List of The Mummy franchise characters
The following is a selected list of characters who have appeared throughout The Mummy film series and its spin-off series The Scorpion King. Main and minor characters are included.
Main characters
Richard "Rick" O'Connell
Richard "Rick" O'Connell is the main character in The Mummy films. He is an American adventurer, treasure hunter, highly decorated veteran of WW1 a former Captain of the French Foreign Legion.Evelyn Carnahan
Evelyn Carnahan - also known as Evy - is characterized as a clever but clumsy British librarian and Egyptologist in the Cairo Museum of Antiquities. She, along with Rick and her brother Jonathan, travels to the lost city of Hamunaptra, where she hopes to find a rare, ancient book, the book of Amun-Ra. When an American expedition finds the Book of the Dead, which was purported to give eternal life, Evy steals the book from their sleeping Egyptologist and reads from a page of it. This unintentionally resurrects the titular mummy, Imhotep, who wants to use her body as a vessel to resurrect his long-dead lover, Anck-su-namun, taking her captive. Upon being rescued, she reads a page from the book of Amun-Ra, rendering Imhotep mortal. Rick then stabs Imhotep in the stomach. While he dies, he returns to his original undead form as a rotting corpse with his final parting words, which Evy translates as "Death is only the beginning". Evy shows little fighting skill but much bravery, such as when she attempts to shoot a Medjai with Rick's gun, and fights Anck-su-namun. In the first part of the film she thinks Rick is "filthy, rude, a complete scoundrel. I don't like him one bit", but as the first film progresses he slowly gains her trust and they eventually fall in love. She mentions that her and her brother's mother was Egyptian, making her half-Egyptian, half-English.In The Mummy, the character was originally meant to be Lady Evelyn Herbert, the daughter of Lord Carnarvon, both present at the opening of Tutankhamun's tomb in November 1922. She and her brother were to be the children of the "cursed" Lord Carnarvon. The only evidence of this left in the film is in the line where Evelyn tells O'Connell that her father was a "very, very famous explorer".
In The Mummy Returns it is revealed that she is a reincarnation of the Egyptian princess Nefertiri, the daughter of the Pharaoh whom Imhotep and Anck-su-namun killed. This makes her battle with Anck-su-namun personal, as they were also foes in their past lives. Due to the events of the Year of the Scorpion, she also regains her past life's knowledge of martial arts.
In The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor she had become a novelist chronicling her previous two adventures in a book, with herself starring in them under an alias, before her son Alex pulls her into another adventure.
The Mummy and characters from the franchise were featured in the video game, Funko Fusion, which was released in 2024. The game also includes Evelyn Carnahan.
Alex O'Connell
Alexander "Alex" O'Connell is the son of Evy and Rick O'Connell. Throughout the second film, he is shown to have great intellect and bravery for a child of seven. Alex protects his parents from two potential attackers in a temple, before inadvertently causing its destruction. It is here that his parents discover the bracelet. When he puts on the Bracelet of Anubis, it reveals to him the path to the pyramid of the Scorpion King. He is captured by Imhotep's followers, and much of the film focuses on the attempts of his parents to rescue him. He has a witty and bratty attitude, but is good-hearted and intelligent far beyond his years, a trait his parents never hesitate to acknowledge. He is able to speak and read Egyptian better than Jonathan, having been taught by Evelyn, and is able to use the Book of the Dead to resurrect her when she is killed by Anck-su-namun.In the third film, Alex had grown into a dashing and curious man, much like his father. He also speaks fluent Chinese. Unknown to his parents, Alex has left college and gone to China on a dig searching for a lost tomb. Alex eventually finds the tomb but is attacked. He unmasks his attacker to reveal a young Chinese woman. She escapes and Alex continues with the excavation of the tomb. His parents arrive unexpectedly in Shanghai and he is forced to explain what he has been doing. During a preview to the exhibition of the Dragon Emperor, the mummy is resurrected and flees the museum. The O'Connells pursue the mummy with the help of Lin, the girl who attacked Alex, and her mother Zi Yuan. In the end, Alex teams up with his father to kill the Dragon Emperor, falling in love with Lin along the way. Although Lin initially rejects his feelings due to her immortality, after she becomes mortal, Alex seems to enter a relationship with her as they are seen together at Jonathan's club.
Jonathan Carnahan
Jonathan Carnahan is Evelyn's older brother. He is a thief of considerable skill with some knowledge in reading Egyptian, but is not very athletic. He is the source of comic relief in the film, through his desire for treasure and irrepressible demeanor. He is less adept at fighting, navigating and negotiating than Rick, therefore is often left behind. He has some skills in marksmanship, often holding his own against mummies when armed with a gun. He has a slight distrust and disapproval of Americans and their wild attitude. Jonathan is also the only person in the crew that was saved from a flesh-eating scarab beetle, after Rick removes it from his arm with his pocket knife. He is also the one who finds the Egyptian key with the map to Hamunaptra hidden inside. During the final battle, he takes control of Imhotep's guards and uses them to kill Anck-su-namun.In the second film, Jonathan has lost his share of the family's new wealth apart from a golden sceptre, which he continues carrying around even after Imhotep is resurrected and they learn about the new threat of the Scorpion King. After his nephew, Alex is captured by the cult of Imhotep to use the Bracelet of Anubis to find the oasis and temple of the Scorpion King, Jonathan assists in Alex's rescue by shooting down some of the cult. Later, after Evelyn is killed by the reincarnated Anck-su-namun, Jonathan faces her in single combat while Alex uses the Book of the Dead to bring his mother back to life. Rick realises that the sceptre Jonathan has been carrying opens up into the Spear of Osiris, which can be used to kill the Scorpion King, but Imhotep almost manages to use the Spear himself before Rick grabs it mid-flight. The family escape the collapsing temple, with Jonathan managing to claim a large diamond on the top of the temple for himself.
