Johann Fennhoff

TALK PAGE

"Now I need your complete focus. Do I have that?"

- Doctor Ivchenko

Doctor Johann Fennhoff is a psychiatrist and an operative of the Soviet spy agency Leviathan. Originally a medical officer in the Soviet Armed Forces, during World War II Fennhoff realized he could use his techniques to the point of fully hypnotizing other people. In 1944, he was one of the few survivors of the incident that became known as the Battle of Finow, and was recruited as a scientist to work for Leviathan. Calling himself Ivchenko, re-arranging the name of Private Ovechkin, the first man he helped save with his methods, in 1946 he orchestrated the campaign against the American inventor Howard Stark whom he blamed for the death of his brother at Finow. Fennhoff was eventually captured by the Strategic Scientific Reserve and put in same prison cell as HYDRA scientist Arnim Zola.

Early Life
"I lost my wife and children to Leviathan." "I'm sorry."

- Ivchenko and Roger Dooley

Fennhoff had a brother that he loved. He was once married and had children.

World War II
In 1943, Fennhoff was stationed in an army camp for the Soviet Armed Forces. While at the camp, he was reading a book called "The Tragic Life of Doctor Faustus". During his reading, he was interrupted by a surgeon, who wanted his assistance during an amputation of the leg of a soldier, called Ovechkin. He was hesitant at first, but agreed to help nonetheless. Fennhoff used his hypnosis-technique on the soldier, who focused on the memory of a game of chess he had with his mother before he enlisted in the army. As Ovechkin was completely focused on the memory, the surgeons could amputate his leg without Ovechkin feeling any pain.

Battle of Finow
"I was only spared because I had a gas mask to protect myself. My comrades were not so lucky. My brother wasn't so lucky. When I found him, he had no eyes. Pieces of his flesh had been bitten off."

- Ivchenko to Howard Stark

Fennhoff and his brother were among the soldiers deployed to fight in Finow, Germany. Choosing to wear a gas mask, he was not affected when General John McGinnis deployed the invention called Midnight Oil. Fennhoff's brother was killed in the massacre that resulted.

Captured
"My most heartfelt congratulates. You have all been selected to join Leviathan."

- Fyodor

Ivchenko was one of four men captured by Leviathan in 1944. These four were told that they had the option not to join the Soviet organization. When one of the four said that he wanted to be with his family, he was stabbed in the jugular vein; the remaining three were told that his family would be killed and they all will be together. Ivchenko chose to remain alive.

Discipline
"Why is Leviathan holding you prisoner?" "They acquired some schemas in the black market. A weapon they don't know how to build. They want us to build it for them."

- Peggy Carter and Ivchenko

Ivchenko was in a prison cell near the Red Room Academy when Peggy Carter and the Howling Commandos found him in 1946. He explained to them that he was imprisoned to keep the genius scientist Nikola focused and disciplined; he saw the world differently than most and Ivchenko kept him calm so that he could create a Photonic Amplifier from blueprints made by Howard Stark. Carter and the Commandos freed Ivchenko and Nikola from their prison cell; however, in the ensuing firefight to escape the Red Room Academy, Nikola took the wounded Happy Sam Sawyer hostage to trade for his freedom. Despite Ivchenko's best effort's to calm his mind, Nikola would no longer listen to Ivchenko; so Ivchenko was left with no choice and shot and killed Nikola, tearfully. Dum Dum Dugan and his team then arrived and helped Ivchenko and the others escape while the Russian soldiers fired at them. Before Carter and the other surviving SSR agents boarded the plane back to America, Dum Dum Dugan said his goodbyes to his friend; he offered Ivchenko a drink from his vodka, which he happily accepted and asked to keep the bottle, despite it not being his favourite vodka. Ivchenko chose to go to New York City with Carter since he said he had nowhere else to go and he wanted to help to stop the schemes of Leviathan. Ivchenko happily agreed to assist the SSR in their investigation and was brought to the New York Bell Company Office to speak with Roger Dooley.

Leviathan Operative
"That was when I learned monsters are real, and there's none more terrifying than Leviathan." "Here I thought it was just something they told the apple-knockers to scare them."

- Ivchenko and Roger Dooley

Ivchenko told Chief Roger Dooley how he was captured by Leviathan. Jack Thompson watched as Peggy Carter tried to get as much information as Ivchenko knew about the Red Room Academy, as she believed that a woman was responsible for the murders of several SSR agents. Ivchenko claimed he was only a psychologist, so he knew very little. While he and Dooley were alone, Ivchenko tried to get Dooley to look out the window, but Dooley would not leave his chair. Ivchenko expressed interest in New York City, Dooley promised to one day take Ivchenko for a tour across the city if he helped with the investigation. Ivchenko instead opened the window himself and looked out, Ivchenko was receiving a coded message from Dottie Underwood in the window across the street; she had a high powered rifle to kill the chief. Ivchenko then used his fingers to tap and scratch the windowsill of the office as Underwood watched; he told her that he needed more time in his mission, but Peggy Carter was her new target.

