Wolfram Von List

"Professor, it is time to bid your toy soldiers auf weidersehen!"

— Wolfram Von List to Gabriel Krafft

SS-Oberführer Wolfram Von List is a character featured in the Zombies mode of Call of Duty: Vanguard, serving as the secondary antagonist. Von List was first mentioned in a Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Zombies audio log from Outbreak. Member of the Schutzstaffel, Von List is the leader of the SS unit "Die Wahrheit".

Biography[]

Die Wahrheit[]

Following their seizure of power, the Nazis began looking for the existence of the supposed Aryan race. Heinrich Himmler, the head of the Schutzstaffel, created many institutions and battalions dedicated to find evidences and proofs. Wolfram Von List became the leader of one of these battalions, called Die Wahrheit, and raided antiquities around the world.

On the onset of the Second World War, Von List approached one of the professors at the University of Leipzig, Gabriel Krafft who was a demonologist and an expert of the occult. When Krafft refused to help Himmler into twisting history, Von List executed his assistant, Franz, forcing him to cooperate.

Von List tasked other coerced individuals including explorers, historians, and archaeologists to find relics and mystical locations including the Holy Grail, Thor's Hammer, Atlantis, and Shangri-La. After Krafft kept defying him, Von List arrested Krafft's wife Sasha - only ever giving him letters as a "proof of life". Krafft begrudgingly continued to work for Von List, with his first assignment being to decipher documents seized at the Hotel Royal. Krafft would soon come to recognize some of the handwriting on the pages, notes left behind by a fellow demonologist who was a patron at the University of Leipzig. Von List would have this man tortured, who soon revealed he was a member of the Société Occulte. Over the previous centuries, the Société compiled Dark Aether rune magic spells into what was now called the Tome of Rituals. Using this spellbook, Krafft found the locations of five artifacts and soon Die Wahrheit was deployed around the world including in Egypt where a forgotten temple of "Osiris" was found in the Eastern Desert. While the artifacts looked anachronic, they turned out to be little to no use to further the Nazis' propaganda. Nonetheless, Von List kept the artifacts in his possession.

Battle of Stalingrad[]

Following the encirclement of the German 6th Army at Stalingrad in November 1942, Von List led an SS rescue operation to resupply the trapped men and break the siege. However, on January 31st, 1943, the commander of the 6th Army, General Friedrich Paulus surrendered to the Soviets. The event had a profound impact on Von List who witnessed a deathblow to the Wehrmacht and the first major defeat of Nazi Germany.

Army of the Dead[]

"Oberführer Wolfram Von List... you are the instrument of my revenge. I give you an army of the dead! But our enemies have allies from beyond this mortal realm..."

— Kortifex

In March 1944, Von List and Die Wahrheit were deployed near Leningrad to support Army Group North in the region. In the early hours of March 7th, 1944, the research group at Projekt Endstation in Morasko performed a test of their cyclotron which malfunctioned and breached the dimensional membrane between their world and the Dark Aether. This resulted in the reactivation of the artifacts. Von List was drawn to one of them and soon bonded with Kortifex, the former Lord of the Dark Aether. Kortifex offered Von List the power to raise the dead, creating revenants. Von List immediately reported to Himmler and deployed Die Wahrheit, including Krafft, to Stalingrad for a new operation.

Taking the locals by surprise, Von List and Die Wahrheit installed themselves in the city. Von List confiscated all the pages of the Tome of Rituals and locked them away in his office. He also locked Krafft in a room with his books and a radio. Krafft sealed himself in the room using a spell he found in the Tome of Rituals and sent a distress call to the Allies who sent in Special Forces to investigate Von List's actions. With his new power, Von List planned to raise an army of the dead comprised of fallen soldiers, both Germans and Soviets, and turn the tide of the war. Kortifex cast a containment spell trapping the Special Forces inside the city with no way to contact the outside world.

Temple of Osiris[]

Die Wahrheit's outpost at Egypt would explode during a failed attempt at sealing off an ancient temple dedicated to "Osiris" where they had initially found Kortifex's artifact. Meanwhile, Special Forces managed to contact help from the Dark Aether through Bellekar the Warlock's efforts - in the form of Vercanna the Last, who transported them to Die Wahrheit's Egyptian outpost. Von List would observe as the Special Forces, alongside Vercanna, freed the Decimator Shield and acquired a lost page from the Tome of Rituals, one which contained information on how to separate Kortifex from Von List.

Shi No Numa[]

Eventually the Special Forces would make their way to Shi No Numa in order to recover the Relic Mirror. Von List would bear witness to the event, but not before ordering Die Wahrheit's personnel to return to the Eastern Desert as well as personally sending operatives in Shi No Numa a message stating he was disappointed in their efforts to find the Relic Mirror referenced in the Tome page. The personnel stationed in Japan would obey, but also leave behind their radio equipment, Tesla coil, traps, and the experimental Wunderwaffe DG-2 built by Ulrich Vogel. During this, he would have a conversation with Kortifex regarding the recovered Tome Page - with Kortifex implying that he allowed the Special Forces to take it.

Separation and Death[]

Eventually, Die Wahrheit gathered their forces at the Eastern Desert as commanded. However, Kortifex would unleash a spell to dismantle the Pack-a-Punch Machine as to hinder Special Forces' progress. This would have the unintended side effect of killing most of Die Wahrheit's personnel, much to Von List's dismay. In a private conversation between the two, Von List would express regret having ever bonded with Kortifex after failing to uphold much of his promises.

As the Special Forces arrived at the Eastern Desert, they recovered the Pack-a-Punch and used the Relic Mirror to separate Kortifex from Von List. As Von List was left powerless, Kortifex physically appeared before the Allied operatives and revealed that they had followed his plan all along - freeing him from his artifact and promising to destroy their realm. Von List would ask what would happen to him, which Kortifex responded cruelly by stating that he never mattered and that he could join the other "redbloods" in their fate. He would then teleport Von List to Krafft's room. Surprised, Krafft held Von List at gunpoint and prepared to shoot him. Von List bargained for his life by offering to help, noting he knew more about Kortifex's plan than anyone else. Begrudgingly, Krafft and the Elder Gods agreed, allowing Von List to assist the operatives in the Trials of the Construct.

After the Trials were complete, Krafft demanded that Von List tell him where his spouse, Sasha, was located. He obliged, revealing the truth - Sasha was killed months ago, and Von List had been writing the "love letters" from them to keep Krafft docile. This would prove to be fatal for him, as Krafft would shoot and kill Von List in anger.

Legacy[]

Decades after his death, during the Cold War, Omega Group Colonel Lev Kravchenko would recall Von List, Die Wahrheit and Kortifex during a conversation with the Oberführer's great-nephew, Hugo Jager.