Ludvig Maxis

Doctor Ludvig Maxis (sometimes called Maxis) is a scientist who was part of the project known as "Der Riese." The player can find out about him after activating six hidden radios. His team was possibly responsible for creating the Hellhounds and Zombies. He was a member of Group 935. Maxis never physically appears in game.

He is voiced by Fred Tatasciore.

Life
Doctor Maxis worked with his assistant, Edward Richtofen, at the Der Riese facility near Breslau. He worked on creating Zombies and Teleporters. He created the Ray Gun. It is strongly hinted that he also created the Thundergun.

As first mentioned in a radio message in Shi No Numa, an American says his name but he gets cut off by static so that many people thought his name was just "Doctor Max".

His name is revealed to be Ludvig shown through a hidden card that says "Ludvig Maxis M.D."

Presumed Death
Doctor Maxis was working on an experiment with Richtofen that involved his daughter's dog named Fluffy. He attempted to teleport Fluffy, but when he did, the plan failed. Fluffy was teleported, but not to the mainframe. She teleported back inside the Teleporter from an electrical force, most probably the ball of electricity players see Hellhounds spawn from. Maxis demanded the door to be opened, but Edward refused. When they finally opened the door, Fluffy had transformed into a Hellhound. Samantha comes running into the room, asking her father what he had done with her dog. The Hellhound begin to try and attack, destroying the room. This caused chaos, and as Maxis tried to calm and reassure his daughter, Richtofen exits and locked the door behind him, trapping Maxis and Samantha with the raging Hellhound. It is presumed Maxis was killed. Further evidence suggesting he is dead are some of Richtofen's quotes such as "Maxis would've been proud" and "I wish Dr. Maxis were here to see this" he also says "so this is what Maxis was hiding from me" when you pick up the ThunderGun.

In the left hallway of Der Riese, there are pictures of Zombies, Hellhounds, and a blackboard. There is writing on it saying "levels 5-8 must survive." One of these levels is when Hellhounds first appear, suggesting that it is referring to them. Also, "Edward, I know it was you" is also written on it. This could have been written by a Group 935 employee, Peter, who also sent the radio message in Shi No Numa. This suggests that someone had found out that Edward had killed Maxis, or that he always planned to set the Zombies loose, instead of just testing on them. It is also possible that Richtofen was trying to prevent Dr. Maxis from creating the zombies, to prevent an outbreak.

Another theory is that he used the Teleporter to escape, as in the message where Richtofen locks him in with a Hellhound, the player can clearly hear a teleporter going.

There is another possibility that Maxis time traveled since Richtofen discovered that the Teleporters have capability to time travel due to Richtofen believing that Samantha is still alive in Call of Duty: Black Ops giving credence that Maxis is still alive. Also, in Kino der Toten there are film reels that can be found that can be played in the Pack-A-Punch room. All of them have a man talking about the zombie experiments and his voice is similar to that of Maxis. If it is him, it is a possibility that he escaped the encounter with Fluffy in Der Riese and continued his experiments.

It is also possible that he survived his teleportation, but was scarred mentally afterwards after realizing the horrors that he had created. In one last recording, he is stated to be looking for his pills, and later proceeds to hang himself (possibly being the hanging man in Der Riese) while sounds of zombies, terrified crowds, and gun shots play in the background.

Trivia

 * Sometimes Richtofen will mention his "Master" when the Mystery Box vanishes. It is very likely Richtofen is referring to Dr. Maxis, who was his real life master. This quote also suggests that even in death Dr. Maxis is still calling the shots at the Der Riese facility, and has the power to move the Mystery Box in order to punish Richtofen and the rest of the group. Another of Richtofen's quotes adds further weight to this, as it is obvious the box is being moved by some sort of intelligence.
 * In Kino der Toten, if the player obtains a Film Reel from one of the random rooms and use it on the projector, instead of it projecting the normal film reel, it shows a scientist pacing around a desk; there is a possibility that it could be Maxis.
 * It is possible that Maxis survived his encounter with Fluffy by teleporting out, as the teleporter can be heard in the Der Riese radio messages where he gets killed.
 * It is possible that the Demonic Announcer who says "Fetch me their SOULS!" at the start of a Hellhound round is not Samantha, but Maxis. This implies that he is in fact dead, haunting the survivors.
 * Richtofen suggests that Maxis created the Thundergun and had intentionally hid it from him. This is probably due to Maxis' knowledge of Richtofen's mental condition.
 * In Der Riese outside the room above the tunnel near Teleporter C there is a sign saying "L. Maxis M.D."
 * It has been indicated that Ludwig Maxis created the Gas Zombies as Richtofen stated them as "Failed experiments Maxis made."
 * There are rumors that the Pentagon Thief could be Dr Maxis as both of them are Scientist, and that when you kill him in 'Five.' However, Maxis has nothing to do with the characters in 'Five,' so thus, this rumor is most likely false.
 * On the Black Ops computer he claims that that Sam's bear is watching him, and that he claims that "Richtofen's Latest Creation" (i.e., the Monkey Bomb) shrieks when set into flame, although he also says that this may be an effect of the 115 on his mind.
 * In Kino der Toten there is a poster with the Name Faust which is a German folklore about a man who makes a deal with the devil to gain all knowledge of the world and looses his betrothed Gretchen to the devil after his trade with Lucifer, Gretchen could be a metaphor for Sammantha and Faust could represent Maxis