Thomas Eichhorst was a main antagonist; a former ranking officer in the Schutzstaffel. The height of his mortal status was perhaps during the time of World War II where he served as Standartenführer-SS and oversaw the Treblinka extermination camp in Poland. After the camp was liberated by Allied forces, Eichhorst escaped during the confusion and thereafter served as a right hand Strigoi, or Vampire, under the command of the Master. He served as the secondary antagonist of the series before he ended up decapitated by Setrakian whom he knew from when he was yet human.
Biography[]
The actual age of Eichhorst is not specified in the show. However, given the position Eichhorst held at Treblinka, he was possibly around, at most, 35 years of age at the time, give or take. This would seem to place him somewhere around 105-120 years old during the pandemic spread of the strigoi virus.
Originally a failing salesman for a radio company, Eichhorst was ridiculed and belittled by his boss and his co-workers. Before the rise of the Nazi Party, he was captivated by a speech made by a party member. His display of admiration lost him the prospect of friendship and maybe romance with Helga a co-worker and unbeknownst to Eichhhorst a Jew.
Shortly after the fall of Treblinka, Eichhorst was turned into a Strigoi by the Master, who had decided that the German's expertise in the imprisonment and extermination of large groups of humans would be useful. How exactly the master and Eichhorst met and why he did not end up just another meal for the Master is not revealed but Setrakian concluded that the Master's plan to seize the world was inspired by the concentration camps he preyed upon.
In 1967, Abraham Setrakian discovered clues that Eichhorst was feeding in northern Albania, and sets out to track him down. Setrakian discovers an abandoned castle with a well, which he had traveled down, only to find that it was a trap. Abraham remained trapped in the well for more than a day, as Eichhorst had removed his rope. During that time, Eichhorst had attacked and turned his wife, Miriam Setrakian, who Abraham was forced to kill a short time later.
Shortly after the Master's arrival in New York City, Eichhorst also arrived in the country to meet with Eldritch Palmer to check on the status of their plans for world conquest via the Master's strain of vampirism.
By this time, Eichhorst was a fully mature vampire. However, through the use of extensive make-up, prosthetics and a wig, he appeared as a human in order to carry out the Master's will in public settings (Setrakian, seeing him for the first time in decades, even speculated that Eichhorst's appearance might have been surgically altered solely for this purpose).
Inside The Strain Sentient Strigoi Season 2 FX
Insight into the abilities of Eichorst and other highly evolved Strigoi
One of these public settings was Sotheby's auction house, in which Eichhorst appeared to bid for the Occido Lumen. At first, his success seemed inevitable, but he was stymied midway through the auction when Palmer cut off his line of credit, outraged that he was still denied immortality, as well as what he considered to be a lack of respect from the Master. Due to Palmer's actions, Setrakian, financed by the three Strigoi Ancients, was able to win the book and escape the auction house. Eichhorst later accompanied the Master to confront Palmer, watching dispassionately as the Master killed and dismembered him.
Setrakian confronted Eichhorst in the control room of Palmer's nuclear power plant in Long Island, where the vampire was attempting to trigger a catastrophic overload. Eichhorst taunted Setrakian with Miriam's last words, as well as with the fact that the Master's plan for the human race was actually a variant of the Third Reich's plan for the Jewish people during the Holocaust: mass internment, including blood harvesting.
Though Eichhorst was stronger and faster than the elderly Setrakian, the latter "put everything he had" into a throw of his sword, which impaled Eichhorst through the chest, disabling him long enough for Setrakian to pull out the sword and decapitate him.
After Eichhorst's death, the Master's need for an "expert" in imprisoning and exploiting large groups of humans was fulfilled, more or less, by Dr. Everett Barnes, the former head of the Centers for Disease Control.
Television[]
In the television series, Eichhorst appears much earlier, as well as more often, and plays a more active role in the Master's plot.
He first appears as the anonymous "waxy boy", who tasks Augustin 'Gus' Elizalde with driving a CDC van containing the Master's coffin, explaining that he is to take it out of John F. Kennedy International Airport and deliver it to the other side of the Hudson river before dawn. After the coffin has arrived at its destination, an underground garage, Eichhorst introduces Eldritch Palmer to his new master.
