| “ | Taking life is my job, and I do it well. | ” |
–Roberto | ||
Roberto (ロベルト, Roberuto?), born Adolf Reinhart (アドルフ・ラインハルト?), is a bodyguard, hitman, and henchman, who also happens to be another admirer of Johan Liebert, serving in the capacity of his most devoted and fervent follower.
Personality[]
According to Roberto, he felt extremely detached from reality no matter what happened in his life until he met a handsome blonde young man. He seems to find comfort in having his destiny chosen for him as long as it's chosen by Johan Liebert. Presumably, he does not want to disappoint Johan in a way that someone might not want to disappoint their mentor, boss, muse, savior, or god. He certainly wants to serve a function, and that is to make both his and Johan's lives enriched at the expense of others.
Unlike Johan, Roberto isn't above bouts of callous and sadistic glee.
Despite being different in many ways, Roberto is very similar to Johan at some points. He knows how to intimidate people and, like Johan, enjoys watching his victims suffer from fear.
Roberto shows so much dedication towards Johan at all times that it is reminiscent of Johan's dedication towards Kenzo Tenma for saving his life. However, Roberto's tendency to put Johan on such a high pedestal makes him seem delusional, deranged, possessive, and possibly a bit disingenuous.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Roberto, by his original name "Adolf Reinhart", was Karel Ranke's nephew and an orphan. Ranke's sister and her husband (Roberto's mother and father) were shot while trying to cross the Berlin Wall, leaving their son without any parents to turn to. Due to this tragedy, Ranke signed the papers to send Adolf to Kinderheim 511 under the impression that it would be a wonderful environment for him, as the institution was considered the ideal training ground for raising children with good backgrounds into the future communist elite.
Around 1963, Roberto entered the orphanage. There, he became close friends with Wolfgang Grimmer, who was also of the same generation.
One day, Roberto brought Grimmer a cup of cocoa when he had a fever and was resting in the infirmary. When Grimmer wanted to thank him, Roberto simply told him to remember their friendship for the rest of his life. He also requested that Grimmer remember his name - a common practice amongst the children in the orphanage since the classes often caused them to forget their own.
According to Grimmer, Roberto liked cocoa, drawing pictures, and bugs. He hated insect collecting, however, because he didn't like to see the bugs get killed. The activity he enjoyed the most was going to the forest with his parents; he would catch a lot of butterflies but would let them out of the insect cage on his way home. His dream was to become an entomologist.
As a bodyguard[]
Roberto first appeared in the small port city of Nice, France, where he served as a bodyguard for Detective Müller and his family. While playing chess with Roberto, Müller told him that his very life was just like a pawn in one big chess match, being controlled by the unknown person who blackmailed him back when he worked as a police officer in Munich. Müller said that he was on the edge of failure, so he had become an active drug dealer along with his partner, Messener. "Someone" blackmailed them and they unwillingly made the following compromise: Müller and Messener would kill the Fortners (Nina's parents) in exchange for a large sum of money. If they refused to comply, however, they would have been reported to the police for their underground drug activities. At the time of his confession, Müller regarded Roberto as a faithful bodyguard and his friend, even though in reality Roberto had nothing but ulterior motives.
Müller later witnessed the death of a private detective he hired and crossed paths with Nina Fortner, who told him that Roberto was responsible for the man's death. The two were able to escape before he came upstairs. After driving for a while, Nina forced Müller out of the car, threatening to kill him just as he had her parents. However, she gave up on that after Müller started crying out for his own family, causing her to realize that they would have to endure the same pain she did.
Shortly after, Roberto called and told Müller to come home, where his family was -- for the time being -- safely waiting. Roberto wanted the bag with documents containing the investigation results compiled by the deceased detective.
Nina and Müller headed back and Müller gave the bag to Roberto. Roberto then left the house and headed to an abandoned building where his colleagues had been keeping Nina. He told her that Johan was in Munich before leaving, at which time he indicated that his next task would be to find Kenzo Tenma.
Meeting with Eva[]
Eva Heinemann was sitting in park when Roberto appeared and gave her a bag she had spent the day trying to locate. She didn't remember Roberto, but he told her that they were drinking together the night before. Roberto had actually stolen the bag even though he claimed to have simply found it. However, this provided the pretext for Roberto to spend the rest of the day with Eva, taking her out to lunch and, later that evening, to a dance club, where Eva confided in him.
Afterwards, Eva went with Roberto to his apartment. There, he inquired about some photographs in her possession, but, when Eva dismissed him, he abruptly knocked her to the ground and demanded she tell him where her old photo album was, since it contained pictures of Johan as a boy - thereby revealing his true intentions. When Eva realized this, she told Roberto that she saw Johan one year ago in Düsseldorf when Tenma followed Junkers to the construction building, which surprised him. Thereafter, Roberto decided to execute Eva after they had a tryst that night.
