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The Hunters
General tropes
- Nazi Hunter: What they do.
Jonah Heidelbaum
Jonah Heidelbaum
Played By: Logan Lerman
- Audience Surrogate: We meet the hunters as Jonah does.
- Cute Bruiser: Being played by Logan Lerman, this isn't surprising. Jonah is an overall nice guy but he’s fully capable of throwing a few punches.
- Disappeared Dad: While Jonah's mother is mentioned as having died in childbirth, his biological father is not seen or mentioned.
- Gaining the Will to Kill: Comes to this point over the course of the first season.
- Nice Guy: Despite all the horrors he goes through, Jonah is shown to be a genuinely good person all around, and is loved by his friends and family.
- Raised by Grandparents: Jonah was raised by his grandmother, with whom he was very close.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Jonah has quite the foul mouth on him.
- Ship Tease: With Carol.
- Took a Level in Badass: Begins season 1 as a normal, gentle teenage boy with zero combat experience, but ends the series able to to beat the psychotic Travis Leich in a tense fist fight.
- By season 2, Jonah has been successfully hunting Nazis for the duration of the 2 year time skip, even managing to track down and kill Biff Simpson.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Jonah's brutalisation by the events of season 1 have made him a much darker, more abrasive young man than the good-natured teenager he was at the series beginning.
- You Are in Command Now: After Meyer's death.
Meyer Offerman
Meyer Offerman/Wilhelm Zuchs aka The Wolf
Played By: Al Pacino, Christian Oliver (young)
- The Atoner: He wants to redeem himself for his Nazi past, but in Jonah's eyes, he's Beyond Redemption and another target.
- Subverted in Season 2, which revealed that the only reason he formed the Hunters was to find and silence any Nazi who might expose him, after some found out and tried to blackmail him. And it's also revealed that he made the call to have Ruth killed for the same reason. Meaning, he was always a monster who was more clever than most until Jonah finally exposed and killed him.
- Becoming the Mask: After posing as a Jew for thirty years and turning against his own Nazi kin.
- Beyond Redemption: Despite claiming to have undergo a Heel–Face Turn, what he did to begin with was irredeemably beyond forgiveness that he could never achieve penitence no matter what he does afterwards and Jonah kills him for deceiving him, his organization and his grandmother all these years and to avenge the real Meyer and whatever victims he claimed during the Holocaust. Even Jonah lampshades on this, while Zuchs is self-aware of this.
- Big Good: Subverted, especially following The Reveal.
- Broken Pedestal: Personally to Jonah upon learning his true identity. The other teammates were at first in denial of this so much that it takes Jonah to convince them about this revelation.
- Decoy Protagonist: Played by Al Pacino, he was thought to be the Big Good Deuteragonist of the show, then comes The Reveal and his death
- Evil All Along: Season 2 makes clear that he was never a good person. And formed the Hunters for his own selfish reasons of staying hidden and manipulated the members into believing they were fighting for a righteous cause.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Despite his genuine attempts to redeem himself, Jonah believes he's Beyond Redemption for his Nazi past and executes him. Even Jonah lampshades on this.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: No matter how genuine his attempts to redeem himself of his Nazi crimes may be, what he did in the past is absolutely and permanently beyond being absolved. Even he himself is self-aware of this.
- Heel–Face Turn: Claims that he has achieved this after posing as a Jew for more than thirty years, with his desire to hunt and kill Nazis being very real. Jonah doesn't buy it, and kills him in the first season finale.
- Subverted in Season 2 which makes clear he was a heel from start to finish.
- Karma Houdini: After committing numerous wartime atrocities and killing the real Meyer, Zuchs escapes to America, gets plastic surgery, and builds a fortune using Meyer's stolen identity, suffering no punishment for his actions.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: Until Jonah gets his hands on him, that is....
- Kill and Replace: What he does to the real Meyer.
