Ludwig Schroedinger

[Czernobog]

Origins:

Ludwig Schroedinger was born in Castle Sternberg, a desolate, wind-swept structure in northern Prussia, to Johan Schroedinger in 1894. From a young age, he was fascinated by magic, particularly its more darker practices. In the castle library, Ludwig read and read, learning steadily more about magic and how to use it, until World War One broke out and he was sent to war. His knowledge of magic kept him off the front, but when the war ended Ludwig was disgusted by the collapse of Germany and the formation of the Weimar republic.

He became a recluse, investing himself more and more in his study of magic and increasing his mystical power, until the National Socialists gained power in 1933 and Ludwig felt that his country had gone strong again. Not caring much for the party's ideology, Ludwig steadily increased in mystic power, studying particularly the blackest sorceries and alchemies, until the outbreak of World War 2 in 1939 forced him to fight. It was in the battlefield that Ludwig made himself most prominent, most notably raising massive amounts of abdead at Warsaw to devour practically all the city's inhabitants.

But Ludwig's real joy was studying, and he studied greatly, merging Byzantine rituals, Japanese mysticism and dozens of other schools of magic into one syncretic whole, absorbing new ideas and turning them into his greatest weapons. It was to his credit that he slew three Soviet Socialist Sorcerers in a single duel, something no other mage has ever achieved.

As the war dragged on and victory was falling out of sight, Ludwig hid himself, forging a network of contacts to keep himself informed of what was happening, and hid himself out of sight, in a massive network of underground tunnels and caves that was hidden under the now-ruined (after a Zeppelin crash) Castle Sternberg, and began learning darker and blacker magics.

During the late 40's and the 50's, Schroedinger began creating stranger and stranger servants to do his bidding, creating a small army of golems, humonculi and other such things. In the 60's, he placed spies and sleeper agents in Poland and the two Germanies, building up a more detailed picture of what was going on. He planned to strike in the 70's, but Austerlitz (whom he had always disliked) pre-empted him, destroying his network and forcing him to build it anew, from scratch.

But Schroedinger was not stopped by this. He decided that he would bring back the German Empire by any means he could, and the rest of the world could be damned to Hell for all he cared.

In the 80's, Ludwig continued to rebuild his network, and with the chaos that ensued with the fall of the Soviet Union in the 90's, he decided to expand his secret network further. And in the 2000's, he discovered the Rising Sun, once a man of the Japanese Empire, now a fish out of water in an unfamiliar time.

The two decided to co-operate to a limited extent, with Schroedinger providing the mystical power and Kaitomara the mechanical.

And so Schroedinger remains, his hideous plans as yet unthwarted...


Powers and Abilities

Schroedinger is a master of the mystic arts, and particularly skilled in the darker powers. He is guarded by multiple layers of magical charms and protections, preserving him from assaults by both the mystical and the merely physical. Other than that, he can summon lightning, fireballs, and many other mystical attacks. He is somewhat skilled with teleportation, and can summon all manner of horrific magical beings, from golems to humonculi. Replacing his right eye is an Eye of Horus dug up in Egypt, laying bare all hidden things and making the truth as bright as the light of day. As such, he is not fooled by mundane or supernatural disguises.

He also has a mechanical hand, replacing one cut off by an American agent, which is stronger than his other, left hand. It can project dark lightning, striking down enemies with terrifying ease.

But worse than that are his armies - legions of ghosts, bound to an eternal purgatory of battle by his cunning spells, shade-wraiths, shadowy monsters that can only be hurt when they strike, golems, humonculi, demon-possessed cyborgs, and his elite 100 artificially vampirised Nazis known as the Century.

Their name alone would strike terror into the heart of any living thing were they publicly known.

Personality and Appearance

Schroedinger is a megalomaniac, bound in a quest to recreate the Kaiserreich, with himself at the top. That said, he styles himself after Norse mythology, calling himself Wotan to his secret circle of informants, and has two ravens as magical familiars, calling them Huginn and Muninn.

