Characters / Downfall (2004)

Character sheet for the German World War II film Downfall. Tropes listed here are related to the original movie only ^note Hitler Rants have their own character page. Tropes that applied in Real Life to the Historical Domain Characters should only be added if they are seen in this movie.

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Hitler and his inner circle

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler, Führer of the Greater German Reich

Portrayed by: Bruno Ganz

Voiced by: Georges Claisse (European French), Rodolfo Bianchi (Italian), Chikao Ohtsuka (Japanese)

"Traitors! I've been betrayed and deceived from the very beginning! What a monstrous betrayal of the German people... But all those traitors will pay. They'll pay with their own blood."

Offices held: Führer of Germany (1934-1945), Führer of the Nazi Party (1921-1945), Chancellor of Germany (1933-1945), Commander-in-Chief of the Wehrmacht (1938-1945), Supreme Commander of the German Army (1941-1945)
Highest award: Golden Nazi Party Badge (Party), Iron Cross 1st Class (military)

The principal character of the movie, Austrian-born Adolf Hitler rose to power in his adopted Germany as Führer in 1933 with a promise to bring Germany back to its glory days, before he started a war and threw the country in it. As of the movie's span, Hitler has become a shrunken, near-defeated shell of a man who would ultimately put a bullet through his skull on April 30, 1945. You should know this.

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• Alas, Poor Villain: Astonishingly enough, while not downplaying or ignoring a single one of his crimes, the film - with the assistance of Bruno Ganz' incredible performance - manages to make Hitler himself, the ultimate symbol of human evil in Western civilization, into an oddly pitiable if not sympathetic figure, as the sheer folly and cruelty of his worldview crashes down around him. This was highlighted by many critics and reviewers, several of whom questioned whether it was even morally acceptable to make a movie that depicted him in such a light.
• Animal Lover: He really loves his dog, Blondi. In fact, he cares more about his dog than he cares about his subordinates and the German people combined when they are facing imminent devastation (and even possible extinction) from the Allied forces.
• Armchair Military: Hitler directs the final stand of the Wehrmacht from the comfort of his bunker. Every conference scene shows Hitler ordering units that effectively no longer exist.
• Ax-Crazy: It’s obvious that he’s a lunatic from the beginning, what with his emotional instability and sociopathy, and he only gets worse as Nazi Germany starts to lose the war.
• Ate His Gun: Though we only get to hear it, Hitler kills himself by shooting a bullet into his own brain.
• Bad Boss: While he can be nice to the people daily around him, he has zero sympathy for his Mooks. During his most infamous rant, he also alludes to this, saying that he should have liquidated his generals like Stalin.^note Ironically, while Stalin did pull a You Have Failed Me on a number of his military staff — most notably Dmitry Pavlov — in the immediate aftermath of the German invasion, the main reason the Soviets were able to turn things around was because Stalin didn't make a habit of executing or overruling his generals for the rest of the war.
• Bait the Dog: Hitler, often backed by Bruno Ganz' powerful performance, can come off as charming and display endearing and sympathetic qualities. This is almost always followed up by him slipping into mad cruelty, reminding the audience that for all these humanizing moments, he's still one of the most evil men to have ever lived.
• Believing Their Own Lies: For a good part of the film, he holds on to his delusions of winning the war and creating his ideal world. It's when these delusions start to break that he really begins to lose it.
• Beneath the Mask: Traudl mentions how he can at one moment be pleasant, and the next moment say/scream such horrible things. Eva responds “You mean when he’s the Führer?” , so she seems to believe at least some part of his public self is a mask.
• Berserk Button: Disobeying him in any way. Subverted when Speer openly admitted to deliberately disobeying Hitler's orders to his face. Hitler is naturally shaken, but simply lets him leave.
• Better to Die than Be Killed: Preferred a bullet through his head to suffering worse at the hands of the Soviets.
• Big Bad: As the instigator of World War II and the Holocaust, this is to be expected. While his power is all but gone, his influence over the German people is unquestionable, with many Nazis committing suicide for their Führer or killing anyone who dares disobey his orders.
• Big Damn Kiss: He plants on Eva's face after she tells him she won't leave the bunker for the Alps. It's an unbelievably awkward, both in-universe and out. Burgdorf's face is priceless.
• Break the Haughty: His last days as the ruler of Germany already had his mental state slipping. But, after a continuous stream of bad news over the course of several days, Hitler realizes how hopeless things are for him.
• The Caligula: He expects every German to be ready to die in the name of his mad and unobtainable dream of a German superstate in miserable conditions. When he finally realizes that the war is lost and the German people have failed to bring about his dream, he wants to burn the entire country to the ground for failing him.
• Chewing the Scenery: During his Villainous Breakdown, he would often go off on long, loud rants shaking his fists, bobbing his head and slamming the table. It's so over-the-top that it becomes darkly humorous.
• Consummate Liar: He's good at making Blatant Lies feel like truthful, ingenious arguments to his impressionable audience. So much so that even Hitler himself believes in them despite knowing otherwise.
• Control Freak: He micromanages the whole defense for Berlin to the point where he overrides any of his actual generals' objections in favor of his own. When things don't go his way, he launches a huge temper tantrum and blames everyone but himself for not winning a lost battle.
• Defiant to the End: He refuses to flee Berlin no matter how many times his followers advise him to, and he orders his men to burn his body after his suicide to deny the Allies the satisfaction of parading his body for the whole world to see.
• Despair Event Horizon: The failure of Steiner's attack made him realize that the war is lost, but Hitler still hangs on to any Hope Spot he could find (or make up). It's the news of Himmler's betrayal that broke him for good; after ranting about Himmler and Fegelein's treason, Hitler falls into a permanent depression where he could barely even raise his voice anymore. He refuses to even consider escaping since he correctly believes he's only delaying the inevitable. Within a few days, he commits suicide.
• Determinator: Deconstructed. He deludes himself to be this and always wants to show off this characterization to everyone, however, this inability to give up prevents him from acknowledging the reality of the situation, which results in disastrous consequences both for himself and everyone around him. In the end, he drops the charade and acknowledges the truth of his situation.
• Dramatically Missing the Point: When Magda begs Hitler to leave Berlin, she asks what would become of his loyal supporters when he's dead. Hitler doesn't actually answer her question, only replying that it's his fate to be cursed by millions and leaves her bawling on the floor before he commits suicide.
• Driven to Suicide: After realizing, once and for all, that the war is truly lost, Hitler puts a bullet through his own head, off-screen. It's treated less as a Despair Event Horizon and more like he's denying the Allies the satisfaction of punishing him.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Despite being one of the most evil men in the twentieth century, he does have an affectionate relationship with Eva Braun and Blondi.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Downplayed. He may be a mass murderer but he despises smoking. The unofficial rule in the bunker is to never smoke in the Führer's presence or risk incurring his wrath. Once Hitler commits suicide, nearly everyone pulls out a cigarette and begins smoking.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: He sees compassion as a sin and believes that by crushing it internally, he would be the master of the world. He doesn't realize that his lack of compassion is why he's losing the war, as his soldiers end up dying needlessly against the Allied forces because of Hitler's no retreat orders. Nor does he realize that compassion can override Undying Loyalty as seen with Speer and Weidling.
• Evil Vegetarian: His vegetarian diet is frequently mentioned in the film and sharp-eyed viewers can notice Hitler's plate lacking meat while everyone else has it on their plates in the dining scenes. After Himmler fails to convince Hitler to leave Berlin, Fegelein jokes that the Führer's stubbornness is the result of him being a vegetarian.
• Evil Is Hammy: As highlighted in his infamous Villainous Breakdown.
• Fatal Flaw: Pride and Wrath.
  • Hitler knows that he'll have a better tactical advantage if he retreats from Berlin and dictates the war from a more secure location, but he refuses, as his pride would not allow the capital of Germany to fall into the hands of the Soviet Union. And to uphold his suicidal decision, he clings onto the delusion that he is better than all of his generals and could turn the tide of the war with armed forces that no longer exists. Worse still, he insists that nobody shall retreat or surrender for the sake of German pride, which leads to countless civilians and soldiers needlessly dying in Berlin.
  • His wrathful nature only feeds his pride. His generals, unwilling to enrage him out of fear, omit the bad news as best as they can when briefing the Führer and rarely question his insane plans. The lack of pushback leads to Hitler believing everything is going well until some of his subordinates disobey him to save their skins. Not to mention that Hitler's wrathful approach to the war has made peace talks that favor the Germans all but impossible.
• Faux Affably Evil: A surprisingly complicated example. His first meeting with Traudl Junge is genuinely positive, with him talking about his dog and encouraging Junge not to get caught up with her mistakes as he himself made many mistakes in his dictation. But during the Battle of Berlin, Hitler gives conflicting impressions depending on who he talks to. To his female staff, he's always nice and even tells them to flee Berlin in spite of his rule of no retreat. To his military staff, he is pompous and ill-tempered, exploding into furious rants and shrugging off the causality reports. Despite these conflicting demeanors, the film makes it clear that it was enough to seduce the German people into believing that Hitler was their hero and everything he preached to be righteous, including mass murder and war.
• Friend to All Children: He and the Goebbels kids seem to really like each other. In fact, he’s so friendly he’s happy to have kids and teenagers die en masse for him as Child Soldiers. Truth in Television on both counts; Hitler was known to be genuinely fond of kids while still, in the final days of the war, sending thousands of them off to die.
• From Bad to Worse: Hitler starts the movie having to retreat to the bunker, unaware that the Russians are only 12 kilometers away from the city and being lied to by the staff about the severity of the situation. It gets worse from there with his much-touted relief forces (Army Detachment Steiner and Wenck's 12th Army) failing to materialize and his high-ranking officials (Himmler and Goering) betraying him. By the end, Hitler has no card left up his sleeve except killing himself before the Soviets kill him first.
• General Failure: Hitler's plan to defend Berlin involves imaginary divisions and miraculous comebacks from his frontline generals already strained from the war.
• Heel Realization: Implied by his last words, where he states he'll be hated by millions for his actions. It may be the closest he would ever come to admitting the loss of the war was his fault. Still, he doesn't regret his actions, only resigning to the fact that he'll be remembered as a monster.
• His Own Worst Enemy: Hitler's merciless persona and refusal to take responsibility is what doomed him in the war. Afraid of incurring his wrath, his generals would spin the news in a positive light, which would further reinforce Hitler's belief that he's correct and thus continue to make more fatal errors. Eventually, many of his loyal subordinates abandon him to save themselves.
• Honor Before Reason: Nearly everyone, from Heinrich Himmler to Martin Bormann to Helmuth Weidling, insists that Hitler should leave Berlin and continue the war operation from a safer, more secure location. Hitler refuses out of pride and the fear of national humiliation of losing the Third Reich's capital to the Red Army.
• Hot-Blooded: His entire strategy to win the Battle of Berlin is to attack the Soviet forces with nothing but fierce determination and faith in a German victory. When he's told that such tactics are impossible to deter the Soviets or that his subordinates disobey his command, Hitler goes off on a ferocious rant at everyone for being cowards.
• Hypocrite:
  • At the beginning of the film, Hitler assures Traudl that he doesn't mind the fact she'll make a few mistakes when typing his words as he himself had made many mistakes in dictation. Cut to the Battle of Berlin where Hitler is blaming everyone except himself for every single mistake made during the war.
  • He wants the Germans to keep fighting till the bitter end in horrible conditions, while he himself stays in the relative comfort of his bunker without firing one single bullet against the enemy. Somewhat justified, since as commander in chief of the armed forces he's supposed to be safely behind the front lines to command the troops but it still doesn't excuse him from condemning them to needless deaths regardless.
  • Averted with his social Darwinist philosophy. He preaches that it is natural for the strong to crush the weak and boasts about German superiority over everyone else. But when the Soviets are at his doorstep and the Germans have all but lost the war, Hitler didn't abandon his racist ideology to save what's left of Germany. Instead, he begins to believe that the Russians are the "superior race" and the Germans deserve to die for being "weak" as per his philosophy. A patriot he is not.
• Insane Troll Logic: He is convinced that the Jews were behind Himmler's betrayal, and congratulates himself for not allowing Himmler to see his "real" plan where he deliberately let the Red Army infiltrate the Third Reich and sabotage him so he can lure them all into a massive pincer trap with reserve troops led by Albert Kesselring and Karl Dönitz. Additionally, he claims to have 1,000 modern planes ready for Robert Ritter von Greim to use as the new head of the Luftwaffe. The fact he's able to say all of this without a hint of irony highlights just how out of touch he is with reality.
• I Reject Your Reality: The scene used for many of the Hitler Rants involves him trying to command units that don't exist or are nowhere near fighting strength, and flying into a rage when informed that said impossible commands weren't carried out, followed by blaming everyone except himself for the situation.
• It's All About Me: As far as Hitler is concerned, Germany exists for him, not the other way around.
• Irrational Hatred: Hitler's racial ideology in the film is very consistent, summarizing the world as a struggle between the weak and the strong. If Germans win the war, then they are the superior race. If the Russians win, then they are the superior race. However, Hitler's hatred of the Jews don't really fit in this simplified mindset. He's convinced that they are somehow behind everything that has gone wrong for him (such as Himmler's betrayal and the Soviets winning the war), yet he believes they are not smart enough to avoid his improvised trap he laid out for them. Either way, he never sees the Jews as an equal competitor in his social Darwinistic world.
• Kick the Dog: During the war room scenes, Hitler is often asked by his generals on what to do with the civilians caught in the crossfire. He dismisses these concerns time and time again, saying that there are no innocents in war. These moments ensure that, for how sympathetic this portrayal of Hitler is, he's still a raving lunatic who'd condemn his nation to more destruction and violence to preserve his own pride.
• Knight Templar: He doesn't see himself as evil like the rest of world does. He genuinely believes himself to be the savior of Germany fighting off the "Jewish menace" of capitalism and communism, with his ruthless tactics being a natural course of action in a cruel world.
• Lack of Empathy: His reaction to the casualty reports is indifference. When 15,000-20,000 of their best young officers die, he merely replies, "That's what young people are for." In fact, he claims to have "brutally crushed the internal resistance" that is sympathy because he views it as a weakness. The only thing he has ever shown empathy to is his dog Blondi when she was forced to test out a cyanide pill which, according to Eva Braun, left Hitler rambling about dogs and vegetarian diets.
• Large Ham: Is he ever. He's spawned a meme based entirely on his spectacular meltdowns.
• Laser-Guided Karma: He is on the receiving end of his social darwinist philosophy, exemplified when he learns that "loyal" Heinrich Himmler is appeasing for the Allies' mercy and claiming that Hitler is dead (after Hitler makes a speech about how the strong deserve to destroy the weak). Unfortunately, Hitler comes to the conclusion that the Soviet Union is the superior nation and Germany's failure to defeat them means they deserve extinction.
• Licked by the Dog: Licked by the Goebbels kids and Traudl.
• Madness Mantra: In the war room, Hitler confidently tells the generals that Wenck will save Berlin. After he leaves the room, however, Hitler can be heard quietly muttering, "Wenck will come" over and over, indicating that deep down even he knows that Wenck saving them is an incredibly long shot, even if he doesn't want to admit it.
• Magnetic Hero: Glance through the rest of the characters. Most of them have Undying Loyalty to him.
• Manipulative Bastard: After his death, it's revealed that Hitler had charmingly persuaded several of his subordinates to commit suicide on his behalf, which they did without hesitation.
• May–December Romance: When they marry, Hitler is 56 and Eva is 33. Of course, they don't live long enough after that for the age difference to matter.
• A Million Is a Statistic: Is actually fairly nice to the kids around him, but he has no problem sending out hundreds of other children in a Hopeless War to defend Berlin. In fact, he views the German people as a singular large body that can afford losing millions if it means winning.
• Mood-Swinger: As mentioned by his secretary, he can be perfectly polite one moment, and terrifying in the next.
• The Napoleon: He's fairly short, but his ego is bigger than the bunker.
• Narcissist: As one might expect. He has a tendency to explode at his underlings, he's obsessed with betrayals (be they real or perceived), and he sees himself as the embodiment of Germany.
• Never My Fault: Hitler blames his generals, his staff, and finally the entire German populace for failing him and losing the war. He never blames himself. His dying words of how it's his "destiny" to be hated the world over is one last moment of contempt for those who have "failed" to see his vision.
• Nice to the Waiter: He always treats his secretary and most of the low-rung workers with surprising kindness. This manages to make his outbursts towards everyone else even more terrifying.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Disobeying Hitler will often lead to an angry, unmerciful rant followed by a demand for immediate execution. So it is quite telling how close Albert Speer is to Hitler when the Führer's reaction to Speer's disobedience is simply snapping a pencil, asking Speer to leave, and shedding a Single Tear.
• The Paranoiac: As everything goes wrong for Hitler during the Battle of Berlin, he becomes suspicious of his subordinates, believing them to be either failing on purpose or plotting a coup against him.
• Pet the Dog:
  • When interviewing Traudl, he has her type up his speech as he reads it. She fails to keep up with him and makes numerous typos. He nevertheless suggests they try again, and then gives her the job.
  • For what it's worth, he does urge several of his subordinates to flee Berlin.
  • Despite Speer telling him to his face that he refused to carry out his orders to decimate Germany, Hitler allows him to leave with his life and even sheds Manly Tears, despite the fact almost every other time someone disobeyed him he flew into a rage and threatened to kill them.
  • On a more literal sense, he dearly loves Blondi and is absolutely devastated after she has to be put down.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: With Hitler and his lackeys, this is obviously a given. About an hour into the movie, Hitler tells Albert Speer that he is proud of "openly confronting the Jews" and "liberating the German lands of Jewish influence", to remind us that for all his raving madness, Hitler is still a deeply hateful and nasty piece of work.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Though he's willing to drag all of Germany down with him in Berlin, his mind is still sharp enough to understand it'll be better if several of his subordinates were to leave and regroup with Karl Dönitz to prolong the war. Ironically, fanatical supporters like Goebbels refuse to leave Berlin and instead commit suicide when the battle is lost, making it easier for saner heads to negotiate surrender.
• Psychopathic Manchild: Has shades of one, what with the playing with imaginary armies, blaming everyone except himself for Germany's failures, and throwing explosive fits of rage whenever something goes wrong.
• Refuge in Audacity: How Hitler still manages to wow some of his remaining followers. During his dinner with Hanna Reitsch, he proudly proclaims that Germany's current failure is just a facade and that his remaining territories have enough reserves to turn the tide when the time comes. Hanna can't help but grovel at his genius, perhaps thinking there's no way anyone can be that delusional.
• Say My Name: “FEGELEIN! FEGELEIN! FEGELEIN!”
• Shoot the Dog: When he orders his own pet dog Blondi to be poisoned in order to test out the cyanide pills.
• Single Tear: Sheds these after Speer admits to disobeying him.
• Smug Snake: Hitler claims to have conquered "all of Europe" despite his generals, but it’s obvious it goes the other way around.
• The Social Darwinist: To Card-Carrying Villain levels. During a dinner, he calmly discusses with Goebbels about how sympathy for the weak is a primal sin. He really did say that, or at least something along those lines: "Life is granted only to those who fight the hardest. It is the law of life: Defend yourself! The time in which we live has the appearance of the collapse of this idea of helping the weak." (Hitler's Table Talk)
• The Sociopath: Displays several signs of anti-social behavior, from his inability to display empathy towards his people's suffering to his manipulative behavior to ensure their loyalty to him to a pathological need to continue the already-lost war to his delusional belief of self-importance as Germany itself. The film does show Hitler capable of doing acts of kindness or mercy but deliberately leaves it ambigious as to whether or not they are genuine.
• Spiteful Suicide: He kills himself and has his body cremated to avoid being captured by the Allies.
• Straight Edge Evil: Despite the fact that many of his generals and subordinates took up vices like smoking, gambling and drinking to cope with the stress of war, Hitler remains clean all the way to his death^note  Hitler in real life, however, was on constant injections of methamphetamine and cocaine every day by the end of the war. There's even an unofficial rule amongst his staff to never smoke in his presence.
• Straw Nihilist: In the dinner scene, Hitler goes off on a tirade about how compassion for other people is a primal human sin and that it is natural for the strong to kill the weak.
• Surrounded by Idiots: Believes this to be so. If anything, his inner circle is just more grounded in reality than he is.
• Taking You with Me: Hitler would rather see all of Germany burned to the ground than not executing his vision.
• Tautological Templar: Hitler believes himself to the hero of the story and thus insists that he always makes the right decisions. If his tactical plans fail, then it's because his generals are undermining him. If his loyal minions are deserting him behind his back, then they have conspired with the Jews to sabotage him. If Germany fails to win the war, then it's the Germans who fail to live up to his impossible standards. And if the world sees him as a villain, then it's clearly a destiny for him to become a martyr for his cause.
• The Teetotaler: He's called as such by Fegelein, and is never shown drinking alcohol to cope with the stress of the war and the gradual realization that he's doomed to defeat and death.
• Tempting Fate: He has a bad habit of doing so, largely because he's unable to accept the reality of his situation. The most prominent instance is when he claims that strong ultimately triumphs over the weak, only to receive a report stating that loyal Heinrich Himmler had abandoned him in favor of joining the "strong" Allied forces.
• That's an Order!: “Steiner’s assault was an order!” In general, Hitler is unwilling to tolerate any kind of opposition to his will, even if his orders are impossible.
• Then Let Me Be Evil: From Hitler's perspective, he is the legendary hero and savior of Germany, leading the National Socialist charge against the evil capitalists and Soviet Bolsheviks funded by the international Jews. But once he realizes that the war is lost, his subordinates are abandoning him left and right, and he'll be facing the wrath of the Soviet forces if not the entire world, Hitler becomes despondent but doesn't regret his actions. His last words to Magda before committing suicide is accepting that his destiny will be that of a villain cursed by millions for generations to come.
• Tranquil Fury: If he's ever in this mood rather than his usual angry demeanor, everyone around him knows that they're in for a world of hurt. Notably, when Eva Braun begs Hitler to spare Fegelein's life, Hitler calmly but coldly tells her that Fegelein is a traitor and that there will be no mercy or compassion for traitors.
• Ungrateful Bastard: He calls the soldiers who're fighting to the death for him a bunch of cowards, which Burgdorf calls him out for.
  Burgdorf: My Fuhrer, I cannot allow, that the soldiers who bleed to death for you...
• Villainous Breakdown: Every now and then, he'll get some piece of bad news and fly off the handle in a long-winded rant. Some of them turned into memes. Eventually, he's had so many that even he admits that Nazi Germany is finished.
• Villainous BSoD: When Speer admits he never carried out the Salt the Earth policies but says he's still loyal to his Führer, Hitler snaps his pencil and doesn't shake Speer's hand. But he doesn't go on a violent rant of how Speer is a traitor. Instead, he silently breaks down in tears and lets Speer leave without incident.
• Villain Has a Point:
  • Unlike the other examples, most of his rant against Göring is justified to some extent — he's wrong about Göring's underlying reasons for wanting to take control, but right about his corruption and military failures.
  • While he still clings onto the doomed hope of Wenck's last-minute cavalry, he correctly points out to Weidling that breaking out of Berlin and escaping into the wilderness would only delay the inevitable, and it would only be a matter of time before the Allies find and capture them.
• Villain Protagonist: While he's shown to have a human side, Hitler is still, y'know, Hitler — an irrational, condescending, spiteful and genocidal madman who has no problem sacrificing millions of people for his ideals, or blaming everyone save himself for his own failures. He also refuses to listen to objections to his orders of any kind, and believes having sympathy is a weakness.
• Virtue Is Weakness: He believes that pity is the original sin. To have sympathy for the weak, he claims, is a betrayal of nature itself which in his mind does not forgive weakness.
• With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: The more it becomes clear that he's losing the war, the more unhinged Hitler becomes. He even issues orders to his troops that are literally impossible to follow, either because they rely on units that don't exist, or are such overwhelming odds that they might as well ignore them.
• You Have Failed Me: He orders several people to be killed as traitors, even though they were given orders that were impossible to carry out.

