I came here bearing data, for the folks who, like me, need numbers to help them wrap their head around stuff.
This started with me getting dopamine hits whenever I heard Henry call Hans just "Hans" because it reminded me of how in KCD1 someone (was it Divish?) clocked that Erik was someone special to Istvan because he called him "Istvan" and not "Sir Istvan". So of course I had to investigate how Henry calls Hans in KCD2.
This is definitely not an exhaustive list of all the times Henry has talked to/about Hans in the game. I mostly got the data from the cut-scenes and main quest moments where Hans was there. This is probably missing a ton of dialogue with Henry talking about Hans during side quests and/or outside of cut-scenes.
With that in mind, here's the data:
First graphic: What name Henry used to address Hans, either while talking directly to Hans ("Hans"), to a friend or an ally ("Friend"), or to someone else -- a stranger or an enemy ("Other")
Second graphic: Same thing, but differentiates between when they were just the two of them ("private") or with other other people ("public")
Third graphic: What name Henry called Hans, depending on what the context was. This is specifically for the times Henry was addressing Hans directly. I made a distinction between him teasing Hans ("teasing") and him just talking to him while he was just in a good mood (positive). Also made a distinction between him being mad at Hans ("upset") and worried for his safety ("worried)
So I have a few comments:
Henry mostly calls Hans "Sir Hans", which is to be expected, but interestingly enough, he still does call him “Hans” a lot.
Actually, when it’s just the two of them, he calls him just “Hans” more often. And I noticed that he calls him just “Hans” more and more often as the game (and their relationship) progresses.
The times he calls him “Hans” in public, it’s almost exclusively with allies. So he is careful about how he calls Hans.
In fact, the majority of the times he calls him Hans “with” in front of an audience is with Bozhena, who didn’t really believe that Hans was a noble until later in the conversation. Like it would have sounded weirder for Bozhena to hear him call him “Sir Hans” than just “Hans”.
Most of the time he calls him “Hans”, it’s when he’s worried about his safety. As if he slips when he’s desperate and betrays the fact that his Lord is just “Hans” in the privacy of Henry’s head. Like he's his best friend first.
The other time he calls him just “Hans” with an audience is with Brabant, when he takes Hans’s side when they talk about war after the escape. Which is also interesting because there were times when I had the impression that Henry was lowkey jealous of Brabant. A little like with Hans with Samuel, but less intense, obviously lol.
He doesn’t call him "Hans" when he’s teasing him or when he’s upset with him. Like he knows that a squire has no business teasing, and let alone reprimanding his Lord. He also has no business calling his Lord by his first name. The line between their positions and their friendship is blurred enough as is, so combining the two feels like crossing the line completely, irreparably. Like calling him "Hans" when he’s flirting with teasing him is too provocative. And when he’s reprimanding him, maybe using his Lord's first name feels like overstepping too much? Like it would feel like abusing their closeness to completely dismiss Hans' status with the objective of hurting him, which Henry would never do imo, because ultimately, he does respect Hans as a noble.
That actually brings me to my last point. I started this little research obsessing over when Henry just calls his Lord “Hans”. However, I've found that my favorite thing he’s called Hans is “your grace” at the very beginning of the game. Like using those two words was void of sarcasm and just felt so matter of fact. And it illustrates what I said about how Henry genuinely respects Hans as a noble. Like serving him may have been imposed to him, but he does think Hans worth serving. It may be his duty to protect him, but it’s a duty that he’s carrying happily.
