Jack O'Neill (to Malakai): What kind of archaeologist carries a weapon?
Daniel Jackson: Uh, I do.
Jack O'Neill: Bad example.
In
Real Life, archeology is
not the most fast paced of careers. It can involve a lot of research, dirt, and going over small details like diet and theorizing on them.
Not so in fiction-land. Since most of the world has
the ruins of ancient and powerful civilizations littered under the surface, archeology is a career that brings one constantly face to face with
Lost Technology,
imprisoned evils, and
MacGuffins. Lots of
MacGuffins. If it takes place on Earth and the writers don't make one up, it'll usually be something like an Egyptian tomb (expect a
mummy to haunt our hero) or the
Holy Grail.
Adventurer Archaeologists are capable of dressing up very well for more intellectual appearances, but forays into studying usually occur off-screen, and it's never implied to take very long. (Compare
Badass Bookworm.)
An
Adventurer Archaeologist has an interesting morality. Ruins are rarely really "abandoned" as the descendants of the
Precursors, or their ghosts, or even their mystically preserved selves are
very upset when outsiders intrude, and especially when they take the focal points of their culture with them.
Most people call this "theft," and in
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, it's noted that the title character has been called a "grave robber." However, to an
Adventurer Archaeologist, it's okay as long as it goes into a museum. To keep the audience rooting for the
Adventurer Archaeologist, he or she is often pitted against an
Evil Counterpart who wants the same treasure for themselves, or to give it to the bad guys/sell to the highest bidder, use it to
Take Over The World, etc.
Some of this may be a remnant of the early days of archeology, when archaeologists tended to be more concerned about their own glory and getting museum trinkets that looked good than actually discovering things about old civilizations. As a result, no one knows how much historical evidence will never be known to us through the carelessness of 19th and early 20th century archaeologists.
This trope is
Older Than Radio, an accomplishment when considering that archeology is a profession less than two centuries old. Antiquarians, historians, and intellectual grave robbers were a staple of 19th Century gothic horror and ghost stories. They appeared regularly in film adventures dating back to the dawn of talking pictures, including the universal
mummy movies and the Johnny Weismuller Tarzan films.
Examples
Anime
- Seta from Love Hina; he takes on Keitaro as an assistant for a summer job.
- Midori's teacher and Most Important Person in Mai-HiME; we only see him in the end, having a stereotypical Adventurer Archaeologist adventure with Midori.
- Prior to the start of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle this was Syaoran's profession, giving him the seeds of skills needed for his task. (Being trained on the side by an obsessed Vampire Hunter helps too).
- Yuuno Scrya from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha. At age 10. With no parental supervision. On top of this, he's a high-class mage. He's more self-effacing than the usual example of this trope, and has some trouble with self-esteem and romance. However, though he fulfills this archetype before and sort-of during the first season, in the second season, he's introduced to the magically huge and horrendously disorganized Infinity Library. It holds just about any answer you might need... IF you can find it. He enters and practically never leaves again.
- Nico Robin of One Piece is an ex-Dragon archaeologist assassin-cum-pirate.
Comic Books
- The Diggers sisters in Fred Perry's Gold Digger.
- This was the Secret Identity of the Golden Age Hawkman, who has returned as the current Hawkman.
- As well as the origin story of The DCU's Golden Age Blue Beetle Dan Garrett, who found the scarab that gave him his powers while looking through an ancient tomb.
- Also the original Doctor Fate. Lot of superpowers in them tombs . . .
- Archaeology is second only to research scientist on the list of "most origin-prone professions".
Film
- If Indiana Jones did not invent the trope, he at least popularized it.
- The O'Connell Family from The Mummy movies and cartoon.
- Classic early appearance: in the opening scene of the original Boris Karloff version of The Mummy, a graduate student is studying a scroll at a table when the mummy's bandaged hand reaches past him to touch the parchment. As the mummy walks away, the man starts laughing hysterically, later saying to his mentor "He went for a little walk!" One of them notes in a later scene: "He was still laughing when when he died two years later." Yep, life is tough on graduate students and archaeologists in general.
- Charlton Heston appeared as Harry Steele
in Secret of the Incas. Costume designers credit this film as being the inspiration for Indy's getup.
Literature
- Professor Bernice Summerfield, in the Doctor Who Expanded Universe.
- Mortal Engines has two of these: the cowardly, Ted Baxter-esque Nimrod Pennyroyal is more of a subversion, while the driven, hard-edged Thaddeus Valentine plays it deadly straight.
- Amelia Peabody and her husband, Radcliffe Emerson, Victorian Egyptologists in a series of mysteries by Elizabeth Peters. These two go out of their way to subvert several aspects of the trope: they regard their adventures as interruptions, most of the time, and are always itching to get back to The Dig; and they are stridently clear about Egyptian artifacts belonging to the Egyptians, not, for instance, the British Museum, and make frequent derogatory remarks about the treasure-hunting approach of their predecessors and some of their contemporaries.
