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{{Infobox Individual
{{Infobox Individual
|image           = Zaroff.jpg
|image       = Zaroff UnderwaterMenace.jpg
|name = Zaroff
|species    = Human
|alias          = Hermann Zaroff
|job        = Professor
|species=Human
|partner    = Hermann Zaroff's wife{{!}}His wife
|origin     = [[Earth]]
|child      = Hermann Zaroff's daughter{{!}}His daughter
|only    = The Underwater Menace
|origin     = [[Earth]]
|actor           = Joseph Fürst
|first      =
|appearances =  
|actor       = Joseph Fürst
|only = The Underwater Menace (TV story)
}}
}}
[[Professor]] '''Zaroff''', ([[TV]]: ''[[The Underwater Menace (TV story)|The Underwater Menace]]'') whose first name was either '''Hermann''' ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Underwater Menace (novelisation)|The Underwater Menace]]'') or '''Hans''', ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Doctor: His Lives and Times]]'') was a [[scientist]] who lived during the [[20th century]].


Professor '''Zaroff''' was a scientist and leader in the field of producing food from the sea. He disappeared in [[1950]], having presumably been kidnapped and killed, with the Eastern and Western blocs blaming each other. In actuality, Zaroff had discovered the lost kingdom of Atlantis - either by accident or design - and decided to stay there to further his research, financing a laboratory using the riches of Atlantis. His knowledge led to numerous advances for the sunken kingdom - besides sharing his experience with seafood production, he also enabled the Atlanteans to convert shipwreck survivors into fish people, equipped with plastic gills so that they could survive underwater and collect plankton for the Atlantean citizens. But his most important contribution to Atlantis was his promise that he would lift the continent out of the sea. The Atlantean priests of their goddess, [[Amdo]], proclaimed him to be the prophet that would raise them above the sea; and while some did not like or trust Zaroff, most believed him to be the deliverer of Atlantis. They supplied him with loyal guards and a beloved pet octopus.
He spoke with "a pronounced [[Eastern Europe|East Europe]]an accent ... together with a slight [[United States of America|American]] twang." ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Underwater Menace (novelisation)|The Underwater Menace]]'', ''quote, pages 33 and 34'')


While Zaroff was honest about his plans for Atlantis, he neglected to mention his precise means of attaining his goal and the side effects it would have. Rather than physically raising Atlantis, Zaroff intended to bring it out of the ocean by drilling a hole in the Earth's crust and draining the Atlantic Ocean into the planet's core. This would, of course, result in the formation of superheated steam, and the increase in pressure would crack the Earth's crust, destroying all life on the planet if not blowing apart the planet itself. For most scientists, this would be an extremely serious setback, but Zaroff didn't care in the slightest - his goal was not merely to raise Atlantis from the sea; he desired supreme power, which he believed he could achieve through the destruction of the world. Needless to say, Zaroff had also gone quite mad.
== Biography ==
{{Section stub|Information from [[PROSE]]: ''[[The Underwater Menace (novelisation)|The Underwater Menace]]'' and ''[[The Doctor: His Lives and Times]]'' needs to be added.}}
Zaroff was well-known for producing cheap food from the [[sea]]. He went missing and was reported as dead, but in reality, he had found the submerged city of [[Atlantis]] and was living there. Initially, he had been thought kidnapped, with the west and east blaming one another.


