The Ghosts (Hunter team)
John Kozak
Voiced by: Gene Farber
A second-generation Russian-American from Brooklyn and the main protagonist of
Future Soldier, who serves as Hunter team's scout/point man/tech expert. Kozak was recruited into the Ghosts for his prodigy-like expertise with advanced technology; Major Scott Mitchell, now the commanding officer of the Ghosts, once referred to him as the future of soldiers.
- The Cameo: A younger, New Meat Kozak appears prominently in the "Silent Spade" missions of Ghost Recon: Wildlands which were added as Year Two extra content.
- Contrasting Sequel Main Character: Unlike Captain Mitchell from the previous games, Kozak is just the team's scout/pointman rather than the actual team leader. As a result he can't give movement orders to the rest of the squad, though he can call out enemy targets.
- Cunning Linguist: Speaks Russian quite fluently, which comes in handy when the Ghosts are secretly helping loyalist Russians.
- Odd Name Out: He's the only squad member who goes by his real name rather than by a callsign.
- Player Character: Of Future Soldier.
- Riches to Rags: A random conversation in Wildlands between the Ghosts indicates that Kozak's wife left him, emptied out his bank account, and even took all of their furniture and household items. As Wildlands occurs prior to Future Soldier this would have happened a few years prior to the events of Future Soldier.
- Title Drop: He's the protagonist of Future Soldier, and in Ghost Recon: Wildlands Colonel Mitchell refers to the tech-savvy Kozak as the future of soldiers, as compared to more old-school ground-pounders like Mitchell and Nomad.
- The Smart Guy: Handles all the tech in the squad, including use of the drone.
- Token Enemy Minority: Kozak is the son of Russian immigrants. This comes up on occasion, mostly as teasing from 30K, but also by way of having Kozak interrogate a captured member of Bodark, relay messages in Russian to a loyalist general they're secretly assisting, and going solo on a covert mission to rescue the Russian president.
Ghost Lead
The leader of Hunter Team and a highly professional career soldier.
Pepper
Hunter Team's level-headed sniper.
- Cold Sniper: The team sniper and generally quite the professional.
- Fluffy the Terrible: He's a badass special forces sniper named after a condiment.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: He's calm and collected in contrast to the more boisterous and hot-blooded 30K.
30K
Hunter Team's talkative, boisterous support gunner and driver.
Twistings
Voiced by: Valerie Arem
- Getaway Driver: She's usually the pilot for Hunter team's extraction helicopter.
Allies
Volodin
- Canon Immigrant: President Volodin from Future Soldier later appears as a major antagonist in the Jack Ryan novels written after Clancy's passing.
- Expy: We have Volodin, who in his youngest days tamed wild bears, comes from a military background, and even after being tortured can handle himself in a shootout - sounds like a real life Russian president.
- President Action: When rescued by Kozak and given a weapon, he's more than capable of fighting alongside the Ghost.
- Sudden Name Change: Appears to be the same person as President Karkarzev in Shadow Wars and President Karskazev in H.A.W.X. 2. All 3 have the exact same character model and are the moderate President of Russia opposed by Big Bad Makhmudov/Treskayev.
Antagonists
Raven's Rock
A powerful group of hardline Russian ultranationalists who want to take over Russia.
- Arc Villain: President Makhmudov is this for Shadow Wars, Ghost Recon Wii, Future Soldier, and H.A.W.X. 2, assuming the Evil Chancellor in all 4 games is meant to be him.
- Bad Boss: In the final level, almost every single surviving Raven's Rock leader has a Kick the Dog moment before you kill them; one argues with and starts choking his wife, one is torturing a captured prisoner, one is yelling at and mistreating one of his Mooks, etc. Granted, they're all likely highly stressed due to the defeat of their coup and the fact they're being forced to flee into hiding.
- The Conspiracy: They're planning on overthrowing the Russian government and appear to be made up of a number of very influential power players, including at least 3 Generals, an Admiral, and a number of politicians and other incredibly wealthy individuals, as well as arms dealers, a considerable portion of the military, and an elite special forces group.
- Continuity Nod: The enemy soldiers in Ghost Recon Wii have the same character model as the Raven's Rock soldiers in Future Soldier.
- Evil Gloating: Petrakov taunts the Ghosts and even mocks the death of their comrades even after being shot by them and seconds from them putting a bullet in his head, such is his confidence that his political connections make him untouchable. And he turns out to be right. Too bad for him he dies anyway.
