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Hans Gruber, portrayed by Alan Rickman, is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the film Die Hard. In the novel Nothing Lasts Forever, on which Die Hard is based, his name is Anton "Tony" Gruber. In 2003, the American Film Institute declared Hans Gruber the 46th greatest villain in the past 100 years of film.

Hans Gruber, portrayed by Alan Rickman.

Gruber was originally a member of a fictional German terrorist organization named the Volksfrei movement (approximate translation: 'People's free' [sic]), until he was expelled. Now only concerned with personal gain, he concocts an elaborate robbery scheme using a terrorist pretence as a cover to manipulate the authorities in his plan. He leads his gang of thieves on Christmas Eve to take control of the Nakatomi Tower in Los Angeles and steal the $640 million in negotiable bearer bonds that is being held in a high-security vault. Meanwhile, they also take all of the civilians in the tower hostage with the intention of killing them all to fake his and his gang's deaths to facilitate their escape.

However, Hans unexpectedly must match wits with John McClane, a cop from New York City, played by Bruce Willis. McClane eventually drops Gruber from a window on the 32nd floor of the tower, providing ostensible motive for his brother, Simon, the antagonist of the third film of the Die Hard franchise, Die Hard: With a Vengeance. His primary weapon is an Heckler & Koch P7 pistol, but he occasionally wields an Heckler & Koch MP5 like his comrades, and even gets a hold of McClane's Beretta 92 pistol at one point, albeit with no ammunition in it.

• Nice suit. John Phillips, London. I have two myself. Rumor has it that Arafat buys his there.
• 'When Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept for there were no more worlds to conquer.' Benefits of a classical education.
• Mr. Takagi, I could talk about industrialization and men's fashion all day but I'm afraid work must intrude, and my associate Theo has some questions for you. Sort of fill-in-the-blanks questions...
• That's a very nice suit, Mr. Takagi. It would be a shame to ruin it. (Picks up gun) I'm going to count to 3. There will not be a 4.
• Takagi: You're just gonna have to kill me.
  Gruber: "Okay." (shoots Takagi). We do it the hard way.
• I wanted this to be professional. Efficient. Adult. Cooperative. Not a lot to ask. Alas, your Mr. Takagi did not see it that way... So he won't be joining us for the rest of his life.
• I must have missed 60 Minutes. What are you saying?
• Touching cowboy, touching, or should I call you Mr. McClane, Mr. Officer John McClane of the NY Police Department.
• Talk to me, where are my detonators!
• Schiess dem Fenster! Shoot the glass!
• I'm an exceptional thief, Mrs. McClane. And now that I'm moving up to kidnapping, you should be more polite.
• (Reading a note from John McClane attached to the dead body of one of his men) Now I have a machine gun. Ho... ho... ho.
• Hans: I have comrades in arms around the world languishing in prison. The American State Department enjoys rattling its sabre for its own ends. Now it can rattle it for me. The following people are to be released from their captors. In Northern Ireland, the seven members of the New Provo Front. In Canada, the five imprisoned leaders of Liberté de Quebec. In Sri Lanka, the nine members of the Asian Dawn movement...
  Karl: "Asian Dawn?"
  Hans: I read about them in Time Magazine.
• (Holding John McClane at gunpoint, these are Hans' final words) What was it you said to me before? "Yipee-ki-yea, motherfucker."

• "Hans Gruber" is also the name of a minor villain who appears in the 1966 action film Our Man Flint.
• A scene in the 2004 film Eurotrip featured a pair of workers in a brothel in Amsterdam named Hans and Gruber.
• "Hans Gruber" is the name of a dead scientist character featured in the 1985 (some say comedy) horror film Re-Animator but who does not appear in the film.
• Hans Gruber is also an independent wrestler in the New England area of the United States.
• Massiv In Mensch have a song called "Hans Gruber" on their album Belastendes Material