Johann Kraus

Johann Kraus
Publication information
Publisher	Dark Horse Comics
First appearance	B.P.R.D. - Hollow Earth and Other Stories (2003))
Created by	Mike Mignola
In-story information
Alter ego	Johann Krauss
Team affiliations	B.P.R.D.
Abilities	Physical medium, Ectoplasmic abilities ( Film version ) Can leave his suit and possess anything

Johann Krauss is a fictional character in the Hellboy universe, featured in B.P.R.D. comic books published by Dark Horse Comics. He is a disembodied ectoplasmic spirit with psychic abilities who maintains a tangible form via a containment suit. Without the suit, his body would eventually dissipate and he would be lost forever.

Fictional character

In early 2002, an exceptionally gifted psychic medium named Johann Kraus was hosting a séance for a small group. While he was partially on the ethereal plane, the Chengdou disaster struck. No one knows the specifics, but it involved an ancient terra cotta statuette in the care of the Chinese government. The result was essentially a psychic Chernobyl. Everyone within a hundred miles of the disaster itself had their souls "consumed", reducing them to mindless husks. On the ethereal plane, however, the disaster was much greater; everyone not physically in their body within three thousand miles of the incident was instantly incinerated.

The only survivor was Krauss, and some would argue that he died as well. His ectoplasmic form survived when his body was incinerated, and knowing he would soon dissipate without a physical body, he sought out the best paranormal minds on the planet for help - the B.P.R.D.. At first he persisted in a bizarre transparent tank apparatus developed by the B.P.R.D for other purposes, and eventually the technology was sized down into the distinctive containment suit. Kate Corrigan has said of him that, "He's not dead. He just doesn't have a body anymore."

After the loss of Hellboy, Krauss was hired to replenish the Bureau's pool of 'enhanced talents'. Krauss soon proved an invaluable member of the team. His talents are better than ever, a situation similar to a musician who has lost his eyesight. Where once he could speak with the dead, now he can give them temporary physical form. He no longer requires rest. He works constantly and is, as of the Garden of Souls storyline, researching the files culled from the sub-basement of the Bureau's Colorado mountain base.

Powers

Because Johann is made of ectoplasm and has no physical body, he requires neither sleep nor food. However, the extreme sensitivity of his psychic powers makes him vulnerable to psychic attack. His physical ectoplasm can be overtaken by stronger spirits, who are then made corporeal. (This can be either dangerous or helpful, depending on the spirit's nature.)

The only protection Johann has from dissipation is his B.P.R.D.-built containment suit; once the suit is breached, he must find a new container for his essence as soon as possible or he will cease to be. Whether or not the suit is affected by temperature is unclear; during a mission to Canada (during B.P.R.D.:The Black Flame) Johann wore a parka over his suit, although it is possible that he wore it to either fit in with the other members or because his containment suit lacks pockets, as he makes a reference in an earlier story that he said that he thought that he would never be warm again.

Krauss is also a capable shot with most conventional firearms, as seen in The Black Flame.

B.P.R.D.: Killing Ground

Following the events of The Garden of Souls, a soulless body was recovered from Indonesia. In the opening chapter of Killing Ground, it is revealed that Kraus has imbued the body with his essence, regaining a mortal form. Kraus' new form was that of a gigantic Caucasian male; he described the body as having 'the strength of ten men'. Krauss soon engaged a transformed Ben Daimio in combat in Killing Ground #4; the beastly Daimio (who had become a jaguar-like monster) tore Johann's jaw off. As his body slumped to the ground, Kraus's ectoplasmic form rose from his body. Instead of assuming the form of Johann, the ectoplasm instead became the ghost of the pulp hero Lobster Johnson.

In other media

File:Johannkraus.jpg

"Johann Krauss" in Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Krauss was one of four characters that appeared in Mezco Toyz' 2006 Hellboy Comic action figure line.

Johann Kraus appeared in the 2008 film Hellboy II: The Golden Army. In the film his name is spelled "Johann Krauss". He is quoted as "Quite the big shot in Washington". He is the head of Ectoplasmic Research and when Hellboy revealed himself to the public Johann was called in to be the B.P.R.D. team leader. He was disliked by Hellboy because he was German and a by the book man. After Krauss pointed out that Hellboy couldn't take criticism they had a fight in the B.P.R.D. locker room that Krauss won. His suit was mentioned to have been designed by Hellboy's adoptive-father Professor Broom. His movements were supplied by British actors John Alexander and James Dodd, and his voice was performed by Seth MacFarlane, replacing the previously cast Thomas Kretschmann.

Unlike in the comics, Krauss can leave his containment suit to possess anything from machines to living things, instead of being possessed himself he even possesed one of the golden armys soldiers and held his own in the end fight along with Hellboy, and can even appear as a roughly humanoid shape in ghost form. He also had a love in his life whose death is tied to how he became an ectoplasmic entity.