Marion Ravenwood

In 1936 Marion runs a bar in Nepal and wins drinking contests against the men who challenge her. Her father, Abner Ravenwood, was Indy's mentor and kept the headpiece of Ra, the key to finding the Ark. Marion and Indy had a history from when she was underage, and she makes it clear that was on him. When the Nazis show up, the bar goes up in flames, and Marion fights with whatever she has. Broke and in danger, she agrees to team up with Indy.

Marion doesn't wait to be rescued. She shoots, guards the headpiece and does what she wants, even when Indy says it's dangerous. He needs the headpiece, and she needs the money. She doesn't hold her tongue either: she says what she thinks to his face. Their relationship is full of barbs, which is why it works. Anywhere in the world, she's the one who decides when the adventure is over.

In Cairo everyone assumes she's dead after an explosion, and Indy grieves alone. Marion was alive, in the hands of Belloq, his French rival. She refuses to be anyone's pawn and tries to escape more than once. On the ceremony island, Marion and Indy are tied to a post. When the Ark opens, he tells her to shut her eyes, and the two survive what it unleashes. Neither forgets what they saw.

Karen Allen returns as Marion in 2008, 27 years after the first film. In 1957 Marion has gone missing: she's been taken by Soviets in South America, along with an old colleague of Indy's. Her son, Mutt Williams, tracks Indy down to save her. When Indy finds her, he learns Mutt is his son. Marion stays tough and jokes about the disasters. In the end, the two marry.

In 1969 Marion and Indy have been apart since Mutt's death; he didn't come back from Vietnam. She isn't along for the adventure, but she weighs on every choice Indy makes, and her absence explains his bitter humor. Marion turns up again in the closing moments, when Indy returns to the present, and the two reconcile.

Karen Allen plays Marion in all three films she appears in, from 1981 to 2023.