Edward Richtofen

"My name is Edward Richtofen, and I have been trying so very hard to do the right thing. Long ago, I made a promise. A vow to protect him. In order to keep my word, I have done bad things. VERY bad things. I do not regret the pain that I have caused because none of it really matters. This moment... this... me. All of it will soon be gone. I have lied, I have cheated, I have deceived. All for a purpose you could never understand. I would not change a single thing. He thinks I do not know, but I do. The blood will protect me."

- Edward Richtofen

Doctor Edward Richtofen is a German scientist in the Zombies storyline and also a playable character in the Zombies game mode. His player indicator color in World at War and Black Ops is normally green (shared with Fidel Castro and Michael Rooker), but is randomized in Moon and in all subsequent maps. Richtofen's voice appears in Call of Duty: Black Ops II in all maps set in the future, whilst an alternate version of him appears in Origins. This Richtofen also appears in Call of Duty: Black Ops III, in the ending cutscene of Shadows of Evil, and as a playable character in The Giant (which also features the Original timeline Richtofen during the opening cutscene), Der Eisendrache, Zetsubou No Shima, Gorod Krovi, Revelations, and the Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 map Blood of the Dead. The original timeline Richtofen also returns as a playable character in the season pass exclusive Classified.

Original Timeline
""Beware The Doc". A message that was scrawled across walls of every town under Axis control. Starvation may cripple you, dysentery may wreck you, and gunfire may rip the flesh from your bones, but "Beware the Doctor". This is Dr. Richtofen, known affectionately as "The Butcher" to his victims as they scream in agony moments before he snuffs out their light. All through his career, Richtofen has been at the forefront of torture and information extraction research. Richtofen is an incurable sociopath and sees no moral distinction between natural death and murder; the victim is the victim, regardless of how their demise manifests itself. Doctor Richtofen has a collection of stuffed animals, most of them posed in positions of terror at the instant of their death."

- Richtofen's bio added with Map Pack 2 in World at War

Joining Group 935
On May 10th, 1931, Doctor Ludvig Maxis formed Group 935, a research team dedicated to the study of Element 115. Edward Richtofen, at the time, had been a member of the Illuminati since August 30th, 1925. On August 11th, 1936, Maxis invited Richtofen to join Group 935 after the two Germans met, in which he agreed to join, only because he was secretly acting on behalf of the Illuminati's interests. They would work together on many projects, with important ones being teleportation experiments with the Matter Transference Prototype, which had mild success, and resurrecting one of the teleported corpses for the first time. Richtofen also carried out his own experiments in the field of teleportation, along with fellow Group 935 member Dr. Schuster. Though he was successful at teleporting a walnut, Maxis declared it a waste of time. He reveals to Richtofen that Group 935 will soon be funded by Germany. Richtofen worried this would lead to mass defections: he and Schuster decided to continue their teleportation experiments behind Maxis' back.

Going insane
After conducting more experiments, on January 4th, 1940, Richtofen eventually used himself as a test subject for teleportation, leading him to be teleported to a catacomb within the Moon, where he came into contact with a mysterious pyramid device, unknown to him as the Aether Pyramid hidden by the Apothicons. While inspecting the device, Richtofen was electrocuted and begins hearing the many voices of corruption, including that of the Shadowman. The device then teleported him an exotic jungle, where he spent three weeks learning of the Vril energy force and encountered the Focusing Stone for the first time. Richtofen was also worshiped by the natives, in which they built an altar in his name.

Now corrupted by the Dark Aether, Richtofen was gradually being driven insane by an obsession to find Agartha. Afterwards, on January 23rd, 1940, he traveled back to the weapon factory Der Riese, Group 935's base at Breslau, Germany, where he started his plans to build a new base on the moon with Schuster and several other Group 935 scientists, all behind Maxis' back. Around this time, he also renounced his involvement with the Illuminati. When asked how he could abandon his obligation to the Order, he stated "Teddy was a liar." Maxis carrys on experimenting and documenting Element 115.

Greating Griffin Station
On February 1st, 1942, with the moon base completed, now known as Griffin Station, Richtofen named Dr. Groph lead scientist, and returned to the Earth to continue his 'charade' with Maxis. Working alongside Schuster, Groph was left to discover how to power the M.P.D., which he did a couple months later when Schuster killed a rat near the device, its death inexplicably began filling the tank, charging the device. They report their findings to Richtofen, who began sending soldiers and scientists to the moon to be sacrificed; their souls used to charge the M.P.D.

