Ernst Focke-Wulf von Raddel (New Earth)

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!

— General von Raddel ^src

History

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.^[1]

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.^[1] 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.^[2]

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.^[3]

Hell

Ernst Focke Wulf von Raddel New Earth 0002 — General von Raddel as a demon lord.

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.^[4] 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.^[5]

Powers and Abilities

Abilities

Occultism: General von Raddel gained occult knowledge from Hitler's interest in the black arts.^[1]
- Necromancy: He could raise the dead if they had been branded with the triskele.^[1]
- Summoning: He opened a portal to the Hell. Nazi demons dragged Etrigan to the Aryan Inferno.^[2]
Leadership
- Tactical Analysis
- Military Protocol

Weaknesses

Restricted Mobility: The General was mostly bound to a wheelchair due to his age, and possibly after the decades of immobility from catatonia.^[1] After his death, he was no longer frail.^[5]

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Wheelchair: Due to his advance years, the General was mostly restricted to a wheelchair.^[1]
Triskele Amulet: The conduit of the black magic that allowed him to summon and command his undead soldiers.^[1]

Transportation

Hellpanzer': After becoming demon lord, the General commanded a humongous tank.^[5]

Trivia

General von Raddel's full name isn't revealed until his final appearance in Demon (Volume 3) #57.