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Characters that appeared in the video game and novel adaptations of Metro 2033.
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Artyom
Artyom Chyornyj
Voiced by:
English: Oleg Mirochnikov (2033 (Original) -> Christopher L. Parson (2033 Redux, Last Light, Exodus)
Japanese: Masaki Terasoma
Russian: Alexander Vilkov (2033), Vladimir Plakhov (2033 Redux, Last Light), Daniel Eldarov (Exodus)
The Player Character of Metro 2033, Last Light and Exodus, Artyom has lived most of his life in the underground Metro tunnels. He is soon called to adventure, however, to warn the rest of the Metro of the mysterious Dark Ones.
- 10-Minute Retirement: Between Last Light and Exodus he, along with Anna, resigns from the Rangers and moves back to Exhibition to search the radiowaves for outside survivors. This doesn't stick as fate isn't done with him and he finds himself back with the Rangers by the end of the first chapter of Exodus. While neither he nor Anna are "formally" reenlisted into the Order, no one treats him any differently than as if he had never left and he even follows Miller's orders like before. In the good ending, he is even promoted to the rank of Commander and chosen as the de facto commanding officer of the entire order.
- AB Negative: Artyom's blood type is mentioned to be AB Positive in Exodus, which becomes critical later when he suffers lethal radiation poisoning. Since he can receive any type of blood, all of his fellow Rangers donate their own blood to him to replace his irradiated blood.
- Adaptational Badass: In the Metro 2033 book, Artyom is an Action Survivor who has almost no fighting experience when leaving the VDNKh station (Exhibition in the games) and is only able to survive because he's a good shot, is relatively unaffected by psychic phenomena, has much more experienced companions helping him along the way and The Dark Ones are watching over him. In the game, though many of these weaknesses still apply to Artyom, he's a One-Man Army from the get go, who is able to mow down hundreds of men and mutants on his own, though he still gets his ass kicked a few times.
- The Atoner: In Last Light, after most of the Dark Ones are killed. Canonically, he succeeds.
- Badass in Distress: Constantly, though always by Cutscene Incompetence. He gets captured or imperiled so often that its surprising he isn't considered The Load by everyone. To list, he has been: Knocked off a trolley and forced to run from mutants (rescued by Riga station guards), spotted sneaking into a bandit camp and is almost shot by their leader (rescue by Bourbon), captured by Nazis (rescued by the Rangers: Ulman and Pavel), almost falls off the Ostankino Tower (rescued by Miller), captured by Nazis again (rescued by a Communist soldier named Pavel), captured by Communists (rescued by the Communist Leader's son), on the verge of having to blow himself up (rescued by the Dark Ones), near fatally irradiated and dogpiled by mutants (rescued by a Ranger team), captured by cannibals and almost butchered for food (rescued by Sam and Idiot), falls into a river and almost drowns (rescued by Olga), gets the hell knocked out of him by a Blind One and falls several floors into an irradiated hellhole (rescued by Miller), due to exposure to said irradiated hellhole he gets lethally irradiated again (possibly rescued by the crew of the Aurora depending on the ending).
- Born Lucky: Zigzagged. He is unlucky enough that things tend to happen at just the wrong time (someone looks his way when sneaking, a floorboard give away, etc.), putting him in life endangering situations. Yet Artyom is lucky enough that, afterwards, things always happen at just the right time to save him and get him out of the jam.Miller: ''Lucky as always, Artyom!''
- Butt-Monkey: Suffers quite a bit of abuse in the games, being captured several times (often involving his face quickly getting acquainted with someone's rifle stock), attacked by mutants, falling or getting knocked off railcarts, and having platforms/stairs giving way beneath him.
- The Metro 2035 book consists mostly of Artyom getting beaten, shot, irradiated, betrayed and laughed at until he is near to becoming insane.
- Cassandra Truth: In 2035 and Exodus nobody believes his claims that there is life outside the metro and most people instead believe that he has gone completely insane. Many people around him are aware that he is right, but they are part of the conspiracy that tries to hide the existence of outside world.
- The Chosen One: He finds out in Last Light that he was chosen by the Dark Ones to help them communicate with humanity, after one of them saves his life when he was younger. Too bad they ended up choosing their Chosen One very poorly.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Discussed it to himself when he is on his way to save Bourbon from bandits, his adopted father once told him that when you save someone once you feel obligated to keep looking after them. Artyom therefore can't leave people behind despite his better judgement.
