History Characters / CallOfDutyBlackOps

* DeathGambit: [[spoiler:He pulls a HeroicSacrifice during the Vorkuta breakout to help Mason escape, knowing that Mason has been programmed to seek out and kill his enemies for him.]]

* CreateYourOwnHero: He has absolutely [[ForTheEvulz ''nothing'' to gain from betraying Dimitri and Reznov]], two extremely [[HypercompetentSidekick competent]] and [[MyCountryRightOrWrong loyal]] war heroes of the Soviet Union. Doing so not only robs him of two powerful underlings that could have helped his plan during the Cold War, but also needlessly creates a formidable nemesis in the form of Reznov.

* RememberTheNewGuy: He and Reznov have history, which makes them distrust each other. However, he makes no appearance in the previous game, though at least Treyarch keeps things consistent by showing that Dimitri doesn't know him either.

* BoisterousBruiser: He's an incredibly lethal commando who hits like a truck, but is also very jovial and more than willing to joke around during a fight.

* FreudianExcuse: The actions of United States ruined his life, and killed his sister Josefina.

** In the '80s missions, Menendez is a hateful, furious man only reigned in by obvious TranquilFury. By the 2025 missions, Menendez is calm and polite and friendly around Mason and Woods, and in the ending where [[spoiler:he lives and escapes]], when he confronts [[spoiler:Woods]], they simply have a short, almost amicable talk before Menendez [[spoiler:slits Woods' throat]], then gently sets the body down on his bed.

* NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist: Menendez styles himself as a liberator, leading the 99% in a revolution against the wealthy elite who have exploited them. It eventually becomes clear it's all a front to get back at the US for his sister's murder.

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: In the outside world, he's regarded as a sort of messiah figure by many third-world nations as well as those living below the poverty line in first-world nations. The military, on the other hand, knows better.

* VisionaryVillain: Claims to want to level the playing field between the 99% and the 1% by taking away all the infrastructure that the ones in power in the United States use to control the masses. Sounds good in theory but in practice the man is a psychopath that just wants revenge on the West and his plans will ultimately kill millions of innocent people (along with bring about global anarchy that would just as likely kill said 99%). Ironically being a wealthy man himself he is part of the so called 1% that the 99% seeks to overthrow, a good deal of his plan being funded by drug money. If the man does want change, It's certainly ''not'' change we can believe in.
* VillainousLegacy: Though he's long gone by the time ''Black Ops III'' rolls around, Raul's actions in the second game continue to haunt the world. In essence, the fallout from his actions leads to the end of large-scale warfare, with countries instead relying on small-scale Black Ops using augmented special forces to achieve their geopolitical aims.

* WorthyOpponent: Considers David this, going by how he treats him.

* ForWantOfANail: If Mason's shot had been an inch to the right, the course of world history would have been very different.

-->'''Voiced by:''' Kamar de los Reyes (English)[[note]]'''Other Languages''': Hiroshi Shirokuma (Japanese), Nikita Prozorovsky (Russian)[[/note]]

* AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: His pursuits back in the '60s and '70s earned him the position of commanding officer of Requiem, a team assembled to counter zombie outbreaks all over the globe.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Just because he bears the chains of command, and faces the responsibility of leading his men into battle, doesn't mean he's any less of a front-line soldier as he gladly fights alongside his men during the campaign. He's also particularly high in the "authority" department; at the rank of Lieutenant Commander, behind Commmander-in-Chief UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy in the [[VideoGame/NaziZombies Zombies]] level "Five", he is ''the'' highest-ranked protagonist in the series. Until his rank is beaten by [[VideoGame/CallOfDutyInfiniteWarfare Nick Reyes]], being a Commander.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: In Black Ops 2, [[spoiler: When Woods threw the grenade to try and kill Menendez, the grenade ended up killing his sister instead. Even as an old man, Woods is still haunted with guilt.]]

* MyGreatestFailure: He has two in ''Black Ops II'': [[spoiler:being the unwitting assassin of Alex Mason, and failing to realize that Hudson was being manipulated by Menendez until it was too late.]]

* GutturalGrowler: As one would expect of a character voiced by Michael Rooker.

* GutturalGrowler: Speaks with a deep voice.

* {{Pun}}: One of his lines he says to Zombies