Characters / Gears Of War Coalition Of Ordered Governments Major Families

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Index

• Coalition of Ordered Governments
  • Major Families
  • Delta Squad
  • DeeBees
• Locust Horde
  • The Swarm
• Lambent
• Stranded
• Gorasni

Fenix Family

Sergeant Marcus Michael Fenix

Voiced by: John DiMaggio, Dave Bautista (Gears 5 alternate skin)

"I got to admit, It's tough to keep going. Everyone I loved is dead. Some call them the lucky ones.. the ones that died on E-day, they never lived to see how much we've lost and how many principles we've compromised. But whenever I doubt what we're fighting for I just look to my squad. I mean maybe it's a good thing we lost everything. It's like a clean slate. We can make the world we always wanted to. Without repeating the same mistakes. I look at guys like Jace and Dom and realize we'll inherit this world. We're the ones who will make Sera beautiful again. That's a world worth fighting for."

Marcus is a quiet, stoic guy, who prefers to do his talking with his gun, and is best friends with Dominic "Dom" Santiago. His best friend had been Dom's older brother Carlos Santiago, who was killed at the Battle of Aspho Fields in the Pendulum Wars. Regarded as the defining hero of the Pendulum Wars, he fought on the frontlines of the Human-Locust War until he abandoned his post in an attempt to save his father Adam Fenix from death, taking with him the targeting locator for the Hammer of Dawn, and costing the COG its capital city of Ephyra. He failed, and was sentenced to prison for his dereliction of duty, being spared only by the fact he was a former war hero. Four years later, Dom breaks him out of prison, and Marcus rejoins the army, being pardoned due to the need for soldiers, as the Locust are inching closer and closer to putting humanity into extinction.

---

• The Atoner: For his actions during the Battle of Ephyra, in which he disobeyed orders to reinforce a bridge, instead lying to his squad and a King Raven crew to fly him to his father’s house in an attempt to save him, accidentally taking a vital part of a Hammer of Dawn targeting laser with him. End result: his father is assumed dead, the bridge falls when Hoffman fails to reach it in time with the incomplete targeting laser, resulting in hundreds of dead Gears and the Locust entering the rest of Ephyra.