In a personal log, Maxis expressed concern over Element 115's impact on Richtofen's behavior. No longer trusting him, he wondered if it was a mistake to invite him to Group 935. Accompanied by Sophia, Maxis was transferred to the Kino facility to focus on creating Germany's undead army. His daughter Samantha was left in Richtofen's care.

Research on Ultimis
On July 15th, 1945, Richtofen traveled to the Siberian Facility to do further research on "live specimens." As her temporary guardian, he takes Samantha with him. Group 935 begins transferring three test subjects for experimentation: a Soviet named Nikolai Belinski, a Mexican named Pablo Marinus, and a Japanese captain named Takeo Masaki, who were enemies captured by the Germans. Richtofen reported Pablo had died following a spleen removal. He also revealed he was performing experiments on Samantha. Richtofen reported another enemy has been captured and will be brought in to replace "the Mexican." The subject is an American named "Tank" Dempsey, who was captured at the Asylum Facility after trying to rescue an American spy sent to investigate Group 935. Richtofen documented the personality traits of his test subjects. Dempsey's "intellect seems low, but his will is strong." Takeo is "still staring at the floor, muttering what sounds like some kind of proverb over and over again." Nikolai has "recently begun responding to stimuli, but only after (injections of) a new serum made primarily from vodka." Richtofen notes that their minds were almost entirely broken, with no memory remaining of who they once were.

Betraying Maxis
Maxis returned to Der Riese. He ordered Richtofen to do likewise so they may continue their work on the Matter Transference Device. Richtofen returned to Der Riese with Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo, and Samantha. He places the test subjects (minus Samantha) into sleep, ready to be awakened whenever.

Using Element 115, prior to his experiments with the test subjects, Richtofen was able to create a deadly weapon, codenamed Wunderwaffe DG-2. Maxis, though initially promised to mass-produce the Wunderwaffe DG-2, did not show any progress due to his obsession with creating resources for the war effort due to the funding recieved by Germany and his close-relationship with his assistant Sophia. Infuriated, Richtofen reveled in his plot to destroy Maxis and Samantha, vowing that he would no longer continue to work on Maxis' undead army. Along with other Group 935 members such as Groph and Schuster, Richtofen came up with a plan called Operation Shield to dispose of Maxis and his daughter, as the M.P.D. became fully powered.

On October 13th, 1945, Maxis and Richtofen performed teleportation test trials on Test Subjects Number 3, 4, and 5. All tests failed, including Test 5, where Maxis uses Fluffy, Samantha's dog. As Test 6 failed, Fluffy, now changed, is teleported back into the chamber. Samantha saw Fluffy and ran into the teleporter. Maxis chased after her. Richtofen sealed them both in the test chamber and teleported all three of them. Samantha was teleported to the moon while Groph and Schuster were working on the M.P.D. Running into the M.P.D., she was drawn inside of it, where she became corrupted by the Dark Aether. Maxis was teleported to the Crazy Place and developed the power to merge with electricity. Richtofen then shortly returned to the moon, where he quickly learned that Samantha was trapped in the MPD. He then ordered Groph to teleport Maxis there to coax her out of the device. In an effort to free Samantha, Maxis approached the M.P.D. and persuaded her to come out. Once she did, Maxis gave her an instruction, to "Kill them...all." Maxis then killed himself and merged with the technology of Griffin Station, while Samantha unleashes the undead upon the base.

Awakening the Test Subjects]]
Richtofen then returned to an undead-infested Der Riese and awakened Dempsey, Takeo, and Nikolai. With no recollection of who they were or who Richtofen was, they agreed to help him. The four would become known as Ultimis.

On October 21st, 1945, Ultimis first traveled to the Rising Sun facility in Japan, a station ran by Group 935 and Division 9, to recover Richtofen's diary. Upon reading it, Richtofen began to form his plan to defeat Samantha.

On October 28th, 1945, Ultimis then returned to Der Riese. With his diary, Richtofen planned to use the teleporter to return to the moon and confront Samantha. Unfortunately, the Wunderwaffe DG-2 overloaded the teleporter and sends them through time - causing Richtofen to drop his diary.

