Renaldo

CHARACTER
Renaldo
Gender	Male
Death	August 18, 1969 La Sirena, Aegean Sea
Nationality	Spanish
Profession(s)	Sailor Diver Captain
Allegiance(s)	Indiana Jones La Sirena crew

"Spain's greatest frogman."

―Indiana Jones

Renaldo, nicknamed "Renny", was a Spanish sailor and diver based in Greece, as well as an old friend of the American archaeologist Indiana Jones.

Biography

Renaldo was a Spanish frogman and good friend of Indiana Jones from the American archaeologist's high-adventure days. By 1969, Renaldo was based out of Greece, walking with a cane and had changed his vessel to La Sirena which was crewed by the Spaniard and three others.

That year, Renaldo was overjoyed to be reunited with Jones in Athens when the latter needed a boat to take him, his goddaughter Helena Shaw, and Teddy Kumar, out onto the Aegean Sea to recover the Grafikos from a Roman shipwreck. However, the trio were being pursued by the forces of Nazi scientist Jürgen Voller to claim the artifact which led the way to the other half of the Antikythera, an ancient mechanism which detected fissures in time.

While Renaldo and his crewmate Popeye were underwater assisting Jones and Shaw's dive, Voller and his men boarded La Sirena and killed the rest of the crew, leaving Renny to discover their fate when he resurfaced. The Spaniard was shot in the leg by Voller to encourage Jones to cooperate in translating the Grafikos but Renaldo was finished with another bullet when he tried to resist.

Behind the scenes

"My character is very little; it's almost a cameo. He's just a friend of Indiana's character, and he's looking for him because he needs something from his friend. But he just takes up very little time of the movie, but very happy to be part of a saga that is of the history of motion pictures, obviously"

―Antonio Banderas on Renaldo

Renaldo was portrayed by Antonio Banderas in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. According to Banderas, his participation in the plot veers more towards being a cameo appearance, with Renaldo being an ally to the main characters who come looking for his assistance, but was nonetheless grateful to be a part of the Indiana Jones franchise. The actor has also disclosed that Renaldo isn't a villain but someone who would "die" for Indiana Jones. He cited that it was a "pleasure" working with his The Mask of Zorro producer Steven Spielberg, director James Mangold and actor Harrison Ford.

Although there's no character named as such in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, a character who shares Renaldo's name was used in Frank Darabont's Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods screenplay. That script's Renaldo was an assistant and biplane pilot of Marion Ravenwood who takes her and Indy to meet with Peruvian President Escalante so he grants them the authorization to seek for the legendary Los Dioses city to find the Crystal Skull of Destiny and then flies Indy and Marion over the Peruvian jungles before being shot dead by Yuri Makovsky.

Appearances

• Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (First appearance)

Sources

• Indiana Jones Adventure Series (Pack: Renaldo)
• The Making of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
• Timeless Heroes: Indiana Jones & Harrison Ford