Karl Vreski was a German terrorist and Hans Gruber's right-hand man. He was Tony's older brother that savagely attempted to kill John McClane many times to avenge his brother's life.
Die Hard
Nakatomi Plaza takeover
As the Pacific Courier truck carrying the terrorists arrived at the entrance of Nakatomi Plaza, Karl rode with Theo in another car as they pulled into the main lot. As they walked to the entrance, Theo was talking to Karl about basketball to keep the front desk guard from getting suspicious and Karl kills the guard with a silenced pistol. As Theo was sealing off the building, Karl threw a flash grenade at the other guard, blinding him. He then shot that guard with his pistol and killed him. As Hans and Eddie arrived in the lobby, Eddie hands Karl a duffle bag as he gives Hans the building's key card.
Karl cuts the phone junction wires.
He went downstairs to the telephone junction boxes and used a chainsaw to disable phone lines while his younger brother Tony barely managed to patch in the phone lines. Tony glares at his brother as Karl walks away, humming to himself. He and Tony arrived in the 30th floor where Hans and their comrades took the entire floor hostage. As Hans was looking for Nakatomi's head executive Joe Takagi, Karl was looking around the hostages until Takagi stepped forward and Karl takes him to the elevator.
Theo and Karl attempt to coax the code from Takagi.
As they went to 31st floor, Karl and Tony escorted Hans and Takagi around. As they went to the conference room where Theo was waiting for them as he accessed the computer so they can get the code to open the vault that carries 640 million dollars in bearer bonds. As Tagaki refused to cooperate, Theo told Karl so and Karl says it's not over yet as they we're betting on outcome. After Hans kills Takagi, Karl gives Theo the money as Hans orders him to check on Heinrich's work on the roof access of the building. Then they heard a strange noise, as Karl and Tony investigate and they didn't find anything. Hans again orders Karl to check on Heinrich's work.
Swearing Vengeance
- "AGGHHH...I want blood!!"
- ―Karl throws the office desk down in rage as he learns that his brother Tony was killed [src]
After John McClane killed his brother Tony, Fritz calls Karl down and went into Holly's office where Hans is using for his private headquarters. After Hans tells him that Tony has been killed, he screamed out in anger and tossed the office desk down. Hans pushes him to the wall as Karl screams that he wants vengeance. Hans states to that he'll have it, but to let Heinrich and Theo do their work and tells him not to alter the plan. Karl coldly asks, "And if he alters it?"
Karl, Franco and Fritz prepare to kill McClane on the roof.
Then when McClane calls out on the radio about the takeover of Nakatomi Plaza, Hans realized that he's on the roof and sends Karl along with Franco and Fritz to get him. As Karl readies his Steyr AUG rifle, he tells Franco and Fritz that no one kills their intruder, but him as they got off the elevator. Then Karl fires at McClane at the helipad. After McClane jumps off the helipad and is pursued by Franco and Fritz, Karl walks towards where McClane is heading and fires at him, but nearly misses him. When McClane gets into the dead-end corner with a large ventilation fan, Karl and the others we're fired at by McClane. Karl sends Fritz down to the elevator shift as he and Franco prepared to fire at McClane. Franco and Karl sprang their attack, but find that McClane went through the fan. They quickly went downstairs and met up with Fritz. After finding out their surprise guest is at the elevator shaft, Hans tells him to lock him in there. But Karl, vowing vengeance, doesn't listen despite Hans' warning that the police are probably on there way and shuts off the radio. After opening the elevator shaft door, he and his men find their intruder not there. Karl sees the ventilation shaft cover is open and finds that McClane is in the horizontal vent at the 31st floor from the lit lighter. Karl and the others rushed to the 31st floor and fires at the air ducts, looking for McClane. He then began pressing the ducts with his gun. Then Fritz got a call that a cop car is on sight and Karl was forced to stop the pursuit and went with Franco and Fritz to a lower floor where Alexander looked out where the police car parked. Then the body of Marco fell on the police car as Alexander fired at it, but the cop, Sgt. Al Powell, survived and called for backup.