• Badasses Wear Bandanas: He's nigh-inseparable from his do-rag.
• Bash Brothers: Originally with Carlos, and then with Dom.
• Battle Couple: With Anya.
• Berserk Button:
  • Don't say anything bad about his dad if you aren't friends with him and don't insult his fallen comrades. After Dom's death scene and the event with Griffin. Exaggerated in Gears of War 3 after Dom's Heroic Sacrifice and used as a Shut Up, Hannibal! to Aaron Griffin.
    "I JUST LOST MY FUCKING BROTHER! YOU HEAR THAT?! MY BROTHER!!! YOU, YOUR TOWER AND ALL THIS FUCKING IMULSION CAN GO TO HELL!!!"
  • Failing to perform an Active Reload across all game modes will also happen: while most of the time he merely expresses annoyance and frustration when it happens, sometimes he'll elicit a very vehement "GOD DAMN SON OF A BITCH!"
  • He's also livid at the prospect of his tomatoes being ruined in ''Gears of War 4''.
• Beware the Quiet Ones: He's not the most talkative guy but he's not any less dangerous to his enemies. Also he won't hesitate to call anyone out on their bullshit with a bunch of screaming.
• Big Good: Despite him not liking to be called a hero, He will always protect his friends and family from all enemies, including the Locust Horde to ensure humanity’s survival.
• Blue Blood: Not that he cares, but during the Pendulum Wars he sometimes used his status to find out more information for his squad.
• Broken Hero: A legendary war hero by the events of Gears 4, but he suffered a lot. Lost his two adopted brothers, both of his parents, saw many of his fellow soldiers die, and sometime prior to 4, his wife, Anya died. And depending on your choice in Gears 5, he would have lost his one and only child, too.
• Brutal Honesty: Marcus is not the guy to sugarcoat things to make matters sound less dangerous than what they are. He'll tell you like it is and definitely won't hold back when he's giving a "Reason Why You Suck" Speech.
• Call to Agriculture: In 4, having left the COG and retired from the public eye, Marcus spends his days growing tomatoes and planning ways to fix up his late spouse's estate. Within an hour of JD showing up, both of those are demolished beyond repair.
• Cannot Spit It Out: His affections for Anya; the fact that they were together since the Pendulum Wars and Everyone Can See It doesn't help. Thankfully, she realizes this and tells him she feels the same way. After he gets out of prison, they resume their quiet relationship.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: His main flaw is that he feels he has a duty to save everyone, despite reality repeatedly hitting him over the head with the fact that is impossible. He got this from his father, which is one of the few things they have in common.
• Character Development: In Gears 4, he reconnects with his son and bonds with the other members of the party.
• Covered With Good Scars, Evil Scars: One across his lip since the Pendulum Wars, and many more gained from his time in prison. The damage to his face is from a dog being set upon him by one of the prison wardens whose son died on the frontline and hated Marcus for his actions during the Battle of Ephyra.
• Crazy-Prepared: After JD and Del went AWOL from the COG, Marcus retained both of their armors and accumulated a venerable stockpile of weaponry in case his son comes to him for help. As it turns out, he wasn't too far off the mark.
  Marcus: I knew you'd be back. Probably with your ass on fire.
• Cultured Warrior: Is from a rich, aristocratic family and his natural speaking voice is apparently very posh and sophisticated, with the scratchy-voiced badass we get to hear being a deliberate affectation. He prefers to speak that way because he wants be seen and treated as just one of the guys, and not some rich asshole who thinks he's better than everyone else. He'll still occasionally pull out the posh voice when speaking to other aristocrats though, since it tends to get better results.
• Deadpan Snarker: Not as often as Baird, but he usually can't pass up the opportunity to snark, especially at Victor Hoffman. Hoffman notes at one point that Marcus manages to make "sir" sound like "asshole" when acknowledging an order.
• Death Glare: Which many others remark is made worse by his pale blue eyes.
• Death Seeker: When he was first put in prison, he hoped to die quickly so his friends would forget about him and continue on with their lives, since he assumed he would never get out. After Prescott visited and suggested he might one day be a Gear again, he got his spirit back and began working to find a way to escape and rejoin the fight.
• Determinator: Nothing can make him give up, and each loss he suffers just makes him more determined to win.
• Disappeared Dad: Adam was there, but was extremely emotionally distant.
• Disney Death: After being rescued from the Snatcher in 4, he initially appears to be very much dead. JD spends the next minute or so pounding on his chest and desperately pleading for him to Please Wake Up, to no effect. Just when JD is finally ready to accept that he really is dead, then he starts coughing and sputtering, revealing he's actually alive.
• Do-Anything Soldier
• Famed In-Story: Was one of the last heroes to come out of the Pendulum Wars before E-Day.
• Flashback Nightmare: How Gears of War 3 begins; Expanded Universe reveals Marcus has been having the same nightmare for years.
• Genius Bruiser: Shows this much more in the books rather than the games.
• Good Is Not Nice: Marcus is considerably rough around the edges and doesn't seem like the guy you'd expect to be soft even though he's one of the good guys.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: His facial scars actually fall more on the evil side of the spectrum, even though he's a good guy. Of course, he did get them in prison. Evil scars are probably the only kind they give out there.
• Grumpy Old Man: In Gears of War 4. He was already grumpy to begin with, so now that he's actually become an old man, it gets turned up a notch.
• Guest-Star Party Member: Joins his son and his friends temporarily in Gears of War 4, until he is taken by a Snatcher. He rejoins after being rescued.
• The Hero: Just don't tell him that: he hates being called a hero.
• Heroic BSoD: He usually holds himself together exceptionally well, but completely shuts down for a short time after Dom's death, then once more (for an even shorter time) after his father dies. Then, he does so again after the Locust begin to die off from the firing of Adam's weapon. He trudges slowly away from the celebrations of his fellow Gears, shedding his armor a piece at a time and sitting by himself on the beach. The look on his face shows that he didn't expect this to ever happen, and with good reason: he's been at war literally his entire adult life and has no idea what to do with himself.
  Marcus: What's left, Anya? What have we got left now?
  Anya: Tomorrow, Marcus. We've finally got a tomorrow!
  • Potentially goes through another in 5, should Kait choose to save Del over JD when presented with the Sadistic Choice.
• He's Back!: With Gears 3 being billed as the last game to feature Delta Squad, quite a large number of fans were worried that Marcus wouldn't appear at all in Gears 4 and would largely be forgotten about...until a recent gameplay trailer showed JD and his squad taking cover in a building from a nearby windflare. The camera looks at a mysterious shadowy figure inside, who is revealed to be Marcus himself. Granted, since he is 62 in this game, he looks a bit different now.◊ And another later video showed that he will join the player's squad for a brief time at least. Just the one line spoken by him to his son in that low voice lets you know that the legendary war hero isn't hanging up his uniform quite yet.
  Marcus: Welcome home, James.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Dom, and Carlos before him.
• Hope Bringer: To the point where Hoffman makes a point of having Marcus walk with him near the frontlines before a battle in order to boost morale. Said battle was the one for Ephyra.
• Icy Blue Eyes: Expanded Universe states it's a Fenix family trait.
• Ink-Suit Actor: Somewhat to John Dimaggio, though not as pronounced as Augustus Cole's.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Gruff, no-nonsense sort of man, but means well.
• Large Ham: Though not as large as Cole's. Still, Marcus does have his moments.
• Lantern Jaw of Justice: It's practically a third of his face (excluding the rest of his head).
• Lonely Rich Kid: Before he met Carlos and Dom.
• Made of Iron: Due to the amount if scars the guy has just shows how tough he really is. Especially in his older age where he can still take a lot of punishment.
• Military Brat: His father was deployed to active duty for most of his early childhood.
• Military Maverick: Enlisted as a private instead of following his father's wishes and going to OCS. His career after that was marked with unorthodox tactics and twisting orders around to achieve better results.
• Missing Mom: His mother vanished in The Hollow while doing her research. It's later revealed that she had discovered the Locust and was killed after making contact with them.
• Non-Idle Rich: He refuses to be a normal COG aristocrat and joins the army as a regular soldier.
• No One Gets Left Behind
• Non P.O.V. Protagonist: In the novels, which all switch P.O.V. frequently and allow readers to see the point of view and thoughts of almost every important character throughout the series...except for Marcus. This most likely serves to highlight his nature of keeping his emotions and past traumas completely hidden, even from the audience.
• Not Staying for Breakfast: Marcus never once spent the night at Anya's apartment; not because he was worried about being found out, but because he has terrible nightmares and was afraid of hurting her in his sleep.
• Outliving One's Offspring: Potentially, if Kait saves Del instead of JD near the end of Gears 5.
• Parental Neglect: While Adam and Elain were around for most of his early childhood, they tended to be too busy working to pay much attention to Marcus.
• Perpetual Frowner: Marcus NEVER smiles; to emphasize, Word of God says he doesn't smile when it's his birthday... even when there's cake.
• Papa Wolf: Marcus fears anything bad happening to JD at all, which is why he strongly disapproves of his son joining the COG. His response to Jinn ordering him to hand over his son is to take a Lancer chainsaw to the DeeBee she's controlling. He also screams in panic when a Swarm controlled DeeBee begins to choke James.
• Parental Substitute: Takes on a role of father figure to Kait, helping her get over her mother's death and also trying to help her with her identity crisis.
• Pragmatic Hero
• The Quiet One: He rarely says more than he needs to and barely ever raises his voice unless really frustrated or angry.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Dom's red.
• Retired Badass: Retired sometime after the events of Gear 3. By the time we see him in Gears 4, he's distanced himself from the COG and prefers to live a quiet life, growing tomatoes in his greenhouse.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: While not shown in the games, the books state that Marcus suffers from terrible nightmares. That even being part of the reason why he was initially hesitant to enter a relationship with Anya, fearing he would hurt her because of his nightmares.
• Seen It All: As of Gears 5. Nothing surprises him at this point.
• Sergeant Rock: Briefly when Benjamin Carmine is part of Delta Squad.
• Sex for Solace: How Marcus and Anya's relationship started, when he escorted her home after the Aspho Fields award ceremony. They were already attracted to each other, but a combination of grief and alcohol finally broke down their mutual hesitancy.
• Single-Target Sexuality: With Anya, to the point where Dom later tells Anya that Marcus never so much as noticed another woman after they got together.
• Skewed Priorities: In Gears of War 4, he is frequently and loudly snapping in irritation when Jinn's Deebees and Kestrel attack his estate. Not because they're trying to kill him, his son, and his son's friends, but because they're ruining his house and blew up his truck (he just had it tuned up). Subverted somewhat once the viewer finds out that the house is actually the Stroud Estate and was Anya's childhood home. Since Anya is dead, it's somewhat understandable why he would be so concerned with the house getting destroyed. He's got no excuse for the truck though.
• Tranquil Fury: Falls headlong into this as he kills the Locust Queen, his voice unwavering and his facial expression calm but full of hate as he plunges Dom's knife into her chest.
• Trademark Favorite Food: As of the new trilogy, apparently he really likes tomatoes. It's likely because they're grown from the seeds of Dom's tomatoes.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: The second Kait asks for help to deal with her identity crisis, he immediately volunteers, and only backs out because his absence will be noticed.
• The Stoic: Crossed with Not So Stoic at key points. Case in point, when Dom sacrifices himself, Marcus absolutely loses it.
• Undying Loyalty: Marcus hammers it to the point where he would put family and friends above all else.
• Why Did It Have To Be Dogs?: Is somewhat scared and nervous around dogs after getting mauled by them in The Slab, which is how he got his scars.

