| “ | You're not a coward. I know that because you haven't given up yet. You're standing here. As long as you face the light and take even one step, the human soul can never truly be defeated. | „ |
| ~ Klaus Von Reinherz |
Klaus Von Reinherz is the leader of Libra and young head of the noble Reinherz family. He then later becomes the neutral third party between the human world and the Alterworld after the Great Collapse which turned Chicago into Hellsalem's Lot.
Overview[]
Klaus is the third son of prestigious noble family known as the Von Reinherz whom are well-versed into the occult and supernatural, specifically the hunting and extermination of vampires. Klaus's family were shown to have been well acquainted with the Hellsing family and this resulted in Klaus having a close bond with Integra Hellsing since childhood. Klaus is also well acquainted with Professor Broom given that his father would induct business with the professor leading to the latter becoming a father-figure to Klaus.
When he was younger, Klaus was the victim of a vampire attack during a futile attempt to avenge Diana, one of the groundspeople of his family's estate. To halt the progression of his vampirism, he was sealed inside a stone crucifix. Eventually, his infection progressed at only level twelve, and at level thirteen his mutation resulted in him becoming a Dhampir. Despite his status as a half-vampire, Klaus would learn how to hone his abilities and suppress his urges while retaining his humanity.
After, as well as due to, the events of the Apocalypse the metaphysical barriers that held reality together was shook the point where the line between the unnatural and the natural was catastrophically thinned, leading to many disastrous events. Among those events was the Great Collapse, an event in which a portal opened between the Alterworld and Earth in the city of Chicago. During the course of that whole night, the city of Chicago was destroyed and reconstructed as Hellsalem's Lot. Klaus established Libra within Hellsalem's Lot acting as the guardians between the two worlds.
Appearance[]
Klaus is a large, red-haired man of German descent with a distinctive underbite, silver eyes, and sideburns. He wears a white shirt with a red tie under a black waistcoat, as well as black pants with brown dress shoes. He also wears glasses. When in battle Klaus uses a unique and distinctive knuckle duster which is strapped to his left arm and usually hidden away until needed in a fight when it drops down with a flick of his arm.
Personality[]
Klaus Von Reinherz has been defined by his courage and righteousness. Klaus has always had a noble and honest spirit, intolerant towards malice and abuses of power. Known for his gentlemanly composure, honest to a fault nature and unshakable will, he typically conducts himself in a calm, polite manner unless suitably angered, in which case he will lash out with a beast-like level of savagery. He learned that true strength is having the courage to fight against insurmountable odds, no matter one's power, and having compassion for the innocent and that if one looks hard enough through the darkness that surrounds them, they could see the light and they must fight with every ounce of their will to reach the light to share it with the world.
Despite being transformed into a Dhampir, he maintained his original values and character though his more beastial side would surface when his friends are endangered. Such characteristics inspired many, even the likes of Nero who was a rebellious lone wolf, including Vergil and William Blazkowicz themselves who respect Klaus for his sheer will power and strength. This also led to Integra even recommending him to be the leader of the Dark Knight Initiative but once again showed his more humble nature by wanting all the leaders of said Initiative lead the united group together. Among the group, barring perhaps his subordinates and Professor Broom, Klaus is arguably closer to Integra. While these days their relationship is more professional given their current status as the heads of powerful organizations dedicated to destroying the forces of darkness, one could see that based on their history together Integra shows a softer side to Klaus than anyone else aside from Trevor Bruttenholm which in of itself is quite a rarity.
Due to his nature, he tends to over-stress himself worrying for the safety of others (particularly Leo or Integra) and will often put himself on the line to save them, something Zapp and Daniel Law, an HLPD lieutenant, have taken advantage of. His gentle nature has led to many dubbing him as a "gentle giant" with some even finding his composure to be adorable. Klaus is generally respected by many; even if he does not seek acknowledgment for his deeds. He is also very empathetic; being able to understand and relate to the likes of Nezuko Kamado or Vergil. Klaus is an extremely dedicated person, to the point of going against the orders of highly-place individuals just for the sake of maintaining their safety. Klaus finds the courage to defend the weak and innocent, and while respectful he does not hesitate to stand up to corrupt politicians, hypocritical authority figures, powerful beings like the Nosferatu, or even Lucifer. His determination also aids him, giving him a boost in physical power to allow him to hold off beings of much greater strength, with this even allowing him to survive against The Beast.
Klaus's uncompromising sense of morality and selflessness often puts him at odds with the likes of Enrico Maxwell, the head of Iscariot, and even Steven Starphase, his own partner, both of whom are more comfortable with a grey morality to protect people. This has led to several moments of bickering, arguments, and almost physical fights in how to protect people to the point where Steven keeps his more violent methods of dealing with villainous individuals under wraps from Klaus. Despite their differences, however, Klaus and Steven both respect each other, work well together, and have formed a close friendship. These arguments also extend to Integra but to a lesser degree as he is well aware of the fact that Integra feels great guilt over the fact that she had Alucard murder a SWAT team that were under the command of the Illuminati who were simply ordinary and ignorant men. Klaus's frustrations with the politicians' way of handling serious matters can be detected in his way of speaking despite sounding polite and humble. It is a rare occurrence for him to voice how he truly feels about the questionable methods of the United Nations. Nonetheless, he is very protective of his friends and allies, especially Leonardo Watch, and is willing to go to great lengths to save them, being susceptible to emotional and violent acts to fulfill his goal.
