Allan Karlsson

Allan Karlsson is the 100-year-old protagonist who flees from his old folks' home and sets out to have one last life adventure when the story begins. Allan grows up an only child in rural Sweden to a loving mother and indifferent father. His father is killed in Russia fighting for the socialist revolution, leaving Allan alone with his mother in virtual poverty. Allan works hard to help support his mother, but she, too, dies not long thereafter, leaving him alone and penniless in the world.

Allan becomes an explosives expert at a young age, fascinated with the science behind blowing things up. After unintentionally leading to the death of a local merchant in an errant detonation, Allan is housed in an asylum, where he is sterilized by a quack doctor who believes in eugenics. Soon after his release, Allan wanders the world always awaiting the next opportunity...