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I am Kahmunrah, half-god, once removed on my mother's side. Rightful ruler of Egypt and future ruler of... everything else.
~ Kahmunrah
I am Kahmunrah, great king of great kings, and from the darkest depths of ancient history, I have come BACK TO LIFE!
~ Kahmunrah

Kahmunrah is the main antagonist of the 2009 comedy film Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and its 2022 Disney+ animated sequel Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again.

He is Ahkmenrah's older brother, who comes back to life and tries to use Ahkmenrah's magic Golden Tablet to take over the world. He is also the archenemy of Larry Daley, who thwarted his plans.

He was portrayed by Hank Azaria, who also played Gargamel in Smurfs and Smurfs 2, and voiced Dexter Colt, Snake Jailbird, and Frank Grimes, Jr. in The Simpsons, Venom in Spider-Man: The Animated Series and Carlos in Hop.

Personality[]

Being the first son, Kahmunrah intensely resents being denied the throne in favor of Ahkmenrah, calling him "baby brother the favorite". He kept trying to steal the powerful Golden Tablet and use its power to open the Gates of the Underworld and bring forth the Horus Soldiers army, with which he could take over the world, but never to avail. (Ahkmenrah jokingly states that he wanted to impress their mother.)

Kahmunrah is haughty, self-centered, entitled and prideful, loves lording over others, and resents when things do not work the way he wants to.

Although he is regal and courteous, with a witty sense of humor, he is quite theatrical, has a grandiose demeanor, and tends to raise his voice in an exaggerated fashion during arguments and to comically overreact to perceived slights.

While he does develop a grudging respect for him, he is greatly irked by Larry's absolute lack of deference. Though mostly a comedic character, he remains a ruthless and power-hungry conqueror, able to take over the entire Smithsonian Museum, and a very strong and skilled swordsman.

History[]

The story begins when Larry, now a wealthy inventor, learns that most of the exhibits of the American Museum of Natural History whom he befriended in the first film are being sent to the Smithsonian Institution to be replaced by holograms. He goes there to say goodbye to them and learns from Ahkmenrah that the Golden Tablet which makes the exhibits come to life is to stay with him in the Museum.

Alas, Dexter the monkey stole the tablet and brought it with him at Washington, causing all the exhibits there to come to life, including Kahmunrah's wax statue, who spends the night trying to take the Tablet from its crate not to avail.

The tiny cowboy figure Jedediah manages to phone Larry to warn him, and Larry rushes there to get back the Tablet, guided on the phone by his son Nick.

Larry sneaks into the Smithsonian and tricks the night guard into calling sick, taking his keys and flashlight. He gets the Tablet from Dexter, but stumbles upon Kahmunrah, who has him surrounded by statues of his soldiers, demanding the Golden Tablet. Having seen too much during his time as a night guard, Larry is much less impressed as Kahmunrah would like to and talks back.

Larry hands over the Tablet and tricks Kahmunrah into opening a crate containing a giant Cephalopod, stating that it contains a magic cube that obliterates anything standing in one's way. As Kahmunrah and his soldiers are being beat up, Larry takes back the Tablet and flees, pursued by his foe's guards.

During the ensuing chase, Larry befriends the wax statues of General Custer and Amelia Earhart, who help him get rid of Kahmunrah’s soldiers. Meanwhile, the evil pharaoh ransacks all the treasures of the museum, which he intends to turn into his new palace, before recruiting the wax statues of Al Capone and his gangsters, Ivan the Terrible and his soldiers, and Napoleon Bonaparte and his imperial guard.

Oscar the Grouch and Darth Vader himself offer their services as well, but the evil pharaoh (wearing a bathing robe) dismisses the former for not being evil, and the latter for not having the force powers of the original (and missing the reference), making his hand gestures sillier than threatening.

After an epic chase through the entire museum and inside the paintings of the nearby National Gallery of Art, Larry and Amelia are captured and brought before Kahmunrah. The evil pharaoh uses the Tablet as a keypad to open the Gates of the Underworld, but luckily the combination was changed. Kahmunrah captures Jedediah, who tried to sneak on him, and locks him into a filling hourglass, ordering Larry to find the new combination for him before sunrise, lest Jedediah dies smothered in sand.

