If you’re looking for the most prolific family name in Sims history, look no further than the Landgraabs. Not only do the family mentions go back to the original game for PC, but the Landgraab family has been around long before that, all the way back to SimCity 3000, released in January 1999.
But while their wealth and status have remained the same over the years, the Landgraab family itself changes with each episode in the series. The canonical timeline is quite jumbled up, but we wanted to look back and see exactly where this mega-rich, illustrious family comes from.
Historic Landgraaf
There are quite a few infamous Landgraabs that appear either in canonical mention in The Sims universe or in kinks in auxiliary games. The oldest Landgraab mentioned in the core series came from The Sims 2: Seasons, where a chance card mentions a Gregory Landgraab who amassed a huge fortune, which he spent on real estate.
Another example of the family’s wealth came in The Sims Medieval: Pirates and Nobles, in which they own one of the wealthiest cities in the overworld. Demetrius and his son, Dacian, are at war with the neighboring city, and your player Sim can choose sides in battle. However, this history of wealth contradicts what we have learned about Gregory, as a medieval setting would mean these two are the oldest Landgraabs.
Finally, we’ve mentioned Admiral Landgraab in both The Sims and The Sims 3, but never by a real first name. The Sims: Vacation mentions that one of the spots on Vacation Island would be his first conquest. You can also buy a portrait of Admiral Landgraaf in the game. He is mentioned again in The Sims 3: World Adventure, with a booby-trapped grave in Champs Les Sims called Chateau du Landgraab.
These mentions give the family an origin story, a place where their extended dynasty began. In SimCity 3000, the family is known for their broad portfolio of land tenures, primarily with residential lots in both SimCity and The Sims: Bustin Out. However, in the PC games, we see that the family is more involved in commercial real estate, with their names on different buildings and lots around each of the towns.
Console Land Excavators
While we really only get to see this version of Malcolm Landgraab in the console versions of The Sims games, his role in each game is exceptionally different.
In The Sims for console and The Sims: Bustin Out, he is the richest man in town, escalating you from house to house as you refurbish them for him before selling them for a profit. He has two children, Dudley and Mimi, and neither of them has that ambition of Landgraaf. They are both stereotypical rich kids, who live fast lives as party animals and don’t care much for anyone else. You’ll be living with them at different times, and both are remarkably awful roommates.
However, things will be very different by the time The Sims 3 launches for console. In it, Malcolm is married to a woman named Hannelore, and they have a son, Adrien. His lifelong desire is to become the leader of the free world, and he has moved his family to Moonlight Bay with the intention of running for public office and spreading the Landgraaf name ever further.
The Sims 3
Since The Sims 3 is the first game in the canonical timeline, we can learn a lot about the Landgraabs from it. Living in one of only three turnkey mansions in Sunset Valley, Nancy passes on the family’s wealth to a new generation, who lives with her husband, Geoffrey, and their infant son, Malcolm.
With her parents, Chester and Queenie, both dead when you load up, Nancy is the head of the Landgraaf family, serving as vice president. Her traits lend themselves to this as well, with the game labeling her as a workaholic, snob, ambitious, charismatic, and a perfectionist. Her lifelong desire is to become the CEO of Mega Corporation, and as a vice president if you’re in the family, she’s already pretty close.
However, the Alto family also has skin in the game, with Nick Alto also a vice president, and you’ll find the two constantly competing for the CEO title. It usually goes to Nancy, if you play with the story progress turned on, but you will find her with a dislike of almost the entire Alto family because of that. She’s not friends with Holly Alto, the family’s teenage daughter, but she’s not an enemy to her either – and for someone as cutthroat as Nancy, that might be the best she can do.
Prior to The Sims 3, Nancy married Geoffrey Osteer, who took her last name for status (Nancy doesn’t seem like the type to compromise). He is family oriented, charismatic, a hopeless romantic, he loves the outdoors and he is incredibly family oriented. He works in the medical career but still makes time for the couple’s son, Malcolm.
Nancy is determined to make Malcolm a good heir to the family fortune, but while he likes both his parents, Malcolm is remarkably closer to Geoffrey. Reading Malcolm’s biography indicates that he is not willing to become a tycoon as his family lineage all but dictates, as he is a well-behaved bookworm who seems to appreciate the quieter parts of life.
The Sims 2
While the Landgraabs themselves didn’t appear in the base game, they are indeed present to some degree once you get into the expansion packs. If you enroll your Sim at Sim State University after installing the university extension, you’ll see one of the dorms named after the prolific family, implying they are alumni or generous donors. In addition, if you explore the secret societies that are present but invisible on each campus, you will also find the Landgraab Society in the same school.
Once you’ve installed Open for Business, you’ll meet Malcolm Landgraab IV, who lives on a colossal estate in Bluewater Village. His cash is relatively average for a family in the game, but the possessions in his mansion are all worth it quite a few Simoleons. In this pack, he owns Club Dante and the Electronics Supercenter.
The Sims 4
While The Sims 4 is canonically an alternate reality, it’s another game in which we extensively interact with living Landgraaf family members. Again, the primary Landgraab family consists of Nancy, Geoffrey, and Malcolm, who live in an oversized mansion in Oasis Springs.
Nancy remains focused on money and prestige, but she does things a little differently. Now in the criminal career, working at level five as a minor crime lord, the last general position before choosing to specialize as a boss or an oracle. She still aspires to become Fabulously Wealthy, and with her traits of being ambitious, snob, materialistic and business savvy, Boss seems like a much more appropriate path for her.
Geoffrey has also changed careers and is, interestingly enough, a lead detective in the secret agent career. However, he is some sort of investigator, when a big criminal lives in his house with her loot, sleeping right next to him. However, his traits are homey, family oriented, outgoing and good, so he may just want to keep Nancy by his side and choose to look the other way.
He strives for a successful lineage, but the couple’s son, Malcolm – now a teenager in this game – seems reluctant. While he was good when we met him as a kid in The Sims 3, Alternate Reality Malcolm is evil, dastardly and a snob, with the ambition to become a public enemy. This aligns him more with his mother than with his father, unlike in the previous game.
There was a second Malcolm Landgraab introduced by Maxis who compares him more to his console appearances. This Malcolm is a ridiculously wealthy elder who works as an Angel Investor, who has reached the maximum level of both charisma and doom. His kids, Dudley and Mimi, are also in attendance and are also incredibly in line with their console appearances, both lazy party animals. Malcolm also has a wife, whose name is still just Mama after all this time.
However, these aren’t the only Landgraabs in The Sims 4. While you’d never know if you’re playing the game, reading the biography of Johnny Zest, who lives in a trailer not far from the Landgraab estate in Oasis Springs, reveals, that he is a long-lost Landgraaf. It doesn’t specify exactly how he is related to the family, but the prevailing theory among fans is that he is the disowned eldest son of Nancy and Geoffrey. His biography explains that his family disowned him because he pursued a career in comedy, and his home and likeness both eerily resemble Dudley from the console games.
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