Major Beatrix Brehme is a secondary antagonist of Schwarzesmarken and main heroine of Bernhard im Schatten. The commander of the infamous Stasi TSF Guard battalion "Werewolf," and one of the best pilots in East Germany, Beatrix was notable for being a cold and ruthless huntress of deserters, traitors of the nation, conspirators and emigrants fleeing to the West.
Beatrix was the childhood friend and former military academy classmate of Irisdina Bernhard. The two had a strong rivalry growing up, which would transform into an adversarial relationship as adults.
Bernhard im Schatten[]
A recently transferred student to Irisdina's school, Beatrix was the only child of one of the preeminent families in the DDR and certain expectations were placed on her because of it. Suffering from depression, Beatrix joined an after school swimming club partially to escape her cruel father. Due to her introverted nature and moderately unsociable behavior, Beatrix was unable to make friends despite Irisdina's attempts to reach out to her. Though her performance was stellar and her beauty dazzling, enough to cause Irisdina to be envious, Beatrix never came to sympathize with the other swim club members.
Despite her lack of interest in social life, due to her introverted and distrustful nature and her dominant temperament, Beatrix managed to emerge even during her school years: not only did she get noticed thanks to her incredible athletic skills, demonstrated in synchronized diving competitions, but her and Irisdina were respectively known as "Danziger's Rose and Maiden Virgins" and "Black and Gold Princesses" and were popular not only with the boys but also with the girls. There were rumours that the teachers were also interested in the two and were planning to recommend their candidacy for the next student council.
Irisdina's jealousy would inflame the curiosity of her brother, Jürgen Bernhard. Wishing to see the girl who had challenged his school idol sister, Jürgen decided to tag along with Irisdina to her swim meet. As Irisdina had feared and predicted, Jürgen became infatuated with Beatrix.
Beatrix herself developed a crush on Jürgen. Unable to express herself properly, she reacted in a typical "tsundere" fashion to Jürgen. Her first attempt to reach out to him involved her favorite hobby, cooking. When she discovered that Jürgen had managed to enter the Air Force Academy as the top student in his class, Beatrix reacted by "forcing" him to accept a date with her, under the pretext of having to punish him for neglecting Irisdina. Jürgen, after thinking about it for more than a month, accepted, and the two fell deeply in love. Their relationship would last for years despite being separated from each other for long stretches of time due to the BETA war.
When Irisdina learned of their relationship, she initially reacted with a bit of shock. but was supportive of it in the long run. She viewed Beatrix as a potential rival who would steal the only family she had left. After a few rows with Beatrix, the two made up and became best friends. They would support one another while Jürgen was away fighting the BETA.
When Beatrix and Irisdina were 15 years old, Jürgen asked them their plans for the future. After some deliberation, Beatrix answered "You are as essential to me as I am to you, so I've decided I want to become a TSF pilot", and Iris added "We're going to help you, brother." In addition to wanting to help Jürgen, Beatrix's decision to become a pilot was also due to the possibility that East Germany would decide on a total mobilization of the nation for the war against the BETA: if that was the case, she might as well train and acquire the skills to fight the BETA even on the front lines, thought the young girl.
Beatrix was the first person Jürgen would visit whenever he returned from the front, although he sometimes went to visit her house to see her father Abel to discuss politics, causing the wrath of Beatrix herself, who then remained sulky with him for a long time. They would confide their secrets and insecurities with one another and often had to console each other's mental trauma and anguish. It fell to Beatrix to cheer Jürgen up when he sunk into depression after he lost a few of his subordinates in a confrontation with a Fort-class.
Fact-wise, however, their relationship was far from perfect: Jürgen (as a coherent "siscon") always gave priority to Irisdina's well-being above all else, and often neglected Beatrix, especially emotionally, risking to make her suffer because she was always considered second. The two also had occasion to argue several times, not only at their first meeting, before the synchronized diving competition, but also regarding the situation of East Germany's political subordination to the Soviet Union, as well as the times when Jürgen ended up neglecting Beatrix or going to visit her mostly to reciprocally update with his father Abel on the political, economic, and military situation of the country. Jürgen himself realized, with his behavior, that he was making a clear distinction between Irisdina and Beatrix, and that with his favoritism towards his sister he would make the latter feel bad, because there would be no one who would have loved her first.
A few years later, Captain Heinze Axmann of the Ministerium für Staatssicherheit Central Bureau took notice of Beatrix and Jürgen. Seeing the young woman, Axmann took an interest in her abilities, so much so that he wanted to recruit her into the new TSF military department of the Stasi.
