Ernst Vogel

CHARACTER
Ernst Vogel
Gender	Male
Death	1938 Republic of Hatay
Nationality	German
Profession(s)	SS-Standartenführer (Colonel)
Allegiance(s)	Nazi Germany Schutzstaffel

Ernst Vogel: "What is in the book, that miserable little diary of yours? We have the map, the book is useless; yet you come all the way back to Berlin to get it. Why? What are you hiding? What does the diary tell you that it doesn't tell us?"

Henry Jones: "It tells me that goosestepping morons like yourself should try reading books instead of burning them!"

―Vogel interrogates Henry Jones in 1938

S.S. Standartenführer Ernst Vogel, or possibly Obersturmfuhrer Ernst Vogel, was an imposing and ruthless officer in the SS-Leibstandarte, the Führer's personal bodyguard detachment. In Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade, he is the tertiary and sometimes secondary antagonist of the movie. His main job was to serve as the Fuhrer's Liaison in the quest for the Holy Grail and ensure that Donovan and Schneider remained on track, similar to Dietrich in Raiders of the Lost Ark. He would later die at the hands of Indiana Jones when he plummets over the top of the precipice, and dies when the tank crushes him.

Biography

The Last Crusade

Colonel Ernst Vogel , is the tertiary antagonist, and sometimes secondary antagonist, of The Last Crusade. He was assigned to help recover the Holy Grail in 1938. Similar to Colonel Dietrich in Raiders of the Lost Ark , he served as an officer assigned by the Fuhrer to oversee the progress of the search for a religious artifact, in this case, the grail . He can be seen as a stern and strict Army Colonel, or Oberst in the German army, and takes a great distaste to Jones, and his friends, particularly, his father. 

Brunwald Castle

Vogel is first introduced shortly after Dr.Jones rescues his father. He and Doctor Elsa Schneider, secretly a Nazi , unbeknownst to Jones at the time, tricked him into releasing his father's Grail diary, rumored to contain a map of the Grail's resting place, by Vogel threatening to kill Schneider. Vogel escorted Indiana & Henry to speak with Donovan. During which time, Vogel informs Schneider she must go to Berlin immediately. Shortly afterward, Vogel is scene leading a party of German troops in pursuit of the escaping Jones'. He and several others fall into the water when Jones races away on a Side Car Motorcycle. This ends Vogels tenure at Brunwald , as he now prepares to search all airfields and possible escape routes to ensure that the wanted Jones' do not escape Germany . And it now becomes clear that it is Vogel's mission to hunt them down and kill them under order of the Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler , himself.

File:Vogel 1.jpg

Vogel after showing Jones the "German Way to Say Goodbye", at Brunwald Castle's Dining Room

Berlin FlugHaffen

Shortly after Indiana secures tickets for himself and his father Henry , Vogel arrives to search for the wanted aboard all departing Zeppelins. However, Indy, disguised as a ticket taker, punched and threw him out the window into a large pile of suitcases, after Vogel discovers Henry , reading a newspaper,  using the excuse that he didn't have a ticket to the stunned passengers. Vogel lies atop the pile of suitcases, screaming angry German remarks at the departing Zeppelin. However, not to be defeated, it is assumed that Vogel later orders the blimp to return to Berlin .

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Vogel shortly before being thrown out of the blimp, at Berlin FlugHaffen

Haytay Palace

Having recovered from his encounter, Vogel watches in silence while Donovan attempts to convince the Sultan of Haytay to allow them to search for the grail. When the Sultan asks what they have brought, Vogel states, "Bring Der Schatz", and holds the valuables for the Sultan to see with his Swagger stick. However, the King favors Donovans Rolls Royce Phantom II, to the bland valuables stolen from Germany . Soon after, Vogel, Schneider, & Donovan proceed en route to the canyon.

The Canyon Trail

Vogel can first be seen directing the tank, and motioning for it to come forward with his swagger stick, while referencing a document. Soon afterwards, he confers with Donovan , and the cars occupants, while stealing a drink from a flask intended for Marcus Brody. Soon afterwards, Vogel takes Brody to the tank, after they receive fire from the Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword , who are staunchly opposed to the discovery of the grail. While they believe it is Jones who is firing, in reality, it is the Brotherhood. Vogel returns to the tank shortly afterward to find

Vogel taking a shot at Indiana Jones with his Luger, as Jones prepares to jump aboard the tank.

