| Imhotep | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Information | |
| Aliases | Ardath Bey, The Mummy |
| Gender | Male |
| Family | None so far |
| Nationality | Ancient Egyptian |
The Mummy (1932)
An Ancient Egyptian priest called Imhotep (Boris Karloff) is revived when an archaeological expedition led by Sir Joseph Whemple (Arthur Byron) finds Imhotep's mummy. Despite the warning of his friend Dr. Muller (Edward Van Sloan), Sir Joseph's assistant Ralph Norton (Bramwell Fletcher), recklessly reads aloud an ancient life-giving spell. Imhotep escapes from the archaeologists, taking the Scroll of Thoth, and prowls Cairo seeking the reincarnation of the soul of his ancient lover, Princess Ankh-es-en-amon.
Ten years later, Imhotep calls upon Sir Joseph's son Frank (David Manners) and Prof. Pearson (Leonard Mudie), claims that his name is Ardath Bey, a modern Egyptian (also portrayed by Karloff), and shows them where to dig to find Ankh-es-en-amon's tomb. The archaeologists find the tomb, give the mummy and the treasures to the Cairo Museum, then thank Ardath Bey for giving them the information of where to find the tomb.
Imhotep was once mummified alive for attempting to resurrect her, and, upon finding Helen Grosvenor (Zita Johann), a woman bearing a striking resemblance to the Princess, Ardath attempts to kill her, with the intention of mummifying her corpse, bringing it back to life using the ancient scroll, and making her his bride. In the end, she is saved when she remembers her past life and prays to the goddess Isis to save her. The prayer causes a ray from the statue of Isis to burst out raising its arm to point a glowing ankh at Imhotep. He ages and crumbles into dust. Frank then calls Helen back to the world of the living as the Scroll of Thoth burns.
The Mummy (1999)
Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo) is the main antagonist of the film. In 1290 BC., Imhotep was High priest under the rule of King Seti I. He began an affair with King Seti's mistress, Anck-Su-Namun, and they murder the King when he discovers it. After doing so, they are discovered and Anck-Su-Namun commits suicide with the intention of having Imhotep resurrect her. He attempts to do so but is captured at Hamunaptra, and is 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 and other elements. 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 opened a cursed chest, 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 the 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 Ba, Imhotep vows to return to have his revenge.
The Mummy Returns
Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo) returns as the movie's main antagonist. Having been resurrected and freed from the resin he had been trapped in at the end of the first movie by a group of cultists and Anck-Su-Namun, Imhotep proceeds to seek out the Bracelet of Anubis, which was the key to finding the lair of the Scorpion King, an ancient warrior who's 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 robbed of his telekinesis, immortality, and other powers granted by the Curse of Hom Dai by Anubis. 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 apparently leads to the underworld, and grab onto the ledge. While Rick is rescued by Evelyn, Anck-Su-Namun leaves Imhotep to die while he begs for her assistance. After this betrayal, Imhotep loses the will to live and willingly casts himself into the pit.
Characteristics.
In the original film of 1932, Imhotep was the High Priest of Karnak, son of Pharoah Amenophis III. Prior to his time as an immortal mummy, he held office in Ancient Egypt as High Priest performing sacrifices and overseeing funeral rites. He was in love with the Princess Ankh-es-en Amon, and after she died, Imhotep stayed in the crypt to resuscitate her with the parchment of Thoth, but in the middle of the ritual they discovered him, he was judged by his father the pharaoh to " A fate worse than death". Imhotep was mummified alive inside an unnamed sarcophagus and taken to a remote area. After being accidentally resurrected by an archaeologist in an excavation of the British Museum in Egypt in the summer of 1921, Imhotep still remembers Ankh-es-en-Amon and his desire to resuscitate her. He discovers Ankh-es-en-Amon reincarnated in the actual body of a young woman named Helen. In his time as an immortal, Imhotep became a cold and serious personality. He was a tall, thin man, dressed in a white tunic and a leopard skin in his years as a priest in Ancient Egypt 3700 years ago. In his exhumation, Imhotep's mummy was incredibly well preserved, with dry, gray skin with old bandages and a beetle ring, and Dr Edward Muller said he was buried alive. Taking on the most human appearance for 11 years, Imhotep had features of his previous mortal form, but with a thinner, decrepit, towering and gloomy appearance.
In the 90s remake version of Imhotep was the High Priest of Osiris, and confident of Seti I in 1290 b.C condemned to be mummified in life with carnivorous scarabs and cursed for murdering Pharaoh Seti I and trying to resurrect Anck Su Namun. His personality in the remake is serious, evil and sadistic. His appearance here is that of a tall, bald, strong man with antique black clothes. He awakens by the read of the Book of the Dead, and he wakes up bringing a powerful curse. However his main goal was to bring back his lover Anck-Su-Namun
Powers, abilities and weaknesses.
In the original 1932 movie, Imhotep was a very powerful mummy, an High Priest and a sorcerer. Imhotep had powers of supernatural magic such as hypnotizing people, telepathy, enslaving descendants of inhabitants of Ancient Egypt, causing heart attacks with magic, unholy powers and immortality. Imhotep is invulnerable, he affirms to Dr Muller that he can not hurt him, Dr Muller impotently confirms that the power of the mummy is too strong and in effect can not hurt him. His only weaknesses were that his powers did not work on people who had some mystical Egyptian amulet of protection (like an Ankh or the image of the goddess Isis) against dark forces their potential victims were immune to his spell of infarction. To kill the mummy it was necessary for Helen to pray to Isis to save her. The goddess burned the scroll of Thoth thus breaking the spell and Imhotep returned to be a deanimated skeleton mummy sand. Imhotep was spoke languages, fluent in his native Egyptian language, and English.
In the remake and its sequel Imhotep had vast divine and unholy magic supernatural powers, such as a superhuman strength, regeneration, immortality, invulnerability, controlling sand, wind and water, invoking a brutal sandstorm or tsunami, telekinesis, hypnosis, resurrecting the dead, the Ten Plagues of Egypt, hypnotizing an entire city by bringing them his slaves, invoke carnivorous scarabs, absorb the life, organs and fluids of his victims to regenerate his decayed body into a human form. In the first movie is mentioned that they must stop it before the Tenth Plague, because his curse seizes and destroy all the Earth. The only way to stop him was to read the ancient golden book of Amun Ra, which took away his immortality and powers leaving him vulnerable. In his mummified state he was afraid of cats, because they are guardians of the underworld.
Trivia
- The real Imhotep was a wise architect, priest, medic and minister who was never executed, on the contrary, he was considered the god of medicine and built the pyramid of Saqqara, the first pyramid of Egypt.