Wunderwaffe DG-2

"Good old fashioned lightning gun, sweet!"

- "Tank" Dempsey

The Wunderwaffe DG-2 (pronounced: Vunder Vaffeh; German for: "Wonder Weapon DG-2") is the second wonder weapon to make its appearance in the zombie franchise, and it is one of the most powerful weapons in Zombies. It debuted in Shi No Numa in Map Pack 2 for Call of Duty: World at War. The Wunderwaffe DG-2 has since appeared in Der Riese, which was included in Map Pack 3 for Call of Duty: World at War. The Wunderwaffe DG-2 also appears in Call of Duty: Black Ops in the revamped original Der Riese and Shi No Numa Zombies maps and in Call of the Dead after completion of the Original Characters Trapped Easter Egg and by killing George A. Romero after the player has completed the Easter Egg. It is also available in Call of Duty Online 's Cyborg Rising mode. The weapon returns in Call of Duty: Black Ops III in the map The Giant. It also makes an appearance in Verruckt and Shi No Nina as part of Zombies Chronicles.

Overview
The Wunderwaffe DG-2 is the pinnacle of secret Nazi technology. It was built at Der Riese along with the teleporters, and was intended to be mass produced and supplied to front line troops to win the war. Doctor Edward Richtofen created it as revealed by his quotes when he receives it from the Mystery Box, and a document from Vbush. Packed with 200,000 amperes of devastating chained electrical current, in-game, it is incredibly powerful, sending a bolt of lightning at the targeted enemy, killing it instantly. The bolt then proceeds to hit up to nine nearby enemies with no diminished power for a maximum killing potential of 10 enemies. However, in order for the DG-2 to effectively work, the zombies should be nearby each other, as if the zombies are more than five yards away from each other, the bolt might not link to other zombies. The Wunderwaffe DG-2 has three cartridges on the side for ammunition, and 15 reserved, totaling 18. This gives it a maximum killing potential of 180 enemies. These unique attributes make it an ideal room-clearing weapon.

The Wunderwaffe DG-2 is powered by Divinium, better known as Element 115. The Divinium generates electricity which is contained in three tesla power-tubes (that resemble light bulbs) (these tubes increase the voltage of the gun so that it does infinite damage), that the player reloads into the Wunderwaffe DG-2. Whenever the player reloads it, they have to eject the vacuum tubes and insert new ones before pulling on a lever, lighting up the power cells and putting the Wunderwaffe DG-2 back into a firing mode. The Wunderwaffe takes about six seconds to fully reload without Speed Cola, but the player can reload cancel after just three seconds to fully recharge it. This is very handy considering its small magazine size.

It can kill 10 zombies at a time. It also appears to not only instantly kill Hellhounds, but also extinguishes them if they are on fire, meaning that they do not explode after being killed. Because of its recoil, it is important to aim shots carefully, as even a single missed shot is a serious waste of enormous potential.

The Wunderwaffe DG-2 can damage the user if it's fired at a zombie or object too close to the player. In World at War Der Riese, it can stun the player temporarily, slowly drain the user's health and leaving them weaker to incoming damage for long periods of time. This effect is increased with the Wunderwaffe DG-3 JZ, where it can essentially remove Juggernog's effect, making upgrading the Wunderwaffe an unpopular choice among many players. However, in Black Ops, it merely damages the player with small amounts of splash damage akin to getting hit by a zombie.

Achievement/Trophy
Acquire Waffle Weapons (25 / Silver Trophy ) - Obtain the Ray Gun, Wunderwaffe DG-2 and the Monkey Bomb at the same time in one game, in Der Riese.

Call of Duty: Zombies
The Wunderwaffe also appears in the Call of Duty: Zombies app for the iOS with a few differences from the consoles version. In Shi No Numa, digging up Peter's grave after opening all the doors rewards the player with it. The user cannot damage him/herself from firing the Wunderwaffe DG-2, and it also holds much more ammo in reserve than on the consoles. Since there is a Wunderwaffe DG-2 in the Mystery Box and another in the grave, it is possible for two different players to simultaneously have the DG-2. Electrocuting eight zombies with one shot gives the player the "Face Melter" achievement. The Wunderwaffe DG-2 is also semi-automatic on the iOS version, which does not make much of a difference, as most players tend to treat it as a semi-automatic on the consoles anyway.

Call of Duty: Black Ops
The Wunderwaffe DG-2 appears in Shi No Numa and Der Riese as part of the Hardened and Prestige editions, as well as in the Rezurrection versions of the maps. In Kino der Toten and Ascension the weapon is replaced by the Thundergun, and in "Five" it is replaced by the Winter's Howl.

When Pack-a-Punched in Der Riese, the appearance is gold plated, whereas in Call of Duty: World at War, it would obtain a pattern similar to any other upgraded gun. In Shi No Numa, a radio can be found, where Richtofen explains why the Wunderwaffe DG-2 would not appear in Kino der Toten, "Five" or Ascension. This radio can only be found in the Call of Duty: Black Ops version of the map.

There were several quotes that were cut from Kino der Toten, which implies that the Wunderwaffe DG-2 was originally going to appear in the map, but was cut before the game was released and replaced by the Thundergun. There are also cut quotes for "Five" that hint that the Wunderwaffe DG-2 was going to be included.

