Rudol von Stroheim


 * The character in this article is commonly referred to as Rudolf von Stroheim.

Rudol von Stroheim (ルドル・フォン・シュトロハイム) is a supporting character in Part II: Battle Tendency.

Although a high-ranking Nazi officer, after assuming mutual enemies with the allied team, Stroheim proves an effective ally.

Appearance
Stroheim is a tall, well-built man of masculine facial features (comparable to those of the contemporary Dolph Lundgren).

Blue-eyed; at his introduction his blonde hair involves a short flat-top and a length at his neck; soon developing into tall, splaying cut. Later, he acquires complex metallic cybernetic prosthetics, including the section of his face surrounding his right eye; which is additionally covered by a sort of monocle.

He wears a range of official Nazi military attire. His cyborg prosthetics include his entire abdomen, which houses a powerful machine gun.

Personality
"German Science is the best in the world!"

- Rudol von Stroheim

When Stroheim is first introduced, he is a callous, cruel, demanding Nazi Major who has the foolish idea to experiment with the Stone Mask in order to further the power of the Nazi army.

However, upon being threatened with Santana's rampage, he demonstrates bravery and does not hesitate when trapped in asking Joseph to cut off his leg; or blow himself up with a grenade to kill the invading Santana. This is seen once again when Stroheim gives him a helping hand in defeating Kars and helping Joseph drive him into the volcano with an airplane.

Stroheim is an enthusiastic nationalist. He is particularly proud of his cyborg body; praising "German science".

Stroheim is said to have fought and died (bravely) on the Russian front.

Weapons

 * Abdominal Machine Gun: A machine gun inside Stroheim's stomach region, able to shoot 600 armored bullets per minute, and capable of piercing a 30-millimeter steel plate. Stroheim first introduces this weapon against Kars.
 * Ultraviolet Radiation Beam (紫外線照射装置): Inside Stroheim's mechanized eye is a small laser cannon capable of firing a concentrated beam of Ultraviolet light. The beam itself is five times more intense than a set of typical ultraviolet lights and was able to pierce straight through Kar's hand.
 * Ultraviolet Shoulder Cannons: Built by the technical department of the Speedwagon Foundation specifically as an anti-vampire device, Stroheim is able to fire out powerful blasts of ultraviolet light from two flood lights located on each side of his shoulders. As miniaturized searchlights, they pack the same power as the original, but are light enough to carry with ease. Stroheim used these cannons during the final battle against Kars, where he, along with his team, fought back against the army of vampires.
 * Projectile Hand: Stroheim is capable of firing off his mechanical hand with enough force to impale and deeply wound an enemy. Though revealed only towards the end of the arc, Stroheim used it to prevent Kars's escape and pinned him to a plane that went crashing into an active volcano.

Profile
As a Major in the Nazi Party, Stroheim is capable of leading his own battalion, as well as any members of the party of lower rank. To this end, Stroheim enforces his rank with a strong sense of pride and most of time, his word is law. As a capable leader, Stroheim often initiates attacks upon command, though the logic behind them usually varies depending on the level of abnormality of the enemy. When cornered, Stroheim's eminent pride in his country will cause him to unquestionably sacrifice himself to take out his target. In terms of combat expertise, it is presumed he is capable of performing the most basic of military skills with ease, including assembling and disassembling military weapons, and making efficient use of said weapons. Stroheim also flaunts a very able-bodied physique and has demonstrated a very high jumping ability.

After being resurrected as a Cyborg, Stroheim's physical capabilities increased and with it his rank to Colonel status. As a Cyborg, his strength increases significantly, having been designed with the ability to crush an object with his hand at a pressure of 1,950 kg/cm2 (roughly double Santana's.) In this form, Stroheim had also gained partial immortality, being able to survive most attacks, as his mechanical limbs being damaged lessens the effect on his lifeforce. With these limbs, he is capable of bending his body unnaturally, and deflect enemy attacks due to being made of metal. Situated on one side of Stroheim's face is a magnifying device that allows Stroheim to zoom in on objects up to a point where he can study their internal structure.

Battle Tendency
Stroheim takes an injured Robert Edward O. Speedwagon to the Nazi base in Mexico and interrogates him for information regarding the Pillar Men. He reveals that the Nazis had acquired one of them, which he named "Santana" after the warm winds of Mexico.

Stroheim eventually sacrifices himself in an attempt to stop Santana's rampage and is assumed to have died until he reappears at the border of Switzerland to retrieve the Red Stone of Aja. Thanks to Nazi science, Colonel Stroheim was revived with cybernetic parts (including a machine gun on his chest and a monocle that presumably serves as a Terminator/Robocop-esque radar system). He challenges Kars to a duel and is quickly cut in half, but is ultimately able to separate Kars from the stone by firing a ultraviolet beam from his eye.

Stroheim appears yet again after being reconstructed with the help of the Speedwagon Foundation science division and saves Joseph from Kars's impending vampire army just in the nick of time. Kars is defeated by Joseph soon after and is sent falling onto a spikes below, where Stroheim and his division blast him with ultraviolet light. They fail to realize, however, that Kars had donned a Stone Mask with the Aja and are dumbstruck when he achieves his ultimate form and begins killing them off with a squirrel formed from his right hand.

After Joseph hijacks a Nazi aircraft to lure Kars away, Stroheim reveals himself in the side wing of the plane just before it goes plummeting into an active volcano. After pinning Kars to the front end of the aircraft, he pulls Joseph out of the plane and cushions their fall by sacrificing his cybernetic legs. The volcano eventually erupts when Kars's ripple collides with the Red Stone of Aja, launching both Joseph and him into the air. Stroheim eventually returns to the rest of the group and reports Joseph's supposed death.

After the battle with Kars, Stroheim never meets Joseph again and is said to have died honorably at the battle of Stalingrad.

All-Star Battle (PS3)
Stroheim makes his first videogame appearance in the PS3 title. Appearing as one of the Campaign Surprise Support Characters, where he shoots the opponent's profile with his machine gun (on the same way he did to Kars during the events of Part II), decreasing their health bar by 40%.

Stardust Shooters (Android/iOS)
Stroheim appears as one of the several PART II characters who possess a Metal Striker. His FINISH move makes him shooting several bullets of his Torso-MachineGun on the defeat opponent and his Level 3 special ability allows him to destroy himself after defeated, damaging any Metal Striker near him (enemy or ally).

Trivia

 * Stroheim has a counterpart in Part VII: Steel Ball Run named Fritz Von Stroheim.
 * Fritz's namesake could be that of Fritz von Opel (grandson of Adam Opel, founder of the Opel Company) or Fritz Von Erich (Professional Wrestler).
 * His given name translates to Rudol, without f or ph, in alphabetic languagues. This is probably an error on the author's part due to his unfamiliarity with German as such a given name is very uncommon.
 * In addition to Stroheim's enthusiastic nationalism, his features are consistent with those of the "Nordic race" favored in Nazi ideology.
 * Stroheim's hair and eventual monocled visage appear to be based on an illustration by Antonio Lopez.
 * In turn, in regards to their hairstyles, Guile of the Street Fighter series appears be based on Stroheim's.
 * Brocken of the World Heroes series may also based on Stroheim, as both are German soldiers with cyborg enhancements. Brocken even asks "What do you expect from German science?!" in World Heroes Perfect, a possible reference to Stroheim's emphatic praise for German science when revealing his new weapons.