Worm Wiki
Register
Advertisement
The email stated that the zip file had copies of inter-company emails where he’d told his coworkers he went to places like South America or Paris, and flight records showed that he was lying. He always went to London.

Taylor, Buzz 7.4

Krieg, real name James Fliescher,[1] is a member of Empire Eighty-Eight.

Personality[]

In battle, Victoria Dallon implies he had a natural predisposition to fight rather than flee.[4]

Krieg's faction of Empire Eighty-Eight had more resources and infrastructure than other factions because of his Gesellschaft connections. Thus, they were relatively top-end in training, organization, and presentation. He attracted capes such as Alabaster.[5]

Unlike his fellow lieutenants Hookwolf and Purity, who formed the Chosen and the Pure after Kaiser's death to Leviathan, Krieg instead moved to London to manage things for Gesellschaft.[3]

Relationships[]

Kaiser[]

Kaiser trusted him enough to name him as one of his lieutenants in Empire Eighty-Eight.[6][7]

Theo Anders[]

He was respectful towards Kaiser's son.[8]

Abilities and Powers[]

Krieg can affect kinetic forces in a wide radius around him, though the strength of his manipulation tapers off with distance (i.e., strongest in close proximity which gives him his Brute rating).[2] For example, he can slow down, disrupt, or deflect hostile forces via controlled, unconscious alteration of air friction/resistance. Hostile enemies may have trouble breathing. In addition, his actions have increased results for energy involved: his punt sent Manpower flying through a brick wall.[9] However, sufficiently powerful kinetic attacks such as a melee charge from Leviathan can still take him out of the fight.[10]

Victoria's aura causes him to get angrier instead.[4]

History[]

Background[]

For nearly 20 years prior to May 2011, he had an established identity as Krieg in Brockton Bay. He and his family also took an out-of-country vacation twice a year. In his civilian identity, he falsely claimed to his coworkers that he was going to places like South America or France. However, in reality he was going to London,[1] presumably because an office of Gesellschaft was located here.[3]

Story Start[]

As a member of Empire Eighty-Eight, his secret identity was leaked to the press by Coil.[11]

In the clashes that followed this outing, he and his faction fought alongside the factions of Purity and the Clans.[12] In a fight against New Wave, Krieg punted Manpower through a brick wall.[13][9]

In a discarded Coil timeline, he and his allies defeated the Undersiders in a direct confrontation.[14][15]

Battle against Leviathan[]

He intended to fight Leviathan, but was put out of commission by the Endbringer during an early stage of the conflict.[10]

Post-Leviathan[]

Recovering, Krieg went back to London to manage things for Gesellschaft.[3] The Pure still considered him an ally and a point of contact.[16]

Chapter Appearances[]

Worm Chapter Appearances
Hive
1. Hive 5.1 Debut
2. Hive 5.2 Appears
3. Hive 5.3 Absent
4. Hive 5.4 Absent
5. Hive 5.5 Absent
6. Hive 5.6 Absent
7. Hive 5.7 Absent
8. Hive 5.8 Absent
9. Hive 5.9 Absent
10. Hive 5.10 Absent
x. Interlude 5 Absent
Buzz
1. Buzz 7.1 Absent
2. Buzz 7.2 Absent
3. Buzz 7.3 Absent
4. Buzz 7.4 Mentioned
5. Buzz 7.5 Absent
6. Buzz 7.6 Mentioned
7. Buzz 7.7 Absent
8. Buzz 7.8 Absent
9. Buzz 7.9 Appears
10. Buzz 7.10 Absent
11. Buzz 7.11 Absent
12. Buzz 7.12 Absent
x. Interlude 7 Absent
Extermination
1. Extermination 8.1 Absent
2. Extermination 8.2 Appears
y. Interlude 8.y Absent
3. Extermination 8.3 Absent
4. Extermination 8.4 Absent
5. Extermination 8.5 Absent
6. Extermination 8.6 Absent
7. Extermination 8.7 Absent
8. Extermination 8.8 Absent
z. Interlude 8.z Absent
Queen
1. Queen 18.1 Absent
2. Queen 18.2 Absent
x. Interlude 18.x Absent
3. Queen 18.3 Absent
4. Queen 18.4 Absent
y. Interlude 18.y Mentioned
5. Queen 18.5 Absent
6. Queen 18.6 Absent
z. Interlude 18.z Absent
7. Queen 18.7 Absent
8. Queen 18.8 Absent
f. Interlude 18.f Absent
i. Interlude 18 Absent
Sting
1. Sting 26.1 Absent
2. Sting 26.2 Absent
3. Sting 26.3 Absent
x. Interlude 26.x Absent
4. Sting 26.4 Absent
5. Sting 26.5 Absent
6. Sting 26.6 Absent
a. Interlude 26a Absent
b. Interlude 26b Mentioned
y. Interlude 26 Absent

