# Dr. Mabuse — Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler character guide > Dr. Mabuse in Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler by Norbert Jacques. **Role:** major **Also known as:** Mabuse, Dr. Mab⁠ **First appearance:** 0001-dr-mabuse-the-gambler ## Snapshot A Munich neurologist with a brass plate on his door and a criminal will like a sledgehammer, who treats love, money, and human beings as instruments to be spent without hesitation. ## Who they are Mabuse moves between consulting room and getaway car, dismissing a pleading woman at his garden gate with the cold maxim that the past is past and her part is to obey. His mind races through smuggling calculations and shifting plans as compulsively as it once raced through diagnoses, and he wonders with irritation whether he is actually afraid. He is the gravity of the book: everyone else's fate bends toward him, and the early chapters are spent watching how far his will can reach. ## Relationships ### [Herr von Wenk](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dr_mabuse_the_gambler_se/characters/herr_von_wenk) _rivalry_ Mabuse and von Wenk are locked in a high-stakes battle of wits, with Mabuse as the criminal mastermind and von Wenk as the determined detective pursuing him. ### [Countess Told](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dr_mabuse_the_gambler_se/characters/countess_told) _psychological_ Countess Told is a victim of Mabuse's hypnotic manipulation, drawn into his web of control and obsession. ### [Spoerri](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dr_mabuse_the_gambler_se/characters/spoerri) _professional_ Spoerri is one of Mabuse's criminal underlings, carrying out his orders in illicit schemes. ### [Count Told](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dr_mabuse_the_gambler_se/characters/count_told) _psychological_ Count Told is a victim of Mabuse's hypnotic control, manipulated into financial ruin and personal distress. ### [Privy Councillor Wendel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dr_mabuse_the_gambler_se/characters/privy_councillor_wendel) _psychological_ Mabuse manipulates Privy Councillor Wendel, using his position to further his criminal schemes. ### [Dr. Dringer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dr_mabuse_the_gambler_se/characters/dr_dringer) _professional_ Dr. Dringer is a colleague or associate of Mabuse, possibly involved in his medical or criminal activities. ### [Spoerri](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dr_mabuse_the_gambler_se/characters/spoerri) _professional_ Spoerri is one of Mabuse's criminal underlings, carrying out his orders in illicit schemes. ### [Herr von Wenk](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dr_mabuse_the_gambler_se/characters/herr_von_wenk) _rivalry_ Mabuse and von Wenk are locked in a high-stakes battle of wits, with Mabuse as the criminal mastermind and von Wenk as the determined detective pursuing him. ### [Countess Told](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dr_mabuse_the_gambler_se/characters/countess_told) _psychological_ Countess Told is a victim of Mabuse's hypnotic manipulation, drawn into his web of control and obsession. ### [Herr von Wenk](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dr_mabuse_the_gambler_se/characters/herr_von_wenk) _rivalry_ Mabuse and von Wenk are locked in a high-stakes battle of wits, with Mabuse as the criminal mastermind and von Wenk as the determined detective pursuing him. ### [Dr. Dringer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dr_mabuse_the_gambler_se/characters/dr_dringer) _professional_ Dr. Dringer is a colleague or associate of Mabuse, possibly involved in his medical or criminal activities. ### [Countess Told](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dr_mabuse_the_gambler_se/characters/countess_told) _psychological_ Countess Told is a victim of Mabuse's hypnotic manipulation, drawn into his web of control and obsession. ## In the story ### [Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dr_mabuse_the_gambler_se/chapters/dr-mabuse-the-gambler) Introduced as a master of disguise and psychological manipulation, using hypnotism to control others and win at gambling. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dr_mabuse_the_gambler_se/chapters/iii) Implied as the sandy-bearded gambler who wins heavily and exerts a mysterious influence over Basch and others. ### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dr_mabuse_the_gambler_se/chapters/v) Travels by car toward the Austrian frontier, meets Spoerri and Pesch, drinks heavily, and drunkenly orders Hull's murder while dreaming of his empire Citopomar. ### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dr_mabuse_the_gambler_se/chapters/ix) In Munich, receives a mistaken report from Constance; angrily orders Spoerri to kill Wenk within a month; insists Cara Carozza stay alive in prison. ### [Chapter X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dr_mabuse_the_gambler_se/chapters/x) Dines at Wendel's, becomes infatuated with Countess Told, and later drinks alone, consumed by desire. ### [Chapter XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dr_mabuse_the_gambler_se/chapters/xi) Engages Count Told in a psychological discourse on gambling, attempts to hypnotize the medium, and later kidnaps the Countess. ### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dr_mabuse_the_gambler_se/chapters/xiii) Reveals himself as the captor, using hypnotic persuasion and grand promises to manipulate the Countess, asserting his absolute desire and control. ### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dr_mabuse_the_gambler_se/chapters/xiv) Visits Count Told, imposes isolation, manipulates the Countess, receives reports from Spoerri, escapes disguised as a woman, and resolves to eliminate Wenk. ### [XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dr_mabuse_the_gambler_se/chapters/xv) Mabuse evades Wenk after his lecture, using Privy Councillor Wendel as cover and signaling his accomplices. ### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dr_mabuse_the_gambler_se/chapters/xvi) The target of Wenk's investigation; his villa is under surveillance and he is linked to a gaming-den robbery. ### [XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dr_mabuse_the_gambler_se/chapters/xvii) Escapes the raid by hiding in a secret chamber and disguising himself in a police uniform; flees in a car. ### [XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dr_mabuse_the_gambler_se/chapters/xviii) Executes a complex escape plan with the Countess, using a disguised car and a decoy to evade capture. ### [XIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dr_mabuse_the_gambler_se/chapters/xix) Flees with the Countess, uses doubles to mislead Wenk, decides to capture Wenk alive, and flies to Berlin obsessed with revenge. ### [XX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dr_mabuse_the_gambler_se/chapters/xx) Disguised as Weltmann, the hypnotist; controls the performance and forces Wenk to flee. ### [XXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dr_mabuse_the_gambler_se/chapters/xxi) Mabuse orchestrates Wenk's capture and attempts to kill him, but is struck by the Countess and falls to his death. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dr_mabuse_the_gambler_se/characters/dr_mabuse - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dr_mabuse_the_gambler_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/dr_mabuse_the_gambler_se/characters