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Gretel Grosse
Animated Gretel Grosse
Bio
HP 850/950/1050/1200[1]
Points 5000
Wake KEINSND
Death MEINSND
Weapon Dual chainguns (hitscan)

SS-Sturmbannführer Gretel Grösse (Big Gretel) is the boss of Episode 5 of Wolfenstein 3D, guarding the plans for the poison war (Giftkrieg) designed by General Fettgesicht. She is a Nazi enforcer, enhanced by red heavy-armor.

She is the youngest[2] member of the Grösse family, having a brother, Hans Grösse and another relative, Trans Grösse. Her Chain Guns are the most distinct, as the rolling is not exposed. They aren't as deadly as Otto Giftmacher and General Fettgesicht's weaponry, but she can do major damage if the player isn't careful.

Gretel Grösse fires 6 bullets per volley. After being defeated, she will drop a gold key. Except for the sprites, she is identical to Hans Grösse.

Tactical analysis[]

If you don't have a Chaingun by now, try and find one before you engage her! It'll make fighting her much easier.

When you fight her, make sure that there's a medium amount of distance between you and her and that there's something you can hide behind nearby. While she's walking around, open fire with your Chaingun. She'll freeze before attacking, giving you a chance to hide behind something before she fires her guns. If you're too close to her, you might not have enough time to hide before she fires.

Quotes[]

The sound of Gretel's death.

The poor quality of sound in the game makes it difficult to ascertain what is being said. Sources are given for what Id claims is the language, but this is sometimes open to criticism.

"Kein Durchgang!"[3]
"No Trespassing!"[3] File: "KEINSND". Spoken on seeing the player. Though it's corrected as "No Passage!"
"Mein Buße!"[3]
"My repentance!"[3] File: "MEINSND". Spoken on death. Some German-speaking players have noted inconsistencies in the German grammar, and suggested that the phrase may actually be "Mein Busen!" meaning "My bosom!".[4]

"Id Software apologizes to German speaking people everywhere."[5]

Trivia[]

  • She and Helga von Bulow resemble each another, and both betray a canard of Nazi German women as menacing, overweight giantesses wielding weapons.
  • Her brother's name and her name, put together, is a play on the title of a children's story, Hänsel and Gretel.
    Scan0004

    concept art showing the similarity between the siblings

  • Gretel Grösse is basically Hans' sprite retouched to look like a woman and given single barrel guns.
  • Hans and Gretel Grosse are the only bosses of the game not to be given a DeathCam upon their demise.
  • She was voiced by Tom Hall, originally as a place-holder, but the designers forgot to amend this before they shipped the game.[6]
  • She is the only female character in Wolfenstein 3D.

Data[]

Attributes
Hit points 850 (skill 1),
950 (skill 2),
1050 (skill 3),
1200 (skill 4)
Speed 1536
Pain No
Score 5000
Sprites & sounds
Sprite number 285-395
Alert sound KEINSND
Death sound MEINSND
Ranged attack
Type Hitscan
Damage 1-64, 1-32 or 1-16
Shots per minute
Sound NAZIFIRESND

References[]

  1. WOLFSRC/WL_ACT2.C from the Wolfenstein 3D source code on github.com, line 42
  2. Cloud, Kevin. The Official Hint Manual for Wolfenstein 3D. Apogee Software, 1992. Page 59. Web. (Third-party scan)
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Cloud, Kevin. The Official Hint Manual for Wolfenstein 3D. Apogee Software, 1992. Page 72. Web. (Third-party scan)
  4. Talk page for this article
  5. Cloud, Kevin. Spear of Destiny Hint Book. FormGen Corporation, 1992. Page 36. Web. (Third-party scan)
  6. Interview with Tom Hall where he stated, ‘I did a temp for Gretel Grosse (the boss for Episode 5) that we meant to replace…. And we forgot… and it shipped with my obviously-not-female, badly pronounced German. It’s pretty rough.
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