Professor Adam Jonathon Fenix

Voiced by: Charles Cioffi (Gears of War 2) and Peter Renaday (Gears of War 3)

"I rarely see Marcus most days. I just don't know who he is and it's all my fault. I lied to him about what happened to Elaine and the longer I lie, the harder it is to come clean. Kids know when you're lying. Then their trust withers and dies."

Adam is a retired Gear Major turned scientist and the father of Marcus Fenix. Following his retirement, Adam developed weapons for the COG, including finishing the Hammer of Dawn, as the director of the Defense Research Agency. Considered the greatest military scientist on Sera, during the Locust War, he disappeared in the Battle of Ephyra when his son failed to extract him and was assumed killed-in-action. Mysterious recordings of his voice were found in the Locust capital Nexus and a strange radio transmission was heard from him after the Hollow was flooded. He is alive and well on the hidden island of Azura, where Prescott sent him off to after kidnapping him once he learned that Adam knew everything about the Locust and Lambent before Emergence Day even happened.

---

• The Atoner: For several reasons: he was the driving force of the Hammer of Dawn, and not telling anyone about the Locust or Lambent before Emergence Day. Of course, he still ends up committing genocide in his attempts to atone, but he makes it very clear there was just wasn't enough time...

• Be Careful What You Wish For: He joined the Defense Research Agency to design better, more efficient weapons to help the COG win the Pendulum Wars and save the lives of Gears and civilians. His research culminated in the Hammer of Dawn, an orbital superweapon used to scorch most of Sera's surface, killing millions of innocent people in order to stop the Locust from wiping out what was left of Humanity.

• Break the Haughty: He's less arrogant than most of the COG elite, but it is still pretty obvious how much pride he put in the Fenix name and his skills as a scientist. When everything starts going wrong for him, it breaks him really hard.

• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Like Marcus, he feels he has an obligation to save everyone, which included the Locust.

• Death Faked for You: Marcus and the rest of the COG think he died during the Locust attack on East Barricade Academy. In fact, he was spirited away by agents of Chairman Prescott and taken to Azura to work on a cure for Lambency.

• A Father to His Men: Even long before his own son Marcus joined the COG Army, he cared for the men under his command, and the deaths of so many during the Pendulum Wars is what motivated him to help build the Hammer of Dawn.

• Genius Bruiser: Redesigned the Lancer assault rifle after E-Day and quite handy with its predecessor during the Pendulum Wars.
• Icy Blue Eyes: Like Marcus, he has an icy and piercing gaze. However, Adam's noticeably freaked out by their intensity, and once decided to sell all of his ancestors' portraits hanging in his home because he felt their cold blue stares were judging him.
• Knew It All Along: He is the only one who knew about the Locust's existence before Emergence Day. E-Day won't happen if he can research how to cure Imulsion's Disease, except Chairman Prescott kidnapped him first and sent him to Azura, which caused him to have too little time.
• Limited Special Collector's Ultimate Edition: Two of these for Gears of War 3; purchasing either one allows the player to unlock his skin for multiplayer.
• Majorly Awesome: Attained the rank of Major before retiring to work on weapons systems.
• Mother Nature, Father Science: Elain was a biologist while Adam was a weapons designer.
• My Greatest Failure: Two of them: failing to be close to Marcus and be a better father than his was, and not finding a way to make peace with the Locust and avoid E-Day.
• Non-Idle Rich: Probably could have had his choice of science appointments, but went to OCS and became an officer. Even though he never inspired the type of loyalty that, say, Helena Stroud did, his men thought highly of him because he was such a good strategist that they almost never took casualties.

• Parental Neglect: He was raised this way by his parents and tried not to act like this toward Marcus. Unfortunately, even though he tried, he really had no idea how to be a loving, demonstrative father. Before long, his and Marcus' relationship was turning out exactly like Adam's relationship with his father.
• The Professor
• Professor Guinea Pig: In an attempt to see how the Imulsion infection spreads, Adam injected himself with it to determine its effects and build his superweapon accordingly.
• Redemption Equals Death: Dies ending the Locust War.
• The Reveal: Adam was never killed when Marcus failed to extract him at the Battle of Ephyra: Prescott had him kidnapped and sent to Azura. And he was fully aware of the inevitable Emergence Day, due to Queen Myrrah personally asking for his assistance to solve the Lambent problem plaguing the Locust. Unfortunately, Adam didn't have enough time to find a solution to wipe out the Lambent, while preserving the Locust. Left with no choice, Myrrah had the Locust invade the surface, kickstarting the war.
• Secret-Keeper: He knew about the Locust and the Lambent before E-Day, he even had a dialogue with Queen Myrrah while trying to find a cure for Lambency before the Locust launched their invasion of the surface.
• Science Hero: Is the inventor behind the Hammer of Dawn and the modern-day Lancer (although Tai is credited for demonstrating why a chainsaw fares far better than a bayonet). Also creates a device that kills the Lambent and Locust.
• Skewed Priorities: He reluctantly calls in an artillery strike on a museum during the Battle of Shavad, as the Indies were using it as a spotter position for their snipers. When he bemoans the fact that he just gave the order to wipe out "three thousand years of history" his XO Helena Stroud gently but firmly reminds him that the lives of his Gears are worth a lot more than "a bunch of old vases and pots". Adam is suitably chastised.
• Sole Surviving Scientist: The Locust get to Azura before Delta. They manage to kill everyone on the island except Adam, and they're literally at his door before being stopped.
• Specs of Awesome
• The Stoic: Although he's Not So Stoic when it comes to caring about Marcus.
• The Strategist: During the Pendulum Wars.
• Too Clever by Half: He thinks that it is his sole responsibility to save Sera due to his genius. This leads to him not telling anyone that he knew about the Locust before Emergence Day until 10 years after they invaded, as he had finally realized how severely he had screwed up and gathered the courage to admit that he needed help to stop them and the Lambent.

Elain Fenix

Marcus' mother, Elain was a developmental biologist, and an expert in morphology. She disappeared when Marcus was five, having gone into the Hollow and discovering the Locust, who killed her.

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• Blue Blood
• Mother Nature, Father Science: She was a biologist while Adam was a weapons designer.
• Posthumous Character: Aside from a few flashback sections in the books, she is long dead in most entries in the Gears universe.

