Ansel Schäfer

[Lt. Ansel Schäfer]

[CLASSIFIED]

THE BASICS

Name:// Ansel Ludwig Schäfer
Nicknames & Aliases:// Lionheart
Sex:// Male
Birthday:// December 6, 1919
Age:// 23 ( as of October 15, 1943 )
Sexuality:// Straight
Nationality:// German
Allegiance:// Axis
Occupation & Position:// Waffen-SS Obersturmführer [sniper] ( equivalent to 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. Army )
Languages Known:// German (native speaker), English (fluent), French (functional)
Religion:// Agnostic

AT A GLANCE

Hair Color:// Golden Blonde
Eye Color:// Gray
Height:// 5’10
Weight:// 168 lb
Usual Attire:// Gray Waffen-SS uniform ( on-duty; this is by far the uniform he wears the most ), black or green SS uniform ( when he is on a mission where these colors are particularly advantageous ), practical outdoorsman civilian clothes ( off-duty )
Usual Weapons:// The only two weapons he will almost never be caught without are a Walther PPK pistol which he keeps concealed on his person at all times as a secondary weapon and for self defense when he must be parted from his primary weapon, and an SS ceremonial dagger which he uses mainly as a survival knife. His main weapon — and by far his favorite — is a Finnish M/28-30 sniper rifle which he himself converted into a M/28-30-33.

DEEP INSIDE

Personality:// Due to his fierce gaze and almost perpetually unsmiling face, Ansel is an intimidating figure for most people even when he isn’t outfitted in his Waffen-SS uniform. He is not always feeling angry or fierce, but his neutral expression borders on an irritated scowl, and he has a way of staring at people that makes them feel like a mouse caught in the sights of a hawk. When he does smile it usually takes the form of insincere courtesy, cruel pleasure, or a cocky jackass smirk; rarely will he smile in a truly innocent, happy way, and when he does there is usually a girl and/or too much wine involved.

Understandably this unfriendly aura does not invite company, and most ordinary civilians who encounter him on the streets, or at the grocery store, or wherever, are content to leave the German alone and give him a wide berth. This isn’t to say he doesn’t have his fans: Lieutenant Schäfer is much admired and greatly respected among the SS and social elite for his unwavering courage, zealous dedication to duty, numerous achievements, legendary aim, strong leadership skills, and inspirational “go get ‘em” attitude. However, despite his strong desire to form intimate and lasting friendships with people he is generally not very outgoing, and this coupled with his distinct lack of charisma, a quick temper, enough arrogance to fill America, and a tendency to hyper-focus on upcoming missions and goals to the point where everything else in his life gets shoved to the sidelines puts a lot of people off wanting to get closer to him. Even most of his fellow duty-obsessed comrades see him as an unyielding, churlish workaholic who needs to learn how to loosen up and have a little fun every once in a while — an excellent leader and an unquestionable asset to the Nazi party, but not the easiest guy to befriend.

But human beings are complex creatures, and as with most people, there is more to Ansel than meets the eye. So much more so, in fact, that all of those currently closest to him would be shocked if they knew the depths and secrets that hid behind those steely gray irises.

To start with, it isn’t that Ansel doesn’t know how to have fun, it’s just that most people never catch him in the act, and those who do usually fall into two categories: those who aren’t aware of just how much pleasure he is deriving from what he is currently doing, and those who never live to tell about it. More than almost anything else in the world, Ansel’s idea of fun is hunting down enemies and taking their lives. And not just any[/i] enemies, but the most dangerous, challenging, enemies he can find: the big game. He’s a bit of an adrenalin-junkie who craves not only the rush that comes from being in exciting and potentially deadly situations, but also the thrill of the hunt, the thrill of the chase, the thrill of the kill, the thrill of the unknown…the whole shebang. And it is the toughest, most infamous enemies that provide him with the most bragging-rights and the most powerful, intoxicating sense of accomplishment every time he kills them. Truly, no victory is sweeter than victory sprung against impossible odds over a more powerful foe! And he just drinks up the attention he gets from his daring exploits, the awards and promotions lavished upon him for his “lion-hearted” bravery and extreme devotion to the party and to Germany. In this sense, yes, he is a workaholic, but only because he loves his job so much that it doesn’t feel like work at all to him; if he weren’t with the SS he would probably have wound up a bounty hunter.

And he is absolutely relentless in his hunts. Once he has acquired a target, he will not stop chasing that person until either the person dies from other causes first, his superiors order him on to a different target or task, or a more challenging target comes along ( in which case he will ask his superiors for permission to pursue that person or group instead ). It is not unusual for him to stalk enemy targets for several weeks or even months, sometimes in the company of a group of subordinates tasked with helping him in the mission, sometimes not. In true sniper fashion he tries his damndest to keep the element of surprise and sneak into place unseen and unheard for the perfect shot, sometimes using his excellent balance to get into and hold positions in places where no one in their right mind would expect him to be and where one false move could lead to an embarrassingly fatal fall. With a group of targets all fairly close together, his technique is exactly what one would expect from a sniper: he’ll try to take out as many as he can before the others notice or have time to react. With a lone target, however, his favorite method is to incapacitate the person with one or two well-aimed shots, then move in for the kill on foot. While most would view this as foolhardy, he enjoys getting up close and personal with his victims whenever he can, letting them see the face of their killer and even exchanging a few words with them before finishing them off. Once that’s been settled he’ll strip the body of any medals or awards that he can take as trophies before continuing on his way.

