locate the Ark of the Covenant in 1936.

Loyal to Adolf Hitler, Toht did everything he could to contribute to the search for the Ark. Although deep down he did not believe in the supernatural, it was the power of the Ark that would be his undoing.

Biography

Early life and career

Little was known about the background of Major Arnold Ernst Toht other that he had at least one sibling, a sister named Ilsa, a future agent of the Third Reich herself.

Toht joined the German secret police and, as with the rest of his Gestapo brethren, was trained in the art of combat, interrogation, torture and espionage, well-versed in mysticism and the belief in Aryan society. Eventually, Toht became one of its top agents, a skilled torturer and interrogator, relishing the opportunity to inflict pain and suffering even for its own sake and a firm believer in the Nazi doctrine, leading him to dismiss any actions as absolutely necessary for the Nazis to destroy any threats to their supremacy.

Over time, Toht would become known only by his last name and carried out Adolf Hitler's orders to ensure his place in the Gestapo hierarchy. He was regarded as one of the police's best agents.

Search for the Ark

Researching Ravenwood

"I have the perfect man for this kind of work."

―Herman Dietrich

In 1936, Arnold Ernst Toht led a team was responsible for recovering, as part of the search for the Ark of the Covenant, the Headpiece to the Staff of Ra. The Schutzstaffel (SS) knew an American archaeologist named Abner Ravenwood was last in possession of the headpiece and sent several agents to the University of Chicago, one of his last known whereabouts. Toht's team found that Ravenwood had left the university years before, but he had a colleague named Indiana Jones whom they were also watching, as it seemed as if United States Army Intelligence was asking him to find the headpiece for them, to prevent it from falling into the Führer's hands.

Skirmish in Nepal

Toht alongside Otto in The Raven.

Toht was sent to Nepal by the Third Reich Special Antiquities Collection to acquire the headpiece to the Staff of Ra from Marion Ravenwood. Toht followed Indiana Jones from Shanghai and he and his surbordinate Otto hired three henchmen off the streets of Kathmandu, Nepal known as the Ratty Nepalese, the Mean Mongolian and the Giant Sherpa, paying them a handful of cash to ensure their loyalties, though the Sherpa was asked to remain behind them unless they needed backup. If his targets surrendered, Toht intended to order one of his goons to throw them and Indy's car into a deep gorge, not to mention he would try to stop them if they both tried to leave together by shooting at the ceiling. They all followed Indiana Jones to The Raven bar in Patan, entering after Jones had apparently left. Toht tried to take the piece by preparing to torture Marion to death with a hot iron for not surrendering the piece immediately and smoking to his face, little realizing that the object he seeked was resting on a table just a few feet away. Suddenly, Indiana Jones reappeared and intervened, disarming Toht with his bullwhip.

All the henchmen who went into the bar with Toht died during the ensuing fight with Jones and Ravenwood, during which Marion's bar was set ablaze. While Indy was grappling with the large Sherpa thug, Toht dispassionately ordered both shot either because he thought the Sherpa wouldn't kill Indy or just to rid of him too, but his henchman was quickly dropped by four bullets from his would-be victims and Toht cowardly scrambled for cover. Crouching next to a table, a single-minded Toht noticed the headpiece lying on the ground during the skirmish and tried to grab it, but the bronze relic had been heated by the flames throughout the fight and began sizzling the moment he gripped it, searing its ancient design into his flesh. Screaming in agony, Toht sprinted across The Raven, leapt through the tavern's window and plunged his hand into the snow outside in an attempt to soothe it.

Tanis

Toht then met with Colonel Herman Dietrich, Major Gobler and René Emile Belloq in the excavation site at the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. From his headpiece-scarred palm, the Nazis were able to create a crude, one-sided reproduction of the headpiece; but the missing information from the other side would prove critical to finding the Ark's resting place, the Well of the Souls. The main dig was concentrated just near the location of the actual resting place of the Ark.

Toht prepares to hang his coat.

Frustrated with Belloq's inability to extract useful information from the (now captive) Marion Ravenwood, Dietrich had Toht intercede. He arrived at the tent just as Ravenwood nearly managed to escape from a tipsy Belloq, so Toht scared her into submission by taking out from his coat what appeared to be a garrote to torture her only to reveal it as a hanger for his coat. His own interrogation proved equally fruitless however. When the Nazis finally caught up with Jones at the Well of the Souls, Toht threw Ravenwood into the Well under Dietrich's orders, for they had no further use for her. Belloq's protest against the action caused Toht to giggle with glee, hoping Ravenwood and Jones would "enjoy" their living death while later expressing his gladness at Ravenwood's disposal due to finding her very annoying and having wished for payback for the "souvenir" of the scar he got at her bar.