Physically, he is in his 30's, having used black magic to halt his aging. He is in his prime, and is quite tall and athletic, with blond hair and blue eyes. His intelligence and skill is indisputable.

Weaknesses

Schroedinger has a strange habit of ignoring the flaws in his plans and attempting to carry them out anyway, being given a setback and then being forced to create his plans anew. Also, he is a flesh-and-blood human under all his layers of magical defence, and is weak against those with a resistance to or an ability to negate magic.

[Magister Militum]

Well, first off, I'd like to say that you are definitely becoming much more skilled at writing up details and origins, which is something I think all of us can appreciate. That being said, however, I still find that Schroedinger feels way too much like a mega maniacal and magical version of Paul von Austerlitz. Hell, he even tried to overthrow the governments of Central Europe in the '70's as well (coinciently, I doubt Austerlitz would be able to crush him, as he would be too busy saving what elements of his organization are left).

[Siege]

From a young age, he was fascinated by magic, particularly its more darker practices. In the castle library, Ludwig read and read, learning steadily more about magic and how to use it, until World War One broke out and he was sent to war.

Stalag Luft

Disgusted, the pensive, introverted youth turned to his father’s library. The ancestral family mansion near the Bavaria city of Augsburg held a vast repository of arcane knowledge, most of it dark, gathered by centuries of mages. It was in these annals, containing the works of generations upon generations of German dark wizards, that Stalag Luft II spent most of the Interbellum: reading, learning, testing and tinkering.

He became a recluse, investing himself more and more in his study of magic and increasing his mystical power, until the National Socialists gained power in 1933 and Ludwig felt that his country had gone strong again. Not caring much for the party's ideology, Ludwig steadily increased in mystic power, studying particularly the blackest sorceries and alchemies, until the outbreak of World War 2 in 1939 forced him to fight.

Then came the 1930’s and with it, the rise of National-Socialism. The academically inclined Luft didn’t care much for the ideology itself, feeling its ridiculous obsession with racial purity to be ultimately detrimental, not to mention intellectually offensive. He did however recognize the program of rapid up-arming the Nazis soon began also offered him a chance to attain a position wherein he would be able to carry out his own agenda and obtain the revenge he had desired for 19 years now.

It was to his credit that he slew three Soviet Socialist Sorcerers in a single duel, something no other mage has ever achieved.

Helena Bones

It took a simultaneous duel with three Chilean black wizards of prodigious power to finally defeat her, but even then the sparse few survivors had nightmares about it for the rest of their lives

[Czernobog]

Well, first off, I'd like to say that you are definitely becoming much more skilled at writing up details and origins, which is something I think all of us can appreciate. That being said, however, I still find that Schroedinger feels way too much like a mega maniacal and magical version of Paul von Austerlitz. Hell, he even tried to overthrow the governments of Central Europe in the '70's as well (coinciently, I doubt Austerlitz would be able to crush him, as he would be too busy saving what elements of his organization are left).

He's not inspired by Austerlitz - in fact he's inspired much more by the Wolfenstein series of games. As for his attempt to conquer Central Europe, it never made it off the drawing board, as Austerlitz pre-empted him and badly damaged his network, forcing him to re-consider.

Are there any ways I can make him feel less like Austerlitz?

[Czernobog]

From a young age, he was fascinated by magic, particularly its more darker practices. In the castle library, Ludwig read and read, learning steadily more about magic and how to use it, until World War One broke out and he was sent to war.

Stalag Luft

Disgusted, the pensive, introverted youth turned to his father’s library. The ancestral family mansion near the Bavaria city of Augsburg held a vast repository of arcane knowledge, most of it dark, gathered by centuries of mages. It was in these annals, containing the works of generations upon generations of German dark wizards, that Stalag Luft II spent most of the Interbellum: reading, learning, testing and tinkering.

He became a recluse, investing himself more and more in his study of magic and increasing his mystical power, until the National Socialists gained power in 1933 and Ludwig felt that his country had gone strong again. Not caring much for the party's ideology, Ludwig steadily increased in mystic power, studying particularly the blackest sorceries and alchemies, until the outbreak of World War 2 in 1939 forced him to fight.

