Character Spotlight: Johann Kraus

Back in 1946, Johann Kraus was born, and it only took him until his tenth birthday to discover his astonishing mental powers. He has the ability to see the dead and also to give them form. A few years after he discovered these fantastic powers, he tried using the occult to get some answers. After that yielded no results, he turned to religion. He later moved to Munich and became a famous medium. In 2002, he attended a seance that went out of control. This disaster killed everyone with the exception of Johann. Well, his body was incinerated, but his spirit, in an ectoplasmic form, lived on. He then sought out the foremost authority on these kinds of things with the B.P.R.D.
Johann was originally put into a container, but then the bureau fitted him with a containment suit to give him some matter of shape or form. At this point, he was ready for action, but didn’t really get heavy into being a field agent until the disappearance of Hellboy. He has almost single-handedly built the archives of information that is housed in the bureau’s Colorado facility. Using these vast archives, Johann discovered that Ben Daimio’s grandmother was a Nazi scientist. This revelation caused some grief between the two for some time. Johann had one close friend on the team, though – Roger. The two went through thick and thin, but then when Roger was killed, and it was partly Daimio’s fault, things got worse.

Later, the B.P.R.D. came into possession of two bodies that were scientifically grown. Johann entered one of them, and began to indulge himself with every sensation that he couldn’t before. This was great for a time, but then Daimio was turned into a ravenous beast and tore through the bureau, killing many. All this time, Johann was out living it up, while others were being killed. He has since dedicated his life to searching out Daimio and his family to destroy them. He has an ancient blade that can supposedly kill Daimio. He very recently found out that he needed a little assistance in addition to this blade to take down Daimio (B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth).
Johann seems to have bonded quite well with Kate Corrigan. The two were on a mission in Russia recently, and had to work side by side with their country’s paranormal team. That seemed to end well on the surface, but Johann became quite close to one of their agents who bears a striking resemblance to Johann. What the future holds for this psychic member of the team, no one knows, but he’s certainly proven his worth over and over!
Recommended Reading
B.P.R.D.: Hollow Earth & Other stories – Tpb (Dark Horse Extra #42 – first appearance)
B.P.R.D.: The Soul of Venice & Other Stories – Tpb
B.P.R.D.: The Black Flame – Tpb
B.P.R.D.: Plague of Frogs vol. 1, 2 & 3- Tpb
B.P.R.D.: The Universal Machine – Tpb
B.P.R.D.: The Ectoplasmic Man (one-shot)
B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth: Russia #1-5 (2011)
B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth: The Long Death #1-3 (2012)