Klaus von Stauffen (Earth-One)

Black Knight
Mainstream Universe‎, 1950s-1986
Gallery
Real Name	Klaus von Stauffen
Main Alias	Black Knight
Other Aliases	Count von Stauffen, Kunnel Krebs
Status
Alignment	Bad
Citizenship	German
Occupation	Soldier · SS Commando · Oberst in the Waffen S.S.
Characteristics
Gender	Male
Hair	Blond
Origin
Universe	Earth-One
Creators	Bob Haney · Dick Ayers
First Appearance	Star-Spangled War Stories #204 (March, 1977)

Yes, Count Klaus von Stauffen, the Black Knight of Germany... Hitler's Superkommando! He is the most redoubtable foe I've ever faced!

— Unknown Soldier

Klaus von Stauffen, the infamous Black Knight, was the Unknown Soldier's greatest nemesis.

History

Klaus von Stauffen was born to an ancient noble family, and from boyhood onward he was taught every fighting skill and trick. During the Second World War, he led his Superkommando unit on fifty amazing missions against the Allies, and was personally awarded the Iron Cross by Adolf Hitler. At Hitler's direction, von Stauffen took on the arms and armor of the Black Knight and fought for the Third Reich.

The Black Knight first encountered his equally extraordinary enemy, the Unknown Soldier, in a chess store on a mission to England, where he tried to wreck that nation's morale. He'd checked a book "Black Knight's Gambit to take White King", in which the Unknown Soldier found out, that the title of the book, was a hint to a planned assassination of the King of England. The Black Knight smuggled himself, in disguise as a gamekeeper, into the King's castle but was stopped by the Unknown Soldier, who was disguised as said King.

The Black Knight also failed, thanks to the Unknown Soldier, on a second try to assassinate the King in the subway, which was used as the main air raid shelter. On his third attempt on the King, during an old-style jousting duel, he tilted against the Unknown Soldier on a horse, and won. He wanted to lower his lance, (with a hidden gun in it), to salute (and assassinate) the King, but was once again stopped by the Unknown Soldier.

Powers and Abilities

Abilities

• Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced)
• Charisma: Klaus also had great manipulative skills, this was shown when he manipulated Chat Noir into becoming a Nazi.

Notes

• This version of the Black Knight, including all history and corresponding appearances, was erased from existence following the collapse of the original Multiverse in the 1985–86 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and later restored following the rebirth of the infinite Multiverse during the Dark Crisis of 2022-2023. Even though other versions of the character may have appeared, this information does not apply to those versions.

Related

• 11 Appearances of Klaus von Stauffen (Earth-One)
• 1 Images featuring Klaus von Stauffen (Earth-One)
• Quotations by or about Klaus von Stauffen (Earth-One)
• Character Gallery: Klaus von Stauffen (Earth-One)