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This Magnificent Baddie was Headlined on December 2022. | ||
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"Mature Content Warning!" |
| “ | When you steal $600, you can just disappear. When you steal $600 million, they will find you unless they think you're already dead. | „ |
| ~ Hans Gruber. |
Hans Gruber is the main antagonist in the 1988 action thriller film Die Hard and the overarching antagonist of the 1995 film Die Hard With a Vengeance.
He is a German terrorist leader who organizes the takeover of the Los Angeles skyscraper, Nakatomi Plaza, in an attempt to steal millions of dollars in bonds. He disguised himself as a terrorist in order to distract the police. Gruber was a calculating mastermind, as well as a highly intelligent yet callous man to the core. He is John McClane's arch-nemesis and Simon Gruber's younger brother.
He was portrayed by the late Alan Rickman, who also played Severus Snape in Harry Potter.
What Makes Him Magnificent?[]
- He orchestrated the near-perfect heist of the Nakatomi Plaza; even the FBI responding to a terrorist attack was a deliberate Plan B in case Mr. Takagi didn't give him the code key.
- If only John wasn't there, Hans and his crew would've gotten away with everything.
- He faked an American accent when caught unarmed by John, pretending to be an escaped hostage in an attempt to kill him and retrieve the detonators himself, during which he called for backup in case something went wrong.
- Once this failed due to John giving him an empty gun, Hans and Karl shot the glass panes near where a barefoot John is taking cover during their gunfight and then got back the detonators, showing that he knows how to use the environment to his advantage.
- He's very charismatic, showing impeccable politeness and a modicum of education, even having a few funny lines here and there (e.g. "Just so you know Mr. Takagi won't be joining us for the rest of his life").
- Being played by Alan Rickman certainly helps too.
- Even his faked American Accent was comedic due to how forced it was and freaked out he made it.
- Some of his victims (i.e. Harry Ellis and the Johnsons) are hard to mourn due to the former's cowardice in selling out John and the latter's willingness to shoot civilians.
- Despite being Pure Evil, he only really counts as such due to his greed and high body count, and he's not sadistic at all. Colonel William Stuart in the second movie is a better example of a PE villain who lacks enjoyable traits.
What Makes Him a Baddie?[]
- He took over the Nakatomi Plaza, holding over 30 people hostage and planning on blowing them up as a distraction to steal the money.
- He personally executed Mr. Takagi in cold blood when he refused to give him the codes for the vault, and murdered Ellis after he tried to reason with John by using his life and lives of the hostages as bargaining chips for John to surrender.
- He made many attempts to kill John McClane.
- He didn't even care when he's told that Karl was still on the roof before he finally detonated the explosives, making him somewhat of a Bad Boss.
- He took Holly hostage, nearly taking her down with him when John shot him out of a 30-story window.
Trivia[]
- In the first draft of Die Hard, Hans is written as a Smug Snake, who takes delight in killing one of John's friends. In the second draft, he killed a hostage for panicking, and intent to kill more hostages until John returns him the detonator. Had any of these two versions of Hans being interpreted in the final film, Hans could've never been MB for being too heinous or smug.
External Links[]
- Hans Gruber at the Villains wiki
- Hans Gruber at the Pure Evil wiki
- Hans Gruber at the Shonen Villains wiki
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