So far this isn’t anything too unusual for an SS Nazi: the willingness to kill other humans — and especially the ability to derive pleasure from the act — are pretty standard SS features. What really sets Ansel apart from the pack are his morals and code of honor.

Yes, code of honor. It can be argued that a man who regularly sneaks up on people ninja-style from afar and kills them via a single shot to the head before rushing over and taking trophies from the still-warm corpse doesn’t know much about honor or fair play, and indeed, Ansel’s code of honor doesn’t prevent him either from doing such things or from having a bit of cruel fun with his victims before dispatching them, but next to the absolutely ruthless cut-throat approach taken by most of his comrades he might as well be a samurai practicing bushido.

The morally-guided code of honor he adheres to is quite simple and consists of only two unbreakable golden rules. They are:

1) Restrict your killing only to armed enemies and willing combatants
2) Do not harm innocents except in the defense of yourself and others

The first rule is pretty self-explanatory: Ansel will not kill anyone who isn’t both A) armed with a weapon, and B) an enemy or willing combatant. He assumes all enemy soldiers are armed with at least a combat knife and personal handgun at all times ( unless they very[/i] obviously aren‘t, such as in the case of being nude ), so has no qualms about sniping them even if he cannot see a weapon on them.

The young Nazi’s definition of “innocents” includes all children everywhere and regular civilians whom he has no reason to think have ever intentionally killed or seriously injured others except in self-defense. He is often a dick to these people ( sometimes without even realizing it ), but he will not physically hurt them unless he absolutely has to to defend himself or someone else. When he is on a mission, he will not knowingly do anything that would put an innocent directly in harm’s way, even if it increases the chances that his targets will escape or discover him first.

Most people would be surprised to learn that Ansel had such a code of honor, and even more surprised if they also knew how much sweet happiness he took in killing. It seems counterintuitive: why would someone who loved killing restrict himself that much, and how could anyone with those kinds of ethics enjoy killing?

The answer is that Ansel doesn’t think the way most people do. For him war is a challenging, thrilling, fun game — the ultimate high-stakes contest of wit, skill, agility, speed, and strength. Enemy soldiers and combatants are voluntarily “playing the game” with him, and they know the risks. They kill his comrades and fellow nationals, or would if given the chance. So he doesn’t have to feel the least bit guilty about the fact that he really enjoys the rush and overpowering sense of triumph and accomplishment he gets from killing them. In his eyes it’s all fair, just, and completely okay — he only requires his enemies to be armed before killing them because he considers it both more sporting and more challenging, and it just feels wrong[/i] to do it any other way.

With innocents it is much different. Despite the fact that he has killed a fair number of people, Ansel does not consider himself a murderer, and would take high offense at being labeled as such. To him a murderer is a coward, a despicable creature who kills the innocent and defenseless with no regard for honor or ethics and an utter lack of respect for life.

Apart from ethics and honor, there is one more area in which Ansel’s personal views are not quite in sync with those held by the majority of his political party and especially the SS. That area would be Jews. While he does have the mindset that they are inferior to Aryans in most ways and as such should be segregated from them and entitled to fewer privileges and opportunities, he does not see them as being either subhuman, naturally depraved, or the root of all of Germany’s problems. When around others he puts on a convincing show of hating them and wishing them ill for the sake of keeping his job and making life a hell of a lot easier for himself, but in truth he isn’t nearly as anti-Semitic as he lets on. His attitude towards Jews wasn’t always so benevolent ( relatively speaking ), but personal experience with one very special man turned his hatred into a more half-hearted form of racism. He is fascinated by the Bear Jew because he somehow manages to be all of these at the same time: 1) a figure of fear for some Nazis 2) very violent, and 3), Jewish [see history section for more details].

Because he is naturally a more private person, and because he knows that he is expected to be less honorable and more cutthroat in getting the job done, Ansel tries to keep his code of honor a secret and not to show too much of his softer side, especially around other soldiers.

Whenever he isn’t embroiled in a mission, training troops, exercising, writing up reports, or doing anything else work-related, he enjoys reading with a glass of fine red wine, practicing his foreign languages, honing his dance-skills, and stargazing. He takes his collection of trophies with him wherever he goes ( as much as he can ), and relishes the chance to pull them out and impress people with them, relaying the story behind each in turn as he proudly displays it.

He is fond of sarcasm as a means of ridiculing and expressing displeasure ( when he can get away with it ), and can be darkly playful when he is in a good mood.


Likes://

★ Hunting ( both enemies and game animals )
★ Making the kill
★ Almost anything involving physical exertion
★ Order
★ Recognition for his hard work and accomplishments
★ Knives & daggers
★ Guns
★ Germany ( call him patriotic )
★ The Aryan “master race” ( Yes, he buys into this. >_< )
★ Pretty girls/women ( especially if they are nice to him and/or appear to need his help )
★ Impressing people ( both allies and enemies )
★ Wine ( especially deep red wines )
★ Tigers ( Beautiful, graceful, and highly independent predators which excel in hunting and killing and are greatly feared. You could say he identifies with them. )
★ Cleanliness
★ Canines in general
★ Dancing
★ Nature and being out in it
★ Stargazing ( he knows the names and locations of all the major constellations and most notable stars )
★ Nighttime
★ The Red Baron ( a true WW1 hero in his eyes )
★ Bondage
★ The swastika ( a symbol of national pride, and a useful intimidation tool! )
★ Being feared by enemies and people he dislikes
★ Anything that puts him in a position of power


