Peacock's Eye

ARTIFACT
Peacock's Eye
Origin
Culture	Greek
Date	300s BC
Discovery
Collector	Native Niihuans

"The diamond, Lao. The deal was for the diamond."

―Indiana Jones

The Peacock's Eye or Eye of the Peacock was an elusive 140 carat diamond once owned by Alexander the Great.

History

Alexander the Great had the diamond, approximately 50mm long by 25mm tall, mounted alongside a second as the eyes to a large, solid gold peacock statue. The statue was destroyed following Alexander's death with one diamond being sold to an Indian emperor which saw it cut apart, but the other was stolen and believed lost to history before it was rediscovered and clues were left to its whereabouts. As KGB research later demonstrated, the peacock statue seemingly wasn't valuable at all like its jeweled eyes.

Note: The following section is ambiguously canon.
It contains information that originates in a source that has not been deemed definitively canon.

It eventually became the property of a Chinese Emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

Ambiguously canon information ends here.

A British colonel apparently found the diamond in an ancient temple while serving in India during the 1810s. However, the man was captured by the temple's monks who did not like the diamond being absconded. While kept prisoner, the colonel was able to send a map to his son which, around a century later, fell into the hands of British Indian Army Corporal Rajendra Sing. Sing was in possession of it during the closing moments of World War I and agreed to give the map to a German soldier, Zyke. Though Zyke shot Sing during their exchange in no man's land, he lost the map to French Intelligence officers Lieutenant Remy Baudouin and Captain Indiana Jones who were under orders to arrest Sing for passing information to the enemy.

Following the end of the war, Jones and Baudouin went on a search for the diamond. After meeting anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski in the South Pacific, Jones decided that his quest was a wild goose chase, and chose to return home to attend the University of Chicago in order to become an archaeologist. However, Baudouin decided to continue his quest for the diamond, so the friends parted ways.

The Peacock's Eye in 1935.

In 1935, Jones eventually traced the Peacock's Eye to a Chinese gangster named Lao Che when he was contacted by letter offering the diamond as payment. Jones met with Lao in a Shanghai nightclub known as Club Obi Wan to trade the ashes of Nurhachi for the diamond. However, Lao had the archaeologist's drink poisoned in hopes of retaining the diamond while obtaining the ashes. Jones engaged in a mad frenzy to find the antidote which saw the diamond lost to a spilled bucket of ice and it had to be abandoned as Jones escaped from Lao Che's men.

René Emile Belloq also had an interest in obtaining the diamond around the same time, and Jones noted in his journal that he had a lead on where to search for it.

In a September 15, 1957 letter to Jones, Short Round claimed to have tracked the Peacock's Eye to Hawaii. According to Short Round, the diamond had fallen into the possession of a group of natives on the island of Niihau.

Behind the scenes

The Peacock's Eye from Young Indiana Jones and the Treasure of the Peacock's Eye was originally intended to be called the Monk Diamond.

The Peacock's Eye was long speculated by fans to be the diamond that Indiana Jones is seen trading Lao Che for in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. This idea was made official with the 2008 release of the Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom junior novel, which reveals the information in its prologue.

A scaled-down plastic replica of the diamond was included as the "hidden relic" with Hasbro's 3-3/4 inch Indiana Jones - Kingdom of the Crystal Skull action figure in 2008 (#40604).

Appearances

• The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles – "Young Indiana Jones and the Treasure of the Peacock's Eye" → Treasure of the Peacock's Eye (First appearance) (Replica)
• Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Retcon)
• Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom novel (Retcon)
• Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom junior novel

Sources

• Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Sourcebook
• The Lost Journal of Indiana Jones
• The Greatest Adventures of Indiana Jones
• The Diaries of Indiana Jones