Karajan

Count Karajan is the primary antagonist in the first half of the game Mark of the Ninja, and the owner of a high-tech security company, Hessian Services.

Appearance
Karajan is a broad-shouldered man (Like apparently every non-ninja in the game) in an elegant suit and looks strong despite his apparent age. His voice is deep and low.

Personality
Karajan's a rich person and very straight-to-the-point when need be. He doesn't seem to care about the lives of his guards, ordering them to defend him even if it means their deaths, and even goes as far as to trade a shippment of body armour for a crate of Reisling Spätlese. He always carries around a pistol on him, presumably for self-defence.

Naturally, the closer the player gets to killing Karajan the more panicked and desperate he becomes, even offering the player money and equipment in exchange for sparing his life.

However, Karajan is not the brightest person, as he locks himself, terrorized, in the last room of his castle while he has no light in it. The darkness conceals the ninja and renders Karajan's handgun useless. Even in hand to hand combat Karajan only lasts a few seconds before the player pulls him to the ground and stabs him through the chest.

Karajan seems to be charismatic and well-spoken, using near-poetic expressions like "writing a check with so many zeros, it'll be like one long howl".

Importance to the plot
Karajan sends his troops, led by Corporal Kelly to attack the Hisomu Clan. They manage to capture a few of the ninjas and gun down a few more. They also took Azai hostage, and the player witnesses Kelly beating Azai and saying "You picked the wrong guys to rob, sensei", suggesting that Azai has stolen equipment from Hessain Services. When freed, Azai orders the player to kill Karajan.

After The Fall of Hessian Tower, he retreats in a helicopter to his castle in Europe while Kelly covers his escape. Eventually Karajan is assasinated by the player in the mission A Blade at His Neck. After the player returns to Azai, it turns out that Karajan's equipment has really been stolen from Hessian Services, and the player rebels against his clan, refusing to sacrifice himself as every Marked Ninja before him. The player escapes, revealing Stalkers, high-tech ninjas who presumably use Hessian technology.

Trivia

 * Karajan doesn't have a cone of vision, unlike his Guards.
 * He is named after Herbert von Karajan