Characters / Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) - Single Player

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019), Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Main Character Index
Campaign characters | Multiplayer operatives - MW2019 | Multiplayer operatives - MWII | Multiplayer operatives - MWIII

Characters in reboot versions of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series, covering Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019), Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III. For characters of the original trilogy, see here.

Task Force 141

In General

A special Task Force formed by Price with the help of General Shepherd in order to combat terrorism throughout the globe, starting with one Victor Zakhaev.

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• Adaptational Diversity: Played with. In the original Modern Warfare trilogy, Task Force 141 consisted of male special forces operatives either from English-speaking nations and Russia (the latter due to forming a merger with the military remnants of the overthrown pre-Ultranationalist Russian government). In the new continuity, the Task Force 141 operatives consist of only operatives from the United Kingdom, namely English and Scottish personnel, with Russian operative "Nikolai" serving part time, yet primarily work with the U.S. government. However, the forces the Task Force work with are more diverse beyond the aforementioned countries, hosting operatives ranging from the Middle-Eastern nation of Urzikstan (Farah Karim, who also became the only female operative to have served) in the first Warzone, and then Mexico (Alejandro Vargas, Rodolfo Parra) in the second game.
• The Dreaded: The chatter from Shadow Company shows that Task Force 141 members are not to be taken lightly, especially Ghost.
• Elites Are More Glamorous: Every Task Force 141 operative so far has a distinguished history in the British Special Air Service.
• Walking Spoiler: You really can't mention the team at all without giving away The Reveal at the end that this is actually an Ultimate Universe version of Modern Warfare.

John Price

Captain Jonathan Price

Callsign: Bravo 0-6

Voiced by: Barry Sloane (English)^note Other Languages: Jiro Saito (Japanese), Ilya Isaev (Russian)

"We get dirty, and the world stays clean. That's the mission."

Commander of the SAS 'Bravo' Team in Modern Warfare. He becomes Sgt. Garrick's commanding officer after he recruits him to his team in the aftermath of the Piccadilly attack by Al-Qatala. Later on, he creates Task Force 141 with the help of Kate Laswell and General Shepherd, intended to tie up loose ends that would inevitably be created in the void left behind by General Barkov.

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• Ace Custom: Price wields a unique "Union Black" Kilo 141 carbine with some mods that are not available to the standard variant in multiplayer. The player could, with some effort, unlock this blueprint for use, transforming the standard 141 into a close approximation of his version.
• Adaptational Name Change: A minor one, but his full name is "Jonathan" while he was simply called "John" in the original series.
• Advertised Extra: "Extra" is a bit of a stretch considering Price is still an important supporting character, but much of the game's promotional materials and trailers put a lot of focus on him while making very scant, if any, mentions of the other protagonists. As the cherry on top, he is the poster character of the game and is prominently featured on the boxart, while Farah Karim is arguably the real protagonist of the first game, but isn't advertised as much as Price is. Price however, is the main protagonist of the third game.
• Anti-Hero: He's willing to do very questionable actions as means hunting down terrorists and keeping the world safe, such as kidnapping a terrorist's family. This is lampshaded in his profile quote.
• Authority Equals Asskicking: He's a Captain ^note which is the minimum rank required in order to be a squad leader in the Special Air Service in the SAS and he shows the badassery necessary in order to lead his own team. He later takes it a step further in the epilogue when he forms Task Force 141.
• Dare to Be Badass: Offers this to Farah and Alex in the very last level of the game, when he reveals he has Intel on where Barkov and his gas factory is located and invites them to attack it.
  Farah: Hadir is fucking crazy...
  Price: Yeah, well we're all a little crazy, aren't we?
• Elites Are More Glamorous: A Captain serving in the British Army's Special Air Service, often considered the most elite special operations unit in the world.
• Enhanced Interrogation Techniques: Pulls this off against Al-Qatala's enforcer "The Butcher" by employing Nikolai's "truth serum."
• A Father to His Men: Demonstrates the highest qualities of a ranking officer, always making sure his men and allies are okay, though without coddling them. He even lets them step back, without any censure, disappointment, or disgust, when his methods go beyond the accepted rules of engagement.
• Good Is Not Nice: He's definitely on the side of keeping the world safe. That doesn't mean he has to be a goody-two-shoes about it. He outright tells Kyle to ignore the workers in the Embassy being attacked by Al-Qatala because they're not there for them, they're there for the Wolf.
• Grin of Audacity: Has a habit of giving off a cheeky grin that practically makes his whole face light up, even when it's to cap off a threat or intimidation.
• Hidden Depths: In one of the triggerable conversations in Recon by Fire, it's revealed that Price is an avid fan of soccer games (or as he constantly correct Laswell with, football games) and it was when he was watching one of those games in London that he first met Laswell, who intended to enlist him for an operation to capture a war criminal in Bosnia.
• I Did What I Had to Do: See his caption quote. He has no problems getting his hands dirty in order to finish the mission and keep the world at large safe.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's gruff and very pragmatic, being just as ruthless to his enemies as they are to him. However, beneath that is a fundamentally decent man who wants to protect the weak and make the world a better place.
• Never Bareheaded: Unlike in Modern Warfare, he averts this as seen from his pic above. He also briefly drops his Boonie hat during the Embassy siege after jumping out from the falling helicopter, though he immediately puts it back on his head.
• Not So Stoic: In contrast to the original Modern Warfare's Price, this version is a lot more open with his emotions, letting his frustrations show on the surface more often when a situation is going south, like during the defense of the Embassy in Urzikstan. He also swears a lot more, leading a Precision F-Strike or three, and openly discusses Kyle's moral concerns with him.
• Papa Wolf: To Farah. When he finds out that Farah and her forces have been labeled as hostile forces by the U.S. Military, he goes ballistic and threatens to kill the American colonel in charge.
  Price: You keep your moppets on a short string, Colonel.
  Col. Norris: Or what?
  Price: Or I'll fucking hang you from it.
• Pay Evil unto Evil:
  • While kidnapping the Butcher's family is pretty horrific, it also serves to show that the latter is a massive Hypocrite who doesn't want his family to get hurt yet has no qualms about killing other families.
  • He carries this out in MW III, killing Shepherd after he nearly escapes from his traitorous actions that eventually lead to Soap's death.
• Pragmatic Hero: Make no mistake, he will do what's necessary to complete the mission, even if that something is either illegal or, in the eyes of others, unethical, such as kidnapping the family of one of the terrorists that he's been tasked with hunting down and interrogating. He realizes that his methods don't always come easy to his allies, and even offers to let them bow out from participating with him on occasion.
• Promoted to Playable: One of the playable characters for MWIII after spending the first two games exclusively as an NPC.
• Shoot the Dog: He's usually the one to do this. One such instance happens when he first meets Kyle, which doubles as an Establishing Character Moment. The two of them find an innocent man rigged with a suicide vest surrounded by several bound hostages, begging them to get the thing off of him so he can see his kids again. When it becomes clear that the bomb can't be disarmed before the timer would run out, Price ultimately throws the man off a railing to his death. Heartless? Maybe, but the alternative would result in the deaths of him, Kyle, and a dozen civilians.
• Tranquil Fury:
  • After Norris designates Farah’s forces as a terrorist organisation, Price gets in the guy’s face and threatens to kill him if he doesn’t lay off of her with nothing but a low snarl in his voice.
  • He carries this demeanor when he confronts Shepherd in his office and kills him.
• Younger and Hipper: This incarnation of Price is still a SAS captain but is younger (35-38, compared to the original Price being in his early 60s) and is noted to be "a new take" on the character in terms of personality. Played even straighter when you are rescued by an even younger Lt. Price during Farah's flashback level; his famous facial hair is only mere stubble then.

Kyle "Gaz" Garrick

Sergeant Kyle "Gaz" Garrick

Callsign: Bravo 2-6

Voiced by: Elliot Knight (English)^note Other Languages: Hiroo Sasaki (Japanese), Philip Lebedev (Russian)

"Why have we got our hands tied? Let's just take the bloody gloves off and fight."

One of the main player characters. A SAS operator working in the SCO19 (Specialist Firearms Command of the Metropolitan Police Service), he is recruited to the 'Bravo' Team led by Captain Price.

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• Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: In this continuity, he’s the newest member of Price’s Bravo Team, joining long after Soap did.
• Badges and Dog Tags: Goes from serving in the SAS as a sergeant to a police officer in the SCO19, and then back to the SAS at the request of Price and himself.
• Berserk Button: Everything about the Butcher becomes this for Garrick due to witnessing the latter's brutality during the attack on the Embassy. Garrick later gets his chance to avenge the people killed in the Embassy should he choose to participate in the interrogation of the Butcher.
• Canon Character All Along: He's the reboot's version of Gaz.
• Composite Character: Garrick is based off the original Gaz but he also has much in common with Soap as well. Like Soap, he is a newbie in Captain Price's unit and is at the rank of sergeant like Soap was when he first joined.
• Decoy Protagonist: For most of the game, either he or Alex could be thought of as the protagonist due to how they feature heavily, but the main protagonist of the first game is ultimately Farah. Come Modern Warfare 2, Gaz has the same tradition of being thought to be the protagonist, only to be playable for three missions and partially for a fourth, as Ghost is the main protagonist with Soap as the Supporting Protagonist.
• First-Name Basis: Is on this with the rest of his fellow officers, and occasionally Price, who in turn occasionally calls him "boss".
• Good Is Not Soft: The beginning of the story has him being frustrated at how much he's being held back by the rules of engagement while working with the police. This is the reason why Price recruited him to his team in the first place: Kyle is willing to do whatever it takes in order to stop terrorist attacks like what happened in Piccadilly Circus from happening again. Later in the story he does briefly question what he signed up for, though, when he begins to process some of what he was exposed to by working with Price.
• Ironic Echo: When Kyle first meets Price, he talks about how he'd like to "just take the bloody gloves off and fight" against Al-Qatala. Price remembers this and throws it back at him after Kyle is horrified that he kidnapped The Butcher's family to break him.
  Price: When you take the gloves off, you get blood on your hands, Kyle. That's how it works.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: Choosing the option to participate in the interrogation of the Butcher by threatening his family is this in spades, especially since Kyle is extremely pissed off about the Butcher killing a diplomat and his young son in the Embassy in Urzikstan. His cold response to the Butcher is the icing on the cake:
  The Butcher: [In absolute terror] Stop! Stop! Stop! They have nothing to do with this!
  Kyle: You tell that to the boy in the Embassy.
• Player Character: Shares this role for about half the campaign. He's also occasionally playable in the presence of Alex, the other main playable character, and in some missions they are together the player will switch from one to the other midway. The tradition continues in Modern Warfare II, where Gaz gets three missions, shares one playable mission with Soap, but is relegated to an NPC role in the remaining missions.
• Promoted to Playable: In a way. The original Gaz was an NPC during the events of Call of Duty 4. In this reboot, he's the main playable character in the SAS missions and manages to survive through the end.
• Race Lift: The original Gaz was more obviously Caucasian.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Despite being the reboot's version of Gaz, he manages to survive the events of the finale and is recruited into Task Force 141. Though considering both Khaled Al-Asad and Victor Zakhaev are still alive by the end of the game as well, it does not bode very well for the future going ahead. Thankfully Victor ends up being killed by Price at the end of Season 6, and Imran Zakhaev, Gaz's original killer, is dead before the events of this game. On top of that, he outlives Soap in this continuity.
• Strange Cop in a Strange Land: A police officer from the elite SCO19 unit who finds himself conscripted into a war against a global terrorist threat alongside the SAS. Not exactly what most cops, even those in SCO19, sign up for. It's subverted when it's revealed that he's already a SAS operative who'd been assigned to their domestic counter-terror program after his last tour in the Middle East was cut short.
• SWAT Team: He's part of the SCO19, which is essentially a highly-trained SWAT/counter-terror unit.
• Team Member in the Adaptation: Since he survived the events of the first game, he gets to join the counter-terrorist group Task Force 141. The original Gaz perished before Task Force 141 was formed.
• To Be Lawful or Good: He hits a crisis of conscience when given a chance to reflect on the methods that he and Price are having to employ in order to get results. Price reassures Kyle that the commitments he’s comfortable making are entirely his own and that Price won't hold Kyle to the same standards of what he's willing to do for the mission, only reminding him what the mission ultimately is. Kyle manages to stand tall and push on with the cause.
  Kyle: Where do we draw the line on this, sir?
  Price: You draw the line...wherever you need it, Sergeant.
• Truer to the Text: In Warzone and II he starts wearing Gaz's classic British flag cap.
• Walking Spoiler: A popular style of nicknames for males in the UK with long names containing the letter "R" in the middle would be a diminutive form of their own name, ending by substituting the "R" for a "Z". Kyle also possesses a nickname in this style, a diminutive of his last name: Gaz.
• Wearing a Flag on Your Head: In II he wears a hat emblazoned with the British flag.
• What You Are in the Dark: After successfully interrogating The Butcher for the whereabouts of the gas, Kyle is left alone for a while with the Butcher and a loaded revolver. He can shoot him outright or just even empty his gun at the wall behind him. If The Butcher is spared, there's an alternate cutscene of Russian Police finding him after Price and Kyle leave. No matter what is done, it still bothers Kyle immensely afterwards.
• What the Hell, Hero?: The Butcher's wife Osua calls Kyle out for kidnapping innocents. Kyle ultimately gets uneasy about having to use such methods.
• Would Hurt a Child: Ultimately subverted. During the interrogation of the Butcher, he responds affirmatively to Price's statement that he has no qualms about hurting children when they kidnap the Butcher's family. Later on, during the trip to Barkov's estate, he expresses horror at the lengths Price went to in order to get the Butcher to crack, showing that while Garrick is willing to do a lot of things in order to stop more terrorist attacks from happening, he draws a line at murdering a mother and her child.

