11. Major Arnold Toht - Raiders Of The Last Ark (1981)
A classic in the action adventure film genre and one of the highest grossing films of all time, Raiders of the Lost Ark sees Indiana Jones (or Indy to his friends) do battle with evil Nazis. In 1936, Indy enters an Ancient temple in South America to locate a golden idol. The temple is booby trapped and Indy is forced to relinquish the idol to his rival archaeologist René Belloq. When he gets back to the US, he is interviewed by two Army intelligence officers. The basic gist of the matter is that the Nazis are looking for the Ark of the Covenant which they believe will make their armies invincible. Indy is licensed to get it before the Nazis. He travels to Nepal to consult with his mentor Ravenwood - only to find he has died. His daughter Marion, Indy's embittered ex, has the head piece and Indy offers her money for it but then a Gestapo agent Toht and his thugs set fire to Marion's tavern but cannot get the head piece as it burns Toht's hand when he touches it. Marion joins Indy on his mission. They go to Cairo and Sallah, Indy's friend tells them that the Nazis are digging for the well of souls using a head piece modelled on the scar of Toht's hand. The Nazis attempt to abduct Marion and she appears to die in an explosion. Indy and Sallah determine that the Nazis are digging in the wrong place. They use this knowledge to infiltrate the Nazi's dig and recover the ark from the correct location. Unfortunately Belloq and the Nazis are there to try and snatch it from Indy. There is a race to get the ark to safety - those Nazis will never quit! Both Major Arnold Toht and Colonel Dietrich are two hardcore evil Nazis who will do anything to secure the glory and sustenance of Nazi Germany - even if it includes torturing a woman and using white hot pokers for purposes of torture. Toht in particular will risk personal safety to try and achieve his aims. Their downfall though, is their underestimation of the power of the Ark of the Covenant and this eventually nixes their existence. Cartoon villainy renders Toht and Dietrich less egregious than some of the other Nazis on the list. They are just puppets for the Nazi cause and not as scary as other Nazis on the list. Except maybe if you are a young child.