Franz Hopper

Waldo Schaeffer (real name)

Franz Hopper is the creator of the virtual world of Lyoko and Aelita’s father. He is brown eyed, has a bristly beard and wear dark glasses. He seems to be in his fifties in 1994.
We know Franz Hopper was involved, as young scientist, in a secret military project called Carthage during the seventies. Then he left this program for unknown reasons.

Following is what seems to have been the happiest period of his life. His wife gave birth to an adorable girl, Aelita. Everything seemed to go for best until the day of his wife’s disappearance, for unknown circumstances.

Not long before Mrs. Hopper’s disappearance, Franz became a sciences teacher at Kadic High School, and he moved into a villa called the Hermitage. At the same time, he worked on what he called his "big project," intended to counter Carthage. This military program was aimed at "blocking the enemy communications;" it thus allowed, we are supposed to understand, to take the control of any communication network, including the Internet. And Franz wanted it at no price. He thus created, in a secret laboratory located in the basement of a disused factory, the supercomputer, from which he created Lyoko, a virtual world, then XANA, a multi agent program capable of countering the Carthage project. Hopper also discovered a fascistic property of the supercomputer: the return to the past, which allowed him to relive 2546 times the day of June 6th, 1994, and it gave to him all the time he needed to achieve his work, allowing him to escape the mysterious person who spied on him.

But mysterious men in black searched and found him, obliging him to run away with his daughter, to Lyoko, where he thought for sure of being safe. Regrettably, XANA escaped his control, for an unknown reason, then captured him and stole Aelita’s memory.

During the season 2, the heroes learn bit by bit about Franz Hopper.
- In New Order, by entering an abandoned villa called The Hermitage, Aelita is assailed by visions. She sees the one that she yet ignores to be her father, and even ignores knowing him, the one who taught her to play the piano, and later lead her in sewers.
- In Unchartered Territory, Jeremie finds the name of the owner of the Hermitage, and discovers that he was a teacher in Kadic High School.
- In Mister Puck, Aelita is assailed by visions of the Hermitage once again. Jeremie suggests her revisiting the house, and during the visit, guided by her visions, she discovers a bit of fluff which is familiar to her. A key in her doll is discovered. It opens a deposit to the subway station, in which the heroes discover Franz Hopper's diary under the shape of 13 CDs, password protected.
- In Marabounta, by deciphering a part of Franz Hopper’s diary, Jeremie found his works concerning the multi agents systems.
- In Temptation, Jeremie uses Franz Hopper's notes to build a machine which used the return to the past sequence to increase the intellectual potential of the user.
- In Déjà vu, Aelita has visions more and more clearly of Franz Hopper in the Hermitage.

Il est trop mignon, je l'adore ! Comment on va l'appeler ?
"C'est comme les mathématiques, laisse moi te montrer"

About Franz Hopper’s personality:

The highly advanced technology of the supercomputer, of the scanners, and of lyoko, etc., prove that Franz Hopper is a brilliant scientist, very ahead of his time.
He is also a loving father and an honorable man ready to take risks to defend his convictions.
Regrettably, the disappearance of his wife, the threat of the Carthage project, the excessive usage of return towards the past, the overwork, the possible usage of the neuronal helmet, the fear of the men in black and the fear of a father knowing his daughter is threatened affected his psychic balance: in his diary, he shows signs of paranoia and hubris (immoderation).

Pete and L'anonyme (written March 1, 2006) for www.codelyoko.net