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"You know, Marcus, the coldest year of my life was the one I spent in Iceland with Sophia."
Indiana Jones[src]

Sophia Hapgood was an archaeologist who became a renowned New York City psychic when her academic career stalled through a combination of male chauvinism within the profession and under the gradual influence of Nur-Ab-Sal, an Atlantean spirit imbued within a medallion she recovered during the 1929 Jastro Expedition.

Ten years later, Sophia partnered with Indiana Jones to unravel the mysteries of the lost city of Atlantis and prevent the Third Reich from harnessing its power. Afterwards, during World War II, she was tapped to join the OSS and remained an agent when it was reorganized into the CIA as their investigator into "unusual activity" behind the Iron Curtain for the Cold War.

In 1947, she teamed up with Jones once again so they could uncover Soviet interest surrounding the Tower of Babel.

Biography[]

Early life[]

"They're punishing me for being a career girl! It's not "prop-ah" in Philadelphia, you know!"
―Sophia Hapgood, about her parents.[src]

Sophia Hapgood was born into a wealthy family from New England,[5] but her rebellious nature made her somewhat of a black sheep. She then pursued archeological studies.[1]

Archaeologist[]

Her first encounter with Indiana Jones was in 1929 as his assistant on the Jastro Expedition in Iceland. There, the pair unearthed many unusual artifacts. The two became close and worked closely for three months, at one point even sharing the same blanket, but maintained a professional relationship. Jones was disappointed when he learned that Hapgood had pocketed many of the pieces for herself; some she sold on the international antiquities market.[3]

SophiaHapgood2

Hapgood in 1939.

Hapgood was reunited with Jones in October 1938, when she asked for his help in securing the Covenant of Buddha, referenced in an ancient scroll she had uncovered in Nepal. The search led them to Afghanistan—where Hapgood was briefly kidnapped by bandits—then to the lost city of Chanri-Ha, and finally to the location of the Covenant scrolls: a remote Buddhist temple on the Yangtze River. Indy and Sophie fought off a company of Japanese raiders, but the sacred scrolls were destroyed in the process.[2]

Psychic[]

Disappointed, Hapgood refocused herself on psychic pursuits, turning her attention to a strange necklace/medallion she had kept from the Jastro Expedition years earlier. She became convinced the piece had once belonged to the Atlantean king Nur-Ab-Sal. Claiming that Nur-Ab-Sal spoke to her through the object, she gave seminars on Atlantis in her apartment on Park Avenue,[3] and became quite popular among the socialites of New York City. A newspaper reported her as being a "bonepicker turned mystic".[6]

In 1939, an extremely skeptical Indiana Jones interrupted a social gathering to warn Sophie of an urgent Nazi interest in all things Atlantean. After a run in with the dastardly SS Colonel Klaus Kerner, Hapgood joined Jones in his race against the Germans. In the process, Hapgood came increasingly more under the influence of her medallion, as if the artifact wanted to return to Atlantis and restore Nur-Ab-Sal to power. Indy helped free her from the medallion's grasp and after the case, they became more closely romantically involved—though briefly.[1]

She went on to publish a paper on Atlantis which granted her full professorship with tenure.[3]

Government agent[]

InfernalMachine Sophia

Sophia Hapgood as a CIA agent.

During World War II, Sophia landed a job with the Office of Strategic Services and remained when it was reorganized as the Central Intelligence Agency where her skills were focused on "unusual activity" behind the Iron Curtain. Her agency was concerned about the actions of Gennadi Volodnikov around the Euphrates, who uncovered the ruins of Etemenanki of ancient Babylon. Their spies had provided a piece of 2600-years old prehistoric machinery, way ahead of its time.[4]

She left Washington and caught up with Indiana Jones in the Canyonlands of the American southwest in 1947, where he had his own expedition, to request his help. She arrived to a plateau with a helicopter and Jones found his way there to see who came to visit. Sophia then explained the political background and produced photos of Volodnikov and the ruins the Soviets uncovered, seeking a possibly deadly force, and gave him the machine piece. Indy agreed to help and she flew him with the helicopter.[4]

She showed up at various times during Indy's search for the four missing pieces of the Infernal Machine, a Babylonian device said to be able to open a portal between reality and the Aetherium. With the pair taking turns saving each other from various impossible situations, their romance was rekindled somewhat. In the end, Sophia was double-crossed by her boss Simon Turner and sent into the Aetherium. There she was possessed by the Sumerian god Marduk, their combined entity taking the form of a bizarre, harpy-like creature. Indy was able to break the spell, however, and the two embraced before escaping from the collapsing Aetherium.[4]

After that adventure, the pair parted away, seemingly forever.[7]

Behind the scenes[]

Sophia Hapgood is the heroine and the player's sidekick in the Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis video game. She accompanies Indy on most of his travels if the player chooses the Team Path, until their arrival on Atlantis, where the game's story later on becomes the same as the other paths (Wits Path and Fists Path).[1]

In the game, Sophia often provides Indy (the player) with hints whenever he talks to her. In certain circumstances, the player also has control of Sophia. Cooperation between Sophia and Indy is critical to solving some riddles. For example, some characters insist on talking to Sophia, and Indy is able to take advantage of the distraction.[1]

There is occasional antagonism and teasing between Sophia and Indy, but there also seems to be some kind close personal relationship between the two since the Jastro Expedition. As shown in Indy's disappointment on Sophia keeping the Jastro Expedition's artifacts for herself. Meanwhile Sophia seems to have trusted Indy to help her in times of need.[1]

The game seems to imply that Indy hadn't met Sophia after the Jastro Expedition,[1] however Sophia reappears in the comic Indiana Jones: Thunder in the Orient set only a year before the game.[2]

The game also implies that after finding Nur-Ab-Sal's necklace, Sophia had been possessed by Nur-Ab-Sal's spirit. This drives her obsession with Atlantis, using any means for the spirit to return to the lost city, such as keeping Atlantean artifacts for 'herself'.[1] It is also perhaps one of the reasons that caused her relationship with Indy to go sour back then.

If Sophia is not separated from Nur-Ab-Sal, but the player has completed the game without her when Ubermann attempts to use the god machine, Nur-Ab-Sal in Sophia's body pushes Ubermann aside to use the technology himself. However, just like the others, Nur-Ab-Sal/Sophia's transformation into a god is unstable and the Atlantean King possessed Hapgood explodes, accidentally knocking Ubermann into a lava pit during his death throes. The ending scene has Indiana Jones lament being unable to save Sophia.[1]

Sophia Hapgood's last name is an homage to historian Charles Hapgood, author of The Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings.

In one of the unused backgrounds in the game, there is an additional room next to Sophia's office. The room had furniture that was similar to the furniture in Monte Carlo, where Madame Sophia provides 'seance' in her hotel bedroom.[8]

Portrayal[]

Appearances[]

Sources[]

Notes and references[]

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