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Group 935 and Affiliates

    Dr. Ludvig Maxis 

Dr. Ludvig Maxis

Ultimis Maxis

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ludvigmaxis.jpg
"The paradox must be resolved! The loophole must be closed!"

Kill them all.

Voiced by: Fred Tatasciore (English)note 
Appearances: Der Riese | Kino der Toten | Moon | TranZit | Die Rise | Buried | Classified

A top scientist and leader of Group 935, he has seen Richtofen fall from grace and sanity, and has set out some counterplans to thwart Edward, resulting in a power struggle that drives the main storyline of Black Ops II.


  • All for Nothing: Though he succeeds in attaining power over the Aether, and reunites with Samantha, he's been driven to evil by the Apothicons' corruption and it's all for naught since she flees to Dimension 63 to seek the help of Primis Maxis. Ultimis Maxis ends up destroying the Earth, but loses his daughter and is left with absolutely nothing. Monty later destroys him and the Ultimis timeline for his troubles.
  • Ascended Extra: In World at War and most of Black Ops, he plays a small yet critical role, heard only through audio logs and radios. However, come Moon, Maxis is revealed to be alive, and helps the group deal Richtofen a crucial defeat by nuking the Earth. In Black Ops II, he's a full-blown major character, even becoming the Demonic Announcer if you aid him.
  • Bad Boss: In many of the radios across the earlier maps, he is very impatient and irate with his subordinates, especially Richtofen.
  • Big Good: He at first helps the original three and his daughter strike a huge blow against Richtofen's control of the zombies in Moon. In Black Ops II, he enlists Victis, and by extension humanity's aid to stop Edward's control over the zombies. Subverted though, when he takes control, he just continues the fight anyway.
  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: For about a decade, he presented himself as a benevolent force trying to save humanity from Richtofen and his evil. However, Buried reveals he was Evil All Along and was trying to use humanity to get him the ultimate power to destroy Earth.
  • Boom, Headshot!: He shot himself in the head after ordering Samantha to wipe out Group 935.
  • Brain Uploading: Completely unintentional, but when he died in front of the MPD, his soul entered the systems of Griffin Station, leaving him a digital being.
  • Cool Old Guy: Is this to the Victis crew in Black Ops II (particularly during Buried when he's noticeably on his best behaviour). It ends up being cruelly subverted when it's revealed he's been manipulating humanity to help give him the power to destroy the Earth.
  • The Determinator: Nothing, and we mean nothing - not zombies, Hellhounds, traitors, dimensional planes, demons, or any living human being - will stop him from reuniting with his daughter.
  • Earth-Shattering Kaboom: Accidentally causes one at the end of the Black Ops storyline, setting Black Ops II into motion, though this ended up playing nicely into his plans when he sought to open the Rift and reach Agartha.
  • Evil All Along: After pretending to be the Big Good for TranZit, Die Rise, and Buried, he reveals in the endgame of the latter map that he's been manipulating our heroes all along so he can destroy the Earth in a misguided attempt to find Samantha. The timeline later clarified that he has been corrupted by the Dark Aether.
  • The Faceless: This incarnation of Maxis is never seen, only heard in audio logs and various devices.
  • Faux Affably Evil: Once he's in control of the Zombies, he goes on cheering about how he'll be reunited with his daughter and thanks the players... and then less-than-sincerely announces the impending destruction of Earth and humanity's survivors as he heads for Agartha.
  • Foreshadowing: Maxis' betrayal is foreshadowed by his maniacal laughing upon the Earth's destruction, and some of the survivors seem to realize he intends to destroy the Earth. All of this turns out to be because he was being corrupted by the Apothicons thanks to the Divinium they planted years ago.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: Of the Ultimis timeline (though he pales in comparison to the Apothicons).
  • Kick the Dog: Frustrated with his lack of progress with the teleporters, he tossed Samantha's pregnant dog Fluffy into the teleporter and inadvertently created Hellhounds. He ends up backstabbing the TranZit group and humanity even after they help him attain ultimate power.
  • Love Makes You Evil: A familial version, in that when Samantha goes missing, Maxis is happy to first nuke the Earth, lie to gain support among Earth's survivors, ultimately to control the Aether and the zombies, and tear open the Earth to reach Agartha, where his daughter may not even be.
  • Mr. Exposition: Maxis' radios and direct quotes often help inform the player on the goings-on of the map. In Classified, he essentially provides a recap of the Ultimis timeline up until shortly before "Five".
  • Necessarily Evil: What he views his plans to destroy Earth as, though he doesn't sound too sincere when he claims to regret it.
  • Papa Wolf: He will destroy humanity and the planet Earth to find his daughter.
  • Posthumous Character: Was assumed to be one for World at War and Black Ops, until Moon revealed he's alive and well, albeit as a digital entity following his body's death in front of the MPD.
  • Smug Snake: Once he takes control of the Aether, he's smug and gloating about how he's won and how Earth will be destroyed.
  • Taking You with Me: He committed suicide in front of the MPD, but not before commanding Samantha to kill all of Group 935.
  • Unwitting Pawn: Through exposure to 115, he eventually became corrupted by the Dark Aether, and ultimately successfully destroyed the Earth for the Apothicons, while thinking he was merely acting out his own agenda.
  • Villain Protagonist: As with Richtofen, it's played with. He definitely seems more heroic than Richtofen from Moon to Buried, but it's all just a farce so he can destroy the Earth to reach Samantha in Agartha.
  • Villain Song: We All Fall Down in Die Rise. Played with, as at this point in the story he seems to be the good guy and is describing how Richtofen destroyed his life just for power and fun.
  • Walking Spoiler: An extremely critical character to the lore and relevant to quite a lot of the plot twists and revelations.
  • Woobie Destroyerof Worlds: Quite literally.

Primis Maxis

Appearances: Origins note  | The Giant | Revelations | Blood of the Dead | Alpha Omega

Following the destruction of the Earth in the original timeline, the original Maxis had shattered the universe into countless timelines. Samantha found her way to Agartha, where she beseeched a new incarnation of Maxis, one who was already an old man by the time of World War I, to free her from the place. Samantha took a toll on Maxis' sanity, not helped by the new plague of Element 115 at the excavation site in France. After creating replicas of the Primis staves as well as many other fantastical technologies with 115, Maxis succumbed to the element's corruption. Richtofen was forced to lobotomize his old friend to save his life, and Maxis was put in a drone in which he helped the others free his daughter from Agartha. Maxis then instructed Richtofen to embark on an epic journey to save the universe from the horrors of 115.


  • Big Good: He coordinates Richtofen's journey in Black Ops III, though he defers to Monty.
  • Brain in a Jar: In Origins. Thankfully, you can build him a new body, a drone. Considering the circumstances, there really wasn't much choice in the matter besides Unwilling Roboticisation, since he was technically dead. It is in this form that he is delivered to Doctor Monty.
  • Brain Uploading: More like "Brain Download". In Revelations, it's revealed that only his brain was placed into a new body by Monty, his soul being apparently lost for the time being.
  • Cool Old Guy: During World War I he tried to be a father figure to Richtofen, and now he's helping him save the universe, but as he lacks a soul, he's vulnerable to being corrupted by the Shadow Man.
  • The Corruption: In Revelations, he is corrupted by the Apothicons and accidentally unleashes the Shadow Man.
  • Cruel and Unusual Death: Monty messily rips him to shreds in his Keeper form.
  • Death by Irony: Maxis's final death is a parallel to how his Ultimis counterpart was originally meant to die; Ultimis Maxis was locked in a room with a ferocious beast, the Hellhound Fluffy, by Richtofen in the teleporter room, though he ultimately survived the encounter. This Maxis is killed when he is trapped alone with Monty, who transforms into his ferocious Keeper form to kill him while Samantha is forced to watch.
  • The Faceless: Subverted, unlike his Ultimis counterpart. He is finally seen in an old photograph from World War I in the opening cutscene of Origins, and he makes his first physical appearance when we first see his lobotomized body, and then when he is uploaded into a quadrotor drone. It isn't until Revelations that his human form (or at least, the one Monty gives him based on his Primis body) makes a physical appearance.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: At the end of Revelations, he and Sophia use their life force to help seal away the Apothicons forever. He pulls another one in the new broken cycle, this time managing to teleport Samantha and Eddie away from The House to save them from Monty, though he is killed moments later.
  • Killed Off for Real: In Alpha Omega he is murdered by Monty after the latter discovers Primis has rebelled againt him.
  • Like a Son to Me: He became a father figure to Richtofen after the death of his parents before World War I.
  • Love Makes You Evil: In Revelations, the Shadow Man is able to corrupt him with the warning that only he can help save his daughter and the new world that Monty created for him.
  • Out of Focus: While he's still critical to the story, he's far less prominent in Black Ops III as opposed to the previous game.
  • Palette Swap: Well, model swap, World at War style; his appearence seen in the Revelations intro is more-or-less the Male Player from the campaign, but with a beard.
  • Papa Wolf: Thankfully not to the point of destroying worlds like his corrupted Ultimis counterpart, but it's still there. In the broken cycle, when he senses that Monty will turn on them, he quickly ushers Samantha and Eddie to safety, giving his own life to protect theirs.
  • Sixth Ranger: Well, more like fifth, unless you count Samantha. In Origins, he becomes a valuable ally in the fight against the zombies.
  • The Soulless: After Origins, Monty gave him a new body, but was literally unable to give him back his soul which he lost when he was killed and lobotomized by Richtofen. This led to his corruption by the Shadow Man.
  • Team Dad: Appears to be the only adult figure in the House, the realm created by Dr. Monty for Samantha and the Origins cast to live out peaceful lives, as his daughter and the others are all children, making him this.
  • Together in Death: His last words are assuring SOPHIA that they will be together always as they prepare to sacrifice their lives to seal away the Apothicons.
  • Walking Spoiler: Most of the new timeline Maxis' story comes in the series' endgame, necessitating a lot of spoiler tags.

    Samantha Maxis 

Samantha Maxis

The darkness will swallow you whole! Something far more terrible than you lies here!

Voiced By: Julie Nathanson (Ultimis, Dark Aether), Grace Kaufman (Primis) (English)note 
Appearances:
Aether: Nacht der Untoten | Verruckt | Shi No Numa | Der Riese | Kino der Toten | Ascension | Call of the Dead | Shangri La | Moonnote  | Nuketown Zombies | Origins | Revelations | Classified | Alpha Omega | Tag der Toten
Dark Aether: Die Maschine | Firebase Z | Outbreak | Mauer der Toten | Forsaken

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/samantha_smirking_firebasez_bocw.png
Click here for her appearance when she was a child

Maxis' daughter who took control of the zombies when she accidentally teleported to the Moon after Richtofen's betrayal and entered the alien M.P.D., her soul entering the Aether. Her father's dying wish was to kill all of Group 935, triggering the zombie storyline of World at War and Black Ops.

By the events of Cold War Zombies, Samantha has grown up and joined the BND, going rogue when the Dark Aether is accessed and zombies start reappearing. She has her own intel files within the mode, simply dubbed "Maxis". As of Season 2, she has become a playable Operator, unlocked by purchasing her character pack in the COD Store.


