Richard O'Connell
From Rickipedia: The Mummy Wiki
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| Richard O'Connell | |
|---|---|
| Biographical information | |
| Gender |
Male |
| Nationality |
American |
| Eye color |
Blue |
| Hair color |
Brown |
| Height |
6' 3" |
| Family |
Evelyn O'Connell (Wife) |
| Profession(s) |
French Foreign Legion Colonel (renounced) |
| Alias |
Rick |
| Statistics | |
| Weapon(s) owned |
Pistol |
| Affiliation(s) |
French Foreign Legion |
| Behind the scenes | |
| First appearance | |
| Latest appearance | |
| Portrayer | |
- "He was just looking for a good time."
- ―Warden Gad Hassan to Evelyn Carnahan[src]
Rick O’Connell was a former Colonel[1] of the French Foreign Legion, husband to Evelyn O'Connell née Carnahan and father of Alexander O'Connell. A brave and intimidating man with excellent gun skills, as well as experience in personal combat, O’Connell was also a dedicated father and husband in his later years, completely devoted to his family.
[edit] Biography
[edit] Childhood
O’Connell was born in Chicago, Illinois and spent a part of his childhood in an orphanage in Cairo. While there, the young boy was given a mysterious tattoo on his right wrist, and was unknowingly marked as a Medjai: a member of the society of warriors who dedicated themselves to guarding Hamunaptra, the ancient Egyptian City of the Dead. Unaware of the meaning of this symbol, Rick would take care to disguise it for many years afterward by placing a leather wristband on it.
[edit] Criminal
- "Remember that bank job in Marrakesh?"
- ―Izzy Buttons reminding O'Connell of one of his past deeds.[src]
O'Connell had many exploits in his past that led to trouble later on: at least one known act involved a "bank job" in Marrakesh with his friend Izzy Buttons as an accomplice: Izzy was meant to fly low in his plane and hide while O'Connell would signal his friend to come in for the pickup; as Izzy was caught and shot, O'Connell nonchalantly walked up with a belly dancer girl at his side. This would be one case which Izzy Buttons cited as his reason for not wanting to work with O'Connell.
[edit] Legionnaire days
In 1923, O'Connell became a recruit in the French Foreign Legion, along with Beni Gabor, who claimed to be his friend, though Beni stuck close only for protection. O'Connell revealed to Beni at that point the real reason for which he had joined the Legion: in Paris some time ago, O'Connell had met a young lady and was looking for a way to impress her, though left out that he was drunk when it happened[1]. In the battle of Hamunaptra, Corporal O’Connell acted as Colonel after Colonel Guizot abandoned his post in fear. But he was eventually overcome by the sheer number of Tuareg and retreated deep into the ruins, where Gabor had scrambled into a stone doorway and closed the heavy stone door before Rick could make it.
The pursuit ended with O’Connell trapped in front of a half-buried statue of the Egyptian God Anubis, and Rick surrendered to brace himself for death. At the moment that the Tuaregs were about to open fire, their horses went into a wild panic, and the desert people were compelled to retreat. Unable to believe his luck, Rick O’Connell was suddenly forced for an unknown reason to rush out of the ruins and into the open desert, where he noticed a group of mysterious desert people watching him from afar.
[edit] Imprisoned
- "Who are you? And who's the broad?"
- ―O'Connell meeting the Carnahans in Cairo Prison.[src]
Once O'Connell had made it back to civilisation, he had been captured by the law and sent to Cairo Prison, ostensibly under the charge of deserting his post in the French Foreign Legion. In Cairo Prison, O'Connell had met the prison warden, Gad Hassan, who O'Connell despised and spared no chance at making things difficult for the Warden. O'Connell, now behind bars, was soon after visited by Evelyn and Jonathan Carnahan, who had come to ask of a small puzzle-box that O'Connell had found while at Hamanaptra. O'Connell eyed Evelyn with some interest, and divulged the story of how he had found the box: he had been at the city when he found it, and recognised Jonathan as the man that picked his pocket and took the puzzle-box from him. Jonathan was thus punched hard in the face by O'Connell, and asked by Evelyn if he remembered the way back to the ruins, so that he might take her there: O'Connell beckoned for her to come closer so that he could whisper through the bars, but grabbed hold of her and kissed her, telling her to get him out of prison. At that moment, the guards in the cell seized the American and beat him, taking him away as they did. The warden stepped on the scene and revealed to Evelyn and her brother that the guards were taking him away to be hanged.
Evelyn attended the hanging, despite the warden's disapproval, and tried to barter for O'Connell's freedom as the guards tied the ropes around O'Connell's neck. As the rope was being tied, the hangman asked O'Connell harshly if he had any last requests: O'Connell replied to the hangman that he loosen the knot and let him go. The hangman called out the request to the warden, who sat watching from his seat, and who shouted back that he would not be let go. The execution was continued as Evelyn offered more money to the warden, who would hear none of it, and who laughed loud as O'Connell fell down the scaffold, his neck not breaking when he fell. Now strangling, O'Connell watched as Evelyn bid more money to the warden, and finally revealed that O'Connell knew where Hamanaptra was located. The warden did not believe this at first, but was soon coaxed to release O'Connell as he was offered twenty-five percent of the profits made from the ruins' discovery.
