Ernst Focke-Wulf von Raddel (New Earth)

{{DC Database:Character Template
 * Image                  =
 * RealName               = Ernst Focke-Wulf von Raddel
 * CurrentAlias           = General von Raddel
 * Aliases                =
 * AlienRace              = Demons (post-death)
 * Identity               = Public
 * Affiliation            = Nazi Party; Schutzstaffel (Waffen-S.S.), Adolf Hitler, Third Reich (during World War II), Fourth Reich, S.S. Panzerarmee Hell, Führer Bergen (in 1994), Aryan Inferno, Karrien Excalibris, Captain Scumm (in Hell)
 * Relatives              =


 * Alignment              = Bad
 * Universe               = New Earth
 * BaseOfOperations       = Germany (formerly), Hell


 * Gender                 = Male
 * Height                 =
 * Weight                 =
 * Eyes                   = Blue
 * Hair                   = Bald
 * Hair2                  = Brown (formerly)
 * UnusualFeatures        = Large scar above his right eye


 * Citizenship            = German; Hellion
 * MaritalStatus          =
 * Occupation             = Former Nazi S.S. General
 * Education              =


 * Quotation              = You know vot your mistake vos, Etrigan? It vos sending me to Hell! For here I haff only grown stronger! Mein power has grown ein hundrenfold! Mein vill has triumphed!
 * Speaker                = General von Raddel
 * QuoteSource            = Demon Vol 3 57


 * PlaceOfBirth           = Germany
 * PlaceOfDeath           = Outside Chaparral, Texas; Hell
 * Creators               = Garth Ennis; Denis Rodier
 * First                  = Demon Vol 3 #46
 * Death                  = Demon Vol 3 #48, Demon Vol 3 #57


 * HistoryText            =

General von Raddel was a S.S. officer during World War II who, after decades of being in a catatonic state, was found by a fellow Nazi, Dieter Bergen. Together they planned to bring about a thousand years Fourth Reich.

World War II
The S.S. General von Raddel led Germany's panzer forces to multiple victories in Poland, The Netherlands and France. In the winter of 1942, the General was summoned to Berlin by the Führer. His occultist's studies into the black arts had uncovered a process to cheat death, Hitler was only lacking volunteers. General von Raddel accepted. He picked out two hundred of his finest men and branded them with the triskele - the three-legged swastika - with the promise of immortality, whether they agreed or not.

Now should any of his men fall in battle, von Raddel could raise his amulet to the moon and they would rise again. Free from the fear of death, the panzer army advanced on Kursk, Russia. On the 13th of July, 1943, the General led his forces into a Russian trap, surrounded by five hundred tanks and ten thousand men they were massacred. The General, whilst emerging from his wrecked panzer, was clipped by a Russian bullet above his right eye.

The Fourth Reich
The bullet wound put von Raddel into a catatonic state. The General was kept in care until, fifty one years later, he was traced to a nursing home by the neo-Nazi Dieter Bergen. The Aryan man showed von Raddel a swastika which immediately jolted him out of his invalid condition. Together they travelled to a barren patch of earth fifty miles west of Kursk. From his wheelchair the zealous General held his amulet to the full moon. A great eldritch light illuminated the former battlefield, and from the ground rose the General's undead men, the S.S. Panzerarmee Hell!

Bergen then flew von Raddle and their new army directly to Fort Cahill, Texas, home of the U.S. Army's Second Armoured Division. The unstoppable Panzeramree slaughtered the American soldiers and commandeered fifty tanks for their cause. General von Raddel plots his strategy to reach Washington, D.C.. He decides the tanks should travel via the desert, while the inconspicuous fuel trucks will travel by road, rendezvousing south of Abilene.

The General however, could not have foreseen the ambush waiting for him. Summoning two hundred Nazi souls back to Earth had not gone unnoticed. The demon Etrigan, recently promoted to "Hell's hitman", was charged with returning them to The Pit. Preempting the Nazi's movements, Etrigan had time to enter Limbo and enlist the help of General J.E.B. Stuart, while his counterpart Jason Blood spoke to the aged members of the Haunted Tank Unit. Together they destroyed the fuel trucks first before Etrigan confronted von Raddel and Bergen alone. Annoyed, but not defeated General von Raddel utilised his amulet to open a portal to Hell, dragging Etrigan down to the Aryan Inferno.

General von Raddel, in need of fuel, headed for the nearest town of Chaparral, with nothing standing in their way but the Haunted Tank. The solitary stalwart, with her loyal men, managed to not only evade the incoming fire, but destroy a portion of the enemy tanks. Meanwhile, General Stuart rode into Hell to rescued Etrigan from the Knights of the Order of Saint Blitzen. The severely injured Etrigan, once returned to Earth, killed Bergen and hijacked his napalm tanker. In a glorious kamikaze assault, Etrigan drove the volatile vehicle into the heart of the Panzerarmee, decimating what remained of von Raddel's forces in a massive conflagration. Only General von Raddle remained, with no options left but to seek retribution, he charged the crippled Haunted Tank. With a well placed shell, Rick Parsons managed to take out the approaching tank. Still alive, von Raddel begged for his life before being gunned down by Lt. Jeb Stuart.

Hell
During the assault on Hell by Karrien Excalibris, General von Raddel and Captain Scumm, now demon lords, were handed the captured Etrigan to exact their revenge on him. Chained to a rock, Etrigan was at the mercy of von Raddel who continuously drove back and forth over him with his diabolical Hellpanzer. While von Raddel spouted Nazi rhetoric in his revelry, Etrigan was rescued by Bloodklott and Baytor. His two comrades held down the Nazi demon so Etrigan could turn the Hellpanzer on its former master. General von Raddel was fired upon at point blank range, leaving nothing but his arms in the hands of his restrainers.


 * Powers                 =
 * Abilities              =
 * Strength               = In life, General von Raddel had the average strength of an elderly man in his 90's.
 * Weaknesses             =
 * Strength               = In life, General von Raddel had the average strength of an elderly man in his 90's.
 * Weaknesses             =
 * Strength               = In life, General von Raddel had the average strength of an elderly man in his 90's.
 * Weaknesses             =
 * Weaknesses             =


 * Equipment              =
 * Wheelchair
 * Triskele Amulet
 * Transportation         =
 * Hellpanzer (in Hell)
 * Weapons                =


 * Notes                  =
 * Trivia                 =
 * RecommendedReading     =

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 * Wikipedia              =
 * Links                  =