Henry Jones Sr.

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Henry Jones Sr. was born in Scotland on December 12, 1872, receiving his degree from the University of Oxford in 1893 before becoming a professor at Princeton, described by his son as 'the one the students hope they don't get.' A devout Christian who slapped young Indiana for using Jesus' name in vain, Henry struggled with parenting after his wife Anna died of influenza in 1912. He claimed this distance taught 'self-reliance,' but Indy felt he was less important than people dead for five hundred years. The rift widened when Indiana enlisted in the Belgian Army in 1916 without consent; they did not speak for three years, leading Indy to view Marcus Brody as a father figure. Henry disapproved of his son's violence, exclaiming 'Look what you did!' when guns were drawn, yet he eventually embraced combat necessity, blowing up a Nazi truck and shouting 'It's war!' while referencing the search for the Grail as 'a race against evil.'

In Their Own Story

In 1938, Walter Donovan hired Henry to lead an expedition after finding a tablet with new Grail clues. Discovering colleague Elsa Schneider working for the Nazis, Henry mailed his vital Grail diary to his son before being captured in Venice and interned at Brunwald Castle on the Austrian border. Rescued by Indiana, they learned Donovan was also collaborating with the Nazis. The pair traveled to Berlin to reclaim the diary, where Marcus Brody was captured. During a chaotic battle, Henry saved Indiana's life by blowing up a truck full of Nazis. After Indy nearly fell to his death from a cliff, a relieved Henry discovered he was alive. In the climax, Donovan shot Henry, but Indy used the Grail to heal him. In a pivotal moment, Henry rescued Indy from a rift caused by Elsa, imploring him to let the Grail go and calling him 'Indiana' for the first time, revealing his true affection over the artifact.

Reader's Guide

Henry Jones Sr. acts as the intellectual anchor to Indiana's physical prowess, preferring elegant solutions like flapping an umbrella at seagulls to disable a Nazi plane rather than direct combat. He suffers from a fear of rats and acrophobia, often declaring 'This is intolerable!' in trying circumstances. His relationship with his son transformed significantly during their 1938 adventure; he finally stopped calling him 'Junior' and used the name 'Indiana' when convincing him to abandon the Grail. Henry also revealed that Indiana's nickname came from his dog. In later media, such as *The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles*, he invited Helen Seymour to tutor young Indy after a successful 1909 book on chivalry. By the time of *Kingdom of the Crystal Skull* (set roughly two years before or in 1951 per different sources), Henry had died, leaving behind only photographs and a watch passed down to his son.

Did You Know?

• Sean Connery was only twelve years older than Harrison Ford, surprising the cast when he was cast as Henry Sr.
• Connery ad-libbed the line 'She talks in her sleep' to explain how Henry knew Elsa Schneider was a Nazi, causing the crew to laugh so hard the first take had to be dropped.
• Henry Jones Sr. refers to his son only as 'Junior' throughout most of *The Last Crusade*, finally calling him 'Indiana' only when asking him to let go of the Grail.
• In *Kingdom of the Crystal Skull*, a framed photo of Henry is seen on Indy's desk, and Indy repeats his father's catchphrase 'This is intolerable!' while escaping Soviets.