The Wonder Weapons are fictional weapons used to kill zombies with.
After the meteorite landed in Russia in the early 1900s, Germany wanted some of the pie. They took what they could grab and created "Energy Drinks" (Perk-a-Colas) to enhance their soldiers with during WWI. But during WWII, the German Government formed Group 935 and 936. They were two groups which focused on making Germany the greatest world power via ultimate weaponry and nearly-invincible soldiers.
Once the Germans lost WWI, they needed to repay a massive debt. The German Government informed the impatient Allies that they needed to complete some research or else they would not be able to finish paying off their massive debt.
Rather than giving the Allies money, they bought a large load of Element 115 from the Russians. They then used this 115 to create soldier-enhancing drinks and overpowered guns that could destroy an Allied army in one shot.
While Group 936 worked on the perk machines, Group 935 focused on weaponry.
But who are the members of 935?
Formed by the German Government, Group 935 consisted of:
-Dr. Ludvig Maxis, who led projects and personally created the Thundergun with minor help from a Russian traitor.
-Dr. Edward Rictofen, Maxis' assistant who suggested a "destraction strapped to dynamite" (Mokey Bombs) and drew original plans of the Wunderwaffe DG (a failed experiment).
-Sophia [Maxis], Maxis' secret lover and the mother of Samantha Maxis. She was also involved with creation of teleportation, for she was the first subject.
-Peter McCain, a brainwashed American operative who joined Group 935 shortly before it was disbanded.
-H. Porter, an American disguised as a German scientist. He created the Ray Gun and the initial scheme for the Wave Gun. He infiltrated 935 and managed to escape with top secret blueprints for Stamin-Up, which were retrieved by the Russians after his untimely death.
-Harvey Yena, an American operative sent alongside Peter McCain. He, too, was brainwashed before revealing the plans for an American "disintegration" gun.
-Dr. Schuster, Rictofen's lesser, who had the master plans for teleportation but was killed off by zombies before the layout was finally completed.
-Dr. Groph, the only other scientist to escape Der Reise alive. He planned to overthrow Der Reise but was beaten to it by the zombie horde. Escaped via teleporter to the future, where he established Griffin Station with the Americans.
-V. Bush, an early member of 935 who was later transferred to Group 936 to work on PhD Flopper and Stamin-Up along with H. Porter.
-Samantha Maxis & Fluffy, the daughter of Sophia and Ludvig Maxis and her dog. Samantha managed to escape while Dr. Maxis was not so lucky, for he was massacred by a Hellhound-turned Fluffy.
What is Group 935's plan?
Their plan was to create a master armory for the German soldiers, who would be aided by Group 936's "Energy Drinks".
Upon creation, only Maxis, Rictofen, Sophia, Porter, Schuster, Groph, and Bush were apart of 935. They began immediate work on a mysterious project known as "Project Porter" to the German population. This project was said to "win the way, as long as you stay shut."
Maxis, Rictofen, and Porter all took lead on this project while the others took inventory.
Soon the Prototype Ray Gun was born. Early tests showed that it decayed raw materials over time. Maxis decided to add a higher concentration of 115 to its battery, making the rays destroy all natural materials within seconds.
Porter was originally given credit to the creation but was pulled off the project when "Operation: Speed Juice" was put into play by Group 936. Both Porter and Bush were removed from 935 and the Ray Gun was credited to Maxis.
Shortly after, Rictofen produced the Wunderwaffe DG, which zapped a bolt of lightning into enemies and transferred high voltage into all nearby electrically-charged objects. After several first tests, the weapon proved to be worthy. But a freak accident next to an early-stage teleporter fried several spectating scientists from Group 936.
Soon the German Government called for skilled scientists looking for jobs which could cost them their lives. As undercover agents, two scientists (Peter McCain and Harvey Yena) stepped in. Right away Maxis and Rictofen believed something was wrong and suspected them of being undercover spies.
Declining everything, Maxis brainwashed the two Americans and rebuilt them from scratch. Yena, though, revealed important american weapon plans about a gun that could transform anything into nothing. Maxis made Yena rewrite the blueprints and give them to him.
Soon, though, Yena regained his memory and escaped to Russia with his redrawn blueprints. Group 935 did not track him down.
Soon, test subjects from various places around the world were introduced to the team. Rictofen was their master. The subjects were Takeo Masaki, Nikolai Belinski, and an unnamed Mexican. Rictofen had successfully brainwashed them (unlike Maxis had done with Yena). They were going to join 935 and help support in the war effort. Peter McCain joined the other three and the "original group" was formed.
