List of Indiana Jones characters
Abner Ravenwood
### Abner Ravenwood

**Abner Ravenwood** is Marion's father and an [unseen character](/wiki/Unseen_character "Unseen character"). He was Indiana's mentor at the [University of Chicago](/wiki/University_of_Chicago "University of Chicago"), but the two split in 1926 when Indiana had an affair with the teenage Marion. The [Ark of the Covenant](/wiki/Ark_of_the_Covenant "Ark of the Covenant") was his lifelong obsession, and he owned the headpiece to the Staff of [Ra](/wiki/Ra "Ra"), which could pinpoint its location. He is said to be dead when Indiana and the Nazis come to [Nepal](/wiki/Nepal "Nepal") (where the Ravenwoods live) in 1936, to use it to find the Ark at [Tanis](/wiki/Tanis "Tanis"). The novelization details he died in an [avalanche](/wiki/Avalanche "Avalanche") in 1936\.

In [Marvel Comics](/wiki/Marvel_Comics "Marvel Comics")' *[The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones](/wiki/Indiana_Jones_comic_books "Indiana Jones comic books")*, it is hinted that Abner is alive when Indiana and Marion travel to the fictitious city Ra\-Lundi to free its people from the power of a meteorite: Indiana is briefly aided by a masked man. Abner is in the [back\-story](/wiki/Back-story "Back-story") to a [gamebook](/wiki/Gamebook "Gamebook"), where he lost an [ebony](/wiki/Ebony "Ebony") [dove](/wiki/Dove "Dove") from [Malakula](/wiki/Malakula "Malakula") after being chased off by the island's inhabitants in 1927; five years later Indiana and his cousin must retrieve it. A supplement to a [role\-playing game](/wiki/Role-playing_game "Role-playing game") said that Abner studied under [Franz Boas](/wiki/Franz_Boas "Franz Boas"), and disliked the British for their "armchair [anthropology](/wiki/Anthropology "Anthropology")", in which they made assumptions about other cultures based on reports instead of exploring themselves.

Abner was set to appear along his daughter Marion in *[Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom](/wiki/Indiana_Jones_and_the_Temple_of_Doom "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom")*, but [George Lucas](/wiki/George_Lucas "George Lucas") scrapped the idea. In the early scripts of *[Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade](/wiki/Indiana_Jones_and_the_Last_Crusade "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade")*, Fedora was intended to be Abner, but the idea was rejected. Abner was intended to appear in the canceled third season of *[The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles](/wiki/The_Young_Indiana_Jones_Chronicles "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles")*, when a ten\-year\-old Indiana meets him searching for the Ark on the [Temple Mount](/wiki/Temple_Mount "Temple Mount"). The canceled [Dark Horse Comics](/wiki/Dark_Horse_Comics "Dark Horse Comics") [limited series](/wiki/Limited_series_%28comics%29 "Limited series (comics)") *Indiana Jones and the Lost Horizon* was going to depict him and Indiana recovering the headpiece to the Staff of Ra in [Tibet](/wiki/Tibet "Tibet") in 1926\. Artist Hugh Fleming modeled Abner's appearance on actor [Wilford Brimley](/wiki/Wilford_Brimley "Wilford Brimley"), and the series would explain that Abner taught Indiana to behave cynically with others, so that they would not think he was crazy if he mentioned his encounters with the supernatural. The character was also intended to appear in the 2003 video game *[Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb](/wiki/Indiana_Jones_and_the_Emperor%27s_Tomb "Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb")* (set in 1935, before *Temple of Doom*) but the developers of the game deemed his role as Indy's partner "too unwieldy".


Was Abner alive when Indiana and Marion traveled to Ra-Lundi?