  • Adrenaline Makeover: When she's rescued in Firebase Z, she looks completely different from when we saw her previously. She has shorter, messier hair, she's covered in dirt and grime, and she's made herself a cool, armored ensemble of a bulletproof vest, a ragged hood, a scarf resembling Dr. Monty's, goggles which resemble Primis!Nikolai's, a headset, and a katana which resembles Takeo's.
  • Anti-Villain: She's not evil, she just wants to kill Richtofen and stop his plans by any means necessary, which would actually be for the best considering Ultimis Richthofen's plans for world domination. A phone in Classified shows that she's ultimately lonely and traumatised, missing her father and her dog and wanting to go home.
  • Arch-Enemy: Without a doubt, Ultimis Richtofen. Monty ends up taking the mantle as of Alpha Omega due to killing her father gruesomely.
  • Ax-Crazy: She's almost completely bonkers when the four find her on Moon, although that's likely because of all the things she's endured. She's cooled down dramatically by Die Maschine, but she's still prone to Laughing Mad whenever she kills a horde of zombies in quick succession.
  • Back for the Finale: She's a central figure in the story, but disappears for all of Black Ops II until Origins. It happens again in Black Ops III, where she doesn't show up until Revelations.
  • Brought Down to Normal: No longer has her powers as of the Dark Aether arc, understandably.
    • Brought Down to Badass: Well, Badass Normal, but her Cosplay Guide reveals that she is fearless, intelligent and a member of the West German BND with Omniglot tendancies by Cold War. She's also still badass enough to survive in the Dark Aether for months, even seemingly gaining a portion of her power back.
  • Big Bad: Of the World at War and Black Ops arcs. At first. Also returns as the Demonic Announcer in Classified, as it takes place between Shangri-La and Moon.
  • Cold Ham: As a contrast to her child counterpart, as well as Ultimis, Sam is a lot calmer about her sadism towards the Zombies in Cold War. Since quite a lot of her lines towards the Zombies are incredibly vitriolic and hateful, yet she always delivers them in a low and serene tone that would make John Wick proud.
  • Color-Coded Eyes: Her Cold War multiplayer model has slightly glowing, purple eyes. On point for a rogue BND operator with supernatural background.
  • Creepy Child: Thanks to getting corrupted by the Dark Aether and whatever lurks in there, and the fact she commands legions of the undead bent on killing the heroes.
  • Cute and Psycho: On the outside, she's an adorable little girl who looks like she's fresh out of a sitcom. And then she opens her mouth or does just about anything and proves that beneath the innocent veneer of a young girl is a terrifying, bloodthirsty psychopath hell-bent on unleashing demonic monstrosities on anything and anyone that ever slighted her.
  • Deadpan Snarker: She's definitely grown a little sassier in Cold War, having some occasional quips here and there.
    (After running a zombie over) Oh, don't worry, I'm insured.
    (Blowing up a horde of zombies with a C4) Oh, look. They found my C4.
  • Demoted to Extra: Barely appears in the series after Black Ops besides a critical and major role in Origins. She returns to prominence in Black Ops IV. Ultimately subverted in Cold War; while she starts in a supporting role, she becomes more important in Firebase Z and is eventually Promoted to Playable.
  • Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Uses a Hand Blast to obliterate an Apothicon in the Alpha Omega intro cutscene.
  • The Dreaded:
    • Classified reveals that the Kennedy administration eventually came to fear the threat she poised to the world and was prepared to form an alliance with their eastern rivals to combat her.
    • Victis themselves would ultimately fear Samantha too even though at that point in their journey, they're on the same side.
  • Evil Laugh: A truly haunting one whenever someone rolls the Mystery Box and gets a teddy bear. As an Operator in Cold War, she has a similar, less demonic one occasionally when she slaughters enough zombies.
  • Expy: Of Alma, something with is leant on more and more by Black Ops 4.
  • Forced to Watch: She had to watch her father commit suicide in front of her and the MPD. In Alpha Omega she has to watch him die again, this time at the hands of Monty while she watches inside the teleporter.
  • Grand Theft Me: Is on the receiving end of this courtesy of Richtofen during the events of Moon.
  • Grin of Audacity: Has one during her Operator card in Cold War, with a Ray Gun in hand, no less.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: During the finale of Forsaken, she allows herself to be banished to the Dark Aether indefinitely to seal away The Forsaken forever.
  • Hidden Depths:
    • She's far more cunning and intelligent than her age and appearance suggest. The fact that a good chunk of the story is the product of her obsessively hunting Richtofen proves that she has a measure of strategic and tactical acumen. And, of course, there's the fact that this little girl terrifies the US Government.
    • Cold War (well, her Cosplay Guide) reveals she is fluent in several languages, and has a dry, dark sense of humour.
  • Equippable Ally: The Samantha Box in Tag der Toten can be used to summon her, causing all zombies near her to get blasted apart from her sheer power, all with a creepy laugh.
  • Katanas Are Just Better: Just like Takeo before her, she carries a katana on her after her Adrenaline Makeover during the events of Firebase Z, though it's unusable. She can, however, use a wakizashi (which is somewhere between a katana and a tanto) via Create-a-Class as of Cold War Season 2, or even an actual one as of Vanguard.
  • Laughing Mad: In Cold War, she does this every time she massacres an entire horde of zombies in quick succession.
  • Love Confession: As she plans to sacrifice herself to seal away The Forsaken for good, she writes a letter to Dr. Grey admitting that she views her as "more than just a friend".
  • The Murder After: According to intel found in Firebase Z, while trapped in the Dark Aether, she wakes up to a bunch of Omega Group corpses, and a knife in her hand.
    When I opened my eyes. There was blood on my hands. I stared at it not knowing if it was mine. Then I saw the bodies. Omega soldiers. They looked like victims of a frenzied attack. An attack that continued even after they were dead. I have a knife. I do not remember where it came from. I just want to go home.
  • Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Her Ultimis counterpart has a German accent, but when she enters the Primis universe she trades it for an American one. However, in Alpha Omega she regains the German accent. As an adult, her German accent is a bit more subtle than it was when she was a child, which could be explained away by her traveling the world a lot as a BND agent and becoming fluent in English.
  • Older Than She Looks: If one counts her chronological age in the original timeline and her time spent in the new timeline, she's 49. She doesn't look a day over thirty, fitting with supplementary materials that establish she's in her thirties.
  • Promoted to Playable: Thanks to the events of Firebase Z, she is now a playable Operator in Cold War Zombies, Multiplayer, and Warzone. Technically, the first time she was playable was after the easter egg of Moon, albeit in Richtofen's body.
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Her goal to kill the rest of Group 935 has elements of this, to say the least. She's at it again by the end of Alpha Omega after Monty kills her father, vowing to destroy the Aether and Monty with it.
  • She's All Grown Up: In her early 30's by Die Maschine, and despite her childhood it seems time was rather kind to her.
  • Ship Tease: With Dr. Grey after the events of Firebase Z, as Grey shows her the most kindness out of the Requiem leaders. Sam's goodbye letter to Grey before Operation: First Domino in Foresaken has her declare that she sees Grey as "more than just a friend".
  • Shoot the Medic First: A story-based example. She is specifically targeting Richtofen during the first two arcs, because he is what caused all her suffering and because he's attempting to gain control of the zombies himself. She is only really targeting the others by proxy; indeed, Classified reveals that she attempted to reason with the others through Wisps, imploring them to turn on Richtofen, to no avail.
  • Sole Survivor: She and Young Eddie are the only major characters who are confirmed to have survived the collapse of the multiverse and the end of the Aether Zombies storyline.
  • Statuesque Stunner: According to her profile in Cold War, she's 176cm (5'9") tall.
  • They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: In-universe. She feels she did a much better job at controlling the zombies and constantly complains about Richtofen making it too easy once he gets in charge.
  • Tranquil Fury: Basically her default mood as an adult since she isn't anywhere near as much of a Large Ham as Ultimis. Special mention goes to the "We've Both Been To Hell" Audio Log in Cold War - which has this exchange between her and Weaver:
    Weaver: You've been to Hell before though, Sam. We both have. I was never going to leave you there to die.
    Weaver: That's not fair Sam. That was a different situation. We both did all we could.
    Sam: But not enough. He's still dead, isn't he?
    Weaver: I can see you're agitated, so I'm going to let you get some rest. I hope you feel better soon. I don't want to upset you.
  • Trauma Conga Line: Samantha has it rough through the entire Zombies story; from almost being killed by Richtofen to controlling the Zombies - and unknowingly being controlled by the Apothicons as well - only for Richtofen to take over her body, seeing her father die multiple times, having to kill Primis Nikolai and destroy the multiverse, only for the threat to reappear years later, leading to her being stranded in the Dark Aether for months. She handles it fairly well until that last bit; her radio reports in Firebase Z show her almost breaking down and constantly doubting her own morality.
  • Took a Level in Badass: In Black Ops 1 to 4, she was nothing but a big nightmare as she was able to control zombies. In 4, however, her power was gone and had to live quietly for 20 years. Despite that, she still had potential to be great and powerful. That potential was realized in Cold War as she's now Older and Wiser, she still has a trick up her sleeves. Despite being in Badass Normal, her sheer badassery escalation is truly shown when she emerged out of the portal relatively unscathed, except her clothing, which indicates that she stayed there for presumably a month there killing zombies and monsters non-stop and actually surviving to get out of the portal to continue her mission. In addition, her purple eyes indicate that she has recovered her power, at least partially.
  • Troll: She takes quite a bit of delight in mocking Richtofen whenever she can. Especially in Classified where she will often mock Richtofen whenever he does something that would trigger a quote (or get angry at him for using a Monkey Bomb.)
  • Vocal Evolution: Twice, one at-the-time and another retroactively.
    • From Origins onwards (with a change of voice actor), Samantha speaks more clearly and slowly, with a deeper, older voice and an American accent, as opposed to the German one she had in the original story.
    • Her younger self in Classified has her voice changed a bit as well; being much higher pitch and with a stronger reverb behind it.
    • She naturally has a deeper, gruff voice as an adult.
  • Wham Line: When first released, the opening cinematic of Origins featured a voice-over from a demonic, terrifying voice. Only with the last line was it revealed who was actually narrating:
    Samantha: "My name is Samantha. I'm going to tell you how all of this really began."
  • Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: She only sends the zombies after the original crew to kill Richtofen to fulfill her father's dying wish to have all of Group 935 killed.
  • Year Outside, Hour Inside: Inverted. According to several audio logs as well as her own words, she had spent what felt like months to her in the Dark Aether, but for Weaver and Requiem, she was missing for only two days.
  • You Killed My Father: Her motive in trying to kill Richtofen, and later, declaring that Agartha will be destroyed.

    Sophia 

Sophia/Strategic Operations Planning Heuristic Intelligence Analyzer (S.O.P.H.I.A.)

"My relationship with Ludvig is... complicated."

Voiced by: Christa Lewis (English)note 
Appearances: Der Riese | Kino der Toten | Moon | Zetsubou No Shima | Gorod Krovi note  | Revelations

Dr. Maxis' secretary in Group 935. In the new timeline, she was transferred into a robotic form after being infected with 115 after a zombie attack.


  • Ascended Extra: Originally just a character mentioned in passing in World at War and Black Ops, she becomes a major supporting character in the endgame of Black Ops III.
  • Brain Uploading: After she was infected from an attack from Subject Two-Six, Maxis poisoned her and transferred her brain into S.O.P.H.I.A. to save her life.
  • Cyber Cyclops: Her physical form is essentially just a large robot eye mounted on top of a terminal.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Whenever the Primis crew fails a task.
    Sophia: You have failed. I not surprised.
  • 11th-Hour Ranger: Joins in the final battle with the Shadow Man and the Apothicons.
  • Expy: Of GLaDOS. Both are female, passive-aggressive, cyclopean and (mostly) stationary A.Is created as a result of involuntary Brain Uploading by their trusted bosses. Both force the heroes of their respective games to complete a series of challenges in exchange for a reward, the major difference in Sophia's case being that she keeps her promise and doesn't attempt to murder the Primis crew.
  • Eye Beams: Gains the ability to fire these during the Final Boss of the Revelations easter egg when provided with a charged Summoning Key; this must be done to lower the Shadow Man's shields.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: At the end of Revelations, she and Maxis sacrifice themselves to seal away the Apothicons forever.
  • Second Love: For Maxis, after his first wife died giving birth to Samantha.
  • Sexy Secretary: At least, Maxis found her to be one.
  • Together in Death: Maxis says that after they sacrifice themselves to seal away the Apothicons, they will be together forever.
  • Tranquil Fury: Most of her dialogue is delivered in a blunt monotone, but she makes perpetual anger and frustration at her situation very clear.
    Sophia (after the player fails a challenge): I am not angry, just disappointed. And also very angry.
  • Unwilling Roboticisation: She certainly didn't volunteer to be poisoned by Maxis, and is distressed when she finds herself in her new form.

    Dr. Groph 

Dr. Groph

"It is grim work, Doctor… May God have mercy on us all."

Voiced by: Steve Blum (English)note 
Appearances: Moon | Der Eisendrache

A scientist who joined Richtofen's splinter cell of Group 935.


