Douglas Hein

General Douglas Hein is the antagonist in Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. A dedicated military general who lost his wife and child when the Phantoms first appeared on Earth, General Hein was determined to get rid of the Phantoms, using whatever means necessary.

Story
General Hein leads the defense of the New York Barrier City. To get rid of the Phantoms, he commissioned the construction of the Zeus Cannon. However, before he could demonstrate to the Council the Cannon's firepower, Dr. Sid and his student Aki Ross managed to convince the Council on their efforts to contain the Phantoms, and possibly eliminate them, in a more peaceful manner.

Angry at this revelation, Hein ordered some of the Deep Eyes members to spy on Aki during her mission to collect more Spirits used to eliminate the Phantoms. When Aki was seemingly possessed by the Phantoms, Hein concluded that Aki was a spy for the Phantoms. He searched her room for evidence to use against her and found the record of her dreams involving the Phantoms. He arrested Aki, Sid and the rest of the Deep Eyes Squad that supported her.

To finally convince the Council that his ways were better, Hein went to the barrier control center along with his friend Major Elliot to deactivate a small part of the New York Barrier City. He planned to show the Council that the Phantom threat must be eliminated quickly, but the Phantoms' invasion went out of control, and New York had to be evacuated. Feeling guilty of his actions, Hein contemplated suicide, but then changed his mind to use the Cannon. It was at that moment that he received permission from the Council to do so.

Hein traveled to space towards the Zeus Cannon and began firing it upon the Leonid Meteor, the source of the Phantoms that crashed upon Earth years ago. The first attempt was unsuccessful and instead unleashed the alien Gaia, but due to his determination to destroy the Phantoms, he immediately charged the Cannon for a second shot that would pierce the Earth's own Gaia. He ignored Aki's request to stop firing, and charged the Cannon again, but the Cannon overloaded and destroyed the space station that housed it, killing Hein in the process.