Otto Strucker

**Otto Strucker** was a minor character on FOX's *The Gifted*. He was the son of Andreas Von Strucker, the father of Reed Strucker and the grandfather of Lauren and Andy Strucker.

He was a mutant  who went on to work for Trask Industries to try to find a way to suppress or eliminate completely the X-Gene. He had succeeded in creating a way to strip a mutant of their powers but it only worked on one mutant - his own son. After Trask Industries supposedly got closed down, he went on to a quieter life in an antiques shop. He became ostracized by his son and later his wife and hadn't seen them in years, not even meeting his grandchildren.

## Early Life

Otto Strucker was born to Andreas Von Strucker at an unknown point in time, and his mother has yet to be identified. His father and aunt Andrea Von Strucker were mutant terrorists and members of the Hellfire Club. They were known as Fenris ("The Wolf"). Together, they committed numerous acts of mutant rebellion, resulting in widespread destruction and mayhem. The human society and reporting on their activities would label them as "evil" and "terrorists". They attempted to train and indoctrinate Otto, who was also a powerful mutant, into continuing their family's mission. Otto, however, had a change of heart and saw the world from a different perspective, feeling what his family did was inhumane, so he ran away. He changed his last name from Von Strucker to Strucker to avoid being connected easily with the Fenris Twins.

Eventually he met and married Ellen never telling her that he was a Mutant or of his family’s destructive past. Together they had a son named Reed. Otto later in life worked as a scientist for a military contractor called Trask Industries, as part of a project that focused on developing a serum designed to suppress the mutant X-Gene. However, he was only able to perfect one serum, one that was specifically designed and used on his son Reed, before his powers could develop. The serum caused Reed to become dangerously sick and he was hospitalized, coming very close to death. Otto could not look his son in the eye knowing that he was responsible for his sickness and his shame caused him to abandon his family while Reed was still young.

Otto had very little contact with his son after that. He spoke with him shortly before his grandchildren Lauren and Andy were born but was never allowed to meet them. When Trask Industries went under, he retired from his research and settled into dealing antiquities in Chattanooga, Tennessee. When the Sentinel Services came to him suddenly, he learned that his grandchildren were mutants and had caused some kind of disturbance in their school. They questioned him but he told them that he hadn't spoken to his son in years.

## Season 1

    In threat of eXtinction, Otto had been working on an antique music box when his son and Thunderbird walked into his store. He was surprised to see Reed again but told him that he shouldn't be there. He told him that Sentinel Services had come to him after the event at the high school with his grandchildren but told them that he hadn't spoken to his son in years and never even met his grandchildren. When he learned that Thunderbird was part of the Mutant Underground, he called them criminals and mocked the fact that they called themselves freedom fighters. Reed told him that they weren't here for a political debate and wanted to know about his work with Trask Industries. He told Reed that his work was classified and he had nothing more to say about them, even to Reed. He told him that Trask was gone but Reed informed him that it was back. He also said that Otto worked there for years and his grandchildren were mutants and being sought out by them and that he didn't believe that was a coincidence.

Otto took Reed upstairs and he asked if his ex-wife was okay. Reed told him that he had seen her when she was brought in for questioning but had seemed unharmed for the most part. He then asked if he could see a picture of the children and Reed gave him one of his family. He then asked Otto to tell him what he knew of Trask but Otto told him that his work was peaceful research and had nothing to do with turning mutants against other mutants. Reed begged him to tell him anything and that though he didn't mean much to him, his children meant everything to him and Otto became defensive. He said that Reed meant everything to him and he did what he did, all for him. Otto then asked what abilities the children had and Reed informed him of Lauren's shields and Andy's destructive power. He became scared and told Reed that this meant he failed and that 'it' came back.