- Nazi Protagonist: The Big Good Deuteragonist of the show turns out to be a Nazi.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Season 2 reveals that his reason for creating the Hunters was to kill Nazis that escape to America who could expose his fake Meyer cover. However, after Jonah discovered his real identity as the Wolf and killed him, the Hunters evolved beyond him and it eventually led to the capture and imprisoned Adolf Hitler, now prisoner 45287.
- Not in This for Your Revolution:Admits to Johah during the reveal that he didn't believe in the Nazi ideals, but as a doctor, they gave him status and power and admits the power corrupted him, eventually turning him into the cruel Wolf.
- This is also made more clear in Season 2. while he convinced the others that hunting and killing Nazis was a great cause for humanity, in reality he was just eliminating anyone whom he believe could expose and reveal who he really was.
- This Is Unforgivable!: Despite how sincere he is The Atoner for his Nazi crimes, Jonah thinks this instead, believing that he is Beyond Redemption and needs to die. To sum up what Jonah's viewpoint towards Zuchs' past misdeeds and his current state are: once a genocidal Nazi monster, always a genocidal Nazi monster. Even Jonah lampshades on this.
- The Sociopath: The show makes a strong case that he was this from the beginning. He used the Nazi movement for his own advancement and sick practices as a doctor. When the war was coming to an end, he killed the real Meyer, his favorite torture victim, faked his death, and took Meyer's identity to escape punishment. Then Season 2 revealed after some Nazis discovered him, he formed a hunting party to find and kill all the Nazis that escaped to America who could expose him, and manipulated a group of people into believing it was for a righteous cause. And the end of Season 2 makes clear that he never loved Ruth, as he had her killed the moment she discovered who he was. He only used her, because she was well known and respected in the Jewish community where he was hiding.
- Villainous Crush: His attitude towards Ruth could be interpreted as this.
- Walking Spoiler: It's hard to mention anything about him without revealing that he is not the real Meyer Offerman.
Ruth Heidelbaum
Ruth Heidelbaum
Played By: Jeannie Berlin, Annie Hagg (young)
- Big Good: Viewed as such to Jonah and her other fellow Nazi hunters. The only true one of the show once Meyer's true identity is revealed.
- Greater-Scope Paragon: What she undergo during the Holocaust and her work as a Nazi hunter made a prominent impact on the show and her grandson Jonah.
- Hero of Another Story: Was working as a Nazi hunter before her death.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Lost Naomi, her daughter, in childbirth.
- Posthumous Character: Ruth is murdered in the first episode, but she is featured prominently in flashbacks and discussed by many people.
- Promotion to Parent: Raised her grandson Jonah after the death of her daughter.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: With Meyer.
Sister Harriet
Sister Harriet
Played By: Kate Mulvany
- Given Name Reveal: Her birth name is revealed to be Rebekah Kreutzer, "Harriet" being the name assigned to her by the nuns who took her in.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Best demonstrated when she personally delivers the S.S. Officer who murdered Mindy & Murray’s young son to them and allows them to decide his fate. Oddly enough, she also seems to have a genuine friendship with Lonny, who is her exact opposite in almost every way.
- Lady Swears-A-Lot: Has quite the foul mouth.
- Nun Too Holy: Harriet frequently dresses in the attire of a nun (minus the high-heeled boots, of course), but is also a government agent and skilled assassin. Possibly as a Take That! mockery of Catholicism for its injustice towards the Jewish based on her personal childhood experience of being raised by the orphanage nuns who unfairly forsake her birth name that forced her to be given the name "Harriet."
- Odd Friendship: With Lonny. While she occasionally gets annoyed with his antics, it's worth noting that Harriet is visibly nicer to Lonny than the other hunters.
- Pet the Dog: After hearing Lonny's childhood story about his father telling him he was nothing, Harriet briefly takes a moment to reassure him that he is a lot of things, but nothing isn't one of them. When he starts to panic while infiltrating the factory containing the pathogen later in the same episode, she gives him a much needed pep talk.
