Hello, and welcome to Blitzkrieg a single page shrine created for the Amassment One Page Marathon. Blitzkrieg is a dedication to Schuldig the quick witted telepathy from the classic anime and manga series, Weiß Kreuz (White Cross in German). In this single page I will try to separate fact from fandom in order to provide some in depth coverage on Schuldig throughout the many form the Weiß franchise has taken. Weiß Kreuz and all of its sequels and prequels have been released for over a year. That being said, this website is complete but will contain spoilers for those who have not followed the entire series.
Schuldig, like all of the young men in Weiß Kreuz, Schuldig plays the role of an assassin. He is a member of the main antagonist group in the series Schwarz. Like Weiß (the protagonist team), Schwarz has four members, but unlike Weiß all of the members of Schwarz have "gifts". All of them have some sort of enhanced psychic ability in addition to their professional training in the art of killing. This, needless to say gives Schwarz an advantage over Weiß.
Schuldig's ability is telepathy, he can not only read the minds of others but he can also control another person's thoughts, this control can project images into someone's thoughts, manipulate their feelings, and even control their actions via Schuldig's "suggestions". It has also been shown that Schuldig has super human speed however, no official word has ever been given on whether his speed is an actual psychic power or if Schuldig is just distorting the perceptions of those around him. Schuldig claims that messing with the minds of others is sweet and even compares it to honey. Schuldig's code name as an assassin is Mastermind for his ability to become the master by controlling another's mind.
For all their powers, Schwarz is unable to control their own destiny. They are lent out to economic or political powerhouses in the hope of gaining more power for their parent organization Eszett. Eszett is a generic evil organization with hopes of ruling the world by reviving a powerful demon. They gather and train psychics at a "school" known as Rosenkreuz in order to make them obedient to every word the elders of Eszett may say. Schwarz is introduced to the series while on a mission to protect a man known as Reiji Takatori a politically corrupt politican, who has ambitions of becoming Prime Minister of Japan.
In the anime Schwarz is introduced as men who are simply observing both Takatori to make sure he is following Eszett's plans and Weiß a group who may have the power to stand up the elder's of Eszett. Schwarz seems to dislike their job guarding Takatori. So Schuldig is sent to spice up their lives by killing a young girl, Ouka, Takatori's illegitimate daughter and Omi's (a Weiß member) girlfriend of sorts. This leads to several conflicts and the breaking down between Eszett (and subsequently Schwarz) and Takatori who began to separate his ideals from those of Eszett. This, along with the death of Takatori (who was left defenseless without Schwarz) leads to Schwarz and Eszett taking a more active role in the series. They turn their skills against Weiß in preparation for a "master plan". It is found that Schwarz was apparently helping Eszett set up for a ritual to revive a demon and control the world. All of the members of Schwarz act according to the plan however they turn and end up causing the tower (the location for the ritual) to fall into the sea. This provides Schwarz with an escape from the control of Eszett by killing the elders, however it is unknown at the end of the series as to whether or not Schuldig or any of his team mates survive the fall.
In the plot of Weiß the OVA comes second. In this piece Schwarz plays no major roles and only two members appear. Schuldig and his team leader Brad Crawford show up at the end and use some not so vague foreshadowing to show their future schemes for beating Weiß. This piece and the Drama CDs that focus on Schwarz hold little known information. In the Drama CD, we learn more of Schuldig's and Brad's past together, as well as the break up of Schwarz. The team must face their pasts at Rosenkreuz and psychics whose powers make all of the members nervous. This team includes a chinese girl who was an old "flame" of Brad's and Schuldig's who hates them for betraying Eszett. The conflicts between the two psychic teams lead Nagi, their youngest member to pursue his own interests (taking order's from a Weiß member surprisingly enough) and Farfarello to settle down with a girl Schwarz was protecting. While it is said the Drama CD comes second it may be possible that the order is reversed which would explain why only Brad and Schuldig appear in the OVA.
In Weiß Kreuz Gluhen, Schuldig makes his final appearance as of this point (as does Brad) they return to Japan when they get word of the remnants of Eszett working to take control of the world. They know this spells trouble for their long time rivals Weiß and for their "prodigy" and former team mate Nagi whose been helping Weiß' parent organization Kritiker. Schuldig and Brad claim that they plan to help not because of feelings for Weiß but because they hate the Eszett team dispatched (the team that broke their group up), feel obligated to help Nagi, and feel bitter that they weren't invited to the "party", they claim Weiß is their prey not Eszett's. Both members defeat their former rivals (the Eszett team, they don't get a chance to face Weiß) and apparently make it out alive.
Schuldig and his partner never appear in the final part of Weiß Kreuz Weiß Side B. This doesn't mean they're dead, they just aren't concerned with the splintered remains of Weiß at the end of Gluhen.
Schuldig is one of the most controversial characters as far as appearance and personality. This is unsurprising as he's been extremely popular among fans of the series since its initial release in 1997. Schuldig, is very vain, commenting on his looks and his clothing quite often. The matter is not helped by the creators and the various artists who have been in charge of Project Weiß who all draw Schuldig (and many of the other characters) in extremely different ways. Because all sources are considered fairly, if not completely canon it is unclear as to which was the original intent of Koyasu. Schuldig's hair is considered to be an unnatural red, or more orange in the original anime (known as Kaptial) as well as in Gluhen. The original manga An Assassin And a White Shaman Schuldig has hair which takes on a green shade. This pattern is followed in his eyes which are blue in the anime (though most often assume they're green in hope of explaining his obnoxious green pea coat) while they are a shade best described as Topaz in the manga.
Schuldig, according to the film book is of German descent and was raised at the Rosenkreuz schools (also located in Germany) to hone his psychic abilities, which would explain his name. Schuldig's name while it is possibly his birth name, is more likely a name bestowed on him due to some actions he took as a child. The name Schuldig, or Schuldich as some translations may suggest is the german word for "guilty". The name is appropriate for an assassin who is guilty of murdering many people however it seems to stem from a long ago and unexplained event. What this event was, is unknown but has had massive speculation by fans.
Schuldig is presented as a man who likes a good game and wants to rebel against authority figures. He claims playing with the mind of others is fun and "tastes like honey". He doesn't follow the orders of Takatori or Eszett (though none of the team members do) and forcefully goes against their specific orders (by killing Ouka and helping the ruin the Elder's plans). Many fans and fan work believe because of Schuldig's rebellion he is constantly disrespecting his partner and team leader Brad Crawford. This is untrue, they believe he's calling him "Brad" short for "Bradley" however it is never said that "Bradley" is Crawford's full name, which means that Schuldig is not mocking Brad by calling him by a nickname but just calling him by his first name. It is also assumed that because Schuldig is easy going (much like Weiß' Youji) he is also a womanizer and/or was a prostitute prior to being picked up by Rosenkreuz. This has no basis in fact and has not even a single suggestion towards it. The origin of this speculation is from fan fictions dating back to at least 2001 if not before.
While the ideas above are interesting the sheer lack of official information to support them make them unlikely. This however does provide the fan base with more in depth and three dimensional characters than those that are shown in the anime which makes them more interesting than what the small looks into their personal life during the series provide.
Blitzkrieg was created by using a scan from An Assassin and White Shaman that was uploaded to Minitokyo. The scan was laid over cityscape screentones from screentones on deviantart. One of the major resources I used for various Weiß Kreuz information is Mellow Candle. Layout was made in Adobe Photoshop CS6.
If you plan to link back please upload images onto your own server. If you somehow have a Weiß Kreuz site and you'd like to affiliate I'd appreciate it. Just contact me.