Zaroff managed to find a spot on the seabed where the Earth's crust was only fifteen miles thick. In order to drill the hole, he planned to activate his nuclear reactor, and when the desired figure was reached, fission would take place. In order to stop him, the [[Second Doctor]] first attempted to kidnap Zaroff, but he escaped by feigning illness, spearing the Atlantean priest [[Ramo]] to death when Ramo tried to help him and kidnapping [[Polly Wright|Polly]]. While [[Jamie McCrimmon|Jamie]] was able to rescue Polly before any harm came to her, Zaroff eluded capture and found [[King]] [[Thous]], the ruler of Atlantis. By this point, Thous had come to realise that Zaroff was insane, but when he and his guards tried to stop Zaroff and shut down his project, Zaroff shot Thous with a pistol, and his guards killed Thous' guards.
Twenty years later, when the [[Second Doctor]] and his [[companion]]s [[Ben Jackson]], [[Polly Wright]] and [[Jamie McCrimmon]] were about to be [[sacrifice]]d to the Atlantean goddess [[Amdo]], the Doctor sent a note to Zaroff. [[Damon (The Underwater Menace)|Damon]] gave Zaroff the note and he became intrigued and put a halt to the sacrifice. He put Ben and Jamie to work in the [[mine]]s, sent Polly to be fitted with plastic gills so she could farm under water and took the Doctor to his laboratory. When the Doctor sabotaged the power system to rescue Polly from an operation, Zaroff became suspicious of him and wanted to keep him close.


With his initial plan derailed, the Doctor decided that the only way to stop Zaroff would be to evacuate the lower levels of Atlantis and flood them, submerging both the temple and Zaroff's laboratory. He and [[Ben Jackson|Ben]] infiltrated the generator station, increased the reactor power and broke down the sea walls separating Atlantis from the ocean outside. Meanwhile, the [[fish person|fish people]] were convinced to start a revolution, which cut off Atlantis' ability to renew its perishable food supplies. Panicked, Zaroff's workers deserted their posts, but even this was not enough to stop Zaroff's experiment. The floodwaters eventually frightened away even the guards in his laboratory, so Zaroff sealed his console off from the rest of the lab with a transparent screen. The Doctor switched off the power to his laboratory, but Zaroff was still confident that he could carry out his plan. What he did not count on was a [[Lolem|temple priest]] hiding behind his console with a knife. Zaroff was forced to raise his screen in order to get to his gun and kill the priest; this gave the Doctor the opportunity to fiddle with Zaroff's console, changing the settings and buying time for the seawater to flood in. While the Doctor and Ben escaped the lab, Zaroff was trapped in it, and when the seawater flooded his laboratory, he was drowned. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Underwater Menace]]'')
Zaroff explained his plan to raise Atlantis from the sea to the Doctor, which involved draining the [[ocean]]. He knew his plan would destroy the world, which was, as he saw it, the scientist's ultimate dream of supreme power.
[[File:Second Doctor in Zaroff's lab UnderwaterMenace.jpg|thumb|left|Zaroff feeding his pet [[octopus]] by [[Damon (The Underwater Menace)|Damon]]. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Underwater Menace (TV story)|The Underwater Menace]]'')]]
 
Atlantis's leader, [[Thous]], betrayed the Doctor and [[Ramo]] to Zaroff, who ordered them to be sacrificed. They were rescued by the Doctor's companions and kidnapped Zaroff to stop his plans. Zaroff faked a [[heart attack]], killed Ramo and grabbed Polly to use as a hostage. Polly was rescued by Jamie but Zaroff escaped.
 
He went to the council chamber and shot Thous and his two guards, claiming the rule of Atlantis for himself. He boldly proclaimed, "Nothing in the world can stop me now!"
 
Zaroff tried to start his experiment, but the Doctor flooded Atlantis and Zaroff was trapped in his laboratory, drowning in the flood. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Underwater Menace (TV story)|The Underwater Menace]]'')
 
== Personality ==
Zaroff was very arrogant and quite insane. He was willing to die in his experiment just to prove himself successful. When he claimed that his experiment was already underway, the Doctor correctly guessed that it hadn't started yet, as Zaroff would want to be the one to push the button. ([[TV]]: ''[[The Underwater Menace (TV story)|The Underwater Menace]]'')


== Behind the scenes ==
== Behind the scenes ==
* In the novelisation, he is given the first name of Hermann.
=== Name ===
 
In [[Nigel Robinson]]'s [[The Underwater Menace (novelisation)|novelisation]] of the story, Zaroff is given the first name of Hermann — which was not derived from any information given in the televised version. However, in ''[[The Doctor: His Lives and Times]]'', Zaroff's first name is given as Hans.
{{character stub}}


=== Other matters ===
* In the novelisation of ''The Underwater Menace'', Zaroff's desire to blow up the world is explained as the result of madness from the deaths of [[Hermann Zaroff's wife|his wife]] and [[Hermann Zaroff's daughter|daughter]] in a car crash.
* ''The Doctor: His Lives and Times'' reveals he had a scretary, [[Heidi von Herzog]].