During tests which took place at an Asylum far from Der Riese, Rictofen accidentally killed the Mexican with excessive use of Juggernog, thinking he would eventually become invincible. Shortly after returning to Der Riese, the Asylum was attacked by a group of Marines on a suicide mission. Three of the Marines were killed by an unknown force while the other was taken away for further investigation by Dr. Groph.
Groph gave up the American (Tank Dempsey) to Maxis and Rictofen, who performed similar tests on him that had been done on Takeo, Nikolai, and the Mexican. Contrary to the dying Mexican, Tank managed to survive the excessive amounts of 115. They wiped his memory and finished construction on their revamped Wunderwaffe DG-2, which had been repaired of its original bug.
But Der Riese still had time before the zombie outbreak (which is, yet again, a seperate topic), and Rictofen suggested a "distraction strapped to dynamite" for their next problem. Maxis stole his daughter's wind-up monkey toy and showed it to Rictofen, who quickly tossed it aside. The toy accidentally fell into a nearby furnace.
The next day, another toy monkey mysteriously wound up on Rictofen's desk. Belieiving it was Maxis and knowing he would be persistent, Rictofen created the "Cymbal Monkeys" and left it for Maxis to see. When asked how he had gotten a second wind-up monkey, Maxis simply said, "I didn't put that there." Rictofen merely shrugged it off and shipped the Monkeys to the Der Riese Manufacturing Plant to be mass-produced.
The next weapon created was a secret side project designed and constructed by Maxis. He kept it hidden from Rictofen, thinking that he would want all the credit. He was designing the Thundergun, which was titled "Project DG-3" in Maxis' log reports.
At one point, Rictofen read Maxis' log and questioned him about the DG-3. Maxis told him that it was a failed project and that he would no longer be working on it, which was a lie. (Later on in Kino der Toten, Rictofen says something along the lines of, "So that's what Maxis was working on!")
The Thundergun was completed and sent to the plant to create only two more copies. But something went horribly wrong and one of the Thunderguns was shipped to Russia. (This is how the Thundergun gets in Ascension. Later on, Tank Dempsey manages to send one to America, where it will be analyzed by the Pentagon Thief before his death.)
In a spur-of-the-moment fit of anger, Maxis smashes one of the Thundergun copies and trashes both devices. He momentarily cancels the project.
Who are the members of the Ascension Group?
Formed 15 years after a mysterious arrival of a "Wind Cannon" by the Russian Government, which consisted of two sole members, but were later joined by an American:
-Gersch, the leader of the group. He assigned the group "Project Thunder", which was an analysis of the German DG-3 after the Der Riese Manufacturing Plant accidentally shipped it to the Russian Government.
-Yuri Kravcheski, the assistant to Gersch who was eventually driven mad (much like the Pentagon Thief).
-Harvey Yena, the American who replaces Yuri but is killed by zombie monkeys.
What is the Ascension Group's plan?
The Ascension Group, unlike Group 935 and 936, are a research group trying to uncover the secrets behind the Thundergun when they accidentally discover Element 115. They then use it to create master weapons, much like Maxis and Rictofen, but not to use against the United States (because it's the Cold War era).
As mentioned above, Maxis' creation, the Thundergun, was accidentally shipped to Russia. It was examined and was dubbed dangerous. But it was kept for future research. Fifteen years after its arrival, the Russian Government put together two of the brightest scientists in the Soviet Union: Gersch and Yuri.
They began working on the Thundergun's coding and, once it was revealed, extracted a small amount of 115 from it. They found out it could be used to create biological weapons of mass destruction. So, naturally, they began making them.
The first weapon (dubbed "Project Mercury") was a momentary black hole device, which sucked anything too close to it into an unknown void. The original model ran on high amounts of Mercury, which was highly poisonous. They created a second model and filled it with tiny amounts of Mercury and the same amount of 115. The result was the Gersch Device.
The Group kept at their work, inventing a gun to blast high energy and strength into you. This was "Project Vrill", and (you might have guessed) this created the V-R11. Little did they know, but this gun would transform undead beings bac into humans.
But Yuri began to go mad. Maybe it was the mercury, maybe the 115, maybe even the Thundergun's coding (which seemed to be much easier to crack for the Russians than for the Americans), but he was transferred to the CCCP Space Program. He was assigned to launch test monkeys into space.
