Dr. Otto Wolfgang von Hauptmann

Dr. Otto- Wolfgang von Hauptmann is one of the main characters in the overarching story. Depending on the story and perspective of the writer, he is sometimes the antagonist or reduced to a supporting role (he is never the protagonist). He has a more flushed-out background, but there is still a mystery to his character.

Appearance
Physically, he is a lean person, but still very athletic. He has thick, blonde hair with auburn streaks. Occasionally, he will have facial hair, but it often isn't very well- defined. Although sometimes hidden by his hair or glasses, he has an ugly scar that runs through his right eye- the result of being shot there before becoming a lich.

His normal dress is described as similar to a polo player. Consisting of a sweater over a collared shirt (when not wearing a sweater, they are rolled up to the elbows on both sides), usually with a tie or bow-tie that contrasts the sweater. He wears brown trousers that change type depending on the environment (ex. corduroy to cargo to mountain climbing). He also normally wears a pair of boots that go just below the knee, and similar to the pants, can change depending on the situation.

In some instances, he also wears a dark blue, almost black overcoat that goes down to just above his knees.

Personality
Planty's personality often switches between being pretty friendly, but crazy and between a more moody and melancholic person. Nevertheless, he is consistently calculative, something that has come as a surprise to several people.

Although friendly normally, he is still somewhat socially awkward and can be pretty aggressive and snarky in his use of certain language (calling Jenny's girlfriend a cunt after finding out she's American). He also has a tendency to give advice to people, both good and bad, if they are having trouble in their lives.

If in a depressive state, he tends to be very quiet and melancholic, often insisting upon sleeping or lying down on the couch with a bottle of booze. It's also during this time that he may have emotional outbursts.

Even though he is considered insane, he still follows an honour code and has a moral compass (although sometimes a bit ambiguous).

Biography
Otto was born in January of 1907 to one of the most powerful noble families in Bavaria and a more powerful family in Germany as a whole. His father was Ludwig, King of Bavaria, and his mother is the yet unseen Freya, an ancient guardian. Since it was unknown whether he or Frans was the first-born, both were treated as though they were the heir to the Hauptmannn family. However, as the years went by, it usually wound up being Otto who took up the responsibilities similar to those of a Duke.

During their childhood, both Otto and Frans (and later Harald) took part in elaborate pranks and with them both being identical, it was often hard to tell them apart. It eventually got to a point where it was hard to prove which prank was done by which brother; made even harder by both of them being very good at lying. Yet, their father Ludwig hardly ever punished them severely, instead focusing on lecturing them (did not work on Otto who was fond of lectures; did work on Frans). Although they lived in luxury for their first eleven years, following the end of the Great War, they instead went to Austria to get away from the Communist Revolutionaries that were in Munich and a small contingent in Regensburg.

Ludwig eventually returned to Germany, but Otto decided to stay in Austria. While remaining in Austria, he got a name for himself by implementing some creative and efficient uses of farmlands to help aid with Austria's food shortage issue. This made him quite popular in Innsbruck, where he was living, and later on the scientific wing of the University of Vienna invited him to a conference in the summer of 1924. While at the conference, his intelligence and hospitality convinced the admissions in its entirety to accept him to the University (although he was seventeen, he had graduated secondary school in 1922 at sixteen). While at Vienna, he managed to meet and study under Einstein and Schrodinger and reconnected with his cousin Guinevere. He also played for their football team and became one of the top defenders in Europe.

After Vienna, he managed to get admitted into graduate school at Oxford. While there, he often got mixed up in several clubs for the younger university students, partially due to him looking younger and that his ranking of defender had some misconceptions.

Wehrmacht Years
The first half of the 1930s saw Otto engaged in many civil activities in Austria and Bavaria, though mostly in the former, yet still maintained his German citizenship. However, after 1937, he was coerced into joining the Heer (at the behest of both Franz and Adolf) as a Sonderfuhrer- a "civilian" engineer. After the Anschluss however, he instead decided to continue on his original education path set up by his father before the war, and got his officer's commission shortly after the occupation of Czechoslovakia. By this point, he was an officer in an engineer battalion within the 2nd Light Division (which would later form the 7th Panzer division). His skills became quite useful when traversing through Poland, especially at certain fortifications, where his makeshift explosives served as a distraction for the defenders. With this he was awarded his first Iron Cross.

