Kommandant Gruber

Facial Features and Headwear He has a pale complexion, prominent cheekbones, light-colored eyes, and is entirely clean-shaven. He has a characteristic highly smug, self-assured smirk. On his head sits a sharp, black peaked officer's visor cap detailed with white piping. The cap displays two silver insignias: an eagle and swastika at the crown, and a skull directly below it. A black communication headset covers his left ear, with a thin boom microphone curving down toward his mouth.

Uniform and Outerwear He is clad in a heavy, tactical black leather trench coat. The coat is highly structured, featuring thick, reinforced padding and articulated armor panels covering the shoulders and upper arms. The coat's length falls just below his knees. Peeking out from under the heavy coat is a black uniform collar displaying silver lightning-bolt insignias. A stark, bright red armband featuring a black swastika inside a white circle is strapped tightly around his left bicep. Mounted on the left side of his chest is a bulky, black rectangular communication or control device. It has a toggle switch, a glowing orange indicator light, a small antenna, and the German word LAUTSTÄRKE printed across the bottom.

Extremities His hands are covered by thick, heavy-duty black leather gloves. In the close-up, he is casually resting his forearms on the diner counter while holding a teal milkshake cup with a red-and-white striped straw. Beneath the long hem of the trench coat, he wears dark uniform trousers tucked into tall, polished black leather knee-high boots.

By 1961, the United States is a completely subjugated territory under the global Reich's brutal occupation. Following the atomic bombing of Manhattan and the subsequent American surrender in World War II, the regime spent the 1950s violently dismantling American culture and replacing it with their own fascist ideology. The historical landscape of this era is a dystopian nightmare defined by extreme contrasts: Irradiated Wastelands: Former metropolises like New York City remain toxic, radioactive ruins left to rot after the bombing. Quarantine Ghettos: Cities like New Orleans have been entirely walled off, turned into massive, decaying open-air prisons for "undesirables" and political dissidents. Small towns like Roswell, New Mexico, project a terrifyingly cheerful, sanitized facade of classic Americana, heavily policed by SS-Kommandants and regular regime forces. The everyday reality for citizens is total compliance. The continent operates as a hopeless, heavily militarized police state kept in line by advanced, mechanized regime technology, setting the bleak stage just before the outbreak of the Second American Revolution.

Real name: ? Country of Origin: Germany Hair: Brown Eyes: Blue Sex/Gender: Male Nationality: German Ethnicity: Caucasian Occupation: SS-Kommandant (SS-Commander)

According to a letter by Kommandant Johan directed to Gruber, they had both served in Morocco as a part of the German occupation force there, with Johan mentioning that they had brought "much needed order, prosperity and culture to Morocco", albeit with heavy sacrifices, implying they were responsible for killing various Moroccans.

At an unknown point in time before the events of Chapter 4 of The New Colossus, Gruber was assigned to the garrison of the Area 52 facility near Roswell, New Mexico. He was in contact with members of the film industry, having made a recommendation to one of the writers of Das Ende Alles Bösen to try a milkshake (preferably strawberry-flavoured) while in America.

On July 4, 1961, during the Victory Day celebrations in Roswell, Gruber took part in observing the military parade, and posed for photos for members of the crowd, before heading to Papa Joe's All American Diner for a drink. Gruber's boisterous entrance and the grim connotations of a Nazi commandant's uniform prompted a mother and child in the diner to leave in a hurry; he patted the boy's head, handed the woman her dropped bag and waved them off, but made no attempt to apologise for scaring them.

After some chatter with the chef behind the counter and reminding him to translate the menu to German before Changeover Day, Gruber sat at the counter drinking a strawberry milkshake (his "favourite American thing") before interrogating a quiet fireman also present in the diner. Although he thought the man looked familiar, he failed to realize that he was sitting a meter or so away from quite possibly the most dangerous man in the world. Asking what station the fireman worked at, he was cut off by the chef giving him his milkshake. Gruber then asked to see the fireman's papers, leading to one of the possible conclusions: If the player does not actively attack Gruber, the officer is initially friendly but soon asks some rather perilous questions about an irregular detail on B.J's otherwise authentic-looking identification papers. Just as B.J. is going to have to formulate an answer, Gruber is interrupted by a communication from the Oberkommando telling him that he's needed immediately. Finishing his milkshake, he turns to leave the diner, but notices a wanted poster of B.J. and realises who "John Smith" really is. He panics and attempts to pull his gun but is killed by Caldwell before he can get a shot off himself. If the player chooses to attack Gruber before the sequence of events described above has finished, B.J. suddenly and fatally strikes him in the head with the portable atom bomb disguised as a fire extinguisher.

"Now, you. Show me your identification papers, please." (―Kommandant Gruber to the undercover B.J. Blazkowicz in Papa Joe's All American Diner.)

Rank and Affiliation: Gruber is an SS-Kommandant within the Feldgendarmerie branch of the Schutzstaffel. Deployment: Prior to his appearance in the game, he was stationed in Morocco as part of the German occupation force. He was subsequently assigned to the garrison at the Area 52 facility located near Roswell, New Mexico. Personality: Gruber is highly prejudiced, a trait demonstrated when his sudden entrance frightens a mother and her child out of a diner, an event he completely dismisses without apology. His appearance and demeanor were directly inspired by Major Hellstrom from the Quentin Tarantino film Inglourious Basterds.

While off-duty, he visits the establishment to order a strawberry milkshake, which he claims is his favorite American thing. He converses with the chef, reminding him that the menu needs to be translated into German before "Changeover Day". He then turns his attention to a seemingly quiet fireman sitting at the counter, completely unaware that this man is actually the heavily-wanted protagonist, William "B.J." Blazkowicz, in disguise. Just as Gruber starts intensely interrogating B.J. about his fire station, he is interrupted by an urgent radio communication from the Oberkommando.