  • Arbitrary Skepticism: He was incredulous at Richtofen's claim that the MPD led to the Aether, and Richtofen pointed out that it was no more ridiculous than him teleporting them all to the Moon to build an entire base.
  • Ascended Extra: He was a minor character during "Moon" before becoming close to the Big Bad of "Der Eisendrache".
  • Asshole Victim: It was assumed he was this when he was supposedly killed by Samantha, but he's definitely now this as Richtofen has killed him in Der Eisendrace.
  • Bald of Evil: He's revealed to be bald in "Der Eisendrache".
  • Big Bad: The closest thing to a main antagonist in Der Eisendrache.
  • The Bus Came Back: His appearance in Der Eisendrache is the first time the character has appeared since "Moon", which was released about four years prior.
  • Co-Dragons: With Dr. Schuster to Richtofen, though Groph himself is the one nominally in charge of Griffin Station.
  • Dirty Old Man: Richtofen mentions in Moon that he is obsessed with young American women.
  • Et Tu, Brute?: He's enraged when it appears Richtofen has gone rogue and vows to kill him.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: He was horrified to have to harvest 100 souls to fuel the MPD.
  • Last-Name Basis: We've only learned his last name.
  • Not Quite Dead: Subverted. It was initially assumed he somehow survived Samantha's original purge of Group 935, but it was revealed that Der Eisendrache all took place in a new timeline formed by the death of the original Richthofen.
  • The Starscream: Joined Richtofen in betraying Maxis.
  • Uncertain Doom: Schuster's survival of the events of the backstory of Moon was later confirmed by Classified, but Groph's was not.
  • Villainous Breakdown: He loses his composure more and more as Der Eisendrache goes on, culminating in a quite understandable panic when Richtofen launches the missiles at the Moon.
  • You Are in Command Now: After the fall of Der Riese and the death of the original timeline Richthofen, he assumes command of Group 935.

    Dr. Schuster 

Dr. Schuster

Voiced by: Tom Kane (English)note 
Appearances: Moon | Classified

A Group 935 scientist who bore witness to Richtofen's inventing teleportation, and who joined his splinter cell of Group 935.


  • Anti-Villain: He's complicit with Ultimis Richtofen's scheme to kill the Maxis family and overthrow Group 935, but he's a very reasonable, kind man otherwise. He only joins Richtofen's scheme out of concern that Maxis would steal their work out from under them, due to genuinely being interested in working for the good of humanity.
  • The Cassandra: When he joined the Pentagon’s 115 research division, he warned the Americans that creating undead soldiers would invite the wrath of Samantha. He was laughed off by his colleagues for quite some time before they realized he was telling the truth.
  • Co-Dragons: He and Dr. Groph are Richtofen's left and right-hand men, though Groph is the one officially in charge of their base, Griffin Station.
  • Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: He doesn't return nor is he mentioned in Der Eisendrache where Groph reappears and has a prominent role. He finally returns in Classified.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Downplayed, but Schuster is clearly bored and not even pretending to be interested in their first test teleportation of a walnut.
  • Not Quite Dead: He was believed to have been immediately killed when Samantha agreed to fulfill her father's dying wish to wipe out 935, but Classified reveals that he managed to escape back to Earth.
  • Secret-Keeper: He was one of the few 935 members to learn about Maxis' private deal with the Third Reich for funding.
  • The Starscream: He was the first of Richtofen's followers who schemed to overthrow Maxis.
  • Villainous Friendship: He is one of Ultimis Richtofen's closest cohorts and they seem to genuinely share an appreciation for each other. Even after Ultimis Richtofen went insane, he still went through the trouble of making sure Schuster was well set up with the implementation of Operation: Paperclip.


Buried Residents

    Arthur 

Arthur

Appearances: Buried

Also known as Sloth, Arthur is a giant man trapped in Angola. His presence was originally unexplained, until he was later revealed to be a time-displaced servant of the Wolf King.


  • Ambiguously Human: Zombies typically go after every living human, but ignore him, implying he's not human at all. He also presumably spent untold years locked in a cage without food or water, yet is perfectly fine when freed and just wants booze and/or candy.
  • Anti-Frustration Features: As he's an essential ally in getting things done efficiently, he can't be hurt by any form of damage you deal. Meleeing him makes him move faster temporarily as well, so you don't have to waste time watching him slowly plod his way towards you. The worst that happens when he takes a bullet is that he flees back to his cell and needs to be freed again.
  • The Alcoholic: He drinks the vaguely named booze. Give it to him, and he'll ram the zombies, and whatever debris you want knocked down.
  • The Big Guy: He's the tallest person that isn't a zombie. In fact hee's so tall that he always walks in a hunch and has to crouch down to get through doorways.
  • Genius Ditz: In spite of his apparently simply nature, he is quite capable of reading Buildable blueprints and constructing the devices himself.
  • Fish out of Temporal Water: He actually heralds from 14th century Europe, having been teleported to the Angolan town thanks to Element 115-induced teleportation.
  • Foe-Tossing Charge: Give him booze and he'll guzzle it down before charging off into the opposite direction at high speed. This is essential for clearing debris and making shortcuts through the map, as well as accessing things you have to take long ways around normally. His charge can also one-shot zombies that get in the way, and give you points for stuff he breaks based on how far he goes.
  • The Juggernaut: He's unstoppable and, in terms of gameplay, completely invincible. Hurting him will just make him retreat to his cell, and he cannot be killed.
  • Manchild: He's not exactly intelligent, but he's a real nice guy.
  • Nigh-Invulnerable: Shooting him just makes him run away to his cell. It's impossible to do any damage to him. Hell, not even upgraded Ray Guns do anything!
  • No Name Given: His actual name, Arthur, was not given until the release of the Zombies Chronicles timeline, which was released four years after the release of Buried.
  • Non-Action Guy: Downplayed. While you can convince him to fight for you with booze or candy, most of the time he just wanders around slowly and nervously, making no effort to attack the zombies.
  • Plucky Comic Relief: Serve as this for Victis for the duration of the otherwise depressing Buried (not that Victis themselves aren't lighthearted). He has many amusing Slapstick style reactions to the environment:
    • Ramming debris (or a wall) will result in him falling backwards with a panicked yell.
    • Stepping in Vulture Aid gas will provoke a reaction similar to one stepping in dog poo.
    • When holding like a zombie crawler, he will often cradle it like a baby.
  • Sweet Tooth: He likes candy, and if you give it to him, he'll help you. You know what's burned on his knuckles? SUGR. That's right.
  • Uncertain Doom: We never find out happened to him after the events of Buried, although it isn't looking good considering what happened to that universe.
  • Unstoppable Rage: Will go into a sugar-induced one when fed candy, although thankfully he takes it out on zombies rather than you.
  • Utility Party Member: Arthur has a lot of uses and applicability, but first you have to give him either booze or candy. In no particular order, he can:
    • Smash through areas blocked by debris and/or break certain objects. Warning, he can kill zombies AND knock down players with his charge, so stay clear. This is a terrific way to get into areas you otherwise have to spend money to get into, and is also critical if, after you visit Pack-a-Punch, you want to return to the main area of the map without having to endure the gauntlet of the mansion again; Arthur can be used to attack and activate the fountain in front of the mansion, which will cause a portal to the spawn room to open up in the fountain inside the maze.
    • Flail through a crowd of zombies to take the heat off of you.
    • Pick up a crawler and follow you while holding it to extend round time without constantly having to pay attention to said crawler.
    • Collect parts for buildables and craft them at tables.
    • Keep the Mystery Box from rolling a Teddy Bear.
    • Fetch the Mystery Box from its current spot and bring it to a designated area.
    • Draw chalk outlines for weapons in random areas.
    • Grab a power-up at the Deposit Box for 2,000 points.

    Ghost Women 

Ghost Women

Appearances: Buried

Spirits of women who attack the player, and steal their points too.


  • Back for the Finale: Their backstory is finally revealed in the final installment of the Aether story; they were originally the mother of Jedediah Smith, the inventor of the Pack-A-Punch machine, but she was killed by a zombie attack and laid to rest. Jedediah was compelled to place her dug-up body in the Pack-A-Punch machine and this turned her into a horde of ghosts roaming the mansion, doing things she did in life such as playing the piano.
  • Bandit Mook: Every time they land a hit, they steal 2,000 points. If you're broke, they just deal regular damage.
  • Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: It's not like Zombies wasn't at all supernatural before Buried (considering all the, you know, zombies), but even then the Ghosts come out of left field with no build-up or explanation. They're not related to Element 115, Richtofen doesn't create them, they just...exist now.
  • Haunted House: They live in a mansion. You better hope they don't overrun you. Oh, and the Pack-A-Punch Machine is behind the mansion, beyond a maze. Good luck trying to upgrade those weapons you have.
  • Our Ghosts Are Different: They're the type that are aware of their ghostly existence and are always hostile to anyone that enters the mansion. They are also vulnerable to guns, so the best way to repel them is simply to open fire.
  • You Will Not Survive: Among their constant whispering are insistent threats that no one can help Victis and that they will die here. This actually almost ends up being the case as Victis is led into letting Maxis succeed in destroying the Earth, with them only escaping their fates thanks to the help of Richtofen.


Agartha

    Monty 

Doctor Monty

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dr_monty.jpg
"This. Is. It."

"Things are going to get a lot worse before they get better."

Voiced by: Malcolm McDowell (English)note 
Appearances: Nacht der Untotennote  | Verrucktnote  | Shi No Numanote  | Kino der Totennote  | Ascensionnote  | Moonnote  | Originsnote  | Gorod Krovi | Revelations | Alpha Omega

Doctor Monty is a mysterious being who is responsible for the creation of the Perk-A-Colas, Gobblegums, power drops, as well as the very important Summoning Key. An omnipotent being who watches over all of the timelines and the entire universe, he makes a sudden appearance during Gorod Krovi, and turns out to be perhaps the most important character of the entire series.


  • Ambiguously Evil: There are some ominous signs that Monty is not the benevolent guy he's cracked up to be. Trying to erase the Primis crew is one thing, he meant no harm and genuinely came to like them by that point. But in his last notes, Primis Dempsey mentioned if Monty ever found a certain place, they'd all be doomed. Richtofen and Maxis are certainly both eager to keep certain information from him. At the end of Blood of the Dead, post-Revelations Richtofen says that they need to defeat him, and Alpha Omega firmly establishes him as the main antagonist. However, Tag der Toten reveals that Monty is not actually evil, he's just trying to save the universe and his own existence the only way he knows how by perpetuating the cycle.
  • Anti-Villain: Tag der Toten confirms him as such. He's the main villain of the series finale, but he's not trying to destroy everything like the Apothicons, he's just saving everyone and himself by perpetuating the cycle.
  • Arc Villain: He serves as the main antagonist of the final Aether Story Arc in Black Ops IV.
  • Been There, Shaped History: The true creator of all the Perk drinks and other machines seen throughout the entire series? Not Group 935, this guy.
    • To a more literal extent, there are a number of extra radios scattered across all eight remastered maps of the Zombie Chronicles DLC, with him explaining a fair amount about the map in question - with some not-too-subtle ribbing.
  • Big Bad Ensemble: With Ultimis and Primis ultimately setting out to undo the cycle he has perpetuated the entire series, he joins Ultimis Richtofen and Maxis and the Shadow Man as one of the main antagonists of the series.
  • Big Good: He's the most powerful non-hostile entity encountered in the game mode so far and he's willing to help the main four save the universe. As he steps into the role during the endgame of the series and the reveals about his knowledge of the Apothicons, this makes him the Big Good of the entire series. And then he turns out to have been part of a Big Bad Ensemble all along.
  • Cool Old Guy: For the most part, he's a wry, helpful guy who's also an ancient being who's been around since the beginning of the universe. This trope is Subverted to hell and back in Black Ops IIII when he becomes the main antagonist.
  • Cthulhumanoid: His true form is revealed to be nearly identical to that of the Shadow Man, which is apparently the result of both of them being corrupted by the Dark Aether.
  • Cutting the Knot: When Richtofen uses the blood vials to survive the defeat of the Apothicons, his life insurance works and Monty is annoyed that they managed to survive. However, that was as far as Richtofen's insurance would cover, since Monty initially decides to just wipe them from existence anyway before changing his mind.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Pretty much every word he says is dripping in sarcasm.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: When he discovers Ultimis and Primis's plot to overthrow him, he flies into a rage and violently kills Maxis, even though he had nothing to do with the scheme.
  • Evil All Along: Blood of the Dead seems to confirm that he is in fact an antagonist when post-Revelations Richtofen tasks Nikolai and the others with defeating him. Alpha Omega reveals that he has no intention of saving the universe from all the horrors in the cycle since that would result in him losing power over the Aether. Ultimately subverted by Tag der Toten, which reveals he isn't truly evil, just desperate to keep himself and the universe alive through the cycle.
  • Evil Versus Oblivion: As of Alpha Omega, the conflict between him and the Apothicons has boiled down to this. The Apothicons want to outright destroy everything, but Monty is willing to allow havoc in the cycle of the Aether universe if it means he keeps his total power.
  • The Faceless: Appears in no physical shape or form until Revelations.
  • A Form You Are Comfortable With: He takes on a human form when appearing to the crew in Revelations. Alpha Omega confirms that when not in this form, he looks just as eldritch and monstrous as his Keeper brethren.
  • God: While he doesn't claim to be God, he certainly has some of the characteristics of one: (near-)Omnipotence, acts In Mysterious Ways, is the Big Good, created a perfect reality for the children, oversees the different realities and opposes the Apothicons.
  • Heroic Fatigue: Two of his quotes in Revelations indicates that he suffered from it at some point, or may be still suffering from it.
    Monty: It's too much information sometimes, know what I mean? I know you must be struggling to take it all in, but can you imagine how I feel? I've got heart felt prayers to the Angels, dying people's wish lists and letters to fucking Santa coming out of my bleeding ears! It's hard to keep up, honestly! I hardly ever get any time for myself, or even just time to stand back and appreciate all the good that I've done.

