Character Traits
He is portrayed as unemotional (his voice never changes in relation to how he feels, even once while in pain he rather calmly stated "I am suspended by the Clappers') and he seems hurt only when he finds Private Helga Geerhart kissing the Italian Captain Alberto Bertorelli. Apart from this, the only emotion he ever shows is anger.
He is the godson of Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS and Gestapo. He explains in one episode that he is an orphan and was raised by nuns when he was little, however this is unclear as in one episode, (Christmas Puddings) he is shown talking to his mother on the phone and when asked by Von Smallhausen if he'd been talking to Hitler, Flick replies, 'No, it was my mother...she wanted to know if the underwear she sent fitted.' He has stated that he originally didn't want to join the Gestapo, but Himmler convinced him. Over the course of the programme he receives several letters from Himmler, usually admonishing him for his actions, such as failing to find the portrait of the Fallen Madonna with the Big Boobies by Van Klomp. When he is arrested by General Von Klinkerhoffen (once for pretending to be Helga's replacement and the other time for dressing up as a member of the French Resistance), Himmler comes to his rescue by sending a telegram to the General requesting Otto's release.
He is assisted by Engelbert Von Smallhausen, a junior officer of the Gestapo who is not too intelligent. Whenever Von Smallhausen makes a statement that is either stupid or does not agree with Flick's thinking, he always hits Von Smallhausen on the head with whatever object he can find at the time.
Herr Flick is in love with Helga, a fact which he does not often show. When she comes to see him he always says "You may kiss me." She then proceeds to kiss him passionately, while he stands quite still, with his facial expression not changing. He is excessively domineering, not just to her, but to Von Smallhausen as well.
His secret HQ's address is Rue de Gangoine 32. In his dungeon, Herr Flick has many disguises. He and Von Smallhausen are often shown in disguise, trying to gain entry to somewhere he is not supposed to be such as the château. He often adds the word 'Gestapo' as an adjective to various gadgets and items he uses. Examples include: "My powerful Gestapo binoculars", "My Gestapo staff car", and "The Gestapo Dance".
Herr Flick has a fondness for using experimental truth serums made from assorted exotic animals such as the Self-inflating Peruvian Marsh Frog or the Patagonian Fruit Bat. These serums often have interesting physical side effects on his victims.
There is also an extensive collection of Gestapo gramophone records dealing with such subjects as "How to fool French peasants into believing you are English in one easy lesson" - "Faw F-Faw Faw-Faw-Faw..."
He plays the violin extremely well and his favourite animal is the rat (because it is small, shifty and disgusting) this is apparently why he tolerates Von Smallhausen as he compares him to a rat. He owns a homing pigeon named Boris.
At the start of series 9 he has plastic surgery so when the allies invade he will not be recognised (hence explaining David Janson's take-over of the role).
Read more about this topic: Herr Otto Flick
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“Gross and obscure natures, however decorated, seem impure shambles; but character gives splendor to youth, and awe to wrinkled skin and gray hairs.”
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“A personality is an indefinite quantum of traits which is subject to constant flux, change, and growth from the birth of the individual in the world to his death. A character, on the other hand, is a fixed and definite quantum of traits which, though it may be interpreted with slight differences from age to age and actor to actor, is nevertheless in its essentials forever fixed.”
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