Lieutenant James Dominic "JD" Fenix

Voiced by: Liam McIntyre

"If we don’t stop these things, everyone within a thousand miles dies."

The son of Marcus and Anya, and the main protagonist of Gears of War 4. A former Gear who went AWOL after being involved in a classified incident, and is now living with the Outsiders.

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• Beard of Sorrow: He grows a beard in Gears 5 after Act 1, which not only makes him much more strongly resemble his father but it also comes after the extent of his Dark and Troubled Past becomes apparent.
• Beware the Nice Ones: In Gears 4 he was mostly this as he was the only person who attempted to liven up everyone's spirit until Gears 5 where he's taken on a completely new persona.
• Blue Blood: Technically as a member of both the Stroud and Fenix families, having been born and initially raised at the Stroud Estate.
• Body Horror: That arm injury down at Covered in Scars is not exactly what you'd call "pretty". It looks like the entire limb was flayed.
• Covered in Scars: In 5, he has an obviously serious arm injury, and he has a long scar down his right eye and cheek. This is revealed to be from an explosion courtesy a malfunctioning Hammer of Dawn, said-explosion being from a Minotaur with fellow Gear, Lizzy Carmine, trapped inside.
• Dead Guy Junior: His middle name is after Dominic Santiago, who died in Gears of War 3. It hasn't yet been revealed whether "James" came from someone important to Anya.
• Decoy Protagonist: He's the son of Marcus Fenix, hero of the previous trilogy, and the player character of Gears 4 and the beginning of Gears 5. However, Gears 5 makes it clear that Kait (due to her legacy of being Myrrah's granddaughter) is the real hero of the new trilogy, and JD is also potentially Killed Off for Real depending on player choice (whether or not this is "canonically" seems to be 50/50 right now until the next Gears game comes out).
• Fatal Flaw: Recklessness. Something Marcus is quick to berate him for, JD is usually the first to take unnecessary risks if there is even the slightest chance that something good can come from it. This mindset eventually yields disastrous results when he orders an uncalibrated Hammer of Dawn strike with no targeted assistance outside of his own armor's coordinates. This plan gets Lizzy Carmine and nearly an entire convoy of civilians killed, puts JD himself in a coma, and burns his right arm which still causes him pain after waking up. Marcus even called him out on it after they returned from their Azura mission prior to that.
  JD: I took a neccessary risk —
  Marcus: Neccessary means you had no other option. That wasn't neccessary, and you know it.
• He's Back!: In Act III of Gears 5, he reins in having Took a Level in Jerkass after a few weeks away from Kait and Del, opting to go off to help them without notifying Jinn and apologizing for everything he did. His attitude even helps turn Fahz into a Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Has this dynamic with his childhood and boarding school friend, Delmont "Del" Walker, much like his father had with Dom, his namesake.
• Ink-Suit Actor: Give Liam McIntyre a clean shave and he'd look pretty damn close to JD, though his Lantern Jaw of Justice isn't as prominent as that of his character. The resemblance is sort of lost after Act I of 5, where JD shaves his head bald and has a full beard going on.
• Like Father, Like Son: Enlisted into the COG against Marcus's wishes, similar to Marcus enlisting as a private instead of going to OCS like Adam wanted. Both of them display a natural leadership and have an unyielding loyalty to their family and companions. However...
  • Like Father, Unlike Son: ...having actually grown up during an era of peace, JD is optimistic and personable, a sharp contrast to his jaded and gruff father.
    • At the very beginning of the series, Marcus was rotting in jail for following his conscience over strict orders. JD is in the opposite situation, in which he ordered the use of live ammunition against a crowd of protestors, a situation where trying to do right as a COG soldier went against what was consciously correct.
  • However, this goes right back to his father's personality in Gears 5, and is arguably even worse, whereas Marcus always gave the squad time to grieve, JD is adamant that a weeping Kait could have her moment on the Raven.
• Missing Mom: Anya has passed away in the intervening time between Gears of War 3 and 4. JD has the option of visiting her grave when returning to her estate in Act 2. It's heavily implied that she had Death by Childbirth while having JD's prospective sibling.
• My Greatest Failure: In Gears 5 it is revealed that JD is the COG Officer responsible for the classified incident at Settlement 2 where he ordered his men to fire upon civilian protesters in a heat of the moment decision. While Fahz quickly defends the order as I Did What I Hadto Do since the protesters were throwing firebombs, JD is clearly still haunted by his actions which may have even played a part in his decision to go AWOL with Del.
• Properly Paranoid: The Gears 5 trailer shows his personality has taken a dive and he now exhibits this behavior towards Kait after learning that her necklace bears the Locust Horde’s symbol. He knows that she would never turn on her friends willingly, but has to account for her possibly being forced to.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni:
  • He is the reckless and emotional Red to his friends Del and Kait's rational and thoughtful Blue. Later on in Gears 5 he qualifies as Blue to Fahz's Red.
  • He is also definitely the Red to his father Marcus' Blue due to the fact that JD is optimistic and has much less experience than Marcus who has a cynical mindset and is a very experienced soldier.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: If Kait decides to save him over Del in 5, which results in the latter's death at the hands (tentacles?) of Queen Reyna, JD goes on one, during which he alternates between furious ranting and sounding like he's about to burst into tears. Realizing that this attitude can easily get him killed, Kait is forced to tell him to rein it in.
• Ship Tease: Definitely with Kait in Gears 4 to the point Marcus notes it. However, in Gears 5 the ship promptly sinks due to his mistrust of Kait because of her Locust necklace. They do seem to be on better terms by the end of the game, though.
• Strong Family Resemblance: JD inherits his father's Lantern Jaw of Justice and Icy Blue Eyes, though he looks even more like Marcus Jr. in 5, where he gains a scar on his face and shaves his head bald.
• Supporting Protagonist: Even though he is the Player Character for 4, the game is really about rescuing Kait’s mother and trying to understand what The Swarm want with everyone, with JD just assisting with the matters while being along for the ride. In 5, he isn’t even the Player Character anymore while Kait takes the helm from him.
• Took A Level In Cynicism: Not as prominent as his Took a Level in Jerkass, but following the disastrous evacuation of Settlement 2, JD's decision-making becomes much more utilitarian and by-the-book, obviously trying to curb his tendency to take "unnecessary risks" that he felt resulted in Lizzie Carmine's death.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: In contrast to his idealistic and compassionate personality in 4, the Gears 5 trailer shows him as an abrasive, demanding and inconsiderate jerk towards his squad, particularly Kait, who he wouldn’t even let grieve over a fallen character saying “she’ll get her minute on the Raven”. There are multiple reasons for this. Kait's ties to the Locusts is one, but he is also feeling a ton of guilt over a disaster which cost Lizzy Carmine her life and got him his aforementioned arm injury. It's temporary, but Del and Kait both take note of it.
• Unstoppable Rage: After Kait chooses him to be saved rather than Del in 5 after Queen Reyna kills his lifelong friend he utterly loses his shit after a few moments when it looks as if he's ready to burst into tears.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: JD and Marcus have a rocky relationship. In-game collectibles imply that his reason for joining the COG was to make Marcus proud. As shown in 4, this was the opposite of what Marcus wanted. JD's subsequent actions did little to help.
  Marcus: I warned you not to join the COG. What did you do? [...] I told you, don't go Outsider! The COG will hunt you down! Again, what did you do?

