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- "Greetings. If you are receiving this message, it means that Richtofen has entered the device. If you free me, I will help you minimize the damage that he will inevitably cause."
- — Said after the Big Bang Theory Easter Egg is started.
Dr. Ludvig Maxis is an antagonist of the Zombies storyline, the lead scientist part of the project known as "Der Riese" and was the father of Samantha Maxis. The player can discover information about him after activating hidden radios. He was the leader of Group 935, aiding in the creation of the Zombies and Hellhounds. He can be heard on several radio/films reels and occasionally while in the teleporter. A photograph of Maxis appears in Origins' intro cutscene. Maxis reappears in Shadows of Evil through a voice cameo, while both the original and the Origins versions of Maxis appear in The Giant. Maxis' voice is also used for traps and mechanics in The Giant and Der Eisendrache.
Biography
Original Timeline
Before Richtofen's Betrayal
Dr. Maxis worked with Richtofen, at a Waffenfabrik (German for weapons factory) codenamed Der Riese located near Breslau, Germany. He was the leader of a secret organization named Group 935. Along with the rest of Group 935, he created the Zombies, Hellhounds and the Teleporters using Element 115. He created the 31-79 JGb215, evidenced through quotes said by Richtofen on Shangri-La. As the experiments on Der Riese continued, Maxis became worried about Richtofen as he believed Richtofen was becoming a threat to him and his daughter's lives. Before the zombie outbreak, Maxis was romantically attracted to Sophia, which distracted him from his duties as the Group 935 leader. Richtofen believed Maxis was distracted and was unfit to lead Group 935 and when Richtofen learned that he didn't keep his promise to mass-produce the Wunderwaffe DG-2, Richtofen conspired against him.
Richtofen's Betrayal
Doctor Maxis was working on an experiment with his assistant Edward Richtofen that involved his daughter's pregnant dog named Fluffy. He attempted to teleport Fluffy, but the plan failed. Fluffy teleported but did not return at the Mainframe. She was teleported back to the Teleporter by an electrical force. Maxis demanded the door to be opened, but Edward refused. When they finally opened the door, Fluffy had transformed into the first Hellhound. Samantha ran into the room, asking her father, Maxis, what he had done to her dog. The Hellhound began to attack, destroying the room. Maxis tried to calm and reassure his daughter and then tried to escape, but Richtofen locked the door behind him, trapping him and Samantha with the raging Hellhound. Richtofen then activated the Teleporter and Maxis teleported.
Post-Betrayal
Maxis was apparently teleported to a tomb. Samantha was teleported to Griffin Station and trapped in the M.P.D. Richtofen, realizing that Maxis wasn't dead, told Groph to find him and calm down Samantha. When brought to his daughter, Maxis apologized to her for all that he had done to her, and then told her to kill all the members of Group 935 for betraying him. A gunshot is then heard as Samantha began her killing spree.
Stopping Richtofen's Plan
Due to his suspicions of Richtofen, Maxis had an emergency plan should Richtofen kill him and try and succeed in taking control of the zombies. When Richtofen activated the MPD and entered the Aether by switching his soul with Samantha Maxis, Maxis enlisted the help of Tank Dempsey, Nikolai Belinski, Takeo Masaki and his daughter Samantha (now in Richtofen's former body) to launch three missiles at the Earth, intending to sever the link between the planet and the Aether. Unfortunately, the hasty calculations led to the world's incineration, resulting in the death of billions.
Aftermath
After the Earth's destruction, Maxis, currently an AI-rendered being, then activated his backup plan should his first fail, which was activating global polarization devices to overpower Richtofen and heal the Earth. However, after the disappearance of his daughter, Samantha Maxis, he instead secretly planned to utilize the Aether's energies to destroy the Earth and open the gateway to Agartha, the legendary city in Earth's core, where he believed Samantha was located. Using electronics for communication, Maxis enlisted the assistance of many survivors, whom he used to his advantage, including Abigail "Misty" Briarton, Russman, Marlton Johnson and Samuel Stuhlinger. The four completed a task for him in the cornfields of the Hanford Site, which included the polarizing of a pylon found in the site's cornfields. Following their mission in Washington, Maxis regained contact with the group of survivors after being teleported to Shanghai by Richtofen, where he once again used them to create an energy field to power the polarization device located there.
The Rift
With two of the three polarization devices in effect, Maxis searched the crumbling world to discover the Rift, a series of catacombs in the remnants of Angola where the final polarization device was located. While promising his corporeal allies the device would finally heal the Earth, he secretly knew the Rift could supply a direct gateway to Agartha, where a buried western town was entombed.
If the player decides to follow Maxis' orders in all three Easter Eggs, Maxis will overpower Richtofen and enter the Aether, assuming power over all vital energies that he uses to begin the process of destroying the Earth to open the gateway to Agartha and reunite himself with Samantha. In vengeance against Richtofen, Maxis banishes his soul from the Aether and traps it within a blue-eyed zombie, eternally damning him to walk the Earth as an undead being.
