Vanderohe

> "That's heavy, brother. But I dig it."
>
> Vanderohe, Army of the Dead

**Vanderohe** was a member of the team that headed into zombie-infested Las Vegas to retrieve $200 million in cash for Bly Tanaka. He was portrayed by Omari Hardwick in *Army of the Dead*. Hardwick will return to play the character in the animated series, *Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas*, and the *Army of the Dead* sequel, *Planet of the Dead*.

## Biography

### Before the outbreak

Vanderohe graduated from college with a master's degree in philosophy. He pledged with Omega Psi Phi where he received an omega brand on his chest, but later joined the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

### Las Vegas outbreak

Vanderohe was one of the founding members of Las Vengeance, and with the team he helped escort people from the fallen city of Las Vegas to the safety of the broader world.

After the Las Vengeance group disbanded, Vanderohe buried his zombie-killing tools in the desert and began work as a caregiver at a home for the elderly.

### Götterdämmerung heist

Vanderohe was one of three remaining founding members of Las Vengeance, and as such was one of the three members of the new team offered the largest share of the $50 million fee the group was getting for retrieving Bly Tanaka's vault contents. His share was to be $15 million. He thought the mission might be cathartic, and agreed to go back into the deadly Las Vegas quarantine zone. Ludwig Dieter took a quick liking to Vanderohe, following the latter's lead. Vanderohe was initially unimpressed, but came to understand and respect Dieter's passion. Vanderohe, Dieter, and Mikey Guzman formed the team that would break into the Götterdämmerung to retrieve the $200 million cash from within, and though Dieter's safecracking was a success, the Las Vegas horde attacked as the group packed up the money. Guz was split up from Vanderohe and Dieter, and the remaining pair took on Zeus. Zeus' strength proved to be too much to handle, so Dieter seized an opportunity to lock Vanderohe in the vault, away from Zeus.

Vanderohe didn't reemerge from the safe until after the nuclear strike on the city. Carrying all the money he could, he made his way out of the shattered city and made it to an airport. He used some of his newfound cash to rent a private jet to Mexico City to hunt down Torrance. During the flight a hostess noted how cold he was, and examining his body in the bathroom mirror, he realized he'd been bitten by a zombie.

## Abilities

* **Zombie experience**: Vanderohe accumulated large amounts of experience dealing with zombies, having fought them on about as many occasions as anyone else, including learning of alphas and Zeus before other members of Las Vengeance.
* **Hand-to-hand combat**: Vanderohe had military training in physical combat, even going toe-to-toe with the physically-superior Zeus in a one-on-one fight, granted, quickly being overpowered by the enhanced zombie.
* **Marksmanship**: Vanderohe was skilled with a variety of guns, destroying many zombie brains with a level head.
* **Leadership**: Vanderohe's physical presence had a strong impact on those around him. He was immediately singled out as a role model by Ludwig Dieter, and when he made demands of even the power-hungry Burt Cummings, the latter quickly ingratiated himself at the expense of his sense of worth among the group.

## Equipment

* **Rescue saw**: Vanderohe carries a gas-powered fire and rescue saw, designed for quickly cutting through large obstructions like car doors. He also uses the saw to kill zombies in a pinch.
* **SIG-Sauer P226R**: Vanderohe carries a SIG sidearm.
* **Knight's Armament PDW**: Vanderohe's primary weapon is the Knight's Armament. The weapon is capable of full-auto fire.
* **Grand Caravan**: Vanderohe's personal vehicle just prior to the Götterdämmerung heist was a Dodge Grand Caravan.
* **Camaro**: After the nuclear strike on Las Vegas, Vanderohe uncovered a Chevrolet Camaro, which he used to drive to Utah. It's unknown who owned this vehicle.
* **Private jet**: Using the money from the Götterdämmerung heist, Vanderohe chartered a private plane to Mexico City.

## Relationships

### Allies

* Las Vengeance
	+ Scott Ward
	+ Maria Cruz
	+ Marianne Peters
	+ Kate Ward
	+ Ludwig Dieter
	+ Mikey Guzman
	+ Lilly
	+ Chambers
	+ Martin

### Enemies

* Las Vegas horde
	+ Zeus
* Torrance

## Appearance chronology

*Lost Vegas**Army of the Dead*
zombie wars*Army of the Dead**Planet of the Dead*

## Gallery

Dead Drop #7A skeleton is implied to belong to Vanderohe from an alternate timeline
## Trivia

* Vanderohe has an omega brand on his chest.
	+ This may be a reference to Darkseid, a major villain in *Zack Snyder's Justice League*, which was director Zack Snyder's most recent film prior to *Army of the Dead*. Darkseid is well known for using the omega symbol.
	+ It could also be foreshadowing, as Vanderohe is the last survivor of the core Las Vengeance group, and the omega represents the end.
	+ Zack Snyder wanted Vanderohe to be in a fraternity. Snyder chose Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc, which marks its members with an omega brand. Vanderohe's actor, Omari Hardwick, is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc, and as noted by the black and gold shown in the graduation photo, so is Vanderohe. In real life, one can only be a member of one of the two fraternities. However, Hardwick posted an Instagram video talking about how Vanderohe was a member of both.
* In a Q&A session during a New York City screening of *Army of the Dead*, Zack Snyder confirmed that in a potential sequel, Vanderohe would take the place of Zeus as the king-class zombie in the next outbreak.
* Vanderohe is never shown being bitten, and in fact it appears as though his fight with Zeus does not leave room for Zeus to have bitten him. His arm where the bite would later appear can also be seen unbitten after all zombies but Zeus have gone, leaving no real chance for him to take the bite. This could be a simple misdirect, but there's also a possibility it's related to the time loop theory.
* Vanderohe's zombie bite was made using a mold of Zeus' teeth.
* Interestingly, despite the nuclear detonation, Vanderohe is seemingly unaffected by the dangerously high levels of radiation that would permeate the ruins of Las Vegas after such a blast.
* The role of Vanderohe was originally written for Dave Bautista, but Snyder decided that he was better suited to the role of Scott Ward, leaving an opening for Hardwick to fill.
* Travis Parker performed the stunts for Vanderohe in *Army of the Dead*.

## References

Shay Hatten, Zack Snyder, Joby Harold (writers) & Zack Snyder (director) (May 14, 2021). *Army of the Dead*.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Vanderohe's connection to both Alpha Phi Alpha and Omega Psi Phi fraternities - Omari Hardwick on Instagram. Since his graduation photo has him in the colors of Alpha Phi Alpha, he must have pledged Omega Psi Phi earlier in his college career, but switched for whatever reason.
3. ↑ Zack Snyder talks about Omari Hardwick's zombie bite on "League of Mayhem: Army of the Dead Special with Zack Snyder"