The Russian Government began threatening to shut Gersch down unless he found a new assistant. And this is when Harvey Yena came along. He was the escaped American from Der Riese almost 20 years prior. He had been wandering the Russian countryside since WWII.
Harvey (being a scientist) quickly agreed to join Gersch and they began working on a new project. It was an idea that Harvey had thought up and given to the US Government. They had declined. His chance was now and Gersch agreed on the plans.
They began construction for a sniper rifle which vaporised objects it hit. The downside was that a high amount of 115 was needed in order for the gun to do as planned.
But the project was put on hold when a Russian search party came back with plans for a vending machine. Gersch and Harvey started on the new project as soon as possible.
But they needed more 115. There was none left in the Thndergun. But there was a small amount in the V-R11, which was all they needed. But news quicly spread to Gersch that the Russian guards who had found Stamin-Up's blueprints had taken the V-R11 and left it on the ship by mistake.
By now, Gersch was about done with all the screw-ups around him. He threatened to abandon the Ascension Group but was approached by Yuri. Yuri told him that he had found a journal with coordinates where 115 was hidden. Gersch ordered an excavation and welcomed Yuri back into the Ascension Group.
They dug up what was needed and implemented it in both the Stamin-Up machine and the Scavenger, which was the official name of the new weapon. Gersch then ordered the ten Russian guards to go back and fetch the V-R11, no matter what happened.
The guards said that they had found some freaky cannibals living there, but Gersch insisted that they go. And they never came back.
Soon the Russian Government dispersed the Stamin-Up to all military bases. The military called for more "Enhancer Fluids" and the Government forwarded this messege to the Ascension Group.
It was then decided that Harvey Yena be the one to locate more blueprints from an old shutdown factory in Germany known as Der Riese. Harvey, remembering the place very well, declined. But Gersch ordered him to go.
Harvey (and his fellow Russian guards) encountered several zombies and were only able to grab a blueprint of PhD Flopper and the Pack-a-Punch Machine. Harvey was the only one who returned but was praised for his discoveries.
Soon, the Ascension Group was an acclaimed scientific group across the USSR. They rebuilt the Scavenger, V-R11, PhD Flopper machine, and completed a sole prototype of the Pack-a-Punch Machine: the second one to be created.
Their next and final project would be another grenade type, which Yuri had thought of upon seeing Matryoshka Dolls in an old box. The grenades, Yuri said, would explode multiple times. The grenades would pop out of other grenades, much like the Dolls.
"And what shall we call them?" Gersch asked.
"Why, Matryoshka Grenades, of course!" replied an enthusiastic Yuri.
The project was completed and the grenades were shipped to the military.
But Yuri's madness was not done. He brought it to Gersch's attention that the Gersch Devices would not work properly unless you switched the on button twice. Gersch fell into the trick and was sucked into the black hole. Yuri informed the Russian Government and threated to disband the Ascension Group unless Gersch were to return in a week. When he didn't, the group was shut down and they were forced to send Harvey to Vorkuta.
But before they were able to send him away, zombies began crawling to the Russian Cosmodrome. It became overrun and Yuri was killed before he could escape. Harvey, however, boarded himself up in a small room. A window in the room he was in was open and zombie space monkeys climbed in and killed him.
As for Gersch, he was sent to the Kassimir Mechanism and was not overrun by the zombies.
Who are Brock and Gary?
Brock and Gary are two explorers searching for Shangri-La. They do come across it, but discover a mining crew led by Dr. Maxis. The time period is during WWI.
What are Brock and Gary's plans?
Brock and Gary are just trying to prove to someone or everyone or even themselves that Shangri-La (the land version of Atlantis) does exist. They do prove this, but there are others who have proven it first.
During WWI, Dr. Maxis learned of the Lost Temple of Shangri-La. He and his crew went searching for it and found it. They began digging to find hidden treasures but instead came across large glowing rocks. This would not be the last time that Maxis would play with 115.
They dug large samples of the rock and Maxis had an idea to win the war with, a common theme to Maxis. He constructed a gun which shrunk people down. Unfortunately, the effect did not last long (but it was painful). Maxis ditched the gun and the mining project. (The gun runs on the presence of 115, which is why it's only found used on this map because of the large amounts of it.)
Not long before leaving the mines, two exploreres enter their researching grounds: Brock and Gary. Maxis knows that the two cannot find out about their projects or 115, so he kills them both and leaves them to rot for the animals.
Years later, the over-exposure of 115 to the open ground stirs up the zombie outbreak in Shangri-La, but Maxis is long gone (and dead) before this happens.