Colonel Hans Landa

Hans Landa is portrayed as a highly intelligent and cold-blooded SS officer ordered to hunt down any European Jew hiding out in France. He has a sarcastic, sharp sense of humor and is often shown to distract his preys by luring them into long talks to lower their guard, and asking them trap questions. In all of his conversations with other characters, Landa proved that he could be extremely persuasive, charismatic and courteous, until the table is turned. He laughed hysterically on Bridget von Hammersmark's made-up story about her injured leg, having peeled off every aspects of it as hastily prepared lies but letting her panic slightly for his own amusement - before suddenly shifting in character and murdering her by strangulation.

Landa takes a great deal of pride in this reputation as the Jew Hunter, as shown during the farm house scene in 1941. 3 years later, however, he scoffs at his nickname during his conversation with Aldo, alluding that he does not share in prejudice against Jews, and only hunts them because that is what he is ordered to do. He uses a very methodical and Holmesian approach in his search for hidden Jews, suggesting that either something had changed his perspective during the time gap, or he simply stated so to win Aldo's trust. He also wisely switched sides, deliberately capturing Aldo and Utivich instead of executing them, as he was aware that the tide of the war was against the Germans and knowing that he would be sentenced to death for his war crimes, should he be caught.

Despite several loyalty awards within the SS, and his long career with them (his badges show that he joined the NSDAP in 1934), Landa is not a true believer in Nazi ideology; he admits he has no personal animus toward Jews, and that he is simply very accomplished at hunting them and therefore does what is asked of him. He also shows himself to be quite ambitious, as when negotiating with the General of the OSS for his "conditional surrender", he wanted history to write down his "contribution" to Operation Kino as a double-agent and demanded rewards for his service: pardon for any of his crimes he committed as SS officer, US citizenship, full pension, Congressional Medal of Honor and property on Nantucket Island, further emphasizing that he's an opportunist willing to switch sides to stay on the winning side.

Besides speaking German, he is also fluent in at least English, French and Italian. Although he said to Mr. LaPadite that his knowledge of French was not excellent, he may have said it in an effort to conceal his suspicions of LaPadite's hiding the Dreyfuss family from them if they happened to be within hearing distance, showing his excellent calculations and lateral thinking.