Captain Nazi

Context

Captain Nazi (spoiler – he’s a villain) is one of the traditional enemies of Captain Marvel (Billy Batson).

Since there have been many versions/eras of Captain Marvel, there have been a number of versions/reboots of Captain Nazi.

Writeups.org has a full coverage of those versions from the 1940s to 2010s. For orientation, see our guide to Captains Nazi and other guys who look more or less like him. Especially since the Captain Nazi profiles are meant to be read in order.

Background

Powers and Abilities

In terms of brawn, Captain Nazi doesn’t seem to have changed much from the 1940s version. That is, he has enormous superhuman strength, agility and durability.

But this great might amounts to naught compared to that of the Marvels. They can easily beat him.

Nazi still has his flight gas from the 1940s, enabling him to fly at a slightly lower speed than a Marvel.

Captain Nazi knows that his odds of actually hurting a Marvel are terrible. Thus, he will usually resort to diversionary tactics, such as endangering innocents.

Still, his temper means he will occasionally attempt to punch, just in case.

All this and brains too

However, this version is much more intellectually accomplished.

But these asset *too* seem like nothing compared to those of major Shazam-related characters. Such as Dr. Sivana. And, of course, his best-laid plans always unravel at the contact of the Marvels.

Furthermore, he has an incredible blind spot when it comes to deducing the Marvels’ secret identities – and to realistically assessing their power level.

Who moved my big red cheese ?

Fawcett Publication’s Captain Marvel (Billy Batson) was a hugely popular wartime super-hero. But a copyright infringement trial forced an end to the publication.

The character never quite recovered his legs. After some horse-trading there were attempts to relaunch him at DC Comics, but they didn’t really work.

The first such attempt was done during the 1970s. This new version of Captain Marvel (and his allies, supporting cast and foes, including Captain Nazi) existed in their own universe.

Since the DC Universe was at that point a multiverse with a large number of parallel worlds, it loosely was part of the DC continuity. The Marvel’s Earth was eventually designated Earth-S.

The 1970s version was not quite a reboot. It was closer to a continuation of the old stories. During the decades-long hiatusA pause, an interruption, many of the characters had been… in suspended animation.

Earth-S would cease to exist in 1985 with the Crisis on Infinite Earths. The characters therein either disappeared or were rebooted as new versions. These new versions lived in DC’s new continuity : New Earth.

Soundtrack

That would be the traditional 1970s choice, if you like folk music.

History (part 1)

Albrecht Krieger was born in the late 1910s, the son of a scientific researcher.

Herr Doktor Krieger had developed a special food (sometimes nicknamed “miracle food”). A child on a strict miracle food diet since infancy would be, according to Krieger, superhumanly powerful.

Since producing the food was very expensive, Dr. Krieger could only afford one test subject. He put his baby son on the diet.

The results were excellent. Even as a child, Albrecht was superhumanly strong and exceptionally agile and intelligent. While his strength was occasionally a problem while he was an irresponsible boy, he grew up fine. He went to university at Heidelberg  .

During a sabre duel there, Albrecht received one of the facial scars the Heidelberg students were internationally famous for. As was the style of the day among German young men, he bore it with pride.

It can happen here

In the mid-1930s, with the Nazi Party in power, Dr. Krieger managed to introduce his son to Chancellor Adolf Hitler.

He presented the youth as the ultimate Aryan man. Apparently a Nazi true believer, Krieger saw his son as an übermensch in the Nazi sense. Albrecht was even wearing a made-up uniform with a large swastika on the chest.

Hitler was favourably impressed. He turned the younger Krieger into an agent under the code name “Captain Nazi”. This was presumably as a reference to American super-hero Captain Marvel.

Herr Doktor Krieger likely continued to work for the Reich. But no other examples of children raised on a diet of miracle food are known, though attempts were presumably made.

The big one

Captain Nazi went on to have pretty much the same 1940s career as he did in the Fawcett comic books. However, the exact events may have occurred with a different narrative tone and other small changes.

See the writeups.org entry for the 1940s version of Captain Nazi for an account of these times.

The Freeman incident

In particular, Captain Nazi once tried to destroy a plane high above the East Coast of the US, only to be knocked off it by Captain Marvel.

Not having access to the flight gas yet, Nazi fell down into the bay. He was fished out by two Americans who had not seen his Nazi emblems.

In anger, Nazi killed the older man in the rowboat, Daniel Troop. He also fatally wounded Troop’s grandson Frederick Freeman.

Captain Marvel and Shazam miraculously saved young Frederick’s life by turning him into Captain Marvel, Junior – who would become Captain Nazi’s nemesis.