From Der Riese, Ultimis teleported through time and space and ended up at the Kino Facility on October 28th, 1963, another station once ran by Group 935, which was located at an abandoned theater. Unbeknownst to them, they begin to receive help at this point from Dr. Monty, a Keeper, who added changes in the background across time with things such as chalk drawings of weapons on the walls, helping Group 935 come up the idea to make Perk-a-Colas, etc. Ultimis locates a Lunar Lander and fly to the Ascension Facility in Soviet territory, which is where Richtofen finds out his diary is located.

Helping Gersh
Ultimis then located a Lunar Lander and flew to the Ascension Facility a the Soviet Cosmodrome on November 6th, 1963 and freed Gersh, a scientist who worked for the Ascension Group, from the Casimir Mechanism after Samantha corrupted Yuri Zavoyski, another scientist of the Ascension Group, and obeyed her wish by tricking Gersh into activating the Gersh Device. The rift created by it absorbed him and allowed Samantha to travel through. Yuri was also absorbed and was transported to the Pentagon. Richtofen recovered his diary, and learned that they need the Vril Device from the Siberian Facility for his plan. Maintaining his ethereal form, Gersh sended them into a rift to their next destination before beginning his travels across space and time.

Retrieving the Vril Device
The group then teleports to the Siberian Facility on March 17th, 2011, where George Romero is filming a zombie movie with four well-known actors. Samantha, in her pursuit of Ultimis, unleashes an undead outbreak. The celebrities find the group trapped in a small room. The film's stars fight the undead horde, ultimately recovering the Vril Device for Richtofen. Ultimis teleports to the exotic jungle where Richtofen once teleported to in one of his experiments, now known as Shangri-La, in an effort to acquire the next artifact required to defeat Samantha: the Focusing Stone.

Retrieving the Focusing Stone
Ultimis then teleports to the exotic jungle where Richtofen once teleported to in one of his experiments, now known as Shangri-La, in an effort to acquire the next artifact Richtofen stated he required to defeat Samantha: the Focusing Stone. Ultimis soon arrived at Shangri-La on April 25th, 1956. Ultimis discovered explorers Brock and Gary, who are trying to find Agartha. During an eclipse, they're unwittingly trapped in a time loop. With the help of Brock and Gary, the group assist Richtofen in acquiring the Focusing Stone.

Completing His Grand Scheme
Having everything necessary to complete his plan, Richtofen teleported the group to Hangar 18 in Area 51 on October 13th, 2025. Overrun by zombies, Ultimis quickly ran to the teleporter in the hangar, which teleported them to Griffin Station on the Moon. Using the Vril Device and the Focusing Stone, Richtofen had completed his Grand Scheme and swaps bodies with Samantha on the Moon, giving him full control of the zombies and the Aether. Then, Maxis contacted the remaining members of Ultimis through the stations electronics and asked for their help to defeat Richtofen. They agree, through helping Maxis launch missiles at the Earth, leaving it fractured and broken. They severed Richtofen's connection with the Aether, but he maintained control over the zombies.

Creating servants
Over the course of the next 10 years, Richtofen and Maxis all attempted to use their power to communicate with the remaining residents of the Earth to get them to power up polarization devices. Richtofen's plan was to mend the Rift in space-time and acquire full control over the Aether, while Maxis' was to open Agartha and reunite himself with Samantha, even though it would result in the destruction of the Earth. Richtofen, however, could only communicate with those who have eaten zombie flesh, leaving him with the only choice being a cannibalistic survival group called the Flesh, by speaking to them as a voice within their heads. The conflict between Maxis' followers and the Flesh would go on until Richtofen finds an individual named Samuel J. Stuhlinger, who is a former Flesh member, who survived a major battle between The Flesh and Maxis' followers.

Stuhlinger then bumped into Russman, who has stolen a bus from an abandoned Broken Arrow facility. About a week later, they ran into Marlton Johnson and Abigail "Misty" Briarton at a diner near the Hanford Site Facility on October 21st, 2035. Maxis asked them to complete the polarization device in his favor. Stuhlinger, having consumed zombie meat, is contacted by Richtofen, who orders Stuhlinger to construct the device for him instead. The crew, now known as Victis, constructed the device for Maxis.