Murray Markowitz
Murray Markowitz
Played By: Saul Rubinek, Balázs Csémy (young)
- Actor Allusion: This isn't the first time Saul Rubinek played a Nazi hunter on television, ironically Saul's initial Nazi Hunter role was named Aaron, which was also the name of the son whom Murray and Mindy lost in the camps.
- Battle Couple: With Mindy.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: Was holding his son as he was shot, which is a source of terrible trauma for both him and Mindy.
- Outliving One's Offspring: He and Mindy lost Aaron, their eldest son, in the camps.
- Sacrificial Lion: Gets blown up in an attempt to defuse the bomb Travis planted on the subway.
- What You Are in the Dark: Even with the Nazi that killed his son tied up in the basement. Murray cannot bring himself to kill the man.
Mindy Markowitz
Mindy Markowitz
Played By: Carol Kane, Bianka Tatár (young)
- Battle Couple: With Murray.
- Cool Old Lady: The group’s signals expert, and arguably the only member of the Hunters who is nice to Jonah from the start with no ulterior motive.
- Forced to Watch: Was restrained by an SS guard as another shot her young son.
- Outliving One's Offspring: She and Murray lost Aaron, their eldest son, in the camps.
- Put on a Bus: Leaves the city to live with her daughter and son-in-law at the end of the first season.
- What You Are in the Dark: Is reticent to kill the man who murdered her son despite having the monster locked up in her basement.
- Averted once Murray sacrifices himself to disarm the bomb on the Subway. Mindy is so distraught that she immediately walks downstairs and shoots her captive.
Lonny Flash
Leonard "Lonny Flash" Flazhenstein
Played By: Josh Radnor
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He affects the demeanor of a vain moron, but is nonetheless a competent team player.
- Cowardly Lion: Even when he's paralyzed with fear of being around a group of Nazis, he still pushes through.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: An autograph-giving movie star clown he appears to be, he's still a Nazi Hunter who is a professional.
- '70s Hair: Probably the most impressive example of this in the series, sporting a mustache and a rather impressive pair of sideburns.
- Famed In-Story: Lonny is a reasonably well-known film and stage actor, mentioned as having a Tony Award to his name.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Lonny is an egotistical manchild, to be sure, but ultimately, he is a good person and his heart's in the right place.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: He gives out a serious What the Hell, Hero? towards Jonah without any comedic quirks for killing Meyer who's really "The Wolf." Even after the two year Time Skip in the second season, he's still in denial Meyer was "The Wolf" and continues to hold his death against Jonah who he believed to be Meyer's murderer.
- Plucky Comic Relief: Act as this of the group.
Roxy Jones
Roxy Jones
Played By: Tiffany Boone
- Action Mom: Kicks ass and has a young daughter.
- 10-Minute Retirement: Leaves the Hunters after nearly dying in an attempt to gather intelligence, but Joe persuades her to come back after telling her the scope of the Nazis' plans.
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: With Joe.
Joe Mizushima
Joe Mizushima
Played By: Louis Ozawa Changchien
- The Big Guy: While technically Lonny's the tallest, Joe is the most heavily muscled and is easily the best fighter in the crew thanks to his military experience, both in terms of hand to hand combat and marksmanship.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Becomes a dangerous foe to the crew after undergoing torturous psychological conditioning at the hands of Eva Braun.
- Distressed Dude: Kidnapped and taken to South America at the end of the first season.
- One-Man Army: Joe's combat skills are finally put to test during his rampage on the Fourth Reich Bunker in episode 9.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Served three tours in Vietnam and suffers from intense PTSD as a result.
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: With Roxy.
The Fourth Reich
Travis Leich
Travis Leich / "The American"
Played By: Greg Austin
An assassin in the Colonel's organization. Unlike the other members of the Colonel's conspiracy, he's an American.
