| “ | We have no more time. I have waited patiently for this council to act. But our people are tired of dying in the rotting hall of this Ark. Therefore, I am assuming command; the council is hereby dissolved! | „ |
| ~ General Hemmer taking over as commander of the Ark. |
General Hemmer is the main antagonist of the 2007 computer-animated sci-fi film Battle for Terra. He is the commanding officer of the Ark.
He was voiced by Brian Cox, who also played Hannibal Lecktor in Manhunter, Killearn in Rob Roy, Hermann Goering in Nuremberg, Ward Abbott in the Jason Bourne film series, Dark Yabu in Vexx, William Stryker in X2: X-Men United, Lionel Starkweather in Manhunt, Agamemnon in Troy, Scolar Visari in Killzone, Pariah Dark in Danny Phantom, Mr. Kreeg in Trick 'r Treat, Jack Denham in Syndicate, Conrad in Bob the Builder, Logan Roy in Succession, Kostas Becker in The Simpsons and Niander Wallace, Sr. in Blade Runner: Black Lotus.
Biography[]
Hemmer, along with all the other humans living on a massive spaceship called the Ark, is looking for a new planet to colonize after a war between the colonies on the planets of Earth, Venus, and Mars lead to the destruction of all three planets. With the ship only having two months left of oxygen, Hemmer is tired of spending his whole life on the Ark and proposes a plan to forcefully colonize a new planet, regardless of what life already exists on the planet. The Ark would eventually find Terra, a near Earth-like planet that the humans plan to terraform.
Hemmer was first seen on the Ark arguing with President Chen and the council about the rising conflicts between the humans and the Terrians of Terra and proposes war on the aliens. When the council places his commotions under vote, Hemmer feels angered and tells Jim and Stewart Stanton he plans to take his own hands into matter should the tension rise any further. Jim tries to reason with his official by saying that the Terrians are not as evil as Hemmer believes them to be and that the Terrians have somehow managed to move on from beyond their brutal war-like pasts. Hemmer simply demands if the Terrians can still fight and when Jim reluctantly states affirmative, he bluntly responds that at least they can die honorably.
Meanwhile, Mala, a Terrian that Jim befriended after she saved his life from the planet's poisonous atmosphere, sneaks on-board the Ark in search for her father Roven, who was one of the many Terrians captured for scientific research. When she is spotted, Roven sacrifices his life to save his daughter and blasts an airlock open, killing him and two human scientists in the process.
Hemmer uses the camera recording of Roven's act to persuade to the council that the Terrians are murderous and plan to destroy their invaders. To make sure the council won't stand in his way, he takes power over the civilian leaders in a coup, and declares war on Terra, citing the deteriorating condition of the Ark.
After becoming the commander of the Ark, Hemmer describes to Jim his plan to place a massive Terraformer onto the surface of Terra and use it to convert the planet's atmosphere into an Earth-like habitat by releasing a massive amount of oxygen. This will result in wiping out the Terrians as oxygen is toxic to them. He then throws Mala and Stewart into a test chamber, showing the differences between the Terrain air and Earth air, despite Jim's pleads to spare their lives. Hemmer offers Jim to push a button that will revert the air to save Mala, at the cost of Stewart asphyxiating. Before Mala suffocates to death, Jim orders his robot partner Giddy to break the glass and rescue Mala.
While Jim and Stewart are recovering from their injuries, Hemmer enters the room and recruits Jim to be in the first group of space-fighters designated to defend the Terraformer from the Terrians, while Hemmer will supervise the terraforming process from inside the Terraformer itself.
A massive battle between the Terrians and the invading humans takes place over the terraforming of Terra from the Terraformer. When it appears the Terrians are about to lose the battle, Jim sees the suffocating Terrians and realizes that annihilating all of the inhabitants is morally wrong (and by seeing Mala and Stewart fighting each other, after the latter take down Mala's friend Senn, who was part of Terrian resistance). He decides to turn his ship towards the Terraformer machine and, with his laser cannons blazing, fires every missile from his ship towards the command module.
Everyone in the Terraformer evacuates, but Hemmer watches in horror as he realizes Jim has betrayed him. The missiles destroy the Terraformer, killing Hemmer. Unfortunately, Jim is killed in the resulting explosion and is honored as a hero by both the humans and Terrians.
Personality[]
Hemmer is inspired to go to war with the Terrians simply because he sees them as inferior to humans. He also sounds interested when Jim tells him that the Terrians can still fight back, as slaughtering them like animals would have been a much less noble end (he is less intrested in how Terrians have moved beyond their war-like pasts).
He also acts somewhat sadistically, such as forcing Jim to be given the option to save either Mala or his brother Stewart's life when he has them locked in a chamber as a way to test his loyalty.
Hemmer may seem like he is motivated by the survival of the human race, but his dislike of the Terrians make him want to wipe them out rather than make peace and co-exist, which was entirely possible as the humans had made a dome filled with oxygen at the end of the film.
Quotes[]
| “ | Twelve dead. A dozen human beings. One tarnished, worn-out security seal way past its recall date, and gone... Twelve valuable, productive lives. How much longer do we have to wait while this tomb crumbles around us? When will this council give me the authority to do what must be done? | „ |
| ~ Hemmer to the council. |
| “ | Tired of watching comrades die for nothing? We've come a long way, Terra is our prize. A jewel hanging in space. It has real water, not that chemical junk, and ground. God, I'd like to feel steady ground under my feet one day. Kids born on the Ark have never seen a blade of grass, or heard a bird sing. | „ |
| ~ Hemmer on his plan to claim Terra for humanity. |
| “ | Can they fight?... Good. Then they'll die with honor! | „ |
| ~ Hemmer dismissing Jim Stanton. |
| “ | The lines have been drawn. We are human. They are alien. | „ |
| ~ Hemmer's opinion on the Terrians. |
| “ | If I sin, let future generations judge me. But mark this: only thanks to me will there be any future generations! | „ |
| ~ Hemmer on committing genocide. |
| “ | Like you said, interesting species. | „ |
| ~ Hemmer to Jim about Mala. |
| “ | Men and women of Earth Force. You hold the entire future of our species in your hands. Your actions over the next few hours will either win ourselves a new home or doom us to extinction. Be loyal, be brave. Remember who you are and what we fight for: Terra! | „ |
| ~ Hemmer rallying his troops. |
| “ | Stanton?! Pull away! Pull away! Fire at that ship! | „ |
| ~ Hemmer ordering the Terraformer to fire at Jim, also his last words. |