Still hoping to regain control, Richtofen teleports Victis to Province 22 on October 22nd, 2035, where he demands that Stuhlinger activate the second polarization device. Once again, the crew sides with Maxis. The voices cease for some time, leaving Victis to wander the earth.

Victis then arrived at an old western town on December 31st, 2035, now located beneath a mining facility in Angola. The voices of Maxis and Richtofen return.

Canon Ending= If the player decides to follow Maxis' side of all three Easter Eggs, a gateway to the Aether will open, allowing him to escape his digital form and assume power over the Aether's energy and use it to open the gateway to Agartha and destroy the Earth in the process. Meanwhile, Richtofen's soul is transported into a zombie with blue eyes and doomed to forever walk the Earth as one of the undead. This is the canon ending in the storyline. Non-Canon Ending=If the player decides to follow Richtofen's side of all three Easter Eggs, the Rift will be mended, eternally damning the soul of Samantha Maxis and the link with the Aether and the Earth will be reinforced. This allows Edward to gain full control of all energies and become omnipotent, granting his soul the ability to leave the Aether and enter the body of Stuhlinger, whom he uses as his physical host. Meanwhile, Maxis ceases his existence inside the Griffin Station computer systems. This is non-canon.

Losing his fight with Maxis
They activate the final polarization device in Maxis' favor. Now corrupted by the Dark Aether, he reveals his true intentions to Victis and punishes Richtofen by trapping his soul in a zombie. With Richtofen defeated, Maxis then uses his power to pluck Samantha's soul from Richtofen's body on the Moon, and places her in Agartha alongside him. Realizing that her father has been corrupted, Samantha reaches out to an alternate timeline version of him, residing in Dimension 63.

In the Call of Duty: Zombies comics it is revealed that the zombified Richtofen, ended up being teleported through the Dimension 63 timeline, thanks to his Primis version of himself. He soon finds out about the fate of the earth, and in efforts works with the Primis version of himself to fix the fractures in the universe with the help of the Victus crew.

Teleporting to the Pentagon
A little while after the events of the comics, the zombified Richtofen is than transferred to Groom Lake, where it's revealed in the map Classified that the original Ultimus crew is alive, having teleported from Moon after the destruction of earth. Cornelius Pernell having recognizing Richtofen, and Tank Dempsey, keeps them as prisoners of war, after further discovery the crew has taken in large amounts of element 115. Richtofen's body is currently still alive, but brain dead, following the events of Buried. It is revealed in an audio log from Tank Dempsey, that the crew is traumatized by the events of Moon, having felt betrayed by Richtofen, and puzzling his actions following the destruction of Earth. However, in an audio log revealed by Pernell, a guard witnessed a zombie enter the Groom Lake facilities, and approach the cell of the brain-dead Richtofen, seconds later, transferring his soul into the body, turning the zombie into a pile of ash. Richtofen awakens, making a loud noise, and cackling. Thus, Richtofen returning back to his body, for the first time after transferring souls since Moon.

Getting recruited by Primis
When Takeo expresses confusion on how they are back on the Earth despite blowing it up Dempsey simply puts it as “More time travel bullshit.” Dempsey is also confused on how Richtofen got his body back despite witnessing him switch souls with Samantha. Moments later, the Primis crew teleport in the cell, being led by Primis Nikolai. After uniting the team as one and telling the Ultimis crew that they must leave quickly, Primis Nikolai says that a war must be fought with Dempsey saying “War? What kind of war?” Primis Nikolai replies by saying “A war unlike anything you have seen before. The Great War.”

Dimension 63 Timeline
"In a former life, the sadistic Doctor Edward Richtofen stood at the forefront of research into the mysterious Element 115 - and its potential applications for Group 935's Wonder Weapon program. Now, his grand plans for a brave new world guide him down a dangerous path toward an uncertain future..."

- Richtofen's bio for Call of Duty: Black Ops III.

Losing his parents
On July 17th, 1898, Edward Richtofen's parents died. Guiding himself, on August 11th, 1906, Richtofen began his studies at Heidelberg University, under the tutelage of Doctor Ludvig Maxis. Having lost his parents, Richtofen came to view him as a father figure.

Joining Group 935
Years later, on July 3rd, 1912, Richtofen and Maxis join Group 935, a organization dedicated to improving the human condition.