Powers and Abilities[]
Being a Dhampir, Klaus is not only stronger than most vampires but is also the strongest member of Libra. Klaus's state as a Dhampir enhanced all of his bodily functions, such as his strength, durability, speed, agility, stamina, reflexes, senses, healing, and lifespan to incredible superhuman levels. Klaus's physical prowess enables him to go toe-to-toe with some of the strongest and deadliest beings and creatures from the Alterworld and the supernatural world as a whole. Coupled with his immense combat mastery and his Dhampiric abilities he sustains little, if any, injuries during his battles. He has engaged against beings with powers that normally exceed his own such as the Leviathan, the Beast of the Sea, powerful Nosferatu such as the Tycoon Brothers, and several demons. Klaus is an extremely skilled and formidable hand-to-hand combatant and martial artist, having extensive levels of knowledge of melee combat as well as being considerably experienced in combat operations, making him one of the most powerful and best fighters on the planet. He has mastered numerous martial arts such as boxing, Krav Maga, Taekwondo, savate, judo, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, kickboxing, wrestling, aikido, karate, and pankration.
As a Dhampir, Klaus is gifted with incredible superhuman strength which is said to exceed that of regular vampires. His strength allows him to effortlessly overpower elite-trained humans, extraterrestrial creatures, several paranatural entities, and even most werewolves. Klaus also showed no visible strain when preventing a large steel I-beam from collapsing upon Integra, Lucas, and Professor Broom with one arm. He could easily punch through solid walls and drag an Illuminati soldier out from the other side, pry open steel doors, and bend the barrel of a shotgun upward when pointed at him. Klaus's inhuman strength usually sends his enemies flying several meters from mere punches and kicks and could easily kill a human with a single punch. As such, Klaus generally prevents himself from using his full physical power, and even just using a bit of his inhuman strength would either lead to injury or knocking his enemies unconscious. Klaus demonstrates incredible superhuman speed, to the point where he could easily keep up with other speedsters in the Dark Knight Initiative. This was evident during the final battle against Lucifer where he kept pace alongside the Silver Cross's wolf pack, Alucard and Seras, and the Devil May Cry team as they charged towards the Beast. Klaus also has an extremely sharp and deductive mind, which allows him to last for over 90 hours, non-stop, in a Prosfair match and could analyze and adapt to his opponent's fighting style thus adopt a fighting style he is aware of which can counteract his opponent's and gain an advantage.
Klaus's main weapon of choice is a unique and distinctive knuckle duster which is strapped to his left arm and usually hidden away until needed in a fight when it drops down with a flick of his arm. The device is metal, possibly a mix for strength with the addition of a sterling silver cross on the front plate, which in traditional European folklore is a known metal to repel and weaken vampires and other demonic creatures. Klaus only resorts to using this weapon when faced against a worthy opponent or a creature he cannot properly put down and thus should outright destroy it or simply just seal it. Using the knuckle duster, Klaus utilizes a form of hemoturgy or blood magic known as the Brain Grid Blood Battle Style, a unique combat style that allows him to create large, cross-shaped weaponry from his blood either to attack, defend, or even seal away enemies. His attacks are usually spoken in German and are shown to be quite devastating for large groups of enemies and even giant ones. The Brain Grid Blood Battle style is believed to be among the most taxing and difficult to use for it requires copious amounts of blood to access style's techniques something which Klaus has adapted to and a showing of his incredible stamina. However, Klaus does have his limits for an enemy forces him to use excessive amounts of the hematokinetic power of this style, he will pass out from blood loss. Nonetheless, when Klaus puts forth all his power into his attacks he is capable of unleashing unthinkable damage and destruction from the force of his attacks which impressed even Satan despite emerging unscathed from one of Klaus's tremendously mighty assaults.
While he does have his limits, Klaus is nonetheless extremely difficult to put down especially given his durability and healing properties. Both his healing and durability enables Klaus to survive some of the deadliest blows and encounters to the point where many of them could be outright fatal to normal humans. His fellow Libra members have also noted, and were quite frankly amazed, by Klaus's stamina and healing where he could fight a powerful opponent for hours on end. Both Integra and Steven Starphase believe that Klaus's determination and tenacity is what keeps him going, especially if he knows that lives are on the line and will not surrender until he puts his enemy down or has them yield. His battle with Ladd Russo is a clear example of this, for even when he was being continuously struck by Craven Edge, a blade that enhances not just its own power but that of the wielder as well from its enemy's blood, Klaus's ferocity in his attacks only increased, bewildering Russo with the latter adding that he should have at least passed out from the amount of blood he has lost. It is speculated that Klaus's adrenaline increases the progression of his healing but in the process he loses his humanity and becomes a feral beast that will not stop until his opponent is utterly decimated.