After the Invasion of Poland, he and the Division were transported to the Western Front and were upgraded to a Panzer Division, although Otto kept his horse since they didn't quite have enough vehicles. This was the first instance where he met Rommel and the two became pretty close during the Invasion, helped by the two knowing Otto's father Ludwig. This is also where Frans offered his bet to Otto of who could reach the rank of Oberst first (of which Frans currently had an advantage). During the Invasion itself, his horse proved quite helpful in being able to go through the woods easier and to scout out enemy fortifications. In a testament to his calculative intuition, he managed to disable a couple of tanks while on horseback, earning him an upgraded Iron Cross. When the 7th reached Cherbourg, both he and Rommel were transferred to the Afrika Korps where their Italian comrades weren't quite having a fun time. This is also where he became reunited with Harald and met his driver Erich Fischer.

The Africa Campaign saw his biggest achievements, among them earning the nickname the "Desert Eagle". Although the reasons for this differ between Otto's recollections and others, the most common point regarding this, is that nothing escaped his gaze, and if he was in battle, he fought like an eagle eating a rodent- calm and calculative. During battles, he often wound up behind enemy lines, planting explosives or scouting for artillery or anti-tank guns, and would cause as much chaos as possible before heading back to his lines. However, some time in 1943, while on a retreat, he was planting explosives and a lone Canadian soldier found him and shot at him. At the same time, he was reaching for his gun and turned around at the precise moment where the bullet instead grazed his eye, nearly killing him, but allowing him to shoot the Canadian and trigger his explosive surprise. However, at the same time, he walked into an artillery barrage aimed at a former position of his comrades, further injuring him. Presumed dead, he had walk back to camp, at times crawling, and nearly dying from his wounds. This is where he was visited by his yet- unseen mother, who saw off Aldric and helped carry him back to his camp.

From this point on to the retreat from Tunisia, he was taken out of combat, but refused to head home, instead working on replacing his eye, with the help of his mother and the camp surgeons. It is implied that during this time, his injuries contributed to his eventual path to insanity and somewhat lack of sympathy. After this incident, he wore an eyepatch over his left eye that also covered his scar so that he wouldn't get dizzy (only out of combat, did he actually wear his glasses). During the retreat, he primarily acted in a commanding role, only actually going into combat once at the end where he rescued the remainder of Harald's panzerjaeger battalion. Finding their airfield, they took a damaged Ju88 and flew it across the Mediterranean, eventually crashing in Rome after an anti-aircraft battery over Malta further damaged the plane.

Hearing of his both his injuries and nearly crashing into St. Peter's Basilica, he was ordered first to Berlin to receive his Knights Cross with Oak Leaves and to train some Hitler Youth children in Bavaria. This was a temporary placement, as by the start of Operation Husky, he was back in Sicily within the 15th Panzergrenadier Division. However, this time, he was within the Panzerjaeger brigade operating a Stug III variant. He proved to be quite capable at harassing invading troops and ambushes, earning him a promotion to Oberst-Leutnant and his final Knights Cross of the War Merit Cross. His tactics were ultimately in vain as they were soon transferred to France following the Battle of Monte Cassino.

Although in France, they were used to similar effect, except this time they were occasionally backed up by Panthers, and on one occasion, a Konigstiger. While on leave, he managed to find himself in the midst of Operation Market Garden and harassed the tank column by stopping and starting his car until the hidden tank of the SS divisions started firing. He also once again, proved his chemical adeptness by making makeshift mines and throwing molotov cocktails at tanks from bushes and lighting fires to trap tanks. For this, he received his Knights Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords medal- the final medal he accepted. Later on, during the Battle of the Bulge, while on a scouting mission, he ran into a black Hellcat battalion and had a friendly chat with them, surprising both the battalion and himself. Eventually during the offensive, he allowed them to escape a pincer maneuver that was planned for the entire division.

After the defeat at the Bulge, Otto and his men went right back to their old ways of conducting their retreats. That was until they were on the shores of the Rhine river, wherein he gave his battalion the option of retreating with the rest of the Division, or staying with him to surrender, but disguised as a last stand. When the Canadians reached the river, Otto and his men blew the bridge and stood there waiting, but they and the Canadians were assailed by a daemonic force summoned by Hydra. Realising they were going to both be torn to shreds, they banded together to fight them off. In the end, both took heavy casualties, and Otto once again was nearly killed, but managed to mortally wound the leader as he teleported away. After this, the remnants allowed themselves to be captured by the remaining Canadian forces, grateful for their assistance.