On August 25th, 1916, the journal of a Sir Pablo Marinus, Knight of the Great War between humanity and the Apothicons from the 13th century, is discovered by Group 935. In Pablo's journal, he documented The Great War, including all he had learned about the Keepers, Apothicons, and Element 115. Regarding Element 115's power, he noted that a site in Northern France contains massive deposits of the element.

On March 23rd, 1917, using information gathered from Pablo's Journal, Group 935 began work at a dig site in northern France, where they discover a series of underground tombs. A month later, after finding the main chamber, but unable to access it, soldiers listened to a Gramophone to alleviate their frustration. When listening to a recording of "La Source Noire", the entrance to the main chamber unexpectedly opens. The camp's exposure to Element 115 began. Using information from Pablo's journal and the tomb's main chamber, Maxis drew schematics for the creation of four Elemental Staffs and instructed Richtofen to begin their construction.

On September 22nd, 1917, Richtofen noted that in spite of Group 935's progress at the dig site, he was troubled by Maxis' growing obsession with Pablo's diary and with Element 115.

On May 13th, 1918, Richtofen learned from Pablo's journal that the northern France dig site may be the single largest deposit of Element 115 on Earth. He believes this explains why it has affected so many at the site. Maxis, who is now completely obsessed with a girl in his head named Samantha Maxis, who is his daughter from the Original Timeline who had traveled through a rift to gain his help in freeing her from Agartha, and on May 14th, 1918, swore he would not serve Group 935's mission in order to advance his own agenda with Samantha.

Freeing Samantha
On June 4th, 1918, Element 115 completely awakened the undead knights from The Great War and quickly consumed the camp. Maxis was rendered catatonic by the element. Richtofen removed his brain before he turned. American spy "Tank" Dempsey, Russian spy Nikolai Belinski, and Japanese spy Takeo Masaki unite with Richtofen on the battlefield and help free Samantha from her imprisonment in Agartha. The four uniting marks the return of Primis from the original Great War, as the group were reincarninated versions of them. Samantha, who had been freed and sent to the House, then sent Primis to their next destination. Maxis' brain arrived in Agartha and Doctor Monty, a Keeper, decided to step in. Monty brought Maxis' brain to the house and wiped the Maxis' corrupted by the Dark Aether from existence. Monty revealed his plan to build his perfect world and instructed Maxis to retrieve a book called the Kronorium, which contains the location of another artifact known as the Summoning Key. Maxis in turn relayed this task to Richtofen.

Securing a better tomorrow
Richtofen, through unknown means, manages to make contact with his undead self in the original timeline, and instructs him to pursue Stuhlinger's group. At the same time, he also instructs Stuhlinger to get the others to follow his plan. They jump to a Broken Arrow base on June 24th, 1996 to acquire a shard of Element 115, then arrive at the Empty Earth, where an alternate Maxis built Zero Base to house various artifacts, including the Kronorium. Once the Kronorium is acquired, Richtofen then makes his way back to Dimension 63 in July 4th, 1941, with the construction of the Alcatraz lab completed. At the same time, the Victis group arrives and hands him the Kronorium. He then reads it, and discovers various excerpts documenting the fates of Richtofen and various other individuals. He then writes "I know what I must do - E.R. 4/7/41" in one of the pages, then travels briefly to Zero Base to meet his undead self and acquire four blood vials of Victis. He then jumps back to Alcatraz in Dimension 63 in 1934, 8 days before the execution of Billy Handsome, Salvatore "Sal" DeLuca and Michael "Finn" O'Leary, and acquires blood samples of the latter two, contained in 4 blood vials. He travels further back in time to give two of them to a younger version of himself. He jumps back to July 4th, 1941, and then puts the Victis group in cryogenic sleep, preserving them for when they are needed next. Moments after, a future version of Richtofen, along with Dempsey, Nikolai and Takeo arrive, and receive blood samples of the Victis group from the younger Richtofen. Once the Primis group leaves, Richtofen then sets off for his next destination: Morg City in Dimension 63, where he attempts to intercept a reporter who has just retrieved the Key, locked inside a crate sealed with magic. In self-defense, Richtofen killed the reporter, and placed the crate containing the Key in a truck in the back alley of Easy Street in Morg, due to being unable to break through the magic seal. Richtofen stood watch behind the scenes as four individuals residing in Morg City are manipulated by the Shadowman into using the Key to unleash the Apothicon beast upon the city, and their attempts to undo their mistake. After their completion of the mission, Richtofen arrives and swipes the Key from the Keepers, thanking the four Morg residents for their efforts, before leaving. With the Key acquired, Richtofen then jumps to Dimension 2210, and acquires an innocent Richtofen soul, which would be sent to the House and be known as Eddie.

