Jake McCoy franchise (Napoleon's World)

The Jake McCoy franchise is a series of films all starring Pierce Brosnan as the titular character, Professor Jacob "Jake" McCoy, an archaeology professor at Oxford University in the late 1930's England who is in fact also a daring adventurer known for traveling the world to hunt down renowned and mysterious artifacts. The character first appeared in the 1985 film Raiders of the Lost Ark, and was followed by five sequels, all of which have starred Brosnan in the lead role.

The character of McCoy is a throwback to pulp heroes from the 1930's and 40's, and his daring individuality often comes in stark contrast to the post-Irish War setting in Socialist England. Producer George Lucas, of Star Wars fame, chose not to set McCoy in the Anarchy due to its negative perceptions and the "monopoly that fellow with a shotgun has on that time period." McCoy has numerous trademarks beyond his wisdom of ancient artifacts - his fedora, bullwhip, humorous charm and fear of snakes.

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1986)
The first film the series introduced the world to Jake McCoy, an archaeologist in 1939 tasked with retrieving the fabled Ark of the Covenant of Biblical myth. Members of the Oxford staff suggest that the French Empire, which seeks to recover the Ark first, would use the Ark as a weapon to destroy England while it is still weak in the aftermath of the Irish War. McCoy travels the world and eventually arrives in Egypt, its rumored resting spot, where he is assisted by Sallah and Marion Carpenter in retrieving the Ark, which is soon thereafter captured by Commander Streich of the French Grand Army. McCoy's attempts to recapture the Ark are unsuccessful and he too is captured by the French; when Streich and fellow officers open the Ark in a ceremony in the Algerian desert, however, the spirits inside the Ark kill everyone except McCoy and Marion, who are looking away, and the Ark is filed away secretly at an unknown location containing thousands of similar boxes.

Jake McCoy and the Temple of Doom (1989)
This prequel finds McCoy in 1936 in the Indian nation of Gangestan, opening with him avoiding capture by French spies in Singapore who believe he is trying to spy on the Empire during the Irish Wars. He eventually arrives in India, where he does battle with a local cult in order to retrieve three precious stones, aided by Chinese sidekick Short Round and an American lounge singer named Jasmine.