Klaus Heisler | |
---|---|
American Dad! character | |
First appearance | "Pilot" (2005) |
Created by | Seth MacFarlane Mike Barker Matt Weitzman |
Designed by | Seth MacFarlane |
Voiced by | Dee Bradley Baker |
In-universe information | |
Full name | Klaus Heisler Ace McNasty (legal American name) |
Species | |
Gender | Male |
Family |
|
Home | Langley Falls, Virginia |
Nationality | German |
Klaus Heisler is a character from the animated television series American Dad! The Smith family's hapless and frequently mistreated goldfish, he is voiced by Dee Bradley Baker and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, when American Dad! initially premiered on Fox on February 6, 2005, with the series' pilot episode. Klaus is actually a man in a fish body. He was once an East German Olympic ski-jumper until his brain was transferred into the body of a goldfish.
Klaus was once an East German Olympic ski-jumper until his mind was transferred into the body of a goldfish during the 1986 Winter Olympics by the CIA to prevent him from winning the gold medal, leaving him trapped in the goldfish's body. Klaus still has not come to terms with what happened, at times malcontent and gloomy. Not confined to his fishbowl, Klaus is often seen uniquely scooting himself about the Smith residence, reclined in a dish of water. In the early seasons, Klaus had an obsessive crush on Francine Smith and often made sexual advances to her, [1] but stopped after the events of "Finances with Wolves", in which Stan saves Klaus' life despite his attempt to have sex with Francine. For much of the later seasons, the Smith family and particularly Roger have been shown to treat Klaus with disdain, take him for granted, and even mistreat him. In the later Fox seasons, Klaus was shown to be the smartest and most reasonable character in the family, often trying to warn or advise the Smiths of their wrongdoings of selfishness, stupidity, or recklessness. But this slowly changed as the series progressed, and in later seasons Klaus is shown to be much more prone to being crazed and senseless and (when they listen to him) even encourages the family's amoral and obnoxious actions and behavior.
Klaus and Roger's relationship is best described as a sibling rivalry. At times they dislike each other and at other times they get along well. Roger is seen to be incredibly spiteful toward Klaus and insists on trying to make him feel despised, saying things like "You can't participate Klaus, I hate you. I say that not out of anger but as a fact" in "Great Space Roaster" and "It's like you want to be kicked out of this family" in "The One That Got Away". Klaus does things to get Roger into trouble for his amusement, like when he tricked him into eating Francine's potato salad in "Deacon Stan, Jesus Man". When a horrified Roger asked why Klaus would do something like that he just laughed and said "I'm German, it's what we do." In "A Piñata Named Desire", after Klaus made a comment about acting, Roger simply knocked Klaus's fish bowl across the room, smashed it against the wall, and walked out of the room as if nothing had happened while the fish lay gasping on the floor.
Among everyone else living in the Smith household, Klaus is very much the most aware and sensible of Roger's contemptuous, abusive, and insanely-vindictive nature of selfishness and lack of morality and occasionally tries to warn the rest of the family against listening to or getting involved with him. Such instances, however, are ignored by everyone's naivety and general inability (or lack of interest) to take most matters seriously or remember that Klaus is a "man in a fish's body" rather than just a mere talking goldfish, as said in "Dr. Klaustus".
Although Roger has claimed to hate Klaus in the past, they do have a bond and are capable of being civil to each other such as when they head to Europe together in "Red October Sky". Further evidence of this can be seen in "Pulling Double Booty", as Roger and Klaus are quite content to watch a movie together and show annoyance when they must pause it as Stan intrudes with the cookie dough. Another example is that Klaus is often shown in the attic with Roger as he tends his fake bar in many disguises while in "Live and Let Fry" Roger dresses up as Klaus, the human, to help him get access to a family member's will. In the end, it turns out to be a trap to lure Klaus out of hiding and Roger gets beaten up because Klaus owed some money to the East German Mafia. However, Klaus stays with him and keeps him company during his recovery, making sure Roger has sufficient pain medication to help him through it. Klaus was also the only member of the Smith family to remember Roger's birthday in "1600 Candles" and the alien seemed genuinely touched that he had bothered to prepare a birthday surprise for him.
Klaus and Roger engage in a sexual relationship in "Kloger", but Klaus breaks it off when Roger starts to want to act like a real couple, as Klaus was only interested in the taboo aspect of sneaking around the family for their relationship.
Despite showing sexual advances towards Francine in the early seasons, Klaus has shown he does care for her well being, evident in "Big Trouble in Little Langley". Upon overhearing the Dawsons (Francine's birth family) light-heartedly mention they gave her up so they can maintain riding in first-class, he sees them for who they really are and is upset by this. Klaus wisely warned Stan to remove them out of the house because he is setting Francine up to be hurt by them and tries to convince him to reconcile with the Lings instead. While this makes him uncomfortable, Stan refuses to listen to him and wants to try. He would later regret it when the warning Klaus gave to Stan was true about the Dawsons, especially after they selfishly leave him in the burning house. In the first episode of Season 10 "Roger Passes the Bar", Klaus tells Francine a story of a time when he bounced a check for his girlfriend's abortion, resulting in them putting the baby back inside of her, "and that baby was Shia LaBeouf," he states; implying that Klaus is in actuality Shia LaBeouf's father.
Klaus and Stan have a complex relationship, which can best be defined as a rocky friendship. Stan's refusal to help Klaus find a human body, as well as his tendency to treat him with marked disrespect, is often a source of tension in the two's relationship. Despite this, the two seem to care for one another, despite both being guilty of treating each other poorly. When given an opportunity, Klaus has been shown to delight in tormenting Stan on several occasions, or betraying him if he feels he has been sufficiently wronged. In other episodes, Klaus has been a source of advice for Stan, often being one of the primary characters the latter consults about his relationship with Francine or his kids. The two have become closer in recent episodes, doing activities together such as hosting a podcast about 90s' music and stopping street crime when Klaus inserts his mind into Stan's car.
