Hans Gruber

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## Magnificent Baddie

### Alias

Bubbi (by Ellis)
Bill Clay

### Allies

Karl and Tony
Theo

### Powers/Skills

High intelligence
Leadership
Manipulation
Vast resources
Mastery of tactics and strategy
Charisma
Firearms

### Goals

Steal $640 million from the Nakatomi Plaza.
Kill John McClane  (both failed).

### Crimes

Terrorism
Mass murder
Destruction of property
Attempted robbery
Identity theft
Kidnapping
Blackmailing
Conspiracy

### Type of MB

Sophisticated Thief

**Hans Gruber** is the main antagonist in the 1988 action thriller film *Die Hard* and the posthumous overarching antagonist of the 1995 film *Die Hard With a Vengeance*.

He is a German terrorist leader who organizes the takeover of the Los Angeles skyscraper, Nakatomi Plaza, in an attempt to steal millions of dollars in bonds. He disguised himself as a terrorist in order to distract the police. Gruber was a calculating mastermind, as well as a highly intelligent yet callous man to the core. He is John McClane's arch-nemesis and Simon Gruber's younger brother.

He was portrayed by the late Alan Rickman, who also played Severus Snape in *Harry Potter*.

## What Makes Him Magnificent?

* He orchestrated the near-perfect heist of the Nakatomi Plaza; even the FBI responding to a terrorist attack was a deliberate Plan B in case Mr. Takagi didn't give him the code key. If only John wasn't there, Hans and his crew would've gotten away with everything.
* Despite being Pure Evil, he only really counts as such due to his greed and high body count, and he's not sadistic at all. Colonel William Stuart in the second movie is a better example of a PE villain who lacks enjoyable traits.
* He's very charismatic, showing impeccable politeness and a modicum of education. He even has a few funny lines here and there (e.g. "Just so you know Mr. Takagi won't be joining us for the rest of his life"). Being played by Alan Rickman certainly helps too.
* Some of his victims (i.e. Harry Ellis and the Johnsons) are hard to mourn due to the former's cowardice in selling out John and the latter's willingness to shoot civilians.
* He fakes an American accent when caught unarmed by John, pretending to be an escaped hostage in an attempt to kill him and retrieve the detonators himself, during which he calls for backup in case something goes wrong. Then, once that plan fails due to John giving him an empty gun, Hans and Karl shoot the glass panes near where a barefoot John is taking cover during their gunfight and *then* gets back the detonators, showing that he knows how to use the environment to his advantage.

## What Makes Him a Baddie?

* He personally executes Mr. Takagi in cold blood and is perfectly okay with blowing the rest of them up on the roof as a distraction. Even worse, one of the latter groups is a pregnant woman. Worse still, he doesn't even care when he's told that Karl is still on the roof before he finally detonates the explosives, making him somewhat of a Bad Boss.
* He takes Holly hostage, nearly taking her down with him when John shoots him out of a 30-story window.

## Trivia

* In the first draft of *Die Hard*, Hans is written as a Smug Snake, who takes delight in killing one of John's friends. In the second draft, he killed a hostage for panicking, and intent to kill more hostages until John returns him the detonator. Had any of these two versions of Hans being interpreted in the final film, Hans could've never been MB for being too heinous or smug.

## External Links

* Hans Gruber at the Villains wiki
* Hans Gruber at the Pure Evil wiki

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