- Flat Character: The first time you see any of the Raven's Rock leaders is mere seconds before you blow them away. Also, only President Makhmudov and Petrakov have any real dialogue.
- Greater-Scope Villain:
- If President Makhmudov is supposed to be the same person as Yuri Treskayev in Shadow Wars and Aleksandr Treskayev in Ghost Recon Wii and H.A.W.X. 2, then he and Raven's Rock is this to those three games.
- The implication of the ending of H.A.W.X. 2 is that Raven's Rock themselves are being controlled by Megiddo from Splinter Cell. Future Soldier is not as closely tied to H.A.W.X. 2 as it originally was supposed to be, so the only trace of this plotline left in the final game is the mysterious order from "the highest level" not to kill Petrakov, the final surviving Raven's Rock leader.
- Meaningful Name: Their name appears to be taken from a famous battle fought against Western crusaders by proto-Russian prince Alexander Nevsky, who was made into a prominent folk hero by Soviet-era propaganda.
- Minor Crime Reveals Major Plot: A dirty bomb bound for the United States that kills 4 Ghosts isn't exactly a "minor" crime, but what looks like a random terrorist bombing ultimately leads to a massive conspiracy to take over one of the 3 most powerful nations on Earth.
- Murder by Inaction/Exact Words: At the end of the game, the Ghosts receive a mysterious order "from the highest level" to not kill Petrakov, which they ultimately obey even as he taunts them about the death of their comrades caused by Raven's Rock. Too bad for Petrakov, he's currently injured and laying in the path of an oncoming train, and just because the Ghosts can't kill him doesn't mean they have to save him...
- President Evil: President Sergey Makhmudov, the new President of Russia after Raven's Rock take over the country. It's unclear whether he's the actual leader of Raven's Rock or if Petrakov and the other conspirators in the final level are The Man Behind the Man. Though taking Future Soldier, Shadow Wars, Ghost Recon Wii, and H.A.W.X. 2 as a whole, then Makhmudov is indeed meant to be the Big Bad.
- Renegade Russian: They're a group of Russian hardline ultranationalists who plan (and succeed in) overthrowing the current Russian government and engaging in a war with the West.
- Sigil Spam: Their emblem, a set of four interlocking black "hooks" inside a red diamond, is plastered everywhere under their control.
- Sudden Name Change: President Makhmudov is apparently supposed to be the same person as Aleksandr Treskayev from H.A.W.X. 2 and Ghost Recon Wii and Yuri Treskayev from Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars. All 3 have the exact same character model (down to his distinct green tie) and story-wise are the same character in every detail except name. The differences are likely due to miscommunication between the 4 studios making the 4 games as well as the two year delay in the development of Future Soldier due to its
Troubled Production. - Suicidal Overconfidence: They seem to either believe that they can win a nuclear war with the West or that NATO lacks the spine to actually retaliate with their own nuclear weapons; either position seems suicidally stupid to anyone with even a basic understanding of international nuclear politics (though, given it is the year 2024, they may simply be taking Prime Minister Corbyn at his word).
- Villainous Breakdown: In the penultimate level, Makhmudov attempts to rally his supporters on TV. He's relatively calm in the first broadcast, but is freaking out in the second as the Ghosts dismantle his army and the people of Moscow turn against the regime.
- Western Terrorists: Before fully taking control of Russia, they're engaged in attempting to cause mass casualty events in the West, including sending a dirty bomb to the U.S.-Mexico border and launching a nuclear missile at London.
- Wolfpack Boss: While the citizens of Moscow deal with President Makhmudov themselves, the Ghosts storm the headquarters of Raven's Rock's military leader General Mikhail Burkharov to stop him from organizing an armed crackdown against the protesters. After you fight through his remaining Bodark Elite Mooks, Burkharov holes up in his office with about a dozen guards. You blast your way in and blow them all away. Burkharov himself takes cover behind his desk while wielding an assault rifle, and goes down just like any of his Mooks.
- 0% Approval Rating:
- Their support amongst the populace appears to be absolutely abysmal, and in the second-to-last level the civilian population of Moscow forms a mob and kicks them out of office (with a little help from the Ghosts who make sure Raven's Rock are unable to hold onto power by force). It's likely the Russian populace remember what an abysmal failure the last hardline ultranationalist government was from the original Ghost Recon.