Henry inside. He places the two under arrest, but proceeds to taunt Henry by slapping him with his glove, to which only furthers Henry and Vogel's dislike for each other. Vogel then has the tank proceed Indiana, who has stolen a horse during the prior commotion, Indiana leads the tank head on into the German Kubelwagen, causing even more confusion. Blasting the Kubelwagen off the front, and with the Nazi caravan split in half, with the tank and Nazi officers following Vogel, while the Sultan's troops follow Donovan , Jones turns the horse around and gallops towards the tank. Firing at Jones, who has already placed a rock in that gun, causes the gun to backfire, filling the tank with thick, white smoke. This causes Vogel to open the tank's turret, and allows Jones a chance to leap aboard after firing at Vogel, he dispatches several German troops, and then attacks him head on. The ensuing battle continues, with Vogel strangling Jones with a chain or chord, and Indiana dropping a gun through the turret hoping his father will make use of it. Jones is defeated easily it seems, when Vogel knocks him on the tank, after scraping his face with the tank tread, and Jones dangles on the edge by only his satchel strap, while Vogel hits his hands with a shovel. Then, in a turn of luck, the tank driver is killed by a stray bullet caused by Henry , who was wrestling for the gun his father dropped, and soon after, the tank moves slightly, saving Indiana, and knocking Vogel back. Henry pokes his head up, and is almost hit by Vogel and his shovel. 

File:Vogel 3.jpg

Vogel looking outside of the tank, watching Jones prepare for his attack.

Final Moments & Certain Death

Donovan: "Colonel! Jones is getting away!"

Vogel: "I think not, Herr Donovan."

―Vogel and Donovan, before the tank battle

Vogel plummets to his death at the bottom of the canyon.

At this point,Sallah arrives to pick up Henry Jones Sr., who almost got crushed by the tank tread, while Marcus gets knocked off. Still engaged in battle,  Indy pinned Vogel's left arm behind his back and hammered his face into the tank's turret repeatedly before the tank drove over the precipice. Vogel clutched onto the back of the tank turret, screaming as the tank fell, and was killed when the tank landed and rolled over him several times on the sharp rocks below. Jones however, narrowly escaped.

Personality and traits

Indiana Jones: "Elsa? Elsa?"

Vogel: "That's far enough. Put down the gun, Doctor Jones. Put down the gun, or the fraulein dies!"

―Vogel threatens to shoot Elsa

A high-ranking Schutzstaffel (SS) officer, Vogel was a ruthless and brutal person, sometimes with violent tendencies. His appearance was also striking, wearing a uniform with medals, leather gloves and boots, and an officer's cap. Vogel was also known to have showed Nazi and Aryan ideology, being a shrewd and merciless officer.

Behind the scenes

Vogel was played by Michael Byrne in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The name "Ernst" was first given in the Marvel Comics adaptation.

Comic panel revealing Vogel's first name as Ernst.

At one point during the film, Elsa Schneider addressed Vogel as "Herr Oberst". Oberst is actually a rank in the Wehrmacht, and Vogel was a member of the SS, which had its own system of ranks. Vogel would have been properly addressed as "Herr Standartenführer". This is possibly confusion on the screenwriters' part, perhaps because both the Army rank of Oberst and the SS rank of Standartenführer represent the rank of Colonel. It could also be seen as an error on the part of Elsa herself. Another answer to this might be the possibility that Colonel Vogel was both an SS and an Orpo man thus allowing him to have both the title of Standartenführer and Oberst.

Insignia on Vogel's uniform would indicate that he served with distinction in the Imperial German Army during the Great War and received the Iron Cross, first and second class. In the postwar period, he joined the Nazi Party. By 1932 or after, he had achieved a high rank in the SS-Leibstandarte, Hitler's own bodyguard formation and the foremost unit of the SS-Verfügungstruppe, the first SS paramilitary formations that predated the establishment of the Waffen-SS in 1940.

Interestingly, Vogel's name (which means "bird" in German) is never mentioned in the dialog of the film. Hasbro released a 3 3/4" action figure of Vogel for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade toyline of 2008.

In the movie and LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures, Vogel's desert uniform is khakhi, but in LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues he wears the same black uniform during the convoy level as he did in Austria. Also, Vogel fires an RPG at characters, but in the movie the only weapon Vogel carries is a Luger and Swagger Stick

However slight, it is possible Vogel survived in LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues for he falls after the tank instead of falling with it. However, this is only an assumed possibility.

Appearances

• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (First appearance)
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade novel
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade comic
• Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures
• Indiana Jones and the Spear of Destiny (Flashback)
• LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (Non-canonical appearance)
• LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues (Non-canonical appearance)

Sources

• Indiana Jones: The Ultimate Guide
• Indiana Jones Action Figures
• Top Trumps: Indiana Jones

Notes and references

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