John "Soap" MacTavish

Sergeant John(ny) "Soap" MacTavish

Callsign: Bravo 7-1

Voiced by: Neil Ellice (English)^note Other Languages: Taro Kiuchi (Japanese)

"I'll take my chances. We came here to stop a missile, so let's stop it."

A sniper and demolitions expert in the SAS. He's recruited by Price for Task Force 141. In MWII, he's one of the main playable characters.

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• Adaptational Personality Change: More jovial and boisterous than in the original ‘’Modern Warfare’’, whose stoic and professional demeanor is more apparent in reboot!Ghost.
• Adaptation Expansion: The original "Soap" had his nickname earned prior to passing selections for the Special Air Service and no explanation is given to why MacTavish has that nickname. In the reboot, MacTavish's nickname origin is established in the MWII bio which states he earned it in the SAS for "cleaning house with remarkable speed and accuracy in room clearance techniques and urban warfare tactics".
• Casual Danger Dialogue: He and Ghost engage in this during the mission 'Alone', where it goes from serious takes about the Shadow company's massacre into trading jokes at one another. This is justified as to how dire their situation are, they're trying their best to keep each other in a lightened mood in order to focus.
• Demolitions Expert: Price says that explosives, along with being a sniper, are his specialties.
• First-Name Basis: Ghost becomes the only person to call Soap "Johnny" regularly, even before they were particularly close; Ghost does increasingly use it after the midway point of the game, especially while Soap is stranded alone in Las Almas. Eventually, Soap is convinced that only Ghost can pull it off properly.
• The Ghost: He doesn't appear at all in the first Modern Warfare game but the mere mention of him along with Simon "Ghost" Riley is enough to set up a Sequel Hook. He makes his first appearance late in the multiplayer seasons as a playable operator and finally is present in the campaign mode in Modern Warfare II.
• Heroic Sacrifice: As Makarov is about to shoot a wounded Price in the head, Soap gets up to attack Makarov, preventing him from doing so. Unfortunately, as a result Makarov shoots and kills him instead.
• Made of Iron: Much like his original Modern Warfare counterpart, Soap takes some canonical punishment throughout MWII. This includes getting shot up by Shadow Company at the beginning of "Alone", and getting shot several times by Hassan himself in "Countdown", requiring Ghost to save him, but he lives through it all. It takes being shot in the chest, stabbed in the shoulder, and shot again in the head to put him down for good.
• Nom de Guerre: Soap. His MWII bio explains the nickname was born from the "hazing and ribbing" culture within the SAS selections and earned from MacTavish's proficiency in room clearing techniques.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Since he shares the same first name as Captain Price, he's referred to as "Johnny" or “Soap” to avoid confusion.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: The moment Shadow Company begins committing war crimes by executing everyone in their path in Las Almas, Soap only has this to say about what he plans to do to his enemies:
  "Makes me want to commit a few war crimes of my own..."
• I Surrender, Suckers: Soap intentionally surrenders to the Las Almas Cartel in order to get intel on the identify of El Sin Nombre.
• Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: Played with during his appearance in II. Ghost tends to call Soap "Johnny" during their time in the same squad, while everyone else on the team and their Mexican Special Forces allies refer to him as Soap. Alejandro even finds it uncomfortable to call Soap "Johnny", with Soap replying that only Ghost can do that. Although as Price reveals while reading his file during the end of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019), as well as mission introduction text reveal his real name is "John" and "Johnny" is implied to just be Ghost's own Affectionate Nickname for Soap.

Simon "Ghost" Riley

Lt. Simon "Ghost" Riley

Callsign: Bravo 0-7

Voiced by: Samuel Roukin (MWII / Warzone 2.0, English), Jeff Leach (MW 2019 / Warzone, English)^note Other Languages: Koji Takeda (Japanese)

"I wanna be like you when I grow up." "You wanna be better than me, Johnny..."

A specialist working for the SAS. Not much is known about him and no pictures of him have ever been taken. Price recruits him for Task Force 141, along with John "Soap" MacTavish and Kyle "Gaz" Garrick.

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• Adaptational Curves: He's much bulkier in this timeline compared to the leaner Ghost seen in the original Modern Warfare 2.
• Adaptational Personality Change: Very quiet and aloof compared to his original counterpart, who was prone to dry wit and knew how to be a team player; by contrast, reboot!Ghost prefers to work alone and it takes him a while to get used to working with others.
• Bash Brothers: Forms this dynamic with Soap over the course of the Modern Warfare II campaign. While he begins as aloof and outright leaves Soap to fend for himself, over the course of the Alone mission. Ghost and Soap begin to form a friendly relationship that involves taking the piss out of each other as they get to know one another. Ghost even admits that his abandoning Soap was more out of a force of habit rather than any actual malice on his part.
• The Big Guy: This version of Ghost is much bigger than his original counterpart and towers over everyone in the game, with Alejandro being a notable exception. This gets emphasize even more when he is standing next to Soap, Graves, or Gaz who are by all means no small men themselves.
• Big "SHUT UP!": A variation of this during his and Soap's first meeting with Alejandro.
  Alejandro: Lieutenant.. Laswell said they call you "Ghost".
  Soap: Actually I believe he preferred..
  Ghost: THAT'LL DO! (Soap quickly shuts up).
• Brits Love Tea: During Alone, when Soap enters the coffee shop, Ghost jokingly requests he get him some tea. Soap, a Scotsman, only has this to say:
  Soap: Fucking Brits...
• Character Development: Ghost in MWII starts off as an Aloof Ally who while quick to help his comrades is just as quick to abandon them if the situation calls for it. Over the course of MWII he begins to shed his icy exterior and considers his 141 teammates brothers rather than just comrades. During one part of the campaign he even removes his mask even though he made it a personal policy never to do so, showing the others his face even though the player does not.
• Cool Mask: Like his original counterpart, Ghost is always seen with his mask. Unlike the original counterpart which had his own prequel comic series while unmasked, the players still do not know what the reboot Ghost look likes behind the mask, even during the one time he took it off in the game.
  • If the dialogue between Ghost and Soap in the mission "Alone" is to be believed, Ghost also wears the mask while sleeping, and even has a camouflaged version for hunting in the woods.
• Cold Sniper: Thrice in the campaign, Ghost takes up an overwatch position alone to cover Soap and other allies.
• Contrasting Sequel Main Character: To Farah in terms of being the actual protagonists who serves as allies to John Price and are playable in the end. Farah is a rather slim woman from the Middle East whose face is exposed and past is explored in full detail, while Ghost is a large man from England whose face is completely covered and past remains a mystery. Both also kill the main villain of their respective games, but Farah had a personal vendetta for Barkov due to the cruelty he inflicted on her, her family, and country, while Ghost has no personal connections with Hassan beyond killing his commanding officer, and only joins in to stop Hassan due to the threat Hassan poses to the world.
• Create Your Own Villain: By killing General Ghorbrani, he indirectly causes Hassan's Start of Darkness leading to him becoming the Big Bad of II.
• Deadpan Snarker: He tells Soap a couple of jokes during the mission 'Alone'. Justified as they're trying to lighten each other's mood in order to go through the mission with a clear mind.
• Decomposite Character: Unlike his original counterpart, who was a Suspiciously Similar Substitute to the original trilogy's Gaz, Ghost and Gaz are entirely unique characters in the rebooted continuity. In fact, Ghost knew Price long before Gaz did, and not the other way around.
• The Dreaded: Shadow Company's chatter about Task Force 141 has a particular focus on how scary and deadly Ghost is. The sentiment is implied to be shared by the Vaqueros, as Alejandro's second-in-command nervously tells him that he's "afraid of ghosts."
• The Faceless: Per his first incarnation, Riley doesn't have an ID photo attached to his dossier. Almost nobody knows what he really looks like this time around as well if Price is to be believed. He does show his face in MWII to don a mask which resembles that of his official counterpart's, but his face remains hidden from the player while doing so.
• First-Name Basis: Not necessarily his first name, but Soap is fond of calling Ghost just by his rank initials, "Lt." Ghost returns the favor by calling him "Johnny". Price, however, greets Ghost by his first name after he briefly removes his mask to put on a new one.
  Price: (smiling) Good to see you again, Simon.
• The Ghost: No pun intended. Much like Soap above, he doesn't appear in the game at all but being mentioned alongside Soap and Gaz sets up quite a Sequel Hook. Subverted later as he appears in Season Two DLC, being sent to Verdansk to investigate why people on the same side are killing each other.
• Hypocritical Humor: During the mission "Prison Break", he berates Soap when he keeps joking around and tells him to keep it 'tactical', but then decides to kill a Mook by jumping off a roof and slashing his throat, rather than use a less flashy way. And all this is because he wants to show off to Soap.It manages to work anyway.
  Soap: Fucking beautiful, sir.
• Lightning Bruiser: Being bigger and bulkier than most of his teammates doesn't mean he's the slowest one out of them. This is best shown when he swiftly overpowers and kills two Shadow Company soldiers with a knife after Graves betrays the 141.
• Number Two: Ghost is Captain Price's second-in-command in Task Force 141 as he usually needs a second leader since he can’t be everywhere at once, while Gaz serves more of as Price's field support/assistant.
• Red Baron: Other than his callsign "Ghost", he's sometimes referred to as "The Ghost of Verdansk".
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: He's the serious, cool-headed, tactical Blue to Soap's more hot-headed, jovial, and energetic red.
  Soap: (after guiding Ghost to kill a shadow and throw the body in a near trashcan) Time to take out the trash.
  Ghost: Shut up, Soap... Fucking hell.
• Promoted to Playable:
  • He's a Coalition Operator in Multiplayer as of Season 2, representing Task Force 141. Subverted as he's been playable (specifically his original incarnation) in Call of Duty: Ghosts^note As one of many customization options for your character., Call Of Duty Infinite Warfare^note As an Epic Hero Gear set for Phantom combat rig. and Call of Duty: Mobile. This does, however, make his first proper playable appearance in a Modern Warfare game, Infinite Warfare included.
  • This continues into the sequel where Ghost is briefly playable during the first and last missions of the game.
  • In the third game, he’s fully playable for the entirety of the third to last mission.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Compared to the original Ghost, who was killed by Shepherd during his debut game, this version of Ghost survives the events of both MWII and MWIII - even outliving this timeline's Soap.
• Truer to the Text: Discards his redesigned mask for one that closely resembles his appearance from the original MW2 later in the MWII campaign. He usually wears that mask when off-duty.

Central Intelligence Agency

Alex Keller

Alex Keller

Callsign: Echo 3-1

Voiced by: Chad Michael Collins (English)^note Other Languages: Kenji Sugimura (Japanese), Konstantin Yelchaninov (Russian)

One of the main player characters. An ex-Delta Force operator turned CIA agent embedded in the Middle East under the command of Farah.

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• Decoy Protagonist: You'd think either he or Sgt. Garrick is the main protagonist of the campaign due to them featuring heavily, but the main character of the campaign is ultimately Farah, as it is her story.
• Elites Are More Glamorous: An operative in the CIA's elite Special Activities Division. He is also ex-Delta Force; considering that most Special Activities Division personnel hail from special operations units, this might not be surprising.
• Friendly Sniper: Alex is often given a precision rifle at the start of a mission to provide long-ranged support. In total, he's had his hands on three separate sniper rifles throughout the game: a Kar98K, Hadir's Ace Custom HDR, and an AX-50, though the last one only appears in a cutscene and isn't usable in the campaign.
• Handicapped Badass: Despite losing one of his legs, thus requiring that he wear a prosthetic, he can still run, jump, and fight like any other Multiplayer operator.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Pulls one at the end of the campaign, staying behind in order to ensure that Barkov's gas factory is completely demolished. Subverted, as it's revealed in Season 3 he survived, though he lost a leg in the explosion.
• I Choose to Stay: After bonding with Farah through their fights against Al-Qatala and Barkov's forces, Alex decides to stay in Urzikstan and help Farah's forces out after she and her forces are designated as hostiles by the U.S. Military.
• Mythology Gag: To Alex Mason. Both are CIA SAD operators taken from elite special operations forces (Mason from the Marines' Force Recon, Alex from SFOD-Delta Force) and become Fire-Forged Friends with their comrades, are presumed dead but later found out to be alive, both being hit in the legs no less, at least in Black Ops 2's best ending for Mason. Doesn't help that the latter's name is more of a Secret Identity.
• Nice Guy: For a CIA agent, he's a pretty affable guy, especially with how he bonds with Farah and Hadir through the game.
• Only One Name: "Alex", written explicitly in quotations. MWII gives him the surname "Keller".
• Player Character: Shares this role with Farah for the rebel side of the campaign.
• Retcon: Laswell reveals his real name as Alex Keller in the opening cutscene of Modern Warfare II's Season 1 Atomgrad raid, obviously changing the information given about him in the previous installment.
• Secret Identity: Since he's a CIA agent, "Alex" is probably more this than a traditional military codename. MWII later reveals that this is indeed his real name.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: He disobeys Laswell's orders in order to continue helping out Farah's forces even after her forces are designated as hostile by the U.S. military.
• Ship Tease: Gets this with Farah, and various points in the campaign have them engaging in some form of playful banter.
• Sole Survivor: Alex is the only one that makes it out alive, albeit wounded, after the attempt of stealing the gas in Fog of War.
• Undying Loyalty: Eventually develops this towards Farah, even disobeying orders to stick with her after her faction is labeled terrorists, and even pulls off a near-Heroic Sacrifice for which he explicitly asks her to trust him with.

Kate Laswell

Station Chief Kate Laswell

Callsign: Watcher-1

Voiced by: Rya Kihlstedt (English)^note Other Languages: Satomi Kobayashi (Japanese), Natalia Kolodyazhnaya (Russian)

A supervisor for the CIA's secretive Special Activities Division.

