Millennium (Hellsing)

This article deals with the fictional group Millennium from the Hellsing series. For other uses see Millennium (disambiguation).

Millennium
Publication information
Publisher	Shounengahosha Dark Horse Comics Editions Tonkam Planet Manga Norma J.P. Fantastica
First appearance	Hellsing volume 2
Created by	Kouta Hirano
In-story information
Type of organization	Pre-war Nazism Remnant
Base(s)	Hindenburg II (Deus Ex Machina), Jaburo, Brazil
Leader(s)	Major The Doctor
Agent(s)	The Captain Warrant Officer Schrödinger Walter C. Dornez Luke and Jan Valentine Tubalcain Alhambra First Lieutenant Rip van Winkle First Lieutenant Zorin Blitz

Millennium is a fictional Nazi organization from the manga series Hellsing by Kouta Hirano, they serve as the primary antagonists in the series. Its name is a reference to the "Thousand Year Reich" which Adolf Hitler sought to establish during World War II. Within the series, the mysterious group pools its resources after the war and, with substantial help from the Vatican, is able to relocate to Brazil to go into hiding. Millennium's researchers discover a way to transform humans into vampires through unknown means (although it is suggested that some kind of surgery is involved), and monitors them using implanted computer chips. Most of the members are monsters of some sort, or have found a way to prolong their lives.

History

Millennium was founded before the end of World War II, by "Hitler's Special Order #666" (a reference to the mark of the beast in the Book of Revelation), as a means of researching and using supernatural phenomena for military purposes. In 1944, their grand project of creating a vampire army was foiled by a 14-year-old Walter C. Dornez and his accomplice, Alucard (who had apparently taken on the form of a young girl). In the current storyline (set in 1999), Walter and Alucard claim to have "killed everyone there" and put an end to their experiments, but exactly what happened during these events remains to be seen. It is apparent that they did not, in fact, kill the Major, the Doctor, the Captain, or Lieutenant Rip Van Winkle. Furthermore, the current status of their supposed source vampire (an unnamed female referred to only as "She") was unknown until recently. Chapter 94 of Hellsing reveals that 'She' was in fact Mina Harker. As Alucard was not killed by Van Helsing, Mina did not become fully human and thus, Millennium were able to extract some of her blood which contained Alucard's essence and used this as a base for all their artificial vampires. The events that took place in 1944 are told in Hellsing: The Dawn, an ongoing prequel to Hellsing.

After this event, Millennium began to plan their escape. Some time after the end of the war in Europe, most of the members had left for South America, taking with them a battalion of 1,000 Waffen-SS volunteers. This was known as the "Letztes Bataillon", translated in English as the "Last Battalion", a secret weapon to be used in a future conflict. They also brought with them a massive amount of valuables taken from victims of the Holocaust, as well as an assortment of advanced weaponry, such as V-1 flying bombs, V-2 rockets and advanced Zeppelins. Millinieum soldiers are overall, equipped with World War 2-era German weapons including Kar98 bolt-action rifles, MP40s, STG-44s, Stick grenades, Panzerfausts and Panzerschrecks. Stahlhelm helmets are apparently still in use along with long trenchcoats and a face cloth.

Millennium initially stayed hidden in the shadows, first by observing the Hellsing organization's capabilities by attacking it with ghouls (and devastating it in the process). The invasion of London began after occupying a Royal Navy carrier (which in turn was destroyed by Alucard), arriving at the city at night. Unbeknownst to the civilian population, Millennium also jammed the entire British military's communications, rendering them unable to respond nor even know what was going on. V1 and V2 bombs were shot all over London as hundreds of Nazi troops descended from the Zeppelins, massacring everyone in sight. British police officers attempted to fight back though were quickly wiped out as ordinary bullets had minimal effects on the vampire soldiers.

Sir Integra Hellsing was also pursued by a Millennium team though the chase was a failure when Father Anderson and a force of paladins arrived in the nick of time, wiping out the vampire soldiers in seconds.

The organization then attacked Integra Hellsing's mansion under the command of Zorin, though the attack was initially a disaster, Seras Victoria having shot down their Zeppelin with AA cannons. Despite this, the survivors continued to attack, only to fall into a minefield set up by Captain Pip's Wild Geese troops. Ultimately, the Millennium forces were able to bypass the minefield and kill all of the Wild Geese (including Pip Bernadotte) a but a handful though in turn, were wiped out by Seras Victoria who also managed to kill Zorin Blitz in a brutal duel.