Eva Braun

Frau Eva Anna Paula Hitler (née Braun)

Portrayed by: Juliane Köhler

"He is the Führer! He knows what is right!"

Hitler's long-time mistress, whom he met when she was a photographer, and wife for all of forty hours before she committed suicide with him. Throughout her stay in the bunker only she had the gall to force her companions to party even as Berlin bears the brunt of a Soviet attack.

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• Adapted Out: Her hatred of Bormann is never brought up in the film. In fact, the two don't even interact on any significant level. In Real Life, Hitler's chauffeur was noted that after her death Bormann handled her body bag roughly akin to "a sack of potatoes".
• Bad People Abuse Animals: She admits to Traudl that she kicks Blondi under the table just to get a reaction from Hitler.
• Cope by Pretending: She tries to pretend that the war isn't as bad as it is by losing herself to dance music and partying. Eventually, that stops working.
• Driven to Suicide: She takes a cyanide pill rather than face the Soviet army that's about to bear down on the bunker.
• Dumb Blonde: Has the appearance, at least.
• Historical Hero Upgrade: The real Eva Braun made no attempts to convince Hitler to spare Fegelein's life. On the contrary, she chose instead to bemoan the fact that so many people were tossing the Führer under the bus to save their own hides.
• Life of the Party: Though it's all a mask. She's trying to lift up everyone's spirits, but it's hopeless.
• Love Martyr: Quite literally. She kills herself shortly after marrying Hitler.
• May–December Romance: When they marry, Hitler is 56 and Eva is 33.
• Please Spare Him, My Liege!: Begs on her knees Hitler to spare Fegelein.
• The Pollyanna / Stepford Smiler: Even as the bunker is literally shaking from the Soviet shells, she tries to smile and dance. Eventually, even she can't maintain the smile any more.
• Undying Loyalty: Too bad in this movie it’s not a positive character trait.
• Unholy Matrimony: With Hitler. She really does love him, but they're both unrepentant villains.
• Unequal Pairing: Hitler is the Führer. She doesn’t even officially exist.
• While Rome Burns: She tries to enjoy the parties that the Nazis throw in the bunker. When the shelling gets too close, even she has to face reality.

Joseph Goebbels

Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels, Reich Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda

Portrayed by: Ulrich Matthes

"Surrender?! Never! This is outrageous! I've conquered Berlin against the Reds several years ago, and will defend the city to the last breath against them! I won't use my final hours as Reich Chancellor to sign a statement of surrender!"

Offices held: Reich Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda (1933-1945), Reich Plenipotentiary for Total War (1944-1945), Gauleiter of Berlin (1926-1945), Reichsleiter of the Nazi Party (1933-1945), Chancellor of Germany (1945)
Highest award: Golden Nazi Party Badge

Hitler's most loyal supporter and head of the Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, largely responsible for Nazi Germany's policy of antisemitism. After Hitler's suicide, Goebbels was appointed Chancellor, only to commit suicide the next day with his wife Magda after poisoning their six children.

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• Bad Boss: He encourages regular German citizens to go out and fight the Soviets... and then privately admits to Mohnke that he knows they're going to senselessly die but doesn't give a damn.
• Berserk Button: Disobeying the Führer or surrendering to the Allies will get Goebbels' blood boiling. He does not hesitate to reframe any disobedience he sees as personal treason against Hitler and would rather kill his entire family than sign the surrender papers.
• Catch-22 Dilemma: Hitler gives him the order to flee Berlin, which alarms Goebbels because he wants to stay till the end with his Führer out of loyalty. But if he refuses, he would be disobeying Führer's order for the first time in his life.
• Dragon Ascendant: Himmler and Göring both try to position themselves as this, but it's Goebbels who's officially empowered as Chancellor after Hitler's suicide. Goebbels holds fast to his fallen Fuhrer's policy of no surrender and swiftly follows him to the grave. All things considered, this dragon might have ascended to one of the least enviable posts in history.
• Driven to Suicide: After Nazi Germany is all but finished, he kills his children with poison, then proceeds to shoot his wife and then himself.
• Evil Chancellor: Downplayed in that he's extremely loyal to his Führer, who is also evil. But even then, Goebbels feeds Hitler's paranoia and narcissistic need much to the detriment of everyone else. He approves everything that Hitler says, even when he himself doesn't believe in them, and helps Bormann convince Hitler that Göring is betraying him (despite evidence on the contrary). Near the end of the film, he actually becomes Chancellor... for a day or so before he and his wife decides to commit familicide rather than surrender.
• Evil Cripple: One of his legs was shorter than the other.
• Faux Affably Evil: More so than Hitler. While Hitler at least tries to live up to his image as a friendly man (before his temper gets the best of him), Goebbels nonchalantly drops his affably charade and coldly admits he has no sympathy for the German people dying out there.
• Gonk: His face is drawn and almost skeletal.
• Hate Sink: He embodies all of Hitler's evil with none of his delusional madness. A fanatical Nazi loyalist, Goebbels encourages Hitler's worst impulses and attacks anyone who dares question their Führer. He knowingly sends civilians to die in a futile attempt to stop the Soviets, and then admits he doesn't care because he blames them for losing the war (by following the Nazis in the first place). And rather than accept surrender, Goebbels and his wife Magda murder their children before killing themselves in one of the darkest scenes of the film.
• Historical Ugliness Update: While he wasn't considered to be handsome in Real Life, his Villainous Cheekbones aren't that prominent compared to his film counterpart. Consequently, the film's Goebbels looks more like a creepy, skeletal figure with soulless eyes.
• Honor Before Reason: Even Hitler believes it would be better for Goebbels and his family to flee Berlin so they can continue the war with Karl Dönitz in a safer location. Goebbels refuses, preferring to die in Berlin along with his Führer even if it means disobeying his order for the first time.
• Insane Troll Logic: How he justifies the senseless death of German civilians. To him, their Heroic Spirit will enable them to prevail against the Soviets and if they fail, then they deserve to die because they foolishly chose to follow the Nazis.
• Kick the Dog: Explains to Mohnke in no uncertain terms that he doesn't care about the Germans senselessly dying.
• Kubrick Stare: Gives a rather intense one while saluting Hitler's funeral pyre.
• Lack of Empathy: It's apparent in his every interaction, especially when he boasts about feeling nothing for the untrained, ill-equipped Volkssturm militiamen who are dying in droves.
• Lean and Mean: He's one of the thinnest characters in the film, and he's certainly one of the meanest Nazis.
• Moral Myopia: Cares greatly about his beloved children while sending thousands of other children to their deaths, knowingly, and he couldn't care less.
• My Master, Right or Wrong: He goes to Traudl and starts sobbing that Hitler ordered him and his family to leave Berlin and save themselves. While every single member of Hitler's army, from low soldiers to high officers, gets executed instantly if they even just think of running, Hitler grants Goebbels a legit chance to survive the end of the Nazi regime. And Goebbels is heartbroken that he shall not die with his idol and master Hitler.
• Never My Fault: Much like Hitler, Goebbels seriously believes that the German people have it coming to them for following the Nazi party and blames them for choosing this path when it doesn't work out, casting none of the blame at the people giving them orders, i.e. Goebbels himself.
• No Sympathy: As he so eloquently explains to Mohnke, even mocking the Germans who are willing to die for Hitler.
  I feel no pity. I repeat, I feel no pity! The German people chose their fate. That may surprise some people. Don't fool yourself. We didn't force the German people. They gave us a mandate, and now their little throats are being cut!
• Psycho Supporter: Embraces all of Hitler’s mad delusions and ideologies.
• The Sociopath: He flat out doesn't care what happens to the German civilians and actually takes in delight that they are dying in droves because he believes they deserve to die for being fools to follow the Nazis. He also has a pathological drive to serve Hitler to the point he breaks down crying when he realizes he is given an order to leave his Führer to his fate, thus losing his only purpose in life. Let's not forget he allows his wife to kill their children and then kills her and himself with no hesitation or regret.
• Spiteful Suicide: He follows Hitler's example after realizing that Germany is going to surrender with or without him. He even orders his men to burn his and Magda's bodies after they kill themselves to deny the Soviets using their corpses as war trophies (it didn't work, as their remains, unlike Hitler's, were still identifiable enough).
• Sycophantic Servant: He's one of Hitler's most fanatical supporters, and for the most part his relationship with Hitler sums up to this.
• Tautological Templar: To Goebbels, ideology of National Socialism is perfect and thus cannot fail. If it looks like it's failing, then it's the German people's fault for failing to live up to the Nazi ideology and thus they deserve to die.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: His wife is considerably more attractive than him.
• Undying Loyalty: While others try to leave the sinking ship, Goebbels wants to hear none of it. His loyalty to Hitler is so strong that not even Hitler himself could order him out of Berlin.
• Villainous Breakdown: He slowly loses composure as more and more generals begin to question Hitler's and Goebbels's direction of the war. After Hitler's suicide and the Soviets' ultimatum of unconditional surrender, Goebbels shrieks at the remaining generals that he'll never surrender while he's still alive. He gets ignored, and Goebbels commits suicide not long after.
• Villainous Cheekbones: To the point where he is sometimes called Skeletor by fans.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: He believes in Heroic Spirit. Too bad his side aren't the heroes.
• Yes-Man: So much. In one scene you can spot even Krebs rolling his eyes while Goebbels allegorically kisses Hitler’s butt.
• You Are in Command Now: Goebbels is appointed as the new Reich Chancellor in Hitler's last will, leaving him as the only person remaining to negotiate about the terms of surrender. Left in a hopeless position, he commits a suicide a day after.
• You Have Failed Me: His rationale for sending German civilians as Cannon Fodder is to punish them for failing the Nazis.

Magda Goebbels

Johanna Maria Magdalena "Magda" Goebbels (née Ritschel)

Portrayed by: Corinna Harfouch

"My children cannot grow up in a world without National Socialism."

Goebbels's wife and a staunch supporter of Hitler to the point of abandoning all sense of morality in exchange for complete obedience.

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• Abusive Parent: If killing her own children isn't a big enough indication, the film gives specific focus on Magda forcibly drugging Helga against her will, making it clear that this was no Mercy Kill as she pretends it to be.
• Blue-and-Orange Morality: She believed that killing her children so that they didn't have to live in a world where Jews, homosexuals and other minorities were equals was merciful.
• Despair Event Horizon: She's convinced all the world's beauty and goodness will die with the Third Reich, and the inevitability of its loss is enough to make her poison her children to spare them the horror. But she is literally sickened by the toll that undertaking promises and Speer makes the case that she doesn't truly want that end for her children. She delusionally tries to pull herself back from the brink in the end, begging Hitler to flee Berlin and preserve their Reich, but Hitler himself is far past his own horizon. When the deed is done, Magda goes to her own death a wholly broken woman.
• Driven to Suicide: Her husband shoots her by her request.
• The Fundamentalist: She refuses to let her children live in a world without National Socialism, even killing them all with poison, considering it an act of mercy.
• Historical Villain Upgrade: While she was the driving force behind the murder of her six children, evidence and several accounts suggest that the real-life Magda did not personally do the deed like in the film. SS doctor and dentist Helmut Kunz testified in court in 1959 that he administrated the morphine injections into the children while Ludwig Stumpfegger administrated the cyanide pills when Magda was unable to do it herself. The film's depiction is likely based on other eyewitness accounts that claimed Magda did in fact poison the children herself.
• Lady Macbeth: She's just as much a Nazi fanatic as her husband, if not more so.
• Kick the Morality Pet: She drugs her six children, even forcing it down on her eldest daughter Helga who resisted, and then kills them with cyanide pills.
• Mercy Kill: She genuinely believes that killing her children is an act of mercy, sparing them from the horrors of the Red Army... and a world that would teach them that National Socialism is an evil ideology responsible for the death of millions.
• Nerves of Steel: Plays solitaire after killing her children. Perhaps purposefully invoked, however, as she still appears visibly shaken by the reality of what has just happened.
• Not So Stoic: While normally quite the Ice Queen, there is a scene where she begs Hitler to flee Germany. When he refuses, she starts hysterically crying.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: She believes that killing her children would spare them from a world of horror after Hitler's death. While it could be possibly referring to fear of what the Red Army would do if they get their hands on them, the film makes it clear that Magda had several opportunities for the children to flee Berlin safely but refused all of them. The world of horror, as it turns out, is really a world where her children will be freed from the National Socialism indoctrination.
• Obliviously Evil: She honestly believes in National Socialism and thinks she’s doing the right thing saving her kids from the horrible fate of living in a world without it.
• Offing the Offspring: During the film’s perhaps most depressing scene, all six of her kids are fed poison.
• Psycho Supporter: For Hitler. It's all about supporting him with blind obedience.
• The Sociopath: She shows no empathy to anything except Hitler's impeding demise and even that's only because she fanatically believes in his racist vision for Germany. And she drugs and kills her own children against their will without hesitation, unwilling to allow any of them to live in a world that is not hers.
• Spiteful Suicide: One of the most despicable ones. Not only did she did kill herself to avoid capture from the Soviets, but she also kills her own children to prevent them from growing up in a non-Nazi world.
• The Stoic: For the most part, she takes events around her with emotional fortitude, even if she's crazy underneath.
• Subordinate Excuse: She seems much more emotionally invested in Hitler than her husband. It's Truth in Television, too.
• Undying Loyalty: She will take any sacrifices to stay faithful to the ideals of National Socialism, even though it's portrayed as a character flaw at just how insane she is.
• Villainous Breakdown: Falls down on her knees and begs Hitler to escape from Berlin instead of committing suicide. When turned down, she breaks down in hysteric crying and has to be dragged away by Günsche. In contrast, she shows no fear or sadness while calmly waiting for her husband to shoot her.
• Would Hurt a Child: Kills her children.

The Goebbels Children

Helga Susanne, Hildegard Traudel "Hilde", Helmut Christian, Holdine Kathrin "Holde", Hedwig Johanna "Hedda" and Heidrun Elisabeth "Heide" Goebbels

Portrayed by: Alina Sokar, Charlotte Stoiber, Gregory Borlein, Julia Bauer, Laura Borlein, Amelie Menges

The six sons and daughters of Joseph and Magda Goebbels, from eldest to youngest: Helga, Hilde, Helmut, Holde, Hedda and Heide.

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• Alliterative Family: Their names all start with a 'H'.
• Cheerful Child: They are all smiles in the face of their increasingly bleak situation, albeit because they don't understand. For instance, when a single gunshot rings out in the bunker, signaling Hitler's suicide, Helmut cheerfully says, "Bullseye!"
• Children Are Innocent: They don't have anything to do with the rise of the Nazis or National Socialism in Germany, they're just kids. Still, for being related to one of the highest-ranking men in the Nazi state, their parents kill them because they don't want them to live in a world where Nazism failed.
• Death of a Child: Like many other child characters in the film, they die on-screen.
• Morality Pet: They serve one for the Goebbels couple. And they end up being murdered by said-couple.
• Oh, Crap!: Helga, the eldest of the siblings, realizes what her mother is trying to do and tries to resist as the drug is forced down in her throat.
• Parental Betrayal: Leads to Offing the Offspring. Only Helga realizes that her parents betrayed her and her siblings.
• Soundtrack Dissonance: They spend their time in the bunker singing cheerful German folk songs for Hitler and the rest of the staff.
• Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Their mother thinks so and effects this trope herself.
• War Is Hell: In case the audience didn't yet get the message.

Albert Speer

Oberbefehlsleiter Albert Speer, Reich Minister of Armaments and War Production

Portrayed by: Heino Ferch

"You should be on stage when the curtain falls."

Offices held: Reich Minister of Armaments and War Production (1942-1945), Head of the Chief Office for Construction of the Nazi Party (1934-1937), General Building Inspector for Berlin (1937-1942), Reich Minister of Industry and Production (1945)

An architect, Minister of Armaments and War Production, and a friend of Hitler, responsible for bringing to form many of his most ambitious infrastructural projects. Unlike Hitler, however, Speer at least believes that Germany should have a future even if defeated, begging him to spare their nation his suicidal ravings. After Hitler's death, Speer served his twenty-year prison sentence before traveling the world writing memoirs about his life with Hitler until he died in September 1, 1981.

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• Affably Evil: He's genuinely friendly and cares about the German people. But he's still part of Hitler's inner circle and is found guilty for war crimes regarding slave labor because of it.
• Anti-Villain: He's still a Nazi, but he at least acknowledges that the war is long over, and that Germany should surrender and have a future, even if it means sacrificing the Nazi version of it.
• Defector from Decadence: While he still considers himself Hitler’s true friend, he admits to disobeying his orders because he found them lunatic and inhuman.
• Et Tu, Brute?: After his confession, Hitler refuses to say farewell to him, shake his hand, or even look at him in the eye. When Speer leaves the room, Hitler is shown shedding Manly Tears. However, he doesn't have Speer executed and lets him go, perhaps because Speer had the courage to admit it to his face, unlike Himmler and Göring.
• Even Evil Has Standards: A close friend to Hitler and heavily involved with Nazi policies regarding slave and forced labor, Speer nevertheless refuses to carry out Hitler's Nero Decree policy because he finds it barbaric to intentionally kill their own people.
• Friend to All Children: In the extended cut, he fondly interacts with the Goebbels children, who are disappointed that "Uncle Albert" has to work. He also tries to convince Magda to smuggle them out of Berlin.
• Historical Hero Upgrade: Speer's portrayal in the film is largely based on his memoirs made after his release from prison. In these memoirs, he portrayed himself in a heroic light, being the Only Sane Man in the inner circle and having a close friendship with the Führer that allowed him to get away with disobeying the Salt the Earth policies without retaliation. However, many historians believe that Speer distorted the narrative to make himself look better, though much of the evidence validating that stance came out after this film was released.
• Historical Villain Downgrade: His case is less egregious than Fegelein's - Speer did indeed undermine a number of Hitler's most pointlessly cruel orders towards the war's end - but it's still there. Speer visibly winces when Hitler boasts of having cleansed Europe of the "Jewish poison." The real Speer oversaw a vast network of factories that were run by concentration camp inmates (including many Jews whose trade-skills spared them from gassing). These slaves suffered from grotesque maltreatment, starvation-rationing, and poor sanitation, and factory-camps like Mittelbau-Dora had death rates as high as one-third of those imprisoned there. While he didn't oversee any true extermination camps, he undoubtedly knew about his boss's murderous hatred for Jews.
• Hope Spot: Before he leaves Berlin, he requests Magda to spare her kids and even offers to take them with him. Magda refuses, reaffirming her intent to murder them believing that they should not live without National Socialism.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: He would rather Germany surrender and live as a non-Nazi nation than stick to Nazism to the inevitable bitter end, but he can't convince Hitler and his more fanatic followers of anything and ends up leaving the bunker after preventing Hitler from ordering Germany's destruction.
• My Country, Right or Wrong: He only supports the Nazis for the sake of making Germany a better place. When Hitler decides to burn the whole nation to the ground for failing him, Speer refuses to carry out that order.
• Only Sane Man: The first one to consider an unconditional surrender to the Soviets and the other Allies, he tries to talk Hitler out of his suicidal Nero Decree policy, and doesn't share Himmler's delusions about cutting a deal with Eisenhower.
• Pragmatic Villainy: He helped build up the Nazi regime, but he knows damn well the war is lost and wants to salvage as much as the country as he can, and he refuses to put up with Hitler's pointless spite against the German people.
• Punch-Clock Villain: He's a key player in a totalitarian and genocidal regime, but he still cares about German civilians and stops Hitler's needlessly cruel actions toward them.
• Put on a Bus: After his confession to Hitler about The Nero Decree, Speer leaves Berlin for good, glancing back at the burning ruins of the buildings he helped make.
• Refuge in Audacity: Disobeying Hitler's orders in any manner will send the Führer into a fit of rage before he demands an immediate execution for treason, even towards his reliable henchmen like Himmler. How does Speer save himself from such a fate? By confessing his treason right to his Führer's face and then claiming he's still loyal to him despite said treason. And Hitler lets him go without incident beyond snapping a pencil. He's not even angry, just heartbroken over Speer's confession.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Speer had given up on the Nazis long before Hitler's final birthday, especially when he received the order to burn Germany to the ground. He only sticks around to personally confess his disobedience to Hitler before he leaves Berlin for good, knowing that he'll never be welcomed back.
• Token Good Teammate: Unlike most of the turncoats who abandon Hitler to save their own skin, Speer disobeys his orders out of a wish to save civilian lives and to give Germany a future after the war.
• Undying Loyalty: He claims that he's still loyal to Hitler despite immediately confessing beforehand that he had disobeyed The Nero Decree that Hitler gave him. Hitler, understandably, does not respond and instead starts crying over his friend's betrayal.
• Uriah Gambit: Unlike Himmler, who begs Hitler to leave Berlin, Speer tells Hitler that "[he] should be on stage when the curtain falls." Later it's revealed that Speer disobeyed Hitler's orders to burn down Germany because he wanted Germany to have a future, a future where Hitler will have no part in.

