Lao Che is a Chinese mobster and boss of the Green Dragon Triads who was the main antagonist or villain of the prologue of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. He is a supporting villain in general in the movie.
Biography[]
Lao Che was born March 16, 1885/115 BH in Shanghai, China. He became one of China’s most notorious gangsters by using his sharp mind and ruthlessness in order to work his way up from a petty thief and loan shark to a true criminal mastermind. He made a fortune selling heroin, coffee, British tea, washing machines and fully automatic weapons. He owned several nightclubs, bars, brothels, restaurants, laundromats, dry cleaners and casinos including Club Obi Wan, dealing with gambling and prostitution.
Despite the dark nature of his businesses, Lao kept several reporters on his payroll to pose as a legal entrepreneur. In 1924, however, Lao was responsible for the murder of a barber who refused to pay protection money for his barbershop. Lao personally killed the barber rather than letting his henchmen do the work.
In 1935/65 BH, Lao hired an American archaeologist and professor named Indiana Jones to recover the remains of Nurhachi in exchange for a diamond known as the Eye of the Peacock. A week later, Indiana Jones met back up with Lao at his Obi Wan nightclub to complete the trade as originally planned. After examining the ashes with his sons, Lao double-crossed Jones by poisoning him then offered the antidote only in exchange for both valuables. Desperate for a bargaining chip, Jones grabbed Lao's trophy girlfriend — Club Obi Wan singer Willie Scott — as a hostage. The situation turned violent when the other Green Dragon Triads such as Lao Kan, Chen and Wu Han shot at Indiana Jones, causing all of the patrons to run like crazy. Jones retaliated by shooting Wu Han in the chest. Chen died in pursuit of Indy and Willie, who were given a free ride by a ten-year-old Chinese boy named Short Round when his car was totalled, caught on fire, and exploded.
Lao Che and his son named Lao Kan arrived at the airstrip shortly after Indy, Short Round and Willie escaped there. Little did they know, the airline was also owned by Lao Che, thus Lao didn't do much in his efforts to stop them from getting on the plane. While on the plane, Lao ordered his pilots to crash the plane into the mountain, killing them all, but this plan failed.
Death[]
On April 15, 1957, Lao Che died from tuberculosis and his criminal empire was succeeded by his youngest son, Lao Kan, who shortly after, moved his organisation to the United States of America as the Chinese Communist Party lead by Mao Zedong, started to crack down on organised crime to install his dictatorship.