    Monty: I made an app once, at least I think that's what you call it. It started off really simple: All people did was press a button to indicate whether or not they had a good day. I tracked the data for everyone in the world, I mean it was meant to help me understand people. It worked. But even in its simplest form it was too much to take in. It actually made me depressed. It's hard trying to please everyone. Ahh, I'm getting worked up, honestly! You have NO idea how hard it's been from my side. Sorry... Keep up the good work. I'm sure you'll sort it out.
  • Ink-Suit Actor: His actor Malcolm McDowell's likeness is used to portray the his human form.
  • In Mysterious Ways:
    • Claims to be how he was influencing things until the Origins crew forced him to take a more direct approach.
    • One of his quotes in Revelations has him complain about how much work keeping this reality together is tiring:
    Monty: Honestly, if you could see just what was going on outside your realm of perception, it would blow your minds! That's the main reason I kept it back. If I were to give you an analogy, I'd describe it like this: when a duck swims on the water, you only see it glide, apparently effortlessly across the lake. But underneath, as in beneath the surface, it's a whole different story. Its legs are moving like he's pedaling a fucking bicycle up a mountain! Well, that's me right now. I am that duck!
  • It's All About Me: Monty is fine with allowing 115 to continue to plague the universe since it means he will remain in charge of the Aether and more importantly stay alive.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He never hesitates to condescend the main characters for their limited, mortal understanding of the universe, but he still agrees to help nudge them in the right direction to fix it. Once they rebel against him and discover how power-hungry he is, though, he drops the niceties and brutally murders Maxis.
  • Love Makes You Evil: A platonic version, as far as we know. In Tag der Toten, Nikolai reveals that Monty was also corrupted by the Dark Aether because of his desperate desire to save the Shadow Man from his own corruption.
  • The Man Behind the Man: He reveals himself to be the true source behind the magical powers of the game mode to date, including the Perks, Mystery Boxes, wall guns, and more.
  • Me's a Crowd: He advises against this line of thought when it comes to the original and new timeline incarnations of the main four.
    Monty: You need to stop thinking in terms of originals - old and new, it's not like that. When you look in the mirror, it's still you. If you crack that mirror you see multiple reflections. It doesn't mean you've actually multiplied, does it?
  • Mr. Exposition: Monty explains much of the backstory of the series, particularly in regards to the Apothicons, Agartha, and the Shadow Man. He also provides some little tidbits of trivia here and there that aren't essential, but are still interesting nonetheless.
  • The Needs of the Many: In the Revelations trailer, he asks the crew to do the right thing for everyone. The revelation that he intends to allow the Aether cycle to perpetuate for all eternity supports this; sure, the endless cycle sucks for a lot of people, but the universe is still alive, and not banished to the Dark Aether.
  • The Omnipotent: Downplayed as while he's the one who keeps an eye on the universe, a few of his quotes in Revelations have him says he's not actually omnipotent, but barely. Writing on the wall in Classified suggests that he cannot keep tabs on people who have their souls, which is why Nikolai ultimately keeps his for Black Ops IV to move about without Monty following him.
  • Reality Warper: Comes with being God, but he formed the House in Agartha, created new bodies for Maxis and the children, and almost erased the four from existence in the ending cutscene of Revelations. He also casually mentions creating a new moon in the Zombies Collection version of Moon.
  • Remember the New Guy?: Only introduced in the penultimate map, and yet provided nudges to the creation of every single thing relating to the Perk machines, Pack-a-Punch, the Summoning Key and everything in-between.
  • Satan: In Revelations, the Shadow Man claims that Monty is in fact the Devil of most of humanity's religions. Whether or not he's the actual Devil, Blood of the Dead seems to confirm he is indeed an antagonist.
  • Sir Swears-a-Lot: Drops swears quite frequently.
  • Sophisticated as Hell: Compared to Primis, his dialogue is a lot more informal - and a lot more condescending.
  • The Unfought: Despite serving as the Final Boss of the Aether storyline, Doctor Monty is never directly confronted by our heroes, appears to take no major action aside from devouring Maxis and his ultimate banishment to the Dark Aether occurs offscreen. Somewhat justified as he is had previously demonstrated the ability to erase people from existence with zero effort, so Primis Nikolai and the crew go out of their way to avoid him.
  • The Voice: In Gorod Krovi, he only speaks to Nikolai, Takeo, and Dempsey without taking a physical presence in the map. He makes his physical debut in the following map, Revelations.
  • The Voiceless: He never speaks during his appearances in Black Ops IV.
  • Walking Spoiler: Monty is one of the most important characters of the series and his entire folder would've been considered a spoiler at the time of his introduction.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: He intended for Primis to fade out of existence with the defeat of the Apothicons, but to his dismay, Richtofen caught on and ensured they survived the resetting of the universe. Though he can still wipe them out by hand, Monty allows them to go back in time to be Primis in Earth's Middle Ages.

    The Demonic Announcer 

The Demonic Announcer

FETCH ME THEIR SOULS.

Voiced by: Julie Nathanson (as Samantha (WaW/BO1/BO4)/the Apothicons), Nolan North (Richtofen/Brutusnote ), Fred Tatasciore (Maxis/High Priest of Chaos), Grace Kaufman (Samantha (BO2)), Andrew Morgado (The Forsaken (BOCW))

The title of the demonic, and in some ways eldritch, entity who controls the zombies. In World at War and Black Ops, Samantha takes the reigns. Starting from the end of Moon, extending into Black Ops II, Richtofen takes over, and by the end of his side of Buried's story easter egg, Dr. Maxis usurps him. As of Black Ops III, the Apothicons have taken the mantle, though they recycle Samantha's voice lines. The High Priest of Chaos takes over for the Chaos storyline, and Cold War features what may be the Dark Aether itself in the role.

The concept of the Demomic Announcer is also used in other Zombie modes; Advanced Warfare's Exo Zombies has AN-G and Infinite Warfare's Zombies mode uses Willard Wyler and even Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. Sledgehammer's Nazi Zombies lacks a counterpart, partly due to its more grounded take on the series. Outside of the concept (and in some cases the name), they are unrelated to the Treyarch incarnation.


  • Anthropomorphic Personification: Dialogue given to the voice in Outbreak suggests that, rather than any one being controlling the zombies, the Dark Aether Entity in Cold War may in fact be a personification of the Dark Aether in its entirety. It refers to itself as "We" and "Us" during certain objectives, and verbally interacts with the Operators more frequently during objectives where they are forced into the Dark Aether.
  • Demonic Possession: Appears to do this to some degree to both the Maxis' and Richtofen once they begin their tenure as the Demonic Announcer.
  • Evil Sounds Deep: Averted with Demonic Richtofen in Black Ops II, though he's still "ethereal" sounding.
  • Expy: The Demonic Announcer is basically The AI Director made into an actual character. Fitting, as World at War and the first Left 4 Dead were released only days between each other.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: Of the game mode. While Samantha, Richtofen, Maxis, and The Shadow Man are the most direct antagonists you face, whatever this entity is, it's definitely far more powerful than any of them and appears to be behind everything. Samantha even warns Richtofen that something far worse than him lurks in the Aether. Shadows of Evil and Revelations imply that the Shadow Man is unfamiliar with this entity since he has to be told it by his reporter friend, and Blood of the Dead strongly implies that this entity is separate from the Apothicons; something its existence despite the eradication of the Apothicons by Cold War seems to confirm.
  • Hair-Raising Hare: With Samantha no longer in control of the Zombies by Cold War, the iconic teddy bear that inhabits the Mystrery Box has been replaced by a ragged blue rabbit plush.
  • Husky Russkie: The Dark Aether Entity has a very deep and thick Russian accent.
  • Satan: For the longest time, it was heavily implied to be Old Scratch himself controlling the zombies in Mob of the Dead (although the quotes are Samantha's reused), what with the Satanic motifs decorating the prison, the zombies having red eyes, and the characters debating if they're in purgatory. The big clue, however, is entering either 115 or 935 into the electric number pad, and an unknown voice speaks, changing the numbers to 666.
    • Blood ultimately josses this, with Brutus shown to be speaking Apothicon in events within the map, revealing the Apothicons rule Alcatraz as well; presumably what Samantha was referring to concerning something worse in the Aether.
  • Voice Changeling: The entity's voice changes to whoever is in control of the Zombies. Cut quotes from Mob of the Dead have the Announcer speak in Sal's, Finn's and Billy's voicesnote , hinting that the Announcer can change voices at will. It also speaks in a few multiple voices in Outbreak, during certain objectives.

    The Shadow Man 

The Shadow Man/"Mr. Rapt"

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shadowman.jpg
"This has always ended one way. I have foreseen it." True formFinal form

"You are but fragments of a bigger universe. Your sins serve only as an invitation... An invitation to an evil beyond your imagination."

Played By: Robert Picardo (English)
Appearances: Shadows of Evil | Revelations | Blood of the Dead

A mysterious figure who offers the Morg City survivors a chance at redemption. At the dawn of time, he was a member of the Keepers and best friend of Doctor Monty. However, he joined the Apothicons and now serves as their emissary.