[edit] At Giza Port
Given twenty pounds to clean himself up, O'Connell had showered, shaved, and had a haircut, travelling to Giza Port to meet the Carnahans. Evelyn suspected that O'Connell would take the money only to spend it all in some bar, and even expressed her disapproval of him; being surprised when he showed up at the ports a new man: shaven and clean. Jonathan stepped forward and patted O'Connell in affection, O'Connell promptly running his hand inside his jacket where Jonathan had patted him to ensure that Jonathan was not pick-pocketing him; Jonathan stated that he was not and that he would never steal from a partner. Evelyn then stepped forward and asked O'Connell to look her in the eye and promise her that he was not conning her out of her money, but O'Connell made it clear that he was cheating no one, as his former garrison believed in Hamanaptra so much that they, without orders, marched through Libya to find the city, finding only death instead. Taking his charges' bags, he sullenly walked into the boat. At that moment, another man stepped forward: Warden Hassan, who had stated that he was coming along on the expedition so as to protect his investment. Warden Hassan casually told O'Connell that there be no hard feelings, with O'Connell sourly replying that if the Warden ever needed a necktie, all he had to do was to ask.
[edit] Aboard the Boat
- "I only gamble with my life, never my money.
Never? What if I was to bet you five hundred dollars says we get to Hamanaptra before you?" - ―Daniels making a wager with O'Connell.[src]
With the four expeditionaries now aboard the riverboat Sudan, the mission continued as the group would travel one day by boat and two by camel. Sharing a dining table with others including a pair of missionaries, a group of big-game hunters, and commercial travellers, O'Connell and his fellows spoke not of their goal to anyone else. Dinner arrived, and O'Connell greedily devoured his food almost without tasting it, as Jonathan sat astonished at O'Connell's appetite, remarking that he was eating everything but the tablecloth. O'Connell replied that it was a wise move as they would not be dining the same way in the desert. Jonathan considered the notion and began eating the same way.
After dinner, O'Connell found Jonathan at a table on deck, playing poker with three Americans; the Americans asked O'Connell if his goal was really to find Hamanaptra as Jonathan had said. O'Connell confirmed it, and subsequently placed a wager with the Americans for five hundred dollars. That night, O'Connell met with Evelyn, who derided the idea of evil being beneath the sands in Hamanaptra, and who was still somewhat resentful of the forced kiss back in the prison. After revealing that he was about to be hanged and that it seemed like a good idea at the time, Evelyn crossly stormed off. O'Connell then heard a familiar voice tittering: Beni Gabor, the Legionnaire that had almost seen him dead. O'Connell learned that Beni was leading the Americans through the desert to find Hamanaptra, and that Beni would have been as quick to leave his employers to die in the desert had they not made sure to pay him half of his commission at the beginning of the voyage. After being asked by Beni why he was returning to Hamanaptra, O'Connell pointed to Evelyn, remarking that she had saved his life. Beni mocked O'Connell's reason, to which O'Connell responded by throwing the Hungarian into the river. As O'Connell was about to enter the boat he noticed a set of wet footprints coming from the port side of the boat and heading into the cabins. Suspecting the worst, O'Connell immediately barged into Evelyn's quarters with his guns drawn, and found that Evelyn was being held hostage by a man clad in black robes. Shooting the man's accomplices, he mistakenly blasted an oil lamp off the wall where it fell on a sofa and set fire to the room, and left the attacker wounded (as Evelyn had jabbed her assailant in the eye with a candlestick), O'Connell quickly escorted Evelyn out of her quarters, but saw that she ran back into the burning room to retrieve the map and puzzle-box.
A battle ensued aboard the riverboat, which saw much destruction as the Medjai warriors had set fire to bales of hay, which caused much of the riverboat to burn up. O'Connell quickly drew out his guns and began firing back at the Medjai, taking down a number of them. Noticing that the majority of the passengers were jumping ship and swimming ashore, he found Evelyn and asked her if she knew how to swim. Receiving "yes" as an answer, O'Connell threw Evelyn into the drink, and turned about to fight more Medjai, almost being best when one warrior punched him repetitively, at which point O'Connell finally managed to get the upper hand, and punch the warrior back, sending the man into a burning cabin. As he was about to jump ship, he was waylaid by the Warden, who asked frantically what they should do; O'Connell told the Warden to remain aboard as he would go get help and, leaving the Warden aboard to figure his rushed joke out, O'Connell jumped ship as well as the others.
[edit] Journey to Hamanaptra
Making it to shore, the American and his charges had lost almost everything from their tools and equipment to Evelyn's clothes, and perhaps worst of all was the notion that they had been left without horses and camels to take them to Hamanaptra. Beni had found O'Connell as he was on the other side of the river and pointed out mockingly that his group had taken all of the horses; O'Connell responded by telling Beni that his group was on the wrong side of the river. The next morning, O'Connell and his group were rescued by a number of Bedouin traders that had seen the smoke coming from the river Nile and had helped O'Connell and his group to obtain more tools and equipment for a nominal fee.
With four mounts obtained from a local trader, as well as some equipment and rations, the group set off into the Sahara, travelling through sand and desert, stopping to rest for a short while in an oasis, where O'Connell managed to obtain some drinking water from an old well. Once at the oasis the group proceeded to rest for a few hours, to continue their journey and avoid the sun beating down on them. Upon waking up, O'Connell urged the other in his group along, and it was there that he knew he was falling in love with Evelyn, as she was falling in love with him. As the group trekked on, they came across an area of sand that had bleached human bones sticking out of it: O'Connell remarked that knew one of them, as the Warden remarked that the bones were those that had also sought Hamanaptra.
- "Get ready for it.
For what?