When police cars showed up, Karl and the others are upset that the police arrived too soon, but Hans calms them down, saying it's only the beginning. Then their intruder calls in and taunts them with their names and the deaths of their dead comrades. Hans sends Karl, Franco and Fritz to investigate. Karl and the others find out that Marco was indeed killed and their intruder also killed Heinrich and his bag has been taken. They rushed back downstairs and Karl gives Hans the report of their current situation. Hans knows that Heinrich's bag was carrying the detonators. He was present when McClane gives Powell the situation report on the radio.
Later, after McClane killed James and Alexander by tossing C4 explosives down the elevator shaft, Hans confronts Karl for not listening to him on not neutralizing him on the elevator shaft. Karl bitterly replies to his leader that he want their intruder dead, not neutralized. Then one of the hostages, Harry Ellis comes in and sells out McClane's identity to them and claims that they are friends, despite in reality that they only met tonight. Karl was present during Hans kills Ellis when McClane refused to return the detonators to them. Then Hans calls the police and makes fake demands to have several comrades-in-arms around the world released to him, among them 9 members of the Asian Dawn movement, which Karl questions quietly. Hans replied that he read about them in Time magazine. Karl asked if the US government will meet their demands, but Hans doesn't care about what he just told the police. Then he orders Karl to hunt McClane down and take the detonators while he checks the explosives on the 35th floor.
Later, Hans calls Karl that he's got McClane in the 33rd floor and tells him to get up there. Then Karl, along with Franco and Fritz arrived and attacked McClane. Though McClane killed Fritz and Franco, Hans and Karl used the glass around the room since McClane is barefoot to pin him. Though McClane got away injured, they found the detonators. But Karl is still furious that they didn't kill McClane. After Hans and Karl returned with the detonators, Karl walks slowly as Hans has Uli finished setting up C4 in the 35th floor. Karl trashed a cooler carrying wine glasses with his machine gun in anger before walking away.
Final Stand and Death
- "We're both professionals. This is personal."
- ―Karl pointing his Steyr AUG rifle at McClane [src]
Karl finally catches McClane.
Before McClane could warn Powell about the double-cross, Karl arrives and points his Steyr AUG at McClane's left cheek, forcing him to stop speaking on the radio. After he takes McClane's Beretta 92 and smashes the radio, Karl reminds that they are both professionals, but it is now personal. But McClane pushes the rifle away from him and they engaged in a brutal fight on the floor leading to the roof. McClane shouts at him while punching him that he should heard his brother's "squeal when he broke his fucking neck". Karl gave McClane several kicks on McClane's face and shot McClane in the shoulder with the pistol. However, McClane wrapped a chain around Karl's neck and left him hanging by a chain as the roof exploded and everybody fled.
Karl attempts to kill John McClane with his Steyr AUG moments before his death.
After Hans was killed and the authorities started evacuating everyone, Karl managed to break free from the chain and went down to the first floor with the hostages. As people were walking out of the building, he disguised himself as a hostage and drew his Steyr AUG in a last ditch effort to try to kill John and Holly. However, Sgt. Al Powell finally got the nerve to draw his gun to save John and shot Karl dead. Even though he kept getting hit by revolver bullets, Karl was so blind with pure rage that he barely flinched, still aiming his assault rifle at John, only to be stopped by a swift gunshot to the heart.
Trivia
- Karl is referenced in Die Hard With a Vengeance by Simon Gruber's henchman, Karl from Die Hard with a Vengeance. This was likely done because they were henchmen from separate Gruber brothers in those two movies.
- Ironically, Karl was the last to die in Hans' group while Karl from Die Hard with a Vengeance was the first to die in Simon's group.
- The character of Karl was taken right out from the book 'Nothing Lasts Forever'. In the book the protagonist 'Joe Leland' only makes real contact with him at the end, when Powell saves Leland's life with two shots to Karl's head.
- Karl was the only deceased terrorist member who is not been killed by McClane in Die Hard.
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