Millennium Project

Millenium
Director	The Major
Status	Defunct
Alias	Vampire Production Program Führer's Special Order #666 Last Battalion The Last Troop Remnants of the Third Reich Invincible Army Knights of Steel
Jurisdiction	Adolf Hitler Nazi Germany
Headquarters	The Panther's Den Deus Ex Machina
Employees	1,000+ (The Werwolf Squad, Last Battalion)
Formed	1940s
Appearances	Hellsing (manga) Hellsing: Psalm of the Darkness Hellsing: Ultimate

The Vampire Production Program 《吸血鬼製造計画, Kyūketsuki Seizō Keikaku》, under the codename of the Millennium Project 《ミレニアム計画, Mireniamu Keikaku》 or the Last Battalion 《最後の大隊LETZTES BATAILLON, Rasuto Batarion》, is a fictional Neo-Nazi paramilitary organization, and the main antagonistic force of the Hellsing manga series by Kohta Hirano.

A war-hungry organization consisting of remnants of the Nazi Party, commanded by The Major, and the continuation of the "Special Order #666 《総統特秘第６６６号, Sōtō Toku Hi Dairokuhyakurokujūroku-gō》" ordered by Adolf Hitler. Millennium's researchers discovered a way to transform humans into vampires through unknown means and monitor the implanted Speech Chips by The Professor, the main scientist behind the Vampire Production Program. Their only principle of action is to "savor the joy of war limitlessly," and their chosen enemy is Hellsing.

Terminology

Millennium means a period of a thousand years, ten centuries. Its name was a reference to the "Thousand Year Reich" which Adolf Hitler sought to establish during World War II. Their foundation, "Special Order #666," was an obvious reference to the mark of the beast in the Bible's Book of Revelation.

Organization

Ideology and Motives

Though they had an ulterior motive behind their actions per se, The Major denied having any goals or motives behind their actions. However, in truth, the lust for war and the glory of death; seeking to die in a "last hurrah" was what had driven them this far to commit horrible actions. Its members were only loyal to The Major, along with the late Führer's orders, and no one else; not even higher ranking members of Nazi Germany that was above The Major. An act of defiance, although inevitable, would be inexcusable and would end in an immediate death usually through horrific means ordered by The Major, labeling them as a "defeatist." Nonetheless, the members of Millennium had two primary motives in mind behind their deplorable actions; that is to savor the joy of war and to die in a blaze of glory. The Major however, sought to defeat Alucard because he rejected and vehemently hated the idea of vampirism and to prove himself out of a selfish reason in order to fulfill his ego and that he is something different from Alucard and shouldn't be compared to a monster like Alucard.

Structure

The formation was commanded by The Major, with the Werwolf Squad as the main officer, core of the group was an SS battalion, but there were also participants from the Air Force, Navy, and SS Parachute Corps, and there were also spies and sympathizers in various places, ranging from mere expendable pawns to those who were responsible for operational operations such as seizing important bases. The Major had full authority over the execution of the project ordered to him by Adolf Hitler. It was so unusual that it was above any chain of command and did not even require a report of activity, and it lived on after the war, so that some of his superiors who joined him late in South America were unaware of the true intentions of The Major and the Last Battalion. Millennium pulled its resources after the war and, with substantial help from the Vatican (which later broke away from it upon seeing the error of its ways), was able to relocate to South America to go into hiding for the next 50 years in which they spent perfecting their craft.

Headquarters

Though its headquarters and base of operations were initially located in Warsaw, Poland, they relocated to South America (a move aided by the Vatican) after Hellsing had invaded and destroyed the former's operation, though unluckily, key members of the operation weren't killed and thus, the operation continued as usual but aimed to perfecting vampire production instead. They relocated to a place known as "The Panther's Den" in Jaburo, which was located in South America. They manipulated disposable vampires to attack Great Britain sporadically to gather data. Later on, they used the Deus Ex Machina zeppelin as a mobile base and the airship to invade London.