The reason why Beatrix enters the Stasi and decides to give the name "Wehrwolf" to her Battalion is the following: in 1978, while the advance of the BETA from the Minsk hive is pressing, East Germany risks collapsing economically and in security due to the high number of refugees from the countries of Eastern Europe, in conjunction with the possible withdrawal of Soviet troops from the German Democratic Republic to be used in the motherland against the BETA. For these reasons, the Stasi is in a phase of expansion, and is trying to extend above all its military section, especially the one involving the formation of TSF Squadrons. So Abel Brehme, Beatrix's father, tells her that he allowed her to become a pilot while waiting for that moment: so that she could join the Stasi, thus avoiding risking her life at the front, and "stain her hands" with blood to climb the positions of power within the organization, so as to carry out her role as "Red Aristocrat" and save the nation from destruction. Beatrix, struck by her father's speech, expresses her ambivalent and complex feelings on the matter by proposing the comparison of the wolf in human form, the Wehrwolf, which embodies a double nature: on the one hand noble, responsible, civilized, on the other ferocious, implacable, ruthless. So, even if partially against her will, the raven-haired girl decides to take that path, paved with dignity and violence, pride and tragedy, pride and death.
Schwarzesmarken[]
Beatrix's came to loath Irisdina for the death of Jürgen and Irisdina's subsequent abandonment of her. Though she'd often antagonize Irisdina or fantasize about her destruction, deep down, what Beatrix really wished for, but considered impossible, was to patch up her relationship with Irisdina and work with her towards fulfilling Jürgen's will. Indeed, in the visual novel and in Irisdina's route, both Beatrix and Iris nearly succeed in swaying the other to abandon their cause and join their own.
In 1983, Beatrix was field testing the MiG-23, and was in the process of setting in motion a series of events that would bring even more power to her faction in the Stasi. She quickly took interest in Katia, finding her conscription into the NVA and the special attention she was receiving after her unorthodox rescue highly suspicious.
Warning: Spoilers
After some time of trying, Beatrix eventually found a chance to plant an agent into 666th. In the span of two months, Lise succeeded in trapping Irisdina. As a result of this and her status as a pioneer of the Moscow sect, Major Beatrix received a surprising gift from the USSR: 4 Mig-27s.
Beatrix would find good use for these MiG-27s during the NVA revolt. Piloting a crimson MiG-27, Beatrix and her Werewolves quickly became one of the biggest scourges to the rebellion. Her tactical brilliance would allow her to outmaneuver General Franz Heim in a series of battles and nearly destroy the rebellion.
However, her strategic talents and cutting edge Aligator would not save her when she faced off against the 666th. Though she was victorious in many of her confrontations, she was unable to repair her MiG as it became increasingly damaged by the rebels. By the time of her final duel with Theodor Eberbach, her MiG was falling apart and had even lost an arm. Still, it was a close battle, with Theodor barely emerging victorious when he surprised Beatrix using an anti-destroyer class diving technique that she and Irisdina had developed together to slam a Type-77 Battle Halberd into her fuselage and send her crashing into the apartments below. Trapped inside an unresponsive machine, she made an easy target for Theo, who finished her off by bisecting her with a combat knife straight to her cockpit.
Beatrix had been the "spiritual pillar" upon which the government forces had rested upon, much as Irisdina or Katia was for the rebellion. When her death was transmitted to the loyalist forces, many of them were openly distraught and lost all will to fight.
Personality and Beliefs[]
Beatrix semi-seriously teases Theo in Lise's route.
Beatrix was described as a "bewitching" and "glamorous" beauty. With a sensual smile never far from her lips, Beatrix often acted the part of the playful flirt. She was ruthless, ambitious, and possessed a sadistic streak, enjoying watching people squirm. Beatrix often gave mixed signals, such as threatening or intimidating others using a sultry tone of voice. Some of her pranks, such as the time she convinced Lise that she was going to kill her in a TSF spar, or egging Theodor's paranoia on with her jokes in Lise's route were particularly cruel. However, she also shows a sense of compassion and humanity, for example when she decides to save Lise from the clutches of Axmann and to have her join the Wehrwolf Battalion, while also considering the fact that Lise would have been an excellent tool in her hands to counter both the Berlin Faction of the Stasi and the subversive members of the National People's Army.
Beatrix respected loyalty above all other traits, and conversely, considered betrayal, especially of loved ones or family, to be the greatest sin. Lise's own fealty to Theodor and strength of will in the face of adversity would be what originally attracted Beatrix to her for recruitment into the Wehrwolf. Beatrix placed such tremendous value on loyalty that she would sometimes pick it over pragmatism. An instance of this was in Irisdina's route, where she temporarily allied with Irisdina against the BETA. When Schmidt ordered her to betray the 666th to certain death, Beatrix refused and continued to stand by their side until the BETA were destroyed, thus saving her enemies at severe cost to her own Battalion and throwing away the best shot at victory she had.
Beatrix nearly convinces Irisdina to surrender and join forces with her.