Eva, however, tried to prevent Roberto from killing her, claiming that he wouldn't be able to find the photos of young Johan without her help, and that if she died they would be sent automatically to the confederate police agency.
Roberto was fascinated by Eva's attitude, even though he clearly saw her legs shaking. As a result, he, although fully aware of Eva's bluff, decided to use her to end Tenma's life. Roberto revealed Tenma's occupation as an underground doctor and his current whereabouts concerning a former mob boss in a mansion near Füssen.
Eva and Roberto headed to the mansion and Roberto killed Helmut, the former lieutenant's bodyguard. He then gave a gun to Eva, which she was to use to shoot Tenma. On her way up, she met Dieter and told him to run away and order the others to escape. Realizing that she had betrayed him, Roberto shot Eva; Dieter consequently drug her to a nearby tree, away from his grasps. Dieter told Eva that Tenma would come and save them, to which she responded by saying that that is bad as it is exactly what Roberto wants. However, Roberto had already fled to scene by that point after realizing the great disadvantage he was at without Eva. Tenma arrived just as she was loosing consciousness and treated her wounds.
Encounter with Reichwein[]
When the investigation of Richard Braun's death ceased after being confirmed as a "suicide", Rudy Gillen and Julius Reichwein began trying to unravel the Johan mystery on their own, as they knew the young man was connected to not only Braun's death, but also the events surrounding Tenma. The reasons the men were sure Richard's death was at least an assisted suicide included his lack of suicidal tendencies and exquisite taste in alcohol: he claimed he would only drink real Scotch, never drink "domestic junk" like Rache, which was found with his body.
At the subway station, a man tried to push Reichwein off the platform where an incoming train was pulling up, but was unsuccessful. He did, however, manage to escape, though he was followed by Reichwein to the bar where he met with a friend. The two beat him but just when it seemed he was about to lose consciousness, Reichwein reached an "over-limit" and, to put it frankly, kicked the heck out of them. He forced the man whom he met at the station to tell him why he pushed him and who asked him to. He said a large man hired him to carry out the task.
Not long after the incident, Reichwein arranged to meet with a patient named Hess, who had been having a difficult relationship with his wife. They discussed trivial details until Hess mentioned that he killed a woman -- in his dream, that is. He also said that he felt lonely for some time until he met a handsome blonde guy. Reichwein felt suspicious about the man and went for tea. The patient -- revealed to be Roberto -- followed him and said that he was an actual murderer in the physical world, not just his dreams. Reichwein splashed him with a nice dose of hot tea and ran through the back exit. Roberto tried to aim at him but failed when Tenma shot from underneath.
Around the same time, Roberto formed a relationship with Blue Sophie, who was posing as the deceased "Margot Langer". When Blue Sophie attempted to extort Johan on the basis of her incriminating evidence of his involvement in the recent death of Edmund Fahren, Roberto revealed his true allegiance, approaching Blue Sophie from behind and aiming a gun at her head as Johan turned away and left the premises, before shooting the hapless prostitute dead.
The library inferno in Munich[]
Hans Georg Schuwald announced the book donation ceremony at the University of Munich. Tenma planned to assassinate Johan there, so he placed himself on the top of bookcase, giving him a direct view of the stage where he predicted Johan would be standing next to Schuwald. The opening ceremony began and Tenma prepared to shoot the young man.
Roberto appeared from behind and put a handgun to Tenma's head, then shoved it in his face as he turned around. Roberto snatched the rifle, telling Tenma to shut up and watch his performance as he moved the reticule from Johan to Schuwald, whom he planned to kill. Tenma jumped on Roberto, and the two fell. One of Johan's henchmen (the woman who was a former patient of Reichwein, Mrs. Hess) engulfed the library in flames. Tenma managed to grab the handgun and pointed it at Roberto. At the same time, Roberto pulled the rifle up to point at Tenma, but Tenma shot him first and Roberto fell off the balcony. He convinced himself that Roberto died as a result of his actions.
Alfred Baul[]
Tenma was arrested after Tomas Zobak, whom he had visited, called the police. Tenma met with Fritz Verdemann, his lawyer, and Verdemann said he would take his case, which made Tenma glad as he had already met with several lawyers, all of whom had refused to take him seriously.