Brainwashing Agents
"That supposed to help?" "Yes. Just focus... on her simile... on her laugh... everything that you love about her... focus..."

- Roger Dooley and Ivchenko

Ivchenko made observations that he shared with Dooley about Dooley's home life and family relationships. Dooley became captivated by what Ivchenko was saying; all along, Ivchenko was playing with a ring he wore as he talked to Dooley in a hypnotic tone. Before Ivchenko put Dooley under his control, Daniel Sousa interrupted the conversation to speak to his leader. Ivchenko was told that he would be watched by Agent Yauch as Dooley dealt with the flight of Peggy Carter. Ivchenko quickly deduced that Yauch was a weak man who desired to more more respect. He talked to Yauch in a hypnotic tone as he rubbed his ring; Yauch began telling all he knew about the Howard Stark investigation and inventions and detailing possible escape route from the building to Ivchenko. Ivchenko then instructed Yauch to leave and get a final drinking before committing suicide.

Obtaining Item 17
"You want what you deserve, don't you?" "Of course." "Then you must focus. Because our work here is not yet done."

- Johann Fennhoff and Roger Dooley

Ivchenko used his power on Chief Roger Dooley and stood with him to watch as Peggy Carter was being interrogated. Jack Thompson entered to tell Dooley about the death of Agent Yauch; Ivchenko said that Yauch was a good man. Thompson questioned Dooley as to why Ivchenko was with him during an interrogation, but Ivchenko chose to return to Dooley's office. Carter saw Ivchenko communicating in Morse Code with someone across the street; after writing down the message, she informed Dooley, Thompson, and Daniel Sousa. Dooley sent the agents across the street to investigate while he kept a closer eye on Ivchenko. As he closed the window, Ivchenko saw a team of agents crossing the street. This prompted him to use his talent on Dooley in order to obtain Item 17 from the laboratory of Alex Doobin. While he was there, he also got the Stark Heat Vest. As he was leaving, he had Dooley hand him Item 17 and in return gave him a Self Heating Vest with orders to put it on after he left. Dottie Underwood brought a car to get Ivchenko from the New York Bell Company; he told her that the Strategic Scientific Reserve would be too busy to pursue them. He had previously used his power to give the Heat Vest to Dooley and to leave the building uncontested. Ivchenko told Underwood that Item 17 needed to be tested since it had been dormant for so long. When she questioned whether or not the SSR would go after them, he assured her that the agents would be too busy with the inevitable death of Dooley to chase them.

Pursuit for Revenge
"Look, if you're gonna kill me, go ahead. I probably deserve it, but... leave innocent people out of it." "I have no intention of killing you, Mr. Stark. I am going to make you suffer."

- Howard Stark and Johann Fennhoff

In the car with Dottie Underwood, Fennhoff discussed how the destruction of New York City would be the perfect revenge when they were stopped by Officer Pike for running a stop signal. Fennhoff told Underwood not to draw attention to them and had her sheathe her weapon. He pretended to be Underwood's veteran grandfather as she avoided a ticket. However, Pike had to be captured when he discovered the car was stolen. Proceeding to a warehouse of Howard Stark's that Underwood had visited six months earlier. Underwood murdered one of the guards outside the warehouse while Fennhoff heard on the car radio that Stark had returned to the city and planned to a public announcement of his innocence. So he and Underwood returned to New York to capture Stark. Underwood set up a sniper rifle to shoot at Stark, aimed to miss so Stark would panic and seek assistance. Fennhoff hypnotized Pike and used him to bring Stark to him before returning to the hangar. The plan was successful and Stark was kidnapped and brought to the warehouse. Fennhoff explained to Stark why he hated him; he was the inventor of Midnight Oil and, by extension, the killer of his brother. Stark attempted to reason with Fennhoff by explaining that though he created the gas, it was General John McGinnis who dispensed it without his permission. Fennoff asked Stark if he felt the guilt of all the deaths caused by his inventions, and Stark told him that he did. He would not be dissuaded; Fennhoff hypnotized Stark to have him fly a plane through New York's anniversary celebration dispersing the gas. Fennhoff continued to communicate with Stark via radio as he flew to New York City. While Fennhoff and Underwood were on the radio with Stark keeping him in his trance, Peggy Carter entered with a shotgun. Before she could arrest the pair, Underwood attacked her. Fennhoff attempted to continue communicating with Howard Stark to ensure their mission was a success, while Carter tried multiple times to take over the radio and break Stark out of his trance. Underwood continued to fight Carter and told Fennhoff to escape, which he did, not witnessing Carter getting the best of Underwood and throwing her out of a window before stopping Stark. As Fennhoff was leaving the hangar, he was able to ambush Agent Jack Thompson, who had arrived to arrest him. However, Daniel Sousa entered with his gun drawn before Fennhoff could kill Thompson. Fennhoff saw an opportunity to ensure his escape and used his power on Sousa to have him kill Thompson instead. Sousa seemingly fell victim of Fennhoff's power and raised his gun to his fellow SSR agent. Despite Thompson's desperate pleas to his friend to not listen to Fennhoff, Fennhoff continued to speak calmly to Sousa and keep him under his control. What Fennhoff did not know was that Sousa was wearing earplugs and heard nothing. Sousa revealed his deception when he hit Fennhoff with the butt of his gun. Fennhoff was knocked unconscious and arrested by Sousa and Thompson, with a piece of cloth in his mouth to stop him from speaking. Howard Stark returned from the flight, after Carter was able to stop him and restore him to his right frame of mind. Fennhoff's plans were in ruins, however Dottie Underwood had managed to survive her fall and escaped.