  • Back for the Finale: Returns for the final map pack of Black Ops III as the main antagonist of Revelations.
  • The Bad Guy Wins: Subverted. In a way, he ends up getting what he wanted all along: Nikolai destroys the multiverse at the end of the series, banishing everything to the Dark Aether. However, it comes at the cost of the Shadow Man's life, as he is still inside the Summoning Key when it's destroyed.
  • Barrier Warrior: When you fight him, you have to find a way to deplete his barrier before you can harm him.
  • Benevolent Boss: He's very polite and generously compensates his reporter friend for all of his hard work (it helps that as a reality-warping demon he can conjure as much money as he'd like), even if he is out to destroy him and his dimension.
  • Big Bad: Of the Shadows of Evil map. Turns out they were manipulating the four into unleashing his masters upon our universe.
  • The Corruption: Whispers and speaks to Maxis, telling him what to do. It was his voice that the original Richtofen heard after making contact with the MPD, leading him to a path of destruction. By extension it seems everyone who is corrupted by the Dark Aether and too much 115 exposure hears his voice, as later Pernell is clearly being driven insane by the Shadow Man's unheard demands to find out how to get to Agartha.
  • Cthulhumanoid: His real (or close enough) form.
  • Dark Messiah: Paints himself as a savior to most people he communicates with. He uses the Morg City crew to help try to bring his masters to our dimension after promising them redemption, and promised Maxis to help save his world by speaking to him. He was also this to Brutus, the Warden of Alcatraz, who revered him in a disgustingly pathetic, cultish fashion.
  • Deadpan Snarker: He's not without some snark here and there. When the Warden is prostrating before him during one of his prayers, the Shadow Man has a bemused "there's a good lad".
  • Evil All Along: His real goal is to pave the way for his masters to enter our realm directly.
  • Evil Former Friend: Of Doctor Monty. They were best pals until the Apothicons got their tentacles on him and corrupted him.
  • Evil Versus Oblivion: His conflict with Monty as revealed by the final stages of Black Ops IV. Monty wants to retain ultimate control without giving a damn for all the 115-induced horrors the Aether has led to, while the Shadow Man and the Apothicons want to outright destroy everything.
  • Final Boss: Of the Black Ops III season, as the Easter Egg to Revelations ends with a fight with him.
  • Faux Affably Evil: He's not a good person to say the least, but his speeches of "redemption" and various other We Can Rule Together-themed spiel has all the charm of an obvious Con Man.
  • Gone Horribly Right: His ultimate endgame to overthrow Doctor Monty and destroy the universe ultimately succeeded but at the cost of literally everything; the Apothicons are all banished forever to the Dark Aether as they were at the end of Revelations, and the Shadow Man himself was likely killed when Nikolai destroyed the Summoning Key.
  • Grand Theft Me: Corrupts Maxis through the Summoning Key and takes over his body to bring the Apothicons to the Aether.
  • Greater-Scope Villain:
    • Of Mob of the Dead and Blood of the Dead. He is the true master of the Warden who is the more direct antagonist of the maps, though he never appears in either of them, bar a jumpscare Easter Egg in Blood.
    • By default he's this for the entire Ultimis timeline, since he was the one who corrupted Ultimis Richtofen and led him down his destructive path that led to the destruction of the Earth twice-over by the end of Buried. Additionally, Classified and Alpha Omega reveal he corrupted Cornelius Pernell, whose hands run deep in Ultimis's backstory and plights during the time of World at War and Black Ops.
    • Though Monty is the main Arc Villain of Black Ops IV, the Shadow Man's influence is still strongly felt since he has a hand in every Aether map antagonist's actions, and he is the one who laid the trap in the form of Mob of the Dead that led to the cycle being broken in a bid to free his masters.
  • The Heavy: He's the direct enforcer of the Apothicons' will and is the most present antagonist of the Black Ops III - and by extension the entire Aether arc's - story.
  • Humanoid Abomination: Whatever he is, he most certainly ain't natural. Turns out he's the servant of an eldritch power, the Apothicons.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard:
    • The four people who he manipulated into opening a portal into his masters' realm turn on him, kill him and send the horrors he unleashed back to where they came from when they realise his deceit. It then happens again where upon his death at the hands of Richtofen, Dempsey, Nikolai, and Takeo, they use the Summoning Key, the same thing the previous four he manipulated used to imprison him to send the Apothicons back to oblivion.
    • Black Ops IV had him set forth a contingency plan involving the Warden that ultimately failed. Said plan resulted in the Apothicons, the Keepers and 115 being banished to the Dark Aether forever.
  • Knight of Cerebus: His presence heralds the endgame of the series' arc up to this point, and it grows Darker and Edgier as well. It also helps that he's an evil entity bent on bringing about the destruction of the entire universe through his masters, who are even worse than he is.
  • The Man Behind the Man: He was the one who corrupted Ultimis Richtofen and drove him to insanity and his mad quests for power that resulted in the destruction of the Earth. He calls that Richtofen his former "apprentice".
  • Manipulative Bastard: He orders the four chosen around to help them look for redemption. It's a crock of shit. His real goal is to cause The End of the World as We Know It.
  • Omnicidal Maniac: His mission is to let his dimension-destroying overlords turn the universe into a pile of rubble, so he more than fits the bill.
  • Outside-Context Problem: Monty was unaware of his presence inside the Summoning Key. Also served as this retroactively until Shadows of Evil, as the story focused on the direct antagonism of Samantha and Richtofen over what actually caused the whole thing to begin with.
  • Promoted to Playable: Not in Zombies, mind, but he is a playable character skin in Black Ops 4's Blackout mode.
  • The Reveal: He's actually an evil entity who works as an emissary of the Apothicons, seeking to help them corrupt and bring chaos and destruction to the entire universe.
  • Satan: Blood of the Dead reveals via the Warden's radio recordings (his voice is only audible if you listen while aiming through the Spectral Shield) that he is the Warden's Satanic master.
  • Villainous Breakdown: When the four chosen by him plot against him, his veneer slides away as his plans are uprooted from under his feet. It happens again in Revelations, when he tries to sweet-talk Primis into surrendering and turn them against Monty, and his last wisp has him furiously roaring that they'll pay for disobeying him.
  • Villains Never Lie: During Revelations, he's actually telling the truth when he informs the crew that once they defeat him, Monty will allow them to simply fade out of existence. Alpha Omega confirms his claims that Monty is evil.
  • Walking Spoiler: As The Heavy of the series, he has quite a few spoiler tags to his name.

    The Apothicons 

The Apothicons

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/apothicon.jpg
"This isn't any vague "woo-hoo" evil."

Appearances: Moonnote  | Mob of the Deadnote  | Shadows of Evil | Revelations | Blood of the Deadnote  | Tag Der Totennote  | Die Maschinenote 

The Apothicons are ancient entities that Doctor Monty regards as the ultimate evil in the universe. They bring chaos and darkness wherever they go, and Doctor Monty drafts the Primis crew to save the entire universe from them and their emissary, the Shadow Man. From Shadows of Evil onwards, one of them serves as the Demonic Announcer.


  • Always Chaotic Evil: Their sole focus seems to be spreading chaos and destruction throughout the universe by way of Element 115.
  • Ancient Astronauts: They are beings nearly as old as time itself who invaded Earth many centuries ago, their presence having nearly been forgotten. Tag der Toten even reveals that one deceased Apothicon's carcass lies at the bottom of the Atlantic ocean.
  • Ancient Evil: First alluded to by this title in the Origins selection screen, and then consistently referred to as such from then onward.
  • Bizarre Alien Biology: Even considering how eldritch they are, their insides don't seem to make a lick of sense with asymmetrical pillars made of bone, randomly-dotted holes from which Giant Spiders occasionally emerge, and a bizarre stomach-like organ hanging from the ceiling.
  • The Corruption: They are the ones who send Element 115 into the various dimensions, bringing havoc and destruction to any unfortunate dimension. The original timeline initially suffered this fate, as they corrupted Richtofen through the MPD and eventually caused the Earth's destruction via Maxis twice.
  • Eldritch Abomination: They are utterly alien in appearance and abilities, and take a clear influence from Lovecraft lore.
  • Final Boss: They serve this purpose when it comes to the narrative of Black Ops III.
  • The Ghost: They are first alluded to when Samantha warns Richtofen during Moon that something worse than him is lurking in the Aether, but do not properly appear nor is their role in the story explained until the endgame of the Black Ops III season. This is also the case for them in Cold War, as the re-emergance of the Zombies are the current threat. But they're still rotting in the Dark Aether. Somewhere...
  • Greater-Scope Villain: Of the entire series until Black Ops III, where they are properly introduced and take center stage, having been behind all the horrors the cast has faced over the years.
  • Hungry Menace: Monty says their appetites for life are insatiable and they plan to gobble up all of reality. The one seen in Revelations is happy to swallow the Pack-a-Punch machine and any of the Primis crew whole.
  • Kaiju: Their physical forms are gigantic and monstrous.
  • Mind Hive: Doctor Harvey Yena, in the Tag Der Toten radios, theorises after studying a dead Apothicon's sentient blood that a single Apothicon is merely a vessel representing millions of microscopic organisms. The blood itself is capable of moving by itself and communicating with Victis during the easter egg.
  • More Teeth than the Osmond Family: Perfectly visible from the outside, but you can get go inside an Apothicon during Revelations and you get to see countless teeth as you plummet down its throat.
  • Space Whale: They generally give off this vibe since they spend most of their time gently flying through space, yet are gigantic beasts. Intel in Cold War suggests they have mutated heavily since the reset of the universe, having grown limbs and becoming hulking bipedal monstrosities.
  • Shout-Out: They bear some resemblance to the Leviathans from The Avengers.
  • Unseen Evil: They are not properly seen in full until Revelations.
  • We Wait: After being defeated in the War of Agartha, they decided to wait eons until humanity's actions would tear open a rift for them to invade the universe. They planted some Divinium on Earth just to give a little nudge, however.
  • Womb Level: In Revelations, one of them eats the Pack-A-Punch machine, and after trapping it with Doctor Monty's Tesla Death Ray, you can get eaten by it and explore inside.

    The Keepers 

The Keepers

Appearences: Originsnote  | Shadows of Evil | Der Eisendrache | Zetsubou No Shima | Revelations | Alpha Omeganote  | Tag Der Totennote 

Also known as Angels or the Ancients, the Keepers are a race of mystical entities native to The Aether. Having existed since the beginning of the universe, they serve as self-appointed guardians of reality and Arch Enemies of the Apothicons, but more often than not end up opposing our heroes as well.


  • All Your Powers Combined: The giant corrupted Keeper in Der Eisendrache has attacks relating to each of the four elemental bows available to Primis.
  • Arch-Enemy: To their former brethren, the Apothicons.
  • Blue-and-Orange Morality: Their overall motives are understandable (stop the Apothicons, save the multiverse etc.) but the way they go about their business can be hard to follow.
  • The Corruption: They're just as, if not more so, susceptible to corruption via the Dark Aether as humans; said vulnerability is what created the Apothicons in the first place. The Keeper in Der Eisendrache is corrupted after only moments of occupying the M.P.D., and the almost all the ones encountered in Zetsubou No Shima and Revelations have joined the Apothicon forces. Even Doctor Monty and the Shadowman, who were two of the most powerful Keepers, were not safe from the grip of the Dark Aether.
  • Black Speech: The one time we hear a Keeper speak instead of shriek, it is equally as unpleasant.
  • Creepy Good: Deconstructed in Shadows of Evil. The Keepers are ultimately the good guys, but their frightening appearance and poor communication skills allow the much more talkative Shadow Man to trick the Morg City crew into fighting against them.
  • Demoted to Extra: They go from having physical appearances in four of the six Black Ops III maps, to only appearing in two cutscenes over the course of Black Ops IIII.
  • Eyeless Face: They have no discernable facial features other than a pair of nostrils and a massive maw filled with More Teeth than the Osmond Family.
  • Four-Fingered Hands: Keepers only have three fingers.
  • Eldritch Abomination: Downplayed compared to the Apothicons, but the Keepers clearly operate on a completely different level of existence from everything else.
  • Me's a Crowd: According to Doctor Monty, the Keepers, like our heroes, have been shattered and scattered across the newly-created multiverse, which makes it very difficult for them to directly intervene in events.
  • Multi-Armed and Dangerous: Larger Keepers with two pairs of arms can be seen participating in the First War in the Alpha Omega intro cutscene.
  • Red and Black and Evil All Over: Corrupted Keepers share the same red and black colour scheme as their new Apothicon masters.
  • Squishy Wizard: With the notable exceptions of the giant Keeper in Der Eisendrache and the Keeper Protector in Revelations, Keepers have very little in the ways of either offensive or defensive capabilities, despite being one of the first and most powerful races in the multiverse. They can pull off some crazy stuff via extended rituals, but in direct combat they are essentially reskins of regular zombies.
  • Our Angels Are Different: Jeb Brown (creator of the Pack-A-Punch machine) believed them to be angels. Considering their relation to the god-like Doctor Monty and their opposition to the monstrous Apothicons, they're the closest angelic analogue that the Zombies multiverse has.
  • Wizards from Outer Space: Their ritualistic manipulation of the energies of the Aether is indistinguishable from magic, which contrasts greatly with the advanced technology of Group 935.


Miscellaneous Characters

    Marines 
Appearances: Nacht Der Untotennote  | Verrücktnote  | Revelations | Alpha Omega

A four man squad of US Marines. In Verruckt, they are formed by Tank Dempsey, John Banana, Smokey, and Paxton "Gunner" Ridge.


  • Apocalyptic Log: In Revelations, you can find the last radio message recorded by John Banana, who details the failure of the mission to extract Peter McCain from the asylum and that the now-zombified Smokey is eating his brain as he speaks.
  • Covers Always Lie: The promotional artwork for Shi No Numa and Der Riese depicted Marines fighting zombies in the new locations, seemingly implying more Marines would be the playable characters. Shi No Numa instead introduces the Ultimis crew, and until the extra game modes of Black Ops II such as Grief, generic characters like the Marines are never used again.
  • Eaten Alive: John Banana dies a long, slow death as the zombified Smokey slowly eats his brain.
  • The Generic Guy: Unlike the other survivors after them (at least until Cold War), these guys have no real personality or characterization to speak of. In fact, they all share the same quotes between them (though one voice is oddly deeper than the others).
  • Red Shirt: With the exception of Dempsey and Gunner, the other Marines all perish at the end of Verruckt.
  • Semper Fi: They're US Marines, and they're able to survive without a lot of the special perks and weapons that Ultimis and co would have access to later down the line.

    Peter McCain 

Peter McCain

Voiced by: Liam O'Brien (English)
Appearances: Shi No Numa | Gorod Krovi | Alpha Omega

A U.S. Marine who was an American mole within Group 935. He was stationed at the Wittenau Sanatorium, and though he managed to flee, died when he was hung by his own parachute at the Rising Sun facility. However, fate would have more in store for him...


  • Back from the Dead: Broken Arrow uses the elemental shard to truly resurrect him, which is especially notable because they are able to actually bring back his mind and soul as opposed to just reanimating his body like 935's attempts at resurrection.
  • The Mole: He was an American mole in Group 935, but he was compromised shortly before the outbreak at Verruckt.
  • Posthumous Character: He is already dead by the time Ultimis arrives at the Rising Sun facility. Alpha Omega brings him back to life.
  • Suddenly Voiced: Peter is a character who has often been the subject of minor background references in Zombies lore, but Alpha Omega has his first speaking appearance.