- Ax-Crazy: He's good at hiding it behind a Mask of Sanity, but doesn't even try to hold his maniacal laughter after having stabbed his lawyer to death.
- The Brute: He's employed by the Colonel to carry out assassinations.
- Card-Carrying Villain: His Establishing Character Moment has him comparing himself to a "monster under the bed".
- The Dragon: Eventually works his way up to this position under the Colonel.
- Dragon Ascendant: In the Season 1 finale he murders a Jewish lawyer in order to remain in prison and recruit the white inmates into Nazism.
- Evil Counterpart: An ambitious young man recruited into a secret faction who's regularly seeking the approval of an elderly authority figure? Are we talking about Travis or Jonah?
- Their stories parallel each other in the Season 1 finale, with both of them ending up in a position of leadership for their respective ideologies.
- Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: He has a relatively innocent-looking face and is a psychopathic Neo-Nazi
- Freudian Excuse: Notably averted. As revealed in the final episode, the violent, racist, psychopathic Travis comes from an apparently happy childhood in a middle class home with loving and caring parents who raised and treated him well. However since this is a deleted scene, it isn’t canon to the story so his past remains a mystery.
- Karma Houdini: While he ends the first season locked up, his final scene in the season finale shows that he's likely to thrive in this environment, as he amasses a white supremacist following by murdering his Jewish lawyer. Come season two and he's broken out of prison and rejoined the conspiracy, plotting to take control of the Fourth Reich himself. While he fails, he manages to flee the scene when the police arrive to apprehend his followers and appears to make good his escape.
- Noodle Incident: His actions in the predominantly-Jewish suburb of Skokie caught the attention of the Fourth Reich and got him an invitation to join them.
- Psycho for Hire: Travis is ultimately more of a sophisticated sadist than a white supremacist, to the point not even other Nazis are safe from him.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Naturally, being a Neo-Nazi and all.
- '70s Hair: Sports a large pair of sideburns.
- Strike Me Down with All of Your Hatred!: In the first season finale, he tries to goad Jonah into shooting him. Due to Millie's intervention, he fails.
- The Sociopath: Even moreso than the other Nazis, Travis is the textbook definition of a high-functioning psychopath.
- The Starscream: Plots with Eva Braun to usurp Hitler and take over the Fourth Reich; however, once Hitler is at their mercy he betrays and kills Braun, revealing that he intends to take over himself.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: He's last seen wounded and fleeing the shootout in Munich after failing to get away with Hitler, with no indication of what happens to him afterwards.
- Wicked Cultured: Travis is surprisingly eloquent and well-informed about trivial topics, including the biology of mayflies and the history of the color orange.
"The Colonel"
"The Colonel"/Eva Braun
Played By: Lena Olin
The leader of the Nazis in the United States.
- Big Bad: Of the first season, though Hitler is revealed as the Greater-Scope Villain in the first season finale.
- Broken Pedestal: Revealed in Season 2. Admits she once thought Hitler was a God, but then found out what a weak and pathetic man he really was behind closed doors, especially as she got older and more mature as a woman.
- Diabolical Mastermind: Commander of a wide-ranging conspiracy with thousands of members, government ties, and the resources to carry out major terrorist acts.
- The Dragon: Is herself the chief agent of "the General," Adolf Hitler himself.
- Historical Domain Character: Being Eva Braun
- Historical Villain Upgrade: Braun wasn't a good person. At best, an argument could be made she was merely self-absorbed and possibly severely lacking in empathy. At worst, she might have had detailed knowledge of the camps and agreed with what was happening within them. However, it's clear she wasn't a political person. Her running around trying to start a fourth Reich and happily having 'non-desirables' and even her own underlings on occasion killed is not something the historical Braun would have done if she'd survived after the war.
- Lady of War: She's the leader of the Nazi conspiracy in the United States.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Her given name is not known until the final episode.
- The Social Darwinist: Being a Nazi. She believes in this to the point that she's even able to brush off Travis murdering her foster sons as long as "the fittest has survived".
