5. Ditching Short Round
Shorty was an invaluable asset to Indy. We know that Temple of Doom is a prequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark and, without Shorty, Indy wouldn't have been around to go on further adventures. Proving to be an extremely capable assistant despite his young age, Short Round is pretty much the hero of Temple of Doom. Shorty is constantly saving Indy's hide throughout the entire film. Who manages to elude Chinese gangsters in a high-speed chase through the streets of Shanghai? Short Round. Who breaks Indy out of his brainwashed state from the Black Sleep of Kali? Short Round. Who saves Indy from the androgynous prince who is using a voodoo doll to subdue Indy during their escape? Short Round. Who discovers a way out of the mines underneath Pankot Palace? Short Round. Without Shorty, The Temple of Doom would've surely been Indy's last adventure. So what happened to him? While the expanded Indiana Jones universe offers some explanation, Short Round's absence is never directly addressed in any of the subsequent films, a snub that is unforgivable given his crucial role.