If the player decides to follow Richtofen's orders in all three Easter Eggs, Maxis will be unable to enter the Aether as the energy from the devices is used to strengthen the link between Aether and Earth, granting Richtofen even more power and forcing Maxis to cease existence within his AI form.
Origins Timeline
Dr. Maxis along with his assistant and good friend, Edward Richtofen, and several members of Group 935 traveled to Northern France in order to harvest Element 115 from deep underground. His research yielded many interesting results, from an ancient box that can pull out weapons from different eras to staffs that wield different elemental powers. While at the site, Maxis began to hear a voice of a girl named Samantha, who claimed to be his daughter while being trapped within Agartha. Richtofen also took note of this, and began to worry about his mental instability.
However, the men who worked at the site began to disappear; some were found dead. Reports of ancient figures attacking from deep within the excavation area were heard. Many soldiers were infected with Element 115, and began to turn into zombies. Maxis also succumbed to the plague, and was on the verge of turning. Richtofen managed to strap Maxis down and lobotomize him, preserving his brain in the process. Only moments after finishing his work, Richtofen was encountered by three soldiers: Tank Dempsey, Nikolai Belinski, and Takeo Masaki. Together, the four of them fought against the forces of the undead. Richtofen also proceeded to construct a quadrotor drone, using Maxis' brain to operate it. Having possessed a machine, Maxis had no choice but to cooperate with Richtofen's plan. At the end, after freeing Samantha from Agartha, Maxis flew into the portal to Agartha to see her. It is unknown what became of him afterwards.
Two years after the events of Origins, Dempsey, Nikolai and Takeo went on a hunt for Richtofen, who intended to travel across various dimensions to kill all of his alternate counterparts. After several failed attempts, they land in another timeline, where Richtofen once again succeeds in his plans by killing this timeline's Richtofen (who just managed to teleport Maxis and Samantha away only moments before encountering the Origins characters). They band together once more against the zombie horde roaming the Der Riese facility.
All across the facility, various radios can be found of Dr. Maxis, from different timelines, discussing the state of the universe, as well as Samantha, with three messages specifically from Origins Maxis for Richtofen. After activating a beacon outside the facility, Origins Maxis (who is located in an unknown dimension) contacts the group, telling them that he will soon find them, and that they can ensure a better future for the children
In an another universe, where Zombies exist as toys for children, Maxis takes care of two children: Samantha and Eddie. This place is later called The House. After a game of zombies where Samantha and Eddie argue about Sam's knowledge of zombies, a siren sounds, prompting Maxis to tell the children to go down the basement. As Eddie wishes for the heroes in their story to be real, Samantha assures him that her father "has a plan".
At some point in this timeline, a nuclear explosion happened, forcing the children to be evacuated, while Maxis stays at their house. He ponders upon the results of the actions taken during the war he is participating in, and whether the cost was worth it.
Later on, Richtofen, Dempsey, Takeo, and Nikolai arrive at the house after the souls of their older selves were sent there to be turned into children. Richtofen shows Maxis the summoning key, which causes Maxis to hear voices. One night while he was asleep, was told by the voices to help him. He walked downstairs and grabbed the summoning key which caused Maxis to become trapped inside, and releasing the Shadowman, who proceeds to let the Apothicons inhabit the house. Nonetheless, the Origins characters manage to defeat the Shadowman, and Maxis sacrifices himself, along with Sophia, to save the universe.
Gallery
Trivia
- At Der Riese there is a door with the name "L. Maxis M.D." meaning that it was his office.
- In Kino der Toten, Maxis's voice sounds different than in Der Riese and Moon.
- It also sounds different in Call of Duty: Black Ops II than in the other games' maps.
- It is revealed in a Moon radio that his wife is dead.
- Ludvig Maxis wrote Group 935's Field Operation Manual.
- His diary can be read when selecting the option to play online for Zombies in Call of Duty: Black Ops II. However, it was temporarily replaced with Al's Journal for Mob of the Dead's release, though it went back to his Diary, with a new entry for Buried's release. However, it was replaced again with Richtofen Diary for Origins' release.
- Maxis' betrayal is foreshadowed in T.V. Broadcasts in both Green Run and Die Rise.
- One of the survivors somehow knows of his plan and decides to destroy everything electrical to avoid hearing him.
- While the Demonic Announcer, Maxis is silent while the players pick up Power-Ups.
- In the Origins timeline, Richtofen's second letter shows that Maxis was possibly losing his sanity long before Richtofen himself, as he notes Maxis chasing "myths and legends" and feeling it necessary to report his "mental instability" to the leaders of Group 935.
- The letter also mentions Maxis is being influenced by a "girl".
- Maxis's character model bears extreme resemblance to Daniel C. Dennett, a noted philosopher who famously wrote about removing the brain from the body and preserving it to remote control other bodies.
- According to Jason Blundell in an interview, Maxis is allergic to peanut butter.[1]
- In the Revelations prologue, Maxis bears a resemblance to the Male Player.
References
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