| “ | You see, while curing the Daltons, I analysed my own life. I saw how the influences of my family had distracted me from my true vocation. A career of crime! A life of adventure and easy money! With my brain and my discoveries, I will become the biggest crook in the West! THE BIGGEST CRRROOK IN THE WORLD! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!! | „ |
| ~ Otto Von Bratwurst revealing his true colors to Lucky Luke. |
Otto Von Hiimbergeist, known as Otto Von Bratwurst in the English version, is the main antagonist of the Lucky Luke comic book A Cure for the Daltons.
He is a doctor of Austrian origin who traveled to America in order to test out his theories about curing the most notorious criminals of the Wild West from a curable illiness. However, his theories are quite arguable, as shown by Professor Applejack who thinks that Otto doesn't actually know that the criminals aren't suffering from sickness and it is only for his own crooked fame and to hide his true criminal side. This is later proven to be the case near the end of the story, as Otto turns against Lucky Luke and reveals his true colors as a crook who's true vocation was a career of crime, as his parents' influence distracted him from doing so. He is later defeated and arrested alongside the Daltons, but he surprisingly receives a one year sentence and a deportation to his old country, so he could be cured.
Biography[]
Otto Von Bratwurst is first seen at the beginning of the story, doing a speech about his theories where every criminal, including most notorious ones like the Daltons, are simply suffering from an illness which he can cure. However, one man in the crowd, Professor Applejack, doesn't believe him and starts ranting on him. Otto attempts to calm him down by making him talk about his own childhood, but he gets more furious and says he doesn't really worry about his childhood. The president of the New York Institute of Science fortunately calms the situation down. Otto then asks him about how he got the small bell he has, with him answering that when he was only a child, he was offered a small rattle by his mother. Otto then resumes his speech, saying that he came to the United States to put his theories to the test, as it is where he would find the best outlaws, promising that if his treatement actually works, they would be obliged to respect his cogitations. The president agrees and tells him that he will meet the man who knows a lot about bandits and outlaws, which is shown to be Lucky Luke.
During his trip to the Far West, he cures several bandits from their "illness" during a train robbery, leading to them giving back the victims' belongings to them. Luke greets him and offers to share a drink with him in the saloon. There, they find a drunk man who mocks the doctor, only for him to ask if he is drinking not to quench his thirst, but to forget something. This causes the man to have a mental breakdown and cry, which worries the barman who asks Luke that what the doctor is doing isn't good for business. Otto then asks Luke if there is a prison full of bandits somewhere, which he gets informed that there is one not far away. Once they arrive there, they meet the prison's warden, who has a conversation with the doctor, saying that his penitentiary is the best of the West. However, he slowly starts to get nervous when Otto asks about how he became a doctor, eventually bursting into tears.
In the yard, he accidentally trips on the sleeping RinTinCan, but the warden helps him up. He is then introduced to four criminals who committed several crimes, from killing several people to stealing a horse, but isn't interested by any of them. However, he sees the Daltons being dragged outside, which makes him happy as he found the best subjects to test his theories with, but Lucky Luke tells him to be careful. The Daltons tell the doctor that they are not sick at all and therefore refuse to be cured, only for Otto to say that if he successfully cures them from their criminal illness, they would be able to be free from prison, leading to the brothers having an agreement, much to Luke's displeasure.
In their prison cell, Otto asks the Daltons to tell him about their childhood, which quickly calms their criminal instincts down. Despite this, a prison cell isn't enough for the doctor to conduct his cure, meaning that he has to find a new place. This makes Luke angry and reluctant as the Daltons are very dangerous criminals, but he is forced to aid him as he was tasked formally and officially by the governement. Seeing a small farm, he gets the opportunity to settle there so he can cure the Daltons. Otto then thinks Luke has some sort of grudge, but he is angrily answered that he behaves normally.
At the farm, Otto conducts several tests on the Daltons, using his wallet as an object to test if the Daltons are going to steal it or not. However, their criminal instincts still influence them, making the tests harder than usual. One time, Joe Dalton stole the wallet as he couldn't resist, causing him to crack up. The next day, during lunch, Joe attempts to do it again, which is a success, but Averell has eaten all of the food on the table (due to his obsession for food and his recurring catchphrase).
Despite the curing process being quite hard for the doctor, he doesn't give up and promises to succeed at provign his theories right. The treatement then resume the next day, but the Daltons make him turn the tables against Luke by having him analyze his own life and know how exciting being an outlaw could be. As Otto goes outside to do some shopping, Luke asks if he can check on the Daltons, but it isn't necessary as the doctor has "cured" them, much to his shock and confusion. He later coems back with revolvers, wanting to test the Daltons' instincts now that they have been cured, but Luke knows that the test will fail, calling him crazy for attempting to test such dangerous manners to the Daltons, resulting in Otto angrily yelling at Luke that he isn't crazy. As expected by Luke, Otto fails the test and is held at gunpoint by the Daltons, who handcuff Luke and take the doctor with them.
They then commit a crime wave around the town of Bald Hill, before hiding inside a small shack somewhere away from the town. They are later found by RinTinCan, who trips Joe over as Luke enters inside, holding the Daltons at gunpoint, only for Otto, now on their side, holding Luke at gunpoint as well. After Luke was captured by the Daltons, Otto initially wanted to kill Lucky Luke right away, but the Daltons had the option to decide of who has the opportunity to take him down by playing a game of poker, which Otto agrees and lets them go. This allows Otto to reveal his true colors to Luke, saying that when he was curing the Daltons, his life was analyzed and the family's influence on him had distracted him from his true career, which is being a criminal, thinking that it would allow him to gain money easily and vowing to become the best crook of the West. This doesn't scare Luke however, who calls him crazy again. Infuriated by the insult, Otto nearly shoots Luke again, only for the Daltons to finish their game of poker and decided who will kill Luke, but Otto doesn't want them to kill him yet, as he plans to have him accompany them to their bank robbery. He then asks Joe to untie the prisoner, as Averell asks if he can stay, only for him to be forced to come with them.
At night, they successfully convince a bank owner to get them money, thinking that the money had ruined his life, even to the point he decides to leave the town to start over a new life. Otto then asks Luke if he is convinced by this, but is still called crazy again, resulting in Otto becoming furious again and allows Joe to shoot him, but outside of the town so they wouldn't cause a disturbance. However, Averell, who was successfully cured, did not want to become a criminal anymore. As Luke hands him over the stolen money, Averell throws a tantrum, causing the townsfolk to wake up from the noise, which angers them. Otto then asks everyone to settle down and be quiet, as he will try to kill Luke by himself, only for RinTinCan to jump on him, growling in anger. Afterwards, a shootout occurs between the three Daltons and Averell and Lucky Luke, covering a defeated Otto behind the barrels. As this happens, Luke tells Otto that the only Dalton he has cured is what caused his criminal career to end.
The next day, Otto turned over to the law and was sentenced to one year of hard labour, before being sent back to his old country to be cured. This failure proved that Otto's theories were completely false and are just foreign rumors that are unacceptable to the balanced man of science.
Trivia[]
- In the English version published by Cinebook in 2010, Otto speaks with an Austrian accent, while in the original version he speaks normally.
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 Villains
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Dalton Family Other Outlaws Comics Movies The New Adventures of Lucky Luke Kid Lucky | ||