We're about to be shown the way." - ―O'Connell and Evelyn in the desert as they reach the ruins.[src]
That morning, O'Connell and his group had encountered Beni Gabor, along with his three American employers, their consultant, and a number of native diggers in the middle of the desert, and told his three fellows to get ready, as the sun would rise and lead the way to Hamanaptra. The sun rose, and the four treasure-seekers, followed by the larger group hurried to the ruins through the sands in a race. As O'Connell ran to the ruins, Beni appeared on his camel and began whipping out at O'Connell with his camel whip. As Beni continued hitting O'Connell, he came in close enough on his camel that O'Connell could yank the knave by his scarf and fling him to the ground, leaving his rival in the dust. Evelyn had eventually reached the ruins first, winning her five hundred dollars, which O'Connell reminded the Americans that they owed her.
[edit] Digging
Upon reaching the ruins, O'Connell and his group made use of a naturally-occurring chasm in the ground to reach the subterranean tunnels below, using a rope to rappel down into the tunnels. Once the group had reached the underground tunnels, they had come into a chamber known as a Sah-Netjer, a preparation room for entering the afterlife. Journeying further into the tunnels, the group heard a loud chattering noise, which O'Connell suggested as insects. As the group continued their tour of the tunnels, they reached the statue of Anubis, which had once been located on the ground level and had since sunk to the underground tunnels. Strange sounds began to ring out from one side of the statue, and three of the explorers took out their pistols to try and face whatever was causing the trouble, only to see that it was the three Americans, their guide, their consultant, and a group of diggers. An argument over who should get the right to dig at the base of Anubis' statue took place, with the Americans and their diggers winning the argument: Evelyn, however, was unswayed as she knew that below the statue of Anubis was yet another chamber. Surrendering the chamber with the statue over to the larger group, O'Connell and his companions continued on about their work in the chamber below.
During their digging, Evelyn explained conversationally the process of mummification to O'Connell, who found it to be a grisly concept. At that moment, Jonathan, who was using pebbles and a mallet to play a game of golf, knocked a pebble that loosened the ceiling, jarring loose a massive slab of stone onto the floor. The slab was a sarcophagus that was buried at the base of Anubis, indicating that the occupant was one of great importance, or that he had committed a serious crime. Examining the coffin further, the three found that it had a lock that could only be opened with a certain key- the puzzle box that Jonathan had owned before Evelyn had taken it from him. Placing it on the lock, the group knew that the key pertained to that coffin. At that moment, however, their attention was turned away as the Warden ran screaming down a corridor and clawing at his head. Pushing the others out of the way, the Warden ran directly into a stone wall, killing himself.
[edit] Attack on the Camp
That night, the group was shaken somewhat by the Warden's death, as it had caught them all by surprise; O'Connell then stated that the Americans had had their own problems, as three of their diggers were melted by salt acid in a booby trap at their dig site. As Jonathan remarked that the City of the Dead might really be cursed, Evelyn scoffed the thought away, as O'Connell asked if she didn't believe in curses. O'Connell remarked that he believed in being prepared, cocking his rifle, and taking it with him as he went to investigate the sound of horses approaching. At that moment, a number of Medjai warriors came storming into the camp, killing off diggers left and right. O'Connell fought against them, as did Jonathan, Burns, Daniels, and Henderson, with Evelyn shooting one or two Medjai, until the leading Medjai, the Ardeth Bay, overpowered him with a scimitar. O'Connell then reacted by reaching for a stick of dynamite and lighting it. Ardeth Bay, seeing this, called off his warriors, declaring that they would kill no more, but that the explorers must leave Hamunaptra within one day.
The Medjai then rode out, instilling the belief among the three Americans that there was treasure, as the Medjai were so intent to guard the ruins. O'Connell pointed out that the Medjai were desert people, valuing water above gold. With that, the expeditions decided to move their campsites closer to one another for protection.
That night, O'Connell, having had access to the late Warden's supply of whiskey, gave Evelyn, who had helped herself as freely as Jonathan and O'Connell had, a lesson in fist-fighting, which brought Evelyn to reveal her past: her father, once a great explorer, had loved Egypt so much that he married an Egyptian woman, who had been Evelyn's mother. Evelyn was then coaxed to reveal that she was no adventurer or treasure seeker, but was a librarian above all else. She then was about to kiss him passionately, but passed out drunk.
[edit] Finding The Mummy
The next morning, the three treasure seekers, suffering shortly a hangover from the Warden's whiskey, continued on about their work prying open the sarcophagus that they had found. Evelyn drew out the key and placed it on the lock-like marking that was on the surface of the sarcophagus lid, noting that the sacred spells had been chiselled off, condemning whoever was in the coffin not only for his mortal life, but in the Afterlife as well. This barely registering to O'Connell and Jonathan, the two men proceeded to continue to pry open the lid after the key had been turned. From within the stone coffin popped out a decayed, skeletal mummy that had burst out due to the pressure built up in the coffin, frightening all three explorers. O'Connell wondered if the mummy was supposed to look as rotted as it did, and Evelyn stated that she hadn't ever seen a mummy look as though it were still rotting before. O'Connel pointed out some markings within the coffin lid that Evelyn saw were made with fingernails, indicating that the mummy had been buried alive; the markings read: "Death is only the beginning", the meaning of which the three explorers silently wondered.
That night, around the campfire, O'Connell sat with Beni, roasting pieces of strong-smelling, hairy flesh, which Jonathan believed for a moment to be the late Warden's remains. O'Connell explained that the meat was desert rat meat, which, despite its foul smell and taste, was the best food that the desert could offer. At that moment, O'Connell had been shown by Henderson a jewelled canopic jar, which he, along with his fellows, had taken, from the chest that they had found at the statue base, each man present taking one each. Burns added that he heard that O'Connell's group had found a mummy, which Burns and his friends laughed at. Evelyn then stepped in among the others to reveal what she had found: scarab skeletons, the remains of the flesh-eating beetles that had killed Imhotep; the scarabs had been thrown into his coffin as they slowly ate him alive, for he had been condemned with the Hom-Dai curse, an ancient malediction that left whoever it affected to bring back the Ten Plagues of Egypt should they ever arise.