While in London, Millennium found itself facing another enemy: the Iscariot Organization led by Archbishop Enrico Maxwell, which arrived with a far larger army backed up with gunships. Both forces engaged in a fierce clash until the arrival of Alucard. By then, Millennium's manpower was largely depleted, numbering only 572 troops. Much of the survivors were then wiped out by Alucard's undead army along with the Iscariot knights. Yet Walter C. Dornez is revealed to have sided with Millennium since 1944 and has now become a Vampire. Though formidable, especially after was de-aged to his physical prime, his body was unstable and ultimately proved to be no match for Alucard. Seras Victoria and The Captain fought, and with the aid of Pip Bernedotte, Seras was able to kill the Captain. Integra finds the Major in his room and explains that Alucard was about to be erased, after absorbing so many souls of people who died at London. Schrödinger who commits suicide is absorbed by Alucard and caused him to disappear for 30 years. Integra and Seras kills the Major. The only ones left were The Doctor and Walter. Walter realizes that Millennium's research was Mina Harker and they used her remains to create vampires and Walter said that everything was just an imitation of Alucard and kills The Doctor and allowing himself to burn inside the Zeppelin. Alucard returns by killing all his souls except his own and that of Schrödinger, and now he's everywhere and nowhere. Millennium at the end proved to be a fool's dream as no survivors were shown and instead created a vampire that can almost truly match Alucard, Seras, who has Integra's faith into humanity, as well as Alucard gaining access to Schrödinger's abilities.

Members

The Major

A crazed former SS officer, once in charge of the Nazi experiments with vampires, until the operation was attacked by a young Walter and Alucard in 1944. He leads the Letztes Bataillon (Last Battalion) in his attempts to wreak unending war.

The Doctor

The mad genius whose research led to the creation of a Nazi vampire army out of 1,000 volunteers in the 'Letztes Bataillon'.

The Captain

The Major's silent, stoic adjutant and bodyguard. He is the only 'real' werewolf in Millennium's Werwolf forces.

First Lieutenant Rip van Winkle

One of Millennium's top soldiers, and member of the Werewolf special forces, she uses special bullets from a long-barreled flintlock musket which "punish all without distinction".

First Lieutenant Zorin Blitz

A tall, massively muscled female vampire who works for the Millennium organization and is part of its Werewolf force. She is the commander of one of Millennium's zeppelin forces.

Warrant Officer Schrödinger

Though there has been some debate in the Western world regarding his species, Schrödinger has been identified by Hirano as a catboy ("Werewolf" would be the military unit he serves in), and created by the Doctor (whom he irreverently refers to as "Doc"). Usually found sitting underneath the Major's throne like a pet, he also acts as an envoy for Millennium. He has the ability to be "everywhere and nowhere" at the same, His powers also include apparent regeneration/immortality, If he believes that he is unscathed, then he is. (These abilities, his name, and his being feline are obviously a reference to the famous "Schrödinger's cat" scenario in quantum physics.) Apparently he has a slight attraction towards Seras, at least hinting it when he first sees her.

Tubalcain Alhambra

Also known as 'The Dandy Man', Tubalcain is a lieutenant in Millennium and uses razor-sharp cards as a weapon. He is the one who sends a SWAT team after Alucard and Seras Victoria.

The Valentine Brothers

Luke Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu (Japanese), Patrick Seitz (English)

Jan Voiced by: Kazuya Nakai (TV) Wataru Takagi (OVA) (Japanese), Josh Phillips (English)

These two vampires (FREAKs in the TV series; FREAKs were humans turned into vampires with the aid of a chip) have much influence in the underworld. Their exact origins are unknown, though their English voice actors speak with North American accents. In the second episode of the OVA, a comment by Jan suggests that they are from the lower classes of society. The two talk about performing "jobs" which seems to imply that the two worked as hit-men, or have a long history in criminal activity. With an army of ghouls, they stormed Hellsing HQ. Their ghouls were armed with assault rifles, body armor, and shields. Jan uses a pair of heavily modified, suppressed FN P90s, while Luke uses a pair of sawed-off M1 Garand rifles (and, in the OVA, what appears to be some kind of curved bowie knife, while he has a Walther PPK concealed up his sleeve in the manga as well as the OVA and TV series).Their prototypes were in Hellsing:The Legends of a vampire hunter.Where Jan's prototype is hellman and his brother is Luke's.

While Jan, save for some over-the-top strength and agility, is a more basic vampire, Luke in particular demonstrates an extreme form of celerity (more evident in the OVA II) and accelerated healing, recovering quickly from being pierced by the soldiers trap spears and regenerating from being shot in the head by Alucard (although he cannot regenerate limbs, this might be because he was shot by the Jackal which was made for use against regenerators such as Alexander Anderson. However, this does not explain how he was able to regenerate the wound to his head, which was also caused by the Jackal. In the manga he was shot by the Casull to the face and the Jackal to the legs)THe recut fixed that. Jan faced off against Walter and Seras, while Luke descended into the basement to do battle with Alucard. Alucard overwhelms Luke and easily kills him, while Jan is burned to death by the Major and Doctor for almost revealing their identities, but not before he gave the name "Millennium".