Killing Ultimis Richtofen: Deceptio Fracture
"What can I say Dempsey? Things change (...) I am no fool! For what I do... I do only to secure a better tomorrow."

- Primis Richtofen explaining why he killed his Ultimis self to Primis Dempsey and Nikolai.

Primis Dempsey, Nikolai and Takeo, having been teleported to the original dimension in 1943 and somehow learned of Richtofen's travels, formed a plan to stop him. In the following two years, they traveled across dimensions, following Richtofen's trails and encountering various versions of himself at the same time. They return to the original dimension and meet at the Der Riese facility on October 13th, 1945, just moments after Ultimis Richtofen trapped Maxis and Samantha in the teleporter with Fluffy. Dempsey, Nikolai and Takeo confront Ultimis Richtofen, telling him that there is a chain of events that must be carried out, and prompt him to awaken the original versions of themselves.

As the zombie horde approach them from outside, Richtofen ignores the three's warning and turns on the teleporter, only to find Primis Richtofen inside. Primis Richtofen then shoots the Ultimis Richtofen in the head, killing him instantly. This triggers a fracturization across the original timeline. While the group expresses disappointment in Richtofen for tampering with history, he defends his action, believing that what he does will be to secure a better future. While the others fend off the zombies, Richtofen pretends to use the Summoning Key to acquire the original Richtofen's soul, which Dempsey notices. Eventually, the four activate a beacon in the facility, allowing Maxis from another dimension to locate them.

Killing Ultimis Dempsey: Deceptio Fracture
After acquiring a Giant Robot from the Der Riese facility, the four pursue the scattered remains of Group 935 to Griffin Castle, codenamed "Eagle's Nest", on November 5th, 1945. The Germans had captured Ultimis Dempsey's cryo chamber from being experimented on by Ultimis Richtofen and planned to bring him to Griffin Station, now fully ran by Dr. Groph in Ultimis Richtofen's "absence", with Primis close behind until a German soldier fires a Panzerschreck at the Giant Robot, disabling it before it could retrieve Ultimis Dempsey. After arriving at Griffin Castle, the young four watch as a rocket containing the Ultimis Dempsey launches to the Moon. After making radio contact with Dr. Groph, Richtofen masquerades as his Ultimis, older self in order to fool Groph. However, Groph becomes suspicious of Richtofen's change of personality and announces him as an imposter. Using the Death Ray, the young four manage to bring the rocket containing the Ultimis Dempsey back to the castle, much to Groph's anger, who activates a failsafe so they couldn't touch the chamber.

Using the Vril Device obtaining from the crash site, the young four awaken a ghost Keeper and help it return it to its physical form before it returns the favor and brings the M.P.D. from the Moon to the castle. However, the Keeper becomes corrupted, forcing the four to battle it, eventually defeating it. After defeating it, Groph expresses his extreme anger, vowing to destroy them and the castle itself. In order to tie up these loose ends, the four use the Summoning Key to launch several missiles towards the Moon, destroying it, ultimately destroying Griffin Station and killing any Group 935 scientist at the station, including Groph. After walking towards Ultimis Dempsey's cryo chamber, Richtofen activates the Summoning Key, forcing the others to levitate in the air.

Here, Richtofen's plan is revealed to the others. Richtofen plans to kill the Ultimis versions of themselves to be put in the Summoning Key like he supposedly did with his own at the Der Riese facility. When Dempsey himself sadly put his older self down, Richtofen briefly comforted him after it was done, showing that he had laid his previous dislike of Dempsey off to the side. Richtofen then captures the Ultimis Dempsey's soul in the Key.

