The fedora, the whip, the surprisingly buff body for an archaeologist: there’s a lot about Indiana Jones to make him an iconic character. As with anything iconic, there are also countless things that follow after him that either draw on him for inspiration or take the formula and rebuild it for new audiences.
As one of the most recognizable characters in recent cinema, new projects are still being developed decades after the original films premiered. Below is a run-down of just how much influence Dr. Jones has had on the pop culture world over the years.
The Next Generation
It’s no secret that several characters and franchises in the past couple of decades have drawn heavily on Indiana Jones as a source, with most simply not existing without him. In the world of video games, characters like Lara Croft from Tomb Raider and Nathan Drake from Uncharted are both spiritual successors as action stars who recover ancient artifacts and just so happen to get mixed up with the supernatural at the same time.
Source: Pixabay
That’s not including the big example from cinema, not counting Croft and Drake in their movies of mixed reception. Fans are endlessly debating who makes the more impressive history-diving hero between Dr. Jones and Rick O’Connell from The Mummy, although the latter is another case where he wouldn’t exist without the former. Brendan Fraser’s much-beloved character deviates from the model a little in that he isn’t a treasure seeker himself, instead being much more like hired muscle to begin with, but there are more similarities than differences between the two characters.
An entire industry away in the world of online casinos, it’s hard to go anywhere without stumbling into a treasure hunter with a chiseled jaw and a familiar-looking headpiece. The curious thing is, though, that many of these games themselves are derived more from a character in another slot than Jones himself. Rich Wilde is the leading man of a veritable icon amongst slot series, with the original Book of Dead being a legendary name among online casino games. A fixture of casinos worldwide, Mr Wilde is arguably the closest match to Indy so far on this list given the destinations.
The Wider Cultural Impact
Even when compared to contemporary films, the sheer amount of scenes and moments referenced from Indiana Jones in other works is astounding. Virtually every long-running American TV show of the last few decades has made some version of the perilous boulder chase scene, and moments like the anticlimactic end to the swordsman in the market or the ‘why did it have to be snakes’ line have been copied and pasted across media endlessly. Even Nathan Drake manages to drop his own version of the iconic line in his own film adaption.
Source: Pixabay
For Indy fans, the most bizarre aspect is that a lot of these moments have become so ingrained into pop culture that many know the scene without ever knowing where it comes from. Much like the legendary Akira bike slide or the King Kong tower, they have become cinematic moments outside of their sources. Whether that’s a tribute to the legacy or a shame, we’ll leave it up to you.