Cemetery Warrior (1)

"…don't call me Junior!"

The title of this article is a nickname. This article is about a canonical subject that lacks a proper name, and is known only by a nickname, alias or other designation.

A Cemetery Warrior from the Nazca tribe attacked Indiana Jones and Mutt Williams at Chauchilla Cemetery in 1957 when they were searching for Orellana's grave.

Biography[]

At night, members (or descendants) of the Nazca tribe protected the Chauchilla Cemetery in Nazca, Peru, where famed Spanish explorer Francisco de Orellana had been interred with the Crystal Skull of Akator. By protocol, the guards would always patrol the cemetery during the night and sleep during daytime.^[2] Their intent was protecting the long-lost secrets of the Temple of Akator at all costs, arming themselves with poison darts to make any intrudents permanent residents.^[3]

In 1957, a warrior was one of two guards that moved to fend off Jones and Williams as grave robbers at the cemetery while searching for Orellana's grave. When his partner got killed by his own poison dart thanks to Jones' intervention, the Cemetery Warrior fled through a hole despite his intentions to attack Williams as Indy threatened him with his pistol, saving his own life.^[1]

Personality and traits[]

A feral and wiry man covered in black mud and dressed in a carapace of bones,^[2] this Cemetery Warrior was a dedicated guardian to the Chauchilla Cemetery, aiming at protecting the secrets behind Akator at all costs, even resorting to murder.^[3] When attacking any visitors to the cemetery, the Cemetery Warrior acted like a feral creature, yelling like an animal and even climbing trees like a monkey. However, the Cemetery Warrior was a bit of a coward, valuing his life more than protecting the cemetery's secrets when Indiana Jones showed him his pistol.^[1]

Behind the scenes[]

The Cemetery Warrior was portrayed by Nito Larioza in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.^[1]

In the film's shooting script, written by David Koepp, the Cemetery Warrior had a longer confrontation with Mutt Williams. In this version of the story, after the Warrior's blowdarts hit the handle of Mutt's shovel, Mutt throws his switchblade, grazing the Warrior's shoulder. The bleeding Warrior would then attempt to retaliate with the knife, but Indiana Jones disarms him with his whip causing the Warrior to flee through the same hole used by his partner. An apparent third, Cemetery Warrior wielding a bone would have appeared but he is chased away when Jones cocks his gun as with what happens to the Nito-played Warrior in the final film.^[4]

In James Rollins' novelization, Indiana Jones disarms the Cemetery Warrior when he tries to stab Mutt Williams with his own switchblade before scaring him away with his gun.^[2] In the comic book adaptation by Dark Horse Comics, the two Cemetery Warriors get a much different fate: Indiana Jones drives them both off a cliff with his bullwhip, likely sending them to their deaths.^[5]

Both the Cemetery Warrior action figure packaging and the Cemetery Warrior card of Top Trumps Specials: Indiana Jones erroneously claim that there were three warriors present,^[6]^[3] possibly reflecting the apparently unfilmed version of the shooting script.^[4] The character is also included in the 2009 set of Chauchilla Cemetery Battle the LEGO Indiana Jones franchise.^[7] In LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues, the Cemetery Warrior attacks with more than one partner.^[8]