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• Ascended Extra: Goes from only appearing in cutscenes in the first Modern Warfare to being alongside Price and Gaz personally as field support in MWII in two missions.
  Shepherd: Kate Laswell back in the field?
  Laswell: I want this done right.
• Big Good: Organizes most of the operations from the heroes' side of things.
• The Dog Bites Back: Lets Price into Shepherd's office so he can kill him in MWIII. Shepherd immediately assumes it was her.
• Expy: Has a strong resemblance to Karen Bowman from Ghost Recon Wildlands.
• Good All Along: After Shadow Company betrayed Task Force 141 and Los Vaqueros, Ghost initially and understandably believes that she's in cahoots with Shepherd since they have been working together on this operation, and warns Soap and Rodolfo that she's to be considered hostile. Fortunately, she's later revealed to be on the side of Task Force 141 all along by sending Price and Gaz to help break out Alejandro from prison and investigating Shepherd's illegal missile delivery that starts the whole thing.
• Locked Out of the Loop: The fact that she didn’t know about Shepherd’s failed illegal missile trade was an even bigger shocker than if she was party to his and Graves’ betrayal, and it’s a very crucial part of Shepherd’s ordeal. Even though he closely relies on Laswell for secret ops, the one particular mission to deliver the missiles to America’s allies fighting Russia was so illegal he could not risk even the CIA knowing, which would result in his government eventually finding out.
• Promoted to Playable: The player character for Deep Cover in Modern Warfare III. Unlike other playable characters, she has less health and can die in as as little as one shot on higher difficulties.
• Proxy War: She seems perfectly fine with supplying the ULF with the resources it needs to wage war against the Russians in Urzikstan, so long as the U.S. doesn't get directly involved.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: She seems like she's an obstructive person at first, but ultimately greenlights some of the riskier jobs for the heroes to undertake even once things get real dicey on the political side.
• Straight Gay: Reveals in a conversation during Modern Warfare II's "Recon By Fire" mission that she has a wife, but her sexuality has no bearing on her character otherwise.

Uzrikstani Liberation Force

Farah Karim

Farah Karim

Callsign: Kilo-1

Voiced by: Claudia Doumit (English), Sophia Coto (Young Farah, English)^note Other Languages: Yuka Adachi (Japanese), Mariana Spivak (Russian)

"I make no distinction between Al-Qatala and the Russian army. They're both terrorists."

Alex's "commanding officer" in the Middle East. She leads a large group of rebels in Urzikstan against hostile Russian intruders.

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• Action Girl: Farah's a major leader in the ULF and she has no qualms on fighting if she has to.
• And Now for Someone Completely Different: She is playable in a flashback, as a young girl evading Russian invaders. Another pits her in a prison break, where she first met Price. She's also the very last character you control in the campaign, delivering the killing blows to Barkov as he tries to escape.
• And This Is for...: One of the Pre-Mortem One-Liners she can say upon killing Barkov is, "This is for my family."
• Badass Biker: During her sole appearance in II, she's driving a motorcycle and she's just as fearsome a warrior as ever.
• Braids of Action: She wears her hair in a braid by default in the present day where she has long hair, and she's the frontline leader of a rebel group.
• Broken Pedestal: Upon finding that it was Hadir who stole the chemical weapons instead of the AQ insurgents (although Hadir finally conspired with them to use the weapons against foreign occupiers), she no longer considers Hadir her brother out of disappointment.
• Cain and Abel: Ends up having this relationship with Hadir after he betrayed their cause and principles. Hadir ended up joining Al-Qatala, putting them on opposite sides of their country’s civil war.
• Cassandra Truth: If she tells Barkov that she is "Commander Karim", who has been sneaking requests for help out of the prison, Barkov doesn't believe her, thinking that she can only be a messenger. Subverted later when Barkov reveals he knew all along that Farah is Karim.
• Children Forced to Kill: During the part where you first take control of her as a young child, she and her brother Hadir are forced to kill several Russian soldiers in self-defense despite both of them being no older than 8 to 10 years old.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Her mother and father were killed on the same day during a Russian siege of her town, forcing her to escape with her brother in order to survive, killing three Russian soldiers in the process. However it doesn't go as planned and she ends up a Russian prisoner for the next ten years of her life.
• Demolitions Expert: Proves to be this by quickly defusing a bomb with only twenty seconds on the timer without even flinching.
  Alex: How'd you learn that?
  Farah: Years of experience.
  Alex: Too many...
• Demoted to Extra: She barely appears in the sequel despite being the primary protagonist of MW 2019. Justified, as Farah is still primarily occupied with fighting a civil war with Al Qatala; she willingly offers support to Task Force 141 when Laswell is kidnapped but only out of happenstance that they end up in her neck of the woods.
• Determinator: Farah seems to run on sheer might of will if nothing else:
  • As a young child, Farah chose to fight and kill the Russian intruder who murdered her father instead of cowering and submitting herself to fate. Even bullet wounds and being bashed in the face numerous times by a large rifle didn't deter her from trying to finish him off.
  • Even after being captured and tortured by Barkov, Farah still refuses to give in, despite being left without food or water for 10 days. Starvation and dehydration take an average of three to four days to become debilitating, if not fatal, especially considering Urzikstan's dry and hot climate. And yet, she still musters enough strength to withstand her captor's brutal methods. Whether or not she breaks on day 11 is entirely up to the player's discretion, but even then she still has enough in her to mount and lead an uprising that sends Barkov running with his tail between his legs.
• Deuteragonist: In the third game, Farah gets the second most amount of focus, due to Makarov having a bone to pick with her.
• Extreme Mêlée Revenge: Can choose to attack in melee when she kills Barkov at the end of the game, although it is a little more tricky than simply using her pistol.
• A Father to His Men: Well, "cousin" at least. She refers to most of her faction in familial terms, and is referred to in kind. Even "Alex" joins in, calling her "cuz" after joining her group even after she's been designated a terrorist by the US.
• The Fettered: Despite being a resistance leader, she shows a great distinction in differentiating between allies and enemies and will never resort to unscrupulous means in the war in order to liberate her country from Barkov's occupation. Which makes her reaction when she finds out that Hadir was behind the stolen chemical weapons significantly sadder.
• Hero-Worshipper: Despite being quite a hardass, she clearly holds Price in high regard which comes as no surprise considering he saved her life during a prison break some time prior to the game's current events.
• Honorary True Companion: No matter how far she is, Farah will always have a place in Task Force 141. She's the best sniper Price knows next to Ghost, and he can call on her if he needs two snipers for a mission.
• I Have No Son!: The sibling variant. She disowns Hadir as her brother after it was revealed he stole the gas and then used it against the Russians. To her, that was the day he died as a brother. She hates the person he is after that, and tells him he has no right to call her sister ever again.
• Innocence Lost: She gets to experience firsthand that War Is Hell when the Russians invaded her country. This eventually leads her to grow up into the battle-hardened rebel that Alex meets in the present day.
• Nice Girl: She didn't become the leader of La Résistance by being a Jerkass, after all. Even in combat, she's lighthearted and has a sense of humor.
• The Paragon: Like most La Résistance leaders, Farah is an extremely positive and empowering influence on everyone she comes in contact with. Except for her own brother, ironically enough.
• The Smurfette Principle: In Modern Warfare (2019), she's the only female playable character among the four characters played in the campaign, and was the only female operative to have served on Task Force 141.
• Spiteful Spit: When interrogated by Barkov in Captive, the player as Farah can spit on his face instead of answering his questions when prompted. Doing this for the first time nets an achievement. She can do it again in the final mission to Barkov's corpse if the player kills him by shooting him.
• This Is Unforgivable!: Considering Hadir betrayed the ULF by using the gas that poisoned her people against the Russians and got her forces designated as a terrorist group, she'll never forgive Hadir no matter what.
• Trauma Conga Line: Her origin story. In the span of less than a day, she is buried under rubble as a result of Barkov's occupation (which results in the death of her mother), witnesses civilians (including a fellow child she was friends with) get gunned down by his forces, and makes it back to her home with her father to find her brother. However, a soldier enters the home and gets into a physical altercation with their father, giving him fatal wounds in the process. Both children manage to kill the soldier by stabbing him multiple times with a knife and shooting him with his own weapon before they are forced to flee through the wartorn city and piles of bodies. Just when they think they'll escape, they're captured by Barkov and his forces and locked up for a decade, only being freed by the direct intervention of the SAS (led by Price). If that's not enough, the present day sees her betrayed by her own brother.
• Traumatic Haircut: She and all the other women suffer one as part of their torture at the hands of Barkov. All of their heads are shaved as part of their torture.

Hadir Karim

Hadir Karim

Voiced by: Aidan Bristow (English), Roman Coto (Young Hadir, English)^note Other Languages: Eiji Takeuchi (Japanese), Philip Bledny (Russian)

Farah's brother and most trusted lieutenant.

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• Ace Custom: His unique HDR sniper rifle, "Hadir's Right Hand", has a Variable Zoom scope and a custom stock. The rifle is available in multiplayer as one of the Season One Battlepass unlockable rewards.
• Chekhov's Gunman: A subtle and literal one at that, his weapon of choice is an AUG and he's the only person seen carrying one in the ULF. Players with a keen eye will notice that the terrorist leader who stole the gas in the first mission was also carrying the same gun.
• Children Forced to Kill: During the part where you first take control of Farah as a young child, the two of them are forced to kill several Russian soldiers in self-defense despite both of them being no older than 8 to 10 years old.
• Dragon Ascendant: The second Raid episode in MWII reveals that he is now the leader of Al-Qatala, and he's looking at nuclear weapons rather than gas this time.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Although he is never as heinous and violent as the Wolf, the Butcher, or Barkov after his Face–Heel Turn, Farah still means everything to him, even if she no longer returns the sentiment. Which is why when he is apprehended by Price and Kyle, he gives the information he got about Barkov's chemical weapons factory without a second thought. In MWII, despite being the leader of Al-Qatala now, he still offers Price and Farah a chance to join him.
• Face–Heel Turn: Hadir defected to Al-Qatala because of his hatred towards Russia for killing his people, and refused to hold anything back.
• Friendly Sniper: Farah calls him her best sniper and is pretty friendly with anyone willing to help him kill the Russians. He's proud of the custom HDR sniper rifle he modified and is pleased to see that Alex can use it well.
• Gadgeteer Genius: Built the rebel forces' improvised drone fleet, as well as his own custom sniper rifle.
• Graceful Loser: When being successfully apprehended by Price and Kyle, he is completely fine with him being handed to Russia in a prisoner exchange since he already found the location of Barkov's chemical weapons factory and him believing that Farah will use the information to finish off Barkov's operations. He also has no problem supporting them in their escape of the estate, saving Price from an enemy soldier and tossing Garrick his gun after he is knocked down.
• He Who Fights Monsters: After 20 years of fighting against the Russian Occupation of his home country he has begun to embrace more extreme methods of fighting his enemy including turning their own poison gas against them.
• His Name Is...: As he's dying from his wounds, he warns them a new threat is coming to Urzikstan, and mentions the "Real Russians", but dies before giving a name. Of course, the viewers know he's referring to Makarov.
• Idiot Ball: Had Hadir not resorted to using the chlorine gas against the Russians and waited a few minutes for Price to arrive, he wouldn't have revealed himself to be a traitor. That, or he wouldn't have greatly endangered Farah's life and irreparably ruined their relationship. What truly cements this is the fact that his gas truck was parked just a stone's throw from the outlook he, Farah and Alex were sniping from, suggesting that he had intended to use it then and there.
• I Did What I Had to Do: His justification for stealing the chlorine gas from and then using it on the Russians.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: Believes the best way to defeat the Russians is by using their own weaponry against them, stealing chlorine gas and a nuclear warhead.
• Shadow Archetype: Hadir is what Sergeant Garrick would've become if he let his hatred get the best of him. Garrick believes they need to take the gloves off and do whatever it takes to stop the terrorists. Hadir also echoes the same sentiment regarding the Russians committing war crimes against his people. However, Garrick knows where to draw the line and was unsettled at having to threaten women and children, while Hadir was willing to gas the Russians without a second thought.
• The Unfettered: Compared to her sister, Hadir supports any form of violence to deter and push back the Russian occupiers out of his homeland. When Farah finds out that he was the one who stole the chemical weapons, she doesn't take it well.
• Unwitting Pawn: In his quest for vengeance during Atomgrad, he gives Price and Farah a chance to help him against the Russians, but he doesn't realize he and Al-Qatala are pawns for a much bigger game Makarov and the Ultranationalists have in store for the West.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: His willingness to finish off Barkov's occupation in Urzikstan eventually drives him to steal the chemical weapons in the game's prologue and join Al-Qatala to push back the Russians once and for all.

United States Military

Colonel Norris

Colonel Norris

Callsign: Charlie 2-Actual

Voiced by: Nick Boraine (English)^note Other Languages:Mikhail Belyakovich (Russian)

The commanding officer of the Marines assigned to conduct operations in Urzikstan.

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• Dirty Coward: A Downplayed Trope example when he backs down from Price making it clear he would use force against him.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Farah's second-in-command attacked American troops, stole chlorine gas, and has allied with Al-Qatala. No wonder they've been designated terrorists.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: Backs down under Price's threats.
• The Neidermeyer: Plans to arrest Farah right in front of the people she just saved the lives of.
• Small Role, Big Impact: Norris doesn't have much dialogue or importance over the course of the game story, but he's the one that forces Lazwell to break the news that Farah's Urzikstan Liberation Force are now branded as a foreign terrorist organization due to Hadir's betrayal.
• Smug Snake: Acts with a great deal of righteous indignation to Farah after she went after her own brother to try to bring him in.

General Lyons

Lt. General Lyons

Voiced by: Debra Wilson (English)^note Other Languages: Kayo Ishida (Japanese), Anastasia Lapina (Russian)

The woman in charge of the military operations in Urzikstan.