Heinrich Himmler

Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Luitpold Himmler, Reich Minister of the Interior and Chief of German Police

Portrayed by: Ulrich Noethen

"They need the Nazi state and my SS to keep order after the war. Give me an hour with Eisenhower and he'll agree. We're already in touch."

Offices held: Reichsführer-SS (1929-1945), Chief of German Police (1936-1945), Reich Minister of the Interior (1943-1945), Director of the Reich Main Security Office (acting, 1942-1943), Reichsleiter of the Nazi Party (1933-1945), Reich Plenipotentiary of Administration (1944-1945)
Commands held: Replacement Army (1944-1945), Army Group Oberrhein (1944-1945), Army Group Vistula (1945)
Highest award: Golden Nazi Party Badge

Leader of the Schutzstaffel (SS), the Nazi Party's Praetorian Guards, Minister of the Interior, and the man responsible for establishing the notorious concentration camps. By the end of the war, however, he is secretly planning to forge a peace deal with the Allied Forces (naturally, Hitler is less than pleased when news reaches his ears). Unfortunately for him, the British would have none of it, and his only option left is either face court-martial for his crimes, or take the easy way out with cyanide — which he did on May 23, 1945.

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• Ambition Is Evil: He desires to succeed Hitler one day and when it becomes clear that Hitler is taking a suicidal route by remaining in Berlin, Himmler abandons his Führer and hedges his bets that the Western Allies would make him the leader of an occupied Germany to fight the Soviets.
• Beneath the Mask: In public, Himmler is a devoted loyalist to Hitler, showing concern for his Führer when he decides to remain in Berlin and die fighting against the Soviets. In private, Himmler is a selfish opportunist who would abandon his Führer once he proves to be an obstacle to his survival and ambition.
• Better to Die than Be Killed: As revealed in the credits, after being alienated by his former comrades for his treason against the Führer and hunted down by the British, Himmler decides to bite a cyanide pill to avoid being executed by the Allies.
• Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Averted. Himmler assures Fegelein that the Allies will negotiate with him because: 1) they will see the Nazis as their natural allies against the Soviets; and 2) Himmler and the SS will be indispensable in keeping order in postwar Germany. He is wrong on both counts.
• Didn't Think This Through: He didn't seem to realize that his attempts for peace on his terms would only make him a wanted man on both sides; the Allies wanting to punish Himmler for his heinous crimes, and Hitler for betraying him.
• Dirty Coward: He was clever enough to realize Germany will lose the war, and yet arrogant enough to think he'd have any role in its future, and so was willing to betray Hitler in hopes of forming an alliance with the Western allies against the Soviet Union, so he could save his own skin. Too bad for him, both the West and the Soviets are determined to take the Nazis down.
• The Dragon: He serves one for Hitler, being the leader of the SS and the architect of the Holocaust. In fact, his reputation as Hitler's right-hand man makes him believe that he has the legitimacy to negotiate peace terms with the Allies alone, bypassing Hitler's and Göring's authority. This proves to be a mistake once Hitler finds out about his betrayal.
• Dragon Ascendant: Subverted. After failing to convince Hitler to leave Berlin, Himmler concludes that the Führer is finished and thus he would be the de-facto leader of Nazi Germany by his reputation. However, he overestimates the Allies' willingness to allow any kind of Nazi regime to stand, and news of his negotiations gets leaked back to a livid Hitler, who proceeds to strip Himmler of his position and place a bounty on his head.
• Driven to Suicide: When it becomes clear that the Allies want nothing to do with him, his only options are court martial by the Allies or death. He chooses the latter via cyanide capsule.
• Et Tu, Brute?: Unlike Speer, he attempts to jump ship out of selfish interests. When Hitler learns about it, his reaction is much more severe and he wants Himmler dead.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: In an exercise of Realpolitik, he believes the Western Allies will want to keep the former Nazi regime in power to prevent the Communists from taking over. He either doesn't know that the Allies have found the death camps (unlikely), or hasn't figured out that the West now doesn't consider the Nazis the lesser evil to anything, and for moral reasons will never allow the Nazi regime to remain^note he's not entirely wrong that the Allies would be willing to protect some Nazis, as a massive chunk of the future Bundeswehr's officers would be made up of former Wehrmacht and even some SS personnel. He's just wrong in assuming that Nazi institutions would be preserved, or that anyone would be willing to keep him in power after what he did..
• Four Eyes, Zero Soul: True to his historical counterpart, Himmler wears a pair of round glasses. He's also the guy in charge of the Final Solution.
• I Fight for the Strongest Side!: Hitler loses Himmler's loyalty ironically because of the Nazi ideology. The ideology, as Hitler describes it, demands that the strong destroy the weak. And since Hitler is the weak while the Allies are the strong, it makes sense for Himmler to abandon his Führer and join the winning team.
• Ironic Nickname: Hitler affectionally calls Himmler the "faithful Heinrich" after assuring him that he won't leave Berlin, not realizing that Himmler is already planning in his mind to defect to the Allies.
• It's All About Me: He wants to negotiate peace terms with the Allies, but not out of concern for the German people. Rather it's because he knows he will be punished for being the architect of the Holocaust if he doesn't use early peace talks as leverage to spare his life (and possibly to become the new leader of Germany as the Allies' puppet).
• Know When to Fold 'Em: Downplayed. He realizes that Nazi Germany is doomed and it's time to throw in the towel and at least negotiate a conditional surrender... but doesn't realize that the right time to turn his coat was before the Allies learned the true extent of German atrocities, and that now the Allies are in too strong a position to really want a negotiated surrender and too pissed off to accept it in any case.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Downplayed in that Himmler was already planning to betray Hitler from the start of the film. But for Hitler, Himmler is one of his most loyal followers aside from Goebbels, and for him to sell out his Führer proves to be the last straw on Hitler's delusional hopes. From that point on, Hitler begins to plan his suicide.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: The epilogue reports that Himmler tried to escape in disguise but was exposed and captured. In actuality, Himmler's "disguise" consisted of shaving his mustache and donning drab civilian clothes, but he was easily recognizable because of his refusal to remove, or even change, his distinctive spectacles.
• The Quisling: Tries to become this to the Allies. It's defied because they're having none of it.
• The Paragon Always Rebels: For a long time, Himmler has been considered by Hitler to be only second to Joseph Goebbels in his loyalty to the Führer and his devotion to the National Socialist ideology. That's why his betrayal appalled Hitler the most - while he already had his reservations about Speer and Göring, he did not expect that his "faithful Heinrich" would decide to abandon him for the sake of his self-serving interests.
• Pet the Dog: In an attempt to convince the cynical Fegelein to persuade Hitler to leave Berlin, Himmler tells his adjutant to not leave behind his wife and unborn child.
• Plea of Personal Necessity: He plans to do this when he meets Eisenhower. He assures Fegelein that the Allies need to keep order in Germany after the war (i.e. after Hitler's death) and the SS is the only group capable of doing so. What Himmler fails to realize is that while the Allies might need German troops to keep order, those troops needn't be SS men, and the Allies certainly wouldn't want a notorious criminal responsible for the death camps to be in charge of a peacekeeping organization.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Though it has been on his mind for several months, Himmler doesn't engage in full negotiations with the Allies until after Hitler makes it clear that he'll never leave Berlin.
• Professional Butt-Kisser: Himmler's loyalty greatly depends on whoever is going to dictate the future of Germany. Once he deems Hitler to be a lost cause, he decides to suck up to the Allies in hopes of getting a leadership role in postwar Germany (and not being charged with war crimes). While the film doesn't mention it, Himmler would later suck up to Karl Dönitz to get a position in the new German government. Dönitz, already informed of Himmler's treachery, refuses to give him anything.
• Put on a Bus: After his last talk with Hitler, Himmler leaves in his personal car to secretly negotiate peace with the Allies, never to be seen again for the rest of the film. His negotiations, of course, are soon leaked to Hitler, who is furious that Himmler is no longer around for him to personally punish.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Himmler is one of the few Reich higher officials who not only fully acknowledges the war is lost but also tries to leave Berlin so he can escape punishment. Naturally, Hitler is pissed off, to say the least.
• Shoot the Shaggy Dog: He risks everything he has to make peace with the Allies and be spared the punishment that would await him in the post-war era, and takes great pains to ensure that Hitler would never find out. The peace negotiations fail (as Himmler committed too many war crimes to be let off the hook) and news of his endeavor gets back to Berlin, where an enraged Hitler declares Himmler to be Persona Non Grata, depriving him of his massive SS resources as well as support from Dönitz's government. The epilogue reveals that the Allies caught Himmler attempting to flee the country, and the former Reichsführer committed suicide to escape justice.
• Skewed Priorities: His biggest concern for meeting Eisenhower is whether to greet him with the Nazi salute or shake his hand.
• Smug Snake: Described by Bormann as a pompous clown. Behind closed doors, Himmler chides Hitler's decision to remain in Berlin as suicide and sees this as an opportunity to take command of the Nazi State for himself (under the Allies' supervision, of course), dismissing Fegelein's concerns of treason and Himmler's leverage. It never occurs to him that the Final Solution he was in charge of would ruin any chance of peace talks on Himmler's terms.
• The Sociopath: A high-functioning example. Himmler is professional and polite but holds no real loyalty to Hitler, only serving him until it becomes clear he's a detriment to Himmler's future. He casually abandons his Führer to his doom as he negotiates a peace deal with the Allies, fully confident that he'll come out as the new leader of Germany, spared from justice's wrath... and never once realizing that the war crimes he committed were so heinous that no one wants to leave him off the hook. He genuinely thinks his biggest worry is whether or not he should do a Nazi salute to Eisenhower.
• The Starscream: Himmler didn't simply want to save his own skin when negotiating a surrender to the Allies. He also fantasizes about ruling an SS-controlled Germany under the Allied occupation and doesn't hesitate to bend the truth a bit regarding Hitler's current condition.
• Turn Coat: He tries to turn himself over to the Allies, if only to save his own life. The keyword being "tries;" they refuse to listen.
• Undying Loyalty: Subverted to Hitler's dismay. When it's revealed that Himmler is willing to sign a peace treaty and preemptively suggest that Hitler is dead, Hitler is flabbergasted by this turn of events as he expected Himmler to be his most loyal henchman unlike Göring or even Speer. He even wonders if Himmler has finally gone insane.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: His negotiations with the Allies end up dooming Fegelein and Grawitz in Berlin. Hitler, enraged by Himmler's betrayal, orders a manhunt for Fegelein (despite not realizing that Fegelein already left the bunker several days ago) and denies Grawitz's request to leave Berlin because he worked under Himmler. Fegelein ends up being caught and executed, leaving behind his wife and unborn daughter, while Grawitz ends up killing his wife and children in a familicide act.

Hermann Fegelein

SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS Hans Otto Georg Hermann Fegelein

Portrayed by: Thomas Kretschmann

"Convince [Hitler] that we have to leave Berlin, Eva! Or come with me."

Commands held: 1st SS Cavalry Regiment (1939-1941), SS Cavalry Brigade (1941-1942), 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer (1942)
Staff positions held: Head of the Office for Rider and Driver Training, SS-Führungshauptamt (1944-1945), Liaison of the Reichsführer-SS to the Headquarters of the Führer (1944-1945)
Highest award: Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords

A Waffen-SS general and Himmler's adjutant. Fegelein briefly commanded several divisions on the Eastern Front and was reassigned as Himmler's liaison to the Führer's staff after sustaining serious injuries. Fegelein is disliked within the bunker for being a petty opportunist, having married Eva Braun's sister Gretl just to climb up the social ladder (and even then he still Really Gets Around), and being lukewarm to Nazi ideology. Naturally, this makes him easy prey for Hitler's rage when the latter learned that Himmler was secretly forging a peace deal with the Allies, and just when Fegelein was preparing to leave Germany, he was caught and summarily executed on April 28, 1945.

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• The Alcoholic: In the second half of the film, Fegelein begins to drink uncontrollably as a means to cope with the stress of the war. It becomes his undoing when Hitler's men track him down. When they finally find him, Fegelein is completely drunk and naked in bed, far from ready to leave Berlin. A scene that was cut from the final film would have shown Fegelein being court-martialed by Mohnke, only for Mohnke to realize that Fegelein is too drunk to even talk or stand up.
• Ambition Is Evil: Not interested in the Nazi ideology or serving his country, but advancing his own position. Fegelein was deeply disliked by many both in Real Life (Speer described him as one of the most disgusting men in Hitler’s circle) and to some extent in the movie (Burgdorf calls him a careerist to his face.)
• Anti-Villain: A Nazi, an opportunist, a deserter... and a young man who just wants to live, unlike his lunatic fellow men determined to die for a crazy ideology.
• Asshole Victim: While his desire to survive is largely sympathetic (especially when his family is brought up), he is ultimately, as Thomas Kretschmann puts it, a bastard who looks out for himself, and thus very few tears will be shed when he's executed.
• Cassandra Truth: He privately pleads to many folks in the bunker that Berlin is lost and they must escape the city while they still can. All of them dismiss him, either out of disgust for his behavior or out of a misplaced loyalty to Hitler.
• Disappeared Dad: He becomes this to his yet unborn daughter.
• Enraged by Idiocy: After Hitler announces the war is lost and his subordinates can do as they like, Fegelein seizes this statement to convince the generals to give up the charade and abandon Berlin. When the generals refuse and give poor excuses for Hitler's defeatist attitude, Fegelein snaps and angrily berates them for their suicidally blind loyalty to the Führer.
• Face Death with Dignity: Upon realizing he’s about to be executed, he buttons up his jacket and salutes Hitler before he is gunned down.
• Fatal Flaw: His hedonism. He is hated by almost everyone for being an opportunist, and the only reason he fails to escape Hitler's wrath is because he can't resist the temptation of drugs and prostitutes despite knowing that Berlin is lost.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Among the inner circle of the Nazi elite. Likely because he isn't as insanely deluded nor so blindly committed. He was this in Real Life too- Albert Speer remembered him as the biggest Jerkass in Hitler's inner circle.
• Gold Digger: Fegelein married Eva Braun's sister Gretl only to get closer to Hitler. Their relationship is left un-discussed in the movie, as she is never seen. However, he is shown to really be fond of at least Eva.
• Handsome Lech: There's a reason he's called the "Playboy of the Third Reich”.
• The Hedonist: He only joined the Nazi Party for power and the luxuries that come with it. And he doesn't want to give up his comfortable life for his doomed Führer. Even when escaping becomes his main objective, Fegelein prioritizes the pleasures of drugs and prostitutes, wasting precious days before Hitler realizes he's gone AWOL.
• Historical Villain Downgrade: Fegelein certainly didn't become Himmler's adjutant for being a nice person, in life or in film. Among his real-life war crimes, his SS Cavalry Brigade was among the first units to systematically massacre entire Jewish towns. Under Himmler's orders, he oversaw the deaths of 17,000 Soviet Jews in Byelorussia (Belarus)^note Himmler's initial order was to shoot all Jewish men, but to herd the women and children into the Pripyat swamps and drown them; this M.O. was abandoned only when the water proved too shallow for drowning to be practical; the women and children were then simply shot. A source for his significant personal wealth had been stealing of valuables (jewellery, gold watches, art) his unit encountered on the Eastern Front by truckload. Speer also described him as being the most personally loathsome of Hitler's inner circle. While the movie Fegelein is definitely not a hero by any stretch of the imagination, none of his historical crimes ever come up, given where the film centers on.
• I Have a Family: Not spoken by him, but by Eva on his behalf while she begs Hitler to save his life. It doesn’t work.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: After failing to convince everyone to leave Berlin, Fegelein turns to alcohol as he prepares to leave himself in secret.
• Jerkass Has a Point: He's insufferably smug and unapologetically self-interested, but his utter disinterest in Nazi ideology in favor of enriching his personal life means he's not drowning in denial like the rest of the bunker, and he has an even better handle on things than his boss Himmler.
  • He expresses concern about Himmler's plans for negotiations with the Allies, believing that Allies may not accept Himmler's terms and that such actions could be seen as treasonous if leaked back to Berlin.
  • He mocks the generals when they fret in the hallway about Hitler's delusional strategies, sneering that they don't have the guts to tell the truth to the Führer and that their military oaths had made them all stupid.
  • He begs Traudl and Gerda to leave Berlin, stating that Steiner's attack being the turning point of the war is a fantasy that even Hitler doesn't have any faith in. Gerda brushes off and says she doesn't believe in him.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Even though Fegelein is a Nazi, he doesn't put their ideals beyond the survival of others either and tries to convince them to escape a certain death, with no result.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: He's well aware the Nazis are screwed and is more interested in surviving than continuing to fight for a lost cause.
• Number Two: To Heinrich Himmler. Since Himmler is beyond reach after news of his betrayal reaches the bunker, Hitler decides to punish Fegelein in his place, especially after discovering that he went AWOL.
• Only in It for the Money: Or for a career. Interestingly both he and Magda arranged themselves into a political marriage to get closer to Hitler. Only Magda did it out of passionate, unhealthy loyalty while Fegelein simply climbs the ladders of the party that happens to be in power.
• Only Sane Man: Takes no part in Hitler’s delusions nor has any interest in dying for Nazism. He also tries to convince others to come to their senses, with little success.
• Pet the Dog: He’s honestly concerned about Eva’s safety, and begs her to escape Berlin with him. He also implores Hitler's secretaries to flee Berlin because the war is already lost, but they refuse to believe him.
• The Scapegoat: He could have escaped Berlin had he not also been Himmler's adjutant (and thus, Himmler's representative in his absence). After Hitler learns of Himmler's betrayal, he demands Fegelein to be brought before him so he can satisfy his vengeance.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Attempts it. It doesn't end well.
• Shoot the Shaggy Dog: His entire character arc can be summed up as this. He knows that Berlin is already lost even before the Red Army arrives, and he doesn't want to die as he has a wife with an unborn child. But everything goes wrong for him. His attempts to persuade everyone to flee Berlin while they still have a chance falls on deaf ears thanks to his pompous attitude. When he flees the bunker himself, he succumbs to his vices, taking up drugs and having sex with prostitutes for several days within Berlin. By this point, Hitler discovers his conspiracy with Himmler and thus orders his execution. Too drunk to do anything, Fegelein is ultimately caught naked by Högl's squad, and, despite Eva's plea for mercy on behalf of her sister (Fegelein's wife), he is unceremoniously gunned down within the ruins of the Reich Chancellery.
• Smug Snake: He's insufferable to everybody in the bunker, especially when he boasts about not being stupidly loyal to the Führer. However, he fails to leave Berlin in time despite being AWOL for a few days before Hitler gets word of Himmler's betrayal, and he is ultimately caught drunk and naked in bed with prostitutes by Hitler's goons.
• Too Dumb to Live: Ironically, for all his talks about getting out of Berlin before the Red Army completely encircles the city, Fegelein decides to indulge himself with sex, drugs, and smoking while packing his bags to flee. The result? He wastes several days remaining in Berlin, which is now completely closed off by the Red Army. And then Hitler ends up finding out about Himmler's secret deal, which naturally leads him to demand Fegelein to be found, arrested, and executed for conspiring with Himmler. Högl easily finds the Gruppenführer drunk and naked in bed, sealing Fegelein's fate.
• Tragic Villain: He knows that the Nazis are going to lose the war in a matter of days and wants to get away from their messy demise, but his Nazi comrades, and Hitler, make things difficult for him to leave.
• Villainous Breakdown: After failing to persuade the generals to break their oaths and save themselves, the well-groomed Fegelein turns into a drunken, disheveled mess in the next scene he's in. He's still trying to convince his sister-in-law to abandon Hitler and leave Berlin to no avail; not that it matters since he ends up being dragged out of his bed, raving mad and completely naked, by Peter Högl's squad.

Wilhelm Keitel

Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel, Chief of the Armed Forces High Command

Portrayed by: Dieter Mann

"I may be repeating myself, but the 9th Army must retreat. Otherwise, it will be wiped out."

