Hans, also known as just the Postman, is a postman from Seafront who gives Nier multiple quests.
Story[]
Act I[]
Hans is shown to take his job very seriously.
He worries about Ursula, the old woman who lives in Seafront's lighthouse, and tasks Nier with delivering multiple letters to her under the pretense that they're from her deceased lover. He questions whether or not it's the right thing to do, but continues with the ruse along with the rest of the townspeople out of guilt. After learning that she is dying from the Black Scrawl, Hans doesn't know what to do and leaves the decision to Nier and Grimoire Weiss.[1]
He possesses conflicting feelings of relief and regret if the old woman passes away without learning the truth. However, if the player does tell her the truth and reveals that they did so to Hans, he believes that they made the right choice in the end.[2]
Act II[]
During the second half of the game, Hans reveals to Nier that mail deliveries have stopped because of a Shade in the Southern Plains. After Nier kills it, Hans congratulates him, then states that he would try to do something about all of the postmen that quit because of it.[3]
Later on, in the quest The Strange Fate of the Jewel, Hans learns that Ursula's lover sent his family heirloom, the Mermaid's Tear, to her before he died, but that his father never gave it to her since he started writing false letters. Once the player finds the Mermaid's Tear in the backroom of the post office and talks to Hans, the player is given a choice between burying the jewel with Ursula, giving it back to her lover's niece, or to sell it. If the player choses to return it to her lover's niece, Hans believes that Ursula already got the jewel in heaven anyway.
Replicant ver.1.22[]
In a quest exclusive to NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139..., Hans meets a young girl named Louise in a Beached Shipwreck and begins taking care of her.
Multiple people in Seafront begin disappearing, including the ferryman from the Red-Bag Couple, and it's eventually revealed that they were all killed by Louise, who is actually a Shade trying to become human to win Hans affections. After Hans sees her true form, he is horrified and disgusted—and this causes Louise to give into despair, allowing herself to be killed after looking at the ocean one last time.
There are multiple endings to this quest depending on the playthrough regarding Louise's final letter to Hans. In the second playthrough, Kainé rips up the letter, but in the third she gives it to him, Louise's final words being, "Thank You."
Trivia[]
- Hans' name comes from the author of "The Little Mermaid," Hans Christian Andersen.[4]
- In the novella The Little Mermaid, it is revealed that Hans has contracted and is in the early stages of the Black Scrawl, as Kainé notices black letters beginning to appear on his leg.