Walter Winkler

Walter Winkler
Country of Origin	Nazi Germany
Date of Birth	Unknown (Early 1900s)
Date of Death	1980, Nachtfalter, New Paris, France
Age	Unknown (Middle aged)
Hair	Unknown
Height	Unknown
Sex	Male
Nationality	German
Race	Caucasian
Occupation	SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer (SS- Colonel General)
Fate	Deceased: Shredded into pieces by the Zeppelin Jet Engine by the Blazko Twins
Portrayer	Simon Werner
Appearance(s)	Wolfenstein: Youngblood

"So you made it to my nest, little birds. Welcome! I am General Winkler, the Eagle from Berlin. Are you ready to die?"

―General Winkler faces the Terror Twins for the first time.

SS-Oberstgruppenfuhrer Walter Winkler, the Gauleiter of Neu-Paris and the Eagle from Berlin is a powerful Nazi official, tertiary antagonist and the first boss in Wolfenstein: Youngblood. Having been assigned to succeed the disgraced General Lothar Brandt, he rules Paris in the name of the Third Reich from his personal luxury zeppelin, Der Nachtfalter. A brutal and efficient military leader, he is the Terror Twin's first assigned target and his death allows the Resistance to precipitate the Paris Uprising.

Youngblood

Walter Winkler joined the Nazi Party early and served in the Afrika Korps during World War II, earning a distinction for personal bravery. In 1980, Winkler had visited Paris with his family and, upon Lothar Brandt being ousted as Governor General of New Paris, Winkler was selected as his replacement and was promoted to SS-Oberstgruppenfuhrer. True to his nickname, the 'Eagle from Berlin', he had no interest in remaining in the city proper, preferring to rule from the air. He would spend his time testing and tinkering with a new range of power suits sent from Germany, lesser versions of which most Nazi generals owned.

During his short rule, Winkler quickly overhauls the shambolic state of New Paris' occupation forces, which had grown lax and incompetent due to Lothar Brandt's corruption. Winkler enacts policies that eliminate Brandt's loyalists or any who might be sympathetic to his cause. While initially simply disgusted by Lothar's decadence, he begins to uncover evidence of a massive conspiracy against Berlin involving the deposed general, multiple allies in all positions of power across the Reich, and cryptic references to a 'Lab X'. While his forces are occupied hunting for Brandt, who remains at large, and clamping down on a resurgent Resistance, he and his subordinate Übercommander Edgar Fleischer keep the investigation quiet as they become increasingly unsure who they can trust. Winkler maintains the Party line that the sharp increase in destructive freak weather across the planet is a natural phenomenon.

In spite of having formidable manpower and resources in addition to his ruthlessness as a general, he is confronted by the Blazkowicz twins, who had been tricked into targeting him by a disguised Lothar and his wife, seeking to both eliminate a powerful enemy and to test the steel of the twins.

His base of operations was the Nachtfalter, the namesake of a class of large capital jet-powered zeppelins. Winkler's airship doubled as a flying luxury hotel, with multiple fine dining restaurants (serving exotic foods such as sushi), bars, film and karaoke clubs, and a gaudy arcade and casino. The Twins fight their way through most of the crew and troop complement, before Winkler himself is killed when he is flung through one of its starboard jet engines, causing catastrophic damage and sending the airship crashing into the River Seine.

Personality

Like his predecessor, Lothar Brandt, Winkler distinguishes himself from other Nazi villains by having personal combat experience and having served on the front-lines, and is not afraid to battle the twins himself. He is loyal, efficient and intelligent, rapidly bringing New Paris back into order with new laws, administration and common sense security measures while sweeping away Brandt's influence. He is also, however, a resentful, brutish and tyrannical leader who despises treachery, laziness and incompetence - indeed, he is far less angry at the Blazkowicz twins for their infiltration of his ship than he is embarrassed by his own men failing to stop the two teenagers. He callously demonstrates his optical laser by killing two technicians that had failed to reach the escape pods in time. His strict insistence on discipline, fanaticism and upholding military tradition causes some resentment amongst the soldiers under his command, having grown accustomed to Lothar's indulgence and relative laxity. Correspondence found around Paris indicate that despite publicly denying its existence, Winkler had grown justifiably concerned about Lothar and his planned 'Fourth Reich'. His competence at rooting out Brandt's supporters and upholding Berlin's authority made him a priority target for both the Resistance and Brandt himself, who feared he might discover Lab X before his plan could be completed.