Staff positions held: Head of the Armed Forces Office, Reich Ministry of War (1935-1938), Chief of the Armed Forces High Command (1938-1945), Chief of the Army General Staff (acting, 1945)
Highest award: Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Chief of the Armed Forces High Command (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht) ^note succeeding disgraced war minister Werner von Blomberg and one of Hitler's most prominent yes-men to the point he was nicknamed "Lakeitel"^note a pun derived from the German word Lakai ("lackey") and his surname.. Despite being the third in the German chain-of-command (behind Hitler and Göring), Keitel's job eventually devolved into applying his signature to various papers, including the infamous Commissar Order that authorized the mass killing of captured Soviet military commissars. After being ordered to regroup with Admiral Dönitz, Keitel began to grovel before him just as he did before Hitler. He was hanged on October 16, 1946 like a criminal after being denied by the Allies a request to be shot by firing squad like a soldier.

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• Catch-22 Dilemma: If he tells only what Hitler wants to hear, they would all be doomed to destruction (as defeat was inevitable). But if he tells Hitler the unpleasant reality of the situation, he would be replaced by a Yes-Man who would only tell what Hitler wants to hear anyways.
• General Failure: Subverted. He seems well aware of Germany's military situation and begs Hitler to order their remaining units to retreat in the face of overwhelming odds.
• Put on a Bus: He is ordered by Hitler to leave and join with Karl Dönitz to reclaim the oilfields of Romania. Keitel is confused by Hitler's loss of reality but like the Yes-Man he is, he obeys without question. From that point on, Keitel is only mentioned through telegrams regarding the positions of what remains of the Wehrmacht forces.
• Villain Has a Point: When called out by Fegelein for not telling Hitler the truth, Keitel rightfully tells him that to do so would mean getting dismissed and thus making the situation worse since officers who could have turned the tide were forcibly retired for rebuking the Führer.
• Yes-Man: Despite being aware that the war is lost, he refuses to disobey Hitler, as he'll be dismissed along with Germany's best officers like Rundstedt and Guderian.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Hitler casually tells Keitel that he's sending him to southern Germany to prepare a new offensive, explaining that "once this matter is settled", the Reich's first priority will be recovering the oilfields in Romania. Even Keitel, the ultimate Yes-Man, cannot do anything but stare at his leader as if he's lost his mind, apparently not realizing that the Reich is days, if not hours, away from utter defeat.

Martin Bormann

Reichsleiter Martin Ludwig Bormann, Chief of the Nazi Party Chancellery

Portrayed by: Thomas Thieme

"Convince him, Speer. If he does not leave Berlin, it's over. The Bolsheviks will break our necks."

Offices held: Chief of the Nazi Party Chancellery (1941-1945), Private Secretary of the Führer of the German Reich (1943-1945), Reichsleiter of the Nazi Party (1933-1945), Secretary of the Deputy Führer of the Nazi Party (1933-1941), Party Minister (1945)
Highest award: Golden Nazi Party Badge

Head of the Party Chancellery and Hitler's private secretary, replacing Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess who was dismissed for treason. By the end of the war, Bormann controlled all information that came to and from Hitler's headquarters, allowing him to wield enormous power within the Third Reich. To demonstrate, he reframed a telegram from Reichsmarschall Göring as a coup attempt and got his superior's Number Two disgraced as a result. After Hitler's suicide, Bormann was designated as Party Minister but instead fled the bunker with Ludwig Stumpfegger, Artur Axmann, and Hitler's pilot Hans Baur. His fate was uncertain for many years (some believing he escaped to South America), but his remains were eventually found in a Berlin subway station.

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• Adapted Out: His younger brother Albert, who was in the bunker, does not appear in the film.
• The Alcoholic: When he's not on duty, he's a complete drunk. He can be seen alongside Burgdorf and Krebs drinking the bunker's supply of alcohol while they wait for Hitler's decision on Weidling's case. In an extended scene, when he notices Speer walking by, he's slumped on his desk with an empty bottle nearby.
• Arch-Enemy: He despised Himmler; the feeling was mutual.
• Driven to Suicide: The film's epilogue claims that Bormann (along with Ludwig Stumpfegger) committed suicide near Lehrter Bahnhof shortly after leaving the bunker. In real life, no one knows if he actually did commit suicide or if a mortar shell got him instead. However, examination of his remains does reveal evidence consistent with cyanide poisoning.
• Fat Bastard: He's fairly wide, especially when standing next to Goebbels, and he enjoys undermining his rivals to curtail Hitler's favor, even if it's at the expense of unity against the Allies.
• Historical Ugliness Update: This portrayal of Bormann is balder and more plain-looking than his real counterpart. Also, the real Bormann was 44 years old during the events of the film, here, he is played by an actor who was 56 years old when the movie was made, making him look older than he really was.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: Like many Nazi officials, Bormann turns to drinking to cope with the war. When he sobers up, he remembers why he drank in the first place (namely realizing Hitler remaining in Berlin means they'll be captured by the Red Army if not outright killed).
• Killed Offscreen: He and Stumpfegger are last seen in Mohnke's breakout group, only to disappear in the chaos. The epilogue reveals they died near Lehrter Bahnhof.
• The Man Behind the Man: Slowly, Bormann assumed tremendous power by controlling all messages that went to or from Führer headquarters.
• Manipulative Bastard: By controlling all communications in the Führerbunker, he is able to reframe Göring's request as a coup to a paranoid Hitler, thus removing one more obstacle in his bid to become the most powerful man in the Nazi regime... a regime that is going to crumble in a few days.
• Meaningless Villain Victory: Undermining Göring did absolutely nothing in the long run since Hitler's death meant that the power structure of the Third Reich that Bormann thrived on has disintegrated.
• Overranked Soldier: Bormann plays no role in state security or law enforcement as an SS-Obergruppenführer (SS general) despite being basically a glorified secretary wearing the uniform for one throughout the film. Ultimately averted since he is exclusively referred to by his party rank of Reichsleiter (National Leader), a rank he is entitled to as Chief of the Nazi Party Chancellery. This is quite intentional since Himmler tended to award ceremonial SS titles to other Nazi officials to formally put them under his command. Bormann, who was a bitter rival of Himmler and quite capable of bullying him around, had no intention of being treated as his minion.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: With Hitler dead and Weidling surrendering Berlin to the Red Army, Bormann sneaks into Mohnke's group in an attempt to escape the city. He never makes it.
• Shoot the Shaggy Dog: All his attempts to undermine his rivals and establish himself as the second most powerful man in the Third Reich end up for naught when Hitler (and later Goebbels) commits suicide. With Dönitz being far from Berlin and the Red Army encircling the city, Bormann decides to join Mohnke's breakout group in the hopes of escaping justice and possibly salvaging what's left of his influence in Dönitz's new government. He ends up dying near Lehrter Bahnhof, evidently committing suicide when he realizes he's trapped.
• This Cannot Be!: He's baffled by Hitler's proclamation that he'll shoot himself rather than leave Berlin. After Hitler's infamous rant, Bormann insists that his Führer could not possibly be serious with that statement.
• Villainous Breakdown: When it becomes clear that Hitler is going to die in Berlin, Bormann realizes what it means for his influence. In the uncut version, when Speer goes to the bunker for the last time, Bormann grabs him and begs him to convince Hitler to leave Berlin.

Walther Hewel

Walther Hewel

Portrayed by: Gerald Alexander Held

"Yes, we should use politics."

A German diplomat and like Speer, one of Hitler's closest friends. He was one of the earliest members of the Nazi Party, helping to establish connections in Indonesia. He spent most of the Second World War on the staff of Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop as liaison to the Führer and formed a close relationship with him as a result. When Ribbentrop lost favour, Hewel rapidly replaced him as Hitler's senior adviser on all foreign policy matters. By the time of the film, Hewel is one of the few members of Hitler's inner circle to remain in the Führerbunker and by Himmler's admission is one of the few people still capable of influencing Hitler.

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• Driven to Suicide: He kills himself by the exact same method as Hitler, by biting on a cyanide capsule while putting a gun to his head.
• Honor Before Reason: Hitler makes Hewel promise to kill himself, so that he won't say anything incriminating about him at the inevitable war crimes tribunal. Schenck tries to make him see that this is insane, and as a diplomat, he'll be afforded protection, but he still goes through with it.
• My Master, Right or Wrong: He doesn't care if he would get protection as a diplomat when put on trial. He will not incriminate his Führer and thus commits suicide to take what he knew about Hitler with him to the grave.
• Only Sane Man: When Göring's telegram arrives, Hewel is the only person who tries to justify it, saying that their communications could break down at any time and leave them cut off from the outside world.
• Shoot the Shaggy Dog: He clearly wants to live when he decides to join Mohnke's mass breakout. His group later got slaughtered by Soviet gunfire, leaving him as the only survivor when he catches up to Mohnke's group. By morning, when it becomes clear they can't escape the Red Army, Hewel opts for suicide to fulfill the promise he made to Hitler, which is a blatant manipulation by the Führer to prevent his friend from testifying against him. Despite Schenck's arguments against suicide, namely that he'll be protected by international law rather than be tortured by the Soviets, Hewel goes through with it once Berlin surrenders.
• Sole Survivor: He is the only member of his group who manages to survive the breakout, though he later kills himself anyway.
• Undying Loyalty: He commits suicide to show his loyalty to Hitler, his Führer and friend.
• Villainous Friendship: He is one of Hitler's personal friends. Hewel also appears to be very close to Eva Braun, as he asks her to dance during her party.

Hermann Göring

Reichsmarschall Hermann Wilhelm Göring, Reich Minister for Aviation and Supreme Commander of the Air Force

Portrayed by: Mathias Gnädinger

Offices held: Reich Minister for Aviation (1933-1945), President of the Reichstag (1932-1945), Minister President of Prussia (1933-1945), Reich Governor of Prussia (1933-1945), Reich Minister of Forestry (1934-1945), Reich Plenipotentiary of the Four Year Plan (1936-1945)
Commands held: Supreme Commander of the Luftwaffe (1935-1945)
Highest award: Golden Nazi Party Badge (Party), Grand Cross of the Iron Cross (military)

One of the lesser characters in the movie despite being Hitler's Number Two, having been the founder of the Gestapo, the Nazi Secret Police, and leader of the Luftwaffe (air force). His relationship with Hitler, however, started to sour due to incompetence in the battlefield, and was subsequently fired when he sent a telegram to Hitler asking him to bless him as his successor upon learning of his impending suicide. He was subsequently captured by the victorious Allies and found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, but chose to bite a cyanide pill before he faced the gallows on October 15, 1946.

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• Demoted to Extra: In the film; despite being one of the most prominent Nazi officials, he doesn't get a single word. Truth in Television, as it accurately reflects Göring's diminished status at this point in the war. Both Göring and Hitler were among the earliest members of the National Socialist Party, and both were veterans of World War I, but Göring was a decorated flying ace, while Hitler, despite his later-discovered skills as an orator, had only been a regimental messenger. At the time of the Beer Hall Putsch in 1923, Hitler was thrilled to have someone of Göring's status in the Nazis' camp. After the Nazis took power, however, Hitler became Chancellor of the state and Supreme Commander of the armed forces, while Göring gradually fell out of favor; the Gestapo which he'd founded and organized had been turned over to Himmler's control, and his Luftwaffe failed to win the Battle of Britain, prevent the Allied bombing raids against Germany, or resupply the German forces besieged in Stalingrad. After failing to swing the Battle of the Bulge in Germany's favor, the Luftwaffe had become all but defunct, except for Hitler's fantasies of deploying fleets of jet fighters that never existed.
• Dragon Ascendant: Göring knows that he would gain full command of the Third Reich if Hitler were to die but his attempt to get confirmation from the Führer ends up making him look like The Starscream instead. Hitler proceeds to strip Göring of all his ranks and demand his arrest and execution.
• Fat Bastard: He's a very wide guy, and he didn't get to be The Dragon to Hitler by being nice.
• Functional Addict: He's accused by Hitler as a "morphine addict" due to his mishandling of the Luftwaffe but he's functional enough to send in a concise telegram asking permission to lead Germany if Berlin falls. In real life, Göring was addicted to morphine (which contributed to his massive obesity) and ironically, Göring's mind became sharper and more contemptuous once the Allies took away that substance in order for him to stand trial.
• General Failure: Part of Hitler's tirade against him is his mismanagement of the Luftwaffe, which he says is enough to order an execution.
• Number Two: Second only to Hitler as the most powerful figure in the Third Reich and thus the next in line should Hitler ever be incapacitated. His position plus Hitler's paranoia makes him an easy target for other ambitious Nazi officials to erode trust between the two, eventually culminating into Hitler ousting Göring from the chain of command.
• Put on a Bus: Shortly after Hitler's birthday, he leaves Berlin to his estate in Obersalzberg. Ironically, his most important scene occurs when he's physically absent, in the form of a telegram asking Hitler to give control of the Third Reich to him.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: In his only scene, he is calmly checking his watch.
• The Starscream: Göring's telegram is a reasonable request since someone has to lead if Berlin is cut off from the rest of Germany, and he's technically next in line as Hitler's Number Two. But both Bormann and Goebbels frame his request as an excuse to seize power for himself and Hitler, paranoid of losing power but still hoping for a last-minute victory, buys their spin of the telegram and decides to strip Göring's titles and positions to deny him that request.
• Villain in a White Suit: One of the highest ranking officials of the Third Reich, and wears a nice white uniform in the film.
• You Are in Command Now: Averted. Upon learning of Hitler's intentions to remain in Berlin, he sends a telegram asking to take command of the crumbling Third Reich. While Hewel tries to say this is a justified action, given how fragile their communications system is, Bormann and Goebbels paint it as being an opportunity for a coup. This causes Hitler to fly into another rage and eject him from every office.

Artur Axmann

Reichsjugendführer Artur Axmann, Head of the Hitler Youth

Portrayed by: Alexander Stepin

"My Führer, Berlin Hitler Youth's most successful tank hunters!"

Offices held: Chief of the Social Office of the Reich Youth Leadership (1933-1934), Hitler Youth Leader in Berlin (1934-1940), Deputy Reichsjugendführer (1940), Reichsjugendführer (1940-1945)
Highest award: German Order

Head of the Hitler Youth (Hitlerjugend), succeeding Baldur von Schirach when the latter was appointed governor of Nazi-occupied Vienna. Axmann strongly supported sending recruits to the front, proposing an SS division made up of Hitler Youth recruits born in 1926 to be stationed on the Western Front. He was the Sole Survivor of a breakout group that included Martin Bormann and Ludwig Stumpfegger. Axmann evaded Soviet detection for several months under an alias, but was eventually caught and sentenced to only 3 years in prison. After his release, he worked as a businessman and briefly lived on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria. He died on October 24, 1996 of undisclosed causes.

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• Abled in the Adaptation: The real Axmann lost his right hand in combat on the Eastern Front. As is clearly visible in the picture, his hand is intact in the film.
• The Cameo: Has a brief one-liner appearance during the scene where Hitler awards Peter Kranz and other Hitler Youth recruits with medals. His larger role in Bormann's breakout group is not discussed in the film.
• Child Soldiers: Axmann is in command of them. As Berlin's defense becomes more desperate, they send more children to the front due to their fanatical nature.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: His surname is Axmann (axe-man). Not the most reassuring of surnames, especially for a fanatical Nazi willing to send young children to useless deaths.

Blondi

Blondi

Hitler's beloved German shepherd. Martin Bormann gave her as a gift to Hitler in 1941.

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• Adapted Out: Blondi had given birth to a litter of puppies about a month before her death, all of whom were shot shortly afterwards. None of them are in the film.
• Big Friendly Dog: When he meets Traudl, Hitler reassures her that Blondi won't hurt her, saying that she has a very sharp mind.
• Shoot the Dog: Blondi is euthanized to test the potency of the cyanide capsules.
• Team Pet: Hitler clearly loves his dog, as does the bunker staff.

The bunker staff

Civilian staff

Traudl Junge

Getraud "Traudl" Junge (née Humps)

Portrayed by: Alexandra Maria Lara

"I've got the feeling that I should be angry with this child, this young and oblivious girl. Or that I'm not allowed to forgive her for not seeing the nature of that monster."

^{As an old woman}

The viewpoint character of the movie, Traudl was the youngest of Hitler's private secretaries at age 22 and oblivious to all the crimes Hitler and his lackeys did in the name of National Socialism. In three years' time, she witnesses Hitler's slow descent to madness and ultimately suicide. After several interrogations by the Soviets, from which she learned of Nazi atrocities on their homeland, she was let go to live a quiet life until her death on February 10, 2002, but not before telling her story to the world, some of which would make it into this very movie.

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• Adaptational Attractiveness: The real Traudl was a bit more homely◊.
• Audience Surrogate: An inexperienced new arrival in Hitler’s circle, level-headed and innocent of the horrid crimes most of the cast has committed.
• Book Ends: The real Traudl, aged 81 and months away from her death, was given interviews on the beginning and end of the film.
• Brainy Brunette: Brunette and brainy enough to score a job as the secretary of the most important man in the Reich. Though in this company merely being of normal sanity places her above her surroundings. Unfortunately it doesn’t help her judge of character.
• Break the Cutie: She starts the film mostly innocent, but the events on the bunker wear down on her.
• Curtains Match the Window: Both brown.
• Final Girl: Downplayed. She is the only one in Mohnke's group to get pass the Soviets and escape Berlin, but the epilogue reveals that most of her companions manage to survive years after the war's end.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: The real-life Junge cannot cling to her youth to excuse herself for being Hitler's secretary, she could have realized what was happening.
• Friend to All Children: Befriends both the Goebbels children and later Peter.
• Heel Realization: Until her dying day, Traudl never forgave herself for not seeing Hitler as the monster he was. To quote an interview with the Real Life Traudl at the end of the film...
  "Of course the horrors, of which I heard in connection of the Nuremberg trials, the fate of the six million Jews, their killing and those of many others who represented different races and creeds, shocked me greatly, but at that time I could not see any connection between these things and my own past. I was only happy that I had not personally been guilty of these things and that I had not been aware of the scale of these things. However, one day I walked past a plaque that on the Franz-Joseph Straße (in Munich), on the wall in memory of Sophie Scholl. I could see that she had been born the same year as I, and that she had been executed the same year when I entered into Hitler's service. And at that moment I really realized that it was no excuse that I had been so young. I could perhaps have tried to find out about things."
  • Discussed earlier and somewhat dismissed by Junge herself as she admits that her family knew the Nazis were terrible, and Junge believes it would be disingenious to claim she had a true change of heart when she knows it was only because the Germans lost the war.
• Hired for Their Looks: Implied. She's is the prettiest of the secretarial candidates. Her audition doesn't go well; she botches her first typing test so badly that she gives up before Hitler is done speaking. But Hitler lets her have a second go. When she does better, he then hires her without even auditioning the other girls.
• Historical Beauty Update: She's more conventionally attractive than the historical Traudl.
• Nice Girl: She's one of the few characters in the film who can honestly be called good. She's friends with most of the bunker, loves children, and is really a Nazi In Name Only.
• Plucky Girl: She's optimistic and hopeful in spite of the hellish war raging outside the bunker, even after Hitler committed suicide. It's only when she learns of the war crimes committed by Hitler and his goons (off-screen) in the epilogue that she loses that persona.
• Supporting Protagonist: Arguably this to Hitler, the real main character. However, the movie Book Ends with an interview of the real Traudl, and her fate during the war is the carrying plot thread.
• Token Good Teammate: She's just Hitler's secretary, and had no part in any Nazi atrocities. She never realized until later what an evil man Hitler was, and after she did have a Heel Realization, she never forgave herself for not trying to oppose him.
• Undying Loyalty: Upset by people abandoning Hitler and determined to stay with him till the end.
• What Beautiful Eyes!: Just◊ look◊ into◊ them.◊

Gerda Christian

Gerda Christian (née Daranowski)

Portrayed by: Birgit Minichmayr

"I don't believe a word of it!"

Hitler's second secretary and Traudl's closest friend in the bunker, hired to relieve the stress of older secretaries Johanna Wolf and Christa Schroeder. She was married to Hitler's chauffeur Erich Kempka and later Luftwaffe officer Eckhard Christian who she divorced in 1946 for not staying in the bunker with her. Gerda survived the war and died of cancer on April 24, 1997.

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• Despair Event Horizon: She becomes completely lost once Hitler kills himself and refuses to go on with Traudl.
• Hysterical Woman: She begins to sob uncontrollably when she hears Hitler's infamous rant against his generals from the war room. Even Traudl asks her to get a hold of herself.
• This Cannot Be!: Both she and Traudl ask if the artillery means Steiner's attack has begun. Fegelein replies that the attack is just a fantasy, and Gerda refuses to believe it.
• Undying Loyalty: Like Traudl, she refuses to leave the bunker when Fegelein and eventually even Hitler asks them to leave. Her loyalty to the Führer is too strong.

Constanze Manziarly

Constanze Manziarly

Portrayed by: Bettina Redlich

"I hate those two-faced sods who say "Sieg Heil!" but behind their backs say "Go fu... screw yourselves.""

Hitler's personal cook and dietitian who like Traudl and Gerda chose to stay with him in the Führerbunker. Joining Wilhelm Mohnke's breakout group, Manziarly was detained by Soviet soldiers and herded down a tunnel. She is presumed dead.

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• Driven to Suicide: Implied given that she is last seen contemplating her cyanide capsule. And that is considered to be one of the better fates that may have befelled her.
• Never Found the Body: She disappears during the breakout and epilogue states that her fate is unknown since there was no body to be found or identified as hers.
• Pretender Diss: Towards the seemingly loyal Nazi officials at Hitler's birthday party, since it's clear they're all planning escape routes for themselves.
• Team Chef: She is Hitler's personal cook and is shown preparing food for bunker residents.
• Uncertain Doom: The film claims that she vanished without a trace and there are two explanations for her disappearance. One is that she committed suicide via the cyanide capsule she was seen holding in the film; the other is that the Soviet soldiers raped and killed her in the tunnel.