- The Starscream: Season 2 reveals that she resents Hitler, lost respect for him, and believe she can do a better job creating the 4th Reich. So she plots to overthrow and kill him, but it fails resulting in her death.
- You Have Failed Me / You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Biff claims that she has a tendency towards this, but it's unclear if he's telling the truth since he says it while trying to turn Travis against her. Notably, Klaus Rhinehart, who he claims to have been a victim of this, turns up alive in season two. However, she does later try to have Biff killed as a liability, and Frederic Hauser kills himself in order to avoid her wrath after failing to protect Oskar Hauptman from the Hunters, so he may have been telling the truth.
Biff Simpson
Biff Simpson aka The Butcher of Arlav aka Boris Frodski
Played By: Dylan Baker
An official in the State Department.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Averted. In his first appearance, after he's outed by a survivor of the death camps, Biff nonchalantly kills his own wife and children. However, he does seem to at least somewhat like his mother-in-law, who was not present at the family massacre.
- Dirty Coward: He himself admits being one to Jonah when explaining why he's willing to sell out Hitler in return for being allowed to live.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: He escapes Millie's custody at the end of the first season and flees to the USSR, but gets unceremoniously shot dead by Jonah early in the second season's first episode.
- Laughably Evil: Sure he's a Nazi monster, but being played by Dylan Baker expects moments of laughter and chuckle from the character, especially with either his folksy Fake American accent or his actual German accent which initially made him scary in his debut, but later comedic when he has a Minor Injury Overreaction after Millie Morris shot him before briefly apprehending him.
- Spree Killer: Massacres nine people, including his entire immediate family, to cover up his identity when a houseguest recognizes him as an escaped Nazi.
- Undignified Death: Shot in the face by Jonah while naked and tied up in a brothel, after unsuccessfully begging for his life.
- The Unreveal: We never find out what his real name is.
- Would Hurt a Child: His own, no less.
Katarina Löw
Katarina Löw
Played By: Megan Channell
The CEO of Schidler Corp.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: She's the head of a corporation dedicated to wipe out all non-caucasians from the United States.
- Karmic Death: Horrifically scalded by the biological weapon she had created just before being blown up.
- Mad Scientist: She spearheads the effort to create a pathogen to enact "the Solution" and commit genocide against poor minorities in the United States.
- Would Hurt a Child: She tests "the Solution" on groups of children in Paraguay.
"The General"
"The General"/Adolf Hitler
Played By: Udo Kier
The leader of the global Nazi movement, who the Colonel answers to.
- Big Bad: It's a show where Nazis are the villains and he's Hitler.
- Creepy Blue Eyes: Has bright, piercing, pale blue eyes that stand out sharply against his face.
- Diabolical Mastermind: Subverted. While he has ultimate authority within the Fourth Reich and broadly charts their course, it's clear that the Colonel is doing all the actual work of leadership, including developing and implementing their plans.
- Domestic Abuse: Beats his wife with a rifle when she criticizes him for being a Paper Tiger who never tries to act on any of his goals.
- Evil Old Folks: The oldest in the show, at 90 years old. While he is still in relatively good health, everyone knows he doesn't have very much time left, which adds urgency both to the Hunters' efforts to catch him and to the Colonel's plot to replace him.
- Faking the Dead: Was convinced by Eva NOT to kill himself in his bunker and fled to Argentina, where he's been for the past 30 years, waiting for a chance to return to power.
- Fate Worse than Death: Well, by his standards. He tries to kill himself a few times when things aren't going his way but is captured and brought to trial in front of the entire world. Despite his attorney mounting the best defense he can for Hitler of all people, he ultimately is found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. His men make a failed attempt to prevent him from going to jail, but the last we see of him is a scene with him in a tiny prison cell, where a guard drops off his food and addresses him by his prisoner number. For the egocentric Hitler who's spent most of his life living like a king surrounded by adoring followers even in hiding, this is infuriating, and he even starts screaming "Don't you know who I am?"