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• Big Good: Subverted as her chief decision just makes things worse.
• Not Quite the Right Thing: Designating Farah's organization as terrorists just creates more enemies for the US to fight.
• Small Role, Big Impact: Lyons shows up even less than Norris does in the overall story of the game, but she is the one that designates Farah's forces as terrorists.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: First by sending in Alex to align with the Urzikstan Liberation Force in order to find the Russian chemical gas, no one realizing Hadir had stolen it the entire time under their noses. This nearly gets him killed by accident when Hadir finally unleashes it. And second, reclassifying Farah's entire force as a terrorist organization because of Hadir's betrayal, which forces Alex to act on his conscience and continue to help Farah - and this does get him killed in a Heroic Sacrifice ultimately (or so we thought).

Sgt. Griggs

Sergeant Marcus Griggs

Callsign: Demon 1-2

Voiced by: LaMonica Garrett (English)^note Other Languages: Yoshihito Sasaki (Japanese), Andrey Sokolov (Russian)

A sergeant in the USMC. He works alongside Alex in order to find and apprehend "the Wolf" in Urzikstan.

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• Demoted to Extra: The original Griggs was a major player throughout the game, helping out in the joint USMC/SAS operation in that game. This Griggs is present for only one mission before disappearing. He does however, return in Season 6 assisting Price and Task Force 141 to capture or kill Victor Zakhaev and prevent him from launching nukes.
• Nom de Guerre: "Devil Dogs" is a nickname for the US Marines dating back to WWI; Grigg's company has mixed it with their callsign and call themselves Demon Dogs.
• Spared by the Adaptation: This incarnation of Griggs is alive and well by the end of the mission he's featured in. Though considering both Khaled Al-Asad and Victor Zakhaev are still alive by the end of the game as well, it does not bode very well for the future going ahead.

General Shepherd

General Herschel Shepherd

Callsign: Gold Eagle

Voiced by: Glenn Morshower (English)

"Boy, I know that look. Are we at war?"

U.S. Army general and the commanding officer of Task Force 141.

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• Adaptational Heroism:
  • Compared to the original counterpart, the extent of his betrayal of Task Force 141 is this. He appears to not have explicitly ordered Task Force 141's deaths, only that Shadow Company will take over TF 141's duties in Mexico, and it is Graves who is relentless in his desire to kill the TF 141 members because they refuse to comply. That said, he takes no measures to force Shadow Company to stop their hunt, meaning he might have authorized him to use lethal force for their refusal to follow orders.
  • The reboot iteration has also not (yet) caused World War III to kick-off that led to hundreds of thousands dead, though he did turn a blind-eye to Shadow Company performing their brutal crackdown at Las Almas.
• Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: While he acts as their commanding officer, the nature of his relationship with Task Force 141 and role in its formation is more distant than the original. In the original trilogy, he put together Task Force 141 and every member was recruited by him, including Captain Price and Soap. In this incarnation, Captain Price is the main founder of team and came up with the idea and ran it by Shepherd, before being seconded to him as part of a larger joint counterterrorism operation.
• Adaptational Villainy: Compared to his original counterpart's reasoning for betraying Task Force 141. The original was a General Ripper who wanted to reignite the patriotic war fervor in America to make them the strongest in the world again and had TF 141 killed to cover up his potential links to Makarov that led to the war. The reboot version betrays TF 141 solely for the purposes of covering up his mistakes in illegal arms dealing, all because he was unwilling to deal with the red tape of his government.
• Adaptational Wimp: Compared to his original counterpart, General Shepherd acts more as a commanding officer back at the Pentagon in a Mission Control role rather than fighting in the frontlines. He also does not get into a face-to-face confrontation with Task Force 141 or Captain Price following his betrayal since he had to flee before either Hassan or the U.S. Government get to him. He's also not a radical nationalist trying to start World War III to ensure American global supremacy, just a corrupt officer trying to cover up his own dirty dealings.
• Bad Boss: When Laswell gets kidnapped, he is more than willing to leave Laswell's fate to Al-Qatala than launch a mission to rescue her, only allowing Price to do so under the conditions of using his own resources and coming back alive. He also doesn't care that much about Philip Graves' and/or his men's safety either and refuses to give them support when PMCs employed by Russian Ultranationalists attack Shadow Company. Not to mention having Shadow Company betray Task Force 141, who are under his command, in order to cover his own tracks.
• Boom, Headshot!: Price ends him via shooting him in the head.
• Didn't Think This Through: Never mind the ways the missile shipment was poorly thought out under his command, but he failed to properly eliminate the paper trail that contained very damning evidence, as opposed to redacting the intel that Kate Laswell was able to recover, decipher and could use it against him.
• General Ripper: He puts the task of tracking down Hassan and his stolen American missiles as top priority for the CIA and Task Force 141 once they are discovered. Mostly because it was his fault that they fell in Hassan's hands in the first place.
• Face Death with Dignity: He takes the knowledge that Price is gonna kill him pretty well.
  Shepherd: Oh, I am not gonna beg for my life. Not with you, or anybody else Captain.
• Gone Horribly Wrong: "Donated" American-built cruise missiles to anti-Russian forces in the Middle East with Shadow Company as the off-the-books go between, only for those missiles to be hijacked by Russian paramilitaries (heavily implied to be led by Vladimir Makarov) and sold to an Iranian extremist group led by Major Hassan, who smuggled them into the United States with intent to attack Washington DC.
• I Did What I Had to Do: He starts his justification with a variant of this phrase on why he conducted illegal arms dealing with American weaponry.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: By the time Shepherd meets Task Force 141 again since his betrayal of them, he offers intel to help take down Makarov…just so he can get his name on a win, which he outright admits. When finally given the chance to own up, he lies about not having betrayed Task Force 141 during the previous game.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: By the next game, he’s finally exposed for his crimes against Task Force 141, then Price finally gets him.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: By the penultimate mission of MWII he's lost his personal PMC, his dragon Graves, and is about to be exposed by Laswell, not to mention he's pissed off the world's top special forces outfit. Shepherd promptly cuts and runs off the grid.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The entire plot of Modern Warfare II happened because of a botched arms delivery job he and Shadow Company organized. This carries over even into Modern Warfare III, where he's been supplying the ULF for years, and later on supplied them with the same missiles, which also get stolen by Konni later in the game. Clearly, he did not learn his lesson.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: His justification on conducting illegal arms dealing to provide American weaponry to Middle Eastern allies fighting Russians. It's one thing to do that, but it was another to cover it up
  General Shepherd: To do good, you got to do some bad.
• Pet the Dog: Despite only caring about saving his own skin, he was at least willing to go out of his way to vouch for Farah and the ULF, and convince the officials at a congressional hearing they’re not a terror group. Considering this was one of the only few things he was willing to fulfill as part of the deal of being rescued, it goes to show his respect and support for Farah is genuine.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Despite his rather questionable attitudes and methods, he does try to be as reasonable as possible. When Laswell got captured, he made it clear he won't give support to Price, but he won't stop him from undertaking the mission if he so chooses. And, he was content with just relieving TF 141 of their duties in Mexico, but he did order Graves to use whatever force necessary to deal with them if they are insubordinate.
• Remake Cameo: His voice actor and likeliness in the game is Glenn Morshower, who has a prominent role in the original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 as Overlord.
• Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: He wisely leaves the Pentagon and goes into hiding before Laswell and the 141 can come after him. He only returns to the Pentagon once the heat dies down.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Ultimately survives his betrayal of Task Force 141 compared to his original counterpart, but is on the run and off-grid. Alive or not, it’s over for him either way. It's subverted at the end of the very next game, where Price kills him in retaliation for his actions indirectly getting Soap killed.
• Tempting Fate: The general will not let red tape hold him back, claiming no one fixes him. By the time he said that, Laswell has already recovered the evidence needed to end his military career for good.
• Too Dumb to Live: By refusing to cooperate with Price's negotiations and wanting to keep everything covered up, as well as allowing Graves to continue "chasing his bone", he potentially puts Washington D.C. in massive jeopardy because Shadow Company had stopped interrogating Valeria on the location of Hassan and the third missile which was deep within Chicago, aimed straight at the Pentagon. Regardless of whether or not he would have been at the epicenter of the strike he allowed to happen, the sheer hubris to allow things to spiral out of control this bad to cover his own ass rather than admit to his fuck-ups single-handedly tanks his entire career.
• You Have Failed Me: Shepherd made it very clear that Shadow Company must NOT fail their delivery of the missiles. Once they encounter Konni (which Shepherd didn't anticipate) and are unable to counter the threat, he sees it as them being unable to do their jobs, and because sending reinforcements would risk word of this delivery and his involvement getting out, he leaves them to die.

Federal Security Service

Sgt. Kamarov

Sergeant Kamarov

Voiced by: Gene Farber (English)^note Other Languages: Katsuya Miyamoto (Japanese), Anton Eldarov (Russian)

A Russian official who is friendly with Price and works with him and Laswell after the campaign and in the Spec Ops missions.

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• Interservice Rivalry: A lighthearted version, judging from his brief interaction with Nikolai, they seem to have a bit of tension between them, but nonetheless work together.
  Kamarov: Nikolai. You've been a bad boy.
  Nikolai: From you, that's a compliment.
  Kamarov: Please. We're all friends here.
• Mythology Gag: Just like his original counterpart, this version of the character once again owes Price a favor for Beirut. Unlike in the original, this Kamarov delivers on the deal in two ways: by giving Price a pack of cigars and by giving him information about the new leader of Al-Qatala: Khaled Al-Asad.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: In contrast to Barkov (as well as his prior incarnation). He's quite receptive to cooperating with the Western powers in the face of a resurgent Al-Qatala.

Russian Armed Forces

Gen. Roman Barkov

General Roman Barkov

Voiced by: Konstantin Lavysh (English)^note Other Languages: Masaru Nishio (credited as Mammoth Nishio, Japanese), Mikhail Guldan (Russian)

The leader of the Russian forces in occupied Urzikstan. A ruthless general who demonizes his own men almost as much as he does Farah and Hadir Karim, who vow revenge on him.