    Pernell 

Doctor Cornelius Pernell/Avogadro

Voiced by: Unknown (World at War), Tom Kane (Black Ops IV) (English)

Appearances: Shi No Numa | TranZit | Classified | Alpha Omega

The handler of Group 935 mole Peter McCain and director of the Broken Arrow program. As he investigates 115's history around the globe, he soon becomes just as obsessed with it as the very people he is researching.


  • A God Am I: After he becomes Avogadro, he believes he has ascended beyond humanity.
  • Arc Villain: He is a major antagonist for the Aether story during Black Ops IV.
  • Ascended Extra: He originally only appeared via a mysterious radio message in Shi No Numa, but Black Ops IV gave him a large supporting role in the Aether storyline.
  • Bad Boss: Used his assistant's romantic feelings for him to manipulate her into unethical human experiments with the Elemental Shard.
  • Came Back Strong: Inverted. The Avogadro Victis encounters in TranZit is far weaker and less powerful than the one Ultimis and Primis battle in Alpha Omega since they took much of his power from him.
  • The Corruption: He was corrupted by the Dark Aether and, at the Shadow Man's imploring, became obsessed with finding a way to Agartha.
  • The Voiceless: He's quite talkative throughout Blacks Ops IIII and his boss fight, but doesn't speak a word in Black Ops II.

    Rushmore 

Rushmore

Voiced by: John de Lancie (English)
Appearences: Classifiednote  | Alpha Omega

An AI created oversee Camp Edward and the Broken Arrow program. After the incident that resulted in the creation of the Avogadro, the facility and Rushmore himself was shut down for 50 years until the joint Primis/Ultimis crew arrived to claim the Elemental Shard, accidentally waking him up in the process.

  • Benevolent A.I.: In spite of his suspicions and threats, Rushmore is willing to provide hints for easter egg steps and, if one inputs the correct codes, cheats and bonuses like perk discounts.
  • Big Brother Is Watching: Ultimis Nikoli quotes this trope verbatim when Rushmore is activated, and the AI's digital avatar certainly bears a sinister resemblance to the figurehead, but Rushmore himself otherwise averts this trope.
  • Eagle Land: Type 1, with a healthy dose of Red Scare.
  • Distaff Counterpart: To S.O.P.H.I.A. from Gorod Krovi. Both are A.I.s tasked with overseeing sites dedicated to the research of Element 115, both possess unfriendly attitudes towards our heroes and both serve as their primary roadblock during the main Easter Egg, forcing the crew to complete various tasks before allowing them access to their goal.
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: An apparent recording error prevents Rushmore from remembering what happened to Camp Edward in the first place.
  • Verbal Tic: He closes off conversations with various patriotic phases. He drops it during the easter egg when Camp Edward is in danger of exploding.
  • Uncertain Doom: When Samantha wrecks Camp Edward in the end cutscene, a truck can be seen flying into and destroying the Operations building that houses Rushmore. His fate is never confirmed, but it can be assumed that if that didn't finish him off, then the Moon rocket in Nuketown certainly did.

    George A. Romero 

George A. Romero

Well, I've always liked the "monster within" idea. I like the zombies being us. It's like, zombies are the blue-collar monsters.

Appearances: Call of the Dead

After discovering Nazi documents on zombies, he brings in four well-known horror actors to make a movie about it, until he becomes the first victim of the outbreak.


  • Ascended Fanboy: Well he was talking about zombies being the classic horror monster and his fascination with the Nazi zombies. Now he is one.
  • Big Bad: He's the boss zombie.
  • Boss Banter: Frequently spouts Faux Affably Evil lines at the survivors.
    George: Come on now,we're all friends here!
  • Celebrity Survivor: Kind of...he retains some of his human self as a zombie.
  • Horror Hunger: Suffers from this as a result of being turned.
  • Improbable Weapon User: Wields a flickering stage light.
  • Ink-Suit Actor: George Romero pitched in his likeness via motion capture.
  • Large and in Charge: He towers over the survivors and zombies alike. His real-life counterpart is 6'4.
  • Lightning Bruiser: He has over 250,000 base health points (and has another 250,000 added for every player in the game) and can move as fast as you can sprint when angry.
  • Tragic Villain: He didn't ask to be abducted and transformed into a monster. He regains his senses whenever he is killed.
  • Turns Red: If you shoot him or allow him to get too close, he'll take on a more rotted appearance and run you down as fast as you can sprint.
  • Uncertain Doom: The only follow-up to Call of the Dead so far has been the radios in Revelations, which mention that the cast and crew have been missing for six weeks. His glasses appear in Tag der Toten, but the character himself does not since the map is set before Call of the Dead; the characters act like the character of George Romero is deceased like his real-life counterpart was at the time of release.
  • Zombie Infectee: It's rather unlike other examples we've seen as he remains self-aware after apparently dying.

    Brock and Gary 

Brock and Gary

Voiced by: Fred Tatasciore (Brock) and Steve Blum (Gary) (English)
Appearances: Shangri-La

A fearless explorer and his assistant, respectively, who were on the hunt for a gateway into Agartha, and found themselves in the ancient temples of Shangri-La. They found far more than they bargained for, however, and end up pawns in Richtofen's grand scheme.


  • Cruel and Unusual Death: They are subjected to several of these during Shangri-La, with starving to death being their most generous death by far.
  • "Shaggy Dog" Story: All of their struggles end up for naught, as they are trapped presumably forever in the time loop of Shangri-La, doomed to die again and again without end.
  • Skewed Priorities: Brock is taken with all the fantastical mechanisms and architecture of Shangri-La, and this often ends up leading to his and Gary's deaths.
  • Those Two Guys: A pair of explorers who stick together for the duration of their journey.
  • Unwitting Pawn: They are ultimately manipulated by Richtofen to help him acquire the Focusing Stone, giving him the last relic he needed to take control of the zombies on the Moon.
  • The Voice: Neither of the pair are seen in person, and they are only heard.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: At one point, Gary yells at Brock for being more interested in agriculture than getting out alive.

    Sally 

Sally

Appearances: Revelations

George Romero's mysterious assistant, a woman who ended up traveling far and wide to investigate the disappearance of the Call of the Dead cast and crew, but ended up lost in time at Shangri-La.


  • Been There, Shaped History: Sally was responsible for at least one of Brock and Gary's multiple deaths in Shangri-La.
  • Fate Worse than Death: She jokes that being harassed by a horde of agents is worse than her current peril at the hands of hungry zombies.
  • "Groundhog Day" Loop: She becomes trapped in the cycle at Shangri-La, just like Brock and Gary.
  • Last Episode, New Character: She makes her debut in Revelations, the final map of Black Ops III.
  • Mysterious Watcher: She's investigated several trails of Ultimis' 115-powered adventures, and appears to have been present at Shangri-La during part of Ultimis' visit.
  • Obliviously Evil: She sets several traps that impede Brock and Gary, and by extension, Ultimis during Shangri-La.
  • Uncertain Doom: So far we haven't learned if she has escaped from Shangri-La.

    George Barkley 

George Barkley

Voiced by: Fred Tatasciore (Die Rise) (English)
Appearances: Die Rise | Alpha Omega

Former assistant director of the CIA facility in Georgia. Following the destruction of the Earth, he led a group of survivors, including fellow former CIA agents, from his headquarters in Druid Hills. Ten years after the missile strike, however, his headquarters was lost and he began to suffer from the new 115 plague.


  • The Bus Came Back: He returns in Alpha Omega, which reveals he was a member of Broken Arrow before he joined the CDC.
  • Irony: In his message, he warns that symptoms of 115 infection include psychosis, delusion, paranoia, and short-term memory loss. The thing is, in his message, he displays exactly those symptoms: he goes into a rant asking listeners if their closest companions are plotting against them, repeats short-term memory loss a few seconds later, etc.
  • Shoot the Dog: Barkley killed fourteen members of his team when they appeared to display symptoms of infection. Given his own paranoia, they may or may not have actually been infected.
  • The Virus: He is the one who discovered that a new plague of 115 has become airborne, meaning that all survivors are infected.

    Pablo Marinus 

Pablo Marinus/The Hermit

Voiced by: Fred Tatasciore (English)
Appearances: Kino der Totennote  | Tag der Toten

A soldier from Mexico who was among Ultimis Richtofen's first batch of human test subjects... or so it would seem. He is in fact a man who was reincarnated from the Great War in which Primis battled the Apothicons, and has a very particular place in all of this.


  • The Aloner: He was stranded at the Siberian outpost for many, many years to await the arrival of Victis.
  • Ascended Extra: He is one of the most obscure characters in the lore and is mostly only known as the Mexican soldier who died when Ultimis Richtofen removed his spleen. However, Tag der Toten establishes his very critical role in the entire saga.
  • Been There, Shaped History: He is ultimately the one who helps Primis Richtofen break the cycle by helping him escape to Alcatraz and setting the events of Blood of the Dead in motion.
  • Gadgeteer Genius: Is capable of fixing up broken engines, likely out of necessity due to being stuck in Siberia for entire decades.
  • Organ Theft: Richtofen offhandedly mentioned removing his spleen as far back as Call of the Dead in a radio, which supposedly killed him. You can give him said spleen back in a sidequest.
  • Spanner in the Works: From an otherwise unremarkable soldier in the Great War to one of the fulcrums in ending the cycle of the Aether universe.
  • The Voice: Only ever seen either as a shadow or from a distance in Tag Der Toten. He does have a model, however, and you can see his face in a jumpscare in the map.
  • Wild Hair: Many years being stuck in a Siberian outpost surrounded by zombies all around him has understandably made him not put much priority in appearances.


Chaos Story Characters

    Alistair Rhodes 

Alistair Rhodes

Voiced by: Charles Dennis (English)
Appearances: Voyage of Despairnote  | Dead of the Night | Ancient Evil

Scarlett Rhodes' wealthy father, whose research and adventures that him to the discovery of Prima Materia, the Sentinel Artefact and the Order, who promptly kidnapped him during a mansion party.


  • Eccentric Millionaire: His riches are spent just as much on futuristic inventions as they are on priceless artefacts.
  • Magnetic Hero: Every one of the playable characters in the Chaos story are familiar with him and speak with fondness. Scarlett's crew in particular are willing to fight to the death for his sake.
  • Omnidisciplinary Scientist: He's well versed in history, science, engineering, archelogy and mythology. All of the devices found around his mansion in Dead of the Night were of his design.
  • Turned to Stone: His apparent fate at the hands of Medusa, prior to Ancient Evil.
  • When You Coming Home, Dad?: His fixation on his adventures and research led him to neglect his daughter extensively, which greatly contributed to her current personality.

    The Order 

The Order

Voiced by: Fred Tatasciore (High Priest) (English)
Appearances: Voyage of Despairnote  | XI | Dead of the Nightnote  | Ancient Evilnote 

The main antagonists of the Chaos Story, the Order are an ancient and mysterious cult who seek to harness the power of Prima Materia themselves. They're responaible for the kidnapping of Alisatir Rhodes and the activation of the Sentinel Trial on every map except for Ancient Evil.


  • Ancient Conspiracy: They've existed for at least a thousand years.
  • Back from the Dead: What every member of the cult goes through as a rite of passage. They're killed and subsequently resurected by the Scepter of Ra, which results in them coming back Brainwashed and Crazy.
  • Bald of Evil: The High Priest and the cultist in Voyage of Despair both have this.
  • Big Bad: Of the Chaos Story as a whole. The High Priest directly takes this role in XI but otherwise serves as the Greater-Scope Villain. By Ancient Evil they've become part of a Big Bad Ensemble alongside the Oracle/Medusa.
  • Evil Versus Evil: What their conflict with the Oracle of Delphi turns out to actually be.
  • Large Ham: The High Priest in XI, as befitting the overseer of a gladiator tourney.
    High Preist: UNNNNNFORIGVABLE!
  • Malevolent Masked Men: In gold, silver and black varieties.
  • Religion of Evil: Implied. Whenever the Sentinel Artefact is activated, the voices of the Order can be heard chanting "Death to Ra". The enemy of Ra in Egyptian Mythology is Apep, God of Chaos, which holds major connotations for the Chaos story as a whole.
  • Third Eye: The biggest warning sign that someone is a member of the Order is the presence of a glowing red slit on their forehead.

    The Oracle of Delphi/Medusa 

The Oracle of Delphi/Medusa

Voiced by: Cissy Jones (English)
Appearances: XInote  | Ancient Evil

The fabled Oracle of Delphi, also known as The Phythia, who oversees the Chaos Crew's journey starting from XI. She has been trapped within her city, and promises to deliver the crew to Alistair if they free her...