Unknown to Otto, the leader of the daemonic force was of close kin to a powerful angel, who took it upon himself to fuck up Otto's life. When Otto requested to send mail to Guin telling her to head west for the Americans, the Angel kidnapped her on her way to the American lines and held her essence prisoner in his realm, leaving her physical body in the

MI6 and Double Agent
Following the end of the second world war, Otto was first called up as a witness at the Nuremberg Trials and the following Doctor's Trial. For this he was promised asylum and presumably a pardon. Although he was offered a job opportunity at MI6, he initially declined it, believing that at least western Germany would be reinstated with a temporary government. However, a few incidents came to pass regarding highly secretive information about Otto's Wunderwaffen forced particularly Anthony to negotiate with him. Naturally, Otto used the situation to his advantage and wound up not only working for MI6, but also securing his independence as well as his personal cover story.

His first few jobs in the 40s involved sneaking in and out of Berlin, which wasn't particularly interesting. So he took up finding the men he felt responsible for his wife's current ailments. Eventually he narrowed it down to the folks responsible and dealt with them accordingly. MI6 was both impressed and shocked at how he found them with very little information and how he was able t do it inconspicuously (he was able to prove it as well). He was later charged with dealing with prior Nazi war criminals. It was here that he was recruited by the predecessors to the BND and using its resources in conjunction with his intellect, located several and dealt with them depending on how he thought of them.

His greater autonomy allowed him great freedom, at the cost however, of having a bodyguard in the form of Anthony. Anthony, unlike Paul and to an extent Argyle, was very much hands off, although taking his job very seriously. Otto's first few missions however, weren't very dramatic since the agency was unwilling to potentially start something with the Russians with their troops in occupation zones. However, after 1956, with the creation of West Germany, his missions started getting a lot more interesting, particularly the sabotage missions with the newly-founded BND.

A few incidents in the 1960s caused him to take part in more illicit activities. Chief of which being arms dealing and smuggling, particularly in Thailand and Indochina. He managed to procure numerous friendships with "less valourous or moral people" and started a shell company. He also took up money laundering for several people and became an accountant for a mafia in San Francisco. (At this time, numerous stories involve him as the villain of the story).

Future and Post- Regeneration
Most of the information regarding Otto in the future consists mostly of references made by other characters or in adventures with Klara in his time machine. However, there is one short-story that encompasses another aspect of his immortality- that being his regeneration. The rough time period of this story is dubious, made even more so by the fact that he winds up in the past after falling out of GUINN into the time vortex. [NOTE: this isn't entirely canon, as it takes place in the future].

Immortality
Otto's immortality is mysterious and not quite set in stone. However, from information given from Aldric and others, it is implied that he got his powers from being thrown off into the Pool of Death by an angel (it is believed to be either Aldric or Lucifer), however, due to one of his machinations and planning, he is able to resist the power of the Pool and managed to swim ashore. Because of this and his built up internal rage, he is able to subdue the angel after a prolonged fight. However, it is not until his return to the Mortal Realm that he realises he truly is immortal and switches between ecstatic and angry.

Many at first, believe that he is a vampire or a lich, however the former is inaccurate. In reference to the latter, he shares some qualities with liches, however, when life magic has been used, he does not take damage, and isn't effected negatively or positively by Holy Water.

Additionally, it is referenced that he is able to regenerate into a completely different body if he is about to truly die- something Otto has avoided using, even in the rare occasions where he truly is dying. Otto has confirmed to have used it before, and in another future story he uses it again, to much different results.

Relationships
Before the Second World War, Planty often makes referances and/or alludes to a past relationship or multiple past relationships. Of the confirmed three total relationships (two being in the past and outside of the main story), one of them was a marital relationship. His first relationship was his cousin, and long time friend Guinevere Muller. She bore three children- two boys and one girl- however only the girl is named. Supposedly all three children died during the Battle of Berlin, but Otto occasionally questions this (at least in his head) when the subject is brought up. After WW2, Guin suffered heavily from PTSD and died in the 1970s after an incident with the KGB.