He ultimately suffers from the Nazi's common fatal flaw - arrogance. Despite the irregularity of two infiltrators wearing advanced power suits boarding his zeppelin, Winkler is barely interested until forced to confront them himself. He taunts them with references to his nickname, promising he'll crush their bones like 'little birds'. He is shocked and horrified as the twins he considered subhuman beat him back and force him into a jet turbine, defiant to the end.

He wears a heavily-modified version of the Da'at Yichud Power Suit that has a powerful optical laser and a cloaking device to make him near invisible, along with a dash propulsion system mimicking the movement of the Robotersoldaten. In his confrontation with the Terror Twins, he dual-wields two pistols.

He evidently has an obsession with birds and predator-prey imagery. The eagle being a symbol of authority and pride in Germany, his moniker reflects his ferocious sense of nationalism and his preference for living perpetually in the air; he refers to the Nachtfalter as his 'nest'.

Strategy

Given the low amount of perks and specialty weapons the Twins have on the first mission, Winkler will likely be a difficult boss when facing him for the first time - he moves fast, can attack while cloaked and deals high damage.

• After giving his speech before the boss fight, its best to crouch or avoid the laser beam that melts his men and the door, as he can damage you.
• Having each sister use a complementary perk is useful for keeping your armor and health up.
• There is health, armor, and ammo scattered around for you to pick up, but is best collected intelligently. In addition, a squad of soldiers will come in to join the fight, allowing you to get additional ammo and armor.
• When he uses his lasers, break his line of sight and stay behind cover. Otherwise, mobility is key for beating him, as he will constantly move around the room (above and below) to flank you.
• As Jess points out during the boss fight, hitting him will disable his cloak.
• Though all weapons will cause damage to him, the most critical is the Sturmgewehr, as it penetrates his barrier faster and can do so while hiding behind cover.

Nicknames

• The Eagle from Berlin
• Nazi Douchebag

Quotes

"Attention. This is General Winkler speaking. Uh, we have a bit of a situation on our hands. Security cameras just captured two female terrorist donning power suits as they were trespassing my zeppelin. I would appreciate it if you could just, you know, kill them immediately? Thank you."

―General Winkler broadcasting that the twins on trespassing on his zeppelin.

"General Winkler here! Aren't you embarrassed, getting slaughtered by two teenaged girls?! Stop them now, you fucking idiots!"

―Winkler enraged at his men for failing to kill the twins.

"You little birds will be my supper!"

―Winkler during the fight.

"Paris belongs to the Reich!"

―Winkler.

"I will break off your tiny wings and gnaw on your bones!"

―Winkler.

Gallery

General Winkler concept art.

Winkler hangs on to his dear life as he about to be pushed by the Blazko Twins to his doom into a Zeppelin engine.

Winkler on the mission screen.

Winkler.

Trivia

• In his power suit, his character design bears a passing resemblance to the biomechanical 'Disintegrator' killer robots that play a major role in the 1996 Sci-Fi movie Space Truckers. His armor design may also be somewhat influenced by the Coil Suit from the MDK computer game series.
• The cloaking ability he shares with the Twins and Lothar Bradnt is a callout to both the Ghost in the Shell and Predator universes.
• Winkler's possession of this power suit may suggest he has a direct link to the SS Special Projects Division and/or the Reich Ministry of Advanced Research.

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