Crocodile

"Whoa... looks like somebody's been overfeeding the fish."

―Indiana Jones upon seeing the Giant Albino Crocodile in Wariyapola^[src]

A crocodile is a type of large amphibious reptile, related to the alligator. Crocodiles live in rivers and swamps in Africa and Asia, nesting on land, but often hunting and resting in water. Large crocodiles are able to catch and kill livestock and humans with their powerful jaws and shorts bursts of speed.

Adventures with crocodiles[]

Indiana Jones encountered several crocodiles on board the Dunn & Duffy Combined Circus train in Utah in 1912, while trying to flee from Fedora and his gang, with the Cross of Coronado. After jumping on board the train, Jones fled into the reptile car, where he was forced to cross a narrow plank, situated above a pit of crocodiles, while being pursued by Half Breed and Rough Rider. All three crossed the plank successfully.^[1]

Indy saw another crocodile in the Ogooué River in 1917, while traveling upriver from Port-Gentil aboard the Collette.^[2]

AlbrechtVonCroc — Von Beck survived the giant crocodile's attack, but not without cost.

In 1935, while searching for the Idol of Kouru Watu in Wariyapola, Ceylon, Indy found many crocodiles in the rivers of the lost city and there were many depictions and stone carvings of them in the city. Even many of the water fountains were fashioned to look like crocodiles and many statues that hanged on the walls of the city looked like crocodiles, Indy used his whip on these statues to swing across gaps. There was a location in Wariyapola called Crocodile City that Indy discovered and had marked on his map. He used skulls to distract the crocodiles by throwing them in the opposite direction to where he was swimming. When he found the Heart of Kouru Watu, a giant albino crocodile destroyed the bridge leading to it. Indy tricked the beast into following him and then closed a gate on it, trapping the crocodile in a small room. After obtaining the Idol, Indy fell back into the lake and had to escape the beast. When he got out of the lake, he met Albrecht Von Beck who look the Idol from him. Indy smacked Von Beck in the face and took the Idol back, throwing Von Beck into the lake with the crocodile. Von Beck was taken into the lake and Indy was able to escape with the heart. Von Beck survived the attack but his face was heavily disfigured. The Idol of Kouru Watu was a small statuette with two crocodiles encircling a crocodile egg. Inside the egg was actually the first piece of the Mirror of Dreams.^[3]

Crocodiles lurked in the murky river outside of Pankot Palace, and often fed grisly meals from the Thuggee cultists.^[4] That year the water released by the Thuggees from a cistern was dropped into a deep gorge where crocodiles sunned themselves on flat rocks. They looked up angrily at the disturbance.^[5] When Jones, Short Round, and Willie Scott helped put a stop to the Thuggee activities, several of the Thuggee guards, as well as their leader Mola Ram met their demise in the mouths of the crocodiles.^[6]

Crocodile SoK PS2 Wii — Crocodiles in Panama ready to eat Jones

In 1939, while searching for the Temple of the Cosmos in Panama, Indy had to cross a rope bridge that went over a river with three crocodiles in it. The bridge collapsed but Indy was able to use his whip to swing to safety before the crocodiles could make a meal out of him.^[7]

That same year Indy had a nigthmare where he was rejected as an offering to Tenochtitlan, who beseeched his audience to throw him to the crocodiles, which he referred as "the Devil's creations".^[8]