His second relationship is one that is not covered in much detail, but is often referanced by GWEN or Akio. Her name is unknown and the reason the relationship ceased is also unknown, however Planty does state that it did indeed feel legitimate for both parties.

The final relationship is with Klara Bernadotte, which is featured in the main story arc. Although they are married, it is often referanced that Klara will have sex with other people (usually females) when Planty is not around, however he doesn't seem to care. Klara does often times manage to calm Planty down and does prevent him from doing malicious things when under the influence of his supposed "demon" phase.

Amongst the other characters, he does show to have somewhat decent people/social skills even though he tends to have a niahilistic perspective on life and does occasionally make remarks about other people's intelligence (or lack thereof). For the most part, he treats people with a certain degree of respect and compassion, however if one person wittles down his patience, it will be known; he also tends to forgive, but always remembers usually coming back to roast said person later on.

PAULUS

Although Paul is often seen as an overworked assistant or secretary, Planty does make it clear that it does not work that way at all. Paul takes up a job for Planty after moving the US to make a "legal" source of income while doing intelligence work and finding jobs for the Merciless group. Klara does back that Paul is an extreme workaholic and his lack of social skills (evident by most of his friends are living in Britain still) causes him to stay in his room and do the group's paperwork and taxes. It has also been made clear that when Erich was seen as an assistant, Erich did only what Planty asked him to do, but did not work overnight and for long hours without breaks doing it.

It is also revealed that Otto got him interested heavily in videogames such as World of Warcraft and invites Paul to join him and he often does join Klara during his "breaktimes".

GUINEVERE

Even though Otto rarely talks about his first wife, there is information regarding her that he mentions in previous adventures of his.
 * He had an intense romantic relationship with her, it is similar to the relationship felt between Otto and Klara in the modern arc.
 * She was seven years his elder and during their younger years, they helped tutor each other. Otto helped with chemistry and math whereas she helped him with more socially-applicable topics.
 * She "was a long-time crush of his"
 * Although originally believed to be a family friend, she was actually his first cousin (this is played for jokes on numerous occasions).

Weapons of Choice
Besides intellect and his ability to scan people for supposed weaknesses, he tends to use several older model weapons. These include:

His red Swiss Army pocketknife with many functions and uses (at times he has used various other knives included a buttefly knife, a small bayonet, and a puukko);

His P08 Luger, which happens to be a Swiss model;

His Kar98k1, a modified version of the Kar98k which he tends to use for ceremonial and hunting purposes;

An MP40, which he usually uses if he is in close-quarters combat;

The HECATE, a modified version of the French anti-material weapon HECATE II;

Intimidation and/or pyschological warfare- although adverse to beating information out of people, he will use other mental means to get what he needs.

Abilities
HYPER-INTELLIGENCE: he is able to precisely calculate how events will unfold given a surprisingly small amount of information; although the more information the better. He has often used personal information he's gathered on the spot to get the upper-hand in many situations as well as plan fights and threats. He is also able to improvise and adapt very effectively.

PRECISE MARKSMAN: on numerous occasions he has shown that he eliminate targets at more-than-optimal range without the use of a scope (also given that there is some kind of rangefinder).

NECROMANCY: although his total power in this field are unknown, he occasionally uses his powers to get out of sticky situations or to give him more equal-footing when engaging more powerful opponents. It is also theorized that he used his necromancy in order to save Klara and Paul in previous events.

REGENERATION: being akin to a lich, he is able to regenerate and heal most wounds. This however, does not apply to wounds received prior to becoming immortal (hence why his eyesight is still poor and scar still remains). Additionally, regeneration requires a lot of energy in order to do so (hence why radiation is so potent) and why some wounds take longer to heal.

Quotes
"Sometimes I wonder if the world is truly better off without the Soviets. Now that's a fucking shame."

"If this is what the world had in store, I'd never become a lich."

Trivia

 * Hauptmann in German is the Heer rank equivalent of Captain in English- speaking Armies
 * Otto actually has three additional middle names that he even he cannot remember
 * Character is partially inspired by Sherlock Holmes and Hannibal
 * He got a skin infection after screwing with Guin in the Danube (somewhat played for jokes)