Peter Čapek

"What was our goal? What was it that we were triying to create? What was our purpose? Tell me, Franz Bonaparta..."

- Petr Čapek's last words

Petr Čapek (ペトル・チャペック) is one of the leading members of an organization trying to control Johan Liebert. He was also Franz Bonaparta's right-hand man and took part in the book readings at the Red Rose Mansion.

Biography
Čapek grew up in small village on the border between Austria and the Czech Republic. During his childhood, he befriended Milan Koláš, and the two of them often spent their days wondering about what was on the other side of the border. The pair grew up and parted ways -- Milan went on to become a dentist and Čapek a bureaucrat like his father. In August of 1969, the two friends met up again in Prague to see how each other were doing after the Soviet invasion. Čapek reported that he was able to visit the west side like the two fantasized about doing when they were children, and found that there was nothing special there, either.

Experiments with Franz Bonaparta
Milan commented on how Čapek was always good at getting ahead in the world. Čapek responded by saying he had recently come into contact with a man who wanted to use his skills; this man was Franz Bonaparta. Čapek was intrigued by his way of thinking, and said that it was so captivating that once you met him you would finally stop being so afraid of falling behind in the rat race of a world. Following his statement, he added that once he realized that no matter where one goes in the world, the place will be just as insignificant and useless as the last, Bonaparta gave him a whole new visualization of life. When Milan asked him what this man wanted to create, he told him the results could be something rather frightening.

In 1970, he left the Ministry of Education for twenty years and was no longer a part of the government services. Instead, his occupation was officially documented as a teacher. Together with Bonaparta, he assisted in conducting the Red Rose Mansion reading seminars, and later the eugenics experiment which created the twins. In 1974, when they abducted Anna (Viera Černá) from Brno University, Marie Kavanova, the dorm supervisor, contacted the police reporting her disappearance  Bonaparta had Čapek pose as a detective, and, without revealing his true intentions, he successfully apprehended all photographs of her, then assured Kavanova that all was well and Viera was living in Prague with a man she met. During the experiments they created one superior pupil, Hermann Fuhr.

When Bonaparta fell in love with the twins' mother, he revealed this to Čapek, as implied when Čapek told a young boy years later that money can only buy things, never a person's heart, which is "what you truly desire." As a result, he helped Bonaparta dispose of all evidence that the experiment took place. Then, Bonaparta requested of him to kill four innocent people: two children and two adults, in order to make it appear that he [Bonaparta], Viera, and the twins also had died. Čapek carried out this order because he was the only one qualified, but felt guilty and had nightmares about the incident even seven years later.

Escape to Germany
In 1989, under a cloak of darkness, Čapek escaped to Germany before communism collapsed in the Czech Republic. Actually, he had been invited over there by his good friend, Milan. Čapek settled in Frankfurt, where he gave lessons to the children of foreigners as a German language teacher. His intentions seemed pure, but his apparent language teachings were actually a recreation of the reading seminar from the Red Rose Mansion. The children who attended his classes one by one began to commit suicide. The parents in the neighborhood failed to realize that the only kids who killed themselves were ones going to his classes, and, in fact, they praised him because he said he would make sure the students he taught would be strong enough to survive. One day, a massive violent eruption broke out and the children all tried to kill each other, but were stopped. Milan visited the instigator, one of the older children, in the police station and asked him why he had done something like that. The boy refused to answer and instead murmured that he wanted to go back to the book readings. That night, the boy, Milan's son, hung himself. Čapek disappeared shortly after in a riot caused by right-wing extremists.

Partnership with "The Baby"
Years later, Čapek resurfaced as a completely different person leading an underground organization in Frankfurt. He was working with some right-wing extremists (also the same group trying to control Johan),

notably The Baby and Helmut Wolf, and went according to their agenda by expelling Turks and other foreigners from that part of town. Čapek was good at accumulating money and was rumored to have the Sievernich group backing him up. He also was responsible for riots, small fires, and threats. In response to his actions, community defense squad was formed amongst the Turks, but the five leaders all died strange, mysterious deaths. In 1996, he and The Baby tried to burn down the Turkish district, but were stopped by the united forces of Kenzo Tenma, Anna Liebert, Otto Heckel, and Dieter. After the incident, he started campaigning that there was a "public disorder" in the Turkish district and therefore it should be wiped out. His plan was a success and the area was torn down. Years later, Čapek met Christoph Sievernich, an alumni of Kinderheim 511 together with Johan Liebert, although the fact that he and Johan knew each other wasn't known at that time. He saw the potential of Christof very helpful in realising Johan's goals, so he commissioned Eva Heinemann to go and look for Johan in Munich, who is at that time attending many elite people parties. To make sure Eva would do her job, Čapek then hired Martin Reest to act as bodyguard for Eva, and to later eliminate Eva from the scene after her mission is complete.