That night, Evelyn stole the Book of the Dead from Dr. Chamberlain as he slept, and Evelyn took the book back to her campsite to examine it, but she awoke O'Connell, who pointed out that she was stealing, but Evelyn insisted that it was borrowing. Evelyn then used the key to open the Book, which caused a gust of wind to blow through the camp, O'Connell remarking that it happened frequently there. Evelyn then proceeded to read the hieroglyphs in the Book, which she did not know at first, but were registering to the mummified corpse below that she and her friends had found. The words had brought him back to life and he awoke shrieking. Dr. Chamberlain quickly woke up, screaming at Evelyn that she must not read from the Book. At that moment, a loud humming sound came from a far-off distance, and manifested itself as a great cloud of locusts that swarmed all over Hamunaptra, engulfing the campsites and its people, save for O'Connell, the Carnahans, the Americans and Beni, who had all run into the catacombs below to escape the swarms. As O'Connell and the Carnahan siblings made it into the catacombs, O'Connell asked Evelyn if she believed in curses after having seen an effect of the curse manifest itself, but Evelyn replied that it was coincidence alone, and a moment later, she beheld another: the floor of the tunnels had been coated in frogs.
With that, the floor erupted in a large sandy pile as a massive swarm of scarabs crawled out of the floor, chasing the three explorers down the corridors, and as they ran, O'Connell shot at the swarms with his elephant gun, taking a few of the scarabs out. As the three ran, they escaped the scarabs by jumping onto ledges that were beyond the scarabs' reach, but Evelyn, leaning against a wall, sunk into it, unaware that it was a trapdoor. O'Connell and Jonathan tried to pry it open, but could not and quickly shifted their attention when they saw Henderson, Daniels and a digger running from the scarabs again. Henderson, Jonathan and Daniels escaped from the insects but the digger did not, tripping over a stairway instead, and O'Connell was about to go back and help the man but the scarabs killed the digger before he could get up. Moments later, O'Connell found Evelyn in a chamber where she stood silently, back against the wall, facing a reanimated mummy, the same mummy that had been found earlier on. Jonathan, Henderson and Daniels wandered into the chamber and saw the walking corpse, which roared at O'Connell and Evelyn in anger. O'Connell mocking roared back and shot the corpse in two with his elephant gun, buying them all enough time to run from the mummy, which was piecing itself together as the explorers all ran.
Making it back up to the ground level, O'Connell and the others stood facing the Medjai, who had outnumbered and outgunned them all, taking Dr. Chamberlain as a hostage. The Medjai leader, Ardeth Bay, spoke: because the expeditions had refused to leave, their actions had doomed them all, as they had brought back to life an ancient evil that the Medjai had feared for millennia. O'Connell explained that he had shot the mummy, taking it down, but Ardeth countered that mortal weapons had no effect on the corpse, it being of another world. At that moment, two Medjai brought forth Burns, whose eyes and tongue had been torn out of his head, and his companions reacted in anger, blaming the Medjai for their friend's pain, but Ardeth explained that they had saved Burns from the mummy before it could finish killing him; Ardeth then ordered the expeditions to leave before the mummy could harm them as well. O'Connell insisted that he had dispatched the corpse, but Ardeth spoke clearly that the mummy was not of the mortal world, and, being a bringer of death, would not eat, sleep or stop bringing his plagues forth. The expeditionaries all left Hamunaptra that night, leaving their equipment behind as they did. Burns, whose eyes had been taken from him, was being helped up onto his horse by his friends, who promised to lead him through the desert; Chamberlain had taken the Book of the Dead and was holding onto it intently, and Beni had been forgotten entirely.
[edit] In Cairo
Two days later, O'Connell and the others had reached Cairo and stayed in Fort Brydon. As he and the others had been staying there, Evelyn decided that she would arrange a way to fight off the mummy and stay behind to do so; O'Connell tried to talk her out of it and get her to leave Cairo but Evelyn was set in her ways and decided to stay, despite O'Connell's insisting that they could do nothing to fix the situation. Resigning from the argument, O'Connell left Evelyn behind and headed downstairs where he met Jonathan and shared a drink, greeting a drunken aeroplane pilot named Winston Havelock, a friend of his, as he went to the bar. As O'Connell and Jonathan sat at the bar, they were joined by Henderson and Daniels, who were set to leave for Alexandria, but waited as the riverboat that would take them there would not leave until the next morning. O'Connell inquired about Burns' current state, and suggested getting help for him back in America. As the four men drank and toasted to Henderson and Daniels' departure, they drank their whiskeys and promptly spat the drink out, along with every other patron in the bar, for the drink had turned into blood: O'Connell then knew that the mummy had reached Cairo.
Running from the bar, O'Connell met Evelyn and at that moment saw that hail and fire were falling from the skies, killing bystanders and tearing up buildings. As he and Evelyn stood witnessing the sight, Beni came running down the stairs of a nearby building, and O'Connell stopped Beni for a moment, but released him once he heard the mummy's distinctive roar. Both O'Connell and Evelyn ran upstairs to see that Burns had been killed, his desiccated body on an armchair and the mummy stood at the face of the room near a fireplace, regenerating his flesh and organs as it crept up his bones. The mummy then strode to O'Connell, who had begun to open fire on the corpse along with Jonathan, Daniels and Henderson, but O'Connell had been thrown out of the way into the direction of the other three men. The mummy then leaned in closely to Evelyn, about to kiss her when Evelyn's white cat Cleo appeared, frightening the mummy off as he blasted from the room in a cloud of sand.