Dislikes://

✖ The Allied powers ( for obvious reasons )
✖ The Inglorious Basterds ( for even more obvious reasons; though in a way he is glad they exist because they are the ultimate challenge )
✖ Chaos
✖ Losing in any way, shape, or form
✖ Not being taken seriously
✖ Situations where he is made helpless
✖ Being the butt of a joke ( no, he can’t take ‘em xD )
✖ Whining
✖ Weakness/cowardliness ( primarily in those who are supposed to be strong and brave, like soldiers )
✖ Having inadequate supplies and/or clothing to do the job he needs to do ( and with Hitler in charge that happens more than he would like )
✖ Mud. It gets everywhere, slows a person down, and smells terrible.
✖ Russians ( uncivilized, brutal, and deadly)
✖ Poles ( treacherous as vipers, thieving, and backward in an utterly useless way )
✖ Cruelty purely for the sake of sadism — pointless cruelty ( he is okay with it and even partakes in it if it is done for what he perceives to be good reasons [mostly personal revenge and extracting information from someone who doesn’t want to talk] )
✖ Child abuse. Especially with younger children.
✖ Animal abuse, of pets in particular and especially dogs
✖ Phony, insincere people
✖ Murderers ( He doesn't see himself as one )
✖ Superiors who don’t listen to his advice, and/or are inept, and/or needlessly cruel
✖ People who are too full of themselves
✖ Fredrick Zoller ( He feels that he is a better sniper than Zoller and has done just as much or more for his country. Yet no one is talking about him[/i] — at least, not as much as they do hotshot Zoller[/i] — or making a movie about his[/i] equally-as-important-and-impressive contributions to the war, oh no. It’s all about Zoller. Zoller, Zoller, Zoller. He hears about him constantly. When around Zoller-loving elites he will keep most of his inner feelings to himself, but he is blackly jealous of this man whom he has never personally met and intent on finding fault in everything he does. )


Fears://

☣ Any loss of eyesight at all, in one or both eyes ( good eyesight is SO critical to his job and joy! ) He fears this more than death.
☣ Getting permanently disabled by an injury or developing a debilitating disease
☣ Being ambushed/caught off-guard
☣ Playing a role in the death of someone he cares about
☣ The possibility that he may one day be ordered to do something which strongly goes against his morals
☣ That some of the rumors he has heard about the Jewish work camps are true ( he suspects it deep down in his subconscious )
☣ Ghosts
☣ An Allied victory and what it would mean for him and his country


Secrets://

♦ When really[/i] angry he swears in English instead of German. He thinks English swears sound more powerful and explosive.

♦ Not only does he know how to play the Jewish dreidel game, he is rather fond of it for a nonbeliever. He keeps Eli’s dreidel — along with the dreidel Eli gave him — in a secret place.

♦ While he is well aware of the anti-Semitism running rampant throughout Europe and especially his political party, he is somewhat in denial about just how bad the Jews really have it. He has seen some of his fellow Nazis treat them ( and other “inferior” groups ) with what he considered to be excessive hostility and even witnessed a handful of cold-blooded killings, but what he isn’t quite aware of is the scale and brutality. He does not know that there is an entire branch of the SS tasked almost purely with mass-murdering helpless unarmed Jews of all ages ( the SS Einsatzgruppen ); that the labor camps are an agonizing death sentence where men, women, and children die horribly in the cruelest ways imaginable; that millions of Jews have already been killed. Being in the SS, he has heard a few rumors of these things, but he refuses to believe them, attributing them all to exaggeration and the wishful thinking of a few hard-core haters. He doesn’t want to believe it, and he looks for every excuse not to.

♦ Would love the excuse to kill Zoller. In his most secret fantasies it is discovered that the other sniper is a traitor/double-agent and he is called upon to hunt him down and finish him off, protecting the Reich and being seen as a hero in the process.

Goals://

✔ Find the Bear Jew
✔ Kill the Bear Jew ( preferably after getting the chance to have a little chat with him [see history & personality sections])
✔ Hunt down and kill as many of the Basterds as he can
✔ Receive more awards & promotions
✔ Prove to everyone that he is a better sniper than Zoller, ideally either through a competition, upstaging him with some monumental sniping victory, or killing him in a sniper-battle after he does something to earn the death penalty
✔ Find Eli, or at least find out what became of him
✔ Get sent to exotic places to do dangerous and exciting assignments for his next missions
✔ Find the girl of his dreams
✔ Lead an exciting and interesting life

Strengths://

Courageous. As often as he seeks out thrills and life-threateningly dangerous situations, it’s a wonder Ansel hasn’t been seriously hurt or killed yet. He is not bold to the point of recklessness — usually — but he is not easy to intimidate. It’s not that he never feels fear, just that he’s good at keeping it from preventing him from doing what needs to be done.

Level-headed. Going along with that last point, Ansel can usually think clearly even in stressful situations. Always an extremely helpful attribute for a soldier to have.

Ambitious. He is quite the go-getter and sets his sights high. Metaphorically speaking, if there is no mountain in front of him for him to climb, he will either make one or search until he finds one.

Focused & dedicated. Once Ansel sets his mind to do something he will not stop until he has either finished the job or circumstances prevent him from finishing it. He is absolutely relentless in pursuit of his goals.

Sharpshooter. Extra-keen eyesight coupled with almost daily practice with guns over the span of several years have given Ansel a lethally accurate aim. He prefers to use a scope in most situations because it allows him to see things that are further away in much greater detail and put the bullets exactly where he wants them to go, but even without the scope his aim is objectively very impressive and equally as accurate for the shorter distances. He is always the official sniper ( or one of them ) for his unit.