He later accompanied Belloq and his fellow Nazis in the effort to deliver the Ark to a safer location, since his duty was to oversee the delivery of the artifact Hitler desired. However, Jones succeeded in taking the Ark back from them. Toht and the others located his whereabouts later on and reclaimed the Ark along with Marion aboard the Bantu Wind, Simon Katanga's ship. While onboard Oskar Schomburg's U-boat the Wurrfler, Toht managed to make all of the crew feel uneasy at his appearance, looking over Number One's shoulder all the time.

Arrival at the secret island

Shortly thereafter, on the Geheimhaven island at the north of Crete, Toht disembarked from the Wurrfler along with the rest of the Nazis including Belloq and Ravenwood. While walking to the Tabernacle, where the ceremony was going to be performed, Jones resurfaced and threatened to blow up the Ark unless Ravenwood was released. Feeling queasy as the exchange between Jones and Belloq happened, Toht opted to sat on a nearby low rocky ledge to wait. Belloq, however, called his bluff. He attempted reasoning with Jones that the Ark's destruction would ruin it for everyone. As Belloq was talking, German soldiers flanked Jones and captured him, forcing him to march alongside Marion.

Death

That night, Toht stood with Belloq and Dietrich in the Tabernacle for the ceremonial opening of the Ark. Initially, the Ark seemed to bear only dust and sand, which was all that was left of the Ten Commandments. Between Belloq's failure and despair while Dietrich grabbed the sand, Toht burst into laughter with amusement, as he had never quite believed in the supernatural imperative of his assignment to begin with. His enjoyment was cut short, however, as a bizarre power surge destroyed all equipment in the vicinity of the Ark before apparitions began to emanate from within the gilded gold chest.

Toht's face melts as a result of looking into the Ark.

The astonished Toht watched as one of the spirits approached them, with Belloq deeming it beautiful. Appearing as a youthful woman, the entity's visage gave way to a terrifying fanged countenance that snarled at the assembled Nazis, representing the wrath of God, quickly scaring Toht. Toht's screams only increased as the Ark's full wrath was unleashed in the form of an intense fire that struck down the gathered soldiers. For the Gestapo major, all his years of inflicting pain and torment on others to shape his masochistic tendences were finally, and very literally, dissolving; in an ironic twist of karma due to his past threats of burning Marion's face, Toht's own face melted like tallow as the blazing energy's intensity boiled his skeleton's flesh off before his remains were carried away by the following whirlwind, his soul taken to be judged and destroyed, disappearing forever. All that remained of Toht with the rest of his fellow expeditioners was a pile of ash, which drifted slowly on the ground near the altar.

Legacy

Immediately after his death once the Ark of the Covenant closed itself again, Marion Ravenwood opined that despite knowing how terrible it sounded, Arnold Ernst Toht deserved what he got.

After Toht's demise, his sister Ilsa tried to avenge him by killing Indiana Jones, the adventurer who had contributed to his death. Ilsa, a high-ranking official of the Third Reich in the same vein as her brother, became head of a plot by the Nazis involving the theft of the Chachapoyan Fertility Idol and its use in manipulating the South American native peoples such as Xomec and the Hovitos into sabotaging American rubber interests and joining the Third Reich were war to break out. Deeming her as nasty as her brother, a battle of wits followed as Indiana Jones attempted to prevent Ilsa from enacting her revenge and succeeding in her mission. As a direct result of Jones' intervention, Ilsa perished in a violent plane crash.

In September 1940, upon coming across the late René Emile Belloq's twin, who wanted to enact vengeance for his brother's death and demanded answers over what happened, Indiana Jones privately reflected he had no desire to tell a possible madman how God made a "fireworks display" of Belloq, a German soldiers company and the half of dozen other cronies the Ark claimed, including Toht, reducing them to a handful of ash.

Personality and traits

"Heil Hitler."