Evelyn had led O'Connell, Jonathan, Daniels and Henderson to the one man that she knew could give them answers as to what was happening: her employer, Dr. Terence Bey, but as she led them into the museum where she worked, she saw that Dr. Bey was standing with the Medjai warrior, Ardeth Bay, and both men were talking to one another; O'Connell, Jonathan and the two Americans drew out their guns but retracted them once Dr. Bey offered an explanation: he and Ardeth Bay were part of an ancient secret society whose task it was to ensure the protection of mankind by stopping the High Priest Imhotep from being reborn into the world. Dr. Bey went on to explain that their mission was well worth the taking of lives: to stop the rebirth of an ancient evil, a few lives was a small price to pay. O'Connell asked why it was that the mummy Imhotep feared cats, and Dr. Bey revealed that as cats were the guardians of the Underworld, Imhotep would fear them until he was fully restored, fearing nothing after his restoration was complete. Evelyn revealed that Imhotep had referred to her as Anck-Su-Namun, trying to kiss her earlier. The curator revealed that Anck-Su-Namun was a woman that Imhotep had loved, and for their love, Imhotep was cursed; after three thousand years, Imhotep was still in love with her and was to try and raise her from the dead by using a human sacrifice: Evelyn. Dr. Bey declared that it might grant enough time for the creature to be killed, a notion that Ardeth furthered by stating that they would need all the help they could get, for Imhotep's powers were growing: outside, another of the Plagues manifested as the sun was blocked out from the sky by the moon.
After leaving the museum and heading to their quarters, Evelyn asked the two Americans who was in the room back in Hamunaptra when the chest was opened: the Americans revealed that they had been there, along with Burns and the Egyptologist. O'Connell asked if Beni was among them, but the Americans stated that Beni had run off before the chest was opened. Evelyn then stated that they must find the Egyptologist and bring him to safety before the mummy could find him, and O'Connell was about to ask Jonathan, Henderson and Daniels to help him find the Egyptologist while Evelyn stayed behind, but all four of the others spoke out in anger at this, not wanting to either be left behind or forced to risk their lives. O'Connell, to protect Evelyn from danger, picked her up by the waist and left her in her room, locking the door behind him, ordering Daniels and Henderson to watch over the door and for Jonathan to accompany him as he went to go find the Egyptologist.
O'Connell and Jonathan reached Dr. Chamberlain's office and found Beni rifling through the Egyptologist's drawers, looking for something. As Beni spotted O'Connell and had tried to run, O'Connell impeded his escape by flinging a chair at his legs, stopping the thief in his tracks. O'Connell began to interrogate Beni, asking why he was serving Imhotep: Beni revealed that he was serving the mummy so that he would not suffer his curse. O'Connell pressured Beni into telling more: Beni said that Imhotep was looking for the Book of the Dead so as to bring his "dead girlfriend" back to life, and that all he wanted was the Book, and Evelyn, but before he could say more, a scream sounded from outside; Beni took the opportunity, seeing that O'Connell was distracted, kneeing him in the groin and leaping out the window. O'Connell and Jonathan headed to the window and looked out onto the streets, seeing what had caused the scream: Dr. Chamberlain had been killed by the mummy, reduced to another withered corpse clutching a canopic jar and the Book of the Dead. Imhotep took both artifacts back and released a swarm of flies as his next Plague, which flew around the streets, biting the townspeople. O'Connell and Jonathan managed to hold them back by closing the shutters of the window and left for the fort, knowing that Imhotep would be coming to take Evelyn.
Evelyn slept in her quarters, not knowing that outside her door, Henderson had been killed and the mummy had made it into the room where she lay. Imhotep kissed Evelyn deeply, his own flesh rotting away and corrupting as he did, before O'Connell stopped him, ordering him to leave Evelyn. O'Connell then pulled out Cleo, Evelyn's white cat, which frightened Imhotep away as he blasted himself out the window in a dusty storm.
That night, O'Connell, Evelyn, Jonathan and Daniels headed to the Cairo Museum to once again seek Dr. Bey's help: Evelyn believed that if the black Book of the Dead could bring the dead back, then the fabled Book of Amun-Ra could kill them. She and Dr. Bey set forward to study the hieroglyph slabs on display in the museum to find the location of the Book of Amun-Ra. As they did, they heard a loud chanting coming from outside of the museum: the townspeople of Cairo had been placed under a spell by Imhotep that compelled them all to be his slaves, while taking on boils and sores. The two scholars deciphered the markings as fast as they could, but the pounding at the door below in the main entrance alerted the resistors to Imhotep's presence, and Jonathan quickly left the museum to go outside and start the car. O'Connell tried to hurry Evelyn and Dr. Bey along as they read the hieroglyphs, which they succeeded in doing exactly as the townspeople pounded through the doors and O'Connell, along with Evelyn, Daniels, Dr. Bey and Ardeth, ran from the museum to Jonathan's car, where they drove away, escaping the mobs just as Beni screamed out to Imhotep that they were escaping. The group drove out into the streets of Cairo until the roads were blocked with a mob of townspeople, which were all hit when Jonathan floored the gas pedal in his car when his foot was slammed down onto it by O'Connell. The car was soon after covered in townspeople which were all thrown off, but managed to take down Daniels, who was brought before Imhotep and consumed as well as his fellows.