Excellent balance. Due in part to his love of dancing and unusually-strong ankles, the German has extraordinary balance.

Code of honor. Stemming partially from his love of challenges and thrills and partially from his moral views and need to upkeep his glowing self-image, Ansel adheres to an almost chivalrous code of honor virtually unheard of in the rest of the SS.

Fluent in 2 languages, functional in a 3rd. Apart from his native German, Ansel speaks English quite well; he barely has a German accent at all and has a larger vocabulary than most native English-speakers would think. He is not as good with French, but he understands the basics well enough and can usually get the gist of what is being said if he overhears a rapid-fire conversation. Needless to say, in his line of work being trilingual comes in handy.


Weaknesses://

Arrogant. This is by far one of Ansel’s most glaring flaws. He thinks very highly of himself, which not only makes it harder for him to make and keep close friends, but also hinders him in other aspects of life when he fails to take others’ good advice, overestimates his own ability, or thinks that circumstances don’t apply to him.

Selfish. Ansel tends to think of himself first and others second. This flaw isn't taken to the most extreme levels: at times he can be very unselfish, but such incidences are the exception rather than the rule.

Risk-taker. The dark shadow of the trait of courage, Ansel sometimes takes unnecessary risks that carry with them a high chance of premature death to himself and whomever he happens to be in command of at the time.

Racist/nationalist. Unfortunately, Ansel is racist, though he isn't as bad as some people about it. He wont be an asshole to someone purely for being non-Aryan, and he still sees that person as human — just a lesser, genetically-and-intellectually inferior human. In spite of this it is possible for him to grow to respect and even admire individuals from other races. He is also nationalist, believing Germans and certain other European nationalities to be superior to the rest, in varying degrees.

Vengeful. This young man isn’t too forgiving, and he is every bit as ambitious — if not more so — in the pursuit of revenge as in the pursuit of his goals. When he feels that he or someone he cares about has been grievously wronged by someone he will move Heaven and Hell to find this person and make them pay.

Impatient. Ironically for someone who is used to having to wait for hours or days on end in his line of work, Ansel hates having to wait for anything. Sometimes this impatience causes him to “jump the gun”, so to speak, and make mistakes he would not otherwise make. In line with this, he also has a terrible habit of jumping to conclusions, and they’re not always the right ones.

Not that great in hand-to-hand combat. Ansel’s expertise lies primarily in firearms, hunting, and outdoorsman survival strategies. An old-fashioned “put ’em up” brawler, he aint. He learned some hand-to-hand combat tactics when he joined the Waffen-SS, but he was never that great at it, and by this point has forgotten some of what he learned.

Temper. It doesn’t take much to anger him, and when this happens many of his inhibitions and much of his better judgment go right out the window, especially if he knows he can get away with it.

Morals. Can also be seen as a strength, but is a weakness in the sense that it can endanger his life around both the Allies and the Axis. Some of his compatriots would view his morals as high treason to the Reich, and enemies could take advantage of his code of honor.

Cognitive Dissonance.....such as the kind that keeps him from trying to find fault with the regime he serves and has him turn a blind eye to some stuff which he isn't entirely comfortable with. He doesn't want to believe that he and his superior Aryan race/government could be in the "bad guy" camp, so he tries to avoid going anywhere where he might see or hear anything which could prove his fears.

BACKGROUND

History:// Ansel Ludwig Schäfer was born the usual way on Dec. 6, 1919, in Regensberg, Germany, the first and only child of middle-class parents Burke and Ilsa Schäfer. Burke — a decorated World War I veteran — died two years later, the victim of an accident at the steel mill in which he had found employment after the war. Ilsa had loved Burke dearly, and his sudden and completely unexpected death gutted her. Beside herself with grief, and alone with an energetic toddler, the freshly-widowed mother quickly made the decision to move her still-single younger sister into the house with her to help her raise Ansel as a short-term solution. The arrangement worked out so beautifully that Ansel’s aunt Katrina ended up staying with the family for three whole years, and she would have stayed even longer than that if some people hadn’t begun to talk about how unhealthy it was for a growing boy to be raised by two women living together, even sisters. Fortunately Katrina was able take up residence in a house within a reasonable walking distance and paid fairly regular visits to her sister and nephew for another five years, at which point she and her husband of three years moved to another city.

Though a few men expressed romantic interest in her over the years, and despite everyone’s insistence that she find another lover and remarry, Ilsa could not bear the thought of “trying to replace” Burke and never did. When her sister moved out she took to raising her son alone. Ultimately this turned out not to be in Ansel’s best interest, because, while she was good at keeping him safe from harm ( at least for the first 10 or so years of his life ) and making sure he was well provided for, Burke’s death and the ensuing stresses of being a single mother awoke a few dormant mental problems within Ilsa that caused her to unknowingly start emotionally distancing herself from everyone close to her and be over-protective of her son to the point of absurdity.

This kind of upbringing had some very profound psychological effects on little Ansel, as his mother rarely played with him or engaged him in any kind of bonding activities, never really had long or meaningful discussions with him about anything even when he was so full of questions, and shielded him from the world so much that if it weren’t for school and outings with his aunt and other visiting relatives he never would have gotten the chance to get out and live and experience life. Every time he broke a rule, or left the yard without a trusted adult, or did anything even remotely dangerous she’d throw a fit and sternly discipline him. It was the most attention he got from her, usually. And while Ansel didn’t like upsetting his mother or being punished by her, he loved exploring, the outdoors, the thrill of the unknown, and having exciting adventures too much to help himself. He’d try to sneak away from the house and other boring “safe-zones” every chance he got, and the older he grew, the more successful he became in these endeavors.

