Mabuse

Mabuse, known as Dr. Mabuse, is a fictional criminal mastermind created by the German author Norbert Jacques. The character first appeared in the 1921 novel Dr. Mabuse, der Gambler, and became a recurring figure in German crime fiction.

Fritz Lang adapted the character for cinema, most famously in the silent film Dr. Mabuse the Gambler (1922), in which Mabuse manipulates cities and crowds through disguise, hypnotism, and psychological influence. Lang later presented Mabuse's legacy in The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933), a political thriller set in the waning days of the Weimar Republic that critiques propaganda and mass manipulation.

In the 1960s, the Mabuse figure was revived in West German cinema as a modern-day crime mythos, producing a series of films such as The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse. These works expanded the concept of Mabuse from a single mastermind to an enduring network of influence across society.

Scholars view Mabuse as an archetype of the supreme criminal mastermind and a lens on the dynamics of propaganda, crowd psychology, and social control. The character has influenced later thrillers and remains a reference point in discussions of crime fiction and German film history.