―Arnold Ernst Toht

A dangerous, sadistic and psychopathic Nazi henchman reputed for his resourcefulness, cunning and ruthlessness, Toht possessed an extensive knowledge of torture methods and was regarded an expert on interrogation as well as a professional by Herman Dietrich, thus being the ideal agent to find the Headpiece to the Staff of Ra. For Toht, all consisted in torture, interrogation and espionage. Never veering from his established goals, Toht rarely broke from his spooky, gentle and disturbing manner, the most unnerving quality of his presence. He always counted with a shiny face that looked like an open razor due to his constant sweating glowing with an evil glimmer whatever the light and rarely shouted when giving orders, preferring to issue commands and interrogate with a subtle voice similar to a whisper punctuated by sinister laughs, managing to spook even fellow Nazis such as Oskar Schomburg and his crew. He also had a vengeful side, obsessing over making Marion Ravenwood pay for his burned hand as an "old score" to settle. Besides that, he displayed a sardonic sense of humor as well, picking up something that uninformed observers could misinterpret as an instrument of torture, before revealing it as simply a hanger for his coat. Usually a quiet man, Toht favored black attire, wearing a fedora, leather coat and a full suit and tie regardless of the climate he was in. He had receding jet black hair and a pair of round spectacles spread across his broad face.

Toht was loyal to Adolf Hitler, seeing him as "Germany's Messiah" that would lead them to become a world power from their turmoil, despite his own skepticism of anything claimed to be supernatural, instead feeling that selling the Ark of the Covenant, whose powers he highly doubted, to a gullible collector that could pay enough money for Germany to build their military might. Toht never really believed in the supernatural nature of the Ark of the Covenant. He found it an interesting find and a powerful symbol, but nothing more, ignoring whether the Headpiece to the Staff of Ra would lead them to the Ark and if such artifact could help them defeat their enemies. However, his primary goal was to just please his Führer by carrying out his orders to the letter in order to ensure his place in the Gestapo hierarchy especially if the situation allowed him to put into practice his interrogation skills, aside his devotion to the party. He had no time to think over superstitions and mysticism. He enjoyed René Emile Belloq's disenchantment when the opening of the Ark appeared to contain nothing but sand. He was flabbergasted when the Ark began to unleash spirits which swarmed amongst the soldiers and quickly became terrified when they showed their true colors.

With a faith in Aryan society like many within the Schutzstaffel and the higher levels of Germany's military government, Toht believed that "pure" Germans were a race of superbeings and that their supposed racial and political purity gave the Nazis the right to destroy any threat to their supremacy. He was sure that one day, the Nazis were going to conquer the world and lead their country out of the depression and despair supposedly caused by World War I, Communism and the Jewish people. He was a short, German stocky man whose spectacles glined on his fleshy and pudgy face, his mouth consisting on a cruel line.

Behind the scenes

Toht was portrayed by the late Ronald Lacey in Raiders of the Lost Ark who is never referred to by name beyond the credits and only has a total of sixteen lines in the film. He was voiced by an uncredited voice actor in the Read-Along Adventure. Although Dennis Muren plays a similarly bespectacled, nameless trenchcoated spy who boards the plane in San Francisco with Indy, this is not Toht. Campbell Black's novelization has Toht boarding with Indy in Shanghai, which is where a sequence of the film was scripted to take place but was dropped before production (and recycled for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom). Lacey later returned to the franchise in 1989 by appearing as Heinrich Himmler in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

The film's novel establishes Toht's first name as "Arnold" but in Marvel's The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones, the character's sister Ilsa refers to him as "Ernst Toht". The third issue of the UK Indiana Jones Comic reconciles both names, presenting Ernst as Toht's middle name.

Before Lacey was cast in the role of Toht, famous actors like director Roman Polanski and the late Klaus Kinski were offered the part. However, they both declined the offer with the latter dismissing the script as being "moronically shitty". The late Michael Sheard, who played the U-boat captain, subsequently named Oskar Schomburg, in the finished film and went on to portray Adolf Hitler in Last Crusade, was in contention for the role, but lost out to Lacey, whom he retrospectively admitted was the best choice for the role. Concept art by the late Ron Cobb had the character resemble the late Sir Christopher Lee, who lobbied hard by "driving nuts" Cobb and William Scout to convince Spielberg to cast him as one of the Nazis in the film due to his ability to imitate a German accent. Lee would later portray Ottokar Czernin in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles episode "Austria, March 1917", later edited into Adventures in the Secret Service. Spielberg cast Lacey as Toht due to reminding him to Peter Lorre.

Toht concept art by Ron Cobb.