Academically, between the ages of 5 and 12 Ansel was a model student, dedicated, overachieving and very respectful of authority. Not only did he genuinely like learning, but he relished all the attention he got from teachers for a job especially well done, particularly when it made his peers envious or jealous: how he loved that! Having been exposed to English from the age of 2 onward courtesy of his English-loving bilingual aunt Katrina, Ansel came to develop his own affinity for the language and began making a conscious, active attempt to learn it from her at age 7. Far from thinking of future job prospects, he simply liked the way the words sounded and the idea of being able to communicate with his aunt and a select few in secret in a “code” language not readily understood by most others. When Katrina moved away he convinced his mother to enroll him in a series of special extra-curricular English classes to continue his studies, where he did rather well. During these years he was more or less a loner, making a friend or two here and there and doing stuff with them from time to time, but generally finding that he had little patience for most of his “jealous”, “boring”, and “less talented” classmates.

Around Ansel’s 12th birthday his mother started to ease up on the safety rules and didn’t watch him as closely, giving the energetic and adventurous boy more opportunities to sneak out and explore the world around him. His favorite haunt quickly became a wooded wildland roughly three miles away from the new house he and his mother had just moved into. He made the trek there many a time with his beloved German Shepherd dogs Wolf and Blitzer, staying as long as he dared before going back home. Predators in particular fascinated him, and he never tired of watching them hunt and kill. He’d always enjoyed hunting — or trying to hunt — for as long as he could remember, but kitchen knives, slingshots, and sharpened sticks were very limiting in terms of what one could catch with them, and at 12 years old he was ready to move on to bigger, better, more challenging, and more valuable quarry than mice, injured birds, and lizards anyway. What he needed was a hunting rifle.

Too bad for him his mother emphatically abhorred the very idea and was deadset against him getting his hands on anything more dangerous than a stick no matter how much he pleaded and showed responsibility. It took a determined Ansel almost a full year to get the rifle he had his heart set on, and he finally did so by stealing. Fortunately for him no one caught him in the act or ever suspected him of being the culprit, but he was forced to hide his weapon from everyone and take extra care when going out hunting or purchasing ammunition. It turned out that the young German had a natural gift for marksmanship, though right at first his aim was only somewhat better than the run-of-the-mill 12-year-old novice. He was fiercely determined, however, and practiced on both stationary and moving targets every chance he got. It wasn’t long at all before he was catching larger, slower-moving animals, and within weeks he was snagging the occasional rabbit. Deer, however, would largely continue to elude him for another year, mostly because they were always long aware of his presence before he even knew they were in the area.

At age 13 Ansel began to crave the kind of complex, meaningful, and intimate relationships only other human beings could provide, and at 14 he began taking dance lessons at a teacher’s suggestion, both to impress the girls and improve his agility. It was also around this time that he began to take a keen interest in politics: Adolf Hitler had just become the most powerful man in Germany, and the more Ansel learned about him and his racist, authoritarian views and bold actions, the more he liked him. Being the egotistical and snobby type, the idea that he belonged to a special super-race destined for greatness greatly appealed to him, and he’d already been raised to believe that Jews were dirty, immoral, and treacherous, so Hitler’s hate propaganda went right up his alley. Yes, with Hitler at the helm to set wrong right Germany couldn’t help but to become a glorious and wonderful place, a great world power rightly dominated by the noble and fit Aryan master race! Even better, liking and supporting Hitler was the “in” thing that all the cool and popular kids and teens did, earning him brownie points with his peers and all the important adults. Naturally, he wanted badly to be in the Hitler Youth, but his mother had heard that the organization was preparatory paramilitary training for later enlistment in the SA, and as membership was not yet mandatory by law she kept him out, all the while telling him that she would consider it when he was 15 if he kept doing well in school and “being a good boy”.

Ansel’s 15th birthday came and went, and as it became more and more obvious that his mother’s promise of seriously considering letting him join the Hitler Youth was just a ploy to keep him in line, the already moody and going-through-a-rebellious-phase teen became more and more surly and defiant. He no longer bothered curbing his rudeness unless it directly and in a very large way benefited him, began shirking some of his responsibilities, drinking more alcohol, frequently breaking his mother’s rules, and even started to experiment with drugs.

One day when he was feeling particularly depressed he went out hunting with Wolf, Blitzer, and a generous amount of beer, which he ended up drinking too fast. To his credit he somehow managed to avoid shooting himself and his dogs, but what he did end up doing was losing track of time and drunkenly blundering around through the woods until he passed out. He awoke well past midnight with a few fresh cuts, scrapes, and bruises and one hell of a hangover. Too sick to want to move very far, and unable to see well in the dark, he stayed where he was until it got light enough for him to make his way back. He arrived home around mid-morning and caught living hell from his mother, who had been up all night sick with worry. To make matters worse, Ilsa had seen him with his rifle before he got the chance to hide it, and to put it mildly she did not take it well, especially seeing the condition her son was in. After verbally dragging Ansel over the coals she announced that he was losing the rifle effective immediately along with a mass of other privileges and all hope of getting into Hitler Youth. Outraged, and tired of constantly being strictly controlled and treated like a baby, Ansel lashed out verbally and the atmosphere in that household was volatile for the rest of the day.