Killing Ultimis Takeo: Proditione Fracture
Richtofen and the other three then travel to a different fractured timeline, to an island, arriving on a Japanese vessel heading for a Division 9 Facility on October 18th, 1945, before being caught and the Summoning key being taken away from him. A brief fight ensues with the Japanese soldiers with Richtofen burning one alive before he notices the Key rolling toward the ocean, luckily Takeo had managed to barely catch the Key by his fingertips much to Richtofen's relief. The four then are forced to swim to a nearby island after the ship blows up. Later, Richtofen was present when the Ultimis Takeo Masaki was cured from being a Thrasher to collect his soul.

Stop of Alcatraz
After the Ultimis Takeo honorably sacrificed himself for a better future, Richtofen then preserved his soul. Initially Dempsey suggested going after the Ultimis Nikolai but Richtofen said a "chain of events " must be set in motion. Realizing that he wants to save his three comrades from their eventual fate, Richtofen then takes them to Alcatraz on July 4th, 1941, where he meets his younger self and acquires the Victis blood samples.

Killing Ultimis Nikolai: Agonia Fracture
Primis then jump to another fractured timeline, in a war-torn Stalingrad on November 6th, 1945, to kill the Ultimis Nikolai and place his soul in the Summoning Key. Eventually the four are teleported out of the sky and parachute in front of Ultimis Nikolai's mech while he is distracted with vodka and listening to "The Ace of Spades" on his radio.

Upon seeing them the Ultimis Nikolai attempts to kill them until a dragon throws him into a building. After encountering SOPHIA, Richtofen and the group assist her in acquiring interdimensional travel knowledge, helping her to reunite with Maxis. Later, Richtofen and the others make a temporary truce with the Ultimis Nikolai in order to kill the dragon. Afterward, Richtofen and the other three demand Ultimis Nikolai to surrender to which he refuses and betrays them. After the Primis Nikolai kills his Ultimis self, Richtofen opens a portal in the sky with Maxis' help and lights a beacon from the Summoning Key which releases the Ultimis Nikolai, Takeo and Dempsey. After this, he calls to Maxis, telling him that they'll be meeting him soon.

Return to the House and the Final Battle
Soon after the events of Gorod Krovi, Richtofen along with the rest of the Primis crew finally arrive at the house. There Richtofen reunites with Maxis, the two then destroy the MDT to ensure the house would remain safe. Letting his guard down Richtofen leaves the Soul key on a table unaware of who was trapped within. The voice inside calls out to Maxis and influences him due to his lack of soul making him easy to control. Maxis opens the Soul key releasing the Shadowman inside, exploring his new surroundings, he opens a portal to Agartha and unleashes an Apothicon invasion. Monty enlists the help of the Primis crew to defeat the Shadowman and save his perfect world from destruction.

With the help of Maxis and S.O.P.H.I.A, Primis manages to kill the Shadowman and banish the Apothicons to places unknown. As the world returns to normal Monty becomes concerned as Primis remains in front of him. Noticing the empty blood vials he becomes angered claiming that they are putting his realm at risk. Initially he decides to simply wipe them from existence but decides to instead send them somewhere else. The 4 then end up in the year 1299, in northern France just as the Great war comes to an end causing the cycle to continue.

Breaking the Cycle and Death
"No! No, you can help me! You're a doctor! Wait! Don't you know who I am? I have been witness to miracles and calamities, dimensions born and collapsed! I walk a path no other can take! NO! I want to be me. THE ONE WHO DID ALL THE HARD WORK! I wanted to keep going. This me... I was the nicest one. And you won't even remember."

- Richtofen pleads his older self to save him, moments before his death.

Set before the events of Gorod Krovi, Primis enters the pocket dimension of Alcatraz to pick up the blood vials. Ending up far from their intended target, the group enters the underground lab and find another Richtofen. He gives the vials to the group and instructs Richtofen to re-read the Kronorium. Richtofen scans through pages exclaiming that pages have changed and that his blood is needed. He becomes enraged and throws the Kronorium before hearing a horde of zombies. The group then makes their escape but before entering the portal Brutus destroys it trapping the group within the twisted version of Alctraz.

Beside a mysterious machine known as the Dark Mechanism, The Primis crew battle against Brutus, Whom is being resurrected time and time again. Richtofen realized what the Kronorium meant and that the machine was intended to draw his blood, and stepped inside, sacrificing himself to free the others.