The car eventually hit a fire hydrant, compelling its passengers to run from the townspeople as they cornered O'Connell and his friends into a wall. The townspeople then parted, making way for Imhotep, who appeared completely regenerated. Imhotep then spoke, his words translated by Beni, stating that Evelyn must go with him, and her friends would be spared if she did. Reluctantly, Evelyn stepped forward, with much displeasure from O'Connell, who drew out his gun at the mummy. Evelyn stopped him from firing, reminding Rick that Imhotep still needed to take Evelyn to Hamunaptra to perform the ritual. O'Connell lowered his gun as Imhotep, Evelyn and Beni left the scene, Imhotep ordering his slaves to kill the survivors. O'Connell then opened a manhole cover and had Jonathan and Ardeth escape into it, though Dr. Bey opted to stay behind and hold off the townspeople with his sword, giving his own life to save the others'. As O'Connell, Jonathan, and Ardeth escaped into the sewers, they found more zombified townspeople and staved them off with a dynamite blast. Devising a plan to rescue Evelyn, O'Connell had Jonathan and Ardeth take him to the one individual that might be able to help: Winston Havelock.
[edit] Desert Flight
Winston Havelock of the Royal Air Force had set up his hangar in the dunes in Erfoud, awaiting nothing and sipping tea while native boys herded their goats around the runway, and Winston was thusly surprised at O'Connell when he explained what had happened: that Imhotep had kidnapped Evelyn and had planned to destroy the Earth. O'Connell went on to explain that the mission that Winston was asked to help with was the recovery of Evelyn, a task that might take his life, and Winston happily accepted the position, loading up the plane, with the trouble of having to secure another spot on the plane for Jonathan and Ardeth. Jonathan and Ardeth, due to a lack of room, were tied to the wings of the plane and taken for a drive on the plane's wings.
The plane then took off into the desert, with O'Connell in the gunner's seat, and as they flew towards Hamunaptra, Winston saw a large sandstorm, remarking that he had never before seen one as big as that particular sandstorm. The "sandstorm", however, was Imhotep himself, who had become the sands of the desert and taken Beni and Evelyn with him to the outskirts of Hamunaptra. Imhotep saw the plane flying towards the ruins of Hamunaptra and conjured up another sandstorm with all the sand on the ground, amassing a massive wall of sand and wind that took his face and chased the plane. O'Connell began firing machine gun shots at the face as the plane flew, and soon after, the sandstorm had engulfed the entire plane in sand and wind, causing the engines to burn out. Evelyn, who stood next to Imhotep as he caused the storm, took action and kissed him, breaking his concentration and stopping the storm. The plane's engines, however, had overheated and the plane crashed down into the desert.
O'Connell helped Ardeth and Jonathan out of the plane before going on to help Winston, who he saw had been killed in the crash, due to a broken neck. At that moment, the plane sank down into the quicksands of the desert, taking Winston's body with it. Taking a moment of silence to observe Winston's passing, O'Connell, Jonathan and Ardeth continued on towards Hamunaptra.
[edit] Battling Imhotep
O'Connell and Ardeth began to pry apart the rocks that blocked an entrance into the tunnels while Jonathan held up the torch, but Jonathan was distracted by a wall mural that had several jewels embedded into it. Prying one off and holding it, Jonathan examined it for a moment before it split open and revealed a scarab beetle that cut into its hand, almost reaching his head before O'Connell took a knife and cut the beetle out, flinging it aside and blasting the insect with a revolver.
As the three men continued to walk on through the corridors, O'Connell noticed a mirror-like object close to the ceiling in one chamber: with one shot he turned it, illuminating the room with sunlight and revealing great amounts of golden treasure, which O'Connell restrained himself from taking. As they looked about the chamber, they heard a croaking sound and with that a mummy revealed itself, cracking through the floor. As one corpse came from the floor, so did others, joined by more mummies that came from the corridors, shambling and groaning. The three men took out their guns and began to blast the mummies away, heading to the statue of Horus so as to find the Golden Book. Once they had reached the statue of Horus, O'Connell and Jonathan began to try and pry its compartment open as Ardeth provided cover fire.
O'Connell and Jonathan continued to pry at the compartment when a trio of mummies burst through the floor once more, threw both men aside and began to pry open the compartment themselves. The compartment, however, was rigged with the same salt acid that had been inside the statue of Anubis, burning all three corpses away. Once the compartment was opened, the Golden Book was extracted and Ardeth told O'Connell and Jonathan to save Evelyn and kill the mummy off, leading the mummies away as he ran through a corridor, blasting as many as he could. O'Connell then lit a stick of dynamite and threw it into a dead end, blowing a hole through the wall and killing off more mummies: O'Connell and Jonathan then made their way through the hole and into the sacrificial chamber.
Imhotep, having chained Evelyn to a sacrificial altar, began to perform the incantations that would bring Anck-Su-Namun back, almost stabbing Evelyn fatally before Jonathan intervened. While Jonathan stood at the height of a staircase brandishing the Book of Amun-Ra, O'Connell snuck into the chamber, took a golden sword from a nearby statue, and began to take down the mummy priests, cutting Evelyn's chains as he did. most of the priests had been felled, but one dismembered corpse grabbed him by the ankles, pulling him down, while another tried to get at his neck, and the disembodied mummy hand of one priest grabbed the sword. One final mummy took a large stone slab in its grip, about to crush O'Connell before O'Connell reached out towards the hand, taking the sword, and hacking down the mummy's legs before it could harm him.
Jonathan then mistakenly summoned up even more of the mummies, all sporting soldier garb and spears, compelling O'Connell to duel more of them. As a number of the mummies faced O'Connell, he screamed at them; the mummies roared back, and O'Connell ran from them before they could catch him, through moats and corridors, scaling one wall by sliding up on a rope from a hanging cage. Dueling them on, O'Connell managed to destroy more as he ran down the stairs of the sacrificial chamber, decapitating two and burning one up until they finally outnumbered and overpowered him at the point of their spears, sickles and blades. Before they could bring down their attacks, however, the mummies were stopped by Jonathan, who read the final incantations for the spell that summoned the mummies up, stopping them from harming O'Connell. Removing their blades from his face, the mummies stood motionless until Jonathan gave them the order to kill Anck-Su-Namun, which they carried out at once.
