Best Treasure Hunters

Sure, Indy was actually a professor of archaeology at Marshall College, but you have to realize that his adventures weren't prompted by a burning desire to learn more about long-gone civilizations. No, Dr. Jones was in it for the thrills and the scrilla, with a side order of pissing off Nazis. The first time we meet the dude, he's snatching a golden idol from a tomb full of deathtraps, which is the archetypal treasure hunter activity. What does he do with all the cash? He doesn't buy a new hat, that's for sure.

Don't call Final Fantasy VI's Locke Cole a thief - he's a treasure hunter, God dammit. The lovable rogue is one of the first characters you get in your party in Square's epic SNES role-playing game, and once you level up his stealing abilities, he can swipe great items from the game's enemies. In one of the game's best bits, he gets his own sidequest that has him infiltrating an enemy-occupied town by stealing clothes from people and using them to disguise himself.

It's funny how many DC superheroes got their powers as a result of raiding a tomb. All kinds of ancient artifacts lurk underground, with a propensity to change unwitting finders into metahumans. One of the first examples was Carter Hall, the man who would become Hawkman. On an archaeological expedition, Hall discovered a knife that brought back memories of his past life as Prince Khufu, an Egyptian royal who was poisoned by his rival Hath-Set. He also discovered a mysterious alien metal that he used to craft his gravity-defying belt and wings.

Late-90s syndicated series Relic Hunter was notable for being Tia Carrere's last grab at stardom. The Wayne's World fox was one of the hottest babes of the decade and, when the decision came down the pike to give her a weekly drama vaguely inspired by the Tomb Raider games, it seemed like a no-brainer. As archaeologist Sydney Fox, Carrere traveled the world recovering a crazy variety of historical artifacts, from Buddha's prayer bowl to Pandora's box.