German Agent (Truck passenger)

"Go, schnell! Schnell!"

- German Agent to one of his men

A German Agent was part of the Nazi development at Tanis, Egypt during their mission to unearth the Ark of the Covenant in 1936. A German Gestapo spy in service to René Emile Belloq with two partners, he was sent into Cairo during the operation when a threat appeared there: the agents were ordered to track down and kill American archaeologist Indiana Jones and bar owner Marion Ravenwood and acquire the headpiece to the Staff of Ra. The three agents used a one-eyed man and his pet Capuchin monkey as informants, and also had a group of local Arabic toughs under their leadership. Their thugs’ attempts to dispose of Jones and Ravenwood were initially failed, but soon Marion was captured, and in a futile effort to save her Jones ended up blowing up the truck she was apparently being loaded into and killing the agent.

Cairo, Egypt
A German Gestapo agent was part of the Nazi effort to unearth the ancient Ark of the Covenant from the Well of the Souls in the destroyed city of Tanis, Egypt under Colonel Herman Dietrich, French archaeologist René Emile Belloq and Gestapo Major Arnold Ernst Toht in 1936. During the dig, the agent and two others were hired by Belloq to monitor the movements of American archaeologist Indiana Jones and bar owner Marion Ravenwood in Cairo, through a one-eyed man and his trained Capuchin monkey who were being used by the three agents as informants. When Jones and Marion were in a Cairo marketplace, their monkey took off and reported to his master. The man then ran into a shadowy hallway to meet with the German agent and one of his partners. After exchanging Nazi salutes, the German agent and his partner went off to summon a band of twelve henchmen to attack and kill the Americans and retrieve the headpiece to the Staff of Ra, an artefact in their possession which the Nazis required in their mission to locate the Ark. The two agents met up with their thugs at a shady building in the marketplace. After watching Jones and Ravenwood in the marketplace from an upstairs balcony and enjoying a cigarette, the two agents then entered a room with the assembled thugs and indicated that it was time to go and intercept Jones and Ravenwood. After separating from his partner, the other German agent tailed the couple to an alleyway, led a group of dark-hooded men, their identities hidden by a long white robe and a keffiyeh over their face, into the alley after them, and sent the men to attack. Whilst Jones managed to fend off the first wave of attackers, he hurled Ravenwood into the back of a cart. The cart took off further down the alley, passing the man with his monkey and the other German agent, who saw her escape and motioned for another thug to catch her. On the trail of Ravenwood, the other agent reunited with this one and led a group down a passageway, passing by a pile of baskets. When the monkey caught their attention with her screeching, the other agent called out and all of them doubled back to capture Ravenwood who was hiding in a basket mounted by the monkey. Two of the thugs picked up the basket and split up from the spy and other Arabs, leading Jones on a wild chase through the streets of Cairo. Jones chased them through a large group of civilians carrying baskets and past an Arab swordsman who he shot and killed on the way.

Death
The agents then went to a nearby Mercedes-Benz LG3000 cargo truck driven by two of their thugs, loaded with explosives, to carry the prisoner aboard it. When Jones arrived at the truck, this spy followed the two Arabs to the back of the truck where he leapt into the vehicle after the basket was put inside. The spy got into the truck as his partner left the area and, hidden by the distraction of the gunfire, swapped Marion’s basket with another to fool Jones. The archaeologist then leapt out from behind cover, and shot the truck’s driver and front passenger. By killing the driver, Jones ended up causing the vehicle’s crash, which in turn made the explosives in the back go off, destroying the truck and killing the spy inside.

Ultimately, following the German agent’s failure to kill Jones and death, the archaeologist was able to further delay the Nazis’ progress, and the Ark ended up being stored at the warehouse known as Hangar 51 in Nevada, United States of America.

Personality and traits
The German intelligence agent, a member of the Nazi Gestapo serving under Colonel Herman Dietrich, French archaeologist René Emile Belloq, Gestapo Major Arnold Ernst Toht and Major Gobler at the digsite for the Ark of the Covenant at the Well of the Souls within the destroyed city of Tanis outside Cairo, Egypt in 1936, was ruthless and willing to do anything to fulfill the missions he was given. Serving with two partners, the agent preferred to fade into the background whilst his partners led the action, but was not afraid to step up and yell orders to his men when he needed to. The agent even ended up sacrificing his own life in order to fool Indiana Jones into thinking Marion Ravenwood was dead.

Equipment and skills
Under the command of the German agent and his partner whilst they were in Cairo, Egypt were a group of twelve local Arab toughs, including a skilled swordsman, as well as a one-eyed informant and his pet monkey. The three agents also had a single Nazi Mercedes-Benz LG3000 cargo truck, likely given to them from the Tanis digsite.

Behind the scenes

 * The German Agent was portrayed by an unknown performer in . Unlike one of his comrades, the character was not credited in the film, nor was his other partner.
 * In the, all of the German agents in Cairo were referred to as "German Agent", with collective game stats.
 * In the show at Disney World, neither the German agent, his first partner nor his partner's backup appeared. In their place, and that of the driver of the Cairo cargo truck, was a single agent, taller than anyone else in the event, wearing a black suit. The agent drove the truck to the brawl between the Arabs and Indiana Jones and Marion Ravenwood, where he fought Marion but was knocked out. Afterwards, he drove the truck again with Marion in the back, and hid her outside the vehicle off-set, before driving back to the brawl and perishing when Jones shot the truck.
 * The German agent was simply referred to as a Nazi officer from the Tanis digsite in the, rather than a Gestapo intelligence agent like he appeared as in the film.
 * Though an Arab henchman and swordsman appeared in the LEGO Indiana Jones set "Ambush in Cairo", all of the German agents were absent.
 * In the LEGO video game, the German agent appeared alongside only one of his partners. He was featured in a cutscene in the level "City of Danger" based on the Cairo scene of the film, with his partner who was identically dressed, who both aggressively groaned when an Arab henchman failed to kill Indiana Jones and Marion Ravenwood. Later, in the section of the game based on the third film, either the agent or his partner captured Henry Jones Sr. The character was referred to as "Enemy Goon" in the game.
 * In the game’s sequel,, the German agent and both of his partners were absent. However, the necessary pieces to build the first two agents as they appeared in the first game were available in the Character Creator extra featured in the game.

Non-canonical appearances

 * (as "Enemy Goon")