After Abraham Setrakian has been arrested, Eichhorst visits him in jail. He proceeds to taunt Abraham about the inevitable success of the Master's plan, the death of his wife and his sentimentality in keeping his wife's Strigoi-infected heart preserved in a jar, which Eichhorst considered to be amusing. Setrakian retorts that he will avenge his wife soon and taunts Eichhorst back, saying that his old friend, Dr. Werner Dremerhaven, has already fallen beneath Setrakian's sword.
Eichhorst is the intermediary between Palmer and the master. He is keeping Palmer satisfied, but only to a degree, as Palmer quickly continues to grow more and more impatient. The Master appears in Palmer's headquarters where he feeds him "the white," a worm-free variation of the Strigoi blood. The white renders Palmer healed entirely from his bed-ridden, near death health state. Palmer, however, is still denied immortality, the very thing he craves, as the effects from the white are merely temporary.
Eichhorst is confronted again by Palmer after the Master retreated upon being lethally wounded in battle and fully engulfed in the sun's rays. Palmer demands to see the master, fearing for the master's possible death. Eichhorst denies the encounter and refuses to relay anything to Palmer, warning that he does not act cleverly by defying the master. Eichhorst becomes more than simply displeased upon learning how Palmer stopped the Ancient's ambush unit through the use of UV lights. Prior, Eichhorst had no knowledge of the devices being present and, therefore, was unaware of the threat they posed to himself, the Master, and any other Strigoi ally. After the incident, Palmer assures Eichhorst that there were no other UV light installations.
Eichhorst was a capable manipulator yet his arrogance towards Setrakian led to his downfall. When he displayed his supreme phisical capabilities by keeping Setrakian lifted with one arm and gloating about how Setrakian's faith in his God failed to protect him against the Master, he was ready to turn the Jew to deliver all knowledge Setrakian had to the Master once Setrakian's transformation would be completed and thus end this rivalry since Setrakian and the others became a more pressing danger. Eichhorst suffered a quick poisoning that left him almost paralyzed since Setrakian took the whole Warfarin blood thinner. In his final moments Setrakian asks the Master to look through Eichhorst eyes and promises him that even though it might not be him that stops him, he will be defeated before he slices off his lifetime-enemy's head.
Eichhorst's death leads to a void that might be filled by Sanjay Desai who previously worked for Palmer and was frequently tasked with special assignments by Eichhorst. Yet Eichhorst never showed any particular consideration for Desai. Unlike the master who restored Eichhorst after he was nearly killed while on a mission Eichhorst left Desai trapped in the destroyed vehicle when the nuclear bomb tossed the car on it's side.
Character Development[]
At initial glance, Thomas Eichhorst is portrayed (on the television series) as ruthless and calculating. From a psychological standpoint, he would be considered a high-functioning sociopath. He has little to no regard for others, is patient enough to work people for a time until he can make another move, is able to remain a few steps ahead without alerting anyone immediately to a plan, is able to quickly assess and determine what makes a person tick, and is determined and driven to the point of being possibly borderline delusional.
In flashbacks to his time as Commandant of the Treblinka facility, he is again shown to be cruel. He finds a Jewish Talisman, the Hand of Miriam, intricately carved out of oak in the bunk bed Setrakian, then known as A230385, rests on. He announces to everyone in the work house, where they are reprocessing silver, that he will shoot every man on sight until the one who carved the talisman reveals himself. Setrakian remains silent and steps forward only after Eichhorst shows his resolve. Eichorst then assigns Setrakian to carving a large casket, unbeknownst to Setrakian at the time that it was intended for the Master.
In another flashback, Eichhorst staggers into the workhouse, drunk, and begins a conversation with Setrakian. In this scene, Setrakian is allowed to speak freely. In the conversation, it is implied that Eichorst either admires Setrakian for his ability to carve, or is jealous. It could be taken to be a mixture of both. When Setrakian tells Eichorst that he feels the Third Reich is seeing its last days, Eichorst takes very little solace in the fact, and hints to a new empire on the rise.