- An anthropologist and zoologist rather than an archaeologist, but Professor George Edward Challenger from The Lost World and its sequels by Sir Srthur Conan Doyle otherwise fits the bill to a T.
Live Action TV
- Sydney Fox (played by Tia Carerre) in the show Relic Hunter.
- Daniel Jackson (Stargate SG-1) is a "purer" example in flashbacks, but modifies the way he works once he joins the SG team.
- In a few Star Trek The Next Generation stories, Captain Picard gets to air out his Adventurer Archaeologist side.
- The Librarian: Quest for the Spear and The Librarian 2: Return to King Solomon's Mines (both starring Noah Wyle) are knowing and ironic retreads of this territory, or maybe simply bad retreads.
- In the 15th season of Power Rangers, the mentor of the team/father of the Red Ranger is one of these. Consequently, the Rangers themselves spend the bulk of the season generally following in his footsteps. This unique combination of Big Damn Heroes and Adventurer Archaeologist tends to result in a lot of property damage to ancient temples/exotic locales, not just their City Of Adventure.
- A new BBC archaeology drama (done by Kudos), Bone Kickers, may well head down this route. We'll have to wait and see...
- Professor George Edward Challenger from Sir Arthur Conan Doyles The Lost World.
- Charlotte from Lost may fit. She's been identified as an anthropologist rather than an archaeologist, but in her first scene, she was butting in on a dig to unearth a Dharma polar bear in Tunisia and the show runners even addressed the archaeologist/anthropologist/Indiana Jones issue in a podcast. She also appears to be something of an Action Girl.
- Though an anthropologist rather than an archaeologist, Dr. Temperance Brennan of Bones appears to harbor the occasional delusion of Lara Croft-hood. The series has established that she's an accomplished martial artist, markswoman and survival expert:
Caroline: Fine. Stop me when I get something wrong. Trained in three types of martial arts, two assault charges, registered marksman with the NRA, hunting licenses in four states...
Booth: You hunt?
Brennan: Only for food.
Caroline: Shot an unarmed man...
Brennan: He was trying to light me on fire!
The pilot episode hangs a few more lampshades on this, as the first five minutes show her returning from some South American jungle with a carry-on full of skulls, for which she neglected to obtain the proper importation permits, and then
executing vigilante justice on Cleo Eller's murderer when it looks like the man will escape prosecution.
Video Games
- Lara Croft from the Tomb Raider games and movies.
- Garrett of Thief is at least honest in that he freely admits to being a looter. He winds up otherwise fulfilling the role anyway, though, as he usually manages to grab at least one Mac Guffin without meaning to.
- Professor Lemeza from the home-brewed La Mulana. Has the advantage of being trained by his ninja grandfather; because "ninja infiltration techniques aid in investigating ancient ruins." Well, I certainly can't argue with that.
- Subverted somewhat in Mass Effect. Dr. Liara T'Soni is utterly clueless when confronted with combat, politics, and really anything that isn't a Prothean ruin, and remarks at one point that her expeditions usually entail far more study time and far fewer explosions.
- Lorelei, Zweig, and Killey in the Suikoden series are all Adventurer Archaeologists, with Lorelei even wielding a whip in one game.
Tabletop Games
Webcomics
Western Animation
- The fictional version of Jackie Chan from Jackie Chan Adventures.
- This trope is parodied, however, when he comes to his niece's career day and gives an accurate explanation of what archeology is like in real life.
- On Kim Possible, this is the career of Lord Monty Fiske, until he reveals himself as Lord Monkey Fist (in his first appearance).
- In an episode of Ben 10, Grandpa Max ends up stepping into this role, with Ben and Gwen along for the ride, to keep an ancient superweapon from falling into the hands of the Forever Knights. All three are pretty glad when it's over.
- Tale Spin features three different Adventurer Archaeologist guest star characters, one of which is an Indiana Jones parody.
Real Life
- This troper is willing to bet T E Lawrence of Lawrence of Arabia did invent the Trope. In real life, Lawrence was an archaeologist who was sent to Arabia by the British government specifically because of his academic knowlege of the area. So, being an archaeologist really can lead to exciting adventures!
- The statement about archeologists out for personal glory and museum loot rather than knowledge is also true for old-time paleontologists. Indiana Jones was based on the adventure paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews, and the famous "Bone War" between the Americans Marsh and Cope, which resulted in the discovery of many of the dinosaurs that are considered iconic today, also involved shoddy science, theft and outright destruction (dynamiting a quarry at the end of the season to destroy what was left to prevent the other guy from coming in and going through it). Don't forget the brawls and murder, too.
- Many college professors try to spin their careers this way... it rarely ever works.
- Heinrich Schliemann may be the ur-example of this; in thieving, digging, and bombing his way to and through the ruins of Troy and Mycenae, Schliemann essentially invented modern archaeology by negation when observers compiled a list of his activities that archaeologists should never repeat.