That fight was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Angry, upset, and feeling like his mother was seriously holding him back, Ansel stuffed his knapsack full of everything he thought he would need to survive in the wilderness as well as his birth certificate and all his most important identity papers. Then he grabbed his rifle, gathered his dogs, and slipped out the door just before dawn while his mother was busy catching up on some desperately-needed sleep. His plan was to live out in the wilderness and devote all his time and energy to getting physically fit and honing his survival, combat, and sharpshooting skills until he became a legal adult, at which point he would re-integrate back into society and join the SS.

For the first week everything went well enough; the supplies he had packed got him by, he was able to live off the land, and he had two good dogs for added protection, help hunting, and company. During this time he traveled deep, deep into the wilderness — far further than he had ever gone before — searching for a spot to set up a more permanent kind of camp far enough away from civilization to where he likely would never be found.

Then, scarcely eight days after he had left home, fate stepped in. He was making his way around a steep cliff via a narrow path when he lost his footing and fell into the deepest part of the rapid-ridden river below. He immediately tried to swim to shore, but the current was way too powerful for him and there was nothing he could get a decent hold on; everything was too wide and/or slippery. After a full minute of being swept downstream like a helpless ragdoll in water well over his head, full-blown panic set in and he wore himself ragged trying to make it to the shallows or anywhere where he could rest, unwillingly banging his body on rocks/debris and swallowing unhealthy amounts of water in the process. Finally, after fighting savagely for his life for almost an hour in ice-cold water, he managed to make it halfway into the shallows, only to be hit by a large and almost fully-submerged branch-ridden log which took him under. That would have been the end of Ansel if not for the presence of a man who had been out fishing and happened to notice him drowning. The man rushed out into the water and, with some effort, promptly rescued and resuscitated the teenager.

When Ansel fully came to, he was lying on a sofa in the living room of a small log cabin with a hot water bottle at his feet, a soft pillow under his head, and blankets heaped over him. His rescuer, an overly-friendly and big-hearted middle-aged man with dark hair and dark eyes, introduced himself as Eli. Eli went out of his way to make Ansel feel welcome and comfortable, which Ansel deeply appreciated. However, Eli also made no attempt whatsoever to hide the fact that he was a Jew living a hermit’s life in the wilderness for spiritual reasons and to escape persecution, which triggered severe cognitive dissonance within Ansel, who had been raised to hate Jews. Jews were subhuman, corrupt, and lived to undermine Aryans. So why had one saved his life? Eli had nothing to gain by doing so and continued to treat him with the same kindness and respect even when he learned that he was one of the “Aryan oppressors”.

As Ansel’s injuries were minor, he recovered quickly and was ready to leave Eli’s cabin within two days to search for his dogs and recover his stuff. He firmly refused the Jew’s offer to come with him and help and told him that he would be leaving the area permanently, as he was a Nazi training for the SS and there could be no friendship between them. Surprisingly, Eli didn’t seem to mind at all and told the baffled SS-wannabe that he would always be welcome in his home. Figuring the hermit to be a harmless crazy, Ansel took his leave. Eventually he found all of his things ( thankfully he hadn’t been carrying anything important on him when he had fallen into the river ) and a mysteriously injured Wolf, but Blitzer was nowhere to be found. Because he couldn’t stand to see his beloved pet in pain, because Eli’s cabin had appeared to be stocked with medicine and other nice supplies, and because he found himself missing the older male’s company, Ansel ended up returning to Eli, who only smiled sweetly and said he’d had a feeling he would be back.

For two whole years, Ansel lived with Eli out in the wilderness. This worked out particularly well for him because Eli had an arrangement with a friend living in town to exchange forest products such as wild foods, furs, medicinal plants, and wood for things like books, wax candles, bullets, matches/lighters, knives, soap, fishhooks, clothes, and anything else that might be needed. So not only did Ansel have plenty of ammunition for hunting and target practice, but he had access to all manner of books too, and he readily took advantage of the chance to continue his educational pursuits, including bettering his English, for he was sure that it would make him more indispensable in his chosen career path. Chores were split unevenly between the two partners, with the trigger-happy teen very quickly and happily taking all the hunting and animal-related related tasks — including skinning, butchering, and cleaning his kills — and Eli primarily doing more mundane things like housework, general repairs on the cabin, laundry, gardening, chopping wood, and everything Ansel wouldn’t do.

The two unlikely housemates got along extraordinarily well, though this was due largely to the fact that Eli made no effort to control or discipline Ansel in any way, was extremely good-natured, respectful, and undemanding, and had the patience of a saint. After the very short thank-you-so-much-for-saving-me glow had worn off and Ansel had gotten used to his new friend he was back to acting like his normal self, and, putting it bluntly, most people in Eli’s position would have been tempted to throw him back into the river. For the first year especially Ansel was only helpful on his own accord when he felt like it; regularly made rude, racist, sarcastic, and intolerant remarks; heavily criticized Eli’s religion, worldviews, and habits; used Eli’s stuff as though it were his own without asking; grew to expect being waited on; usually put himself first; and basically showed very little consideration for the older male, even using the radio he earned via hunting to hear Hitler’s latest speeches in Eli’s presence and giving the Nazi salute after each powerful statement.