- In Ghost Recon Wii, after Bravo Team is captured by the Ultranationalists, one of the Russian soldiers holding them prisoner shoots his partner and sets the Ghosts free, telling them that President Treskayev/Makhmudov is a madman tearing Russia apart and must be stopped no matter what.
Bodark
A dangerous, highly trained Russian special forces group whose skill and equipment are on par with that of the Ghosts themselves.
- Arch-Enemy: They are by far the Ghosts' most frequently reoccuring nemesis, and Phantoms even refers to them as the greatest enemy faced by the Ghosts.
- Authority Equals Asskicking: Averted; their leader Colonel Kuzmin and the other 3 Bodark officers who are your targets in the final mission of the Raven Strike DLC behave more like regular infantry than the Elite Mooks under their command. They're not even protected by Bodark spec ops, just regular Raven's Rock soldiers. All 4 Bodark officers are at least competent fighters, compared to the Raven's Rock leaders who were largely noncombatants.
- Continuity Nod:
- Their uniforms and equipment are a DLC pack for Ghost Recon: Phantoms. Also, the Russian Spetznaz unit in Tom Clancy's EndWar is known as the Wolves.
- They're mentioned in Wildlands as having been paid to provide combat training to Cartel underboss La Plaga.
- The Wolves from Breakpoint also seem to greatly resemble them, as well as share their name (Bodark means Werewolf in Russian).
- A former member of Bodark appears as an ally in Breakpoint's Deep State DLC campaign.
- Bodark are the main antagonists of Breakpoint's Red Patriot DLC campaign. From the trailers, it appears they were originally intended to be a full new faction, but in the game itself they're just a handful of officers commanding the usual Sentinel and Wolf mooks. Bodark finally appears as a full faction in Operation Motherland, the final DLC campaign of Breakpoint.
- Elite Mooks: Even more elite than previous Elite Mook groups in the series such as North Korean special forces, Aguila 7, or the Panamanian mercs.
- Evil Counterpart: To the Ghosts, much more-so than previous Elite Mooks like Aguila 7. Like the Ghosts, they're an elite special forces group utilizing state-of-the-art technology (including cloaking devices and EMP grenades), and like the Ghosts they're named after a supernatural being. Their technological parity with the Ghosts also lets them hack the Ghosts' own tech systems, crippling the Ghosts' usual technological advantage. Their Leitmotif is even titled "Nemesis" in the game's soundtrack. They're also the only enemy group in the series who know exactly who the Ghosts are (even referencing Kozak by name and hometown) and what their capabilities are.
- Gas Mask Mooks: They wear gas masks, possibly due to their usage of smoke grenades.
- Kung Fu-Proof Mook: They can't be marked on your cross-com like regular enemies due to their thermoptic camo. Also, unlike the earlier prototypes used by Los Extranjeros, the camo doesn't show up in thermal vision either.
- Leitmotif: "Nemesis", a combination of Ominous Russian Chanting and "Psycho" Strings. The heavy combat version, "Stampede", replaced the Ominous Chanting with Dubstep.
- Mage Killer: In their first appearance, they hack your cross-com systems to disable all your fancy high-tech gadgets, including your optic camo, drone, and cross-com HUD.
- Nothing Is Scarier: In the first mission in which you encounter them, they spent a large portion of the mission simply trolling you, hacking your cross-com so that it glitches heavily and even shows enemies that aren't actually there. It's only when you walk into an ideal kill-zone relatively late in the level do they actually engage you in combat.
- The Remnant: The remnants of Bodark serve as the antagonists of Breakpoint's Red Patriot DLC.
- Savage Wolves: They take their name from Russian folklore; a Bodark is a man who chooses to become a Werewolf, as opposed to someone who involuntarily becomes a werewolf due to being bitten by one.
- The Starscream: In the Raven Strike DLC, after Raven's Rock is overthrown, Colonel Kuzmin and Bodark attempt to use the chaos to steal all of Russia's intelligence secrets, either for their own personal use or to sell on the open market.
- Visible Invisibility: Their thermoptic camo has the same Predator shimmer effect as that of the Ghosts. However, when combined with the fact they can't be marked on your cross-com, it can still let them sneak up on you surprisingly effectively as you're so used to the cross-com marking enemies for you that you fail to notice them.
- Wolfpack Boss: Each of the Bodark officers in the final mission of Raven Strike are no tougher than a regular Mook, but are protected by at least a couple squads of troopers as well as one APC each.