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• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Despite all of his bluster immediately beforehand, he ultimately resorts to begging for his life as Farah repeatedly stabs him to death before throwing him off a helicopter.
• All for Nothing: Despite his utterly misguided actions to protect Russia by violently occupying Urzikstan, nothing good came out of it and upon his death, he is disowned posthumously by the Russian government, and the AQ and the Ultranationalists are now increasing their incursion into Russia, worsening the entire situation.
• Arch-Enemy: He serves as this to Farah, as he oppressed her people, kept Farah and her brother imprisoned for a decade, and tortured them the whole time. The player's focus shifts to her during the final mission, where she personally murders Barkov, showing how much she hates him.
• Asshole Victim: Barkov is stabbed multiple times (or if you take the easy route and shoot him) before getting thrown off the helicopter, but he very much deserves it for committing genocide against an entire nation and heartlessly torturing Farah and killing her family.
• Ax-Crazy: Towards any and every Urzikstan denizen he gets his hands on. Even for women and children that get incarcerated, he still sends them to his prisons where they're tortured and killed, on top of his gassing and wiping out towns out of spite of trying to purge all potential terrorists. It reaches the point that he outright tries to strangle Farah to death once she's resisted him one time too many, while screaming about her nation being nothing but terrorists and that he'll protect Russia. Only Price's timely intervention saves her life, and even then Barkov attempts to kill all the prisoners out of spite even before they fight back.
• Bad Boss: If the soldiers in Hometown are to be believed, Barkov punishes his men very harshly for the least bit of insubordination or incompetence, like failing to execute everyone in a given area. According to them, he had once had somebody executed for less than that.
• Big Bad: He is in charge of the Russian forces occupying Urzikstan and was the person directly responsible for Farah's and Hadir's hardships during their incarceration, plus he's also behind the manufacturing of the chemical weapons that were stolen by Hadir's forces during the Marine raid. To sum it up, most of the game's plot is a direct result of his actions.
• Big Bad Ensemble: Shares the status of main villain with Omar Sulaman, leader of Al Qatala.
• Bond One-Liner: Farah has a choice of 4 of these before throwing his body off the helicopter. She still does this as though she were responding to his final villain speech even if she kills Barkov immediately with a headshot before he has a chance to even say anything.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: He tortured Farah for ten years, alongside her brother and anyone else he captured.
• Cutscene Boss: In true Call of Duty tradition, he's ultimately dealt with this way. Unlike most examples, you do have full control during a good portion of the "fight", and have multiple choices as to how to deal with him, including sneaking up behind him to stab him, avoiding his shots then stabbing him while he's reloading, or simply pulling out a gun and shooting him.
• Defiant to the End: After Barkov is being stabbed several times by Farah, he still calls her a terrorist for murdering him, before Farah throws him off the helio.
• Dirty Coward: Prefers to flee at the moment something is amiss, like when Price attacks the prison after answering Farah’s messages or when Price and the Urzikstan Liberation Force attack his chemical weapons factory at the end of the game. Considering his getaway helicopter was piloted by Nikolai, the general was trapped like a rat. Farah even notes that Barkov never takes the field himself and always lets his men do the dirty work, and outside of his last stand, the only time he's seen stepping into "combat" is when his opponents are a pair of little children.
• Disney Villain Death: Farah kills him like this after fighting him on a helicopter if he doesn't die via stab wounds.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Having a handful of his men killed by who he thinks were Urzikstani terrorists apparently gave him carte blanche to launch a twenty-year invasion of the country, enslave its population, and commit war crimes on its people. According to himself, he genuinely believes he's doing the right thing by protecting Russia from terrorists, so if anything he feels everything he has done were entirely justified.
• Evil Versus Evil: Opposed by the other half of the Big Bad Ensemble of Al Qatala, being the overwhelming force of conventional warfare to their terroristic guerilla warfare. The end of the game reveals that’s not all: it’s eventually revealed that Al Qatala is being backed by the Ultranationalists, with Zahkaev wanting “Barkov's throne.”
• Expy: Of Colonel Kurtz, a rogue general committing atrocities without the sanction of his government.
• Freudian Excuse: Blames the people of Urzikstan for the deaths of his soldiers during a terrorist attack in Russian soil as an excuse to place them under martial law and work for him.
• General Ripper: As expected from a character that was based on Colonel Kurtz himself, he's fanatically obsessed with subjugating the Urzikstani people in order to prevent terrorism, with he and his forces committing numerous war crimes.
• Hate Sink: General Barkov is a genocidal, Urzik-hating Russian who not only operates mostly without authorization from the Russian Government but also violates international treaties invading Urzikstan to commit said genocide against an ethnic group he claims spawns terrorists, developing a gas that is deployed on entire villages on unarmed civilians, and orders the killing of women and children. Playing as Farah has you experience all these horrible things Barkov inflicted on a personal level, really selling just how despicable he is amongst all the enemies in the game.
• He Who Fights Monsters: What you could charitably say about him if painted in the absolute best possible light. Angered by attacks from perceived Urzikstani radicals he spearheaded an occupational invasion of the country in order to keep Russia safe but his paranoia of who could be a potential threat caused him to target innocents in his attempt to purge the nation. However the unfettered brutality and indiscriminate slaughter he signs off on (as in brazenly and unappologetically targeting children who have never picked up a gun in their life and okaying chemical attacks on civilians) means whatever facade he attempts to hide behind has no real justification and is purely down to raw sociopathy and cruelty.
• Karmic Death: Barkov can be taken down with a Boom, Headshot! from Farah's pistol, if you choose to go that route. It is karmic for him since he killed one of Farah's friends during an interrogation session with the same method. In either way of his death, it is always done by Farah's hands.
• Irony: Barkov's entire motivation is to suppress Urzikstan and quell the terrorists rising up there so that Russia is in less danger and less of his men die. Over the course of a twenty-year occupation, the casualties are immense on both sides and his actions just create more and more brutal terrorists, likely pissing off his superiors and constituents alike given that he's been conducting the equivalent of genocide without authorization, and he is not only completely unsuccessful as AQ launches a full scale invasion on Russian city of Verdansk, but he also dies at the hands of one of his own victims he personally tormented and explained his motivations to before being posthumously disowned by the very nation he sought to protect.
• Moving the Goalposts: During one of Farah's interrogation sessions, Barkov offers her a chance to save a fellow prisoner's life by lasting through being waterboarded without passing out. Should she manage to do so, he then demands the truth about "Karim", or he would execute the prisoner anyway, despite Farah's protests. If Farah finally relents and admits to being Karim, he keeps his word and spares the prisoner, however.
• Moral Myopia: Losing his men causes him to blame any and every person in Urzikstan that dares stand against him, aiming to pre-emptively silence anyone that resists. It's apparently fine by Barkov's methods to gas entire towns, bomb civilian convoys, and gun down every single person that gets in his path while incarcerating women and children, but even if someone's not actually a terrorist yet opts to fight back against this violence, they're nothing more than a devil that ought to be punished or killed in his eyes.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: He genuinely believes he's doing the right thing, protecting Russia through his actions, even though they make him arguably just as bad, if not worse, as the 'terrorists' he fights. It gets to the point that when he's killed by Farah at the end, Russia disowns him posthumously due to all the atrocities he committed.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: His utter hatred for the Urzikani people has undertones of racism towards them.
• Oh, Crap!: He has two: the first time when he finds out that the prison where he's been rounding up Urzikstanis is under attack by the SAS and the second time when Farah catches up to him at the end and begins stabbing him to death, even begging her to spare him when he realizes how screwed he is.
• Renegade Russian: According to conversations between his men, all of his war atrocities against the Urzikstani people are conducted without authorization from the Russian central government. And true to that, they eventually have enough with his antics and disown him posthumously after Farah kills him. In MWIII however, it’s revealed he was subject to an inquiry by the FSB.
• Revolvers Are Just Better: Uses a revolver as his preferred weapon. However, it means he only has 6 shots, and with some effort you can dodge all of them when you confront him directly at the end^note funnily enough, Barkov himself angrily berates the limited round capacity his gun carries, making one question why he bothers.
• Villainous Legacy: During his occupation, Makarov took interest in Barkov’s chemical research. When Barkov was defeated, Makarov did NOT take that well, and attempted to take over Urzikstan and succeed where Barkov failed.
• Would Hurt a Child: Imprisons Farah and Hadir for ten long years, torturing them every step of the way, and also gasses towns regardless of the casualties. Rounding women and children up is more of an afterthought of any survivors.
• Would Hit a Girl: He tortures Farah and the female prisoners intensely because of their support for "Karim". The 'hit' part comes into play especially because he beats Farah around himself out of intense hatred for the woman's resistance.
• You Are What You Hate: Barkov despises Urzikstan out of belief that the country is a breeding ground for terrorists, and seeks to rein them in and eradicate as much of them as he can. However, his methods to eradicate them involve toxic chlorine gas, and mass killings of civilians and persecutions, which make him a terrorist. Farah can even call him such outright before killing him.

J- 12

Voiced by: Stefan Kapičić (English)

An unnamed Russian soldier serving under Barkov during the initial invasion of Urzikstan.

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• The Big Guy: Of his unit, which baffles his commanding officer as to how his teammates managed to lose track of this absolute unit of a man.
• The Brute: To the Karim family, he is one as he murders Farah's father right in front of her.
• Gas Mask Mook: Justified since he storms into the Karim household from a cloud of weaponized chlorine gas.
• Hate Sink: You are NOT supposed to like him.
• Made of Iron: The guy suffers close to half a dozen stabs and change, some of which are directly at his chest, and still has enough strength to subdue and nearly kill Hadir until Farah intervenes by blasting him at point-blank range with his own AK.
• Mini-Boss: Since Farah is still a defenseless kid when she has to fight against him, he behaves like a miniboss where you have to hide under a table, sneak up to him from behind and flank him from the side or behind and stab him 3 times with shivs you find laying around the area.
• No Name Given: He's just referred to by his callsign, even in subtitles.
• Non-Uniform Uniform: His outfit is definitely not regulation, nor are his tattoos. The game's art director admitted that J-12's design was "ridiculous" and stated he was trying to make J-12 evocative of a minotaur.
• Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: The likes of Soap and Price kill muppets like him by the hundreds. However, since you confront him as a small child, he ends up being a full boss fight.
• Would Hurt a Child: He'd kill them, actually.

Al-Qatala

Omar Sulaman

Omar 'the Wolf' Sulaman

Voiced by: Joel Swetow (English)^note Other Languages: Mitsuru Fujiwara (Japanese), Yuri Malyarov (Russian)

The leader of the Al-Qatala terrorist group.

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• Ax-Crazy: As the terrorist attack in London has shown he's none too shy about murdering civilians, and despite making it clear he wants to throw the Russians out of his country, he’s all too willing to turn his psychotic brand of indiscriminate violence upon his own people should he have an excuse.
• Boom, Headshot!: The best way to dispose of him; if Alex doesn't take the shot, Farah notices he has a detonation remote and abruptly pops him with one bullet to the face herself.
• Big Bad Ensemble: Sulaman and Barkov are against each other, but both are the leading causes of the story’s conflict. By the end of the game, his faction is the only one of the two left standing and still going strong even after his death.
• Bomb-Throwing Anarchists: Instead of being a religious extremist, he espouses an ideology of anarchism that rejects all forms of structure, and most of all, freedom from outside influence. However, he takes this mindset too far because he goes so low as to murder civilians and others who had nothing to do with Russia just to satisfy his bloodlust.
• Dirty Coward: Zig-Zagged. On one hand, for all his big talk, Sulaman prefers just spreading the ideals of his group than personally getting his hands dirty—to the point that the final confrontation with him more or less just consists of fighting through a gauntlet of his men while he himself literally sits patiently for your arrival, and all this is after the raid on his villa, where he left his family to face the incoming protagonists alone while he and his followers took cover in the underground bunker. On the other hand, he is practically ancient by the time of the game, with cataracts in both eyes and barely even a fight for a team of top-shape special operations personnel, with further implication that in his younger years, he was much more murderous and active than his current state. On top of this, when he finally is confronted in his bunker, he shows no fear and has himself strapped with a suicide vest on a timer, with the intention of taking his captors with him in the form of enough explosives to turn the whole map into a smoking crater.
• Disc-One Final Boss: Much of the first half of the campaign is spent hunting Sulaman down after he spurs a terrorist attack in London.
• Fallen Hero: According to Price, he used to be a proper freedom fighter who cooperated with the West. One of his reasons for his current actions seems to be that he's sick of various superpowers using him and anyone else in the Middle East in their Proxy Wars.
• Killed Mid-Sentence: By the time Alex and Farah finally reach his location, he's wired himself up to a suicide vest connected to several other explosives. He begins monologuing about how this is the end for them, but they simply blow his brains out before he can even finish.
• Middle Eastern Terrorists: Head of AQ in Urzikistan, a Middle East inspired nation. His ideology is anarchism.
• Not Me This Time: Denies being involved with the stealing of the Russian gas. His organization really wasn't involved, but he does end up working with the one who did.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Tries this tack while under detention at the embassy, stating to those gathered that "[they] are all killers, here".
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Sulaman’s efforts in trying to liberate Urzikistan from foreign occupation has some tinges of well meaning to it, such as forming the Al Qatala movement to remove Barkov and his tyranny from the region. However, as we see him go on to turn his violence upon his own country and stage unrelated, indiscriminate massacres of civilians in others, it becomes abundantly clear that Sulaman is a psychopathic zealot using his cause as an excuse to satiate his lust for murder.
• Stupid Evil: Sulaman has somewhat good intentions regarding kicking the Russians out of Urzikistan, but instead of cooperating with other powers and like-minded individuals to accomplish this, instead not only sinks down to the same level of insane barbarism as Barkov and his forces, but also goes out of his way to antagonise other parties that either aren't part of the conflict and/or would make life very hard for him if they did. His attack on Piccadilly Circus is the catalyst for his downfall.
• Taking You with Me: He attempts to kill himself along with Alex and Farah with a suicide vest, but either Farah or Alex fatally shoots Sulaman before they manage to defuse the bomb.

Jamal Rahar

Jamal 'the Butcher' Rahar

Voiced by: Nick Tarabay (English)^note Other Languages: Masaaki Yano (Japanese), Alexander Noskov (Russian)

Omar Sulaman's right-hand man.

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• Call-Forward: His use of a Desert Eagle handgun acts as foreshadowing, since the Ultranationalists are backing Al Qatala, and their signature handgun for leaders in the old continuity was the Desert Eagle.
• The Dragon: Sulaman's right-hand man.
• Dragon Their Feet: After the Wolf is killed, the heroes must pursue him for one more mission to prevent the gas attack and to capture Hadir.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: A ruthless enforcer he may be, but the Butcher has one weakness; his family. When Price and his crew get a hold on his wife and young son, he quickly caves in and tells them everything he knows.
• Fantastic Racism: Because of General Barkov's genocide against his fellow Urzikstanis, he hates him and all other Russians, to the point where he responds to Yegor's interrogation with "Up your fucking Russian ass!". Yes, Nikolai and Yegor are ruthless, but they hate Barkov and are not even half as bad as him and his men.
• Hand Cannon: His weapon is a .50 GS, otherwise known as a Desert Eagle.
• Hypocrite: He says mercy is weak after he kills an innocent father and son, he later begs for it after Price gets his hands on his own family.
• I Shall Taunt You: The Butcher really likes to get under Garrick's skin. Almost every second he's on screen, the Butcher is talking smack about him and Price, even as he's being brutally interrogated. He drops this charade for a few minutes after his wife and son are brought onto the scene, but eventually resumes his goading of Kyle to pull the trigger on him if the player aims the gun at his family but doesn't shoot. One could always comply with his wishes.
• Karmic Death: After interrogating him, he can be shot to death in full view of his own family, the same way he murdered the aforementioned father and son. For extra karma, he fearfully begs Price and Kyle not to harm his family when Price orders Kyle to take a revolver and shoot his wife and son.
• Middle Eastern Terrorists: He's from the Middle Eastern-inspired Urzikstan and a top member of the terrorist organization AQ.
• Would Hurt a Child: Would kill a child, even. During his establishing scene, he callously guns down a father just in front of his young son, who runs away before getting shot himself. What makes it especially heinous is that he's a father himself and he'd rather cave into interrogation than risk the lives of his own wife and son.

Khaled Al-Asad

Khaled Al-Asad

Voiced by: Michael Benyaer (Warzone, English)

An ascendant enforcer of Al-Qatala's armed forces in Urzikstan, who takes control of the organization after Sulaman's death.

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• Adaptational Badass: The original counterpart is a Dirty Coward, running away from the American invasion of his regime and hiding in a safe house in Azerbaijan until the SAS comes knocking. In the reboot, Al-Assad makes his appearance personally leading Al-Qatala against the Russians on the frontlines, and personally executing a wounded Russian soldier right after the battle concludes.
• Ambiguously Related: There is speculation that he is Hadir, namely because Hadir's father used to call him "my little lion" whereas Al Asahd means "the immortal lion", in addition to sharing a facial and vocal resemblance. Furthermore, the second episode of Atomgrad Raid reveals Hadir to have become commander of Al-Qatala, though they still look nothing alike as Al-Asad has a thick beard while Hadir still doesn't.
• Authority Equals Asskicking: In contrast to his counterpart in the original Modern Warfare, this Al-Asad is seen leading his forces on the front lines personally.
• Demoted to Extra: His original counterpart was the first antagonist faced in the game and drives the first half of the campaign. In the reboot, he is introduced in The Stinger of the Modern Warfare campaign and, while driving Al-Qatala, hasn’t been directly encountered or targeted in-game yet as of the Modern Warfare II campaign.
• Hand Cannon: Much like his original counterpart, this version of Al-Asad still uses a Desert Eagle as his primary weapon.
• Karma Houdini: Even after his major ally Victor Zakhaev is defeated, he never gets caught, and is implied to still be running Al-Qatala to this day.
• Red Baron: Khaled Al-Asad is actually his title in Al-Qatala, which roughly means "The Immortal Lion" in Arabic.
• Sinister Shades: Never seen without his sunglasses, as usual, and he's a villain.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Victor gets promptly dealt with, but Al-Asad outlives him unlike in the original timeline, and he's been alive and kicking for a while since then.
• Walking Spoiler: His presence reveals that the game is an Ultimate Universe of Modern Warfare.