Santiago Family

Corporal Dominic "Dom" Santiago

Voiced by: Carlos Ferro

"Do you know what it's like to lose everything? Everything you've ever loved? Everything you've ever known? Do you know what it's like to lose everything? I hope you never find out. Life's been hell since E-Day. A bloodbath every day! The Locust, we called 'em, and damn if that wasn't a perfect name for the bastards. They come from everywhere, in swarms, just like insects. And worst of all they've got the compassion to match. They kill indiscriminately, without remorse— and we don't even know why they do it. Fourteen years and we still have no fucking clue where they come from or why they hate us. We just know they're our enemy... and we would be extinct if we don't put these fuckers back in the ground. Do you know what it's like to get back everything you thought you lost? Everything you lived for? Everything you love? I hope one day I find out."

Dom is Marcus' best friend. He was trained as a commando in Hoffman's unit before transferring to the infantry. He lost his brother Carlos during the Pendulum Wars, his parents and two children on Emergence Day, and his wife Maria disappeared several years later after falling into severe depression from losing her family. When Marcus got sent to jail for abandoning his post to save his father, Dom was one of the few peopled who defended him. As the war with the Locust Horde continues, Dom still remains somewhat cheerful and caring throughout the conflict, eventually breaking Marcus out of jail to assist in a major push against the Locust. At the same time, he continues to search for Maria whenever possible. When he found her lobotomized beyond recognition in the Locust Hollow, Dom was forced to euthanise her.

---

• Bash Brothers: With Marcus.
• Beard of Sorrow: Grows one by the time Gears of War 3 occurs.
• Beware the Nice Ones
• Death Seeker: The repercussion of euthanizing Maria. Lampshaded in the first Gears of War 3 trailer "Ashes to Ashes". However, he made it extremely clear that he won't die without giving a fight. And he really meant that.
• Call to Agriculture: In Gears of War 3, it's implied Dom has spent most of his time aboard the Sovereign growing plants. When called away to the CIC, he gets annoyed and just wants to hurry up so he can get back to them. The attacking Lambent end up ruining them in a battle, though they probably would've been anyway even if the Lambent were nowhere near them since the ship gets toppled.
• Dead Guy Junior: His son's name was Benedicto, which was his brother Carlos' middle name.
• Despair Event Horizon: After having to kill Maria, Dom dedicates himself to cultivating a fruit and vegetable garden on the Sovereign just so he can sort of distract himself. He'll still fight the Locust, but the burning hatred he showed for them in Gears of War 2 is almost buried under his depression... until they ruined his tomatoes.
• Determinator: Never gave up hope searching for his wife. Occasionally frustrated, but it didn't hold.
• Deuteragonist: Especially in Gears of War 2.
• Dream Sequence: Gets one after being knocked out by the helicopter crash in Gears of War 2, of Maria trying to rouse a presumably on-leave Dom from a nap. Crosses over to Fridge Brilliance with the insinuation from the novel that this may have taken place right before their kids were killed.
• Happily Married: For the brief time he and Maria were together before their kids died.

• Heroic Sacrifice: In order to save the rest of the team, Dom takes control of an old junker and rams it into a gas pump to destroy the massive waves of Locust AND Lambent that were about to overwhelm them. Marcus' reaction when he sees Dom drive off and the aftermath accompanied by a Dark Reprise of "Mad World" is part of what makes this the most heartrending scene in the series.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: His defending Marcus despite his desertion and continuing to do so even after the latter's sentencing is noted to have cost him a lot of good will from both COG and the general populace.

• Ink-Suit Actor: Somewhat: Dom doesn't look like exactly like Carlos Ferro, but by the time Gears of War 3 was in production, Dom was growing a Beard of Sorrow; Ferro was growing one himself and looked just like Dom.
• Irony One of Dom's desperate goals later in life was to find out where the Locust came from or why they want to Kill All Humans. He would never find out they are entirely a product of the COG he fervently serves.
• Kill the Ones You Love: Dom euthanizes Maria after finding her catatonic, scarred and malnourished in the Hollows.

• Like Brother and Sister: With Anya. They kept each other sane while he was looking for Maria and she searched for a way to free Marcus from The Slab.
• Military Brat: Dom's dad and aunt were both retired Gear's.
• Nice Guy: He always puts others ahead of himself and is one of the few Gears to treat the Stranded with anything other than disdain.
• Precious Photo: Some of the only personal items he owns are a set of photographs of his loved ones, which he rarely shows to anyone outside of Delta. When a civilian on Vectes objects to the Jacinto remnant coming to the island, Dom brings them out. Also one of the few times Dom ever loses his temper.
  Dom: See this? This is my wife. She's dead. And these are my two kids. They're dead, too. And these are my folks, and her folks. The're all dead. You think they all died so you could slam the fucking door in our faces and tell me you don't have room for the few who didn't? I'm telling you - you have room.
• Principles Over Promotion: Dom was the only person who stood up for Marcus at his court-martial. He did it knowing that it would cost him any chance for advancement in the future.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Marcus' blue.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: After having to kill Maria.
  Marcus: I found a way to sneak into Nexus. But if you wanna go in guns blazing, I don't blame you.
  Dom: *cocks Lancer* I wanna kill 'em all.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran
• Shipper on Deck: For Marcus and Anya. It heads to a point of semi-Deconstruction in the Expanded Universe where Dom becomes increasingly frustrated (if not outright pissed) that Marcus Cannot Spit It Out. He finally hammers the point home to Marcus in Jacinto's Remnant.
  Dom: I swear I'll never stick my nose into your private life again, but shit or get off the pot, okay? I saw your face when you thought she was dead. And I know what too late feels like.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: He's more thoughtful, cautious, and mature than his brother Carlos, who would often react without thinking and is less introspective.
• Single-Target Sexuality: He never had eyes for anyone but Maria.
• Together in Death: Eventually, with his wife and kids.
• Undying Loyalty: To Marcus and Hoffman: to the former because he is his best friend, and to the latter since he was Dom's CO in the commando's during the Pendulum Wars.
• The Watson: Word of God has this as Dom's role in Gears of War 1, to give the audience a voice without bringing players out of the experience as Marcus.
• Why Did It Have To Be Water?: He really doesn't like operating at sea. Understandable, since more than half of his commando squad was killed during a sea extraction during the Battle of Aspho Fields.