Despite this blatant lack of respect, right from the start Ansel did genuinely care about Eli and relished his company. He worried if he went too long without seeing him and dropped what he was doing in a flash if he thought he might be hurt or in danger. The older man had almost instantly became a surrogate father to him, the father he never had. Eli wholeheartedly supported his quest for knowledge and became his personal tutor, especially in the higher maths which Ansel sucked at. During their time together he taught him a slew of invaluable survival skills, including the best way to prepare and store foods and medicines, how to tell what animals had been by and how long ago, which plants were poisonous and which were safe, what to do to maximize survival in a host of potentially-deadly situations, and how to navigate with the stars. Eli had a calming effect on Ansel — the blonde could literally say anything around him without the other man getting his feathers too ruffled, and though this did not motivate Ansel to bother doing anything about his rudeness, it did allow the friends to communicate freely and openly whenever they chose. Eli often very strongly disagreed with Ansel’s attitude as well as his views on a wide variety of topics, but rather than getting angry with him he would merely ask him why he felt the way he did, then gently and respectfully explain why he disagreed with that reasoning and/or disputed the validity of the supposed facts. He never tried to force his views or morality on his young charge, but he did set up hypothetical situations to prove his point and was masterful at getting Ansel to quietly realize that, you know, maybe some things weren’t the way he thought they were. The two often joked and played games together.

It was Eli who ultimately strengthened Ansel’s moral fiber and caused him to view Jews and other minorities in a more favorable light. It was Eli who nurtured, encouraged, and amplified the empathy and respect for innocent life that had already been present within him. Despite his prejudices, Ansel came to love Eli like family, and over time he began to subconsciously start showing respect for him little by little through his actions. One day that respect was put to the test.

It was the holiday season — just after Ansel’s 17th birthday — and some of Eli’s extended family and friends had come over for Hanukkah. Right from the start they clashed with firebrand Ansel, who enjoyed teasing and provoking them. He was ruining the holiday for everyone, and Eli finally decided that enough was enough. Taking the troublemaker aside, he explained that his behavior was completely uncalled for, and that if he couldn’t straighten up and conduct himself in a more polite and respectful manner his presence at the cabin would no longer be tolerated. After the initial shock of being scolded and issued an ultimatum by the last person in the world whom he would have expected it from wore off, an indignant Ansel skulked off by himself to pout for a while. Nonetheless he stopped his deliberate provoking, made an effort to curtail his rudeness, and apart from a few shaky moments behaved himself well enough for the rest of the visit; he even joined in a few of the festivities despite being a nonbeliever.

A month after the Hanukkah visit it became necessary for someone to make a trip into the nearest town and trade for necessities. Winter was harsh that year and Eli’s friend had already missed two of his customary visits in a row, so supplies were lacking. Ansel was only too happy to volunteer — it had been so long since he had set foot in a town, and he was curious as to what the civilized folks were up to. The trip went well, and for the remainder of his time in the cabin Ansel would be the designated trader, as the friend never again showed up.

Much to Ansel’s displeasure, Eli’s family and friends did show up again, five months after they’d left, with plans to stay indefinitely. The anti-Semitism was getting too bad, they said. Not only were Jews all over the country losing everything they owned and facing heavy discrimination and persecution wherever they went, but the number of violent crimes committed against them had skyrocketed, the perpetrators were going unpunished, and whole Jewish families were starting to go missing. Eli of course welcomed them into the fold, an arrangement which made Ansel very unhappy. No longer did he have Eli’s full attention, and all the extra people cramped his privacy and his style. Plus they annoyed him. A lot. They criticized him, argued with him, and always tended to assume the worst about him. They begged Eli to keep an eye on his “pet Nazi” and nudge him into line. In return Ansel teased them mercilessly and was very abrupt and sarcastic in most of his interactions with them. As none of the new additions could hunt — or indeed, even knew how to handle a gun — and as Ansel was the only one who could freely go into town without having anything to fear, he knew he was too valuable to kick out.

All this made for a very tense, stressful, and generally unpleasant atmosphere. Where Eli saw a difficult-but-trustworthy member of the family, the rest of the cabin’s occupants saw a deadly Nazi sniper who loved killing a bit too much and who could snap and turn on them at any moment, either attacking them himself or giving them away to his fellow Nazis. In truth Ansel was planning nothing of the sort, but his general demeanor, willingness to openly admit that he could and would kill a human in the right circumstances, and dark sense of humor certainly didn’t help. They were terrified of him, and he loved having that effect on them no matter how many heart-to-hearts Eli had with him.

Only a couple of months into the new living arrangements, it came to pass that some of the neighboring town’s occupants began to get extremely curious about Ansel and his mysterious comings and goings. Two Gestapo officers covertly followed him into the woods one day and were instantly impressed by his sharpshooting, hunting technique, and physical fitness. It was as though the young man they were watching had been born to be a lethal weapon, and their minds immediately turned to putting him to good use. After interrogating him for hours — and Ansel came clean about everything save the location of the cabin, the true story of how he got his rifle, his history with and true feelings towards Jews, and the fact that he was not living alone — the Gestapo found the wilderness-dwelling Nazi sharpshooter to be a very promising candidate for the SS and suggested he enlist. They gave him the chance to return to his residence and retrieve his identity papers, and told him that he would also need his mother and as many registered relatives and long-time friends as he could find to verify his identity and Aryan heritage.

Putting it mildly, Ansel was thrilled by this turn of events; not only did it feel damn good to be noticed by and have his skills held in such high esteem by the authorities of his own kind, but they wanted him to be in the elite SS! He could barely contain his joy and excitement: this was the best he could have hoped for, just what he always wanted! He went home at once to gather his things and break the news to Eli.