Russian Ultranationalists

Imran Zakhaev

Imran Zakhaev

Former leader of the Russian Ultranationalists and father of Victor Zakhaev. Like in the original timeline, Imran was supposedly assassinated by Price and MacMillan at Pripyat some time in the past and was presumed dead. He survived the assassination attempt, but would eventually die from unknown causes in 2011.

He makes a physical appearance in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, as a part of Perseus's cabal during The '80s. For info regarding his past self, go here.

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• Adaptation Deviation: Imran does survive Price's assassination attempt like the first time he did, but he no longer runs the show this time around. Instead it is his son Victor who's in charge of the Ultranationalists in his stead. He also dies without outside interference instead of by Soap's hand, although it happened sometime in 2011, the same year CoD4 was set.
• An Arm and a Leg: Like in the original Modern Warfare, Imran had his left arm blown off in this timeline as well.
• Bald of Evil: The shiniest dome this side of the Caucasus, and evilest, as well.
• Death by Despair: Although it is not specified what caused his death in 2011, Victor claims that Imran's failing health was the "manifestations of a broken heart".
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: The dialogue in Modern Warfare campaign implied he is still alive after Price’s and MacMillan’s assassination attempt in Pripyat, and his son Victor is leading the Ultranationalists in his place. However, further information as the Warzone seasons progresses will show that he had died from unspecified causes in 2011, prior to the campaign’s events.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Being dead doesn't stop him from being this, as it's revealed through Warzone that he is connected to Perseus from Black Ops Cold War. Sure enough, a young Zahkaev is seen in that game's campaign, as an Evil Genius in Perseus's cabal.
• Killed Offscreen: Unlike in the original Modern Warfare, in which Soap kills him during "Game Over", Imran dies of unknown causes sometime in 2011, which allows his son Victor to take over.
• No One Could Survive That!: Like in the original timeline, Price was sure he had kicked the bucket at Pripyat. He didn't.
• Walking Spoiler: He was already this to begin with, but intel from Warzone and his appearance in Black Ops Cold War confirm that this is not only an Ultimate Universe for Modern Warfare, but also for Black Ops, and that the two series are directly connected canonically.

Victor Zakhaev

Victor Zakhaev

Voiced by: Dimitry Rozental (English) (Modern Warfare) Dave B. Mitchell (Modern Warfare III)

The middle son of Imran Zakhaev. He took over his father's organization after Imran passes away in 2011.

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• Ascended Extra: Compared to his original counterpart whose defining role in the game was “Imran Zakhaev’s son”, Victor Zakhaev in the reboot version is leading the Russian Ultranationalists after his father’s and Barkov’s death and poses a credible threat to Task Force 141.
• Big "NO!": Yells this as Price throws him to his apparent death.
• Disney Villain Death: Price tosses him over a catwalk, similarly to the way he tossed over the poor sap with explosives strapped to his chest.
• Dragon Ascendant: Successfully took control of the Russian Ultranationalists after Barkov’s death in the campaign.
• The Ghost: He doesn't make a physical appearance in the Campaign due to Barkov taking his/his father's role as the main antagonist, but he makes a looming threat as a Sequel Hook in the ending, and finally makes his formal appearance in Warzone.
• Hand Cannon: The "Sub Rosa", a gold-plated Desert Eagle most likely inherited from his father.
• Mythology Gag: He wields a gold-plated Desert Eagle^note or ".50 GS", as it's referred to in-game, much like his father in the original timeline.
• Overlord Jr.: He was raised to succeed his father, and sure enough, he takes over once his father passes.

Vladimir Makarov

Vladimir Makarov

Callsign: Czar 9-0

Voiced by: Julian Kostov (English)

"Not an if, but when."

The new leader of the Russian Ultranationalists. Laswell considers him a new threat, but Task Force 141 has quite the history with him.

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• Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: In the original continuity, Price was the one person Makarov hated more than the West. In this continuity, Makarov's enmity is primarily towards Farah.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: Just like his original counterpart, he wears a suit with a bulletproof vest over it.
• Brief Accent Imitation: Briefly puts on a Southern drawl to mock General Shepard during an interrogation.
  Makarov: Are we on a first-name basis now, Hershel?
• Big Bad: He is directly the main threat behind everything that happens in the trilogy
• Connected All Along: According to his bio, he served under General Barkov during his illegal occupation of Urzikstan, and it was during that time he took interest in Barkov’s chemical research, if Yuri Volkov's words are of any indication.
• Dragon Ascendant: Like his original counterpart, Makarov took leadership of the Russian Ultranationalists after Victor Zakhaev fell.
• Equal-Opportunity Evil: Makarov welcomes members of all nationalities and ethnicities in his ranks even though most of his men are Russian Ultranationalists. His right hand man and one of his first followers, Nolan, is Australian. Another was an Urzik man who forced a former ULF soldier to bomb a Russian airline.
• The Faceless: Upon his mention in Modern Warfare II, his face is not seen even though Laswell passes a photograph of him through Task Force 141, whom they all recognize.
• False Flag Operation: He continues his original counterpart's tactic of using disguises to impersonate his enemies to sow discord throughout Modern Warfare III:
  • During the flashback mission "Flashpoint" Makarov and his mercs dress as police and paramedics during their attack on the soccer stadium in Verdansk in 2019.
  • In the opening mission "Operation 627", Ivan, Alexei, and the other Konni commandos speak English and use NATO callsigns when breaking Makarov out of the gulag, likely to trick the Russian government into thinking the West is supporting Makarov and his Ultranationalists. It already helps Nolan is a native Australian.
  • Makarov's grand plan in MWIII is to use the same stolen container-based ballistic missiles from MWII, while also setting up one of Farah's former ULF comrades as an unwilling suicide bomber, to make it look like Urzikstan is waging a retaliatory terror campaign against Russia with US support, so the Russian government will re-invade and occupy Urzikstan, with Makarov and Konni front and centre of the new occupation force.
• Faux Affably Evil: He can be very charming and persuasive when he wants to be, but he has no qualms about committing all manner of atrocities.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Implied to be the one who sent the Russian PMCs to ambush the Shadow Company convoy and presented Hassan with the stolen American missiles in II.
• Hero Killer: Downplayed somewhat compared to his original counterpart, but he kills Soap by shooting at his head right after he saves Price from being executed by Makarov.
• Hypocrite: He espouses Undying Loyalty to his colleagues and encourages them to follow his example, yet has no problem disposing of one of his own men when he doesn't play along with his plans.
• It's Personal: Makarov clearly has it out for Farah and the ULF for defeating General Barkov’s forces out of Urzikstan, and he's bent on making them terrorists in the eyes of the world again.
• Karma Houdini: Escapes at the end of Modern Warfare III, his plans stopped, but having successfully killed Soap.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Unintentional or not, many players have noted that Makarov bears an uncanny resemblance to Ben Shapiro.
• Older Than They Look: Makarov was born in 1980, making him 42-43 during the events of the campaign. Julian Kostov however is 34 years old, making him appear much younger.
• Practically Joker: Although he obviously lacks the Monster Clown elements, some reviewers have pointed out that this incarnation of Makarov recalls several incarnations of the Joker— most notably Heath Ledger's interpretation— with his affinity for complicated plans and misdirection, disregard for his subordinates' lives, liberal use of explosives to commit terror attacks, and dry, dark sense of humor.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: The color motif of Modern Warfare III is red, and promotional materials of Makarov paint him in an eerie red and black hue. On the cover, his face looms over Price in the red, shadowy background ominously.
• Remember the New Guy?: Kate introduces Makarov as a new ultranationalist leader that the CIA has no name on. However, every Task Force 141 member recognizes the man as someone they have dealt with before. In fact, they have—a few years ago and months before Gaz joined Price's unit.
• Schiff One-Liner: He delivers the last written phrase in the Modern Warfare II campaign in The Stinger with his iconic words to his comrades.
  M: No Russian.
• Tattooed Crook: Has tattoos all over his torso, as you'd expect from a Russian crook.

Spoiler Faction

In General

Konni Group

A Russian Ultranationalist PMC lead by Vladimir Makarov.

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• Expy: Their logo evokes that of the infamous Wagner Group.
• N.G.O. Superpower: Evidently large enough to have multiple helicopters, gunships, drones, a submarine, and a large enough army to invade Urzikstan on their own.
• Private Military Contractors: Much like Shadow Company, a group of ruthless mercenaries that in addition to their terrorist activities, provides private security and invests in real estate.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: The only way of telling them apart from Shadow Company are the patches of red in their soldiers' uniforms.
• War for Fun and Profit: Their overall Evil Plan throughout Modern Warfare II and III is to restart the war between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Urzikstan using stolen WMDs, so that Konni and the RF military will be able to move in and reconquer the country, giving them a measure of revenge for the death of Barkov and the failure of the first occupation. And, more importantly, making Makarov and his financiers a lot of money ifrom mercenary contracts in the process.

Andrei Nolan

Andrei Nolan

Voiced by: Nikolai Nikolaeff (English)

A member of Konni who is promoted to second-in-command.

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• Co-Dragons: With Milena. While Milena is in charge of finances, Nolan commands Konni.
• The Dragon: After Milena's defeat, he becomes Makarov's only loyal subordinate.
• Flat Character: He appears very little in the game and serves as a side enemy rather than a real threat.

Ivan Alexxeve

Ivan Alexxeve

Voiced by: Lev Gorn (English)

A high-ranking member of Konni who heads an operation to break Makarov out of a prison complex.

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• You Have Failed Me: Makarov has him executed for failing to follow his orders to the letter during his breakout.

Milena Romanova

Milena Romanova

Voiced by: Tina Ivlev (English)

An oligarch and real estate magnate who finances Konni.

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• Co-Dragons: With Andrei Nolan. While Nolan commands Konni, Milena is in charge of the financial situation.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: Milena is a business magnate who funds terrorist activities carried out by Makrov and Konni.
• First-Name Basis: She and Vladimir often refer to each other by their first names, showing how close they are.
• Unseen No More: Milena's photo was only seen in Season 4 of Warzone 2.0. She finally appears in person in MWIII.
• Villainous Friendship: She and Makarov go a long way back, due to the latter having known her husband. That said, they're quite friendly with each other, and Milena happily greets him after his successful escape from Zordaya.

Quds Force

General Ghorbrani

General Ghorbrani

The commander of the Iranian Quds Force.

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• No Celebrities Were Harmed: His appearance and role are highly reminiscent of Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian Quds Force commander who was also assassinated by a long-range American missile strike.
• Small Role, Big Impact: He is very quickly killed at the beginning of the campaign, but his death inspires Hassan to set the plot of the rest of the campaign in motion.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: He dies pretty soon after he's introduced, we don't even know his first name.

Maj. Hassan Zyani

Major Hassan Zyani

Voiced by: Ibrahim Renno (English)

The main antagonist of MWII, he's a Major in the Iranian Quds Force. His reverence to General Ghorbrani led him to lead a campaign of revenge against the United States of America after they assassinated Ghorbani.

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• Arch-Enemy:
  • Subverted regarding him and Simon "Ghost" Riley. While Ghost is indirectly responsible for Hassan's Start of Darkness by killing Ghorbrani, Hassan doesn't know that Ghost killed his commanding officer, and instead blames the West as a whole for Ghorbrani's death. Meanwhile, Ghost doesn't have any personal vendetta towards Hassan, and only targets him to stop the threat he poses to the world. While he does end up killing Hassan, it's only to save Soap's life.
  • He seems to play this straight with Shepherd though, as he knows Shepherd was behind the killing as well as the one who attempted to supply missiles to his enemies.
• Bald of Evil: He is the main antagonist of the Modern Warfare II campaign and has no hair on his head.
• Berserk Button: He really doesn't like it when westerners talk about General Ghorbrani, who was killed in an American missile strike. When Soap merely mentions the General's name, Hassan immediately drops his calm demeanor and furiously rants about how unlawful his death was.
• Big Bad Wannabe: Despite the threat he posed to the United States, ultimately the manner he achieved it was only possible with the assistance of Russian Ultranationalists.
• Bond Villain Stupidity: Twice in the campaign:
  • Hassan and his accompanying Las Almas cartel protection ambushes Rodolfo in their safehouse. A cartel member appears ready to shoot Rodolfo, but Hassan wishes for Rodolfo to burn and has the cartel set alight the safehouse to destroy evidence of their presence and their handiwork. Rodolfo, incapacitated but still conscious, uses this moment to relay crucial enemy intelligence before they burn up and also get saved by Alejandro before he succumbed to the smoke.
  • Hassan shoots and seriously wounds Soap in the final mission, but runs out of ammunition to deliver the Coup de Grâce. Instead of perhaps bludgeoning Soap to death with his gun or finding one of his dead guard's weapons to finish the job, he drags Soap all the way towards a specific window, blows it open with a very prominent explosive charge, and then attempts to throw Soap out the window. Said window direction happens to be the one that Ghost is directly watching, allowing him to deliver the Boom, Headshot! to end Hassan.
• Boom, Headshot!: Ultimately dispatched this way by Ghost shooting him in the head with his sniper rifle.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: To General Roman Barkov from the previous game—both are military officers who hate the west but have contrasting motivations. General Barkov invaded a nation for no reason other than to commit unprovoked genocide against an entire race under a flimsy justification that they breed terrorists. Additionally, he’s a more personal foe to the protagonists. Maj. Zyani on the other hand, has justified reasons for invading his enemies, as the U.S. launched an unprovoked assassination against his commanding officer, and in response, he has it out for everyone, not one single person.
• Dirty Coward: He chooses to run away whenever TF141 comes after him. When they finally do catch up to him in Chicago, he chooses to hide and let his men deal with it, only emerging to shoot Soap from behind while the latter is distracted rather than face him head on.
• General Ripper: Hassan has a murderous hatred towards the west, and he's willing to use the stolen missiles against the U.S. as revenge for the death of his commanding officer.
• Hero Killer: Subverted. While he does have Rodolfo at his complete mercy he decides to let him burn alive in a house than just shoot him allowing Rodolfo to be rescued.
• Near-Villain Victory: Big Bad Wannabe or not, he nearly succeeds in destroying the Pentagon. This was only possible because Shepherd and Graves didn't tell Task Force 141, Los Vaqueros, nor Laswell that the US-made missiles Hassan's been using were acquired from the Russian Ultranationalist ambush against Graves' men as they were delivering those missiles to US allies in the Middle East. By the time Laswell discovers all of this, Hassan has snuck the third missile into the US with assistance from the Las Almas Cartel. Thankfully, by the time 141 and Los Vaqueros punish Graves for his treachery, the former still has time to go after Hassan and once Soap acquires the controls needed to stop the missile from destroying the Pentagon, Laswell helps Soap destroy the missile.
• Sadist: Rather than simply shoot Rodolfo dead once he's at his mercy, he prefers to have him burned to death as revenge for Ghorbrani's death.
• Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: He views the United States as the terrorist organization that they claim Hassan is.
  Graves: You're the commander of a foreign terror organization.
  Hassan: I can say the same to you.