Hans Georg Fritzsche

August Franz Anton Hans Georg Fritzsche

Portrayed by: Michael Brandner

"We must surrender to the Russians!"

A ministerial director and head of the Radio Division in the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. Fritzsche was Nazi Germany's most prominent radio commentator, as his distinctive voice was recognized by the majority of the civilians. In the film, he tries to send a telegram of surrender to Marshal Zhukov against Goebbels' orders, but is nearly shot by Wilhelm Burgdorf as a result. Upon the surrender in Berlin, Fritzsche was imprisoned in Moscow and later acquitted in the Nuremberg trials. He died of cancer on September 23, 1953.

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• Adapted Out: His attempt to send a message of surrender to Marshal Zhukov is heavily condensed. In Real Life, he actually left the bunker for his office in Wilhelmsplatz to write the letter of surrender, and Burgdorf followed him all the way there to prevent this. Burgdorf's gunshot was stopped by a radio technician rather than General Weidling and a crowd eventually forced the angry general to return to the bunker.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: He tries to order a ceasefire once Hitler is dead.
• Only Sane Man: Even after Hitler is dead, what's left of the bunker staff cannot agree to surrender. Fritzsche tries to take matters into his own hands and instructs Misch to contact Marshal Zhukov.

Walter Wagner

Walter Wagner

Portrayed by: Norbert Heckner

"I hereby declare you man and wife."

A notary and acquaintance of Joseph Goebbels who is summoned to the bunker to marry Adolf Hitler to Eva Braun. He held several minor positions in the Nazi hierarchy and was drafted into the Volkssturm in 1944. Less than twenty-four hours after performing the ceremony he was shot in the head and killed defending the Potsdamer Platz. His body was never found.

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• Altar the Speed: He is hastily brought in to perform the wedding of Hitler and Eva, less than a day before they both kill themselves.
• Ask a Stupid Question...: Reading from the ceremony procedure according to racial laws, he asks Hitler if he is of "Aryan-descent" and then requests his ID card. Goebbels reminds him that he's talking to the Führer.
  • It's actually more of an Armor-Piercing Question: Hitler's father was a bastard who had no idea who his own father was, and Nazi race laws defined that you could only legally claim you were an "Aryan" German if you could prove that none of your four grandparents were Jewish. Hitler could not prove that his paternal grandfather wasn't Jewish, and thus hypocritically couldn't live up to his own race laws.

Johannes Hentschel

Johannes Hentschel

Portrayed by: Oliver Stritzel

"Adolf Hitler is dead. He shot himself and we burned the body."

A master electro-mechanic who operates the diesel generators in the bunker, having previously done the same in the Old Reich Chancellery before the Soviet Air Forces began fire-bombing the building. He surrendered to Red Army forces on May 2, 1945 and was released from captivity four years later. He died quietly in 1982.

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• Actor Allusion: Oliver Stritzel previously played one of the engine room mechanics in Das Boot.
• The Engineer: He only appears once in the theatrical cut restoring power to a failing generator.
• Everyone Has Standards: In the extended cut, he forbids the Soviet nurses to enter the Goebbelses' bedroom because he wants to spare them from seeing the corpses of the Goebbels children.
• I Choose to Stay: In the extended cut, as everyone is getting ready to leave, Hentschel chooses to remain in order to provide power and oxygen to the field hospital in the Reich Chancellery. He later greets a squad of Soviet nurses who are the first to enter the bunker.
• Pet the Dog: In the extended cut, Hentschel gives the Soviet nurses direction to Eva's wardrobe when they ask for it.

Erna Flegel

Nurse Erna Flegel

Portrayed by: Elizaveta Boyarskaya

"My Führer, preserve our belief in the final victory! Lead us and we will follow you!"

A nurse working in the field hospital located in the Reich Chancellery. She was one of the longest-surviving people in the bunker, dying in 2006.

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• Hysterical Woman: She begs Hitler in tears to reassure them of their final victory.
• I Choose to Stay: She did not partake in Mohnke's breakout group and instead opts to stay in the bunker to take care of the wounded and wait for the Soviets to arrive.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: After crying for Hitler to reassure them that they will win, she sits at a table and joins in on downing as much alcohol as she can.
• Last of Her Kind: She was the last woman who witnessed Hitler's downfall, beating Traudl by four years. Like Misch, she saw the film in her nursing home, and stated that it got "a few, small details wrong" but generally was accurate to the real story.

Military staff

Hans Krebs

General der Infanterie Hans Krebs, Chief of the Army General Staff

Portrayed by: Rolf Kanies

"The Führer's order is final! We cannot give up!"

Staff positions held: Chief of Staff, 9th Army (1942-1943), Chief of Staff, Army Group Centre (1943-1944), Chief of Staff, Army Group B (1944-1945), Deputy Chief of the Army General Staff (1945), Chief of the Army General Staff (acting, 1945)
Highest award: Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves

An infantry general in the German Army and acting Chief of the Army General Staff, replacing disgraced colonel general Heinz Guderian. Before that, Krebs successively served as chief of staff of the 9th Army, Army Group Centre and Army Group B before becoming deputy chief of the Army General Staff in February 1945. Krebs was pretty much Hitler's military arm during the last days of Nazi Germany, ordering around officers on the front lines to fight till the very end, and subsequently presided over Fegelein's court-martial. After Hitler's suicide, he and Burgdorf stayed behind and together committed suicide on May 2, 1945.

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• Adapted Out: The real-life Krebs was known to have a monocle on his right eye. It is missing in the film for reasons unknown.
• Affably Evil: A Nazi... and quite polite.
• Bearer of Bad News: He finds himself in the position of bringing bad news to Hitler, but always hesitates to do so fearing Hitler's wrath.
• Cunning Linguist: He's the only German character in the film who can speak Russian. As such, he is sent to negotiate peace terms with the Soviets after Hitler's suicide.
• Driven to Suicide: After Hitler's death and the surrender of Berlin, Krebs decides to shoot himself in the head.
• Honor Before Reason: He knows the war is lost and Hitler is insane, but he couldn't go through with unconditional surrender that General Chuikov lays out before him.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: Like his pal, Burgdorf, Krebs would sometimes drink till he's drunk to deal with war.
• My Master, Right or Wrong: Despite Hitler's death, Krebs still insists that the Führer's orders are final and thus surrender is not an option.
• Nice Guy: Polite and soft-spoken. In the extended cut, he playfully laughs when the Goebbels children knock over his drink.
• Not So Stoic: He is usually calm even when he's forced to give uncomfortable answers to his wrathful superiors that no one wants to hear but when Goebbels accuses him of having doubt about Wenck, Krebs shouts in rage that Wenck has no army to begin with. He again loses his temper when discussing about surrender in the aftermath of Hitler's suicide.
• Pretty Little Headshots: His corpse shows little blood or gore in the aftermath.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The calm and collected blue to Burgdorf's raging red.
• Suicide Pact: He and Burgdorf shoot themselves together.
• Suddenly Shouting: He finally cracks his stoic nature when forced to answer why Wenck won't stop the Red Army.
  Weidling: I want to know right now whether the overall situation makes it probable that Wenck can still intervene!
  Krebs: It is unlikely that Wenck with his few units can attack the Red Army...
  Goebbels: How dare you say an attack by Wenck is unlikely?!
  Krebs: WENCK HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO CONFRONT THE RED ARMY!
• Undying Loyalty: Stays in the bunker until everyone else has left.
• Yes-Man: When Hitler gets angry over the fact that the Soviet military is only 12 km from the city center, Krebs tries to assure him that it may be long-ranged artillery from Oder. Hitler brushes him off because he knows he's lying.

Wilhelm Burgdorf

General der Infanterie Wilhelm Emanuel Burgdorf, Chief of the Army Personnel Office

Portrayed by: Justus von Dohnányi

"The Führer knows it himself! But he will never surrender! And we won't either! I went through that before! And once is enough!"

Commands held: 529th Infantry Regiment (1940-1942)
Staff positions held: Chief of Department 2, Army Personnel Office (1942), Deputy Chief of the Army Personnel Office (1942-1944), Chief of the Army Personnel Office (1944-1945)
Highest award: Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

An infantry general of the German Army, Chief of the Army Personnel Office and Adolf Hitler's chief military adjutant during the closing days of World War II. Burgdorf replaced his superior, Rudolf Schmundt as chief of army personnel after the latter was killed in the 20 July bomb plot. As a veteran of World War I, Burgdorf was passionate about preventing a repeat of Germany's humiliation after that war, and thus swore fealty to Hitler, including having to facilitate the suicide of Erwin Rommel as punishment for the aforementioned assassination attempt on Hitler. At the war's end he and Krebs handled Fegelein's court-martial, and both also committed suicide together on May 2, 1945.

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• The Alcoholic: Frequently drinks and is often found drunk in the bunker, singing songs with a stupid smile.
• Arch-Enemy: He's the most vocal general to voice his displeasure against Fegelein, calling him a careerist and opportunist who only looks out for himself. Fegelein is not too fond of him either.
• Bait the Dog: On the surface, he seems to be a caring general to the soldiers fighting in the frontlines, standing up for their honor when Hitler insults them for failing him. But when it becomes clear that surrender is the best option for the German people, Burgdorf attempts to shut down all efforts to negotiate with the Soviets, preferring to let the Germans, including the surviving soldiers, die than suffer another humiliating defeat.
• Berserk Button: Nothing pisses him off more than surrender, which is why he's willing to shoot someone for daring to contact the Soviets.
• Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: When Hitler insults the German soldiers that are currently defending Berlin, Burgdorf angrily objects (but then relents). This was a pretty ballsy move considering that, despite that he was losing the war, Hitler still had the authority to call in death squads to execute anyone who dispeased or disobeyed him (as Fegelein finds out the hard way).
• Driven to Suicide: Shoots himself when his inevitable capture seems near.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • He's a dedicated Nazi follower but he despises the careerists and bosses of the SS, seeing them as opportunists trying to cash in and then abandon ship rather than fight for their country to the bitter end.
  • He'd rather have Germany die fighting than surrendering to the Allies, but he feels that insulting the soldiers is a step too far, even for Hitler.
• A Father to His Men: Subverted in the final cut. He stands up to Hitler when he insult the soldiers, but he doesn't fight alongside his men and he makes it clear he'll rather have Germany destroy itself than surrender for the sake of the soldiers. A deleted scene, however, would have shown more of Burgdorf's caring side to the soldiers with him cursing Bormann after discovering the truth behind the soldier causalities.
• Honor Before Reason: Remembers Germany’s humiliating surrender after WWI and would rather commit suicide than go through it again.
• Hot-Blooded: Very temperamental and passionate about his opinions, even if it's against the Führer's. If it goes far enough, he's willing to answer with a gun.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: Often seen drinking alcohol to cope with the stress of war.
• I Take Offense to That Last One: During Hitler's infamous rant, he curses just about everyone, including the Nazi leadership, military leaders, officers, and the troops themselves. The only thing that Burgdorf objects to, or the only thing that anyone dares speak up about, is that it is outrageous for the Führer to insult Germany's troops.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: He's a jerkass towards several Nazi party officials, especially towards Fegelein, but he seems to be acting like a jerk to defend the honor of the German soldiers, whom he praises for their sacrifices and dedication to defend their homeland. That is until the topic of surrender is brought up, in which Burgdorf reveals himself to only care about the mythical reputation of the German soldiers rather than the actual soldiers themselves. He's more than willing to let them die if it means avoiding the humiliation of defeat he suffered from the last World War.
• Motor Mouth: When angered speaks fast, furiously and in high pitch.
• My Country, Right or Wrong: A deleted scene would have featured Burgdorf lamenting over the fact that 100,000 young officers died for Bormann and other party bosses rather than for Germany and Germany's future. This sadly does not apply to Hitler, whom Burgdorf sees as the embodiment of Germany itself.
• My Master, Right or Wrong: Burgdorf believes that the Führer is the Führer and no one should disobey his command even if he couldn't stand Hitler's insults.
• Pretty Little Headshots: His suicide by gunshot leaves little blood or gore.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: He's prone to do this towards anyone who dares consider surrender, most notably towards Fegelein, calling him an opportunist and ruthless careerist. A deleted scene would have feature him going on a full, drunken rant towards Bormann of how the party members like him disgraced the dead soldiers.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The hot tempered red to Krebs' calm blue.
• Suicide Pact: He and Krebs shoot themselves together.
• Undying Loyalty: Despite his misgivings about Hitler's insult to the troops, he is still among the most loyal Nazis to Hitler. He nearly shoots someone for attempting to surrender to the Soviet forces and he stays in the bunker until everyone else have left.
• Villainous Breakdown: He becomes more and more unhinged when everyone, including his fellow generals, is considering surrender as an option. He screams that he'll never surrender after the humiliation of World War I, and will follow his Führer to the end despite both knowing the war is lost. It eventually leads to a culmination point where he attempts to shoot Fritzsche for trying to contact the Soviets.
• With Due Respect: During his most famous Villainous Breakdown Hitler accuses the army for his loss, calling them cowards and traitors. Burgdorf stands up to Hitler, declaring this to be outrageous and that he cannot accept Hitler insulting the soldiers. No other character dares to speak to Hitler in such manner.

Alfred Jodl

Generaloberst Alfred Josef Ferdinand Jodl, Chief of the Operations Staff of the Armed Forces High Command

Portrayed by: Christian Redl

"He moves divisions that only exist on his map. Steiner's scattered unit can hardly defend itself and yet, Steiner is ordered to attack! It's pure madness!"

Staff positions held: Chief of Operations Staff of the Armed Forces High Command (1939-1945), Chief of the Army General Staff (acting, 1945)
Highest award: Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

A colonel general in the German Army, Chief of the Operations Staff of the Armed Forces High Command and deputy of Wilhelm Keitel. Out of a sense of honour he refused to leave the bunker unlike Fegelein and Himmler. At the end of the war he signed the instrument of surrender in Reims and was found guilty by the Nuremberg Trials of committing crimes against peace, waging wars of aggression, war crimes, and crimes against humanity (including deportation of Danes and Jews to concentration camps) and was hanged along with Keitel on October 16, 1946.

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• Bald of Evil: Completely bald, and a war criminal. His real life counterpart actually had balding hair.
• Bearer of Bad News: He has to break it to Hitler that Steiner could not carry his assault because he lacks to numbers for it.
• Commander Contrarian: He serves this role to Hitler during the battle strategy talks but unlike the typical archetype, he offers reasonable counter arguments against Hitler's ludicrously delusional orders. Hitler is not amused.
• Fat Bastard: Downplayed. He's portrayed as being pudgy,^note The real life Jodl was relatively thin in comparison. especially prominent with his head, and he's responsible for many war crimes. However, he's depicted as one of the more rational generals, pointing out flaws in Hitler's strategy.
• Historical Badass Upgrade: Slightly, but the real life Jodl was known to be one of Hitler's biggest yes-men, approving every military strategy that Hitler came up with even if it was doomed to failure. In the film, Jodl is the only general who objects to Hitler's decision to move the 12th Army away from the Elbe (when in reality, he suggested it as a means to coax Hitler out of his Steiner rant), and that happens to be Jodl's most prominent scene.
• Historical Ugliness Update: Zig-Zagged. His depiction as a fairly overweight and bald general is at odds with his real-life counterpart, who still had hair on his sides and was rather quite thin. But he lacks distinct wrinkles on his face, making him appear much younger than the real Jodl.
• Honor Before Reason: He tells Fegelein that the reason he wouldn't challenge Hitler's insane strategy any further is because of his soldier's oath to Hitler. Fegelein rhetorically asks if that means they shouldn't think independently.
• My Master, Right or Wrong: He knows that Hitler's strategy will only lead to defeat but still sticks with him because of his oath, and berates Fegelein for suggesting to disobey his Führer.
  "We are soldiers! We've taken our oath to the Führer!"
• Put on a Bus: He is last seen in the film wearing a coat and shaking hands with Hitler during the letter montage on April 23, 1945, presumably to leave Berlin and deal with other military operations elsewhere. The epilogue reveals that Jodl was eventually captured and executed by the Allies for war crimes.
• Undying Loyalty: Despite arguing with Hitler, he refuses to consider abandoning him.
• Yes-Man: Though he's willing to challenge Hitler on strategy, he is quickly silenced by Hitler's outburst and allows the Führer to continue with his impossible plan. Fegelein calls him out, asking why he couldn't just tell the truth in front of Hitler's face.

Hans-Erich Voss

Vizeadmiral Hans-Erich Voss

Commands held: Captain, Prinz Eugen (1942-1943)
Staff positions held: Chief Naval Liaison to the Führer (1943-1945)
Highest award: Iron Cross 1st Class

Chief naval liaison officer to Hitler, Hans-Erich Voss was among the last people to see both Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels alive before they committed suicide. He was captured by the Soviets as part of Mohnke's breakout group and identified the burnt corpses of Goebbels and his wife. Voss was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for war crimes but was released early. He died on November 18, 1969.

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• All There in the Manual: He does not speak or is otherwise identified in the film. His actor isn't even credited.
• Artistic License – Military: It wouldn't be hard to mistake him for Grand Admiral Dönitz instead, since he has five sleeve stripes instead of the three a Vice Admiral should have.
• The Voiceless: He briefly appears during the briefing scenes, but does not speak.

Alwin-Broder Albrecht

Kapitän zur See Alwin-Broder Albrecht

Portrayed by: Klaus B. Wolf

A naval adjutant to Adolf Hitler and a member of the National Socialist Motor Corps (NSKK). He was almost discharged from the navy due to having a "wife with a past" but this was vetoed by Hitler, who appointed him an NSKK-Oberführer and one of his personal adjutants. He is believed to have committed suicide defending the Reich Chancellery on May 1, 1945.

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• Believing Their Own Lies: Even after Hitler has a massive nervous breakdown, he thinks the Führer has regained his composure and will soon lead them to victory.
• Killed Offscreen: He only appears once in the extended cut. In real life, it is believed he was killed defending the Reich Chancellery.
• Stupid Jetpack Hitler: He asks Keitel when the next series of V-2 rockets will be ready, as they must have an enormous range. Keitel, knowing there are no more "wonder weapons," says it's simply classified.

Fritz Tornow

Feldwebel Fritz Tornow

Portrayed by: Devid Striesow

Hitler's personal dog handler and a sergeant in the German Army. Tornow was among the remaining occupants in the Führerbunker when it was captured by the Soviets and was tortured in the infamous Lubyanka prison in Moscow. He resided thereafter in West Germany making dog food, where he died at the end of the 1990s.

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• Animal Lover: Especially of dogs, which is why he was visibly distraught at having to kill Blondi. Doubly saddening in real-life; he also had to Mercy Kill Blondi's puppies, Eva Braun's dogs, Gerda Christian's dogs and eventually his own pet dachshund.
• Gallows Humor: He jokes that they should only go outside if they want a hero's death. Krebs tells him to mind his mouth because Eva is present, but Tornow is too drunk to care.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: He has been getting into the bunker's supply of alcohol for quite a while by the time he's introduced, as he's already absolutely plastered.
• Shoot the Dog: He assists Dr. Haase in killing Blondi to test the cyanide capsules.

SS staff

Heinz Linge

SS-Obersturmbannführer Heinz Linge

Portrayed by: Thomas Limpinsel

"My Führer, we don't know where [Fegelein] is."

Adolf Hitler's personal valet, attending to all the Führer's personal matters. He is first shown welcoming Traudl and the other applicants for the position of secretary to the Wolf's Lair, and remains at Hitler's side even as they're confined to the bunker. He spent ten years in Soviet captivity and died on March 9, 1980.

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• Deadpan Snarker: He has his moments.
  Speer: [while Hitler is having a meltdown] I must speak with the Führer.
  Linge: I'd wait a minute if I were you.
• Rank Up: Was promoted from SS major (Sturmbannführer) to lieutenant colonel (Obersturmbannführer) between the prologue and the rest of the movie.
• This Is Gonna Suck: The look on his face when he's delivering a report indicating that Himmler has attempted to surrender.
• Undying Loyalty: As Hitler's valet and an SS officer, he remains by Hitler's side to the very end.

Otto Günsche

SS-Sturmbannführer Otto Günsche

Portrayed by: Götz Otto

"Gruppenführer Fegelein is nowhere to be found. He's not in the bunker."

An SS major and Hitler's personal adjutant. As one of the saner characters of the movie, all he did was stand by and wait for Hitler's orders, including having to cremate his body. He was later captured by the Soviets and served a decade in prisons in Moscow and Bautzen (East Germany), during which time he wrote his own account of life with Hitler, specifically prepared for Joseph Stalin. He died peacefully on October 2, 2003.

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• Adaptation Dye-Job: He was blond in real life, but the film gives him dark hair.
• Battle Butler: By the definition of being an adjutant, i.e. a soldier servant to a superior officer, in his case to Hitler.
• Nice Guy: Generally friendly and helpful, especially to Traudl and Gerda.
• One Head Taller: Compared to everybody else, but especially Hitler.
• Perma-Stubble: Clean-shaven for most of the film, Gunsche rapidly grows one when he leaves the comfort of the bunker with Mohnke's breakout group.
• Punch-Clock Villain: Isn’t shown to be Ax-Crazy or a passionate Nazi like many of the other bunker inhabitants. In Real Life he was never found guilty of war crimes besides simply serving on the front lines, which was naturally expected of him.
• The Quiet One: Despite being in the background in several bunker scenes, he says very little.
• The Reliable One: Doesn’t stand out much, but is often present, silently waiting for orders in the background, and in the end is trusted with the important task of destroying Hitler’s body after his suicide.
• The Stoic: Even when Hitler is flipping out in front of him, he doesn't show much emotion.
• Undying Loyalty: Among those who stay with Hitler till the end. Near the end he joins in the Mohnke's group of survivors, and when the group votes for what to do Günsche is among those who vote for dying before dishonor. Yet when the surrender is declared he declines to committing suicide.