  • Big Bad Ensemble: Is shaping up to be this alongside The Order for the future of the Chaos storyline.
  • Composite Character: She is both the real-life Oracle of Delphi and the gorgon Medusa of greek myth.
  • Damsel in Distress: Appears to be this at first, as the main objective of Ancient Evil's easter egg is to free her from the clutches of the Zombie Warlord. The ending subverts this, revealing her to instead be a Sealed Evil in a Can, at least by the time the story takes place.
  • Gorgeous Gorgon: With her snake hair concealed underneath her hood, she can pass off as a completely normal woman.
  • Mr. Exposition: Serves as this for Ancient Evil, not only providing the Chaos crew with hints and instructions regarding the map's mechanics, but occasionally recounting various Greek stories when the player is stood in certain areas.
  • Rage Against the Heavens: She has a rather low opinion of certain Greek gods and heroes, especially people's tendencies to ignore their more questionable acts. Justified as she is Medusa and the nearest example of an ancient hero is the Zombie Warlord.
  • Really 700 Years Old: She's been trapped in Delphi for centuries, and unlike the Warlord this isn't the result of being undead, but instead her status as a gorgon.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning: Flashes these at Diego in the ending cutscene, which may be the method by which she turns people to stone.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: She only activated the Sentinel Trial in the first place because the Zombie Warlord imprisoned her sisters, and is left distraught when they end up dead.
  • Walking Spoiler: It's hard to discuss much about the Oracle without bringing up her true identity as the antagonistic Medusa.

    The Zombie Warlord/Perseus 

The Zombie Warlord/Perseus

Voiced by: Andrew Morgado (English)
Appearances: Ancient Evil

A mysterious warrior who forced the Oracle of Delphi to activate the Sentinel Trial, confident that he would complete it and earn the god's favour. His failure to do so resulted in him being trapped and corrupted for centuries, until the Chaos crew arrive and threaten to claim his prize...


  • Adaptational Villainy: Perseus was one of the friendlier heroes within Classical Mythology, pride and ego notwithstanding, but here he's the ruthless ruler of an army of undead. Granted, this is all but stated to be a result of millenia of fighting, countless deaths and eventual corruption by Prima Materia.
  • Arch-Enemy: Of the Oracle of Delphi, whom he refers to by her alternate name 'The Phythia'. Their rivalry is very appropriate, considering he's responsible for slaying her in the original stories.
  • Big Bad: Of Ancient Evil. He's directly responsible for the state Delphi is in, commands the hordes of zombies within its walls and serves as the Final Boss of the main Easter Egg.
  • Divine Parentage: He's the son of Zeus, Top God within Greek mythology.
  • Facial Horror: Spending centuries trapped within Delphi hasn't left his face in good condition. His lips are torn and rotted, revealing a row of Scary Teeth.
  • Flying Weapon: He can throw his sword and pull it back, which he first demonstrates in the mid-game cutscene on Pegasus.
  • I Have Your Wife: He kidnapped the Oracle's sisters and subjected them to Cold-Blooded Torture in order to convince her to activate the Trial.
  • Public Domain Character: He's Perseus, the Greek hero who was suppossed to have slain Medusa.
  • Walking Spoiler: Knowing his true identity heavily foreshadows the identity of the Oracle.

    Pegasus 

Pegasus

Appearences: Ancient Evil

One of the most famous and recognisable creatures from Greek myth, Pegasus is a winged horse who assists the Chaos Crew as they journey through Delphi and what lies beyond...


  • Adaptational Heroism: In Greek myth, Pegasus was pure but as neutral as any animal. The Zombies version actively works to help the Chaos Crew alongside the Oracle, saving them from certain death in the Ampitheatre and flying them to the Pack A Punch area after they obtain the Golden Bridle. Potentially subverted by the reveal that the Oracle is Medusa, the mother of Pegasus in Greek myth, which throws into question whether he helped the Chaos crew only so they could free her to take over the world.
  • Glowing Eyes: His eyes glow a bright yellow. They transition to Red Eyes, Take Warning when he's killed and corrupted by Perseus during the boss fight.
  • Pegasus: The original, and the most iconic example.
  • Public Domain Character
  • Shock and Awe: He beats his wings to send out bolts of lightning, which is his main method of killing zombies.

Requiem

    Director of Requiem (SPOILERS

Edward "Eddie" Richtofen

Voiced by: Unknown (child), Nolan North (adult)

Appearances:
Aether: Origins | Revelations | Alpha Omega | Tag der Toten
Dark Aether: Outbreaknote  | Mauer der Toten | Forsaken
The enigmatic director of Requiem. He turns out to be Eddie, the child version of Doctor Edward Richtofen residing in Agartha with Samantha Maxis.
  • Big Good: As the leader of Requiem, and the man taking charge against the outbreak zones all over the world, he's this by default.
  • Canon Character All Along
  • The Ghost: For a while, he was last seen leaving the Dark Aether with Samantha when they were children, and she hasn't mentioned him once as a grown woman. The Director of Requiem was an In-Universe ghost to pretty much everyone, even the higher-ups, and we only get a proper physical appearance in Mauer der Toten when we see his body and Forsaken when we finally see his face, confirming that he is indeed an adult Eddie.
  • He's All Grown Up: He's a grown-up Eddie, and looks exactly like Primis Richtofen with slicked-back hair and a clean-shaven face.
  • His Story Repeats Itself: His scientific calling and unethical methods are right on-point with what is to be expected from Edward Richtofen. Thankfully, he seems to be much more in-line with Primis Richtofen than Ultimis Richtofen.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: His methods are quite unethical, including killing some of his own agents and torturing Samantha to test her powers, but he is clearly trying to contain the threat of the Dark Aether and does genuinely care for his team. That being said, he still calls for Requiem's arrest and dismantlement after the events of Forsaken lead to Samantha performing a Heroic Sacrifice in order to seal the titular threat away.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: This was the case with Eddie for a long time until Forsaken. Not even Samantha mentioned him despite how important he was to her, though it could be chalked up to amnesia and painful memories.

    Grigori Weaver 

Grigori Weaver

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/weaver_hud_icon_bocw.png
Voiced by: Gene Farber
Appearances: Die Maschine | Firebase Z | Outbreak

A Cold War hero and the commanding officer of Requiem. He is trying desperately to reach out to Samantha Maxis in order to contain the dimensional breaches of the Dark Aether. For more information on him, click here.

    Mackenzie Carver 

Mackenzie Carver

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mackenziecarver_hud_requiem_zombies_bocw.png

Voiced by: Keston John
Appearances: Die Maschine | Firebase Z | Outbreak | Mauer der Totennote  | Forsaken

Head of Requiem's Containment and Security division.


  • Bald of Authority: Downplayed; he's a no-nonsense commander with a bit of hair on his head, but it's little enough to pass.
  • The Comically Serious: He's fairly professional and very stoic, but is the only other leader of Requiem besides Dr. Grey who cracks any jokes.
  • Deadpan Snarker: A good few of his comments showcase a dry wit.
    "Phew.. This is quite the Charlie Foxtrot.. Nazi experiments, dimensional gateways, the undead.. Shit, it must be Christmas. We should buy lottery tickets."
  • Gender-Blender Name: Would you expect a name Mackenzie from a man like this?
  • Pun:
    ''"Good work strike team but, you can't leave the job half done !"
  • Stay Frosty: Says this word for word early on in Die Maschine.
  • The Stoic: Even morseo than Weaver, to the point of being his primary character trait. When the Strike Team first enters the Dark Aether, he doesn't show too much emotion, though he is evidently surprised and concerned.
  • The Vietnam Vet: A recording from him found in Firebase Z has him reminisce on his experience fighting in 'Nam, as this mission involves sending the team there. Given Mason and Woods' explanation that Adler and Sims fought alongside them back during the events of Black Ops, it's very likely that Carver has history with Operators such as Woods, Adler, Mason, Hudson, or Sims.
    "I won't lie. It's a strange feeling, sending you to 'Nam. Feels like yesterday I was being flown out. Man, that first week... It was hot. Wet. No matter what you did, you couldn't get rid of 'the stick'. You'd try washing it off and it'd just make it worse - and don't get me started on the damn lizards in the showers. Hard years. I lost men. Family. Brothers. Then there was Apache Snow. But that's a story for another time. Let's just say when we came back 'the stick' stuck with us. I spent years trying to clean it off."

    Elizabeth Grey 

Doctor Elizabeth Grey

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elizabethgrey_hud_requiem_zombies_bocw.png

Voiced by: Amy Louise Pemberton
Appearances: Die Maschine | Firebase Z | Outbreak | Mauer der Totennote  | Forsaken

Head of Unnatural Sciences at Requiem.


    Oskar Strauss 

Doctor Oskar Strauss

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/oskarstrauss_hud_requiem_zombies_bocw.png

Voiced by: Thure Riefenstein
Appearances: Die Maschine | Firebase Z | Outbreak | Mauer der Totennote  | Forsaken

Head of Energy Research at Requiem and former head of atomic research at Projekt Endstation.


  • The Atoner: He feels incredibly guilty about his involvement with Projekt Endstation, and wants to use his knowledge to help contain the consequences.
  • Been There, Shaped History: A radio transmission in Firebase Z states that he had a very brief and very horrific working experience with one Friedrich Stiner, implying he once worked on Project Nova. Thankfully the work horrified him, and he bailed.
  • Bus Crash: He’s confirmed as dead during the events of Operation Deadbolt. Considering his age during the events of Black Ops Cold War, it’s fairly easy to assume that he died of natural causes.
  • Herr Doktor: A rare heroic variant. He's quite adamant about not being a Nazi.
  • Insufferable Genius: Not to the same extent as the Peck, but he speaks to the Operaters like one would a child. He considers them simply incapable of understanding a single world he says, and even compares them to walking slabs of meat holding sub-machine guns. Which is funny as a good portion of potential Operaters probably would know what he's on about - and one, Samantha, knows more about the Aether then he ever could.
  • Large Ham: He tends to speak in a dramatic manner at times.
  • Punch-Clock Villain: He makes it very clear that he was never a Nazi and took up the job purely to survive.
"I know you have your suspicions about me. I hear what your type says about me in the halls. "Mein Gott. Is that Doctor Oskar Strauss, former Nazi scientist? They put him in charge of Energy Research? It is so horrible." To this I have two things to say. One: I was never a fucking Nazi. I am, and always have been, a man of science trying to survive in a nasty, despicable world."
  • Token Enemy Minority: As the only German leader on the communications team and a former member of Projekt Endstation.

    Raptor-1 

"Raptor-1"

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/raptor_1_infobox_bocw.png

Voiced by: Derek Phillips
Appearances: Die Maschine | Firebase Z | Outbreak | Mauer der Toten | Forsaken

Requiem's dedicated pilot.


  • Ace Pilot: This is why he's Requiem's go-to pilot for their operations.
  • Cool Shades: His aviators. Then again..
  • Deep South: Judging by his accent, he comes from the Southern United States.
  • Distressed Dude: In Mauer der Toten. This is how Kravchenko gets the Requiem Strike Team to do his bidding.
  • Not Quite Dead: His helicopter is shot down in the Outbreak easter egg, and his motionless body is dragged out by an Omega grunt. However, as seen in Mauer der Toten, he is in fact alive, if banged up pretty badly. Kravchenko uses him as a bargaining chip for the Requiem Strike Team to do what he says or else he'll kill Raptor-1.
  • Undying Loyalty: Promo intel for Mauer der Toten transcribes Kravchenko's torture of Raptor-1. However, he refuses to cough up information and instead keeps repeating his callsign and rank, even if it earns him more abuse.

Omega Group

    Lev Kravchenko 

Colonel Lev Kravchenko

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/levkravchenko_hud_omega_zombies_bocw.png
Voiced by: Andrew Divoff
Appearances: Firebase Z | Outbreak | Mauer der Toten | Forsaken

Leader of Omega Group and Canon Immigrant from the main Black Ops series. For more information on him, click here.

    Aleksandra Valentina/Angelika Hannabelle Vogel 

Doctor Aleksandra Valentina/Angelika Hannabelle Vogel

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/valentina_firebasez_bocw.png
Valentina in her human form
Click here to see Valentina in her Ascended Form
Voiced by: Sadie Alexandru
Appearances: Die Maschine | Firebase Z | Mauer der Toten

A high-ranking member of Omega Group and its Lead Scientist of Psychotronics Research.