Then came the 1930’s and with it, the rise of National-Socialism. The academically inclined Luft didn’t care much for the ideology itself, feeling its ridiculous obsession with racial purity to be ultimately detrimental, not to mention intellectually offensive. He did however recognize the program of rapid up-arming the Nazis soon began also offered him a chance to attain a position wherein he would be able to carry out his own agenda and obtain the revenge he had desired for 19 years now.

It was to his credit that he slew three Soviet Socialist Sorcerers in a single duel, something no other mage has ever achieved.

Helena Bones

It took a simultaneous duel with three Chilean black wizards of prodigious power to finally defeat her, but even then the sparse few survivors had nightmares about it for the rest of their lives

Look Siege, I didn't intend to rip-off any of your characters, and certainly wasn't reading them while writing my article. In fact, I was thinking more of the Avenging Aryan and Theozoologist when writing them. The parts where he seems to be a rip-off of Stalag Luft is probably due to the fact that the characters' time period is similar. As for the duel with three wizards, you might note that Schroedinger survived his battle. Also, three is a random number. It could have easily been two or four, but I went with three because it wasn't too high or too low.

[Shroom Man 777]

Militum is right in that these more detailed origins and backstories are very much a good thing, and we do appreciate that. Still, I can see how this guy share some aspects with Siege's and Militum's characters (Siege's Germanian wizard and Militum's Germanian military mastermind mang with a secret shadowy organization).

Counting Stalag Luft, Austerlitz, as well as the Avenging Aryan and Theozoologist who you say were your inspirations, we've now got five Nazi/Germanian/Prussian megalomaniacal madmen who have superpowers/magics/secret organizations/shadow armies trying to revive the various regimes of the past. I'm afraid we're (over)using up the "German Villain" resource reservoir pretty fast and we'll soon be dry.

Replacing his right eye is an Eye of Horus dug up in Egypt, laying bare all hidden things and making the truth as bright as the light of day. As such, he is not fooled by mundane or supernatural disguises.

- Jurgen Baccara is one of the oldest and most powerful mages to walk the earth, an ageless demon who had witnessed his homeland rise and fall many times; Amenophis was intimately familiar with the lore of the elder dynasties, while the eye of Horus in his skull laid bare all truths with the light of day.

- However, Amenophis’ most potent ability comes from the Eye of Horus embedded in his right socket. It offers a level of mystic awareness beyond what is usually available to an animated mummy, reaching into the spirit world to unveil the true shapes of things.

Well, maybe Ludwig could've found himself another Eye of Horus, if those things aren't exactly one-of-a-kind artifacts.


*Edited. Five Germanian villains.

*Edited some more. Five Germanian villains IF we're not counting Orph's Baron Engel von Emmerich. Or Emmerich Engel.

But the guy's an amoral businessman with big zeppelins, not a cackling villain straight from WW2, so I guess he doesn't fall into their group.

[Magister Militum]

Counting Stalag Luft, Austerlitz, as well as the Avenging Aryan and Theozoologist who you say were your inspirations, we've now got five Nazi/Germanian/Prussian megalomaniacal madmen who have superpowers/magics/secret organizations/shadow armies trying to revive the various regimes of the past. I'm afraid we're (over)using up the "German Villain" resource reservoir pretty fast and we'll soon be dry.

I object to Austerlitz being classified as a madman. He's not so much evil as misunderstood, like all great world conquerers.

[Shroom Man 777]

Well, I actually consider Austerlitz to be on a class of his own since he seems like a pretty amicable fellow like that other Stalag Luft (who redeemed himself before his death). Unlike complete nutsos like the Aryan and old Theobald, and this Ludwig fellow.

On the other hand, guys like Austerlitz would probably be adverse to their kind of nasty warcriminal stuff and would actually be classy, being oldschool Prussian nobility and driven by seemingly-noble geopolitical goals stuff.