Trivia[]

  • Krieg is the German word for war.
  • Mr. Fliescher is not related to Rune.[17]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Krieg was alleged to be a James Fliescher. Head of a pharmacy chain, in turn connected to Medhall. Father of three, married. According to the notes in his block of information, he took a vacation twice a year with his family. The email stated that the zip file had copies of inter-company emails where he’d told his coworkers he went to places like South America or Paris, and flight records showed that he was lying. He always went to London. Twice a year, every year, for nearly twenty years. Not once, during these trips, had Krieg been seen in Brockton Bay. - Excerpt from Buzz 7.4
  2. 2.0 2.1 James Fleischer Krieg Wide range kinetic manipulation, more powerful closer to him, resulting in brute classification. E88 - Parahuman List, bolded edit by Wildbow
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 TotalAbsolutism: And yet Leviathan squashed him like a little bug. Off-screen, no less. Just another example for 'holy fuck the Endbringers are terrifying'.

    ... Actually, while we still have Wildbow here (maybe), was any of the earlier speculation by myself and others into the ability of the Endbringers to actually just kill everyone everywhere right?

    Wildbow: This may totally be me just getting something wrong, but my memory is that Krieg went back to the London office to manage things for Gesellschaft. - Conversation with Wildbow on Spacebattles
  4. 4.0 4.1 But Lung was part of the handful I’d fought where I could input fear and get anger. Dean had run into the same thing, with emotions other than fear returning the same output.

    Some people, especially those of a more feral stripe, just processed things in a different way. The upside was the tactical advantage in it, if I could adjust my expectations fast enough.

    The downside was that I had to make that adjustment. Most of my costumed fighting experience was that my enemies would hesitate, get sloppy, or back off, but Lung, like Bitch, like the cooler but still dangerous Krieg or the seemingly unflappable Victor who would still act differently when under the influence of my power, attacking faster and more recklessly. They were the people who were angry at the world, or those with the natural predisposition to fight rather than fly. - Excerpt from Gleaming 9.11
  5. In regard to E88, they're divided into factions; three really. The Clans (which keep more to the Norse aesthetic & graphical/color symbology), Gesellschaft (really Krieg's purview, heavy hitters, backbone, greater resources & infrastructure, top-end in training and presentation), and the warriors/wolves (Hookwolf, Stormtiger, Cricket, rougher-edged, utilitarian).

    Purity doesn't really fit into any group, despite being second in command. You could see Kaiser's offer to her as a trap in this regard, in such a world that his deal to her doesn't work out, he has her positioned so she basically has to politically ally with one group or the other to do what she wants to do... or concede she can't lead.

    Some animal refs (wolf, cricket, tiger), with vague or indirect ties back to the theming/background or to World War II - Cricket & Stormtiger are anglicizations of tanks used in WWII by the Germans. Hookwolf refers to the symbol of the swastika with the wolf's head at the center, and/or to the Fylfots.

    Rune is clans, so more Othala + Victor. Alabaster would be closer to Krieg - polished, high-end, organized, with resources at his disposal. - Comment by Wildbow on Discord, archived on Spacebattles
  6. The email was a list. At the very top of the list was Kaiser. Following his entry were his lieutenants, Purity, Hookwolf and Krieg, and the rest of the members of Empire Eighty Eight. It wasn’t even limited to people with powers, noting some powerless captains and even some of the lower level flunkies. - Excerpt from Buzz 7.4
  7. Krieg – A lieutenant of Kaiser, capable of kinetic manipulation over a wide range. - Cast (spoiler free)
  8. His least favorite of his dad’s old lieutenants. Kayden had been kind, if not quite a mother. Krieg had been respectful. Hookwolf had treated him as the fat, scared little boy he’d been. - Interlude 26b
  9. 9.0 9.1 Krieg's power affects kinetic forces in a radius around him. Hostile forces move slower or get disrupted/deflected by a controlled, unconscious alteration of air friction/resistance. Hostile enemies may have trouble breathing. His own actions have increased results for energy involved - he punts you and you can go flying through a wall (as Manpower does). Stronger effect as one gets closer to him. - Comment by Wildbow on Spacebattles
  10. 10.0 10.1 He was fast.

