It has been said that every fictional hero is only as good as its villain. Well, in the case of a heroic character as iconic and beloved as Indiana Jones — who most recently returned in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which is now available to stream with a Disney+ subscription — the globe-trotting, daredevil archaeologist must have one of the most fearsome rogues galleries in cinematic history.
As a life-long, die-hard fan of the Indiana Jones movies, that is a claim I can easily get behind. Of course, the question is, which of the many dastardly fiends who have faced off against one of Harrison Ford’s greatest characters is the baddest and the best of the bunch. We’ll see if we can answer that question by ranking the great major Indiana Jones villains in ascending order below.
8. Elsa Schneider (The Last Crusade)
I will never forget the shock of discovering that Indy’s love interest in his third big screen adventure, 1989’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, was not only a spy sent to coerce him into leading the Nazis in the direction of the Holy Grail, but also shared a romance with his own father (Sean Connery). Those hilarious hijinks and her involvement in a few of Indy’s toughest challenges aside, I think that villainous twist is the single most memorable thing about the otherwise somewhat forgettable Elsa Schneider (Alison Doody), who is certainly a conniving villain, but not a very threatening one.
7. Lao Che (The Temple Of Doom)
This may be a list primarily meant to rank the major Indiana Jones villains, but some of the more minor baddies have still managed to make an enduring impression on the franchise despite having so little screen time. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’s Lao Che (Roy Chiao) is a prime example, and not just for the way he demonstrates his ruthlessness by poisoning Indy over an artifact trade at the beginning. The Shanghai crime boss and owner of Club Obi Wan (a fun Indiana Jones movie Easter Egg for Star Wars fans) is actually responsible for the perilous journey Indy, Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw), and Short Round (Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan) endure in the 1984 film, being the owner of the plane that takes to them India in the first place.
6. Irina Spalko (The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull)
Say what you want about the fourth installment — which our own Rich Knight actually placed higher than Temple of Doom in his Indiana Jones movie ranking — but Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is not without its redeeming qualities. Among them is Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett’s performance as KGB agent Irina Spalko, which I would agree does get a little cheesy, but that is not by accident. Not to mention, I would call Spalko one of the more unique of Indy’s enemies for how — instead of the typical fame and fortune — she values knowledge above anything else, which also seals her downfall by the end.
5. Walter Donovan (The Last Crusade)
Another uniquely motivated Indy villain is Walter Donovan (Julian Glover), whom I would call even more despicable than Spalko for the things he does to get his hands on the Holy Grail and achieve immortality in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Teaming up with Nazis is bad enough, but kidnapping Dr. Henry Jones, Sr., using his him as a pawn to coerce his son into the search, and convincing Indy to enter the deadly temple holding the Grail for him by shooting his dad in the stomach is just cold. It ultimately makes his otherwise horrifying comeuppance at the end — as a result of Elsa choosing the Grail “poorly” — pretty gratifying, if you ask me.
4. Arnold Ernst Toht (Raiders Of The Lost Ark)
Perhaps the honor of most terrifying and famous death scene in the entire franchise should go to Toht (Ron Lacey), whose face melts to milky mass of red and white at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark, which was achieved by filming a gelatin mold under a heat lamp and speeding up the footage. Of course, that is not the only reason I believe this visually distinct and tonally unsettling Nazi Gestapo agent is another minor Indiana Jones antagonist who deserves a spot among the majors. What makes him memorable is that the script keeps him mysterious — we never even learn his name until the credits of the 1981 classic — and depicts him as a ruthless sadist willing to take extreme measures to gain information on the Ark of the Covenant.
3. Dr. Jurgen Voller (The Dial Of Destiny)
It is a shame that the box office returns for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny were not great, because that means a lot of theatergoers missed out one of the most intriguing villains in the franchise’s history, if you ask me. It was already a genius idea from the beginning to cast Mads Mikkelsen — an actor known for playing villains quite often — who makes Dr. Jurgen Voller a very chilling and grounded presence that elevates director James Mangold’s sequel beautifully. But I think his reason to use Archimedes’ Dial as revealed by the end — to reverse the outcome of World War II by taking Hitler’s place — especially makes him one of the more interesting of Indy’s Nazi enemies, which is really saying something.
2. Mola Ram (The Temple Of Doom)
There is something to fear about every one of the Indiana Jones villains on this list, but none come close to being as scary as Mola Ram — the High Priest of the revived Thuggee Cult, played by Amrish Puri in Temple of Doom. There are many reasons why I believe he deserves to be ranked this high on our list, from the enslavement of children to making Indy into his mindless follower with the blood of Kali. However, I think the terrifying scene in which he rips a man’s still-beating heart right out of his chest before sacrificing him to a fiery grave — which, itself, led to the PG-13 rating’s development — is more than enough proof.
1. Dr. René Belloq (Raiders Of The Lost Ark)
Even in a franchise filled with power-hungry Nazis and deadly occultists, I do not believe any of them have ever held a candle to the remarkable complexity and alluring zeal of the main antagonist from the movie that started it all, Belloq. As actor Paul Freeman pointed out to me himself, the charismatic French archaeologist never does anything particularly evil in Raiders of the Lost Ark — save allying himself with Nazis — and is not much different from Indiana Jones in terms of their treasure-hunting ambitions, which he even uses to convince Indy to not destroy the Ark near the end. That is what makes the otherwise despicably greedy explorer a perfect match for our hero and the crown jewel of his rogues gallery in my book.
Do you agree that Belloq deserves to be named the best Indiana Jones villain? Are there any others you think were undeservingly left off? Try revisiting the first four films -- also available on Disney+ -- and get back to me.
