Belloq's motivations?

Did he actually plan to give the Ark back to the Nazis once he was "finished with it", or did he intend to use to take over the world himself, or what?

Hmm...I don't think he had any pretensions to world domination, but it does seem a little unlikely that he'd want to give it back. With that said, however skewed, he did have some sense of honor, and apart from speaking to God, and being the one to find it, I don't think he really wanted anything other than that. He probably would have passed it on.

I believe he would have given it back. He saw it as something to further his career, to make him famous. I don't really think that he cared what the Nazi's did with it. When he says "Jones, do you realize what the ark is? It's a transmitter. A radio for speaking to God" (or something along those lines) I don't think he views it something that will bring him closer to God or world domination, but rather something that will bring him fortune and glory. To be able to speak to God would make him quite famous, and probably be very lucrative. Plus, he must have been getting something from the Nazi's as well, otherwise he wouldn't have been on the expedition in the first place.

Niteshade007 said:

I believe he would have given it back. He saw it as something to further his career, to make him famous. I don't really think that he cared what the Nazi's did with it. When he says "Jones, do you realize what the ark is? It's a transmitter. A radio for speaking to God" (or something along those lines) I don't think he views it something that will bring him closer to God or world domination, but rather something that will bring him fortune and glory. To be able to speak to God would make him quite famous, and probably be very lucrative. Plus, he must have been getting something from the Nazi's as well, otherwise he wouldn't have been on the expedition in the first place.

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Yes, but surely he would know that giving it to the Nazis would be a bad idea.

oki9Sedo said:

Yes, but surely he would know that giving it to the Nazis would be a bad idea.

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He didn't seem to be that much of a patriot. Also, he thought the Ark was more of a transmitter than anything; he probably felt the Nazis were misinterpreting its actual utility and that there was no real risk.

I always thought that Belloq was of the opinion that after having opened and "tried out" the ark mere mundane questions such as whether to send it off to Germany and the Nazis and all other worldly things wouldnt matter anymore (to him)...in what way that could be I dont know; maybe he thought that he as "High Priest" would either erase those present on the island or that he would actually attain some form of mystical union with God or enter in a dialogue with the Allmighty and thereby cease to be a mere human being. Anyway his highest motivation there was not "greed" etc but thrist for knowledge and (power)...he was not such a one-dimensional character after all.

But whichever the case, I think that his suggestion to first try it out was not his honest opinion but rather an ulterior motive, so that this suggestion was an "excuse" in order to be in charge himself: if he had first brought it to Berlin it would have been likely that some other specialists from the "government" (like in the US) or the SS or military or whoever would have taken it out of his hand. On the island on the other hand he alone was in control of the ritual (or so he thought...)

When Indiana and Belloq are in the bar;

Indy:What about the führer? I thought he was waiting to take possession?
Belloq:All in good time...when I'm finished with it.

So,I think he was planning on handing it over to the nazis,but only when Belloqs intentions were fulfilled,and I think that he knew something more than the nazis did...

He figured the Ark would make him God-like, an untouchable deity that the Nazis would crumble beneath. If this didn't happen upon opening the Ark, then he would have figured it was just a historical relic of a superstitious people and would have handed it over to the Nazis (Plan B). Win-win for Rene Belloq, except he forgot about one possible result of opening the Ark...

He came off as cocky person. I think he thought of the power he could gain. That was his sole disire. To be one of the greats in his field. At least from my point of view.

Well he seemed pretty serious when he snatched that machine gun from the Nazi and yelled and Dietrich and the others to back off...I think that after the ceremony, he would've produced the machine gun from under his robe, gunned down Dietrich, Toht and the other soldiers, kiss Marion on the cheek, slap Indy upside the face and take the Ark off to France!