The German

The German
Portrayed by	Ken Lally
First appearance	Berlin, Part 1
In-story stats
Known ability	Magnetism
Formal name	Unknown
Gender
Home	Munich, Germany
Residence	The German's apartment
Occupation	Criminal
Other relatives	Karl Lander (cousin)

"The German" is a ruthless criminal and expert thief of German ethnicity. He is an evolved human with the ability to manipulate magnetic energy. The German was eventually hunted down by The Company and, despite the efforts of Evs Dropper to help him, The German was captured and sent to Level 5, but not before killing Agent Devin Patterson. He is among the Level 5 escapees.

Character History

Graphic Novel:Berlin, Part 1

The German, while at a bank in Berlin, proceeds to rob it and murder the guards. In the process, he is approached by Evs Dropper, who warns him of Company Agents that are in the city to capture him. To this end, Evs claims to have fed them false information about his plans, and then hands him pictures of Gael Cruz, Devin Patterson and Bianca Karina. The German assures Evs it won't be a problem killing them; he will make them crumble by taking out "the boss" (Gael) first.

Graphic Novel:Berlin, Part 2

Bianca and Devin arrive at the German's apartment, but as they storm it, they find the German has used the back entrance of the building to escape. The agents then find Gael's photo and location, and realizes The German, found to be possessing an automatic pistol, is coming for Gael.

The German arrives at the hotel room where Gael is staying before the agents do, and uses his ability to tie and hold Gael to the wall with metal support bars from the wall. As the German shoots Gael, non-fatally, in the stomach, Bianca and Devin arrive, with Devin distracting the German by shooting at him while Bianca frees Gael.

The German responds by using his ability to remove all the bullet from Devin's gun, and then fire them simultaneously at Devin; killing him instantly. The German is then knocked out and subdued by Bianca with a well placed gas grenade.

Graphic Novel:Hindsight

Gael learns of Evs' existence upon Donna Dunlap's capture, and Evs is serving as a mole inside the Company, as he had given the German Company files.

The Butterfly Effect

In the hallway outside of The German's cell, Sylar, Elle Bishop and Noah Bennet engage in a short battle, with Sylar intending to take the abilities of all of Level 5's prisoners.

Elle ends the battle by unleashing a massive discharge that blows out Level 5's power grid, releasing a dozen prisoners. The German joins Knox's group and is able to escape Primatech Research.

Much later, the group has arrived at a gas station, where The German and the others take their time murdering the other tenants. The German personally beats a man to death, and when asked by Jesse Murphy (inhabited by Peter Petrelli) about why he and Flint killed an innocent couple, The German shrugs "they are just having a little fun". The German then uses his ability to open the doors of a car, allowing the group to steal it and escape the area.

Heroes Evolutions

Originally, the Company's assignment tracker listed the German's last known location as New York, NY and information on his ability. However, a complete image of the German was not included, and the German's personal history and psychological profile were missing from his entry.

After a mission to bag and tag the German begins in Berlin (Berlin, Part 1), the German's assignment tracker entry was updated to list the German's last known location as Berlin, Germany. The personal history was also updated to include an "Evidence" link.

Clicking on the link open a new file entry with satellite telemetry data for Devin Patterson's PDA. The image zooms from outer space to a photo of the PDA. Upon entering the correct four character password, the PDA becomes accessible. The filesystem of the PDA displays a list of photo albums, of which "Ohne Titel" is the only album shown. That album contains 16 photographs, some of which appear to be annotated photos of locations in Berlin. There is also a list and a file written in German.

On July 11th, 2008, the file was updated. His personal history now reads:

Assignment tracker photo

[Paragraph Omitted: Classified]

The Company first learned about the subject after major law enforcement organizations across Europe and the United States linked a rash of unusual bank robberies to a single individual. The suspect--known only as "the German" due to witness accounts of his accent--apparently used extreme force to penetrate physical security measures, tearing bank vault doors in half and blasting holes through reinforced steel walls. Yet law enforcement agencies were unable to find any chemical or physical evidence of explosives or tools.

Despite a pre-operational consensus that the subject was a posthuman capable of manipulating metal, the extent of the subject's abilities was not realized until the acquisition itself. [Sentence Omitted: Classified] At one point, the subject was able to redirect bullets in mid-air, killing Agent Patterson with his own weapon. [Sentence Omitted: Classified]

[Paragraph Omitted: Classified]

The update also includes a psychological profile:

As a result of the subject's initial counter-strategy upon regaining consciousness after retrieval--see CSIR-0704 for facilities impact report--the subject has been maintained under Class IV sedation while additional measures are implemented to facilitate further communication. [Sentence Omitted: Classified]

Pre-operational analysis indicated that the subject inflicted bodily and extraneous property damage only when necessary to achieve primary objectives--generally large-scale theft--but new intelligence gained during the subject retrieval suggests significant potential for improvement in the initial psychological profile. Additional psychoanalysis is expected to reveal highly sociopathic instincts, apparently projected in close psychological association with the subject's posthuman ability.

Evolved Human Abilities

The German has the ability to manipulate ferrous objects and materials. He can also use this ability to emit an electromagnetic field.

According to his assignment tracker file at primatechpaper.com, the German's control index is 70%. His data analysis shows his biological level at 35, cerebral at 25, elemental at 75, and temporal/spatial at 10.

Memorable Quotes

"What are you doing?"

"Just having a little fun, that's all."

- Peter (as Jesse), the German (The Butterfly Effect)

Trivia

• According to the German's assignment tracker profile, the German is 180 lbs., fair and medium build, 6 feet tall with blond hair, and Caucasian.

• The German could possibly be a reference to X-Men's Magneto, who is also Germanic in origin and controls magnetic fields.

Fan Theories

Please refer to Theory:The German for fan-created theories and other speculation.