He's one of the most iconic movie heroes of all time, but one fan theory suggests that Raiders of the Lost Ark. Indy's supernatural treasure-hunting exploits have been entertaining audiences for decades, with his many adventures seeing him locate mythical objects of incredible power: the Holy Grail, Sankara stones, and even the Ark of Covenant. The latter is the focus of 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones' first cinematic outing that sees him pitted against the Nazis in a race to find the Ark.
In the 1930s-set globe-spanning caper, the adventurer finds himself not only up against the forces of Hitler; Raiders of the Lost Ark also sees Indiana Jones fight swordsmen and contend with ancient traps before reaching the biblical relic. Despite it is often suggested that Indiana Jones actually did very little to affect the plot of Raiders of the Lost Ark, there are actually a number of scenes in which the archaeologist-adventurer directly foils the plans of the Nazis. Through these actions, Indiana Jones actually has an impact on much more than just the plot of the film.
One fan theory, shared to Indiana Jones knew not to look at the Ark. However, Indiana Jones'accidental enabling of World War II actually stems from a scene earlier in the film.
After escaping from the Well of Souls, Indiana Jones catches up to the Nazis and the Ark, and destroys the plane they intended to use to transport it to Berlin. This actually forms the basis of the theory, as it's perhaps the main way in which Indy stops the Nazis from enacting their original plan. Hypothetically, had Indiana Jones not interfered, the Nazis would have transported the Ark back to Hitler, who would have opened it surrounded by some (or all) of his advisers, melting the faces of all the Third Reich's major players in one fell swoop.
While Raiders of the Lost Ark's face-melting was instantly iconic, it prevented the Nazis from taking the lethal power of the Ark back to Berlin - where it likely would have killed Hitler before he could start World War II in 1939. However, it's worth mentioning that Indiana Jones' intention was to stop the Nazis from being able to harness the Ark's power, and ultimately, he achieved that (albeit not in the way he'd hoped). While he may not have directly caused World War II, he found himself in a situation where he could have prevented it from happening entirely. Ultimately, it was chance that stopped Hitler from being killed by the Ark within Raiders of the Lost Ark's story - chance, and a little of Indiana Jones' meddling.