With Brutus finally unable to resurrect, the rest of Primis is joined by a post-Revelations Richtofen, who informed them that the future had changed, and that Nikolai had to keep his soul to defeat Doctor Monty. The future Richtofen explained that the cycle was broken, and that he wished he could say he was sorry to his younger self. Taking the Soul key the future Richtofen handed Nikolai the Kronorium telling him he would need to read it to defeat Monty. The remainder of the Primis members and the original Dimention 63 Richtofen, leaving the new Richtofen alone and scared, the machine continuing to drain his blood.

Recruiting Ultimis: Original Timeline
In order to prepare for the coming battle; Primis makes a stop at Groom Lake to gain some allies. Within Hanger 4 the Ultimis crew were being held seemingly after the events of Moon, With Richtofen also retaining his body. As Ultimis Nikolai expresses glee at being able to drink uninterrupted, Primis Nikolai emerged from a portal asking his alternate self if drowning his sorrows in vodka is the best choice. The Primis crew rallies their alternate selves and recruit them to fight in the coming battle. As the they each face their alternate selves Ultimis Dempsey asks Primis Nikolai "What kind of war?" to which he replies "A war unlike any other that you have seen. A Great war."

Journal Entries


"September 22, 1917 When we began the site excavation, our group could not have predicted the dark path down which our work would lead us. The Doctor remains both adamant and optomistic (sic) that the potential applications for the new found element are worth the associated risks. I concur with the sentiment, but feel increasingly anxious as to the changes I am seeing in my oldest friend..."

- Edward Richtofen



"May 13, 1918 The journal of Pablo Marinus has been a most valuable source of information... We now stand at the edge of a brave new world. Our survey of the site has led us to believe that this location may hold the largest single source of 115 yet discovered. We have been authorized to begin work immediately... Maxis has become obsessed, he neglects the true focus of our mission and instead chases legends and myths. I fear that the girl's influence may have irrevocably poisoned his mind. It is with considerable regret that I must report his current mental instability to group 935's leaders..."

- Edward Richtofen



"Final entry In just a few short months, Group 935's work with Element 115 has allowed the Wonder Weapon program to progress at a rate beyond our wildest expectation. However, our work was not without consequence. The ancient evil unleashed from the mound has carved a path of terror and destruction across the entirety of the camp. With Maxis too having succumbed to the sickness, I am forced to take drastic action to preserve what remains of his mind. I now face an uncertain future, alone."

- Edward Richtofen

Ultimis Richtofen
Richtofen is a psychopath with a desire for violence, often laughing maniacally when killing. He loves blood and death and thoroughly enjoys killing zombies, and has a strange obsession for the spleen. He also has a strange suggestive feeling towards the zombies when killing them. Despite his insanity, he retains his knowledge of bodily organs, technology and Element 115. It's been noted when he is not killing the undead, he is on the calmer, quieter side, talking to himself alone quite a bit.

He is also adamant on completing his work quickly. He despises Dempsey, likes Nikolai and has mutual feelings towards Takeo. He is a megalomaniac due to his plans on destroying the world with a zombie army which partly fails due to intervention from Ludvig Maxis. Post Moon he retains his insanity as the Demonic Announcer. After the Earth was destroyed he became focused in mending the Rift to eternally damn Samantha in the Aether world and to destroy Maxis once and for all as well as to partially repair the damaged Earth.

Primis Richtofen
Due to him still being sane at this point, Richtofen's personality is completely different. He appears level-headed but paranoid possibly due to exposure to Element 115 in France. He appears more unskilled due to only being a field scientist and does not go into battle often, but attempts to keep focused nevertheless. He appears more fearful of the zombies and is more cautious for his own survival.

After some time staying in the House, Richtofen becomes more cheerful as evident when greeting Victis. However, throughout his journey in acquiring the souls for the Summoning Key, Richtofen takes on a more serious, grim personality, rarely ever smiling or cracking jokes. His sudden acquisition of knowledge from the Kronorium, along with repeated dimensional traveling, also made him mentally unstable at times, repeating phrases throughout and misremembering events.

However, it becomes apparent in "Blood of the Dead" that the Ultimis personality has an influence, as a good amount of Richtofen's quotes are very reminiscent of his more inhumane, World War II counterpart. This goes for all other characters in the Primis group as well, as their personalities are much more like their Ultimis counterparts when compared to their first appearances in the map, "Origins".