During the second season, Eichhorst is shown to have a more sympathetic side. After the kidnapping of Dutch Velders, Dutch hits a nerve when she tells him "You joined the Nazi Party because you couldn't get laid." Eichorst, clearly more than shaken, replies: "Someone like you could never understand a thing like that."
In a series of flashbacks to the year 1932, Eichorst served as a radio salesperson. He makes a good, convincing salesman, but according to his colleagues, he lacks "confidence".
At his workplace, he conversed with a young woman named Helga, whom he was attracted to. She offers him kind words of encouragement, and tells him he is meant for greater things. They seem to have chemistry, and Eichhorst decides to ask her out for dinner, to which she agrees. While on the date, a member of the Nazi Party speaks to the crowd about a unified Germany, free of poverty. The speech has a large impact on Eichhorst, and while he and Helga are walking home, he reveals that he agrees with what the party represents. He goes so far as to agree that the Jews are the parasites destroying Germany. Helga is disgusted at his words and reveals that she, herself, is a Jew, much to his shock and embarrassment. She tells him that she was wrong in what she had said about him being destined for greater things, and that he is, instead, right where he should be.
Two years pass and Eichhorst has been promoted to Untersturmführer (Second Lieutenant, literally "under storm leader"). He is summoned to headquarters, where he is questioned by his superior regarding a Jewish woman who claims to know him. The woman turns out to be Helga, but knowing his career and reputation would be ruined if he revealed the truth about their relationship, he lies and tells his superior that she was fired from their workplace because she had stolen money.
Eichhorst is later seen walking down the street with a cigarette, where he is startled by Helga's body on display in a public hanging. He initially looks horrified and guilty, knowing his lie had cost her life. Suddenly catching his superiors watching him, he decides it best to "keep up appearances", and hides his disgust by flinging his cigarette butt at her body. His superiors then appear pleased, returning to their business.
Death (strigoi form)[]
Eichhorst without his prosthetics, wig, and makeup.
Alfonzo Creem has Gus in a standing headlock waiting for Eichorst to drink Gus. The feeble and recently assaulted Setrakian plunges Jusef Sardu's cane/silver sword combo through the torso of Eichorst. Thomas loses interest in restrained Gus and knocks "The Jew" to the ground. Eichorst raises The Professor several feet in the air with his stringer around his neck. Eichorst goes on an insulting diatribe. The Professor quickly interrupts with an insult of his own, prompting Thomas to start drinking his blood.
The Professor drops his empty warfarin pill bottle on the ground (that he uses as a blood thinner), which to Eichorst's surprised dismay is also used to exterminate the vermin that Fet's used to dealing with. The Professor points this out comparing the strigoi to rats while The Master sees through his ailing Nazi right hand's eyes. Setrakian continues insulting The Master and all strigoi in general until finally severing Eichorst's head and the connection to The Master.
Quotes[]
- "Abraham Setrakian: Why did he keep you? Even in the camp you were nothing special. At least "Doctor" Dremerhaven was unique in his sadism. But you, you were nothing but a bureaucrat.
Thomas Eichhorst: And it is just such a bureaucratic mind that is needed. It is not easy to operate a well-functioning camp, let alone a worldwide network of them. Especially camps whose function will be to systematically take a race with delusions of grandeur and process them for what they are... bags of warm nourishment." - ― Setrakian and Eichhorst about The Master recruiting him
- "I am a connoisseur of human blood, Jew."
- ― Eichhorst spiting Setrakian
- "Eldritch Palmer: If she doesn't make it through this thing, I am finished. No more help. Everything that he has been working for, it will all fall to pieces. You understand me?
Thomas Eichhorst: Yes, I think I do. You are demanding that the Master come here and release his own divine and invaluable essence, just so you can continue fornicating with your secretary. I will pass along the message." - ― Eichhorst and Palmer
Killed Victims[]
Thomas has killed:
- Multiple counts of unnamed citizens
- Unnamed Police Officer
- Regis CEO
Gallery[]