Ernst-Robert Grawitz

SS-Obergruppenführer Ernst-Robert Grawitz

Portrayed by: Christian Hoening

"My... family... If the Russians find me here... I have to leave!"

An SS general and a physician in Hitler's bunker. Up until then Ernst-Robert Grawitz served as Secretary-General of the German Red Cross and a leading figure in the mass euthanasia of homosexuals, mentally disabled and physically impaired in the concentration camps, reporting directly to Himmler. When his request to leave the bunker was denied by Hitler, Grawitz committed suicide along with his family using hand grenades on April 24, 1945.

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• Dirty Coward: His desire to leave Berlin is primarily due to fear of being captured, since he was heavily involved with the Holocaust. When Hitler denies him to leave out of spite towards Grawitz's boss, Himmler, Grawitz didn't disobey the order. Instead, he decides to kill himself along with his wife and children rather than face justice for his crimes.
• Driven to Suicide: Unable to get Hitler's permission to leave Berlin, Grawitz commits suicide by blowing up himself and his family with hand grenades.
• Face Death with Dignity: Subverted. Grawitz puts on his Sunday's best, has his last supper, and calmly awaits his death as he pulls the pins of his grenades. But it's only because he's more afraid of the fate that would await him if he's captured and he takes his family with him to the grave.
• Fat Bastard: He's a portly, nervous coward who kills his family in a murder-suicide act. He's also responsible for many inhumane experiments in the name of "medical research" during the Holocaust.
• Herr Doktor: He's the head of the German Red Cross, and a doctor who experiments on human prisoners for his research.
• Historical Ugliness Update: Unlike his real-life counterpart, who is slim and even handsome-looking, Grawitz is depicted to be overweight and more plain-looking.
• Historical Villain Downgrade: The film doesn't elaborate on why Grawitz is so fearful of being captured by the Russians. In real-life, Grawitz was responsible for killing homosexuals, mentally disabled and physically impaired in his research to "cure homosexuality", not to mention using prisoners as "human guinea pigs" for other inhumane experiments. In fact, Grawitz knew all too well that his crimes would lead to nothing less than a death sentence and if a miracle struck, a life sentence. The only thing that alludes to his crimes is Hitler exclaiming that Grawitz did nothing wrong and that his medical research will be useful for future generations to come.
• Nervous Wreck: He really wants to leave Berlin but is such a nervous wreck that he couldn't push back Hitler's delusional praises or Hitler's attention to Günsche.
• Pater Familicide: Decides to do this to himself and his family with grenades during an otherwise quiet dinner since Hitler refused to let him flee Berlin. His children have no idea.
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Most Nazis would either bite on a cyanide pill and/or shoot themselves to commit suicide (with the rare bonus of being burned by gasoline). Grawitz decides to commit suicide with two grenades in his hands, while wearing his Sunday's best uniform in a dinner with his family.

Werner Haase

SS-Obersturmbannführer Werner Haase

Portrayed by: Matthias Habich

"Go. You've done a great deal."

An SS lieutenant colonel and Hitler's deputy personal physician. He worked with Ernst-Günther Schenck in the casualty station of the Reich Chancellery building. Haase was summoned to the bunker to advise Hitler on the best way to commit suicide and test the cyanide pills on his dog Blondi. Following that, he returned to work at the casualty station before being captured by the Red Army. He died in Soviet captivity from tuberculosis in 1950.

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• Herr Doktor: He is one of Hitler's personal doctors, and the one who explains the best method for suicide. He was actually more experienced than Schenck (an internist) but his debilitating cough and tuberculosis forced Schenck to lead most of the medical operations.
• I Choose to Stay: He declines to leave with Schenck so that he can continue treating the wounded.
• Shoot the Dog: He helps administer a cyanide capsule to euthanize Blondi.
• Worst Aid: With medical supplies running out, Haase has to amputate limbs without giving the patients anesthesia.
• Your Days Are Numbered: Late in the film, he has developed a nasty cough when Hitler summons him. The epilogue erroneously states that he died in 1945, when he actually died five years later.

Erich Kempka

SS-Obersturmbannführer Erich Kempka

Portrayed by: Jürgen Tonkel

"Are you crazy?! For that damned petrol of yours..."

An SS lieutenant colonel and Hitler's personal chauffeur from 1934 to 1945. He was Gerda Christian's first husband before they divorced in 1943. On Gunsche's orders, Kempka provided the gasoline used to burn the corpses of Hitler and Eva Braun much to the latter's annoyance. He would later testify at the Nuremberg trials and be found innocent of war crimes, dying two decades later on January 24, 1975.

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• The Driver: Is Adolf Hitler's personal chauffeur, responsible for transporting him to his many field headquarters, political rallies and public events.

Ludwig Stumpfegger

SS-Obersturmbannführer Ludwig Stumpfegger

Portrayed by: Thorsten Krohn

"It's bitter, but it's good for you."

An SS lieutenant colonel and Adolf Hitler's personal surgeon. Prior to his transfer to the Führer's staff Stumpfegger had been serving as adjutant to Professor Karl Gebhardt in Hohenlychen Sanatorium and experimented on the bodies of women from the Ravensbrück concentration camp. He was complicit in killing the Goebbels children, preparing the sedative to put them to sleep for ingesting cyanide later. Stumpfegger was part of a breakout group that included Martin Bormann and Artur Axmann, the latter of whom was the only survivor of the attempt. His remains along with Bormann's were found almost thirty years later under a train station.

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• Herr Doktor: A surgeon who knows how to make a sedative drink. He also has a small laboratory with flasks and variety of chemicals. Stumpfegger replaces Hitler's long-time physician Theodor Morell because Hitler feared Morell would drug him on behalf of his subordinates and forcibly escort him away from Berlin to safety at the Obersalzburg.
• Historical Villain Downgrade: By several accounts, Stumpfegger was the one who administered the cyanide to the Goebbels children rather than their mother.
• Killed Offscreen: He is last shown attempting to flee the bunker, and the end credits confirm that he was killed in the escape.
• Would Hurt a Child: He mixes a sedative to put the Goebbels children to sleep so that Magda can kill them with cyanide capsules later.

Peter Högl

SS-Obersturmbannführer Peter Högl

Portrayed by: Igor Romanov

"Gruppenführer, you're under arrest."

Johann Rattenhuber's deputy in the Reichssicherheitsdienst (Reich Security Service) and head of RSD Department 1, the unit responsible for Hitler's day to day protection^note While the RSD technically held responsibility for guarding all high-ranking Nazi Party personnel, vague boundaries caused friction with the Führerbegleitkommando, the unit that provided close, personal security for Hitler.. He hunts down and executes Fegelein after it is realized that he has abandoned the bunker.

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• Killed Offscreen: Högl was killed during the attempted breakout.
• Number Two: To Johann Rattenhuber, head of the RSD and the SS officer in charge of the security of all high-ranking Nazi personnel.
• You Have Failed Me: He personally executes Fegelein for desertion with a machine gun. In Real Life it remains unclear if he actually had a part to play in the execution.

Franz Schädle

SS-Obersturmbannführer Franz Schädle

Portrayed by: Igor Bubenchikov

"Sorry, I'm not going anywhere."

The commander of Hitler's personal bodyguard unit, the Führerbegleitkommando. He was personally chosen by Sepp Dietrich to be among the unit's first recruits. He was wounded in the leg by shrapnel on April 28 and required a crutch to walk thereafter. He refused to leave the bunker and committed suicide by self-inflicted gunshot as he knew his wounds would slow the break-out group down.

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• Ate His Gun: Schädle has one of the few on-screen suicides, and by far the most gruesome. Mohnke asks him to come along, to which Schädle apologizes and says he's not going anywhere. He then puts a Walther PPK in his mouth and pulls the trigger, leaving a large bloodstain on the wall.
• The Dragon: To SS-Gruppenführer Johann Rattenhuber, head of the Reichssicherheitsdienst (RSD) which was the overall bodyguard unit for all high-ranking Nazi Party members. Despite being present in the bunker in real life, Rattenhuber did not appear in the film.
• Driven to Suicide: Like many SS officers, he cannot live with Germany being defeated.
• I Will Only Slow You Down: Another likely reason for his suicide is that his leg was wounded by shrapnel. Even if he wants to, his crippled leg would only slow down Mohnke's group.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: He only appears when he kills himself.

Rochus Misch

SS-Oberscharführer Rochus Misch

Portrayed by: Heinrich Schmieder

"Marshal Zhukov?!"

An SS sergeant of the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler who was later transferred to the Führerbegleitkommando as Hitler's bodyguard after being badly wounded during the invasion of Poland. By 1945, he served as the bunker's radio operator, handling all direct communications going in and out of the bunker. He was the longest surviving member of the bunker staff, dying in 2013 long after this film was made.

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• Communications Officer: He is the bunker's only link to the outside world.
• Driven to Suicide: Subverted. When Goebbels goes to kill himself, Misch is shown staring intently at his own pistol. He lived to 2013. The fact that Goebbels released him from his service may have convinced him to live.
• Last of His Kind: At the time of the film's release, he was one of the two characters (the other being Erna Flegel) in the film to still be alive (and not surprisingly, he saw the movie). He would go on to be the very last survivor till his death in 2013, outliving Flegel, who died in 2006, and even his actor, Heinrich Schmieder, who died in 2010.
• Nazi Grandpa: In a 2005 interview, 87 year-old Misch considered Downfall to be an "Americanized" film inaccurate to what really happened in the bunker. In that same interview, he's revealed to be still a Nazi, openly denying Hitler's involvement with the Holocaust, and showcasing an antisemitic attitude regarding Israel. His daughter, Brigitta, an architect who supported Jewish causes, was disappointed by her father's lack of remorse.
• Oh, Crap!: He reads the Göring telegram as it's being printed and his eyes widen as he grasps what it means.
• The Quiet One: He only says one line in the entire film, responding to an order to contact Marshal Zhukov by repeating the name incredulously. He gets another line in the extended cut, when he tells Traudl to give the recently-received Göring telegram to Bormann.

Battle for Berlin

Prominent characters

Ernst-Günther Schenck

SS-Obersturmbannführer Ernst-Günther Schenck

Portrayed by: Christian Berkel

"As the department head, I answer to the SS and to Himmler! But as a doctor I belong to the Wehrmacht, and we are still here!"

Offices held: Inspector of Nutrition of the SS (1940-1945)
Highest award: Iron Cross 2nd Class

A German doctor and SS lieutenant colonel. As one of the more honorable characters of the movie, he left a comfortable desk job to participate on the Soviet front to earn his own chips the hard way, performing well enough to earn the Iron Cross 2nd Class. During Hitler's last days he volunteered to work as a doctor in the casualty station of the Reich Chancellery. He was captured then subsequently released by the Soviets, and later told his story to American historian James O'Donnell. He died peacefully on December 21, 1998.

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• Can't Hold His Liquor: Implied when he excuses himself from a drinking party Krebs is hosting, stating that he's 'not used to drinking anymore'.
• Herr Doktor: He's German and a doctor.
• Historical Hero Upgrade: Schenck is portrayed as the most heroic character in the film, conveniently glossing over his Real Life involvement in human experimentation that claimed 370 concentration camp detainees. The director justifies this by claiming it's a case of Shown Their Work instead: according to him, the accusations against Schenck aren't particularly believable.
• Honor Before Reason: Wants to help the civilians even when it puts himself into immediate danger, and when it’s against the orders.
• The Medic: Served as a combat medic for most of his career, and he's later seen treating casualties in a bunker.
• Only Sane Man: He is perhaps the only man who sees suicide to be foolish when they have so much to live for and that Hitler's death renders their oaths to the Führer null and void.
  Hewel: "Why do you want so much to live?"
  Schenck: "Why do you want so much to die?"
• Punch-Clock Villain: Literally an SS Colonel, but he seems to be a decent person aside from that.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Disobeys orders at several points, but to little real effect.
• Talking Down the Suicidal: He attempts to do this with Stehr and Hewel, arguing that Germany will need young men to rebuild and that his suicide won't help anyone, respectively. Unfortunately, both are too far gone to reconsider.

Wilhelm Mohnke

SS-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS Wilhelm Mohnke, Commandant for the Defense of the Berlin Government Sector

Portrayed by: André Hennicke

"My Führer, if there's a battle in Berlin, we'll fight to the last man."

Commands held: 5th Company, 2nd Battalion, Infantry Regiment Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (1940), 2nd Battalion, Infantry Regiment Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (1940-1941, 1942), 26th SS Panzergrenadier Regiment (1943-1944), 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (1944-1945), Commandant for the Defense of the Berlin Government Sector (1945)
Highest award: Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

A major general of the Waffen-SS and one of the original 120 members of the paramilitary organization during its inception in 1933. He came to the attention of the Nazi leadership for the way he performed his duties in France during the opening days of World War II,^note  This included the mass murder of British prisoners of war who were shoved into a barn and machine-gunned to death. Mohnke refused to take prisoners as this would only slow up his advance. he was eventually transferred into Berlin to personally lead the defense of the government sector. After the war's end he was imprisoned by the Soviets for a decade before returning to Germany, where he spent the rest of his life as a truck dealer until his death on August 6, 2001.

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• Affably Evil: The fact he is concerned about the lives of civilians and soldiers while his bosses couldn't care less almost makes you forget that he's a Waffen-SS general loyal to Hitler.
• Even Evil Has Standards: He is a veteran member of the SS and has partaken in many war crimes, but he has morals that his higher ups would never understand:
  • While he's willing to fight to the last man in Berlin, he asks Hitler to take into consideration of the 3 million civilians that need to be evacuated from the city. Hitler predictably dismisses it.
  • He finds Goebbels' usage of the Volkssturm volunteers as mere Cannon Fodder to be senseless and is horrified that Goebbels doesn't care.
• A Father to His Men: He stages a breakout on the night before Weidling passes authority of Berlin to the Soviets because he knows that his soldiers would become prisoners of war to the Red Army if they remain in the city. And he does everything he can to ensure that soldiers and civilians survive during the breakout.
• Frontline General: Like Weidling, he's shown at an observation post overlooking an intersection that's being fought over and witnessing the poorly-equipped Volkssturm dying senselessly.
• Historical Hero Upgrade: As with Schenck, some critics accuse the film of portraying him in too heroic light while forgetting his war crimes; again the director answers he doesn't believe in the accusations.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: Failing to break through the Soviet encirclement and unable to find the will to commit suicide, Mohnke decides to simply wait and let the Red Army take him and his men into custody.
• Noble Demon: His actor sees Mohnke as just another fanatical Nazi overall, but he nevertheless portrays him as a Nazi who did care about the civilians and fellow soldiers.
• Only Sane Man: Of the same kind as Weidling. In the end, when many others commit suicide, he leads the surviving bunker members to attempt to break through the encircling Soviet troops.
• Pragmatic Villainy: He tries to persuade Goebbels that sending the Volkssturm to their deaths is not even useful as a military tactic, since they have no proper weapons or even good combat experience to be efficient Cannon Fodder. Goebbels rebukes him, all but stating that the real reason he's sending Volkssturm to the frontlines is to punish them for putting the Nazis in power.
• Punch-Clock Villain: While he did commit war crimes, he was a military leader who had no part in the Nazi genocides.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Goebbels keeps sending him unarmed Child Soldiers. He tries to stop it.
• Senseless Sacrifice: Is against using the Volkssturm volunteers for this reason.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: He tries to lead a group of soldiers and civilians to break out of Berlin the night before Weidling officially gives control of the city to the Soviets. By morning, he realizes that the Soviets have surrounded the outskirts and there's no hope of escape for him or his men as they are all prominent Nazi officials.
• The Stoic: The most stoic of them all. Doesn't as much as flinch when Goebbels shouts at his face he doesn't care about the dying Child Soldiers.
• Undying Loyalty: Played with. During the movie he plays the role of a Only Sane Man who's concerned about saving lives from the Senseless Sacrifice that the Battle for Berlin is. Near the end he leads a group of survivors, who argue about what to do. A vote is called, and Mohnke votes for dying. Yet when the surrender is announced, he doesn't commit suicide.

Helmuth Weidling

General der Artillerie Helmuth Otto Ludwig Weidling, Commander of the Berlin Defence Area

Portrayed by: Michael Mendl

"I really should be with my troops. Are you certain the Führer still needs to see me?"

Commands held: 56th Artillery Regiment (1938-1940), XXXX Panzer Corps (1940-1942), 86th Infantry Division (1942-1943), XXXXI Panzer Corps (1943-1945), LVI Panzer Corps (1945), Berlin Defence Area (1945)
Highest award: Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords

A general of the artillery in the German Army and the one leading Berlin's Last Stand against the Red Army, replacing Lieutenant General Ernst Kaether. Having led the Nazis to the front lines of the Soviet front, he and his LVI Panzer Corps committed numerous war crimes, crimes for which he was tried for and imprisoned in the Soviet Union. He broke the news of Germany's surrender in Berlin and was forced to keep mum about Hitler's suicide to all Soviets save Joseph Stalin himself. He died in exile in Soviet Russia on November 17, 1955.

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• Armchair Military: Averted, his command post is only one kilometer from the frontlines. He does not appreciate being accused of cowardice by the higher-ups that are sitting around comfortably in the bunker.
• Armor-Piercing Question: After Hitler leaves the war meeting room, Weidling asks Krebs if Wenck could turn the tide of the battle. This leads to an explosive argument amongst the bunker generals and Goebbels, inadvertently revealing that they knew that the war was lost but they would never surrender out of pride.
• Ash Face: Weidling's face is perpetually covered in black ash from being subject to gunfire explosions on the frontlines, in stark contrast to the other generals in the bunker when he is summoned there.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: He protests his case with Hitler to avoid being executed. Nice job with that, you're now in charge of defending Berlin in a hopeless fight.
• Brutal Honesty: He admonishes the other generals for not telling Hitler that Wenck's army cannot save him. After Hitler's suicide, Weidling wastes no time portraying his now-deceased Führer as a coward to the battle-weary survivors of Berlin.
• Desk Jockey: He becomes this once promoted as commander of Berlin, much to his dismay as he prefers to be on the frontlines with his troops.
• Face Death with Dignity: He reports to the bunker with the full expectation that he'll be executed, but keeps his composure.
• Fate Worse than Death: He would rather get shot by Hitler than be in charge of defending Berlin from the inevitable Soviet invasion.
• A Father to His Men: He spends most of his time at the battlefield leading his troops and hates having to deal with a madman who cares more about imaginary last-minute comebacks than actual people dying. Once Hitler is dead, Weidling demands an immediate ceasefire and surrender for the sake of the civilians and soldiers.
• Frontline General: Or at least less than a kilometer away from the frontlines, which is more than what can be said about the other generals in the bunker. The reason he couldn't be any closer is because the Soviet artillery would reduce his command post into rubble.
• Four-Star Badass: He shuts up Krebs and Burgdorf by showing his Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords^note This is more important than it sounds. Military decorations at the time, even more than today, were seen as a direct measure of the soldier wearing them. Weidling's Knight's Cross was two grades higher than Burgdorf's (the base Knight's Cross) and one grade higher than Krebs' (with Oak Leaves). , warning them to watch their tone when accusing him of cowardice.
• Heroic BSoD: Collapses after commanding the remaining German soldiers to surrender.
• Historical Hero Upgrade: Zig-Zagged. Despite his portrayal as an honorable General (see below under Punch-Clock Villain), Weidling (like most high ranking commanders on the Eastern Front) was responsible for multiple war crimes, including mass executions of civilians and gathering sick people in "typhus" camps were most of them died. He did not deny the crimes for which he was responsible and was convicted to 25 years imprisonment by the Soviets. However, he was also completely against using Hitler Youth members to aid in Berlin's defense, even going so far as to personally confront several groups of them and have their weapons confiscated before ordering them to just go home.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: After finishing Berlin's surrender proclamation, he asks for a glass of water before fainting.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: He's the one that finally surrenders to Zhukov, knowing that enough is enough.
• My Country, Right or Wrong: He really doesn't like dealing with Hitler and his cronies, seeing them as insane or just plain stupid, but he's willing to defend Berlin and its people against the Soviets until Hitler commits suicide.
• Not So Stoic: Weidling is a rock throughout the whole film, spending days at the frontline under artillery bombardment, calmly reporting to the Führer to argue against his own execution (successfully), daring to tell the other generals that it's madness to keep fighting, and finally recording the radio announcement of Germany's surrender and his order for its troops to stand down. But as soon as the tape recorder clicks off, he can barely get out a request for a glass of water, before collapsing to the floor in a dead faint.
• Oh, Crap!: He is in the middle of arguing with command, who think he's ordered a retreat, when an artillery shell cuts his phone line. He then reports to the bunker to personally explain the situation.
• Only Sane Man: He is the only general who suggests surrender as an option, if only to save the civilians. And he's not happy to learn that none of Hitler's military advisors even dare tell the truth in front of their Führer's face. After Hitler dies, he calls for Berlin to cease fire and explicitly spells out that Hitler had abandoned them.
• Old Soldier: Visibly one of the oldest senior staff and he leads his troops by example.
• Perma-Stubble: One of the earliest examples in the movie since he's too busy commanding troops to shave. This is thrown into sharp relief with all the black ash on his face.
• Punch-Clock Villain: Fights for his country and people, not Hitler or the Nazi ideology. He’s also considerably more worried about the wellbeing of civilians and his men than Hitler and the top dogs.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: He's willing to defend his case of "apparent" retreat to his higher-ups and even though he sees defending Berlin as a doomed predicament, he nevertheless does his best to reduce the amount of pointless casualties.
• Refuge in Audacity: Being accused of treason for "retreating" would have incentivized any other general to surrender to the enemy to avoid execution from their home country. Weidling's response is to simply march to the Führerbunker and make his case directly to Hitler himself. Though he expects execution, his boldness impresses Hitler enough to spare the general... so he can command the last line of defense in Berlin.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After enduring a surreal war council with Hitler, who insists that surrender is out of the question because General Wenck will launch the counter-attack that Steiner should have, Weidling endures an even more surreal conversation with the remaining generals, who admit that Wenck has no forces with which to confront the Russians, but nevertheless Hitler's order not to surrender must be obeyed. When Burgdorf explodes that he refuses to repeat the humiliation of Germany's surrender after World War I, Weidling says he needs to leave the room, and Mohnke follows him out.
• The Stoic: Keeps a stoic persona all the time while being in charge of a hellish last stand against the Soviets (not to mention being bossed around by his lunatic superiors).
• Tactical Withdrawal: He insists to his superiors that he never moved his command post back, but his men privately believe that retreat is not such a bad idea despite the Nazi belief that retreat is a cowardly and disgraceful act.
• Tranquil Fury: He doesn't lash out at Burgdorf and Krebs for calling him a coward but he does show his medal to remind them of who they're talking to.
• You Are in Command Now: Hitler appoints him to be in charge of Berlin's defenses, essentially replacing Kaether. He’s not happy about it.