- Curious Qualms of Conscience: He carries out his orders faithfully and skillfully in order to save his home station, but as he watches the missiles incinerate the Dark One's nest in the (canon) bad ending of 2033, he feels like he has only made a horrendous mistake.
- Dirty Business: Artyoms narration, at least in the first game, is mournful. He doesn't enjoy the sheer amount of killing that is forced upon him, even if he ends up being really really good at it.
- The Dreaded: For soldiers that don't know him but sees him either sneaking or killing through their rank he is pretty scary. The children of the Forest and the Red Line notes he is a different threat than the usual danger.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: Played with. In Last Light, he's viewed by everyone as the savior of the Metro, but everyone acknowledges that he's still inexperienced, since he's only been a Ranger for several months. This ends after the Battle of D6, wherein he is universally recognized as one of the biggest badasses, and a legend, in the Metro.
- Failure Hero: In Metro 2035 he suffers one failure after another and ultimately fails to achieve his overarching goals. He exhibits shades of this in other installments as well, but his failures generally bring him closer to his goals.
- The Faceless: We never see Artyom's face without a gas mask or something covering it. The book also invokes this by giving only very few details about his appearance.
- Friend to All Children: Artyom has made befriended with many children throughout the series, even helping two children to find their lost teddy bears. Extends to the child Dark One, where Artyom defends him with Papa Wolf levels of determination.
- Happily Adopted: For a given value of "happily" — it is a Crapsack World after all — but Artyom had a healthy relationship with his foster father.
- Happily Married: To Anna after 2034 and Last Light.
- The Hero Dies: In the bad ending of Last Light, he blows up D6 to stop the Red Army. In the bad ending of Exodus, he dies of radiation poisoning.
- Heroic Mime: In the games and the book Metro 2035, but averted in the book Metro 2033. Outside of the beginning-of-level narrations and verbal sounds, he never says anything in-game. Strangely, while some characters comment on his strange silence, others react as if Artyom is talking to them. Also averted/subverted in the book Metro 2034 because the "Artyom" from that book is Artyom Popov, thus he never was a Heroic Mime to begin with!.
- Historical Hero Upgrade: In-Universe. Homer promises to immortalise Artyom in his writings by portraying him as a classical hero and glossing over his shortcomings and failures.
- Knight in Sour Armor: After the end of 2033, Artyom becomes deeply regretful of his actions in massacring the Dark Ones, leading him to try and find a way to atone for it. Then later, in the time between Last Light and Exodus, Artyom has become disillusioned with life inside the Metro due to all of the corruption, politics, and infighting between the factions. As a result, he quits the Rangers and instead makes risky expeditions to the surface to prove life exists outside of Moscow.
- Made a Slave: Twice, in fact. In the Metro 2033 novel he loses a bet and is forced to work as a janitor for a year, though he does manage to break out early. The second time, in Metro 2035 he gets captured by the Fourth Reich and is forced to perform hard labor, until he gets lucky and breaks out once again.
- Made of Iron: Survives multiple falls, getting beat up several times, and occasionally even shot...in cutscenes. Yet, any ill effects aren't felt for long and he is back at 100% within seconds or minutes. Special mention goes to the truly amazing number of concussions and head injuries he's managed to survive, which has
become a running joke among the playerbase. It takes getting hit with an UNGODLY amount of radiation to put him down for any extended period of time. And in the bad ending of Exodus, it puts him down for good. - Meaningful Name:
- Artyom is the Russian masculine form of the Greek name Artemisios, relating to Artemis, the Greek goddess of the hunt. She obviously had to have excellent aim, as Artyom himself is said to have by Hunter.
- Two of the possible Greek cognate words for "Artemis" can also be read as "safe" or "butcher". This reflects the two choices he has in dealing with the Dark Ones. In the end of 2033, Artyom chooses to become a "butcher", but immediately regrets it and starts to embody the "safe" aspect of his name.
- His name being associated with a deity of hunting makes his name a synonymic meaning with the name of his mentor: Hunter. And the canon ending of 2033 shows he initially chooses to act similarly to Hunter, just as his name implies. This doesn't sit well him with him in later games.
- In the novel Metro 2035, Artyom also selects his last name, Chyornyj ("black") based on his actions in 2033.
- Messianic Archetype: Artyom has been compared to Moses on several occassions by his friends in Exodus. Aside from being chosen by the Dark Ones to help them communicate with humanity, Artyom's main role in Exodus is to bring the people of Moscow out of the Metro and into a land where they can leave in peace.
