Karl Koenig

General Karl Koenig was the final new villain appearing in The Rat Patrol, in its final episode The Kill at Koorlea Raid.

Biography
General Koenig was a Nazi officer in the Afrika Korps who was also involved in a variety of war crimes. He was nicknamed "The Butcher." Despite his cruelty, he was happily married with several children whom he loved dearly. When first introduced, he was seen calmly eating breakfast outside his tent after he had a group of Allied prisoners of war hung from a tree branch overnight to "loosen their tongues." This was much to the disgust of Captain Hans Dietrich and Lieutenant Sturm, who'd been charged with escorting Koenig to meet his family at Koorlea.

Dietrich drove him to a villa at Koorlea to be with his wife and children. Captain Boggs assigned Sam Troy of the Rat Patrol to escort British sniper Corporal Freebairn to Koorlea so he could kill Koenig.

Initially, Troy cooperated, however he didn't want Freebairn to shoot Koenig in front of his children. Regardless of their father's crimes, the children were innocent. Over Freebairn's objections, Troy managed to break into the villa and persuade Koenig to come with him at gunpoint, giving him the choice of coming quietly of being killed in front of his family. Thinking he'd be rescued by Dietrich, Koenig agreed, and went with the Allies. Despite efforts by Dietrich to thwart the kidnapping, the Rats managed to get Koenig back to headquarters so he could stand trial for his crimes.