The German Mechanic was an enormous bull of a man with a shaven head, who was one of two mechanics servicing the Nazis' Flying Wing at Tanis in 1936.
Highly skilled in boxing and brutally strong, he was able to best Indiana Jones in hand-to-hand combat in spite of being killed by the plane's propeller blade during their confrontation.
Biography
When the Flying Wing was being prepped to fly the Ark of the Covenant out of Tanis to Berlin in 1936, the mechanic emerged from his hut to see Indiana Jones brawling with the other mechanic.
Apparently eager for a fight, the huge Bavarian stepped in after the first mechanic had been taken down by Jones, and challenged the American to a fistfight.
The mechanic absorbs a right hook.
Although he easily outmatched Jones, he unintentionally saved the archaeologist's life at one point. When the Flying Wing's pilot was about to shoot Jones, the mechanic unknowingly stepped in between Jones and the pilot, blocking his line of fire before he was knocked unconscious by Marion Ravenwood.
Finding the challenge all too easy, the mechanic ordered the archaeologist to fight back, unaware that the rotating plane was drawing the propellers ever closer. Bemused by Jones ducking for safety, the mechanic turned around to look behind him and was confronted by the propellers, chopping him to bloody bits.
Behind the scenes
The burly mechanic was played by Pat Roach, a stuntman and professional wrestler who appeared in all three of the original movies.
Despite being credited as "1st Mechanic," Roach's character is actually the second of the two mechanics to appear onscreen.
In Campbell Black's novelization, this mechanic is described as being a young man with tattoos, thought of as a kid by Marion Ravenwood. He is not as tough as he is in the film, but is nonetheless persistent in his fight with Indiana Jones. Although in the film he overpowers Indy and knocks him to the ground before being killed by the Flying Wing's propellers, in the novel Indy knocks him into the propeller.
The Mechanic appears as "Enemy Boxer" as an end-of-level boss in LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures who can only be defeated when the player is carrying an anvil. It is possible for Indy to defeat him without getting hurt, unlike Indy's confrontation with him in the film.
In the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular! at Disney World, the second German Mechanic is absent from the plane fight scene. The German Mechanic is thus the one who spots Indy while working on the plane's wing. The pilot, who leaves the plane after landing, gives the German Mechanic instructions before going back to the Nazi camp. In some performances the mechanic is even directing the traffic for the Flying Wing as it prepares to land.
In Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures, the plane fight is omitted, but the German mechanic still appears in Cairo as an end of level boss in the streets at night, which occurs before Indy finds the Well of Souls. As the player jumps on a horsecart, the mechanic hops on and kicks away the player's gun, and the player is forced to have a fist fight with the mechanic. When he dies, the level is accomplished. As with LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures, it is possible to defeat him without getting hurt in Greatest Adventures.
Appearances
- Raiders of the Lost Ark novel (First appearance)
- Raiders of the Lost Ark
- Raiders of the Lost Ark comic
- Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark junior novel
- Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures
- LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (Non-canonical appearance) (As "Enemy Boxer")
- LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues (Non-canonical appearance) (As "Enemy Boxer")
- Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings (Indirect mention)
Sources
- Raiders of the Lost Ark Sourcebook (As "Chief Mechanic")