Marion Ravenwood is a fictional character that first appeared in the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark. Played by Karen Allen, she enters the story when Indiana Jones visits her in Nepal, needing her help;— specifically, he needs an artifact in her possession, originally obtained by her father, archaeologist Professor Abner Ravenwood (Jones' mentor), in order to locate the Ark of the Covenant. After 27 years of absence (21 years in the films' internal chronology), the character returned in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and was once again played by Allen.

Biography

Marion's father, Dr. Abner Ravenwood was a professor of archaeology obsessed with finding the Ark of the Covenant (as referred to in the Bible), he was also a mentor to the young Henry "Indiana" Jones, who eventually accompanied them on several digs.

Marion entered into a relationship with Indiana Jones during this time (when she was 15, according to the novelization of Raiders of the Lost Ark). Jones abruptly left the Ravenwoods in 1926; Marion was about 16 or 17 years old when the relationship finished, and Jones was 27, ten years her senior. Later in her life, Marion chastised Jones, stating, "I was a child! I was in love! It was wrong and you knew it!" Jones showed little remorse, and simply replied "You knew what you were doing."

After Jones broke off contact with them both, he returned to the United States to focus on his career as an archaeology professor, and Marion and her father settled in Nepal. She later started running a local tavern – "The Raven" – after its manager (her father) died and left it to her. Taking advantage of her high tolerance for alcohol, she would frequently drink the bar's patrons under the table on a wager. She refused to return to the United States until she had enough money to return "with style".

In 1936, Marion found herself back in contact with Jones, when he offered her money for the headpiece of the Staff of Ra, an artifact originally located by her father. Reluctant at first, she was forced to cooperate when the bespectacled Gestapo agent Arnold Toht arrived to demand the piece himself. During the subsequent fight, the tavern caught fire. Marion told Jones that, until he compensated her for her savings, destroyed in the fire, she was his partner. However she was then captured by the Nazis, with Jones believing she was dead. Indy believed she was dead until, by a fortunate accident, he stumbled upon her with her hands and bare feet bound and gagged with a knotted handkerchief between her teeth in one of the Nazi tents. To her chagrin, he decided to leave her, reasoning that an escape would draw too much unwanted attention and regagged her. The perceived betrayal did not affect Marion's refusal to cooperate with her captors, however. Belloq's advances resulted only in an aborted escape attempt, and Toht's interrogation was likewise met with uncommon resistance. After being captured by and escaping from Jones' rival, Rene Belloq, she helped Jones recover the Ark of the Covenant from the Nazis; in the process, the couple rekindled their relationship.

Jones continued to pursue archaeological artifacts, while Marion tried her hand at journalism before opening a bar in New York City named The Raven's Nest. For a time, she also worked as the public relations officer for the museum at Marshall College. However, a week before their planned wedding Indy left her without explanation and not knowing she was pregnant with their future son Henry "Mutt" Jones III. Marion began a relationship with the RAF pilot Colin Williams (whom Jones had initially introduced to her) three months after Mutt was born, and they eventually married and lived happily until Colin was killed during World War II. Jones' eccentric old friend, Harold Oxley, then helped raise Mutt, acting as a second (technically third) father.

Twenty years after Mutt's birth, Russians captured Oxley in an attempt to find the mythical crystal skulls that he had pursued. After she was captured trying to find Oxley, Marion sent Mutt to find Jones. After a desperate escape attempt, she revealed to Jones, who had remained clueless, that Mutt was actually his son. They argued so much that one of the Soviet agents finally gagged her. During the adventure, she and Jones again realized their love for each other. Back home, they were married, set to continue their adventures together.

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