In anger, Imhotep lunged forward to strangle Jonathan, but O'Connell leapt forward and chopped off the mummy's arm, which held onto Jonathan's neck, the arm's rotted sinews revealing that below his human appearance, the mummy was still a dead man inside. In reciprocation, Imhotep seized O'Connell by the shirt and threw him, not caring that his robe had slipped off as his arm was chopped off. Jonathan then reached through his robes and took the puzzle box needed to open the Book of Amun-Ra, using it to open the Book as Evelyn read through it, looking for the spell that would stop Imhotep. As the Carnahans looked through the text, Imhotep threw O'Connell about against statues and the floor until he seized O'Connell up by his throat, strangling him, and prepared to deliver his final attack, unhinging his jaw. Evelyn, however, read aloud the incantations to stop Imhotep, summoning the god Anubis, who rode into the chamber on his chariot and drove through Imhotep, taking away his immortality. Anubis had not, however, killed Imhotep, and Imhotep moved forward furiously towards O'Connell, intending to kill him, but O'Connell was ready with his sword, stabbing the priest as he stepped forward. Evelyn revealed that Imhotep was mortal, and the mummy stepped back dying into a moat, dying while numerous souls engulfed him, reducing him to a mummy once more as he uttered his final words: Death is only the beginning.
[edit] Escape from Hamunaptra
In another corridor, Beni was walking with a saddlebag full of stolen valuables from the treasuries, triggering the collapse of Hamunaptra by leaning the bag on a lever on the wall. O'Connell, Jonathan and Evelyn, hearing the walls crumbling, took the opportunity to leave, though Jonathan had tripped on a staircase and dropped the Book of Amun-Ra in a moat; Evelyn chastised Jonathan for dropping the Book before O'Connell and Jonathan hurried her along.
- "Well, I guess we go home empty-handed, again.
I wouldn't say that." - ―Jonathan Carnahan and Rick O'Connell upon escaping Hamunaptra.[src]
As the three ran through the corridors and chambers, Jonathan stopped in the treasury, wondering why they couldn't take some of the treasures with them before O'Connell and Evelyn rushed him out as well. As they were escaping the crumbling ruins, a familiar face followed them: Beni, who had tried to catch up with O'Connell, but could not make it through a collapsing doorway in time. O'Connell, despite Beni's previous betrayals, made an effort to help Beni out of the chamber, but could not pull him out in time as the doorways closed, sealing Beni in with a swarm of scarabs as his own torch burned out. O'Connell, Evelyn and Jonathan ran quickly from the ruins, reaching the surface as it crashed down in a massive series of dusty explosions. Once the trio had escaped, a hand reached out to Jonathan: Ardeth had escaped the ruins alive, astride a camel, and informed them that they had earned the respect of the Medjai for their defeat of Imhotep. Blessing them in Allah's name, Ardeth rode off into the sunset, leaving them behind as Jonathan complained that they would once more go home empty-handed, but O'Connell knew that he, at least, was not empty-handed, as he had found Evelyn, kissing her deeply, this sight displeasing Jonathan. The three survivors then mounted camels and rode off into the sunset, unaware that they had some treasures with them in a saddlebag, courtesy of Beni.
[edit] New Artifacts
In the years after the events involving Imhotep and the expeditions to Hamunaptra, Rick O'Connell, having fallen in love with Evelyn, had married her and the couple moved to London, having a son, Alex O'Connell. Since that time, O'Connell had earned much fame from the newsreels as an adventurer, explorer, and thrill-seeker in general, as the reporters had often cited his status as a colonel in the French Foreign Legion. O'Connell had still retained his appearance, though his hair had begun to grey slightly at the sides.
In the summer of 1933, O'Connell, Evelyn and Alex had travelled to Egypt to find a temple ruin along the banks of the Nile, constructed by Imhotep himself. As O'Connell was walking through the corridors, gun in hand, he was startled by his young son Alex, who had come looking for him, to tell Rick that he had found an image on a pillar in the temple that was the exact image that Rick had on his wrist, a mariner's compass with falcon's wings, and the eye of Horus. Alex tried to explain this to his father, but O'Connell shooed his son away to the atrium of the palace and wait for him there.
Rick met up with Evelyn in a hallway as she had been working, and kicked away a snake that had been coiling itself around her boot, kicking it unknowingly at her husband, who stated that the snake was poisonous. Evelyn replied that the snake was only poisonous if it bit him, turning her notice to Rick and Alex's talk a moment ago: Alex was informing his father about something that he had found; Evelyn then turned to her work, as she had found a blocked entrance to a corridor, which Rick was about to open with a crowbar when Evelyn told him to use a hammer and chisel. Evelyn changed her mind and allowed him to pry the barrier away with the crowbar, which he promptly did, and the two entered the corridor. The corridor was filled with many mummified corpses and covered with spiders, scorpions, and snakes; at that point, Evelyn walked through, careful not to step on any of the scorpions or spiders on the floor until she reached the end of the corridor. Evelyn remarked that since she had been having dreams of the corridor, she could think of nothing else, as she felt that she had been there, though Rick remarked that except for the mummies, no one had been in the corridor for three years. Evelyn then turned to a doorway and managed to unlock it with a pull of the lever near the door. The passage opened, and Evelyn retorted that if she had not been there before, she would not know what to do to open the door.
