Johann Kraus
Appeared in	Hollow Earth
Actor	John Alexander Seth MacFarlane (voice)
Gender	Male
Species	Human (deceased, exists as ectoplasmic spirit)
Family	Unknown
Occupation	B.P.R.D. Field Agent
Creator	Mike Mignola
First Comic Appearance	B.P.R.D.: Hollow Earth #1

Biography Edit

Johann Krauss was Born in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1946. He began to be aware of his psychic abilities when he was ten years old, when he started to see people that others could not and slowly realized that these were ghosts. Johann was frustrated that he could not communicate with the ghosts and this frustration eventually lead to him studying spiritualism under an elderly German woman by the name of Anneliese Stiener. Through Stiener Johann met many other spiritualists and was exposed to a variety of occult studies. Ultimately he did not like the direction of the group and cut himself off from his mentor. On his own, he learned how to communicate with the dead, and eventually to send his own spirit out of his body and into the etheric plane. In 1971, Johann opened a small office in Munich, where he became a well-respected medium before relocating to Heidelberg.

The Chengdou disaster Edit

In February 2002, In Chengdou, China a warehouse containing occult artifacts seized by the Chinese government was broken into. The thief unwittingly opened a small Jade figurine releasing a massive burst of psychic energy killing every one within a hundred miles and sending a shock wave across the etheric plane. At that time Johann Kraus was hosting a séance, in Heidelberg for the family of the late Heinrich Wagner. The spirit of a recently deceased Chinese boy reached through the etheric plane, asking Johann for help from the Chengdou disaster. The shock wave conducted through the boy, then through Johann killing the whole Wagner family and destroying Johann's Body.

BPRDEdit

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 was sustained inside a transparent tank apparatus developed by the B.P.R.D for other purposes, and eventually the technology was sized down into his 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, Kraus was hired to replenish the Bureau's pool of 'enhanced talents'. Kraus soon proved an invaluable member of the team. His psychic abilities are better than ever due to his condition (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. Johann is also an accomplished scholar in occult lore and, since he no longer requires rest, works constantly. As of the Garden of Souls storyline, he was helping to research and organize the mountains of files culled from the sub-basement of the Bureau's new base in the Colorado mountains.

Powers and AbilitiesEdit

Even before the destruction of his body, Johann Kraus was a gifted and experienced medium, possessing the ability to both talk to spirits and astral project his own out of the confines of his flesh. Being reduced to a soul within a containment suit has not lessened either of these abilities; in many ways Kraus has become even more effective at what he does thanks to his condition.

In his current state Kraus can grant ghosts temporary physical forms to allow them to talk with non-mediums. His lack of a body means that he does not need to eat, drink, sleep, or breathe. He also has greater resistance to adverse conditions, such as weather, thanks to his containment suit.

Like the film Johann in the comics has shown signs of body possession powers. were he was able to take a new body inhabiting a soulless husk and when in jam were his suit was damaged he inhabited the body of a dead dog.

Kraus has also demonstrated many useful non-supernatural talents, including good people skills and organizational skills. Kraus is well liked by those around him, and is considered very reliable.

Kraus's primary weakness is his dependence on his containment suit. Without it he begins to dissipate and will eventually die. This can occur even with minor damage to the suit.

FilmEdit

Hellboy II: The Golden Army Edit

As of Hellboy's more public exposure to the world, Washington sends in Kraus to make sure to do the job right. He locates the Troll Market through a dead tooth fairy, which he partially possesses. Stalking a troll to gain entrance, Kraus tries to have Hellboy restrain himself but his unorthodox methods lead them to the Market. Kraus tried questioning two trolls and their tumor, but Hellboy punches the information out of them.

In the showers of BPRD headquarters, Kraus informed Hellboy of his greatest weakness: his temper, which abruptly triggers Hellboy to shatter his glass dome. In his ectoplasm, Kraus took possession of the wall of lockers to comedically beat Hellboy with the doors.

After Nuada kidnaps his sister and leaves Hellboy wounded, the BPRD was determined to figure out where the Golden Army was located. Kraus tracked it to Northern Ireland. When he said they could go without Hellboy, Liz Sherman snapped at him, saying he lost his humanity. Looking at the bag containing his and his beloved's rings, he joins Sherman, Hellboy and Abe Sapien in their unauthorized mission to find the Golden Army. During the battle, Kraus possessed one of the Golden Soldiers to attack the others. But the current body was sliced in half by another. After it was over, Kraus leaves the BPRD with the other agents.

Differences With the Comic version Edit

In the film Johann Krauss lost his body in (presumably) an attempt to reclaim his dead wife (he told Abe and Liz that he would tell them the story at a later date,). Also, unlike in the comics, Johann is able to keep his ectoplasmic form together outside of his containment suit, and can also possess machines by leaving his suit and entering them. Another difference from his comic book counterpart is his ability to temporarily re-animate dead creatures by placing some of his soul inside them.