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I'm not that easy
"I'm not that easy."
"I'm not that easy, either."
There are two conflicting canon sources for this article, from the Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis video game and its comic adaptation. A cohesive timeline has not yet been devised by Lucasfilm Ltd. Editor discretion is advised.

"English, good family, solid schooling. Fallen on hard times."
Sophia Hapgood[src]

Doctor Charles Sternhart was an English archaeologist and antique dealer whose schooling included a variety of languages, including German, Spanish, French, Italian, and Yiddish. Despite pioneering work on establishing the Atlantis legend's basis in reality, his inability to acquire conclusive proof of his findings frustrated his successes in the field.

Biography[]

At some point in his career, Charles Sternhart discovered an Arabic copy of the Hermocrates, the Lost Dialogue of Plato, within an Italian monastery. The archaeologist spent years translating it but, with the original Greek manuscript lost to history and the text offering clues to the location of Atlantis, Sternhart dismissed it as a likely hoax. Nevertheless, in 1922 he supplied a copy to a colleague which ended up stored at Caswell Hall, a building at Barnett College which retained items considered junk or of dubious provenance.[1]

However, during the 1929 Jastro Expedition, a dig in Iceland sponsored by the university, uncovered relics that were reputed to be Atlantean in origin. In 1939, Sternhart was searching for additional artifacts from Atlantis, after the discoveries made by Jastro. Indiana Jones and Sophia Hapgood visited him at his shop. The trio entered a pyramid and discovered a tomb, not in the regular Mayan style. While Hapgood examined the tomb's glyphs, Sternhart stole an Atlantean piece from the tomb's skeleton and abandoned Jones and Hapgood.[1]

Later, Jones and Hapgood encountered Sternhart again, inside the Labyrinth of the Minotaur on the island of Crete.[1]

Behind the scenes[]

The Sternhart character differs significantly between the Fate of Atlantis comics and game. The above article mentions only the common parts of his character.

Sternhart according to the comic[]

CharlesSternhart

Charles Sternhart in the comic adaptation.

An Englishman, Sternhart appears as dark-skinned, short and stubby, not unlike a (stereotypical) local of Yucatan, Mexico[2] where he runs his antique store.[3] The pair showed him Thorskald's discovery (a horned idol, and he led them on horseback to some ruins on unknown origin in the area. There they discovered a sarcophagus that contained a horned skeleton and a 'puzzle piece'. Soon after they fall into a booby trap. As Sternhart left the ruins, he also stole the pair's horses and presumably found his way to the Labyrinth of Crete.[2]

Much later, Sternhart was being attacked by Nazi thugs in the Labyrinth when Jones intervened, preventing the Nazis from stealing Sternhart's piece of the puzzle. Sternhart, mortally wounded from a knife, was glad to see Indy, and told him of Hans Ubermann's treachery, and wished Indy success in beating Ubermann. He died, leaving Jones his moonstone and diary in which he had worked out the secrets of the location of Atlantis - off of the island of Thera. From his notes, Jones and Hapgood were able to reach the core of Atlantis before the Nazis, led by Ubermann and Klaus Kerner.[2]

Sternhart according to the game[]

In the game Sternhart is depicted as a stereotypical Englishman: a taller, thinner man with a fair complexion; in the CD-ROM version of the game, he speaks with an English accent. He is found in a Mayan temple at Tikal, who also held a small commercial stand with trinkets and souvenirs such as pewter replicas of the temple, mugs, 'genuine' floaty pens, postcards, 'official' key rings. Sternhart claimed to be the translator of the Lost Dialogue of Plato and allowed the pair to enter the temple only after Indy proved to him that Indy was not a tourist but a scholar, by knowing the actual name of the Dialogue: Hermocrates.[1]

Inside the temple, Indy managed to open the tomb by repairing an elephant-head statue (to their surprise, since there are no elephants in South America). Sternhart steals the Worldstone found there and disappears behind a secret trap door. The pair are left behind only with an Orichalcum bead.[1]

Ex sternhart

Sternhart is found again in the Labyrinth, but not shot by Kerner. They find his remains, having trapped himself there until starved to death. The Worldstone he stole earlier in the game is beside him for the player to take, his Sunstone and Moonstone are crushed by the player's elevator as it descends although the player has their own at that point. His notes lay also there but do not provide significant hints about the finding of Atlantis, as in the comic.[1]

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis comic
  3. It is likely that his store is in Mérida, since on their return to town after being abandoned by Sternhart, Jones mentions the getting a message at the consulate, and the only US consulate in the Yucatan is in Merida
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