Klaus and Steve tend to get along consistently well, in contrast with other members of the family. With the possible exception of Roger, Klaus is the most frequently present member of the main cast in storylines concerning Steve and his friends, playing announcer for them when they wrestle, helping Snot deck out a basement, and telling Steve and Snot German stories. Like Roger, he is often critical of Steve's effeminate mannerisms, at one point asking him if he's "allergic to vaginas".
The character was originally French. When Dee Bradley Baker came to audition for the character he ended up doing a German accent instead. Shortly after he was done with his audition the producers ended up casting him for the role. [2]
In the German version, Klaus speaks with a Saxonian dialect and is voiced by Andreas Müller (de), [3] and his remarks about World War II and the heroic defense of the Germans against the Allies are sometimes replaced by remarks about East Germany and the Stasi ("Staatssicherheitsdienst," the former East German Ministry for State Security and security service).[ citation needed ]
In French version, the character is dubbed by Guy Chapellier, who also dubbed Roger. [4]
Francine Lee Smith is a fictional character on the American animated sitcom American Dad! She is married to the main character, Stan Smith and the mother of Hayley and Steve Smith. Francine is voiced by Wendy Schaal.
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Stanford Leonard "Stan" Smith is the title character and the main protagonist of the animated television series American Dad! He is voiced by the series' co-creator and executive producer, Seth MacFarlane.
Steven Anita "Steve" Smith is a fictional character in the animated television series American Dad!, voiced by Scott Grimes. He is Stan and Francine Smith's 14-year-old son and Hayley's younger brother as well as the youngest of the series' six main characters.
Hayley Dreamsmasher Smith-Fischer is a fictional character from the animated television series American Dad! She is voiced by Rachael MacFarlane, the younger sister of one of the series' co-creators, Seth MacFarlane. She is Stan and Francine Smith's 19-year-old daughter and Steve's older sister.
"The Vacation Goo" is the first episode of the fourth season of the animated series American Dad!, an episode produced for Season 3. It originally aired on September 30, 2007. This episode centers around the Smiths, whom start to develop communication issues with each other. Francine becomes aggravated that the family cannot congregate with each other during dinner. Stan later plans for a vacation in Hawaii, only to be interrupted by Roger. The family subsequently go on several virtual vacations, only to have Francine go into an emotional breakdown. The Smith family go onto a cruise, but Francine's suspicions get the best of her and the Smiths are stranded on an island.
"Moon Over Isla Island" is the second episode of the sixth season of American Dad!, an episode produced for Season 5. It first aired in the United States on Fox on October 4, 2009. This episode mainly centers around Stan, who starts taking advantage of his relationship with Roger on various occasions. Stan is later told to meet up with General Juanito Pequeño, the dictator of a small island nation in the Caribbean. The General suddenly dies of suffocating on a corn dog, so Stan convinces Roger to pretend to be General Pequeño by telling him that they are going on a "friends vacation". While on the island, Roger finds out that Stan has been taking advantage of him again for his own personal gain, and their friendship starts to hang in the balance.
"Don't Look a Smith Horse in the Mouth" is the tenth episode of the sixth season of American Dad!. It aired on January 3, 2010 on Fox and is the first American Dad! episode to air in 16:9 720p high-definition.
"Best Little Horror House in Langley Falls" is the third episode of the sixth season of the animated comedy series American Dad! It originally aired on Fox in the United States on November 7, 2010. The episode follows Stan as his title of having the best haunted house is threatened by a neighbor. To tempt people to come to his house, he uses serial killers as the house's main attraction. Meanwhile, Steve falls in love with Toshi's sister Akiko as they go trick-or-treating.
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"Jenny Fromdabloc" is the sixteenth episode of the sixth season of the animated comedy series American Dad!. It first aired on Fox in the United States on April 17, 2011. This episode mainly centers around Steve, who tries to comfort his friend, Snot, after facing rejection from Hayley. Snot goes into a deep state of depression after realizing that Hayley does not have any feelings for him. Steve devises a plan that requires Roger to impersonate a teenage girl from New Jersey. Roger ends up developing a deeper relationship with Snot, much to the frustration of Steve. He begins to feel threatened, as Snot develops into a charismatic and arrogant individual that Steve's friends look up to. Meanwhile, Stan wishes to live a more urbane lifestyle and starts drinking martinis, but his low alcohol tolerance causes him to pass out on several occasions and run around Langley Falls in a drunk tangent.
"Hurricane!" is the second episode of the eighth season of the animated comedy series American Dad!. It first aired on Fox in the United States on October 2, 2011. The episode's plot mainly revolves around the Smith family, who prepare for evacuation in response to an oncoming hurricane. Reluctant to leave his home, Stan encourages his family to ride out the storm in their house with him. The hurricane sends a flood to the city of Langley Falls, which puts the entire family in danger.
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"The Scarlett Getter" is the sixth episode of the eighth season of the animated comedy series American Dad!. It aired on Fox in the United States on November 27, 2011. The episode plot mainly revolves around Francine, who accidentally leads Roger to a dangerous alien hunter while trying to get revenge on Stan.
"The Missing Kink" is the fifteenth episode of the ninth season and the 148th overall episode of the animated comedy series American Dad!. It aired on Fox in the United States on April 14, 2013, and is written by Jeff Chiang and Eric Ziobrowski and directed by Pam Cooke and Valerie Fletcher.
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