Doctor Mabuse

Dr. Mabuse is the villain of Norbert Jacquiss's novel Doctor Mabuse the Gambler, and the films Dr. Mabuse the Gambler (silent, 1922) The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) and the much later The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse (1960). In the first two films, he is portrayed by Rudolf Klein-Rogge, who also portrayed Rotwang in Metropolis; in the third film he is portrayed by Wolfgang Preiss.

character overview
Dr. Mabuse is a master of disguise and telepathic hypnosis known to employ body transference, most often through demonic possession but sometimes utilizing object technologies such as television or phonograph machines, to build a "society of crime". Mabuse rarely commits his crimes in person, instead operating primarily through a network of agents enacting his schemes. Mabuse's agents range from career criminals working for him, to innocents blackmailed or hypnotized into cooperation, to dupes manipulated so successfully that they do not realize that they are doing exactly what Mabuse planned for them to do.

Mabuse's identity often changes; one "Dr. Mabuse" may be defeated and sent to an asylum, jail or the grave, only for a new "Dr. Mabuse" to later appear, as depicted in The Testament of Dr. Mabuse. The replacement invariably has the same methods, the same powers of hypnosis and the same criminal genius. There are even suggestions in some instalments of the series, that the "real" Mabuse is some sort of spirit that possesses a series of hosts.

in the films
Mabuse is first introduced in Mabuse, the Gambler as a master criminal with a scheme to mani[pulate world stock markets to create chaos and make himself rich. During this scheme, he kills dozens of people; when the protagonidsts foil his scheme, he is haunted and driven insane by the ghosts of his victims.

In The Testament of Dr. Mabuse, he is thought to be dead, but he is able to project his spirit into the bodies of other people and make them do his bidding. He ultimately "escapes" his host, leaving them completely insane.