    Otto then showed him pictures of his father and aunt and told him that they were terrorists, as well as mutants. They were known as Fenris and the two of them had the same abilities as Andy and Lauren but together were an unstoppable force. He then revealed that he was a mutant as well and that his father and aunt tried to train him to be like them but he ran away. He had hidden his powers from everyone, including Reed's mother. He then told Reed that he went to Trask to work on a project to eliminate the X-Gene and create a serum that worked on all mutants. Otto couldn't quite do it but managed to make a version of a serum that worked on one mutant and gave it to him. Reed realized that his sickness as a child was due to the serum and Otto confessed that he had become distant with him because he couldn't look him in the eye after being responsible for putting him through such pain. He now realized that all of that was now for nothing.

He asked if the children had used their powers together and Reed told him they had a few times. He then asked if they ever held hands since they both discovered their powers. But before Reed could answer, Thunderbird came and told them that Sentinel Services were outside. They had Pulse with them and was hindering his powers. Otto told them that they should hide up there while he went down and dealt with them. Reed was scared for him but Otto informed him that their family was different and maybe he could do something against them. He then told Reed to protect his mother, wife and children. He warned him to protect the world from them.

    He went down to his shop where he saw Roderick Campbell, Pulse and some of his men. Campbell told Otto that he was honored to meet him and was a follower of his work at Trask Industries. He told him that the research he started to try and repress the X-Gene led to his own work in enhancing it. Campbell then asked him if he knew where Reed was but he told him that he hadn't spoken to his son in years, like he told Sentinel Services last time they visited. Campbell then asked him to understand that they had to search his home regardless to be sure. Otto then began gathering energy in his hands, despite Pulse's power being active. Campbell told Pulse to dampen Otto's power but he revealed that he just kept getting stronger. Frightened, Campbell ordered his men to shoot him and Otto was hit with two bullets before he unleashed the energy as a blast that stopped Pulse and sent Campbell and his men wounded and running. Reed then came down and found his body and mourned for him. He and Pulse were then taken by Reed and Thunderbird to be buried off-road and Reed left a photo of his family for him above his grave.

## Personality

Otto was a man that despised being a mutant and saw it as a curse. He was raised by his father to try and be like him and his aunt but he had no desire to be a terrorist so he ran away. He hid away his abilities from everyone, even his wife as he was too ashamed of what he was. This motivated him to seek a cure to eliminate the X-Gene but he only succeeded on making one version that worked on a mutant before they developed powers. He gave it to his son to try and spare him from what he went through and stop it from passing on through the family. Yet, Otto felt great shame from nearly losing his son to the serum's effects, so much he couldn't look him in the eye which unintentionally caused him to appear uncaring and unsympathetic to his own flesh and blood. It ruined his relationship with his son and wife and forced him to be cut off from their lives which he might have felt he deserved. Yet, it is shown that he will do anything to do what is right as he risked and sacrificed his life to protect his son so as to also protect the grandchildren that he never met. When he learned that his grandchildren had obtained mutant powers similar to his father and aunt, his shame grew knowing all the work he did for Trask had been for nothing and it only succeeded in driving his family away.

## Physical Appearance

Otto was a tall elderly man with long white hair. In his youth, his hair was black.

## Abilities and Skills

* **Heat Energy Projection:** Otto's power seems to be tied with heat-based energy. He was able generate a ball of energy that caused the nearby lights to blow out and the room to shake. Launching the energy caused an explosion that destroyed half his store and sent the wounded Sentinel Services agents running. He was even able to use his power despite the presence of Pulse, a mutant with the ability to suppress the powers of other mutants.
* **Power Negation Resistance:** Otto was able to resist Pulse's interference with his powers allowing him to blast them away, albeit with a mild discomfort.

## Appearances

* *threat of eXtinction*
* *outfoX* (flashback)
* *eXploited* (mentioned)
* *eXtraction* (mentioned)
* *outMatched* (mentioned)

## Trivia

* In the comics, Andrea was actually the incestuous lover of her twin brother Andreas. The Gifted establishes that Otto was the son of Andreas, but never outright mentioning his mother (inheriting the "Strucker" name). However, this could be changed in the show as Otto said he would tell Reed "everything" regarding the family history, which would include the relationship between Andreas and Andrea. This wouldn't be the first thing creators changed in the history of Fenris as in the comics the twins powers cannot work unless they were touching, but in the show, their powers work individually, like Andy and Lauren's.