By the third film, Jonathan has opened a nightclub in Shanghai named after Imhotep, but becomes caught up in the struggle against the now-reborn Dragon Emperor of China. After the Emperor's forces are defeated by an army of his undead enemies, Jonathan claims the powerful diamond the Eye of Shangri-La and leaves for Peru to open a new nightclub far away from any mummies, although mummies will be discovered later.
Ardeth Bay
Ardeth Bay is the chief of the Medjai, the descendants of the royal bodyguards. The Medjai are the Pharaoh's sacred bodyguards, a group who have watched over and guarded Hamunaptra for centuries. They are sworn to do all in their power to prevent the resurrection of Imhotep. To this end, for over three-thousand years, the Medjai has silently guarded the decrepit city, either killing or scaring off all who found or approached it. Despite opposing the archaeologists as they begin digging, Ardeth Bay becomes an ally when it becomes apparent that they all must work together to stop Imhotep.Bay's first actual appearance in The Mummy was during the opening battle between an outnumbered team of French Foreign Legionnaires and wild Tuareg bandits, which took place in the ruins of Hamunaptra. He paid close watch on one of the soldiers: an American named Rick O'Connell, as he desperately fought the raging Tuareg.
Ardeth was also the narrator for the first parts of the first two films.
In the second film, Bay goes through many trials to stop the release of the Scorpion King, but does not succeed and the Scorpion King is released. He leads his people in a desperate battle against the Anubis Warriors that form the Scorpion King's army. He also possesses a pet falcon named Horus, which he uses to send messages to the other Medjai tribes, but is later shot and dies. He is nearly killed from behind by a cultist, but is saved by Jonathan and heads off to gather the Medjai. He leads the Medjai in the battle against the Army of Anubis and survives.
This character is named after Boris Karloff's character in the 1932 film; in the original, the resurrected Imhotep uses the name for his modern Egyptian alter ego. The name "Ardeth Bay" is an anagram of "death by Ra". Ra was the ancient Egyptian sun god.
Imhotep
Imhotep is the title character of The Mummy and The Mummy Returns. In 1290 BC, Imhotep was High Priest of Osiris under the rule of Pharaoh Seti I. He began an affair with Pharaoh Seti's mistress, Anck-su-namun, and they murdered the Pharaoh when he discovered it. After doing so, they were discovered and Anck-su-namun committed suicide with the intention of having Imhotep resurrect her. He attempted to do so but was captured at Hamunaptra, and was punished by enduring the Curse of Hom Dai, a ritual that involved mummifying Imhotep alive with his sarcophagus filled with carnivorous scarab beetles. As a result of the curse, Imhotep was made an undead fiend with control over sand, other elements, and according to Evelyn the ten plagues of Egypt.Three thousand years later, during an archaeological dig, Imhotep was accidentally unleashed and revived. After regenerating his body using the flesh and organs of the thieves who had been present when the box containing his organs was opened, he set about trying to resurrect Anck-su-namun again, this time using Evelyn for a sacrifice. Ultimately, Imhotep is defeated when his immortality is taken by the powers of the Book of Amun-Ra and he is impaled by a scimitar. As he decays back into his skeletal mummy form and falls into the pool from which he summoned Anck-su-namun's soul, he mutters "Death is only the beginning" in Egyptian, to which Evelyn interprets.
In the second film, Imhotep was resurrected and freed from the resin he was trapped in at the end of the first film. He proceeds to seek out the Bracelet of Anubis, which is the key to finding the lair of the Scorpion King. The Scorpion King is an ancient warrior whose power Imhotep needs as he is still mortal. After finding the bracelet on the arm of Alex O'Connell, Imhotep captures the boy and uses him to find the lair of the Scorpion King.
Once Imhotep reaches the lair, he is turned mortal and the powers granted by the Curse of Hom Dai are greatly diminished. When the Scorpion King responds to Imhotep's summons, Imhotep tricks him into attacking Rick O'Connell. When Rick kills the Scorpion King and sends him and his army to the Underworld, the palace begins to collapse. Rick and Imhotep both nearly fall into a chasm that leads to the underworld, and grab onto the ledge. While Rick is rescued by Evelyn, Anck-su-namun leaves Imhotep to die to save her own life. After this betrayal, Imhotep, since the whole reason for coming back was to be with his lover again, loses the will and reason to live, gives Rick and Evelyn a sad envious smile and willingly casts himself into the pit, thus ending his reign of terror once and for all.
He does not appear in the third film, only mentioned by Rick as "same mummy twice". Ironically, he ends up having a nightclub in Shang-Hai named after him as a tribute by Jonathan Carnahan, who toasts him, saying: "Here's to you, princess. And Imhotep, may the bugger actually stay dead".
When he was regenerated, he gained several powers, which include regeneration, invulnerability, turning himself into sand, and controlling the desert sands. During the first part of the first film, Imhotep displays a strong fear of common house cats. Ardeth Bay and Evy's superior explain that Imhotep will fear them until he is fully regenerated, cats being associated with the Guardians of the Underworld in Egyptian mythology.