Peter Kranz

Hitlerjunge Peter Kranz

Portrayed by: Donevan Gunia

A fictional character and a child soldier who gleefully serves the Hitler Youth during the last days of Hitler. His role is primarily to serve as the face of the suffering German citizenry.

The character is clearly inspired by a picture of Hitler shaking hands with child soldiers◊ in last days before Berlin's fall.

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• Action Survivor: He's Just a Kid and is really not that good a soldier... but he survives the Battle of Berlin.
• Allegorical Character: Peter is an amalgamation of the child soldiers who defended Berlin from the Soviets.
• Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Is ashamed of his World War I veteran father, who tries to order him and his Nazi Youth friends to give up fighting or even employ a modicum of sense in defending their position, as their cause is lost, and more importantly because they’re just kids who can’t do any real good in a battle.
• Bittersweet Ending: Survives the war, but his parents and friends are dead.
• Break the Cutie: The poor kid. He's turned into a soldier for a cause he doesn't really understand and basically forced at gunpoint into a Hopeless War. And when he realizes the gravity of his situation and tries to desert, he finds that his family has been murdered by a Nazi fanatic.
• Child Soldier: He's forced to fight because there is no one else to defend Berlin; all the actual soldiers have been captured or killed. He doesn't realize until it's too late that the Hitler Youth fighting means that Germany's military is in tatters and they simply cannot realistically defend themselves from the Allies any more. He's not defending his country- his country is throwing him at the enemy out of spite before their inevitable total loss.
• Dad the Veteran: His father is one.
• Harmful to Minors: He’s not having a very normal childhood.
• Heartwarming Orphan: Becomes this for Traudl.
• Just a Kid: Subverted. He comes to realize he really is just a kid who has no place in battle, and runs back home to parents... only to find them murdered.
• A Million Is a Statistic: Peter’s function as a character is to give a face and a name to the civilian suffering so much discussed by those in the command. In the grand scheme of things, he's pretty much a generic Hitler Youth member who really doesn't know what he's getting into.
• My God, What Have I Done?: In the extended cut, he's suddenly cornered by a Russian soldier, who says he won't fight a child. Peter shoots him and is so horrified that he runs away.
• Riding into the Sunset: Cycling into the blooming springtime countryside with Traudl.

Military personnel

Karl Koller

General der Flieger Karl Koller, Chief of the Air Force General Staff

Portrayed by: Hans H. Steinberg

"That's not long-ranged artillery fire. According to the Zoo Flak Bunker, the shells have a caliber of approximately 10 to 12cm. The Russian battery is now in Marzahn."

Staff positions held: Chief of Staff, Luftflotte 3 (1940-1941), Chief of the Luftwaffe Operations Staff (1943), Chief of the Luftwaffe General Staff (1944-1945)
Highest award: Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

A Luftwaffe general of the aviators and Chief of the Air Force General Staff. Koller was a World War I veteran and a famously cool-headed staff officer, a reason he was brought on to replace Werner Kriepe as chief of the OKL General Staff^note Hitler had intended to replace the increasingly useless Göring as Luftwaffe supreme commander with Robert Ritter von Greim instead, but he refused. As you can see here, this was not the last time.. He failed to reform the Luftwaffe however, and at war's end was captured by American forces alongside Hermann Göring. Released in 1947, he retired to write his memoirs and died on December 22, 1951.

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• Adapted Out: The film cuts out his involvement with the Göring telegram, from Hitler musing to Koller that Göring should negotiate with the Allies to Göring mentioning Koller in his opening statement of his telegram, likely for story pacing reason.
• Armchair Military: Hitler asks Koller if he is aware that artillery is being fired on Berlin. Koller replies that he is not, as he's in Werder.
• Bearer of Bad News: As artillery begins falling on Berlin, Koller receives a report that a Soviet battery was sighted in Marzahn, only 12km from the city center. Hitler replies that the entire Luftwaffe Command should be hanged.
• Number Two: Procedurally Göring's second-in-command, though the deliberately warped chain of command in the Wehrmacht and collapse of the war effort allows Koller direct access to Hitler as seen at the start where he phones the Führerbunker.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: The film does not mention it, but Koller was responsible for the Göring telegram. After his outburst about Steiner, Hitler remarked that Göring would probably be in a better position to negotiate with the Allies. Koller then flew to the Obersalzburg to inform Göring personally, leading to the telegram asking if he could assume leadership of the crumbling Third Reich.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: He is visible during the first strategy conference, but disappears when Mohnke shows up. In a filmed but unused scene, Hitler orders him to leave to organize the fighter defenses over Northern Germany.

Robert Ritter von Greim

General der Flieger/Generalfeldmarschall Robert Ritter von Greim, Supreme Commander of the Air Force

Portrayed by: Dietrich Hollinderbäumer

"I had no idea that we still have so many troops available."

Staff positions held: Head of the Luftwaffe Research Department (1938-1939)
Commands held: Jagdgeschwader 132 (1938-1939), V Fliegerkorps (1939-1942), Luftwaffenkommando East (1942-1943), Luftflotte 6 (1943-1945), Supreme Commander of the Luftwaffe (1945)
Highest award: Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords

A Luftwaffe general of the aviators and World War I flying ace who was an early member of the Nazi Party. He commanded air fleets in Poland and Russia, including the V Fliegerkorps and Luftflotte 6. On April 26, he was summoned to Hitler’s bunker to take command of the Luftwaffe and later sent to Plön to hunt for turncoat Heinrich Himmler. His tenure as commander-in-chief lasted for only a few days before he was captured in Austria, culminating in suicide on May 24, 1945.

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• Driven to Suicide: He kills himself while in American custody.
• May–December Romance: With Hanna Reitsch, who is 33 to his 52.
• Non-Promotion: He gets promoted by Hitler to be the new commander of the Luftwaffe, which is nothing more than a title by this point that the real-life von Greim would lament.
  Ritter von Greim: "I am the head of the Luftwaffe, but I have no Luftwaffe."
• Put on a Bus: Just as quickly as he arrived, von Greim immediately leaves Berlin for Plön to hunt down Himmler.
• Rank Up: He's promoted by Hitler to field marshal, the last German officer to achieve that rank (possibly in history, as the rank was abolished after World War 2).
• Undying Loyalty: He reports to Hitler in person even when the city is being invaded by the Russians and all ways in and out are blocked. When Hitler appoints him Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe, and promotes him to Field Marshal, von Greim declares that he will not fail him.
• You Are in Command Now: After kicking Göring out of the party, Hitler promotes Ritter von Greim to command the Luftwaffe, even though it was completely defunct by that point.

Hanna Reitsch

Hanna Reitsch

Portrayed by: Anna Thalbach

"My Führer, Lord von Greim and I have decided to die with you here."

An aviator and test pilot, as well as Ritter von Greim's mistress. After he is ordered to report to the bunker, Reitsch is able to fly them both into the middle of the besieged city. After the war (and her beloved's suicide), she took up gliding again and became world champion in the 1955 World Gliding Championship. Her friendship with then Ghanaian president Kwame Nkrumah changed her views on race and attitude towards Nazi antisemitism positively. She died of a heart attack on August 24, 1979.

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• Ace Pilot: Hanna Reitsch was a famous test pilot who set multiple records, including being the first woman to cross the Alps in a glider. With no way in or out of Berlin by land, Reitsch flies herself and von Greim in a Fieseler Fi 156 Storch and lands on the East-West Axis (today the Straße des 17. Juni) amid heavy fire. She later takes off in the same conditions and gets both of them out.
• May–December Romance: Her lover, von Greim, is 19 years her senior.
• Put on a Bus: Being a skilled aviator and with von Greim too wounded to fly, she is ordered by Hitler to leave Berlin and fly to Plön Platz to track down Himmler.
• Sole Survivor: It's not mentioned in the film, but Reitsch was the only member of her family to survive the war. Her family had taken refuge in Salzburg, but after hearing a rumor that civilians would be forced to return to Soviet-occupied territory^note Specifically she was a native of Hirschberg, in Silesia, one of the Eastern German territories annexed to Poland and whose German population was expelled, her father killed her mother, her sister and her sister's children, and himself.
• Undying Loyalty: She wants to remain by Hitler's side and die with him, but he tells her to leave to help Dönitz plan a counterattack.

Inge Dombrowski

Hitlerjunge Inge Dombrowski

Portrayed by: Yelena Zelenskaya

A member of the Hitler Youth who mans a flak gun with Peter.

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• Better to Die than Be Killed: As their position is overrun, she gives a gun to her lieutenant and tells him to shoot her to spare her the horror of being raped.
• Braids of Action: She has her hair in two long braids.
• Child Soldier: She was around 18 years old when she was conscripted into the warfront.
• Defiant to the End: While the rest of her Hitler Youth squad abandon their posts as the Red Army advances, Inge remains at her post along with her HJ lieutenant.
• Dying as Yourself: She is giving a proud Nazi Party salute as she is shot.
• Dies Wide Open: Later her corpse is seen with her eyes open.
• Historical Domain Character: Surprisingly, she is not an Allegorical Character like her fellow Hitler Youth Peter Kranz. According to Joachim Fest's book Inside Hitler's Bunker, she was a real Hitler Youth member who was shot by her lieutenant at her request to avoid being raped by the Red Army.
• Undying Loyalty: Wilhelm tries to convince them that they won't be able to hold their position for more than five minutes, but Inge responds that they swore an oath to the Führer.

Peter's Oberleutnant

Oberleutnant

Portrayed by: Enno Hesse

A young Luftwaffe lieutenant who commands Peter's defense post.

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• Allegorical Character: He is representative of the Hitler Youth members who had just barely reached fighting age, but hadn't seen combat by the time the war came to Germany.
• Driven to Suicide: After Inge convinces him to shoot her, in order to spare her a horrible fate at the hands of the Red Army, he becomes overwhelmed with grief before putting his gun to his head.
• Ensign Newbie: Wilhelm notes how young he is and asks which front he fought on. He replies that he hasn't yet. It really shows when he says that they'll fight back using a repurposed Russian anti-air cannon as artillery, when the Soviets are coming with several armies equipped with tanks and heavy artillery.
• No Name Given: He is one of the few characters, real or fictional, who isn't named.

Elderly Soldier

Elderly Soldier

Portrayed by: Konstantin Lukashov

An elderly soldier who fights alongside Peter in a trench.

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• Allegorical Character: As the war progressed, the Nazis progressively allowed older men to be conscripted into the Wehrmacht. He represents the older soldiers who willingly accepted the call to arms, unlike members of the Volkssturm who were forcibly drafted.
• No Name Given: Like Peter's Oberleutnant, he isn't named.
• Old Soldier: It's even what he's credited as. His age and experience shows when Peter tries to charge at an incoming T-34 tank. He holds him back, saying it's too far away.
• Pretty Little Headshots: After Peter gets out to charge at the tank, a bullet penetrates his helmet and a stream of blood pours down his face. Peter is horrified when he sees this.
• Sergeant Rock: He keeps Peter from charging at a T-34 when it's too far away. When Peter charges out anyway, he reaches out to try to get him back. He is then shot.

SS personnel

Tellermann

SS-Obergruppenführer Tellermann

Portrayed by: Veit Stübner

"The professor can stay in Berlin! Give him an authorized permit!"

An SS general from the SS Main Office and head of Operation Clausewitz in Schenck's area of operations.

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• Allegorical Character: Tellerman is one of the few fictional characters in the film, representing the cowardly actions of the SS attempting cover up their involvement in the Holocaust and other war crimes.
• Bad Boss: Doesn't seem to care about the soldiers left in Berlin after all government personnel evacuate, even though their food supply will collapse. He even brushes off that a good soldier will always find something to eat.
• Evil Wears Black: Unlike the other SS officers in the film, Tellermann wears a black uniform which is odd because the black SS uniform was mostly retired in 1942 in favour of the newer gray (feldgrau) colour. It doesn't change the fact that he's an unrepentant Nazi willing to abandon civilians and dismantle the Berlin administration on behalf of the Führer.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After begrudgingly allowing Schenck to remain in Berlin, he leaves with his staff.

Max Müller

SS-Hauptsturmführer Max Müller

Portrayed by: Mikhail Tryasorukov

"What do you think, Colonel? Where do we go?"

An SS captain and Schenck's adjutant.

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• Historical Domain Character: He is mentioned in James P. O'Donnell's book The Bunker, which included an interview with Schenck.
• Pretty Little Headshots: He is shot in the head while trying to get Gerda to duck during a firefight.
• Undying Loyalty: Even as the SS flees Berlin, Müller remains by Schenck's side until the end.

Stehr

SS-Obersturmbannführer Stehr

Portrayed by: Fabian Busch

"We're SS officers. We can't outlive the Führer's death!"

An SS officer who joins up with Mohnke and Schenck during the final hours of the war. He briefly appears at the bunker a few days earlier to report to Hitler only to barge in on a drinking party.

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• Allegorical Character: Stehr is one of the few characters who is entirely fictional, representing a number of SS officers did end up killing themselves at the end of the war.
• Chest of Medals: For a man in his 20s he has a lot of decorations, including a German Cross in Gold. Eva praises him for acquiring so many at such a young age.
• Driven to Suicide: He says that they should keep fighting until their last round of ammunition, and then use that to blow their brains out. While many of the SS officers agree with the sentiment, when they learn that Berlin has been surrendered, only Hewel and Stehr kill themselves.
• Honor Before Reason: In the extended cut, Schenck attempts to talk sense into Stehr, saying that Germany will need young men like him to rebuild. But he's already made up his mind, and believes his family will be proud of him if he doesn't return because he fulfilled his oath to Hitler.
• Pretty Little Headshots: He cannot live with the end of the Third Reich, so he puts a gun to his head and pulls the trigger.
• Undying Loyalty: He makes the argument that, as officers of the Waffen-SS, their oath to Hitler doesn't end with his death.

The Red Army

Vasily Chuikov

Colonel General Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov, Commander of the Soviet 8th Guards Army

Portrayed by: Aleksandr Slastin

"Berlin must unconditionally surrender. All remaining combatants are to lay down their arms. We can talk after that."

Commands held: 4th Army (1939-1940), 9th Army (1940), 64th Army (1942), 62nd Army (1942-1943), 8th Guards Army (1943-1945), Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (1949-1953), Kiev military district (1953-1960)
Staff positions held: Chief Soviet military representative to the Republic of China (1940-1942), Commander-in-Chief, Soviet Ground Forces (1960-1964), Chief of the Civil Defense (1961-1972)
Highest award: Hero of the Soviet Union (2 times)

A colonel general in the Soviet Red Army and the highest-ranking Russian officer present in Berlin. He commanded several important formations during World War II including the Soviet 8th Guards Army (formerly the 62nd Army which bore much of the worst fighting at Stalingrad) which was the primary fighting force of the Red Army in Berlin. Chuikov was present when General Hans Krebs sought a negotiated surrender which he had no authority to grant and thus rejected anything but unconditional surrender. After the war, Chuikov would take over from Vasily Sokolovsky as commander-in-chief of Soviet occupying forces in Germany from 1949 to 1953 and eventually promoted to the nation's highest rank, Marshal of the Soviet Union. He passed away on March 18th, 1982.

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• Blatant Lies: In the extended cut, he tells Krebs that they already knew Hitler and his wife had killed themselves, even though he clearly didn't know about the suicide or even that Hitler had married.
• Chest of Medals: Downplayed. Chuikov isn't in full dress uniform which would more prominently display his many medals but his service uniform still has plenty of decorations. Most prominent of these are the two Hero of the Soviet Union medals hanging above his left breast pocket.
• Hero Antagonist: In a Villain Protagonist story, he's necessarily one. Chuikov, along with the other Red Army generals, has successfully driven away the Wehrmacht from the Soviet Union and they are finally making it to Berlin. Also, he was the hero of Stalingrad.
• Hero of Another Story: Chuikov commanded the 62nd Army at Stalingrad, countered the worst phase of the German offensive, and wrote much of the book on urban combat tactics that the Red Army is now using to hollow out Berlin.
• Oh, Crap!: In the extended cut, he provides one of the film's few moments of levity with this. He learns that the German delegation has already arrived and he goes into a panic because all of his generals are at the front. He immediately starts handing out medals to the two reporters and shoves Blanter into a wardrobe, while trying to make everything look legitimate.
• Tranquil Fury: He's staring daggers into Krebs' eyes when he bluntly insists nothing but unconditional surrender is amenable from Germany at this rate. As he points out, if the situation were reversed, the Germans would have laughed in their enemy's face and mercilessly wiped them out. The Soviets, brutal as they can be, at least aren't aiming for the wholesale destruction of the German people.
• You Have No Idea Who You're Dealing With: Krebs served as a military attache to the Russian embassy before the war, and as Chief of Staff of Army Group Centre on the Eastern Front, but he clearly has no idea that Chuikov commanded the 62nd Army at Stalingrad and saw firsthand exactly how far the Germans were willing to go for victory. If he had, he wouldn't have the temerity to suggest to Chuikov's face that a negotiated peace would "contribute to both our societies."

Konstantin Simonov and Yevgeniy Dolmatovsky

Lieutenant Colonel Konstantin Mikhailovich Simonov and Major Yevgeniy Aronovich Dolmatovsky

Portrayed by: Vsevolod Tsurilo (Dolmatovsky)

Simonov

Dolmatovsky

Two war correspondents from the army newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda sent to Berlin with General Chuikov. After the war, Simonov and Dolmatovsky went on to become a successful editor and poet respectively. Simonov died on August 28, 1979 and Dolmatovsky died on September 10, 1994.

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• Chest of Medals: Played for Laughs, and only in the extended cut. When Krebs arrives to negotiate earlier than expected, Chuikov hurriedly has the two men affix medals to their uniforms to make them look like general staff officers. The two are visibly befuddled by the suddenness of it all.
• Those Two Guys: They are a pair of army officers who aside from being one rank apart wear nearly identical brown uniforms and do nothing more than fill in the scene (aside from some comic relief in the extended cut).
• The Voiceless: All Simonov and Dolmatovsky do for their on-screen appearance is nod and agree with Chuikov as he speaks with Krebs. Justified since they mostly don't know what's going on and since they're not actually generals, saying anything would shatter the legitimacy of the negotations.

Matvey Blanter

Matvei Isaakovich Blanter

Portrayed by: Boris Schwarzmann

A Jewish composer who accompanies the Red Army to Berlin, Stalin having commissioned him to compose a symphony of the city's capture. He previously wrote light dance and jazz music before switching to Soviet propaganda songs, emerging as one of the USSR's best musical composers. He died in 1990.

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• All There in the Manual: He only appears in the extended cut.
• Butt-Monkey: Because he is not wearing a uniform when the Germans arrive, Chuikov shoves him into a wardrobe and tells him to be quiet. In real life, he fell out and fainted from lack of oxygen, much to the surprise of Krebs. This bit was also filmed, but did not make it into the extended cut.
• The Voiceless: He doesn't get to speak before he's shoved in the wardrobe.

Civilians

Wilhelm Kranz

Wilhelm Kranz

Portrayed by: Karl Kranzkowski

"Get out of here! Now! When the Russians come and you're still here, you will all die."

Peter's father, a veteran of World War I.

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• Allegorical Character: As the father of the fictional Peter Kranz, this is to be expected. He also represents the older generation that experienced the First World War and knew its true nature rather than the romanticized stories in Nazi propaganda.
• An Arm and a Leg: He lost his arm during World War I.
• Dad the Veteran: Wilhelm served in the First World War, and tries, in vain, to convince the Hitler Youth that their efforts to defend Berlin are futile.
• Make an Example of Them: He is eventually caught by Nazi fanatics, who proceed to hang him and shoot his wife in his house to serve as a warning to those unwilling to fight in the futile battle against the Soviets. Sadly, his death occurred just before Weidling announced a ceasefire with the Soviets.

Dorothee Kranz

Dorothee Kranz

Portrayed by: Ulrike Krumbiegel

Peter's mother.