Maria Santiago

Voiced by: Courtney Ford

Maria was Dom's wife, who went missing four years after Emergence Day due to her depression over her children’s death. Dom spent the next ten years looking for her, eventually finding her as a lobotomized Locust prisoner in the Hollow, and was forced to put her out of her misery.

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• Break the Cutie: First when her kids, parents and in-laws are killed by the Locust. Then 10 years later when she's kidnapped and tortured.

• Heroic BSoD: Suffered one of these when her kids and parents were killed. She never really recovered and eventually left her home looking for the kids, who she was convinced were still alive.

• Teen Pregnancy: She and Dom had their first kid at 16.

Private Carlos Santiago

Carlos was Dom's older brother and Marcus' best friend. He was the first to join the COG army during the Pendulum Wars. He was extremely reckless, and ended up paying for that at the Battle of Aspho Fields.

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• Mercy Kill: Carlos begged Marcus to do this for him after he's mortally wounded. Subverted since he managed to detonate a grenade to kill himself, stopping Marcus from risking his life to save him and destroying a bridge that enemy reinforcements were crossing.

• Overshadowed by Awesome: Marcus joined the COG army after him but was promoted faster and was the one Anya was attracted to the most. In a twist, Carlos felt this was alright, since he was happy seeing Marcus, who's the Perpetual Frowner, be happy for once.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: Carlos often reacts without thinking and not very introspective, while Dom is more thoughtful, cautious, and mature.

Stroud Family

Lieutenant/First Minister Anya Stroud

Voiced by: Nan McNamara

"Oh, I'm fine. That's the scary thing. I want to do it again. I'm not finished. And all this hilarity- I hear it all the time in Control. But now I've done it myself. Tell me it's normal. Tell me I've not got some terrible thing in me waiting to get out and kill and joke about it."

A controller in the CIC, Anya Stroud provides guidance and direction in the first two games, before transferring to the frontlines in the Expanded Universe and the third game. She and Marcus have been in love since hooking up shortly after the battle of Aspho Field, and they finally begin an official relationship on the island of Vectes after Jacinto sinks.

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• Action Girl
• Adrenaline Makeover: Dom notes in Coalition's End that several months of wearing full battle gear has caused her to walk and act like a soldier, as well as getting a bit more muscular from its weight. She also cuts a lot of her long hair off towards the end of the book when an exploding Lambent Polyp singes the ends.
• Battle Couple: With Marcus.
• Blue Blood
• Communications Officer: Was trained as this; she only became a frontline soldier after the events of Gears 2.
• Death by Childbirth: She's implied to have died during a fertility program in an attempt to have a second child.
• Disappeared Dad: Anya doesn't know who her father is/was, and her mother refused to ever tell her. She's understandably a little bitter about this.
• Indifferent Beauty: She never once uses her stunning good looks to advance her position, and is more than a little put-off by guys staring at her all the time.
• In the Blood: Anya's mother was Major Helena Stroud, a Lady of War in the last days of the Pendulum Wars.
• Ink-Suit Actor: Try visualizing Anya in her mid-40s; Nan McNamara looks eerily similar to her.
• Lady of War: Especially by Gears of War 3, where she had to fight as a soldier.
• Like Brother and Sister: With Dom. They kept each other sane while he was looking for Maria and she searched for a way to free Marcus from The Slab.
• Majorly Awesome: A collectible in Gears 4 shows that she reached this rank in between games, following in her mother's footsteps before surpassing them and becoming First Minster.
• Military Brat
• Mission Control: Before moving to the frontlines.
• Not Staying for Breakfast: During their time together before he was imprisoned, Marcus never once spent the night at Anya's apartment or quarters. She thought he was doing it because he didn't want to get caught, and was very hurt by it. Dom later tells her it’s because Marcus has terrible nightmares and was afraid of injuring her in his sleep. By the events of Jacinto's Remnant, he's still doing it, and she's getting a little annoyed by it.
• Plucky Girl
• Sex for Solace: How Anya and Marcus' relationship started, when he escorted her home after the Aspho Fields award ceremony. They were already attracted to each other, but a combination of grief and alcohol finally broke down their mutual hesitancy.
• Single-Target Sexuality: With Marcus, from the time they were teenagers.
• Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: Died during the 25 year gap between Gears 3 and 4. It's implied in 5 that the cause was the fertility program that allowed her to have JD, when she tried to use it to have a second child.
• Undying Loyalty: To Hoffman: even in situations where she's supposed to report to Chairman Prescott first, she makes sure Hoffman winds up with the information beforehand.
  • For a time, she even considered the possibility he was her father, since he always treated her so well and was good friends with her mother. When she confessed this to him, Hoffman told her that nothing had ever happened between him and Helena, but that he considered Anya to be family since they had served together so long.
• Voice with an Internet Connection
• "Well Done, Daughter!" Girl: When her mother, Helena Stroud, was alive, Anya was absolutely terrified of disappointing her. Luckily, Helena managed to tell Anya how proud she was of her before she died.
• You Need to Get Laid: After Marcus has been in prison for several years, another Gear cops a feel and tells her that if she waits for him, "that damn thing's gonna heal over before you get laid again." She punches him.

Major Helena Stroud

Helena was the mother of Anya, and she was a Major in charge of the COG division that fought at Aspho Fields. She served under Adam Fenix on the Kashkur front of the Pendulum Wars seventeen years before Emergence Day.

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• Action Girl
• Action Mom
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership
• Blue Blood
• Heroic Sacrifice: Died taking out and Indie APC that would have massacred her troops.
• Lady of War: Pretty much the female equivalent to Hoffman; an officer that preferred to be on the frontline with her troops, who loved her for it.
• The Lancer: Served in this role to Adam Fenix before he retired and she got promoted.
• Ludicrous Gibs
• Majorly Awesome
• So Proud of You: She says this to Anya over the radio during the Battle of Aspho Fields. It ends up being the last thing she ever says to her daughter.
• Undying Loyalty: It is said that any Gear that served under Helena developed this to her.

Carmine Family

Private Anthony Carmine

Voiced by: Michael J. Gough

"Something's wrong with this thing! It keeps jamming!"

The second youngest Carmine brother, he first appeared onboard the Raven that picked up Marcus after he was released from prison, and marveled over Marcus' being a legend among the COG. Apparently an already established member of Delta Squad, he gets very little development until he gets killed very early on in the first game.