Naturally, Eli and the other Jews at the cabin were horrified and greatly demoralized when they learned that the Gestapo had followed Ansel into the woods and that their best hunter and provider was running off to join the SS. They immediately started making plans to move and begged Ansel not to give them away. The Nazi promised that he wouldn’t, but only Eli truly believed him. Eli tried his level best to talk Ansel into changing his mind about joining the SS and moving with the group to a new location, saying that they needed him now more than ever and would be forever grateful. But Ansel hated the idea of continuing to live with a bunch of annoying Jews whom he couldn’t relate to and loved the idea of being “with his own kind” in the SS. He flatly refused, telling Eli that he could surely train someone else in the art of hunting and insisting that everyone was being overly paranoid about getting caught, as he honestly did not believe that anything worse than being sent to a relatively benign labor camp would befall them even if that happened.

The next day Ansel bid Eli goodbye, gave him a friendly hug, and promised he would look for him again someday to pay a visit once he got some free time. Then he was off.

From that point onward, the young German’s life started getting really exciting and busy. He had a happy reunion with his tearful mother, who was filled with joy to find her son alive, well, and regarded so highly by the Gestapo. Ansel was able to prove his identity, heritage, and skills to the proper authorities and entered — with his mother’s blessings — into the Waffen-SS at a higher rank than most new recruits because of his advanced knowledge and skill.

Ansel made a thunderous first impression on his superiors by always going above and beyond duty, displaying incredible courage as well as relentless dedication to his tasks, completing most of his missions in flying colors, and just generally being extremely handy with weapons, hunting, shooting, survival/combat tactics, and knowledge. He was respectful of authority, good at following orders, and spent all his free time pursuing hobbies that furthered knowledge and skills that would make him an even more indispensable soldier, and all of this helped to shoot him through the ranks fast.

As sheer luck and fate would have it, none of Ansel’s first tasks and missions were tasks and missions with which he had moral qualms. By the time his higher-ups began to suspect that he may not be as ruthless as he should be two years had slipped by and he had already proven himself an invaluable asset to the SS. Curious to see just how loyal to the party and the cause he was, they secretly subjected Ansel to a series of tests.

Ansel did well on all but one. The test in question consisted of giving the subject a dog and having him train it and bond with it for two months. Then the subject would be ordered to shoot the dog in the head and was expected to carry this out as soon as commanded. When the moment of truth arrived Ansel hesitated and openly questioned his superior’s orders. After a bit of prompting he did kill the dog, but any idiot could see that it bothered him. The results of that test had some of Ansel’s commanding officers divided on what to do with him — technically he had passed the test by killing the animal, but deliberately questioning a superior’s orders was usually disqualifying. They grilled him some more, asking him leading questions designed to bring out his moral character, and though Ansel kept much of his heart hidden from them they were able to gather that it would probably be best to keep him far away from the Einsatzgruppen and any potentially morally-trying situations. When all was said and done they passed him, but a note of the incidence was made in his permanent military record, along with the recommendation that he be watched carefully over the next few years and restricted primarily to dangerous seek-and-destroy missions aimed at enemy units.

All the while Ansel remained just as oblivious to his commanders’ misgivings about him as he was to the Einsatzgruppen’s true function. However, the dog test and the fact that he had passed it — as well as the nature of some of the questions he had been asked — did act as big hints to him that he was more honorable and compassionate than most of the SS, and probably more upright than his superiors would prefer. The realization stirred up a small wave of cognitive dissonance within him, which he dealt with by just not thinking too much about it, focusing on the aspects of his job as well as the party ideals that he did like, and telling himself that of course it made sense to encourage soldiers to be ruthless when so much was at stake. Besides, killing dogs was hardly the same as killing humans — it wasn’t like they’d asked him to shoot a child. Surely they never asked their soldiers to do something that extreme; how could he even think that?

A few months later, a 20-year-old Ansel finally found the time and opportunity to return to Eli’s cabin as an Oberscharführer ( equivalent to the U.S. rank of Sergeant 1st Class ). But the kind man who had saved his life was nowhere to be found, and the cabin — which was stripped almost bare — looked to have been deserted for a while. Ansel spent a few days combing the woods and surrounding areas for any hint as to his friend’s whereabouts before duty called him away.

Over the next few years the young Nazi sniper went on many daring and wildly dangerous missions, killing hundreds of enemies and acquiring numerous trophies and bragging rights. Time and time again he continued to impress everyone around him by being unusually bold and amazingly good at his job. Each mission carried with it different challenges and circumstances: each was a learning experience that sharpened both his aim and his skill.

Presently, Lt. Ansel Schäfer has been given the mission of seeking out and destroying as many of the Basterds as he can. He knows of their bloody exploits and is giddy at the thought of taking this fearsome force down, especially the Bear Jew, whom he has heard is fond of killing Nazis with a baseball bat. The Bear Jew is his primary target, but even though he is set on killing him he will do anything and everything he can to have a brief chat with him before he does: Donowitz fascinates him because he is so very unlike Eli and all the other Jews he has ever seen or known, and semi-infamous to boot. He is used to the perpetually frightened and downtrodden Jew, not the kind that fight back and evoke fear in his kinsmen.

It may just be his greatest challenge yet.


Play-by:// Rupert Friend

Sample Post:// Coming soon!

Anything else you'd like us to know?://

• With the right plot-arc, Ansel can be swayed to the Allies' side without much difficulty.
• Some of Ansel's commanding officers know that he is not quite as cutthroat as they'd like ( though none of them know the full extent ). They are keeping an eye on him and deliberately keeping him away from the Reich's dirty laundry and potentially morally-trying situations. He will find future promotions more difficult.
• I deliberately left the fate of Eli and his family unknown. If you want to give your character credit for killing/torturing/helping/etc. them, feel free.

[Lt. Ansel Schäfer]

I'm accepting my own profile....this is as sad as it gets. xD