- Mistaken for Badass: During 2033. Well, he is a badass, just not the kind of badass people think he is. He is often mistaken for being a Ranger. This ends after finding and securing D6, when Miller recognizes his badassery and inducts him into the Rangers on the spot, completely bypassing the normally years long training and evaluation process.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Realizes that the Dark Ones were actually peaceful after most of them are killed at the end of 2033. His Heel Realization drives him to go through hell and back, back into hell, back out again, repeatedly to protect what he thinks is the last Dark One.
- No-Sell: Thanks to being contacted by the Dark Ones when he was a child, Artyom isn't affected by psychic phenomenon the same way that other humans are. This frequently proves to be a vital skill for him on his journey and is the reason that he became the Chosen One for The Dark Ones, as he was the only person who didn't get unintentionally mind raped when trying to communicate with them.
- One-Man Army: While all Rangers are this by nature, Artyom is this even before he was inducted into the order. You can over hear conversations between NPCs who mistake Artyom's feats for those of some unknown Ranger.
- Only One Name: Only Artyom's first name is used in the games. The novel Metro 2035 gives his full name as Artyom Alekseyevich Chyornyj, which Artyom adopted himself.
- Orphan's Ordeal: Even when he was Happily Adopted, having to live without real parents has never been easy for Artyom. He practically worships his dead mother and admits in Last Light that he would sell his soul if it could make him just remember his mother's face and the reason he went to botanical gardens the day he let The Dark Ones inside the metro was that he wanted to remember the moment he spent with his mother there before the war. The Dark Ones saw the pain that Artyom was in and took pity upon him, becoming the closest thing to family he has besides Alex.
- The Paragon: After his Heel Realization upon massacring the Dark Ones in the end of 2033, Artyom vows to make amends. By the end of Last Light, Artyom's heroics and mercy cause the Baby Dark One to view him as this.
- The Poorly Chosen One: Unfortunately, he does not have a good track record as a savior, even though many people in the metro view him as such.
- He is initially seen as a savior by the Dark Ones, as he's the only one who can communicate with them is able to unite them with humanity, but he ends up bringing about the downfall of their species. He fares a little better in the Redemption ending of Last Light where he is finally able to redeem his previous actions against them by liberating the remaining members of their species from D6.
- In the book, he also winds up as this when The Polis Council falsely believes he is their chosen one who can magically find and retrieve them a mystical book of great power. As it quickly turns out, this is nothing but their religious mambo jambo and the task turns into a Suicide Mission that Artyom barely survives.
- Ranger: Officially becomes one by the time Last Light rolls in.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: At the end of Metro 2035, after discovering the truth about the rest of the world, and seeing that the Metro residents are too complacent to care, he and Anna leave Moscow, setting up the plot for Metro Exodus.
- Secular Hero: He doesn't believe in any kind of gods or afterlife and is very skeptical of every religion he learns about. His justification is that if there were such a thing as gods (benevolent or otherwise) would have never allowed the horrors he has witnessed to have occurred. Granted he is aware of the "paranormal", such as the ghostly shadows of those who have died in the metro, but does not dwell long on their implications.
- Spell My Name With An S: In the English dub, his name is Romanized as Artyom, since the Cyrillic Ñ‘ letter contained in his name has a yo sound in it. However in German and Finnish versions of the book, his name is instead Romanized as Artjom since his pronunciation sounds closet to jo in those languages, while the Swedish language version turns his name into Artiom.
- Tap on the Head: This is his and his enemies' favorite method of knocking each other out in the games. Seriously, almost everybody does that, to the point where it gets downright miraculous that Artyom hasn't acquired some kind of brain damage yet.
- Took a Level in Badass: As you play through the first game, Artyom goes from getting his ass kicked in almost every encounter to fighting on an even level with the resident Badass Normals. He eventually becomes a Ranger in Last Light and replaces Miller as the leader of the Spartan Order in Exodus. Granted, he still often gets his ass kicked, but now he either has to be ambushed out of left field or overwhelmed by sheer weight of numbers.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: He is much more unpleasant in Metro 2035 than in any of his previous appearances. Not that this is surprising after all he's been through.
- Touched by Vorlons: The reason he can understand the Dark Ones. He accidentally allowed them to enter the Metro as a child, and they communicated him with when his mind was young thus not resistant to them.
- Turn in Your Badge: Artyom is implied to have turned in his Ranger dogtag upon resigning from the order, though he apparently kept Hunter's tag as a keepsake. Good thing he did.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Kind of. When he was young, he and two of his friends opened a sealed door leading to the Botanical Gardens, allowing the Dark Ones to enter the Metro.