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• Boom, Headshot!: His ignorance of the Golden Rule of the Gears got him killed 20 minutes into his service. His helmet found in 5 has a huge chunk of the faceplate blown off.
• Breakout Character: Anthony Carmine was originally intended to be a one-shot character with so little plot significance, that he didn't even have a unique face worth modeling. For varying reasons, he made a large enough impact with the fandom, that it's become mandated that each new game includes a Carmine, and with a very similar personality. It's also become a trend that something bad happens to a Carmine, with the exception of Clayton.
• The Cameo: He appears as the third player in the dream sequence at the start of Gears of War 3.
• The Faceless: Like all of his brothers, he's always wearing a helmet.
• The Ditz: Not exactly the brightest of the Carmine siblings.
• Genre Blind: He ignores the Golden Rule of the Gears: take cover and keep your head down.
• Meaningful Name: Carmine is a shade of red. How's that meaningful? Look down one line on this page.
• Red Shirt: He was only around to add an extra body to Delta and die. Still, he became inexplicably popular with the fandom.
• Sacrificial Lamb: He's the first of Delta to die.
• Surprisingly Sudden Death: He gets capped out of nowhere by a Locust sniper in the midst of fixing a jam in his gun.
• Too Dumb to Live: When the rest of your team is hunkered down in cover overlooking a wide area that could potentially house snipers, it would be a good idea to stop standing ramrod upright out in the open.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: He hardly gets any characterization before unceremoniously biting it, and his number of spoken lines can be counted on one hand.

Private Benjamin Carmine

Voiced by: Michael J. Gough

"Sergeant Fenix? Are you Sergeant Fenix? Delta squad? I'm your new trainee!"

The youngest of the Carmine brothers, he is a fresh recruit sent to Delta Squad to be trained by Marcus (allowing you the option for a Justified Tutorial). He sticks around for a good portion of the game, gradually learning the ropes of being a soldier and being praised by Marcus for how quickly he picked it up.

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• The Cameo: Is the fourth player in the initial dream sequence of Gears of War 3.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Half his body is burned away by acid produced by digestive parasites in the Riftworm.
• The Faceless: Like all the Carmines. The unique design for his helmet is effectively his actual face.
• Final Speech: He asks Marcus to tell his brothers and mom that he loves them, and tried to say something else, but died before he could finish.
• Friendly Sniper: He assists in the sniping segment, and is a pretty decent shot.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Averted: he attempts one, but ultimately does get one on the Raven.
• Iconic Item: Offically, his helmet is one of several styles of standard-issue gear helmets. However, Ben is the only gear with any prominance at all to ever be shown wearing that style of helmet.
• Mauve Shirt: He more received more characterization than Anthony and lasts a good while longer, but it sadly doesn't save him in the end.
• New Meat: Just out of training by the time he's assigned to Delta.
• Nice Guy: He's green and every bit as experienced as they come, but still gets along with the more hardened members of Delta.
• Pyromaniac: While never shown in the campaign, Marcus and Dom stated he likes fire, and his multiplayer quotes when using the Scorcher flamethrower are suitably crazy.
• Sniper Rifle: Perhaps somewhat ironically, he is always carrying a Longshot sniper rifle, the same weapon that caused his brother's untimely demise.
• Tempting Fate: After narrowly avoiding death and successfully boarding the King Raven, Benjamin happily proclaims to Marcus and Delta they've made it before flying rubble caused by the riftworm sends the King Raven spinning out of control, with poor Benjy unable to hang onto anything and fall into the Riftworm's mouth.

Chief Sergeant Clayton Carmine

Voiced by: Michael J. Gough

"Eat dirt and die, motherfucker!"

The third Carmine brother, Clayton is the eldest brother to Anthony and Benjamin, and much more muscular and badass. First showing up in the third game, at that point he had been a long established member of Delta Squad and chatted with the others on very friendly terms.

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• Alliterative Name: Clayton Carmine.
• Armor Is Useless: Averted. Unlike Anthony, his helmet can actually stop bullets. This is probably due to the fact that, unlike his brothers, his helmet seems to be more heavily armoured. Or possibly because the Stranded that shot at him wasn't as good of a shot as a Locust Sniper and only grazed him.
• Attack Reflector: His Ultimate ability in 5 is to create a force field around himself that bounces the enemy's bullets right back at them. Or at least it was before the update which allowed any character to play as any class.
• Audience Participation: While Gears 3 was in development, fans could vote on whether or not he met the same fate as his brothers by downloading either a "Save Carmine" or a "Carmine Must Die" T-shirt for their Xbox Avatar. He lives.
• Big Brother Instinct: Some of his lines are about how pissed he is about his brother's death.
• Blood Knight: Clayton is far more vicious compared to his younger siblings, as depicted in this piece of promo art, choking a Drone to death amidst a pile of dead grubs.. This is also demonstrated by the anti-grub sentiment graffiti'd onto his armor.
  DESTROY LOCUST
  KILL GRUBS
  GRUB KILLER
• Call-Back: "Good thing I wear a helmet."
• Deadpan Snarker: Unlike his green brothers he is not above calling Delta squad members on their petty bullshit.
• Disney Death: Clayton's King Raven is shot down in the cut-scene preceding the final boss battle of 3. The ending montage shows him and the pilot of his Raven to have survived the crash, no worse for wear minus the crack in Clayton's visor.
• The Faceless: Assuming it's not just another Minh Young Kim head underneath that helmet like his brothers before him, Clay (and the rest of the Carmine line) had never been seen without his headgear. While the helmet does come off in 3, his face is not shown on screen as he puts the thing right back on anyway.
• Gatling Good:
  • Most promotional materials for Gears of War 3 have him wielding a Mulcher minigun.
  • His Horde and Escape Mode class (prior to the update which split classes and characters) in Gears 5 has several abilities focused on the use of the Mulcher.
• Hot-Blooded: He becomes really fired up in combat. Of note is he also gets pissed off a couple times during the campaign and speaks his mind (though it was justified each time), something his brothers never did.
• Irony: He survives getting shot in the head by a Longshot sniper, and credits his survival to him wearing a helmet. Wearing a helmet certainly didn't help Anthony.
• Old Soldier: By the time of Gears 5 Clayton is in roughly his late 50s/early 60s, as demonstrated by his notably raspier voice and when he laments having to stand back up to hug his niece Lizzie. Otherwise he's still as combat able as the rest of Delta Squad's veterans.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: He did not appreciate losing Anthony and Benjamin.
• Running Gag: Purposefully averted. Per Audience Participation, Clay was set up to be the greatest defiance of his lineage's comically-short lifespan. Not only does he survive many brushes with death in his debut game, which could count as a separate running gag on its own, Clay would go on to appear in two more titles. As of 5, he is the longest-lived Carmine in the series (or at least in the games. Will Carmine below might have lasted longer than him). His Attack Reflector Ultimate is explicitly said in the Operation 3 trailer to be based on his status as The Unkillable Carmine.
• Sole Survivor: He's the only named Carmine to survive both his debut game and a sequel, outliving both his younger siblings and niece.