    Fast enough that his clawed hands and feet didn’t touch the road beneath the water – after the initial push, his forward momentum was enough to let him run on the water’s surface.

    Fast enough that before I could finish drawing in a breath, to scream or shout something or gasp in horror, he was already in the middle of us, blood and water spraying where he collided with the lines of assembled capes, and the armbands were beginning to announce the hopelessly injured and deceased. Carapacitator down, CD-5. Krieg down, CD-5. WCM deceased, CD-5. Iron Falcon down, CD-5. Saurian down, CD-5… - Extermination 8.2
  11. The images displayed on the screen were the same as the ones I had seen in the email, earlier. Max Anders and Kaiser. Kayden Anders and Purity. The blondes as Fenja and Menja. The broadcast flickered through all of them: Hookwolf, Krieg, Night, Fog, Stormtiger, Othala, Cricket, Rune, Victor, Alabaster, the Crusader… the list went on. The screen shifted to two news broadcasters. In the top right corner of the screen, there was the usual story of the moment image, showing Max Anders sitting at a table at some event, with a swastika followed by a question mark hovering above him.

    “Word’s out,” Brian spoke to me, quiet. “If they didn’t know about this already, they do now.” - Buzz 7.6
  12. Below, it seemed, there was an all-out war.

    As she targeted Glory Girl, one of Purity’s blasts of light slammed into the edge of a rooftop. Debris showered down, but was deflected by a bright blue forcefield. That would be Shielder’s power at work. He fought alongside Flashbang and Brandish, and I could identify Krieg, Victor, Othala and Alabaster in their immediate vicinity. Further away were Night, Fog, Panacea, Vista and Clockblocker. - Buzz 7.9
  13. A crash behind me made me duck. Manpower, a powerful seven foot tall athletic figure decked out in white and yellow, had been thrown through a brick wall. Maybe more than one. He seemed unhurt, but he was a fairly durable guy. Personal electromagnetic shielding, if I remembered right. He was still struggling to his feet after we left him behind. - Buzz 7.9
  14. “And the fight with Empire Eighty-Eight?”

    Lisa frowned, “Apparently that was one case where he saved our hides. Remember that call I got? Telling me to be careful? Same thing he did with the bank robbery. Tells one version of me to push us to be careful, tells the other to go in for direct confrontation. Knowing how he works, I try to nudge us in one direction or the other. The group of us that went in for the headlong attack? We got taken down.”

    “That happened?” my eyes widened. That would have been the fight with Night and Fog, and it hadn’t been pretty as it was. “Did we die?”

    Lisa shrugged, “Not sure. He didn’t elaborate, often doesn’t, unless it’s key info. But Coil decided not to go with that option, so it was clearly worse than what did happen. Or worse in his eyes.”

    “Damn,” I muttered. What had happened? Not knowing was almost worse than hearing we’d all been slaughtered. - Extermination 8.8
  15. Krieg used his power in the first 'lost chapter' - the chapter which (now) opens with Brian's chest getting stitched up after fighting Cricket. I wrote it at a point in time when I was pretty damn busy (IIRC, end of last semester at University?) and preoccupied (end of last semester at University?) and I rushed it. It came out rushed, a lot of conflict that made no sense. I pulled an all-nighter to rewrite it before the sun came up.

    That chapter doesn't exist anywhere except in the email notifications and minds of the earliest Worm adopters. Before anyone says "Death of the Author", remember: it is canon. In the last chapter of Arc 8 before the interlude, Lisa talks about Coil's power - and how the events of the lost chapter were merely lost as a Coil altworld. - Comment by Wildbow on Spacebattles
  16. “If we contacted them through Krieg…” Justin trailed off.

    “What?” Kayden asked. She let her knife and fork drop to her plate with a loud clatter. “You think they’d give us assistance with no strings attached? That we could call in a favor with Krieg and they’d give Theo powers, without the follow-up attention?”

    “No. No, I suppose not.” - Interlude 18.y
  17. WyldCard4: Is Rune related to Krieg?

    Wildbow: No. - Conversation with Wildbow on Spacebattles

Site Navigation[]

Empire Eighty-Eight
Leader Allfather Kaiser 
Leiutenants Hookwolf Krieg Purity 
Members Alabaster Cricket Crusader Fenja Fog Heith Anders Iron Rain Menja Night Othala Rune Stormtiger Victor 
Associates Aster Anders Theo Anders 
The Pure
Leader Purity
Members Theo Anders CrusaderFogNight
Associates Aster Anders Krieg
Advertisement