Vampire Production Program

Main article: The Occult Researchers

Main article: The Werwolf Squad

The true name of the "Millennium Project," the Vampire Production Program was a project to artificially create vampires to use as an army against opposing forces of Nazi Germany and to potentially turn the tides of World War II. The project was spearheaded by The Professor under the command of The Major, ordered by Adolf Hitler; labeled as "Special Order #666." Though how the surgery was conducted was unknown, their entire essence was the result of the tireless research conducted on the body of Mina Harker, who was bitten by Dracula, yet never fully became human after he was defeated, having retained part of his essence inside her.

In 1944, though the project was not able to be completed in time, they managed to create imperfect ghouls that would've been certainly powerful enough to be put on the frontlines had the program not been destroyed by Hellsing. Though after more years of operations after relocating the bases of operations and managing to escape Hellsing, The Professor was able to create and on the horizon of perfecting vampire production, and so conducted the surgery on 1,000 Waffen-SS volunteers and the Werwolf Squad to create an army of Artificial Vampires, which was dubbed as something as strong as over a million human soldiers.

During the vampirization process, a Speech Chip was implanted to track status, behavior, intent, and aggression. This chip was also used to set the Artificial Vampires ablaze with a device by enveloping its host in blue flames, leaving no salvageable remains behind through a remote control. However, none of the vampirized soldiers who died in the London incident were consumed by flames, so it is possible that only top-level officers of Millennium were implanted with the Speech Chip. All of Millennium's research, data, and materials related to the project are assumed to have been destroyed with the conflagration of the Deus Ex Machina.

The Werwolf Squad
Essentially, they were elite members of the Vampire Production Program due to their powerful nature and wide variety of abilities. The members possessed unique traits of their own and were useful in each of their own right, with varying abilities and species; all of them were genetically enhanced by The Professor in some way or another, except for one natural werewolf.
Members
The Major	The Captain	Walter Dornez	Zorin Blitz	Rip Van Winkle	Schrödinger

Military

Some time after the end of the war in Europe, most of the members had left for South America, and took with them a battalion of 1,000 Waffen-SS volunteers and a few members of the Kriegsmarine and the Heer. They also brought with them a massive amount of valuables taken from victims of the Holocaust, as well as an assortment of advanced weaponry, such as V-1 flying bombs and advanced Zeppelins in which to convey their forces. Millennium also had possession of Panther tanks, Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe fighter jets and other sorts of heavier equipment that were not used in battle.

Vampirized Armored Kampf Gruppe
The primary combat group assigned to attack London mainly targeted civilians and military strongholds (such as Penwood's command center) to cleanse the city of the enemy. By the time of Alucard's arrival, their numbers had been depleted to 572 troops left active - after Alucard unleashed his army of familiars, they were almost entirely wiped out. The vampirized battalion wore the standard German field gray SS uniform. They sported a facecloth and carried special ultraviolet protection gas masks to prevent damage from the ultraviolet lamps used by the airborne Ninth Crusade forces. The London attack force also wore greatcoats over their tunics and were equipped with several ammo pouches, gas mask canisters, and backpacks. Millennium soldiers were equipped with World War II-era German weapons and clothing, including Kar98 bolt-action rifles, MP 40s, StG 44s, stick grenades, Panzerfausts and Panzerschrecks, as well as stahlhelms along with SS-issue greatcoats. Millennium soldiers were overall hardly different from their World War II counterparts, equipped with World War II-era German weapons. It appears, however, that their World War II-era weaponry had been upgraded as their MP40s had an extraordinarily high rate of fire and ammo capacity. Their stick grenades and Panzerfausts also possessed more destructive explosive power, and their melee weapons included bayonets and trench shovels. Despite the fact that they possessed such an arsenal, the battalion had little to no dedicated anti-air weaponry to combat Ninth Crusade's airborne forces.
Rip Van Winkle's Specialists	Zorin Blitz's Taskforce
They were a small squadron of volunteers supposedly from the Fallschirmjäger (since they wear German paratrooper gear) or rather, the paratrooper battalions in the Waffen-SS, sent along to help secure the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle alongside Rip Van Winkle. Unlike their leader, they were unable to go out into the sunlight, and mainly remain aboard the bridge during their short occupation of the ship. Against Alucard, they were no match and were utterly slaughtered when they attempted to gun him down. They also had possession of FG-42 automatic rifles, issued to only paratroops during World War II.	Roughly 1/3 of the main group, Zorin's Taskforce, consisted of the soldiers aboard the smaller zeppelin, Alfred Rosenberg. Their mission was to await The Major's arrival and destroy Seras Victoria along with the Wild Geese. With the second task, they largely succeeded, but they failed to neutralize the fledgling Seras, who proceeded to destroy them after drinking the blood of Pip Vernedead. They were entirely destroyed at the battle for Hellsing Manor - half blown to bits in the defensive minefields set up by the Wild Geese, the other half killed by Seras while either still aboard the airship or inside the Manor.