The character, originally identified as "Belzig" in Lawrence Kasdan's screenplay, remains unnamed in the film dialogue and was listed as "Toht" in the closing credits of the film, reflecting script revisions. The production played around with the idea of Toht being a cyborg with a metal arm that could change into a machine gun and a flamethrower. Cobb's concept art was drawn up with those elements, some which also gave him a light in his right eye. However, George Lucas pushed against the development, telling director Steven Spielberg that he was mixing genres so it was dropped. The idea of a character with a mechanical limb resurfaced in Chris Columbus' unmade Indiana Jones and the Monkey King script through the character of Werner von Mephisto before becoming part of the Indiana Jones canon with Helmut von Mephisto in the late J. W. Rinzler's novel Indiana Jones and the Mystery of Mount Sinai, as Rinzler inspired his character on Cobb's concepts while researching for The Complete Making of Indiana Jones. The concept later greatly influenced the appearance of Star Wars antagonist Gable Karius in Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series.

Drafts of the Raiders script indicate that Toht was originally intended to die alongside Gobler after flying off a cliff in their troop car during The Desert Chase. Toht's survival was a late addition in the ongoing story development, as Spielberg opted to shoot the scene of the Nazi party carrying the Ark to the Tabernacle at the Rainbow Canyon, Tunisia with Ronald Lacey among the performers, so the character was spared until the opening of the Ark of the Covenant. This change might explain why Lacey wasn't actually present at the conclusion of the chase outside Omar's Garage. There, Toht was played by the late stuntman Peter Diamond, who also played the left rearview soldier during the sequence, slumped back-to-camera in the front seat of the staff car. Cut from the film, the alternative fate for Toht was retained in Black's novelization. That depiction was also included in the Marvel's comic book and Les Martin's storybook adaptations. Ryder Windham's junior novelization has a more screen accurate portrayal of Toht's death.

Toht's death as depicted in the comic book adaptation.

The gag in which Toht seems to pull out a torture device only for it to be revealed as a coat hanger was originally intended by director Steven Spielberg to be performed by Christopher Lee in his 1979 comedy film 1941, the last movie he had directed before taking on Raiders. The moment didn't work out so Spielberg cut it from the film but later reused it with Toht. The coat hanger was designed by Bill Hargreaves, who made it when producer Frank Marshall asked him to make something that looked fierce but wasn't fearsome, though Hargreaves took it home so Lucasfilm Ltd. ended up sending two burly security guards to retrieve their property. Lacey shaved the top of his head in order to play Toht. When he removes his hat to wipe the sweat off his head, stubble showing his hairline can be seen.

During the early development of the fourth Indiana Jones film, Frank Darabont's first draft of his Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods script featured Nazis seeking revenge against Indiana Jones due his role in the deaths of Toht and other Nazis that he had fought before and during World War II. Spielberg disliked the idea, however, and it was dropped. Although Toht doesn't appear in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, he briefly appears in a trailer for the film as footage from the opening of the Ark scene from Raiders was included.

In the video game Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures, Toht attacks The Raven alone and without his black fedora. He battles Indy from upper platforms jumping from one to another but when Indy defeats him, he escapes without burning his hand with the headpiece to the Staff of Ra, which remains with Marion Ravenwood during the whole stage. However, Toht is never seen with the Nazis afterwards and thus absent during the opening of the Ark, leaving his fate unclear.

In LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures, Toht burns his behind instead of his hand on the headpiece. His death during the opening of the Ark differs from the film, however, in that his head appears to shrink while his feet seem to melt, a fate shared with Herman Dietrich. The portable versions of the game don't explicitly show the fates of Dietrich, Belloq and Toht. In the sequel, Toht appears in every Raiders level, but his demise differs greatly. A disco ball emerges from the Ark which makes Toht and the other Nazis dance until Belloq, transformed into a lightning monster, makes Toht explode with a ray beam. Despite his presence in both games, Toht was never released as a physical minifigure.

Kenner released an action figure of Toht as part of its The Adventures of Indiana Jones toyline in the 1980s, and Toht's figure had the distinction of being the most common figure of the series along with the Arab Swordsman. He also had the most cardback variations. In its second release, the character's name was misspelled on the cardback as "Thot", but this was corrected for the third release. There were plans by Kenner for a playset of The Raven which would have included a new Toht action figure, but the set went unproduced when the whole The Adventures of Indiana Jones toyline was abruptly cancelled. Hasbro also released an exclusive action figure of Toht originally intended for their fifth wave of Indiana Jones action figures at the 2011 San Diego Comic Con.