The Wunderwaffe DG-2 also makes an appearance in Call of the Dead, after completing Original Characters Trapped Easter Egg, where the "original" characters; Tank Dempsey, Nikolai Belinski, Takeo Masaki and Edward Richtofen are trapped in a room and need help from the celebrities to escape. After completing the Easter Egg, a Lightning Bolt will drop, which is the Wunderwaffe DG-2 in power-up form. This Wunderwaffe DG-2 cannot be Pack-a-Punched and will disappear after it runs out of ammo (although the Max Ammo power-up refills it). After the player has completed this Easter Egg and kills George Romero, they will always obtain the Wunderwaffe DG-2 instead of the Death Machine. The player has to be very careful when using the Wunderwaffe DG-2 in Call of the Dead, as George will be hit by its chain effect if he is within range and will go berserk. Despite dealing infinite damage to regular zombies, it only deals 100 damage to George, making it very ineffective against him as he has hundreds of thousands of health.

Call of Duty Online
The Wunderwaffe DG-2 makes an appearance in the Cyborg Rising mode of Call of Duty Online.

Call of Duty: Black Ops III
The Wunderwaffe DG-2 returns in the Zombies maps The Giant, and the remastered versions of Verrückt (replacing the Winter's Howl from the Black Ops version) and Shi No Numa. Similar to previous iterations, it has the capability to kill 10 zombies at once with infinite damage and no longer does splash damage to the user. There is an additional blast when fired close to zombies, dealing minor damage. The lightning bolt will take more time to link between zombies, making it less effective to use in a pinch or when cornered. A recent update, however, made the time it takes to link and kill the zombies instantaneous, restoring the weapon to its Black Ops iteration.

The Wunderwaffe DG-3 JZ, the Pack-a-Punched version holds the same upgrades as before, giving more magazine size and reserve ammo. It also has purple bulbs now when upgraded, though this is merely cosmetic.

Previously, due to a bug, the Wunderwaffe would sometimes have faulty hit detection: only the close-range blast would hit zombies, and the lightning bolt would not register to any of them, making it very ineffective as the blast would deal little damage. It was caused by having the Dead Wire upgrade on any weapon, and it could not be fixed without starting a new game. However, this was fixed in a update.

Wunderwaffe DG-3 JZ
If the Wunderwaffe DG-2 is put into the Pack-a-Punch Machine, it will have red electricity that turns blue after striking the first zombie, and will be renamed to Wunderwaffe DG-3 JZ. It will also receive an ammo boost; 30 charges and a magazine size of six. However, the splash damage is increased greatly, enough to down the user in two hits, even with Juggernog. If the player does not have Juggernog, and is hit with the splash damage, they will be downed instantly should a zombie or Hellhound attack them. Also, if the user recovers from the splash damage from the Wunderwaffe DG-3 JZ, they will not only lose the effects of Juggernog, but they will be a one hit down. The only way to get back Juggernog's effects is for the player to down themself and be revived so they can buy it again.

In Call of Duty: Black Ops, the appearance of the Wunderwaffe DG-3 JZ is also greatly changed, as it no longer possesses the black and patterned appearance it had in Call of Duty: World at War and instead gains a golden camouflage. Although the splash damage still hurts the user if they fire it too close to a zombie or object, it no longer affects the user's Juggernog, allowing the user to shock themselves and retain Juggernog's effects.

Trivia

 * On the iOS version of Shi No Numa, if the player gets a Wunderwaffe DG-2 from the Mystery Box and then digs Peter's grave, the Wunderwaffe's ammo will be replenished.
 * One of the most popular nicknames for the Wunderwaffe DG-2 is the "Wonder Waffle" given by Tank Dempsey.
 * Zombies killed by the Wunderwaffe DG-2 will not drop power-ups, except in Shi No Numa.
 * In Call of Duty: World at War, the Wunderwaffe DG-2 will produce a distorted electricity sound after killing more than five zombies with one bolt.
 * If third-person mode is activated, it is impossible to aim correctly with the Wunderwaffe DG-2. The bolts will fire out through the side of the player and simply go through zombies.
 * Despite not being able to Pack-a-Punch the Wunderwaffe DG-2, the Wunderwaffe DG-3 JZ is scripted into Call of the Dead and can be obtained via console commands, although the gun is white as a result of not having a texture associated with it.
 * Also, a Wunderwaffe DG-2 obtained through console commands cannot be Pack-a-Punched.
 * In the Ascension poster, Dempsey is seen holding this gun even though it cannot be obtained in Ascension through normal means.
 * The "JZ" in the Wunderwaffe DG-3 JZ's name is a reference to Treyarch's former Creative Lead and Design Director of Zombies, Jimmy Zielinski.
 * According to a cut quote by Robert McNamara, the Wunderwaffe DG-2 shoots at 130,000 mph and 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
 * In the World at War version of Shi No Numa the Wunderwaffe appears to have a speed reloader holding the bulbs together while reloading. This device flies off the bulbs when the handle is pulled back. This speed reloader is also present in the iOS/Android version of Call of the Dead in Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies, as well as in The Giant.