• Tragic Keepsake:
  • In a rare comedic example of this trope, Clay honours the memory of the two fallen Carmine brothers with a tattoo on his arm... of their helmets.
  • His Hivebuster skin in 5 has him wear his brothers' COG Tags around his wrist.
• Training from Hell: It's implied by the writing on his armor that he put himself through this so he could reload properly.
• Vocal Dissonance: He's much bulkier and older than his brothers, yet still has the exact same mildly high-pitched voice as them. It's implied that he used to be just as skinny as his brothers but bulked himself up so that the same thing wouldn't happen to him. If that's true, then it worked.
• What Happened to the Mouse?:
  • Despite being the only Carmine to survive the trilogy (we don't know the status of the fourth brother, so we can't say if he survived as well) and being seen along with Delta at the end of 3, there's not a trace of him to be seen in Gears of War 4. However, the Suspiciously Similar Substitute character for the Carmines in 4, Gary Carmine, indicates that he could have possibly became a parent during the Time Skip and is living elsewhere.
  • He reappears in Gears 5, still a Gear, along with his niece Lizzy, and continues his streak as the only surviving Carmine (that we actually meet).

Gary Carmine

Voiced by: Charlie Hewson

A Carmine who lives in the Outsider village led by Reyna Diaz. A black sheep in the Carmine family for choosing to go Outsider rather than serve in the COG.

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• The Cameo: Unlike the other Carmines, he doesn't interact with or join your squad. He's basically here just to have a Carmine in Gears of War 4. Though he later became playable in multiplayer.'
• Cloud Cuckoolander: Some of his voice lines are a little... out there.
• The Faceless: Like the rest of the Carmines, his entire head and face is always concealed. Though since he's not part of the COG and doesn't have access to a helmet, he instead wears goggles, a skull-faced bandana around his mouth, and an ushanka with the ear flaps down.
• Running Gag: True to the Carmine family's unfortunate nature, the video that showcases him as DLC features him getting shot in the head, chainsawed, bayonet charged, executed and just plain humiliated throughout the whole thing. He even lampshades it at the end.
  Gary: [getting executed by the Dropshot] This shit runs in my family!
• Vocal Dissonance: In regards to the other Carmines and body type. Anthony, Benjamin and especially Clayton all had the same high-pitched voice despite their rather muscular bodies, while Gary has a slightly deeper voice than all of them. His skinnier frame compared to the others would lead one to expect him to share their high-pitched tone but his voice doesn't sound very similar.
• The Voiceless: Doesn't speak at all in the campaign. Averted in multiplayer, in which he's got plenty to say.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Much like Anthony, he dies minutes after he's introduced when a DeeBee drop pod falls directly on him and destroys his entire turret platform. Though he at least managed to accomplish shooting down one dropship before his death.

Corporal Elizabeth "Lizzy" Carmine

Voiced by: Sarah Elmaleh

Clayton Carmine's niece, and presumably the daughter of the yet-unseen fourth Carmine brother. She aids JD and Co. when the Swarm attack Settlement 2. Tragically, it's also where she meets her demise.

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• Badass Driver: Helps to evacuate civilians in Settlement 2 with a Minotaur convoy.
• Character Death: Killed when the Hammer of Dawn goes out of control, one of the beams destroying the Minotuar she's trapped in.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Trapped inside her Minotuar, watching her impending doom, and unable to do anything but scream for help, as JD desperately and futilely tries to save her.
• Establishing Character Moment: Her first appearance has her ramming a Snatcher about to abduct a civilian with her Minotuar, pinning it against another Minotaur. She then gets out, frag tags it to finish it off, and proceeds to give orders to the nearby DeeBees without looking at the explosion.
• The Faceless: Her "Motor Pool" skin puts her in a mechanic outfit and welding mask.
• Forgotten Fallen Friend: Let's just say her death doesn't impact Clay as much as those of his brothers. Even after reuniting with Clay during Act IV with JD in tow, the one man indirectly responsible for her death, nobody has anything to say about her. One would assume he's simply resigned himself to having everyone in his family but him become marked for death the moment they come into contact with a Fenix.
• Generation Xerox: She definitely takes after her uncle Clay, though unfortunately not in the one area that really counts.
• Mauve Shirt: Receives some very noteworthy characterization, until her death.
• Running Gag: She's a Carmine, what did you expect?
• Say My Name: "FENIX!"
• Shoo Out the Clowns: The game starts out being rather jovial and comical. All of that goes away after Lizzie's death.
• Small Role, Big Impact: It's all but said that the circumstances behind her death have played a significant role in JD's Took a Level in Jerkass.

Sergeant Will Carmine

^{Click here to see him without his helmet} 

Is he talking about the war finally ending, or a Carmine's face actually being shown?

A Gear who appears in The Rise of RAAM. He fought in, and survived, the Pendulum Wars, only to be killed by the newly promoted Uzil RAAM on Emergence Day. Given his age and that he mentions having no kids, he is presumably an uncle or similar relative of the four Carmine brothers, and is notably the only Carmine whose face is actually shown. One of his squadmates as shown in a photograph appears to have been Gabriel Diaz, Kait's father.

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• The Faceless: Notably averted, though a picture of him with his squadmates shows that he did follow the Carmine tradition at some point. He presumably only took his helmet off because the war was over and he was retiring.
• I Call It "Vera": He calls his Lancer "Nina", and even scratched her name into her body.
• Immediate Self-Contradiction: Pretty much tells the quartermaster that he never wants to see another gun in his life, and even gives up his beloved Nina to be burned. Seconds later, a Corpser bursts from the ground, and he's shouting, "GIVE ME A FUCKING GUN!"
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: RAAM stabs him up through the neck and out the top of his head.
• Mauve Shirt: Doesn't last much longer than Anthony or Gary after being introduced, but still has more characterization than them.
• Old Soldier: He's up there in years at the time of E-Day, and jokes that "[his] body retired two years before [him]".
• Retirony: He made it through the Pendulum Wars and was getting ready to head back home and enjoy retirement in the new age of peace. ...Hang on, why's the ground shaking all of a sudden?
• Running Gag: Surprising nobody, he doesn't last very long after we first meet him.
• What the Hell Are You?: His last words are him asking this question to RAAM. RAAM doesn't bother answering.

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