Phoenix Force - Deceased Characters - Associates

Associates

• Karl Hahn

Karl Hahn first served West Germany as an operator for the GSG 9 counter-terrorist unit. In this capacity, Hahn operated against the Baader-Meinhof Gang, aka Red Army Faction, Second June Movement, and various Palestinian terrorist groups. He was one of the GSG 9 commandos who carried out Operation Feuerzauber (Fire Magic), the famous rescue mission in Mogadishu, Somalia, against the PFLP terrorist team holding 86 hostages aboard Lufthansa Flight 181, hijacked on October 13, 1977.

During his career, members of the RAF captured Hahn's best friend, GSG 9 operator Klaus Hausberg. They tortured and mutilated Hausberg to the point where Hahn had to put him out of his misery with a bullet to his brain. Eager to avenge Hausberg, Hahn hunted down and executed no less than 8 RAF members. When his superiors learned of this, they dismissed him from the GSG 9.

He was later recruited by the BND, West Germany's federal intelligence agency, and trained as a covert operative. He handled assignments in East Germany and Czechoslovakia, and was stationed in Turkey when he first met Phoenix Force during a mission against the KGB. He later worked with Phoenix Force on several occasions, most notably filling in for Rafael Encizo, who was injured during a mission in France against ODESSA. Hahn was eventually killed in action during a Phoenix Force mission in Europe to rescue the President of the United States and the Premier of the Soviet Union (Super Phoenix Force #1: Fire Storm).

Hahn studied computer electronics as an exchange student at UCLA, spoke three languages fluently, and had a working knowledge of Czech and Russian. Possessing a dry sense of humor, he was also capable of making weapons out of common objects like a newspaper for close-quarter combat.