Los Vaqueros

English: "The Cowboys" — An elite operations unit in Mexico's Cuerpo de Fuerzas Especiales ("Special Forces Corps") and one of the few parts of the military untainted by the venom of the cartels thanks to the diligence of their leader Alejandro Vargas in hand selecting operatives known to be immune to the lure of the drug lords.

Alejandro Vargas

Colonel Alejandro Vargas

Callsign: Victor 1-1

Voiced by: Alain Mesa (English)

"We love this place, and we will die fighting for it."

The commander of Los Vaqueros.

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• Berserk Button: Betraying him and Los Vaqueros is this, just ask Valeria and Graves.
• Colonel Badass: Is ranked Colonel and is such a badass that the Los Vaqueros have a saying for him:
  Rodolfo: The only thing that can kill Alejandro is Alejandro.
• Crazy-Prepared: He has a safe house which is rigged with a pressure plate and also an armory to arm several men and a few armored cars.
• Dressing as the Enemy: To sneak into El Sin Nombre's villa, Alejandro disguises himself as a cartel guard.
• A Father to His Men:
  • Personally saves Rodolfo after their mission to apprehend Hassan goes down and the latter is left to die inside a burning building.
  • Alejandro begins attacking the Shadow Company personnel after Graves reveals that his men have detained the Vaqueros.
• Guest-Star Party Member: Alejandro and Rudy join up with Task Force 141 for most of the second game's campaign during the hunt for Hassan.
• Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Does not once wear a helmet in the game.
• Honor Before Reason:
  • Despite Rodolfo warning Alejandro to not risk himself saving him from a burning building, Alejandro busts his way in and saves Rodolfo.
  • He attacks Shadow Company after they revealed they detained the Los Vaqueros, despite being heavily outnumbered and outgunned on the spot.
• Mugged for Disguise: It is implied this is how Alejandro obtained his disguise to sneak into El Sin Nombre's villa as a cartel guard.
  Alejandro: [I'm] inside...
  Graves: Goddamn, how'd you do that?
  Alejandro: Violently.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Alejandro's chummy personality to his men and allies makes moments when Alejandro gets mad and starts shouting really stand out, such as during Valeria's interrogation where he describes how she betrayed the Los Vaqueros, and then to Graves when he betrays Task Force 141 and the Vaqueros.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Continues to pursue Hassan despite him crossing the US/Mexico border, which puts Alejandro and Rodolfo outside of their jurisdiction, since they can't wait for FBI to help them.
• Vigilante Man: Based on his dialogue, it's implied he sometimes does secret, off the books vigilante work against the Las Almas Cartel.
• We Used to Be Friends: He's livid when he learns that El Sin Nombre is a former member of his Mexican Special Forces unit, who he knows personally.

Rodolfo "Rudy" Parra

Sergeant Major Rodolfo Parra

Callsign: Victor 3-1

Voiced by: Bayardo De Murguia (English)

Colonel Alejandro's right-hand man.

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• Face Death with Dignity: Beaten to incapacitation and trapped in a burning building, Rodolfo spends what he believes are his last moments warning Alejandro not to enter and relaying enemy intelligence over his radio before they burn up. Luckily for him, Alejandro rushes in and saves Rodolfo from the blaze.
• Made of Iron: He takes a beating to the head and inhales a significant amount of smoke during his failed attempt to capture Hassan, yet he appears in the field again not too long later.
• Player Character: He's playable during the mission "Borderline".
• Red Herring Shirt: Rodolfo is a new-name playable character in the mission "Borderline" tasked with following Hassan, who is guarded by the Las Almas cartel. When he gets caught, beaten, and left to die in a burning building, it's heavily implied that he's set up to be the Player Character that dies. However, thanks to Alejandro he survives this event and the rest of the game's events as well.
• Token Minority: In a game series majorly focused on English-speaking nation characters, Rodolfo is one of the few, if not only, playable characters that originates from Mexico.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Upon meeting Ghost, he confides to Alejandro (in Spanish) that he has a fear of ghosts.

Shadow Company

In General

A private military contractor that accompanies Task Force 141 on the hunt for the missiles stolen by Zyani. Owned and led by Phillip Graves, who personally accompanies the team on their missions.

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• Ace Of Spades: Their logo is this with a chess rook piece in the middle.
• Aesop Amnesia: Shadow Company and their leadership Graves and General Shepard obviously learned exactly nothing from the diasterous events of Modern Warfare II. Their attempt to capture black market WMDs in the Operation: Rogue Arsenal multiplayer missions lead to the remnants of General Barkov's chemical weapons being hijacked by Konni infiltrators. Then, in Modern Warfare III, they're right back to selling the exact same container-based ballistic missiles that nearly destroyed Washington, DC to Farah and her ULF contacts...only for those weapons to fall right back into Ultranationalist hands all over again.
• All Your Base Are Belong to Us: They take over Colonel Vargas's military base and arrest all the Los Vaqueros during their Face–Heel Turn.
• Decapitated Army: Special Ops missions reveals they started quitting en masse after Graves' death. This is subverted once Season 5 reveals Graves' survival, and they are able to pick themselves back up during Konni's invasion of Al-Mazrah.
• Dirty Business: Shadow Company is called in for missions considered too sensitive to be declassified, and balked at by those "unwilling to bend the rules of engagement".
• Elite Mooks: Shadow Company's ranks are comprised of Tier One operators on par with the 141. Even Graves himself is ex-special forces.
• Face–Heel Turn: Shadow Company serves as backup for TF 141 for the first 2/3rds of Modern Warfare II then turn against them on Shepherd's orders in "Alone".
• Gunship Rescue: Shadow comes to the aid of TF 141 and Los Vaqueros in their own AC-130 Spectre gunship in "Close Air", providing some classic Death from Above, and again in "Danger Close" in MWIII.
• Hypocrite: One operative accuses a policeman for only working for money. But, that's exactly what Shadow Company does—break rules and commit war crimes for money. Though it approaches Hypocrite Has a Point as Alejandro alludes to Soap and Ghost that the Las Almas police have been receiving bribes by the Las Almas Cartel to do nothing about their crimes, adding that those few who resist "disappear".
• N.G.O. Superpower: According to Graves, they have enough manpower to invade an entire country.
• Politically Correct Villain: At the very least they make it a point to be cautious of their ignorance. One member had to correct his colleague that leprechauns are Irish, not Scottish.
• Pretentious Latin Motto: Their insignia contains the Latin umbra catervae on top, which simply means "Shadow Company".
• Private Military Contractors: A private military company working directly under General Shepard.
• Punch-Clock Villain: At best, their only motivation is getting paid and have better things to do than take part in Shepherd's dirty ops. At their absolute worst, they're ruthless and will fire even on civilians.

Phillip Graves

Phillip Graves

Callsign: Shadow 0-1

Voiced by: Warren Kole (English), François Civil (French)

"I don't make threats. I make guarantees."

The commander and CEO of the American Private Military Company "Shadow Company".

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• Actually a Doombot: Though it first appears as if you fight him in a tank and kill him when the tank blows up in II, it's later revealed in Warzone that Graves was piloting the tank remotely and therefore never in any real danger.
• Affably Evil: He's this or Faux Affably Evil depending on the situation. In III, Shadow Company has been supplying Farah and the ULF with American arms for at least a decade under Shepherd’s instruction, and he has a genuinely positive relationship with her and Alex despite being an amoral mercenary. When he tries to rekindle a friendly relationship with TF 141, he never loses his cheerful personality, even though they're vocally unwilling to let the events in Las Almas be bygones, and provides air cover to the best of his ability for the ground team.
• The Bad Guy Wins: At the end of MWIII, he threw Shepherd under the bus and lied about not following orders to use lethal force on TF 141, allowing him and Shadow Company to continue their dirty business.
• Big Bad Ensemble: Although Hassan Zyani is Task Force 141's main target, Graves' actions have made him an obstacle in the task force's path. So in order to stop Zyani, they first need to deal with Graves.
• Black-and-White Insanity: Reveals this side to himself once Alejandro's connection to El Sin Nombre is revealed. You are either with the Cartel or against them. You even have a slight connection to them and he will not hesitate to kill you over it. Graves even slaughters policemen and soldiers without any hint of remorse, justifying it due to their tolerance of the Cartel. Not only that but he's quick enough to attempt to kill Ghost and Soap just for defending Alejandro whose connection to El Sin Nombre is a faint hostile one at best.
• Blood Knight: He is rather eager to engage in combat from the skies or with his men on the ground even if the bloodshed includes civilians.
• Broken Pedestal: To say Soap and Ghost don't take his betrayal well would be underselling it. When they first joined forces Graves was the one who saved their lives and helped them bring in Hassan. Over the course of their operations in Las Almas, both Soap and Ghost form a camaraderie over the experience with Shadow Company. They routinely fist bump and Graves even calls them brothers. However once Graves betrays them, 141 are quick enough to start killing Shadow Company soldiers and Soap even has the opportunity to say that dead Shadows are worth more to him than any medals.
• Combat Pragmatist: Instead of fighting TF 141 on even grounds he decides to bring a tank, giving himself a clear advantage.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: Is the CEO of Shadow Company and rotten to the core.
• The Dreaded: There are three things you can't outrun: Death, taxes, and him.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Betrays Task Force 141 in II's campaign on Shepherd's orders, then proceeds to throw Shepherd himself under the bus during a congressional hearing in III, admitting that Shepherd gave the order to unlawfully use lethal force on Task Force 141 while Graves denies his own culpability and claims he disobeyed the order.
• The Dragon: He's Shepherd's main lapdog and right-hand man in the campaign, and he's usually the one in charge of taking care of Shepherd's dirty business.
• Dragon-in-Chief: Graves may be working for General Shepherd but as far as TF and The Mexican Special Forces are concerned, Graves is the more dangerous of the two being far more active while Shepherd is more an example of Orcus on His Throne. Sure enough Shepherd immediately has to go into hiding the moment Graves gets seemingly killed.
• Dragon with an Agenda: Graves set up shop in Las Almas on Shepherd's behest to hunt down Hassan Zyani and the missiles. Based on his dialogue with Soap, it's implied he was intending on ending his service to Shepherd after Hassan is dealt with so he can continue to crack down on Cartel corruption on his terms.
• Enemy Mine: Teams up with Alex and Farah to help drive the Konni PMC out of Al Mazrah in Warzone 2.0 Season Five, despite his previous enmity with Task Force 141.
• Faking the Dead: Warzone 2.0 Season Five reveals that he wasn't actually in the tank Soap and Rudy blew up in Mexico, and has been covertly running the remnants of Shadow Company from behind the scenes.
• A Father to His Men:
  • He treats his men and those he works with as such, telling Shadow Company operators to treat TF 141 as "brothers". Not that it saves TF 141 from his and Shadow Company's betrayal. However, a large part of his insistence that Shadow Company hunt down the escaped TF 141 men is because they murdered a few Shadows during their escape.
  • During the botched arms deal that led to American missiles being captured by Russian PMCs, he is insistent on General Shepherd permitting more support to his dying men.
• Faux Affably Evil: His social and upbeat personality makes him a likeable person right up until he betrays Task Force 141 and Los Vaqueros.
• Foil: To Alejandro. Both of them are extremely intolerant of the Mexican drug enterprise and have absolutely no patience for anyone who considers themselves allied but Alejandro knows where to draw the line when pursuing them and keeping himself from going too far when dealing with civilians because ultimately his interests lie in cleaning things up to improve the living conditions of Las Almas. Graves, on the other hand, is merciless and doesn't take the time to sort out the wheat from the chaff, simply making himself Judge, Jury, and Executioner of anyone that he can get a whiff of cartel connection from. This is most evident in the way Alejandro takes the news that Valeria is El Sin Nombre, as he manages to maintain his ethics and morals despite the evil of the cartel hitting so close to home for him and why Graves, despite sharing the same bitterness for the cartel, lumps Alejandro and his unit with TF 141 when he betrays everyone because of his connection to El Sin Nombre, regardless of what that connection actually is in reality.
• Good Ol' Boy: His Southern drawl and folksy mannerisms make him seem more like a Southern-Fried Private than a hardened mercenary. He also touches on the darker side of this trope with some racist remarks towards the Mexican population of Las Almas.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Works alongside Task Force 141 with a cheek scar on his face. Subverted when he betrays TF 141.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: As of MWIII. He has no trouble helping Farah and the rest of TF 141 (even after trying to kill Ghost and Soap in the previous game) and even helps to bring Shepherd down, his previous employer, though that was only to save his own skin, as he lied about not following Shepherd's orders to use lethal force on them.
• I'd Tell You, but Then I'd Have to Kill You: In the mission "Hindsight", Graves says the trope name verbatim in response to a Shadow contractor, Erikson, asking him what was the cargo they were providing protection for.
• It's Personal with the Dragon: Graves may work for Shepherd, but he serves as a much more personal foe to TF 141, having worked and fought alongside him and being genuinely appalled at his betrayal and atrocities afterwards.
• Karma Houdini: By MWIII, Graves gets away without facing any consequences for his actions in the previous game and uses Shepherd as a scapegoat to avoid accountability.
• Large Ham: Graves at his core is loud, bombastic, and chatty even in his radio messages.
• The Man Behind the Man: After his apparent death in Mexico, he's been continuning to run Shadow Company from behind the scenes, with his subordinate Osmond "Oz" Ryan leading the company as his front-man.
• Meaningful Name: Upon hearing his name, Diego amusingly states that his name sounds like "fill graves", a fitting name for a Blood Knight mercenary. His full name also sounds like "fill up graves". It becomes especially fitting considering the number of bodies he ends up stacking in Las Almas, turning it into an example of Names to Run Away from Really Fast.
• Not Quite Dead: He's presumed dead after Soap blows up the tank he's in during "Ghost Team"; it's not until Season 5 that Graves is revealed to be alive, having never been in the aforementioned tank.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: While he acts as if he doesn't speak Spanish, during the boss fight with him he tells Rodolfo in Spanish that the moment the 141 doesn't need Los Vaqueros anymore, he'll be dropped like a bad habit, revealing that he could speak it the whole time and just acted like he couldn't so that he'd be underestimated.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: After pulling his Face–Heel Turn, Graves constantly stereotypes and has countless Mexicans killed, believing that they are all working for the cartel, mocking their language while doing so.
• Punny Name: Lampshaded when Diego points out that Philip Graves sounds similar to "fill graves".
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When TF 141 and the Los Vaqueros come crashing into his residing headquarter building to get back at him for betraying them, he runs from them, likely aware he doesn't stand a fighting chance against them. This would be subverted when he later returns with a tank to even the odds.
• To the Pain: It's implied that he's ready to torture the captured Valeria in order to get the information they need.
  Graves: [...] and you've got 10 seconds or I'm gonna show you the difference between the military and me.
• Token Evil Teammate: As the head of a private military company, Graves is well-aware that Shadow Company does not need to serve under the jurisdiction nor laws of the United States when operating in Mexico. This comes around when he betrays Task Force 141, and enacts bloodcurdling martial law in Las Almas where his Shadows brutally crack down on corruption and the cartel.
• Walking Spoiler: You'll notice lots of his profile is spoiled out so he's obviously got more to him than his introduction would indicate.
• Wild Card: He's a mercenary, which means that his motivations and morals are considerably more flexible than the duty-bound patriots who usually star in Call of Duty games. Depending on the day, he's both an ally and an enemy to Price and Task Force 141.