{{NameSort}}
{{NameSort}}
[[Category:20th century individuals]]
[[Category:Human scientists]]
[[Category:Human scientists]]
[[Category:20th century individuals]]
[[Category:Human professors]]
[[Category:Human professors]]
[[Category:Human criminals]]
[[Category:Human murderers]]
[[Category:Human murderers]]
[[Category:Human tyrants]]

Latest revision as of 19:54, 20 November 2023

Professor Zaroff, (TV: The Underwater Menace) whose first name was either Hermann (PROSE: The Underwater Menace) or Hans, (PROSE: The Doctor: His Lives and Times) was a scientist who lived during the 20th century.

He spoke with "a pronounced East European accent ... together with a slight American twang." (PROSE: The Underwater Menace, quote, pages 33 and 34)

Biography[[edit] | [edit source]]

This section's awfully stubby.

Information from PROSE: The Underwater Menace and The Doctor: His Lives and Times needs to be added.

Zaroff was well-known for producing cheap food from the sea. He went missing and was reported as dead, but in reality, he had found the submerged city of Atlantis and was living there. Initially, he had been thought kidnapped, with the west and east blaming one another.

Twenty years later, when the Second Doctor and his companions Ben Jackson, Polly Wright and Jamie McCrimmon were about to be sacrificed to the Atlantean goddess Amdo, the Doctor sent a note to Zaroff. Damon gave Zaroff the note and he became intrigued and put a halt to the sacrifice. He put Ben and Jamie to work in the mines, sent Polly to be fitted with plastic gills so she could farm under water and took the Doctor to his laboratory. When the Doctor sabotaged the power system to rescue Polly from an operation, Zaroff became suspicious of him and wanted to keep him close.

Zaroff explained his plan to raise Atlantis from the sea to the Doctor, which involved draining the ocean. He knew his plan would destroy the world, which was, as he saw it, the scientist's ultimate dream of supreme power.

Zaroff feeding his pet octopus by Damon. (TV: The Underwater Menace)

Atlantis's leader, Thous, betrayed the Doctor and Ramo to Zaroff, who ordered them to be sacrificed. They were rescued by the Doctor's companions and kidnapped Zaroff to stop his plans. Zaroff faked a heart attack, killed Ramo and grabbed Polly to use as a hostage. Polly was rescued by Jamie but Zaroff escaped.

He went to the council chamber and shot Thous and his two guards, claiming the rule of Atlantis for himself. He boldly proclaimed, "Nothing in the world can stop me now!"

Zaroff tried to start his experiment, but the Doctor flooded Atlantis and Zaroff was trapped in his laboratory, drowning in the flood. (TV: The Underwater Menace)

Personality[[edit] | [edit source]]

Zaroff was very arrogant and quite insane. He was willing to die in his experiment just to prove himself successful. When he claimed that his experiment was already underway, the Doctor correctly guessed that it hadn't started yet, as Zaroff would want to be the one to push the button. (TV: The Underwater Menace)

Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]

Name[[edit] | [edit source]]

In Nigel Robinson's novelisation of the story, Zaroff is given the first name of Hermann — which was not derived from any information given in the televised version. However, in The Doctor: His Lives and Times, Zaroff's first name is given as Hans.

Other matters[[edit] | [edit source]]

  • In the novelisation of The Underwater Menace, Zaroff's desire to blow up the world is explained as the result of madness from the deaths of his wife and daughter in a car crash.
  • The Doctor: His Lives and Times reveals he had a scretary, Heidi von Herzog.
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