By their clothing and mannerisms, Luke is reminiscent of an English dandy and Jan, a stereotypical chav. The gap between the brothers is further emphasized by their choice of weaponry. While Jan uses two very modern guns, Luke's are rather old-school. Although the two are brothers, they share very little in common in terms of both appearance and personality. Luke, in his own words, is "quiet, focused, and cool" and is by far the more articulate and reserved of the two. Jan, on the other hand, is volatile and rude, constantly spewing forth random profanity and making lewd (often disturbing) comments. Luke can be viewed as the brains of the operation and the primary decision maker, while Jan is the muscle, being the one who commands the ghoul army.

Appearance wise, Jan has tan skin and gold eyes with black hair. He wears a dark blue high-collared sweatshirt and dark blue pants, both of which have white lining. He also wears white gloves and a dark blue beanie with an odd eye symbol outlined in gold on the front. Jan also has multiple piercings, some in each ear, nose piercings, an eyebrow piercing, a cheek piercing, and two piercings on his lower lip (one of which is, in a rather sadistic manner, ripped out by Walter using his wires). Luke has rather pale skin, long blonde hair tied with a white ribbon at the end and green eyes (which are darker in the TV series). He wears silver pince-nez glasses and the same sweatshirt as Jan except it is white with gold lining (the sweatshirt is black with white lining in the manga and is white with green lining rather than gold in the TV series). He also wears white suit pants, white gloves, a white suit jacket over his sweatshirt and, in the OVA, a white overcoat hanging on his shoulders that he loses in the Hellsing spear trap.

Luke seems to fancy himself as the instrument of Alucard's demise, believing that because of his advanced abilities as compared to other vampires that he was designed to surpass Alucard in every way (and has more than the sum total of Alucard's vampiric powers at his disposal). He soon finds that this is far from the truth, being soundly beaten by Alucard, who pleads with Luke to call upon more powerful vampiric abilities (having already been impressed by Luke's speed and reflexes) but is disappointed to find Luke can't even heal his severed legs. After calling Alucard a "monster", (which seems to unerve Alucard in some way) and saying he is nothing more than a "dog" of the church, Luke is devoured by Alucard's black dog, "Baskerville". Alucard quips that in life (as a vampire), Luke was useless and pathetic, and now (if Alucard is a dog) he is simply "dog food".

During their attack on the Hellsing HQ, Jan recites the infamous Konami Code, saying "Bringing the motherfucking death by Konami!"

In chapter 78, Finesthour (3), Luke emerges from the remains of Alucard's hellhound "Baskerville", after Walter slices it in two and is very disgusted by the events surrounding him.

In chapter 79, Walter, using his wires like puppet strings, gains control of both Luke and Alucard's Hellhound, and uses them to attack Alucard. Alucard makes short work of them.

In chapter 80, Walter uses his wires to sever Alucard's arms and legs, to cut his torso in half, and to suspend him helplessly in the air. He then grabs a piece of rebar and attacks Alucard, impaling him through the chest. The Alucard that Walter attacked, however, was a decoy, created by Alucard using Luke's remains, allowing him to shape-shift and sneak up behind Walter. Luke is now believed to be dead for good.

While they were killed in volume 2, they "reappear" many times in the afterword manga (omakes), often in extremely hilarious situations. In the first omake feature, right after Luke and Jan were killed, Jan and Luke talked about their deaths. Jan describing his as "Burnt to a crisp" and Luke saying, "Eaten by a doggy" while holding up a black dog. By the way Luke continues on about his cause of death, more so than Jan in the issue, he seems to be amazed, ashamed, or both, that he was eaten by a "doggy".

(Note: Jan's name is pronounced /yahn/, as the 'j' makes a 'y' sound in German.)

Walter C. Dornez

A 69-year-old retired member of the Hellsing Organization who at the beginning of the series, he acted only as Integra's butler. However, he later lived up to his old nickname, the "Angel of Death", when Hellsing was attacked. Walter was altered in some sort of procedure by the Doctor, brainwashed to remove his reservations, and now fights for Millennium. The storyline also appears to imply that Walter may have allied himself with Millennium as early as 1944. Walter seems to have turned himself against Hellsing to reach his dream of defeating Alucard in combat, even being willing to sacrifice his life due to the effects of the hastily performed vampirization.

"She" or THE SHI

"She" is not a member of Millennium, strictly speaking. She first appears in Chapter 1 of The Dawn as a contorted figure wrapped in bandages and chained to a wall. She appears again in Chapter 2, in which the Doctor describes her as "perfect" and "horrible". He cannot believe that she exists, even after studying her. The Major refers to her as "our beginning and our end" and says that "once before, sanity and insanity fought over her", that "they trampled her underfoot", and that "she is just what is left over". It is assumed that "She" is the original vampire upon which all of Millennium's artificial vampires were based. In Chapter 93, Sorcerian 2, the Doctor stands before a door marked "No. Anfang" (German for "beginning") and "THE SHI". It is implied that he is trying to release her, but doesn't know how to do so.

It is revealed in Chapter 94, "Oblivion", that she is Mina Harker, now only a lifeless skeleton.

See also

• Young King OURs
• Nazi occultism
• Project Ragna Rok
• ODESSA