Having Freddy Freeman cheat death had a further result. His brother Christopher Freeman was accidentally taken to the Gates of Eternity (essentially the Christian Paradise) in place of Frederick.

To repair this rare mistake, the angelic Mister Keeper transformed Christopher into Kid Eternity.

History (part 2)

Captain Nazi survived World War II and escaped capture.

He considered building a new Reich under his rule. In his view he was, unlike Hitler, a true and superior Aryan man, tall and blond and athletic.

However, as he plotted, he heard that the entire Marvel Family, the Sivana family and others had been trapped in a strange substance in space.

While this removed the main obstacles to his world domination plan, Nazi suspected that they would return when he least expected it. And wreck any progress he had made.

Destroying such powerful foes was therefore a necessary condition before world domination.

When his calculations showed that the Marvel Family would indeed be freed from suspended animation, Nazi prepared a suspended animation capsule for himself. He set it to awaken him at the predicted date of the Marvels’s return.

Return of the Marvels

When Krieger awoke from suspended animation, the Marvels were already back in action. Therefore, Captain Nazi immediately put his plans in motion.

He quickly built up a network of neo-Nazi terrorists across America (and particularly Marvel’s new hometown of Chicago) to implement his plans.

Nazi’s first plan involved a force field over Chicago. It prevented electro-magnetic energies such as radio waves — or Marvel’s lightning — from entering. This plot nearly worked, but it was countered by Captain Marvel and Captain Marvel, Jr..

CM Junior, having grown bitter over the death of his grandfather at Nazi’s hands back during the 1940s, briefly considered murdering Krieger. However, Freddy was soon talked out of it by Billy.

Sivana

Nazi eventually managed to flee from prison when another villain, King Kull, escaped. Hiding in an abandoned building, Nazi stumbled upon several Sivana family members.

He knocked out Thaddeus Sivana and stole the mad scientist’s newest invention. Nazi programmed it to completely sap the will of everybody in the area except for tall, blond persons. That was in part to exclude himself from the effect, and in part because he had an eye on Sivana’s daughter Beautia.

For a time Krieger had no less than King Kull and Doctor Sivana in his power. He nearly caused the death of the Marvels in their non-powered form. But everything soon crumbled and turned against him, and he was defeated.

Captain Nazi did save the Earth, though. When the mesmerised Kull told Nazi that he had activated three doomsday machines, Krieger sent the Marvels to destroy those. So there would be a Earth left for his future Reich to rule.

Beautia

Sent to a prison with steel walls strong enough to hold him, Krieger eventually escaped. He hid bits of food from his lunches and used the chemical additives therein to brew up a dose of his flying gas.

He still had a strong interest in the gorgeous Beautia Sivana, whom he saw as the perfect Aryan woman. He therefore abducted her to propose to her.

But Nazi didn’t know that Beautia was an ally of the Marvels. Her seeming caprices about wanting Nazi to court her were all traps designed to lead him into clashing with Captain Marvel, Jr..

Beautia’s plot eventually succeeded. Krieger was once again taken down and arrested.

When the Crisis on the Infinite Earths engulfed Earth-S, Nazi was part of the army of villains that clashed with the assembled heroic forces. Specifically, he was seen fighting the Earth-2 Superman.

Personality

Captain Nazi is now more clearly a Nazi. During the 1940s, he was more of a generic bad guy working for a generic Hated Enemy Of Freedom.

In particular, he tends to obsess over simplistic racial issues, such as the role of Jews and persons of colour in the world. And the alleged racial superiority of the tall, blond, handsome Aryan types such as himself.

He lusts for power, and plans to seize it with élan.

The first stories re-introduce Nazi as a more fleshed-out and threatening opponent. Howbeit, later stories are closer to the 1940s boyish capers. In these, Captain Nazi reverts to being more of a situational comedy antagonist. And thus less of a scheming racist lusting after world domination to impose his abominable ideology.

Other traits

He initially appears to be a competent, crafty schemer hitting his enemies in their weak points. But Captain Nazi soon reverts to being somewhat easily overwhelmed, and prone to tunnel vision.

He could certainly be portrayed as having both traits, though. Make his plans dangerous – until they go awry and he lacks the flexibility and self-collection to kick them back on track.

The latter may also be an effect of knowing that there is very little he can actually do against a Marvel. And that he’s just going to be beaten up by a kid.

Quotes

“Stupid primitive ! Never can you match a true Aryan !”

“Himmel ! Captain Marvel Jr. !”

By Sébastien Andrivet.

Source of Character: Earth-S (DC Universe, sort of).

Helper(s): Darci.

Writeup completed on the 31^st of December, 2010.