  • Daddy's Girl: She clearly loved her father very much and her allegiance with Omega was purely to further his evil plans.
  • The Dragon: Although she was the one to propose targets for Operation Inversiya, she is relegated to this with Kravchenko assuming leadership of the operation.
  • Dragon with an Agenda: As revealed in an audio log, Valentina seems to be working for an unknown entity and is using Omega Group to further this entity's plan. Mauer der Toten reveals that the entity is in fact "The Forsaken", who has been impersonating her father, Dr. Ulrich Vogel.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: Like Peck, Valentina first appeared as a spectral ghost during Die Maschine's easter egg before making a physical appearance in Firebase Z.
  • Evil Uncle: Her uncle forced her to work in his factory, believing she shouldn't have a proper education. Later, when he learned that she was accepted into a university, he attempted to lock her in his basement. This turned out to be a lie: as her uncle didn't want her to know of the horrors that he witnessed from the Dark Aether when he was a part of Project Endstation.
  • Kick the Dog: She slits her uncle's throat when he attempted to prevent her from furthering her education. However, it's later revealed she poisoned him when she believed he abandoned Dr. Vogel's plan.
  • The Mole: She is actually Dr. Vogel's daughter attempting to reach out to him, or who she thinks is him, in the Dark Aether. She managed to convincingly falsify her records as a Soviet KGB agent to earn her rank amongst Omega.
  • Self-Made Woman: In defiance of her uncle, she educated herself in the sciences, particularly biochemistry, microbiology, and physics.
  • Those Wacky Nazis: She is actually trying to bring back the Reich in honor of her father, Dr. Vogel.

    William Peck 

Doctor William Peck

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/williampeck_hud_omega_zombies_bocw.png
Peck in Firebase Z
Click here to see Peck in Mauer der Toten
Voiced by: Zeke Alton
Appearances: Die Maschine | Firebase Z | Outbreaknote  | Mauer der Toten | Forsaken

Former Program Leader in the Department of Defense, now head of Omega Group's Exoscientific Phenomena Research division.


  • Butt-Monkey: He's a No-Respect Guy amongst Omega who gets drugged by Requiem and is regularly talked down upon and threatened by his superiors. Oh, and Kravchenko takes out his right eye for the events that took place in Outpost 25.
  • Contempt Crossfire: Not a single person in the mode has a good thing to say about him. Not Weaver (considering he captured Samantha and threw her into the Dark Aether), not Ravenov (who is also good friends with Samantha and is horrified to hear what Peck did to her), not Requiem (as he's a traitor to his home country), not even Omega Group (who find him just as insufferable as everyone else and even worked behind his back).
  • Dr. Jerk: Brilliant scientist. Massive asshole. This is only part the reason he was passed over for multiple promotions, leading to him joining Omega Group, and boy do you see his nasty side in Firebase Z and Mauer Der Toten.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: First appears as a spectral ghost during Die Maschine's easter egg before making a physical appearance in Firebase Z.
  • Enemy Mine: Allies himself with Requiem during the events of Forsaken.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Despite otherwise lacking in empathy, he speaks fondly of a woman named Martha whilst under the influence of the truth serum. As well as a Captain Whiskers.
  • Eye Scream: He has his eye gouged out by Kravchenko at the end of Firebase Z as punishment for Requiem's interference. His portrait in the comms has him don an eyepatch over his right eye.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: When we see him again in 1990, the left side of his face is covered in burn scars.
  • Hate Sink: In case it wasn't apparent, there's basically nothing redeemable about him. Even Kravchenko can agree on that one.
  • Heel–Face Turn: Over the course of Forsaken, tired of Kravchenko believing he can control the Forsaken, and not caring about his status in the USSR anymore, he defects from Omega and works with Requiem to seal him away.
  • Insufferable Genius: Has an IQ of 179, and seems incapable to talking to anyone without insulting them. This slowly goes away during the main quest of Forsaken, with him becoming a lot more cordial with Requiem as they work to stop the Forsaken.
  • In-Series Nickname: Is often called "Comeback Kid" by Gorev after his failure after Firebase Z.
  • Karma Houdini: Subverted in Firebase Z. While Requiem don't get their hands on him, Omega Group do, and they're not exactly happy that he let the base fall and Requiem escape with their prize, and Kravchenko takes one of his eyes in response.
    • Played straighter in Forsaken; thanks to helping Requiem seal away the Forsaken for good, he gets to walk away from Omega and flee to Japan.
  • The Mole: Intel from Season 6 states that he is affiliated with Requiem.
  • The Sociopath: Explicitly described in intel as an undiagnosed sociopath, which has resulted in him being passed on for promotions numerous times.
  • Sole Survivor: Peck winds up being last active member of Omega Group by 1990, with Kravchenk, Gorev and Jager having disappeared.
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Ends up becoming one in Forsaken. Seems like listening to Zykov was the wrong call to make.

    Sergei Ravenov 

Kapitan Sergei Ravenov

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sergeiravenov_hud_zombies_bocw.png
Ravenov in Firebase Z
Voiced by: Andrew Morgado
Appearances: Firebase Z | Outbreak | Forsaken | Operation: Deadbolt

An Omega Group operative secretly working with Requiem. As of 2021, he's allied himself with the CIA-run Operation Deadbolt.


  • Conflicting Loyalty: Surprisingly averted. Ravenov's loyalty to the Motherland remains steadfast in spite of his betrayal. He was able to recognize that Omega Group had gone gone too far and and subsequently choose to be Good over Lawful.
  • Handicapped Badass: His left arm is crippled somehow, but according to his official Omega Group report, he is a "vicious, ruthless killer".
  • I Choose to Stay: Turn's down Samantha's offer to officially join Requiem during the Firebase Z end cutscene, instead remaining undercover within Omega in order to investigate a major anomaly in the Ural Mountains.
  • Large Ham: Strauss describes him as "possessing a sense of theatrics". He gets particularly riled up during Assault Rounds.
  • Mission Control: Thanks to his injury reducing his significant combat skills, he is forced into sharing this role with Weaver for Firebase Z.
  • The Mole: He's working with Omega Group but is actively assisting Requiem on their quest to save Samantha and contain the Dark Aether.
  • Silver Fox: He's pushing 70 by the time of Modern Warfare III, and still looks as rugged as ever.
  • Token Enemy Minority: Downplayed. He's affiliated with Omega Group as a mole for Requiem, but Warsaw Pact Operators, even those who work under Perseus of all people, also work for Requiem.
  • Token Good Teammate: Of Omega Group, as he is a mole attempting to stop their control of the Dark Aether.

    Gorev 

Gorev

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gorev_hud_omega_zombies_bocw.png
Voiced by: Zeke Alton
Appearances: Outbreaknote  | Mauer der Toten | Forsaken

Kravchenko's second in command and Omega Group's Tactical Operations Lead.


  • Captain Obvious: He gives you some insightful commentary if you pick up a fuse in Mauer der Toten before turning on the power.
    "A fuse? Perhaps we use it to repair fuse box..?"
  • The Dragon: Serves as this to Kravchenko.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He has a son at home who he mentions occasionally. When you pick up a battery from the first Krasny Soldat you kill in Mauer der Toten, he says you can just give it to him if you have no use for it, as his son needs a new one for his RC car.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: His interactions with Peck have him act as a Chummy Commie, but after the events of Firebase Z, he makes sure Peck knows that he's under a lot more scrutiny should he fail again.
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: As revealed in an intel, Gorev is a codename.
  • Pop-Cultured Badass: Gorev seems to have a fondness for Western movies, referencing An American in Paris and the Man with No Name in some intel.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: He and Jager abandon Omega during the events of Forsaken, both realising they're in a situation they can't control and reasoning that they should leave the failure to Kravchenko and Kravchenko alone.
  • The Voice: In his appearences in Firebase Z and Outbreak, in audio logs and radio transmission intel. He makes a physical appearance in Mauer der Toten.

    Hugo Jager 

Hugo Jager

Appearances: Outbreak | Mauer der Toten | Forsaken

The research lead of Omega Group's Necro-Analytics department.


  • The Mole: Jager infiltrated a group of defecting Omega Group scientists in order to set a trap for Requiem's Strike Team in the Season 4 Outbreak easter egg.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: He and Goreb abandon Omega during the events of Forsaken, both realising they're in a situation they can't control and reasoning that they should leave the failure to Kravchenko and Kravchenko alone.
  • Torture Technician: He personally tortured and killed the Omega Group defectors. Intel reveals that he made use of a paralyzing cocktail to incapacitate them beforehand.
    Though, unfortunately for them, they will still be able to feel pain when I begin my... work.
  • Undying Loyalty: Towards Omega Group. He says as much in the last audio log of the Season 4 Outbreak easter egg:
    But there is no honor in betraying Omega. It is a despicable act of cowardice.
  • The Voice: In Outbreak. Subverted in Mauer der Toten, where he makes a proper appearance.

Dark Aether

    The Forsaken 

The Forsaken/Kazimir Zykov

Voiced by: Andrew Morgado
Appearances: Die Maschine | Firebase Z | Outbreak | Mauer der Toten | Forsaken

An Elder God who dwells in the Dark Aether and the main antagonist of the Dark Aether storyline.


  • Big Bad: Serves as this and as the announcer for the Zombies mode in Cold War.
  • Evil Sounds Deep: Speaks with a menacing growl.
  • A Form You Are Comfortable With: Employs this in order to get humans to open outbreak zones on Earth, like appearing as Ulrich Vogel to get Valentina to create the outbreak zone in Mauer der Toten. He also uses this when he's brought to Earth in Forsaken, using the guise of Zykov before revealing his true form.
  • Puny Earthlings: Holds humanity in contempt for fighting in petty conflicts.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: He goes on a rant mocking humanity and their "pathetic conflict".
  • Tragic Villain: Once a normal Russian solider now transformed into an otherworldly abomination with a hatred for humanity
  • Walking Spoiler: Kazimir Zykov is the Forsaken.

    Kazimir Zykov 

Kazamir Zykov

Voiced by: Andrew Morgado
Appearances: Die Maschinenote  | Firebase Znote  | Outbreaknote  | Mauer der Toten note  | Forsaken

A World War II Soviet tank engineer who was tasked to originally shut down the Cyclotron in Die Maschine. Although he succeeded, he became trapped in the Dark Aether for several years. Zykov would make attempts to establish contact with anyone who can bring him home.


  • Big Bad: As it turns out, he's the Forsaken.
  • Canine Companion: Managed to nurse a Hellhound back to health during his time in the Dark Aether. He even named it Cinder. Unfortunately, Cinder dies.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: Zykov was the soldier who was given a medal and then sealed in Projekt Endstation in the intro for Die Maschine.
  • The Engineer: He served in the 1st Guards Tank Army and was able to use salvaged parts from German tanks to repair Soviet tanks. Likewise, he managed to create a transmitter to contact anyone from the Dark Aether.
  • Humans Are Bastards: Adopted this viewpoint while he was trapped in the Dark Aether.
  • Playing Both Sides: Defied. He has been in contact with both Requiem and Omega Group, but his motivation is merely to return home and stop The Forsaken. This also winds up becoming played straight when it turns out he is The Forsaken and played both sides simply so he could destroy both factions.
  • Walking Spoiler

    Pyotr 

Pyotr

Appearances: Die Maschinenote  | Firebase Znote  | Outbreaknote 

A Soviet soldier who was originally sent into the Dark Aether to collect samples of the dimension. Unfortunately, he would end up among many of the lost souls trapped in the Dark Aether.


Operation Deadbolt

    Selma Greene 

Selma Greene

Voiced by: Debra Wilson (English)

Commander of Operation Deadbolt.


    Soap 

Johnny "Soap" MacTavish

Voiced by: Neil Ellice (English)

An Operator for Task Force 141. See here for more information on him.


    Hugo Barrera 

Doctor Hugo Barrera

Voiced by: Antony Del Rio (English)

A doctor specializing in Dark Aether research.


  • Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Definitely on the eccentric side but a brilliant doctor nonetheless. His inventions help clean up the outbreak zones.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: A little out there, to say the least. Sometimes he'll randomly ring you mentioning that he just remembered the mess hall was serving Sloppy Joes.
  • Ditzy Genius: An excellent doctor but definitely a bit loony and awkward.
  • Expy: To Dr. Grey, being the absentminded Plucky Comic Relief doctor of Mission Control.

    Amy Fang 

Amy Fang

Voiced by: Erika Ishii (English)

Deadbolt's trusted evac pilot.


  • Expy: Of Raptor-1, serving the role of the player's evac pilot.

    Ava Jansen 

Dr. Ava Jansen

Voiced by: Denise Hoy

A physicist who specialises in Aetherium studies, recruited by Deadbolt to thwart Terminus Outcomes and contain the undead.


  • Expy: A more direct one to Dr. Grey, which makes sense, as she's her daughter.
  • The Smart Guy: Knows the most about the effects of Aetherium on the team.

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