Tenma later arranged to meet with Alfred Baul, Verdemann's legal partner and another expert lawyer who was willing to help him. Upon meeting the man face-to-face and realizing his true identity, however, Tenma was shocked. Roberto, alive and well, had managed to make it out of that sea of flames back in Munich a few months ago, in spite of losing much of the strength in his left arm and having lost weight from the ordeal. Roberto informed Tenma that his next target was Eva Heinemann; Tenma tried to persuade him to choose otherwise, saying that Eva wouldn't testify for his sake as she wants him to rot in prison for breaking up with her. Roberto responded to that by saying that it would be better for annoying women like her to be dead, so she wouldn't bother Tenma nor he and Johan. He also said that Eva knows too much and doesn't deserve to live. Roberto left Tenma in a state of shock, constantly thinking about how he could save her and eventually leading to his escape.
Roberto as "Alfred Baul"
Roberto used the pseudonym "Alfred Baul", presenting himself as a lawyer with hopes of getting close to Fritz Verdemann, as he wanted to get his hands on the lawyer's father's important memo with information about Franz Bonaparta and the Red Rose Mansion. In the end, it was Tenma who got the notebook, not Roberto.
The mansion of red roses had been burned down by Johan shortly after. Roberto, as usual, followed Johan and they moved to Frankfurt, though Roberto was not seen there in the series. His last playing role would be in Ruhenheim, during the massacre.
Massacre in Ruhenheim[]
Ruhenheim, a small, peaceful town surrounded by mountains, had become the victim of a terrible massacre that spread through the town at a near-exponential rate. Fear, hatred and sadness took over the city; neighbors found themselves compelled to kill each other. This act of cruelty doesn't seem too unusual when attributed to a certain person: yes, Johan Liebert came to town to seek revenge against Franz Bonaparta, destroying his "peaceful home" along with it.
Tenma, Anna, Dr. Gillen and a few other characters from before came to the town, trying to stop the massive genocide. On the other hand, there was Roberto who was helping Johan exterminate the population. He personally executed Konrad while he was in the nearby mountains that surrounded the rural hamlet.
Johan's whereabouts remained unknown in Ruhenheim aside from his visit to the Vampire's House. Roberto settled in the Hotel Bergbach, where he hooked up with the lady who sells the sausages. He murdered the owner of the hotel, so the woman remained ignorant to what was going on outside. When she finally realized that the reason Roberto kept taking a shower and changing his clothes whenever he came back was because they were covered with blood, she fled the scene. After being directed to the Hotel Versteck by Lunge and Tenma, she noticed Grimmer and ran toward him; in the process, she was shot dead by one of Johan's henchmen.
Later, Inspector Lunge confronted Roberto at the hotel. The two managed to shoot each other several times before they started wrestling, all while engaging each other in a battle of wits. Eventually, Roberto overpowered Lunge, kicked him into the hallway and began choking him whilst talking about how Johan helped him to regain some of his lovely, forgotten memories. Before Johan appeared, Roberto felt lonely, sad, and inhuman as he didn't know his real name nor his origin. Johan "sympathized" with him and offered him a cup of cocoa, triggering the one pleasant memory he had. Ever since that day, he obeyed Johan's every order, as he gave him a sense of purpose in life.
Lunge grabbed Roberto's mortal wound during his speech and took him down, demanding to know where Johan was located. Lunge eventually fainted from the exertion and Roberto walked out to meet Johan in hopes of seeing the "Scenery for a Doomsday".
Roberto, dead
Outside, he noticed Johan was being held at gunpoint by Bonaparta, so he shot the elderly man dead before collapsing at Johan's feet. He stated that he still couldn't see the final landscape, to which Johan responded by saying that that was correct: Roberto wouldn't be able to see it now or ever. Roberto then succumbed to his wounds.
Relationships[]
Wolfgang Grimmer[]
Roberto seems to cherish the memory of his childhood friend, but how he would have felt about him in his adulthood - or whether he would have even recognized him - is unknown, as they were never able to reunite.
Johan Liebert[]
Roberto admires Johan and has complete faith in whatever he decides to do. Johan is the one who gave Roberto a reason for living and he always looks forward to contributing to Johan's plans in any way he can. One of Roberto's primary interests was to see the "scenery for a doomsday" that he came to learn about from Johan.
Although Roberto's devotion to Johan is undeniably strong, he does act on his own from time to time. The most noticeable instance of this is when Roberto ordered his men to kill Nina, which obviously would have upset Johan. The reason he ordered this was never directly stated, but it can be assumed that Roberto may have felt jealousy towards Nina as she is so extremely important to Johan; killing her would have left a hole in Johan's life that Roberto may have wanted to fill since he admires Johan so much. Alternatively, he may have just wanted to kill her because he felt that she was beginning to become a problem for Johan.