Much like Irisdina, Beatrix was noted as being an extremely effective and charismatic leader. She preferred leading from the front; the first to the fight and the first to dirty her hands. She never asked for something from her personnel if she wasn't willing to do it herself. Such was her charisma that the Werewolves were absolutely loyal to her and not the state of East Germany. Some members of the Werewolves, such as Lise Hohenstein, even came to view her as an older sister figure. The power this absolute loyalty gave her, along with her past with the Bernhards and numerous personality conflicts brought her the distrust and animosity of the Minister of State Security, Erich Schmidt.
Also similar to Irisdina, Beatrix had internalized Jürgen's ideals but had applied a very different interpretation of them. Despite her seeming loyalty to the Moscow faction and its cause, Beatrix in truth had ambivalent feelings towards the DDR, but placed humanity's welfare over that of the single East German country, directly contradicting Irisdina, who prioritized German interests. Howevr, the relationship between Beatrix and the DDR has always been very complex. On the one hand, already at the age of thirteen, she declares that she has a sense of patriotism, as well as a historical and political responsibility towards her country, as a “Red Aristocrat” (i.e. a member of a family belonging to the East German Nomenklatura), even before the invasion of the BETA. On the other hand, a few years later in, although she still declares that she loves her nation, she states that she sees it as an even more stringent prison than that of her own family, expressing the will to never end up being an instrument for one or the other, also with reference to the conflict she has had with her father ever since the latter began to try to impose a pre-established future on her.
Schmidt promises to make Beatrix regret disobeying his commands to abandon the 666th.
Beatrix believed that politicians were too corrupt, indecisive, self-destructive, and self-interested to lead the DDR while under attack from the BETA. Beatrix's end goal thus hinged upon reforming the DDR, cleaning house of its corruption, and transforming it into a military/secret police State to act as the first nation in the defensive line against the BETA while the rest of Europe evacuated. To these ends, she opposed democratization or the reunification of Germany as she believed it would be inefficient, destructive, and expedite the fall of the Oder-Neisse front.
Beatrix, like many of the other Werewolves, sometimes expressed disgust over the atrocities she and the other Stasi committed, but often saw them as necessary means to save the country and humanity itself. She often had to hide her feelings behind a veil of cruelty or become the target of her leaders' suspicions. At one point, she admitted to Lise that the Werewolves were a "dirty battalion" and that her hands were "stained with blood", and that there was no glory waiting for her at the end. In another case, still in the visual novel, she expressed disgust at the torture of Marai Heisenburg and her co-interrogator's flippant attitude. Employing gentler tactics, Beatrix hypnotized Marai into believing that she was her dead lover, Major Holzer Hannibal. Perhaps taking pity on the woman for her loyalty to Hannibal, Beatrix comforted Marai after receiving the pass codes she needed, then executed her. When questioned about Marai's fate, Beatrix simply reported that she had died during the torture process, to which Schmidt taunted Beatrix over the strain the interrogation must have had on her. Despite all of this, she was also capable of expressing raw sadism, callousness and extreme ruthlessness to her enemies. It was often difficult to tell where her veil began and where it ended.
Beatrix is shocked when Irisdina orders Berlin to be shelled by artillery, and orders her troops to fall back while she covers for them.
Being a radical Machiavellian, Beatrix believed that the ends justified the means and that her actions were necessary, even if she found them repugnant. This rationalization would become the crutch her psyche propped itself up against and would allow her to commit unconscionable actions, such as forcing confrontations in heavily populated areas when outgunned knowing that Heim would be hesitant to shell the area. Her willingness to use any means to achieve victory turned the final battles before the fall of the Berlin Wall into a bloodbath.
In the visual novels however, she shows restraint and avoids fighting in civilian areas when she can, such as in Irisdina's route where she attempts to funnel the fighting to the outskirts of Berlin. Beatrix is even shocked when Irisdina orders sections of Berlin to be bombarded in Lise's route.
Despite her reservations and thoughts on the subject, Beatrix was still as emotionally moved in Irisdina's route as any of the 666th when she witnessed Germans embracing one another over the ruins of the Berlin Wall. She and Iris then reminisced about Jürgen and what an ideal world would look like.
Like the 666th, Beatrix had no love for the Berlin Wall.
Finally, Beatrix sometimes considered her own death as a possibility after Jürgen's death. In the visual novel, right before Theo stabbed her, she smiled in relief, knowing that she would no longer have to bear the tragedy of her life. This was seen yet again in Irisdina's route, where Beatrix decided that she and her handful of surviving Werewolves were dead women after the rebellion took power. Beatrix thus turned down Irisdina's offers of amnesty, taunting that Irisdina could do nothing, and attempted to goad Irisdina into killing her. Neither could bring themselves to finish off the other however, and it took a missile strike called down by rebel command to end their stalemate.