Captivity
"I am familiar with your work on matters of the mind, Herr Doktor. It would give me great pleasure to hear your thoughts on this."

- Arnim Zola to Johann Fennhoff

Fennhoff was sentenced to jail and kept muzzled to keep him from speaking, ensuring he would not brainwash any guards and escape. He was placed in the same prison cell as HYDRA scientist Arnim Zola. He listened as Zola told him that it was good that he was in an American prison, as America was the land of opportunities. Zola asked him to write to him as a form of communication and the pair began to formulate their own plans.

Personality
Johann Fennhoff was a kind, sympathetic man. Seeing the pain in a Soviet Soldier facing amputation, Fennhoff did everything within his power to allow him to survive.

Fennhoff drastically changed when he saw his comrades brutally murder each other during the Battle of Finow. Hiding behind a persona of good will, he was able to manipulate others and hypnotise them. He had a complete disregard for human life, especially Americans, as he did not only kill SSR agents but killed innocent civilians just to test a stolen weapon and get his revenge on Howard Stark.

Powers
"They say you can numb a man's mind to make him feel no pain."

- Surgeon


 * Hypnosis: Using his voice while rubbing his ring, Fennhoff can hypnotize his victims and make them do whatever he wants. He was able to make Agent Yauch commit suicide by walking into traffic. He also manipulated Roger Dooley to help him steal an item and force him to wear an Stark Heat Vest that would end up killing him, and used Howard Stark's moment of greatest shame, not being able to rescue Captain America, to manipulate him into releasing Midnight Oil on New York City during the first anniversary of . However, Fennhoff's victims can regain their senses during their state of hypnosis, as both Dooley and Stark managed to recover from their hallucinations.

Abilities
"I'll do anything I can."

- Ivchenko

"Someone performed laryngotomy procedures on these men."
 * Expert Spy: Fennhoff was able to fool agents of the SSR into letting them believe that he wanted to be their ally, but he actually planned to infiltrate the office and retrieve a particular item for Leviathan.

- Peggy Carter


 * Expert Physician: During World War II, Fennhoff was a physician in the Soviet Army. He perfomed urgent laryngotomy procedures on the field on Leet Brannis and Sasha Demidov, saving their lives after the larynx of each man was destroyed due to Midnight Oil during the Battle of Finow.
 * Master Tactician: Fennhoff developed a plan to frame Howard Stark for the theft, sale and misuse of his most dangerous inventions, that would have finished with a massive slaughter on Times Square during, out of revenge for what happened in Finow and the death of his own brother.

Family

 * Brother †
 * Wife †
 * Children †

Allies

 * Leviathan
 * Fyodor
 * Dottie Underwood
 * Pasha † - Fellow Captive
 * Howling Commandos - Liberators
 * Dum Dum Dugan
 * Happy Sam Sawyer
 * Junior Juniper †
 * Pinky Pinkerton
 * Arnim Zola † - Fellow Inmate

Enemies

 * Nikola † - Ally turned Victim
 * Howard Stark
 * Strategic Scientific Reserve
 * Jack Thompson - Liberator turned Jailor
 * Mike Li † - Liberator
 * Rick Ramirez - Liberator
 * Peggy Carter - Liberator turned Target
 * Roger Dooley † - Thrall turned Victim
 * Yauch † - Thrall turned Victim
 * Daniel Sousa - Jailor

Appearances
In chronological order:
 * Agent Carter
 * Season One
 * Snafu (flashbacks)
 * A Sin to Err (flashbacks)
 * The Iron Ceiling
 * A Sin to Err
 * Snafu
 * Valediction

Trivia

 * In the comics, Johann Fennhoff was a brilliant psychiatrist and mind-manipulator, assuming the codename Doctor Faustus, and becoming a frequent enemy of Captain America. This was referenced at the beginning of the episode Snafu when he was reading 's .