- Hate Sink: Unsurprisingly, given that he's literally Hitler. Every moment of screentime shows him to be an utterly contemptible human being. He's a childish narcissist who holds seemingly the entire world in contempt, cares about nothing and no one but himself, and feels nothing but pride at being one of the worst mass murderers in history. To top it all off, he's not even that competent, instead lending his name and resources to the Colonel so she can execute his genocidal vision while he idly fantasizes about world conquest and mass murder.
- Historical Domain Character: Adolf Hitler.
- Historical Villain Upgrade: Apart from the obvious fact that the real Hitler was never involved in a plot to kill 12 million Americans or to nuke American cities, one scene also depicts him as being physically abusive towards Eva Braun, of which no evidence exists in Real Life.
- It's All About Me: Combined with Too Dumb to Live, it's a major part of his downfall. Hitler has spent the past 30 years planning his comeback and acting like he never truly lost the war, and by this point in time has completely bought into his own hype. His inability to see his own shortcomings, face the reality of how the world perceives him, or recognize the capabilities of the people around him just because they want to do things differently than how he would show that he's not actually very tactically-minded or that great a general. This really comes to a head during his trial, when he thinks trying to get his lawyer to cross-examine Holocaust victims and accuse them of lying will somehow be a winning strategy, and is just barely talked down from it. But then once he's on the stand, he very easily falls into confessing his crimes after days of his whole defense strategy being denial.
- Lack of Empathy: He is completely unaffected by the testimony of Holocaust survivors at his trial, showing no remorse or reaction even when directly called out for his crimes.
- Saying Too Much: "Of course I gave the order!" Said in front of an international tribunal, in reference to the Holocaust, which the prosecution had no proof he had ordered. He gets found guilty.
- The Sociopath: Not as obvious as Travis, but still a clear case. He has no empathy whatsoever for anyone else, he cultivates and demands loyalty that he doesn’t return, and his thinking and goals are entirely selfish and egocentric.
- Walking Spoiler: It's not really possible to discuss him without mentioning that he's Hitler.
The FBI
Millie Morris
Melinda "Millie" Morris
Played By: Jerrika Hinton
- It's Not You, It's My Enemies: Tries to break up with her girlfriend because of this. She claims that their relationship is moving too quickly and she needed space, however.
- Straight Gay: Is in a loving relationship with Maria, her mother's nurse, and she shows neither butch nor lipstick lesbian traits.
- Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist: Plays this role with the Hunters.
Other Characters
"The Inmate"
Meyer Offerman
Played By: Zack Schor
- Break the Cutie: Was subjected to this in the camps, especially at the hands of The Wolf.
- Dead All Along: Was killed by The Wolf a few months after the camp was liberated by the Red Army.
- Disappeared Dad: Inadvertently becomes this to Naomi, his and Ruth's daughter, when he is killed by The Wolf.
- Kill and Replace: Was the victim of this at the hands of The Wolf.
- Luke I Am Your Grandfather: Meyer is the biological grandfather of Jonah, though he died long before Jonah's birth and the latter doesn't learn about this until the last episode of the first season.
- Nice Guy: Described by Ruth as a kind, good-hearted man, and when Meyer describes his desire for revenge against Zuchs, he says that he would recite the Kaddish for him before killing him, as "it is monsters who need prayer most."
- Star-Crossed Lovers: With Ruth.
- Shoot the Dog: Meyer endures both mental and physical torture at the hands of the jealous Wolf for his love of Ruth. And just when it seems like the horror he endured was worth it because he can finally be with his love, the Wolf kills him, steals his identity, fools Ruth and spends his life with her in Meyer's place.
- Walking Spoiler: It is hard to talk about Meyer without revealing that he died in 1945, and that the "Meyer" living in the present day is an impostor.