In the end, when Beatrix speaks of “sacrificing” East Germany to save the planet, she certainly doesn't mean to literally offer it as a sacrifice (in that case, what was the point of having Schmidt assassinated, who wanted to do exactly that, that is, use nuclear warheads in the DDR to protect the Soviet Union?), but to say that only by sacrificing one’s individual interests in the name of the homeland and humanity, even for those who detest the Stasi and the system it had set up, would it have been possible to save the world from the BETA invasion.
Anime[]
Despite the many variations that can be found between light novels, visual novel and anime, in the latter case Beatrix is not fundamentally different from the character presented in the original works, but the lack of a deeper characterization due to the short time allowed in twelve episodes and the cutting of many significant scenes, especially about her past, make her appear less human and less complex, almost as if she were more similar to the other antagonists of the series.
In fact, if one analyses the character rigorously, the difference is clear: she may appear more sadistic and ruthless than her counterpart in the light novels or the visual novel, but what emerges - also and above all from the final episodes - is that Beatrix is an excellent strategist who has been able to best manage the collaboration with Axmann and Schmidt, artfully deceiving especially the latter, to climb the Stasi hierarchy with a Machiavellian attitude in order to reach the top and realize her ideals as the head of the entire East Germany.
To achieve this, she is also willing to take on the responsibility of executing deserters and traitors of the State, to actively collaborate with characters like Schmidt - who she morally condemns fully and openly in episode 11, before having him assassinated - and to put the lives of civilians at risk in the Battle of Berlin in the finale, even though she has always tried to avoid it.
Despite this, her compassionate and human side can sometimes be glimpsed. For example, when she "comforts" Marai by congratulating her after interrogating her in episode 5 (even though she has to be careful of Schmidt's presence, and therefore cannot openly show sympathy for Marai herself), or when in episode 8, she forgives Lise for having made Theodor and Katia escape and tells her not to worry about it, or, still in the same episode, after having captured Irisdina, when she decides not to torture her and even teases her by offering her the Himbeertorte, her favorite cake. Although she undeniably has a sadistic temperament, Beatrix spares her enemies several times even in the anime, and resorts to torture or kills people only when strictly necessary.
In addition to demonstrating extraordinary skills as a TSF pilot, managing to both easily exterminate the BETA at the front and fight on equal terms with the remaining members of the Schwarzesmarken Squadron in the final episode, Beatrix demonstrates her determination and belief in her ideals until the end, clearly and unequivocally explaining them to her enemies in a speech and consistently reiterating - even in her death moments - that only her project could lead East Germany and humanity to victory.
Quotes[]
"For me, East Germany is a cage even bigger than the Brehme family. I'm not going to be at the mercy of my father nor will I become a tool for East Germany. If my father and the state want to treat me like a tool, then I'll make use of them as well."
-Beatrix discusses her plight with Jürgen
"Your decision may not have been the "good" choice, but it was the correct choice. History progresses on the sacrifices of people, does it not?"
-Beatrix consoling Jürgen on the deaths of his subordinates
“We will grasp victory, in the name of the fatherland — even if we have to make the entire Neisse River run red with the blood of our countrymen.”
-Beatrix rallying the Werewolves
"Someday, you will realize…
...the limits of your ideals. Only under stasi dominion…only ideals like mine [and Jürgen's] will bring hope to humanity.
——I shall be watching how it ends in Valhalla, with pleasure… "
-Beatrix's last words after being fatally stabbed
Trivia[]
- Jürgen affectionately calls Beatrix "Bea" or (red/tsundere) "Princess." The second pet-name references the Brehmes family moniker, "Red Aristocrats (or nomenklatura, this word means the authorities' families in a socialist country like the Soviet Union)."
- Her name, Beatrix, means one who brings joy.
- She's Yoshimune Kouki's self professed favorite Schwarzesmarken character.
- She's often referred to as Schwarzesmarken's Yuuko by fans for sharing the same teasing tendencies, relative cunning and superior intelligence when compared to the rest of the cast, belief in utilitarianism and universalism, and sense of disgust towards her own actions. Her behavior around Irisdina when they were still friends could even be said to mirror that of a younger Yuuko towards Marimo.
- Often compared to a rose to in Bernhard im Schatten (she was called the "Black Princess" and "the Rose Virgin" at Danziger Integrated School of East Berlin), and rose motifs even show up in some of her art.
- Her theme song is likely 翼よ、暁を渡る誓いの中で by Zähre, which is about completing vows, mourning lost happiness and "that day", loneliness, rebirth, and wrapping everything in darkness to ease your misery, all themes that describe Beatrix. An instrumental version of this song is also played during her death scene in certain routes. Alternatively, the song would work well for Theo too.
- Brehme is the Name of the Germany Soccer/Football Profi Andreas Brehme. He is known for scoring the winning Goal for Germany in the 1990 FIFA World Cup Final.
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