What Čapek didn't know is that Johan and Christof had planned for their meeting ten years ago even without his help. Eva was able to point Christof to Johan and Martin Reest swore they've just let the devil get reunited with his disciple. After Johan and Christof met, Čapek ordered Martin to do away with Eva, but Martin had already fallen for Eva to the point that he was willing to put his life on the line to protect the woman.

Attack on his life
Milan, who was living with five people related to the five leaders murdered by Čapek, decided that he was the one responsible for all the destruction caused since he brought Čapek to Germany. Because of this, Milan made an attempt on his life in 1998 at the Rödelheim Convention Center, but he himself was killed in the process. Not long after, Johan decided to backstab the organization, and after The Baby was killed, Čapek grew paranoid. He had Anna captured so he could use her life as insurance for the safety of his own if he ran into Johan. On the way out to his secure, mountain villa, his sanity began to deteriorate and he shot his own bodyguard in cold blood due to his rapidly increasing paranoia. He reached the villa on his own, and met Johan, who had come to confirm whether or not Franz Bonaparta was still alive. After Johan left, Čapek had a meeting with Anna, who he believed was going to shoot him, but didn't. Instead, she demanded he tell her where Johan was, so he took her to an abandoned building. After the confrontation, Anna nearly killed herself but was saved by Tenma. Then, Čapek appeared and said that Johan's next move would be to kill Franz Bonaparta, and that he told him Bonaparta's son was alive in Prague. Then he left the building and asked aloud, "What was our goal? What was it...that we were trying to create? What was our purpose? Tell me, Franz Bonaparta," before being shot in the head by his colleagues, who believed he had gone insane.

Personality
Čapek is a quiet, charismatic man who is good at manipulating others and, as his friend put it, moving up in the world. He emits a thoughtful and caring atmosphere, which is a useful tool for him in getting what he needs.

Upon meeting Franz Bonaparta, who presented his ideas to him, he finds a sense of enlightenment, and quickly becomes his most loyal follower. Čapek never questions Bonaparta's authority, and is always willing to carry out missions for him, even going so far as to kill innocent children at one point to cover up for Bonaparta's disappearance when he fell in love with Viera.

Like Bonaparta, as he grows older, he starts feeling more and more regretful, often having nightmares of his past that make him wake up in a state of shock, or pondering the question of what they were really trying to create.

Background
Čapek grew up in a small town on the Czech-Austrian border. Despite the fact that his father was a bureaucrat, his best friend was Milan Kolas, the son of a laborer. The two would spend hours flying paper airplanes and talking. They liked to wonder about what was on the other side of the border. Čapek was especially curious, and asked a local alcoholic what could be found there, who told him that there were cities that were lit up all night. When he reported his findings to Milan, he discouragingly responded by saying that he heard the other side had something that crushed people's spirits so they become like the town drunkard. Čapek was fascinated by this idea, and said that if there's something that can ruin people like that, he'd love to see it.

Another Monster
In Another Monster, it is revealed that while Milan was investigating Czech refugees to learn more about why his best friend's personality had changed so drastically, he found out that Čapek was also performing some investigations of Czech refugees to gather information about a certain Hermann Führ, the superior pupil he and Bonaparta had created. He stopped the investigation after Fuhr faked his death.

Quotes
"Keeping secrets from this man is a no-no"

"Now, come with me...!"

"There's something that ruins people, really? I sure would like to see that."

"What does he create? Well, my friend, the results could be something...rather frightening."

"And what are you going to do with the money? Money can only buy things. What you really want to own is a person's heart, right? But that can't be bought with money."

"I've been terrified for the last seven years, ever since that incident... At the time I puzzled over changing the number from 42 to 46, but I carried out the plan in his place, because there was no one else qualified. I've never suffered through a more dreadful experience than that, and that man was entirely to blame."

"What was our goal? What was it...that we were trying to create? What was our purpose? Tell me, Franz Bonaparta."

Trivia

 * His last name "Čapek" is borrowed from Czech writer Karel Čapek, similar to the character of Karel Ranke who also shares his first name, and were both close friends in the series before he disappeared.

Name differences
"Peter" is the prevalent spelling used in translations. "Petr," a common Czech name and the Czech variant of "Peter," is used in the Spanish translation of Another Monster. In Episode 69 of the anime, Čapek's name is written as Peter Chapeck.