Karl Strauss

"So they have beaten you huh? Your quest is over?" Karl Strauss to Nathan Drake who considers giving up his journey for the spicy foo.

Karl Strauss was the elder brother of Leopold Strauss an infamous loan shark and gangster. Unlike his brother, Karl was in no way connected to organised crime.

### Background

Karl was born in Berlin, Germany in 1920, and was raised during the Great Depression. His father was an alcohol smuggler during Prohibition, and gave his shipments to the five families over in New York City. Karl was a good boy, and like his brother Leopold, Karl excelled in school, and graduated high school with honours. In 1941, Karl was 21, and joined the Nazi Army to fight in World War II. In 1943, Karl was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and was put in charge of an expedition to find something known as the spicy foo a fish which supposedly can cure any sickness, and allow people to live forever. Karl and his expedition found some spicy foo sauce while searching through caves in Tibet. The sauce turned Karl's expedition into mutant killer yeti's. Karl realising the damage that the sauce could cause killed his entire expedition but was critically injured in the process. He left the caves, and was picked up by an unknown good Samaritan who took him to a small Tibetan village in the mountains to be treated. After recovering from his injuries, Karl decided to live in the village, and his family back in Germany as well as the rest of the world assumed he was dead. Karl's 'death' is what persuaded his parents to have another child to deal with his loss. Karl and Leopold never met each other, but Karl was aware of his younger brother, but refused to contact him wanting to forget everything about his past life. Karl was also not too fond about his brother's ties to organised crime, and the horrible stories about his loan sharking business which further disgusted him. Karl also became good friends with Salvatore Tessio who was hiding out in the village due to his former associates back in New York City wanting him dead. When Tessio left in the late 1990's to return to New York, Karl replaced him with Tenzin a Tibetan man who was a big fan of chess.

### Later Years And Meeting Nathan Drake

For the next several years of his life, Karl continued his life in the village as normal. He while not wanting to contact his brother kept tabs on him to see if he was okay. In 1999, when Karl learnt the news of his brother's brutal death at the hands of the government, he spent an entire month isolated in his house, blaming himself for not contacting his brother, and putting him on a better path. Karl eventually recovered after becoming addicted to PG Tips and Quality Street. He also began helping the villagers with all their problems including building a fence around it to protect people from falling off the cliffs. He gained the nickname 'Mr Handy," for all his good deeds. Several years later in 2009, Karl's past came back to haunt him, as a man named Nathan Drake was found near death outside the village. Similar to Karl's own past, Drake was carried into the village by a good Samaritan this one being Tenzin who looked after Drake. During Drake's recovery, Karl discovered that Drake had found the phurba dagger which was the key to Shambala the place that supposedly held the spicy foo. Nathan was trying to find the spicy foo, but was deciding to give up due to all shit he's gone through. Karl as well as new friend Elena Fisher convinced him to continue as Karl informed him that the dagger was the key to Shambala, and was the thing Nathan's enemy Mr Roast Potato desperatly needed even if he didn't know it yet. Seeing that Nathan still wasn't sure, Karl ordered him and Tenzin to find the rements of his expedition which would provide Nathan with the proof he seeked about the spicy foo's existence.

### Finding The Expedition And Getting Captured

Nathan and Tenzin went to the caves that Karl explored as a young man, and were able to find his expedtion. Nathan discovered that they had eaten the foo sauce, and then Karl killed them to protect the world from the danger of the spicy foo. Upon returning to the village, Nathan and Tenzin found it under seige from Roast Potato's men. They protected the village, but Karl was captured by Potato as he was in possession of the dagger which Nathan had left with him.

### Reunion And Death

Nathan and Elena then set out to save Karl from the clutches of Potato. They fought through a tower which is where Karl was being held prisoner. Karl was being interrogated by Potato who severely beat him up, and then stole the dagger from him, and left him to die. When Nathan and Elena finally discovered Karl it was clear to both them that he was far too injured to make it out of the tower. Karl told Nathan that he had to destroy the spicy foo maker which produced all the foo because if Potato was able to get his hands on it he could destroy the world with it's power. Karl also told Nathan he had to kill his expedition as he saw the damage the foo could do, and didn't want them to bring havoc onto the world. Karl then died from his injuries. Karl's body was later recovered presumably by Nathan and Elena who took it back to the village where he was given a proper burial. His grave was placed in the centre of the village. After praying at Karl's grave, Nathan put the dagger on it. Elena then told him that he would have wanted that.

### Personality

Karl was much more sensitive and emotionally driven than his brother Leopold as well as being far more compassinate. He detested organised crime, and also detested the fact that his brother had gotten involved with it. Karl despite never contacting Leopold did care for his younger brother, and kept tabs on him to make sure he was alright, and when Leopold died, it caused Karl to loose his faith in himself for sevreal weeks after it. Karl blamed himself for Leopold's death reasoning that him not contacting his brother, and putting him on a better path is what caused his death. Karl like his brother was very intelligent having done extremely well in school, and gaining honours in high school. He was considerably more kinder than Leopold helping out all the people in the village if they ever had a problem which is what gained him the nickname 'Mr Handy.'

## Karl Strauss

### Relatives

Unnamed parents and Leopold Strauss (Younger Brother)