Crest

Coat of Arms

History

The Vampire Production Program was created before the end of World War II under the orders of Adolf Hitler, with the codename "Millennium" as a means of researching and using supernatural phenomena for military purposes. In 1944, their grand project of creating an immortal army of unhumans was foiled by 14-year-old Walter C. Dornez and Alucard. Though most of its members and scientists were killed, key members of the program escaped and fled from the scene in time. Walter C. Dornez later conspired with Millennium and acted as a spy within Hellsing, and the Round Table Conference.

Sometime after the end of the war in Europe, most of the members had left for South America with the aid of the Vatican under the presumption that they'd be granted immortality. Seemingly, the organization had been run by officers of the German Heer for the next 50 years, up until 1999, after Alucard defeated Tubalcain Alhambra when The Major revealed that he did not share their interests in building a Fourth Reich and turning them into vampires, but instead wanted to wage eternal war, and that he had turned every other member of the Millennium to his side. He then proceeded to execute the Heer officers and began preparing the attack on London.

With Schrödinger as a messenger, The Major declared war on Hellsing and Great Britain. The invasion of London began after occupying a Royal Navy carrier (which in turn was destroyed by Alucard, also killing Rip Van Winkle in the process). Unbeknownst to the civilian population, Millennium also jammed the entire British military's communications, rendering them unable to respond nor even know what was going on. V1 and V2 bombs were shot all over London as hundreds of Nazi troops descended from the zeppelins, massacring everyone on sight. Millennium was not only attacking London, they were also attacking the United States and wiped out all of the presidential cabinet including the president. On the other side, The Major ordered Zorin Blitz to attack the manor but wait for the command to engage, which due to her impatience she was killed; but managed to nearly wipe out the Wild Geese, yet motivated Seras Victoria to finally drink blood, as a result, Seras became more powerful as her capabilities skyrocketed now as a Real Vampire. Seras later on made her way to London, the battlefield.

They soon found themselves encountering the Ninth Crusade led by Enrico Maxwell of Iscariot. However, with the arrival of Alucard, nearly all of the forces of both sides were wiped out when Alucard released Level Zero, submerging the streets of London with his familiars creating a "River of Death." Upon Seras and Sir Integra's entering the halls of the Millennium flagship, the group's troops remained of only the crew flying the flagship, engineers and Feldgendarmerie. Despite attempts to hold her off, they were all wiped out down to the last man. Seras Victoria and The Captain fought and with the aid of Pip Vernedead, she was able to kill The Captain. Integra found The Major in his room in which he explained that Alucard was about to be erased from existence. Schrödinger committed suicide and his blood was absorbed by Alucard, which caused Alucard to cease to exist as he was unable to perceive himself as a singular being. After that, Seras arrived and mutilated The Major's body by using an 88mm cannon. Integra later saw The Major's cyborg body, and soon, both engaged in a gunfight; Integra got her eye scraped but killed The Major with a shot to the head, while The Professor was killed by Walter C. Dornez.

All of Millennium's records, documents, and treasures which were stolen, were destroyed upon the destruction of the Deus Ex Machina.