Later, Kahmunrah sees Larry run of with the Tablet to get help from a window, and sends his men after him. Larry, who got the combination from Einstein bobbleheads, eventually returns and starts arguing with Kahmunrah about who will give what the other wants first, with Kahmunrah comically flipping out whenever Larry reaches out for the hourglass. Unfortunately, Al Capone barges in with an Einstein bobblehead captive, revealing the combination he extorted from it.

Horus Soldiers

The Horus Soldiers of the Underworld

Kahmunrah then summons a battalion of Horus Warriors from the Underworld, but the animated giant statue of Abraham Lincoln's memorial (whom Larry befriended earlier) appears, guided by the tiny centurion figure Octavius. Lincoln easily defeats the Horus Soldiers and frightens them back into the Underworld.

As Kahmunrah orders that Larry be killed, Amelia leads every exhibit in battle against Kahmunrah and his armies, who get overwhelmed. Larry tricks Ivan, Napoleon and Al Capone (who plan on betraying him now that he is no longer in position to lead them) into fighting for the leader position.

Enraged by his failure, Kahmunrah attacks Larry with a khopesh (an Egyptian sickle-shaped sword), but Larry holds his own wielding his flashlight and manages to best his foe.

Final Battle at the Smithsonian

Kahmunrah vs. Larry

Kahmunrah asks Larry "What are you?" to which he answers "I'm the night guard"; before pushing him into the Gates of the Underworld, which Amelia re-opened during the battle, never to be seen again.

Larry later donates a huge sum of money to the American Museum of Natural History to restore it and return the exhibits there, and uses the Tablet's power to have the living exhibits interact with the visitors, under the pretense of being animatronics/actors.

Video Game adaptation[]

The video game follows the story but add a few details. There, Kahmunrah shatters the Golden Tablet and give its fragments to his men, to prevent Larry from using it, forcing him to take all of them back. Also, Larry will run into Cleopatra’s wax statue and must get her the fabled Hope Diamond to learn a secret about the Tablet.

Kahmanrah Game

Kahmunrah in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (video game).

Near the end, Larry and Amelia must fight some Horus Soldiers, by tricking them into blasting each other with fireballs or by getting them struck by lightning. They must also use Benjamin Franklin’s kite to charge the Tablet with lightning before using it to animate Lincoln's statue.

After Lincoln defeats the Horus Soldiers, Kahmunrah uses the mightiest fragment of the Tablet's power to fight Larry. He levitates and blasts energy balls at Larry, surrounded by two giant Horus Soldiers who blast fireballs. Larry must unlock the obelisks that fuel Kahmunrah’s power and align the pictures on them, while using them as a shield against his foes’ blasts. Each activated Obelisk will blast the evil pharaoh with a powerful beam; first one, then two, then three, until he can take the fragment and throw his foe into the Underworld.

Trivia[]

  • In an original draft of Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian had Kahmunrah admitting to Larry that he himself personally killed his brother Ahkmenrah for the tablet and for power.
  • Hank Azaria filmed test scenes (some of which are on the DVD) of his character Kahmunrah with various accents including American Southerner (from Alabama) and English Cockney, before settling on a Boris Karloff impersonation.
  • Unlike Ahkmenrah, who transforms back into a corpse when the Sun rises, Kahmunrah doesn't appear to change, which may imply that he was simply a wax replica of himself.
  • Kahmunrah is the only Night at the Museum main antagonist who does not redeem themselves in the end as Cecil Fredericks is redeemed in Night at the Museum 3, having no more interest in the tablet, and Sir Lancelot redeems himself when he realizes his mistake.

Navigation[]

           Night at the Museum Logo Villains

Museum of Natural History
Cecil Fredericks | Gus & Reginald

Smithsonian Institution
Kahmunrah | Al Capone | Ivan the Terrible | Napoleon Bonaparte

British Museum
Sir Lancelot | Xiangliu

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