Sgt. Dipaolo (UNMARKED MW II SPOILERS)

Sergeant Dipaolo

A member of Shadow Company who was part of the botched arms delivery that was ambushed by Russian PMCs.

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• Ambiguously Evil: It's quite hard to say if he's just as bad as Graves or any of the of the other operatives who betrayed Task Force 141, but his squad appear to be decent guys just having another day at the office and just want to complete the mission as seamless and without any incident as possible, and they surely didn't resort to opening fire or threatening that random civilian who blocked the road. Added to that, his entire squad didn't know what they're shipping for the operation and why, and they're all killed before they can even find out.
• Boom, Headshot!: A Russian PMC soldier kills him by shooting him in the head.
• Defiant to the End: Spends his last moments trying to warn Graves and Shepherd that Russian PMCs have captured their radio before a merc shoots him dead.
• Player Character: He is playable in one mission to provide a first-person view of the ambushed arms convoy that had American missiles stolen.
• Too Dumb to Live: One possible scenario after Dipaolo’s car crashes is for him to stay hidden in the car without reaching for the gun. This seemingly works until a Russian PMC captures the radio, in which he shouts from within the car in an attempt to warn Graves. Unsurprisingly, the Russian merc then notices Dipaolo and shoots him dead.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: He dies before we know anything more than his last name and affiliation.

Las Almas Cartel

The controlling drug cartel of the Las Almas region of Mexico. They are run by "El Sin Nombre" ("The Nameless") — an extremely clandestine and brutal drug lord whose identity has never been disclosed in any available intelligence.

Valeria Garza

Valeria Garza

Voiced by: María Elisa Camargo (English)

"I don't take orders anymore. Even the dogs in Las Almas know not to bark at me."

The personal sicaria (hitwoman) of El Sin Nombre and commanding enforcer of the Las Almas Cartel.

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• Bad Boss:
  • Threatens Diego with his life after he brought Soap in because Soap has seen their faces. Well-justified as it is revealed that Valeria is El Sin Nombre and Soap would have seen a face to match to the name.
  • She also murders corrupt Mexican Army personnel after they fail to protect Hassan and provide useful intel on who conducted the attack.
• Bodyguard Betrayal: She was part of La Araña's enforcers, and it is implied by Graves that she backstabbed the old cartel leader in order to take over as the new El Sin Nombre.
• Cardboard Prison: When handed over to the Mexican authorities at the end of Campaign, she brags to Alejandro that no prison could hold her and she will be a free woman in no time. Sure enough, she proves her claim in Season 3 by easily breaking out from her incarceration before heading out to Al Mazrah with the rest of her Cartel.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: How she interrogates her targets for information. By the time Soap gets to her, she has three other men in the room, one already dead, and one on the way to being dead via electrocution.
• Dark Action Girl: Her apparel is all dark-colored and she has no issues getting her hands dirty with the cartel business.
• The Dragon: Is El Sin Nombre's top sicaria, with all business dealings going through her first. She is El Sin Nombre after creating a power vacuum and filling it with her in charge.
• Double Agent: A former member of Mexican Special Forces working alongside Alejandro, but either became or was already a cartel enforcer and betrayed a Vaqueros mission to capture the son of cartel leader La Araña by allowing the cartel to escape.
• Exact Words:
  • Alejandro stated one of Valeria's roles in the Mexican Special Forces was to keep La Araña's enforcers out to prevent bloodshed during the Vaquero's raid on a cartel. Valeria stated she did this exactly by staying out of the battle (as she is a La Araña enforcer) and escorting the cartel out (to prevent the bloodshed).
  • Also this in regards to Hassan's whereabouts in Chicago, saying she would tell them where he is, not that she'd stop him.
• Hiding in Plain Sight: Valeria walks around as El Sin Nombre's #1 sicaria when she's actually El Sin Nombre.
• Klingon Promotion: Heavily implied her rise to El Sin Nombre came by personally eliminating the previous holder of that title and installing herself as the one in charge.
• The Man in Front of the Man: She acts as the sicaria for El Sin Nombre, when in reality she is El Sin Nombre.
• Nothing Personal: Unlike Hassan, she doesn't seem to have a particular hatred of America. She moved his missiles because he was a paying client, with the added bonus that keeping America's attention focused on the War on Terror in the Middle East makes things easier for her Cartel in Mexico.
• Rogue Soldier: Served in the Mexican Special Forces, yet became part of the Las Almas Cartel and eventually earned the position of El Sin Nombre.
• Samus Is a Girl: El Sin Nombre is mentioned in masculine terms under the assumption that they're a man, but the reveal shows that Valeria is the real El Sin Nombre.
• Sexy Villains, Chaste Heroes: Nothing too extreme but her light outerwear of a black tank top that provides a look at her curvature compared to the tac gear everyone else wears still draws attention to her and she has a lot of fans despite firmly being an antagonist.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: From her outburst at Alejandro, her ultimate motivation in helping Hassan and his missiles get smuggled into the United States is that by allowing the United States' War on Terror to continue, there will not be a War on Drugs targeting her people.
• Walking Spoiler: The reveal she is the Las Almas Cartel's unseen leader throws a lot of what comes before on its head. Furthermore she and Alejandro go way back.

Diego Salgado

Diego Salgado

Voiced by: Ramon Fernandez (English)

The lieutenant in the Las Almas Cartel who answers to El Sin Nombre's sicaria Valeria.

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• Asshole Victim: After watching him do terrible things many players will find it extremely cathartic either performing a silent takedown on him where Soap blocks Diego's punch, swiftly steal his holstered knife, and stabbing him in the jaw if you go to his room first, or if you opt to go straight to Valeria's room, shooting Diego in the back before he even knows what hit him if you choose the latter.
• Bad Boss: Beats a subordinate for taking drugs while working, with the subordinate defending himself that it is required after working for several days straight without sleep.
• Bald of Evil: Bald and serves as the lieutenant of the villainous Las Almas Cartel.
• Beard of Evil: He's got quite a beard as a villainous cartel lieutenant.
• The Dragon: He answers to Valeria, who is the dragon to El Sin Nombre, but who is actually El Sin Nombre, meaning Diego is the real Dragon in the cartel.
• Manly Facial Hair: He has a pronounced beard for his role as a lieutenant in the Las Almas Cartel.
• Profane Last Words: If you choose to perform a silent takedown on him by infiltrating his room.
  Diego: Fucking... hawk...!

Others

Stacy

Stacy Davidson

Voiced by: Cerris Morgan-Moyer (English)

The assistant to Ambassador Harris at the US Embassy in Urzikstan.

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• And Now for Someone Completely Different: You play as her hiding from Al-Qatala insurgents after Ambassador Harris gets murdered in order to get the keycard Garrick and co need to enter the Ambassador's Residence.
• Break the Cutie: She definitely comes close to breaking during Al-Qatala's initial attack on the Embassy, considering she had to watch several of her colleagues die in front of her. She manages to keep her wits with her thanks to Kyle's assistance.
• I Owe You My Life: She's extremely grateful to Kyle for saving her life and is willing to do anything to help him out.
• Kill the Cutie: This can be her potential fate if Kyle's not fast enough in saving her at the end of "The Embassy".

Nikolai

"Nikolai"

Voiced by: Stefan Kapičić (English)^note Other Languages: Teruyuki Tanzawa (Japanese)

Price's "old comrade". A self-proclaimed "weapons enthusiast" and occasional SAS informant, he prefers to aid Price and Kyle more directly, aiding them with weapons and transport while they're in Russia.

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• Adaptational Personality Change: Is a bit more morally ambiguous compared to his original timeline counterpart, being willing to kidnap the Butcher's family as leverage.
• All There in the Manual: An Intel Drop on the website reveals that not only he is the multiplayer announcer for the Chimera faction on the Allegiance side, but that he was an MI6 contact who can speak 8 languages, including English, Russian, and German.
• Car Fu: Disables the Butcher by hitting him with his car.
• Continuity Nod: Just like in the original Modern Warfare trilogy, here he is still a confidential source of information for the SAS, although this time around he doesn't need rescuing first.
• Cool Shades: His appearance in WarZone and Modern Warfare II has him wearing a pair of aviator shades.
• Cigar Chomper: Is seen smoking a cigar when he delivers the "Truth Serum" to Price and Kyle during "Old Comrades".
• Everyone Has Standards: While he's capable of performing some morally questionable acts, he's still disgusted by Barkov's war crimes and outright calls the General a blight upon Russia which is why he helps Farah out in killing Barkov, and it turns out he was the one piloting Barkov’s helicopter.
• Interservice Rivalry: A lighthearted example but he has some of it with Kamarov. Despite this, they are willing to work together in order to bring down Al-Qatala once and for all.
• Not My Driver: A heroic example. As Nikolai is actually in the cockpit of Barkov's escape helicopter while Farah goes on to assassinate the general, it implies he likely killed the original pilot.
• The Mafiya: Implied to be working with Russian organized crime.
• Only One Name: Only known as "Nikolai" and nothing else.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: While kidnapping an innocent family is a pretty horrific crime, the fact that the family happens to be the Butcher's family comes across as this. Nikolai's rather cheeky attitude about how they can help out in the interrogation of the Butcher only further highlights how much things are going to suck for the Butcher.
• Secret Identity: Like "Alex", "Nikolai" appears to be a pseudonym as his bio in Modern Warfare has his name listed as [REDACTED]

Yegor Novak

Yegor Novak

Voiced by: Alex Feldman (English)^note Other Languages: Junji Iki (Japanese), Grigory Shevchuk (Russian)

One of Nikolai's acquaintances whom he brought in for the interrogation of the Butcher.

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• Early-Bird Cameo: He makes this if the player chooses to play through the single-player campaign first. Yegor is among the nine (technically ten) operators aligned with the Allegiance in multiplayer. It is also flipped on its head at the same time, as he is unlocked via progression in the single-player campaign, with the mission that unlocks him ("Proxy War") falling in the first quarter of the campaign, way before he's seen onscreen.
• Everyone Has Standards: Despite him being a somewhat unscrupulous gangster and Torture Technician, Yegor can't find it in him to harm the Butcher's wife and son during the interrogation and walks out of the room, provided you chose to participate ("I'm in"). Of course, you can feel free to change your mind and follow suit if you feel uncomfortable before loading the revolver.
  Yegor: Captain, I can't do this.
  Price: You're excused.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: He resembles a younger version of Vladimir Putin.
• Torture Technician: Nikolai calls him in to extract information from the Butcher. Unlike most examples though, he actually draws the line in harming his wife and son.