- "The famous American sense of humor! I never really understood it."
- ―Albrecht Von Beck[src]
Albrecht Von Beck was a colonel in the German Third Reich's SS, tasked by high-ranking Nazi officials (believed to include Adolf Hitler himself) to obtain and weaponize the legendary Heart of the Dragon in 1935.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Albrecht Von Beck was a German who, by the early 1930s, had joined the Nazi Party, achieving the rank of Colonel within the Schutzstaffel. In 1933, Von Beck came into contact with Marshal Kai Ti Chang from the Chinese army, who was also secretly the leader of the fearsome Black Dragon Triad, a criminal organization that worshipped the goddess Kong Tien and sought the Heart of the Dragon by any means to conquer their country.[1]
Bringing in his own resources, Von Beck assisted Kai and his followers' efforts in whatever they needed to find Emperor Qin Shi Huang's lost tomb, where the Heart was said to be located, leading Von Beck and his Nazis to seek the three scattered pieces of the Mirror of Dreams which led to the Heart and also to supply Kai's forces with German weaponry in exchange for the Triad allowing them to build their own military base in Peng Lai Island's side away from the Black Dragon Fortress. Over two years, however, the operation progressed little.[1]
Von Beck actually planned to double-cross Kai once they had located the Heart so he could take the relic back home to Adolf Hitler to enable the Führer to take over the world, ironically unaware that Kai's own loyalties was no more sincere.[1] Von Beck also had a rivalry with the French mercenary René Emile Belloq, one apparently bigger than that of Belloq with the American archaeologist Indiana Jones.[2]
Search for the Heart of the Dragon[]
In 1935, on behalf of the Black Dragon Triad, Von Beck went on to find the first piece of the Mirror of Dreams, hidden in the Idol of Kouru Watu, in Ceylon. Dressed in hunting fatigues, Von Beck led a group of ivory hunters to an ancient temple on the island but found that they had been beaten to the site by Indiana Jones,[1] who had been notified of Von Beck's expedition beforehand by a spiteful Belloq earlier in the year.[2] Von Beck decided to discreetly follow Jones, who was unaware of the piece's worth in finding the Heart of the Dragon and waited for him to claim the treasure. After seeing him escape from a giant albino crocodile with the idol in hand, Von Beck held Jones at gunpoint and demanded that the prize be given to him. Jones feigned complicity then sucker-punched Von Beck and tossed the Nazi into the water where he was pulled under by the crocodile. Jones incapacitated the ivory hunters and escaped with the artifact, presuming Von Beck to have been killed by the reptile.[1]
Von Beck in Ceylon, before the crocodile attack.
Von Beck, however, survived although he was left scarred across his right cheek and his right eye was replaced with a prosthetic. He captured Jones in a castle in Prague who had, by then, recovered the second piece of the Mirror of Dreams after being made aware of the relic by Marshal Kai. Dressed in a black business suit with a black leather trench coat displaying the swastika on the sleeve, Von Beck took Jones to Istanbul where he was to be tortured by Turkish mercenaries. Unbeknownst to the German, Jones was freed by Mei Ying and found the third and final piece of the Mirror of Dreams before the Nazis.[1]
Frustrated, Von Beck and Marshal Kai kidnapped Mei Ying and took her to Peng Lai Island where the Nazis had built a submarine pen and airbase. Jones followed them and overheard Von Beck and Kai talk about their plans. Kai proposed that he would give the Heart of the Dragon to Von Beck after he took control of China first. Von Beck knew, however, that Kai was going to double-cross him and take the Heart of the Dragon for himself. After Kai left, Von Beck remained suspicious of Kai's intentions and went ahead to the Emperor's Tomb in Xi'an, China.[1]
Von Beck and a team of soldiers entered the tomb, navigated through its booby traps and arrived at the terra cotta maze. With a driller tank in tow, Von Beck planned to break through the walls and find the entrance to the Emperor's crypt. Soon, he was the only one left as his troops either perished or abandoned him.[1]
Von Beck eventually encountered Jones in the maze, this time pursuing him with the tank in hopes of gaining revenge for his facial injuries. Jones managed to elude Von Beck and used his bullwhip to swing over a seemingly bottomless pit. Von Beck was unable to brake the vehicle in time and he plunged down into the chasm, perishing with a scream of terror.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
Albrecht Von Beck was voiced by Nick Jameson in Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb.[1] Jameson had previously voiced Hans Ubermann in Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis.[3]
Cut from the game was a scene in which Von Beck appeared in the Prague Castle's library, conversing with another Nazi officer named Richter, over finding the second piece of the Mirror of Dreams. Threatening Richter into making better efforts to find the mirror piece or face the displeasure of the Führer, Von Beck would then announce that he was going to board the train to Istanbul to oversee the operation for the finding of the third part of the Mirror and ordered Richter to bring Indiana Jones to him alive.
Also cut was Von Beck's survival of the initial fall into the pit with his tank. He was to engage Jones in a hand to hand combat only to trip and go over the pit to his demise at the end of the fight.
Appearances[]
Sources[]
- Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb: 1935 Journal
- Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb: Prima's Official Strategy Guide