- "Good cause, indeed, Professor Jones--Mine!"
- ―Claude Reed-Whitby[src]
Major Claude Reed-Whitby was an agent of Transatlantic Global Mining.
Biography[]
Employment at Transatlantic Global Mining[]
Claude Reed-Whitby was an employee of the European company Transatlantic Global Mining, which had mining operations in South America, namely in several parts of Peru. Within the company, Reed-Whitby obtained the rank of Major in their private army, something he was evidently proud of.[1]
Around the 1930s, however, Transatlantic Global Mining found themselves challenged by the Neo-Incan Empire, a group of Neo-Incans led by the former Peruvian playboy Felipe Uribe, who wished to conquer the world and exterminate any foreign power from his country with the legendary Chimu Taya Arms of Cuzco, which were said to be resting in Pachacuti's corpse at his tomb inside the caverns near Lake Titicaca.[1]
Not wishing for the Neo-Incans to ruin as he would describe "generations of progress" for Transatlantic Global in South America, Reed-Whitby did everything at his disposal to track down Felipe and his Neo-Incans and recover the Arms of Cuzco before them, investigating the American People's Revolutionary Alliance and the Communists for years due to Felipe's association with them, getting acquaintanced with Professor Julio Huertas in the process.[1]
Search for the Chimu Taya Arms of Cuzco[]
In 1937, Claude Reed-Whitby was introduced to the American archaeologist Indiana Jones at the Tango Palace club in Buenos Aires, Argentina by the socialite Elise Farthington, who sat in the same table at as him and invited Jones and Professor Francisca Uribe del Arco, the sister of Elise's disappeared former fianceé Felipe Uribe, to accompany them for drinks. During Libertad Lamarque's singing performance, Reed-Whitby tried to talk with Jones about his interest on the Uribe family, but Jones politely refused to comment before accepting Farthington's offer to dance so he could extract information from her.[1]
While Jones and Farthington danced and Francisca cheered for them, Reed-Whitby snapped his fingers and told one of his thugs to have Jones "volunteer" during the knife-throwing act of the Royal Rumanian Blade Troupe. His thugs did so but Jones managed to survive the act. After the disastrous performance, Indy said goodbye to Claude as he left the club, subtly implying that he knew he had conspired with the thugs to see him killed. Hours later that night, to not raise any suspicions from Huertas, Reed-Whitby sent the Soldiers of the Sun, led by "Feathers", to retrieve the map Jones and Uribe had, but the two archaeologists managed to escape with it; they would later attribute the attack to the Neo-Incans until they realized the truth.[1]
Some days later, Claude and Indiana came across each other again when Jones found the Chimu Taya Arms of Cuzco at Pachacuti's tomb inside caverns near Lake Titicaca. Just as Jones removed the Arms of Cuzco from the deceased Pachacuti's arms, along with his soldiers, Reed-Whitby pointed him with his gun and ordered the archaeologist to surrender the coveted artifact. Recognizing Reed-Whitby's men as the ones who attacked him and Francisca nights ago, Jones gave Reed-Whitby the Arms of Cuzco and demanded to know why he did it, leading Claude to take one of the Arms and explain his motives, but as he explained, a escort of Neo-Incans appeared on the scene, willing to take the Chimu Taya Arms by force.[1]
Unwilling to surrender, Reed-Whitby and his men started shooting at the Neo-Incans, initially succeeding at repelling them and killing a few of them. However, the Europeans quickly ran low on ammunition, allowing the Neo-Incans to strike back with their primitive weapons. Absolutely defenseless, Reed-Whitby couldn't do nothing but stay on the spot as one of the Neo-Incan warriors jumped towards him and impaled him fatally with his spear, killing the Transatlantic Major and his agents.[1]
Personality and traits[]
Claude Reed-Whitby was a man of elegant tastes, enjoying to smoke and drink champagne. Prideful and arrogant, Reed-Whitby liked people to pronounce his full last name and adress him as Major. He tended to ommit some letters when talking to the American archaeologist Indiana Jones [1]
A loyal employee of the Transatlantic Global Mining, Major Reed-Whitby targeted the Neo-Incans when they threatened the operations of his employers in Peru. A calculating and manipulative man, Reed-Whitby wasn't above manipulating his ally Professor Julio Huertas by sending his men dressed as Incan warriors to attack Jones and Francisca Uribe del Arco, all just to get closer to Neo-Incan leader Felipe Uribe, something he appreciated as a bit of a charade.[1]
While the Neo-Incans were obsessed with wiping out all European trace from the face of Peru, Reed-Whitby wasn't any better than them. His racist attitudes were proven when he referred to Uribe and his Neo-Incans as a "bunch of wild-eyes darkies".[1]