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• Allegorical Character: Like her husband and her son, Dorothee is fictional, but helps provide a face to the civilian suffering.
• Dies Wide Open: Her eyes are wide open even as she lays in a puddle of her own blood.
• Good Parents: She recognizes that her son is a fanatic, but still cares for him.
• Together in Death: Both Dorothee and Wilhelm are killed by Henker's death squad.

Ilse Grawitz

Frau Ilse Grawitz

Portrayed by: Silke Nikowski

Ernst-Robert Grawitz's wife.

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• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: She notices something off about her husband when he comes to dinner and brushes off their son's question of why he is wearing his Sunday uniform. She does not catch on that he intends to kill them all.
• Together in Death: She dies with her three children after her husband pulls out the safety cords of two grenades, while they're having dinner.

Henker

Henker

Portrayed by: Oleg Khoroshilov

A fanatical Nazi supporter who executes civilian "deserters" unwilling to fight in the defense of Berlin.

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• Allegorical Character: He represents the most primal of Nazi supporters, who could not accept the end of the regime and killed those who refused to continue fighting for a cause that was already lost. On top of that, he is wearing a traditional feathered hat from Bavaria, which is where the Nazi movement began.
• Bald of Evil: Is as bald as Jodl and has no qualms about killing perceived disloyalists to the regime and helping soldiers kill Volkssturm 'deserters'.
• Fat Bastard: He is quite portly and roams the streets of Berlin finding anyone who refuses to fight.
• Karma Houdini: He kills Peter's parents, and who knows how many others, and literally walks off once the battle is over.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: If he didn't get captured by the Soviets, at least he would live to see the Third Reich collapsing anyway, and have his ideology utterly crushed by the Allies.
• Madness Mantra: "Order... order... order must be restored!"
• Make an Example of Them: His victims are hanged from street lamps with signs that say "I supported the Bolsheviks."
• Meaningful Name: Either this or Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep", depending on whether that is his actual surname or just a descriptive for the character, as "Henker" literally means "hangman" in German.
• Oktoberfest: He wears a Tyrolean hat.
• Public Execution: Anyone he comes across who is unwilling to keep fighting ends up hanging from a lamp post.

Mentioned characters

Wehrmacht personnel

Karl Dönitz

Großadmiral Karl Dönitz, Supreme Commander of the Navy

Commands held: Captain of the Emden (1934-1935), U-boat flotilla Weddigen (1935-1936), Commander of the U-boats (1936-1939), Supreme Commander of the U-boats (1939-1943), Supreme Commander of the Kriegsmarine (1943-1945), Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht (1945)
Offices held: President of the German Reich (1945), Reich Minister of War (1945)
Highest award: Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (military), Golden Nazi Party Badge (Party)

A Grand Admiral in the German Navy and head of the navy's U-boat arm until he succeeded Erich Raeder as Supreme Commander of the Navy in 1943, a position he held until the end of the war. Dönitz was a passionate supporter of National Socialism and insisted that officers in the navy share his views. As a result, Hitler elected Dönitz as his successor once Göring was dismissed. Several officers including Keitel are sent to his side throughout the movie. He was charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Nuremburg trials and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Following his release, he retired to write his memoirs and died of a heart attack on December 24, 1980.

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• Dragon Ascendant: Officially, he becomes Hitler's successor after Göring and Himmler were expelled for treason. And after the newly appointed Chancellor Goebbels commits suicide, he's the only real leader of Germany left to negotiate with the Allies.
• The Ghost: Like Steiner and Wenck, he is mentioned throughout the film but never shown due to being far away from Berlin.
• Unexpected Successor: While Göring and Himmler were often considered to be next in line as leader of Germany due to their government positions, their ambitions plus Hitler's paranoia caused them to fall out of favor with the Führer. Dönitz is appointed as Hitler's successor simply on the grounds he's loyal and not as high-profiled as his rivals.
• You Are in Command Now: Hitler appoints him as his direct successor to lead what remains of Germany as Reichspräsident (President of the Reich) rather than Führer.

Gerd von Rundstedt

Generalfeldmarschall Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt, former Commander-in-Chief West

Commands held: 3rd Division, Wehrkreis III (1932), Gruppenkommando 1 (1932-1938), Army Group South (1939), Army Group A (1939-1940), Commander-in-Chief West (1940-1941), Army Group South (1941), Commander-in-Chief West (1942-1944, 1944-1945)
Highest award: Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords

Gerd von Rundstedt is a veteran German officer who retired shortly before the Second World War but was recalled to lead troops invading Poland as commander of Army Group South and during Operation Barbarossa. He was one of the twelve generals that Hitler promoted to field marshal in 1940. Despite being retired by Hitler twice (the first for withdrawing troops in Rostov, and the second for defeatism on the Western Front), it never lasted long. Hitler retired him for the last time as commander-in-chief of German forces in the West for letting the Allies establish a bridgehead over the Rhine and replaced him with Field Marshal Albert Kesselring. Rundstedt was saved from being tried for war crimes due to poor health, and died of heart failure on October 4, 1952.

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• The Ghost: Rundstedt had been retired from the Wehrmacht a month before the Battle of Berlin. He is mentioned by Keitel in an aside about officers being dismissed for rebuking the Führer.
• Old Soldier: Is the oldest of Germany's field marshals, having been the most senior of the officer corps since 1938, when Field Marshal Blomberg was dismissed due to scandal. Rundstedt is pushing 70 by the time of his final dismissal. However, by the time of Barbarossa he is clearly past his prime, putting him into conflict with younger officers like Erwin Rommel.

Heinz Guderian

Generaloberst Heinz Wilhelm Guderian, former Chief of the Army General Staff

Commands held: XIX Army Corps (1939-1940), 2nd Panzer Army (1940-1941)
Staff positions held: Inspector General of Armoured Troops (1943-1944), Chief of the Army General Staff (acting, 1944-1945)
Highest award: Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves

Heinz Guderian was an early pioneer and self-declared "father" of the blitzkrieg, in essence the use of rapid tank warfare supported by motorized infantry and air support which fueled many of Nazi Germany's early victories in the war. From 1943 he was the one in charge of overseeing the Army's tank divisions. Dismissed twice for insubordination, he was called upon one last time to become Chief of the Army General Staff and handle military accomplices in the 20 July plot. Guderian was replaced upon his final dismissal by Hans Krebs. Post-war, he survived with no trial and died on May 14, 1954.

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• Cassandra Truth: Guderian was nearly sacked once for insisting that Hitler abandon the Ardennes Offensive and transfer the armoured divisions there to the Eastern Front to hold off the Russian offensive, and sacked for the final time for daring to suggest that Himmler was a perfectly ridiculous choice to command an Army Group. He was right on both counts.
• The Ghost: Guderian makes no appearance in the film on account of his forced retirement. Keitel mentions him as one of the gifted officers the Führer dismissed for defying him.
• Small Role, Big Impact: As Krebs' predecessor as chief of the army general staff, Guderian did much to lay the groundwork for the army's fanatical loyalty to Hitler in 1945. He made it compulsory for all general staff officers to join the Nazi Party, replaced the traditional salute with the Nazi salute and rooted out and dismissed countless army officers in a Kangaroo Court to be tried before the even worse People's Court, ensuring much of the upper brass were scared into total loyalty to Hitler. Plus, he shaped (if not invented) the German tactic of blitzkrieg used for most of the war.
  • It was also Guderian who suggested the formation of a national militia to bolster combat strength in Eastern Germany. This was what eventually became the Volkssturm.

Albert Kesselring

Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring, Commander-in-Chief West

Staff positions held: Chief of the Luftwaffe General Staff (1936-1937)
Commands held: Luftgau I (1937-1938), Luftflotte 1 (1938-1940), Luftflotte 2 (1940-1943), Commander-in-Chief South (1941-1943), Army Group C (1943-1944, 1945), Commander-in-Chief West (1945)
Highest award: Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds

A Luftwaffe field marshal and Commander-in-Chief of German forces in the south. He was in charge of the entire Mediterranean theater, including North Africa. Late in the war, he was transferred to relieve Gerd von Rundstedt's command of the Western Front and became Commander-in-Chief West for the rest of the war, surrendering to American forces in May 1945. Kesselring was convicted of war crimes after the German surrender and sentenced to death, which was eventually commuted to life imprisonment. Lobbying from the media and political groups led to his release on health grounds, much to the consternation of the Italians who suffered the most from his campaigns. He died of a heart attack on July 16, 1960.

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• The Ghost: He is mentioned by Hitler while describing how he is amassing forces for a gigantic pincer attack.
• Mook Depletion: Kesselring is in charge of troops in Southern Germany, but his forces are as spent as the ones in Berlin.

Theodor Busse

General der Infanterie Ernst Hermann August Theodor Busse, Commander of the 9th Army

Staff positions held: Operations Officer, 11th Army (1940-1942), Operations Officer, Army Group Don (1942-1943), Chief of Staff, Army Group South (1943-1944)
Commands held: 121st Infantry Division (1944), I Army Corps (1944-1945), 9th Army (1945)
Highest award: Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (WW2), Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (post-war)

An infantry general in the Wehrmacht and commander of the 9th Army, the first of three formations near Berlin that Hitler is counting on to save the day. Busse initially served as a staff officer but by 1944 was being given increasingly large commands and rapid promotions along with them. Refusing to surrender without direct orders from the Führer, his 9th Army was utterly annihilated in the Battle of Halbe, necessitating a link-up with Walther Wenck's 12th Army and surrender to American forces across the Elbe. Busse was released from captivity in 1948 and became West Germany's civil defense director and a military history writer. He died on October 21, 1986.

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• Frontline General: Like Steiner and Wenck, Busse does not appear because he is at the front commanding badly depleted units.
• The Ghost: Busse does not appear because he and the 9th Army are trapped near Halbe, just south of Berlin.
• Last Stand: The 9th Army is completely surrounded by the Russians thanks to Hitler demanding Busse to stand his ground instead of retreating.
• Mook Depletion: The 9th Army lost so many men that their current force is outmatched by the Red Army ten to one. They're not even capable of moving northward and linking up with Steiner.

Walther Wenck

General der Panzertruppe Walther Wenck, Commander of the 12th Army

Staff positions held: Operations Officer, 1st Panzer Division (1939-1942), Chief of Staff, LVII Corps (1942), Chief of Staff, 3rd Romanian Army (1942), Chief of Staff, Army Detachment Hollidt (1942-1943), Chief of Staff, 6th Army (1943), Chief of Staff, 1st Panzer Army (1943-1944), Chief of Staff, Army Group South Ukraine (1944), Chief of Operations of the Army General Staff (1944), Chief of Command Staff of the Army General Staff (1944-1945), Chief of Staff, Army Group Vistula (1945)
Commands held: 12th Army (1945)
Highest award: Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

A general of the tank troops and commander of the 12th Army, succeeding colonel general Alexander Löhr. He was the German Army's youngest general of the branch. Wenck served as a staff officer on several prominent army groups throughout the war, including Army Group Vistula under Heinrich Himmler. When finally pushed into command, Wenck proved an excellent leader but utterly incapable of saving Berlin with his limited forces, instead choosing to surrender to American forces across the Elbe. He was released in 1947 and invited to become Inspector General of the Bundeswehr, which he refused. He died in a car crash on May 1, 1982.

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• The Cavalry: Subverted. Hitler believes that the 12th Army can relieve the siege of Berlin. Unfortunately, Wenck is just as ill-equipped to attack as Busse and Steiner.
• Frontline General: He's too busy leading what's left of his army in the Elbe to sit with Hitler and his staff in the comfort of the bunker.
• The Ghost: Like Busse, Steiner, and Dönitz, Wenck is repeatedly mentioned but does not appear.
• Hope Spot: The very last one to boot. In the final war room meeting, Hitler pins his hopes on Wenck's intervention to save the day, even after Steiner's failure and Himmler's betrayal. Wenck does not come because he has no real chance of defeating the Soviets in Berlin.
• Mook Depletion: Like Steiner, Wenck's 12th Army has been reduced to a few small units that, as Krebs puts it, would stand absolutely no chance against the Red Army.

Harald Quandt

Leutnant Harald Quandt

The first son of Magda Goebbels from her previous marriage to industrialist Günther Quandt. He served in the Luftwaffe and was captured in Italy in 1944. He was the only surviving member of the Goebbels family. He was released in 1947, running the firm of his biological father. He died in a plane crash in Italy in 1967.

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• The Ghost: Being as he is in a POW camp, Magda writes him a letter to explain her reasoning for wishing to kill his half-siblings.
• Sole Survivor: He was raised as part of the Goebbels family, to the point that he was edited into a family portrait despite being on military duty. Quandt was the only member to survive the war.

SS personnel

Felix Steiner

SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS Felix Martin Julius Steiner, Commander of Army Detachment Steiner

Commands held: SS Regiment Deutschland (1936-1940), 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking (1940-1943), III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps (1943-1944), 11th SS Panzer Army (1944-1945), III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps (1945), Army Detachment Steiner (1945)
Highest award: Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords

A Waffen-SS general and recently appointed commander of the special Army Detachment Steiner, incorporating his III SS Panzer Corps. Hitler places his hopes on him being able to defeat the Soviets, but suffers a nervous breakdown when he learns Steiner did not attack. Steiner faced charges in the Nuremberg Trials that were ultimately dropped, and he became a founding member of HIAG, a lobby group that pushed for the rehabilitation of Waffen-SS members. He died on May 12, 1966, eleven days before his 70th birthday.

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• The Cavalry: He was meant to be this for Berlin, arriving in time to intercept the Soviet forces before they invade the city, then join up with Busse's 9th Army. But Steiner didn't have enough men to launch an attack and as a result, he didn't even bother with it to Hitler's dismay.
• Frontline General: The reason why he's never seen is because he is too busy fighting in the frontlines along with his men.
• The Ghost: He is mentioned repeatedly in the first act, but is nowhere near Central Berlin.
• Hope Spot: He serves as one for Hitler, who believes that Steiner's counterattack would give depleted German forces an opening to push the Soviets back. Once he is told that Steiner didn't carry his assault due to a shortage of troops, Hitler flies into his biggest Villainous Breakdown and finally admits the war is lost.
• Mook Depletion: His forces have been depleted by the war and he couldn't muster enough troops to launch an attack on the Soviets to save Berlin.
• Pragmatic Villainy: He disobeys Hitler's order because he didn't have enough men to justify an attack that wouldn't lead to senseless losses.
• Small Role, Big Impact: The fact that he is unable to attack with his ad hoc force is what sends Hitler into a tearful rage and declaring that the war is lost.

The Red Army

Joseph Stalin

Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

Offices held: General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1922-1952), People's Commissar for Defence (1941-1946), Minister of the Armed Forces (1946-1947), Supreme Commander of the Red Army (1922-1946), Supreme Commander of the Soviet Army (1946-1952)
Highest award: Hero of the Soviet Union

The paranoid and brutal dictator of the Soviet Union. In many ways, he rivals Hitler as one of the worst men of the 20th century. After taking in the many laurels of being the nation that managed to end Nazi Germany, Stalin settled into a new rivalry with the United States before his death on March 5, 1953, after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage.

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• Bad Boss: It's quite telling that Hitler's biggest regret was not going as far as Stalin when it came to punishing his officer corps.
• Big Good: Due to the circumstances that Hitler ironically caused, Stalin is technically this as leader of the Soviet Union and thus by extension, the Red Army that is in the process of bringing down Hitler.
• Eviler than Thou: At least in Hitler's insane mind, where kindness is a sin and the brutal shall rule. For many people outside of Berlin, Stalin, despite being known as a mass murderer and brutal dictator, isn't as bad as Hitler.
• Evil Versus Evil: For the Germans in Berlin, they either face execution by Hitler's fanatic goons or a life under Stalin's iron first. It's not surprising that many choose to flee to the Western Front before the Soviets completely encircle Berlin.
• The Ghost: Hitler mentions him during his famous tirade, saying he should have liquidated the entire officer corps like Stalin did in the 1930s.^note Ironically, this had contributed to many of the Red Army's failures in Finland and against the Wehrmacht during Operation Barbarossa.
• Hero Antagonist: Hero is a stretch given Stalin's reputation, but he is the leader of the Soviet Union who seeks to end the terror that is Nazi Germany.
• The Purge: He's infamous for liquidating his high-ranking officers to ensure the Red Army's complete loyalty to him. And Hitler envies him for that.
• Token Evil Teammate: Of the Allied leaders, due to being a ruthless dictator. The Germans in Berlin fear living under his rule.

Georgy Zhukov

Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, Commander-in-Chief of the 1st Belorussian Front

Commands held: 1st Soviet Mongolian Army Group (1938-1939), Kiev Military District (1940-1941), Reserve Front (1941), Leningrad Front (1941), Soviet Western Front (1941-1942), Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Red Army (1942-1944), 1st Ukrainian Front (1944), 1st Belorussian Front (1944-1945), Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Army (1945-1946), Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (1945-1946), Military governor of Soviet occupation zone, Berlin (1945-1946), Odessa Military District (1946-1948), Ural Military District (1948-1953)
Staff positions held: Chief of the Red Army General Staff and Soviet Deputy Minister of Defence (1941), Stavka Representative to the Reserve and Western Fronts (1941-1942)
Offices held: Soviet Deputy Minister of Defence (1953-1955), Soviet Minister of Defence (1955-1957)
Highest award: Hero of the Soviet Union (4 times), Order of Victory (2 times), Order of Lenin (6 times)

The commander-in-chief of the Red Army and commander of the 1st Belorussian Front, Zhukov is the main adversary of the German units yet is actually far outside the city conducting the massive westward march towards Berlin. He was a three-time Hero of the Soviet Union recipient whose star only rose after the Second World War as military governor of Berlin's Soviet zone and Minister of Defence. He was forcibly retired for alleged Bonapartist leanings and died on June 18, 1974 after suffering several strokes.

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• Big Good: For the Soviets. He's leading the Red Army as they finally topple the Nazi regime and bring an end to the war in Europe.
• The Ghost: He is only mentioned once, when Misch is ordered to contact him.
• Good Is Not Nice: The Red Army is shelling the crap out of Berlin, partly as payback for the three years of atrocities that the Nazis committed in the Soviet Union.
• Hero Antagonist: Leads the Red Army against the Nazis, main characters of the film, during the Battle of Berlin.

The United States Army

Dwight D. Eisenhower

General of the Army Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force

Commands held: 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment (1940), Allied Mediterranean Theater (1942-1943), Allied Expeditionary Forces (1943-1945), United States Army Europe (1945), Military governor of American occupation zone, Berlin (1945), U.S. Army European Command (1951-1952), Supreme Allied Commander Europe (NATO, 1951-1952)
Staff positions held: Chief of Staff, 3rd Infantry Division (1940-1941), Chief of Staff, IX Corps (1941), Chief of Staff, Third United States Army (1941), Deputy Chief, War Plans Division (1941-1942), Chief, War Plans Division (1942), Chief of Staff, United States Army (1945-1948)
Offices held: President of the United States (1953-1961)
Highest award: Army Distinguished Service Medal w/ 4 oak leaf clusters

Dwight D. Eisenhower was a prominent flag officer during World War II, planning the invasion of North Africa in Operation Torch and the invasion of Normandy. He was the third US Army officer promoted to the five-star rank of General of the Army in his capacity as supreme commander of the Western Allied forces in Europe. Post-war, he served as military governor of the American zone in occupied Berlin and Chief of Staff of the United States Army before running for president. Eisenhower was President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 and helped spearhead the development of the Interstate Highway System, taking inspiration from the German Autobahn. He died on March 28, 1969 of congestive heart failure.

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• Big Good: For the Western Allies. He is the chief military commander for the American, British, Canadian, and French armies in Europe, answering only to the political leadership in Washington and London.
• The Ghost: Himmler mentions that he is already in touch with Eisenhower's headquarters. His only concern with meeting Ike is whether he'll need to give the Nazi salute or shake his hand.
• Hero Antagonist: One of the Western leaders in the fight against the Nazis. Himmler wants to negotiate the survival of the Reich with him, but to no avail since the Americans, like the Soviets, want nothing less than the complete dismantlement of Nazi Germany.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: The Nazis put their hopes on the Americans being more reasonable than the Russians, with their most optimistic wish being a ceasefire with the West while continuing to fight in the East. Unfortunately, they don't realize that like the Russians, Eisenhower wants nothing less than a complete surrender.

Civilians

Folke Bernadotte

Folke Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg

A Swedish diplomat. Himmler speaks to him in the hopes of negotiating a peace with the Western Allies. Through his negotiations, Bernadotte was able to secure the release of over 30,000 concentration camp prisoners, in an operation known as the White Buses. After the war, he became a mediator for the newly-formed United Nations and was tragically assassinated on September 17, 1948 in Jerusalem while trying to negotiate a resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

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• Blue Blood: Bernadotte is a Swedish nobleman, with his title being Count.
• The Ghost: He is mentioned when Hitler reads the report indicating that Himmler attempted to negotiate with the West.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: As a diplomat in neutral Sweden, Bernadotte attempts to act as a bridge between Himmler and the Allies to begin peace negotiations.

Gretl Braun

Margarete Berta "Gretl" Braun

The younger sister of Eva Braun. She married Hermann Fegelein in June 1944, in what was one of the last social occasions at Hitler's alpine retreat. She died in 1987, outliving her daughter by twelve years.

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• The Ghost: She does not appear, as she was at the Berghof, Hitler's Alpine home, during the Battle of Berlin. Eva writes a letter to her, asking her to destroy any documents she may have about Eva's relationship with Hitler.
• Someone to Remember Him By: She was pregnant with a girl, and would give birth roughly a week after Fegelein's death.

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