Lacey's performance as Toht has inspired several other Indiana Jones villains: Lucasfilm Games animator Anson Jew described the cancelled Indiana Jones and the Iron Phoenix game version of Matthias Jäger as similar to Toht but "a bit tougher" (albeit his appearance in the comic book adaptation of Dark Horse Comics felt more visually inspired by Adolf Hitler), Last Crusade actor Derek Lyons expressed interest in 2006 to appear in the then-untitled Kingdom of the Crystal Skull interested in playing a villain in the same vein as Lacey's Toht (though this didn't end up happening) Jürgen Voller actor Mads Mikkelsen expressed his liking for Toht and cited his dressing style consisting on iconics black coat, hat and glasses as "part of the making" for Voller's dressing style though the filmmakers avoided copying Toht with Voller due to the former being perfect and Emmerich Voss performer Marios Gavrilis paid special attention to Toht and Belloq when rewatching Raiders in preparation to play Voss. Even other franchises have taken inspiration from Lacey's Toht, with Star Wars including a character named Toht Ra in Solo: A Star Wars Story (also written by Kasdan and his son Jonathan) which Lucasfilm creative art manager Phil Szostak confirming the reference from possibly Pablo Hidalgo's part and Scott Adkins admitting that his performance as Killa Harkan from Chad Stahelski's 2023 film John Wick: Chapter 4 was inspired by Lacey's as Toht, basing his Killa voice on the Toht one Lacey employed for Raiders.

Appearances

• Raiders of the Lost Ark novel (First appearance)
• Raiders of the Lost Ark
• Raiders of the Lost Ark comic
• Raiders of the Lost Ark Storybook
• Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark junior novel
• Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures
• Indiana Jones: The Search For Buried Treasure
•  The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones – "The Gold Goddess: Amazon Death Ride!" (Mentioned only)
• Indiana Jones und das Erbe von Avalon (Indirect mention)
• LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (Non-canonical appearance)
• LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues (Non-canonical appearance) (As "Major Toht")

Sources

•  Raiders of the Lost Ark trading cards (Card: The Mysterious Medallion)
•  Raiders of the Lost Ark trading cards (Card: The Creature Called Toht)
•  Raiders of the Lost Ark trading cards (Card: Marion in a Jam!)
•  Raiders of the Lost Ark trading cards (Card: Jones To The Rescue!)
•  Raiders of the Lost Ark trading cards (Card: Struggle to the Death!)
•  Raiders of the Lost Ark trading cards (Card: The Human Torch)
•  Raiders of the Lost Ark trading cards (Card: The Prize Of Agony)
•  Raiders of the Lost Ark trading cards (Card: Trapped By Belloq) (Pictured only)
•  Raiders of the Lost Ark trading cards (Card: Threatened By Indiana Jones) (Pictured only)
•  Raiders of the Lost Ark trading cards (Card: The Ritual Begins)
•  Raiders of the Lost Ark trading cards (Card: The Awesome Moment) (Pictured only)
•  Raiders of the Lost Ark trading cards (Card: The Power Of God!) (Pictured only)
• Raiders of the Lost Ark (TSR)
• Raiders of the Lost Ark Sourcebook
•  Raiders of the Lost Ark: Where there's smoke... on IndianaJones.com (backup link on Archive.org)
•  Raiders of the Lost Ark: Blazing battle on IndianaJones.com (backup link on Archive.org)
•  Indy's Read-Along Adventures on IndianaJones.com (backup link on Archive.org)
•  Arnold Ernst Toht's Marshall College entry on IndianaJones.com (backup link on Archive.org)
• Indiana Jones: The Ultimate Guide
• "You Call This Archeology?" - Indiana Jones: The Official Magazine 3
• Indiana Jones Comic 3
• Top Trumps: Indiana Jones
•  Indiana Jones Heritage trading cards (Card: The Wicked Persuasion of Toht)
•  Indiana Jones Heritage trading cards (Card: Escaping the Fire)
•  Indiana Jones Heritage trading cards (Card: A Drink with Belloq?)
•  Indiana Jones Heritage trading cards (Card: "Close Your Eyes Marion") (Pictured only)
•  Indiana Jones Masterpieces trading cards (Card: From Belzig to Toht)
• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Annual 2009
• Sideshow Collectibles (Pack: Indiana Jones 1:6 Scale Figure)
• Sideshow Collectibles (Pack: Arnold Toht 1:6 Scale Figure)
• Indiana Jones action figures (Pack: The Lost Wave)
• LEGO Minifigure Year by Year: A Visual History
•  8 New Discoveries in the Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Trailer on Lucasfilm.com (backup link on Archive.org)