Evelyn stood in the chamber, entranced by some vision unseen by Rick: the temple was intact and at the end of the next corridor was an elaborate golden chest guarded by two armed soldiers; as Evelyn looked on, a woman appeared in her vision and closed the door of the chamber, locking it with a twist of the eight-pointed knob in its middle. Rick appeared in Evelyn's eyesight and her vision was over, though she tried to swing around her torch to try bringing the vision back. Rick was somewhat puzzled by Evelyn's behaviour but turned his attention to trying to open the door to the next chamber; Evelyn, having seen how to open it in her vision, turned the knob exactly as she had seen it done and the door opened. Rick was, as he had stated, beginning to get unnerved by Evelyn, and Evelyn was starting to be frightened of herself.
Stepping inside the darkened chamber, Evelyn raised her torch and came face-to-face with the rotted mummies of the guards that had protected the chamber and its contents centuries before. Rick, seeing that his wife was in fear, swung his crow bar at the mummy and knocked its head off, sending the rest of its body down as well. Eyeing the chest with interest, Evelyn asked to open it, but Rick wished not to do so, knowing that opening ancient artifacts usually carried some negative after-effects. Evelyn insisted in opening it, though could not with the crowbar that she had been given. Rick eyed a pendant/key that was hanging from the chest of one of the two soldier corpses, and used it to open the chest, revealing the Bracelet of Anubis inside.
In the chamber as well was a golden disc that bore the emblem of the Scorpion King, an ancient warlord that was said by many to be pure myth, as no archival evidence or artifact had confirmed his existence before. As the chest was opened, a rumbling sound erupted from the corridors, and Evelyn quickly told Rick to put the chest in his bag, though Rick wished to leave it behind; Evelyn then read the inscription on the chest: whoever disturbed the chest would drink from the Nile, which resulted in massive quantities of water breaking through the temple walls to flood the corridors. Rick and Evelyn ran as fast as they could to escape the waters, but eventually were caught in the flooded halls, about to drown.
Outside the chambers, Alex had been confronted by two mercenaries who threatened to kill him as their leader went to kill Alex's parents, but the thieves all left before the flooding waters could catch them. Before they left, one of the thieves kicked at the scaffolding that Alex was standing on, which caused it to topple over and knock down a nearby temple pillar, which knocked down the next, on and on until the pillars had all fallen, save for one. Alex then saw that the section of wall where his father's tattoo emblem was, was about to be smashed by the last standing pillar, and so he ran to stop the pillar from falling through by pushing it up. Alex could not, and the pillar smashed through the wall, sending a large torrent of water bursting through, with his parents inside of it. Rick and Evelyn lay there gasping after having almost drowned.
[edit] Return to London
After the O'Connells had recovered the artifacts, they took a boat back to London, and reached their home: Evelyn's parents had owned a large estate of a mansion that Evelyn herself had inherited and filled with many Egyptian artifacts, some found by her father with others that were found by Evelyn herself.
Evelyn had explained her next plan to Rick as they entered the manor: her intent was to return to Egypt with Rick and find the Oasis of Ahm Shere, though Rick was against this, as they had just come home. Evelyn, however, stated that it was convenient that they should leave, as they were already packed, and Evelyn had sent their clothes to be laundered while the family was in Cairo. Evelyn tried to convince Rick to agree on returning to Egypt by stating that it was just an oasis that they would find, an oasis that she revealed was the supposed resting place of the Scorpion King. Evelyn went on to describe the Oasis: many rulers throughout history had all attempted to find Ahm Shere, with none of their troops returning. Evelyn stated that they would be the ones to find it, as they had an idea of how to look.
[edit] Personality and Traits
Richard O'Connell was, if anything, a man of action that believed in shooting first and asking questions later, being curt and brash when he needed to be. Although O'Connell acted with bravado in most situations, he was not incapable of pathos and sympathy, having fallen in love with and marrying Evelyn Carnahan, and fathering a son with her, considering his family to be the most important thing in his life. Along with his prowess in firearms, O'Connell also knew how to defend himself unarmed and knew how to improvise when in a perilous situation. While Rick's full name was "Richard", he was only referred to as "Richard" by his wife Evelyn when she felt that some disagreement needed to be resolved.
Tall, with brown parted hair and blue eyes, Richard O'Connell was usually seen wearing a white long-sleeved shirt and tan chinos, along with brown boots, belt and holsters when he was on expeditions; this outfit was accompanied sometimes by a blue kerchief as well as any number of firearms and blade. Years later, Rick took to wearing a blue shirt in place of the white one, still wearing his holsters, but wore shoes in place of his boots. To conceal the tattoo that designated him as a Medjai, O'Connell often wore a leather wristband on his right wrist.
[edit] Appearances
[edit] Sources
[edit] Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Mummy Returns (novelization), p10: "Temple of Doom"
[edit] Behind the Scenes
Rick O'Connell was portrayed by actor Brendan Fraser.
Rick O'Connell revealed that he had grown up in an orphanage, but in each of his appearances in which he stated this, the location of the orphanage differs. In the novelisation of The Mummy Returns, O'Connell stated that he was in an orphanage in Hong Kong, while in the film, he explained that he was in an orphanage in Cairo, and in the television series, O'Connell said that he was in an orphanage in Chicago.
It is joked that Sgt. Stone of G.I. Joe is a direct descendant of Rick O'Connell, due to several coinciding clues. Both Brendan Fraser and director Stephen Sommers worked on the first two Mummy films and G.I. Joe as actor and director respectively and much of Sgt. Stone's mannerisms reflect that of Rick O'Connell to almost identical personalities.
