Harold Zettler

Harold Zettler is a vampire, a Malkavian antitribu who is on the Board of Directors of Pentex. He is quiet, but cruel and depraved, almost zealous. He sired Persephone Tar-Anis in 1845.^[1]

Biography[]

“	You ask me what people are more likely to be diabolists and murderers. I assure you; anyone can be a diabolist and a murderer.	”
	— Harold the Zettler, Malkavian engraver, and scholar of Banes

During the Dark Ages, a Malkavian named Harold the Zettler was part of a Hessian bloodline of Malkavians that delved into Dark Thaumaturgy in order to find a way to aid the Salubri against the Thaumaturgy of the Tremere. The Malkavians learned their arts from servants of a three-headed dragon, which is likely the Wyrm. The Zettler betrayed the entire bloodline to the dragon in exchange for mastery over their speciality Path and soon disappeared from Cainite society. His writings, however, remained, tempting several German vampires into infernalism.^[2]

The word “sadistic” does not do Zettler justice. Rumors abound of his having been a Nazi doctor at Auschwitz, a Hessian mercenary, a witch-hunter in Salem, a cannibal and serial killer in St. Petersburg and a cult leader in the Black Forest. His Embrace only furthered his insanity and depravity. He has served the Urge-Wyrm of Cruelty for at least sixty years. Zettler is also an extremely affluent Sabbat Cainite; his wealth comes from his position as the director of the Special Projects Division within the secretive mega-corporation known as Pentex.

He was placed on the Board of Directors in a partnership between Pentex Incorporated and the Sabbat that formed in 1945. He is the the Division director of the SPD, which includes such projects as Iliad and Odyssey, but he also has a finger or two in many more enterprises, such as Panacea Pharmaceuticals.^[3]

It is known, that prominent members of the Sabbat have offered Zettler the role of Priscus due to what they perceive as his ability as a spiritual leader. They don’t understand the rotten entity Zettler serves. If he took the role, he could potentially spread the service of the Wyrm, but it would also expose Pentex to the eyes of the Sabbat, something the rest of the Board would not want. Zettler is in discussion regarding the matter with his childe and Chief of Pentex Security, Persephone Tar-Anis.

5th Edition Timeline[]

Among the Pentex Group's various directors, the vampiric Zettler is the one most often involved in its supernatural projects. As the leader of the Brotherhood of the Fly, a Wyrm cult that serves as a connection between the corporation's mundane operations and the forces of the Wyrm, he oversees many of the more explicitly supernatural projects (the likes of Iliad and Odyssey), and the 'productivity consultants' that provide Pentex fronts with 'proprietary' means of improving performance are often sent on his orders.

In February 2024, depending on the fate of the Broad Brook caern, Zettler may have been attacked in his fortified compound in Jakarta by a spiritual echo of the long-dead Chains-the-Lie. Zettler's Final Death as the culmination of the attack is implied, but not confirmed.^[4]

Trivia[]

Zettler looks a lot like Matthew "The Gentleman Gamer" Dawkins in some of the artwork. A possible reference to him being played by Dawkins in his web series "Pentex's Guide to Werewolves."