Notable Members

Name
Image	Rank	Description
The Major
	Acting Führer	A former SS officer, once in charge of the Nazi experiments with vampires, until the operation was destroyed by Walter and Alucard in 1944. The Major's psychopathic demeanor, seeking a venue for his own maniacal desire for war, was often masked behind a veneer of smiling complacence, behind which he watched as his own grand design continued in its march to oblivion.
The Professor
	Grand Professor	He was Millennium's top scientist; a learned man of multiple science fields, his genius resulted in the creation of many of their projects. Perhaps unstable, certainly eccentric, but undeniably brilliant, it was his research that led to the birth of a Nazi vampire army out of 1,000 volunteers in the Last Battalion.
The Captain
	Trump Card	A tall, silent man whose true nature was a Werewolf; last of his kind. Little is known about The Captain aside from the fact that whatever Millennium's plan, he stood subservient to the wishes of The Major acting as one of his prime right hand men and ever faithful bodyguard.
Zorin Blitz
	First Lieutenant	A tall, massively muscled female vampire, who was part of Millennium's elite Werwolf Squad. She was the commander of one of Millennium's Zeppelin forces, and a formidable fighter, wielding a giant scythe with enough force to cut a man in half.
Rip Van Winkle
	First Lieutenant	Was one of Millennium's top soldiers, and member of the Werwolf Squad, she uses "Magic Bullet" from a long-barreled flintlock musket loaded with a which can track targets of their own accord, and are seemingly armor-piercing.
Tubalcain Alhambra
	First Lieutenant	Otherwise known simply as "The Dandy," Alhambra was an agent of Millennium who appeared calculating and powerful. His peculiar and unique skills was that of being able to attack with a deck of "Playing Cards" whose deadly properties included such a keen sharpness they were able to slice cleanly through whatever stands in their way.
Schrödinger
	Warrant Officer	Warrant Officer Schrödinger, named after the incredible project of human perception. He served The he Major unquestioningly and was often on the receiving end of vicious punishment. Schrödinger's essence was perpetually being "Everywhere and Nowhere," essentially making him able to teleport anywhere he liked.
Luke Valentine
	Warrant Officer	Elder brother to Jan Valentine and likewise a fearful Millennium agent. A pale, Nordic appearing man whose soft spoken, direct manner only served to obscure his incredible skills as a vampire. When attacking Hellsing Headquarters, Luke wasted no time in seeking out Alucard to personally duel him in a one-on-one battle to the death.
Walter C. Dornez
	Spy	Having mysteriously disappeared from Hellsing, Walter made his return only it would appear that his allegiance has shifted for the worst. The Angel of Death was as cunning and decisive as ever and this time his reappearance promised to rock the very foundations for those whom thought they knew him.

Trivia

• The place where the Panther's Den is located in, Jaburo, is a reference to Jaburo, a massive military complex from Gundam.
• In the original Japanese release, The German translation of "Last Battalion" constantly changes between each panel that it was included (e.g. "Letzt Bataillon," "LAZTE BATTALION").
• It is unknown if there are other similar Nazi groups that escaped the fall of Germany at the end of World War II as mentioned briefly by The Major at one point in the series.
• Millennium's troops wore the uniforms of the Dirlewanger Brigade. This particular division of the Waffen-SS was viewed as the scum of the Earth by even other Nazis, due to their horrific crimes going beyond typical Nazi war crimes.
• The other two zeppelins of Millennium were named after famous Nazi figures.
  • One was named after Alfred Rosenberg. Rosenberg was a Nazi occultist and a prominent figure in the Nazi Party. He intended to replace German Christianity with a new "religion of blood".
  • The other one was named after Arthur Seyss-Inquart.
• Millennium escaping to Brazil to continue their research was likely a reference to one of two conspiracy theories related to Nazis.
  • Many Nazis did escape to South America. Adolf Eichmann lived in South America for several years.
  • The conspiracy theory claims Hitler survived and moved to Argentina (another country on the South American continent) to go into hiding.
  • Alternatively, it could be based on the conspiracy theory that the Nazi scientist Josef Mengele fled to a small town in Brazil at the end of the war, where he continued his research and testing on twins.