Foil

Character Role Analysis

Indiana Jones and Henry Jones

Indiana and Henry are both professors who take their work home with them, but, outside of the classroom, they present two different takes on masculinity. Henry's hobby is hunting the Holy Grail. He's maintained a detailed Grail diary for decades: that dusty old cup is his obsession.

Indiana, meanwhile, is a rough-and-tumble adventurer who begins the movie beating up baddies on a storm-tossed ship that explodes just after he flings himself overboard. In the simplest terms, they're both brains, but beyond that, Henry's books and Indiana's brawn. When they team up to defeat Donovan, their strengths and weaknesses complement each other, whether they want to acknowledge it or not.