- Villain Protagonist: Downplayed. During 2033, Artyom is doing what he thinks is protecting his home and the Metro from nigh unstoppable mutants capable of pulping a human's mind by so much as looking at them. But in reality, he massacres a group of innocent people who were just trying to talk. Realizing this pushed him to try and make amends with the world.
- Was It Really Worth It?:
- After the missile strike on the Botanical Gardens, he begins to have second thoughts, wondering if the Dark Ones were actually trying to make peace. He's grown to regret his actions by the second game.
- Miller asks him this after his search for radio signals from anyone outside the Metro eventually lead to him and Anna almost getting killed, critically damaging part of the radio jammer system keeping the Metro hidden from any outside hostile forces, killing several Hansa troops who were just doing what they thought was protecting the Metro survivors; all on top of getting him, Anna, and the remaining Rangers branded as traitors and forced into exile from the Metro under threat of execution.
- What the Hell, Hero?: A few times.
- In 2033,the Dark Ones when they realize that Artyom has misunderstood them and is now to kill them all, after they had hoped he would be able to understand them and bring peace between their species.
- In Last Light, Miller freaks out and calls Artyom out when he discovers Artyom had been knowingly protecting a Dark One.
- In Exodus, Exhibition's doctor, Miller, and Anna call him out for his constant ventures to the surface that repeatedly end with him getting irradiated and using up the clinic's blood supplies to save him.
- Again in Exodus, by Miller when Artyom, along with Anna, inadvertently sabotage the radio jammer shielding Moscow from any hostile forces, which leads to them, Miller, and the remaining Rangers being branded traitors and forced into exile under threat of execution.
- Possibly in Exodus, NPCs will call Artyom out if the player attacks/kills groups just trying to (what they think is) defend themselves.
- You Are in Command Now: Miller passes the torch to Artyom in the good ending of Exodus, making him the next leader of the Aurora crew.
- Your Days Are Numbered:
- In Metro 2035 he gets struck with a bad case of radiation sickness which slowly, but surely brings him closer to death. The Invisible Watchers manage to at least postpone his demise, though nobody knows for how long.
- Similarly in the Alternate Universe of the video games, specifically Exodus, he gets heavily irradiated and saved by an emergency transfusion to save his life. After Artyom regains consciousness, the doctor states that he is not confident that he can save Artyom the next time he gets irradiated.
Hunter
Hunter
"If it's hostile, you kill it."
Voiced by:
English: Steve Blum (Metro 2033)
Japanese: Kenji Nomura
Russian: Alexander Vilkov (Metro 2033)
A friend of Artyom's stepfather, whom Artyom sees as a mentor figure. He's also a member of the Rangers. While the game canon leaves his ultimate fate ambiguous, he returns in the Metro 2034 book.
- The Ace: Several characters state that he is the best soldier the Rangers, and by extension, the entire metro has to offer.
- Ax-Crazy: He's an highly unstable alcoholic by the time of Metro 2034 after The Dark Ones awakened the bloodlust he had been hiding.
- Badass Longcoat: In the books, he wears a brown leather trench coat produced in metro.
- Battle in the Center of the Mind: He's desperately trying to keep the murderous instincts The Dark Ones awakened in him at bay. The hallucination that he has in Polyanka station clearly showcases that he is loosing this battleSasha: I know that Hunter can be stopped. He has two sides... I've seen both. One wants blood, the other to protect people!(...) Simply the one inside, who kills people, is deceiving the other one. It tells him, that he has no other choice. One is tormented by hunger the other by longing... That's why Hunter is so eager to get to Tulska — both of his sides are! We have to separate one from another. We have to show him there is a choice...
- Blood Knight: It's heavily implied in the Metro 2034 novel that he joined the Rangers to satisfy his bloodlust.
- Breakout Character: He received much more focus in Metro 2034 thanks to his popularity.
- Catchphrase: If it's hostile, you kill it. He presents it as if its the motto of the Rangers, atleast Artyom mistakes it for the Rangers' motto. This reveals that, in actuality, Hunter is just a Sociopathic Hero who likes to kill things while lying to himself that it had to be done.
- Day in the Limelight: In Metro 2034, where he serves as the Deuteragonist of the story.
- Death by Adaptation: In the novels, he is revealed to have survived his encounter with the Dark Ones. In the 2033 game, he appears to be dead, or at least missing.
- Do Not Go Gentle: Even if the Dark Ones really are superior to humanity, he very much intends to die fighting them.
- The Ghost: He's mentioned to have survived The Battle of D6 in Metro 2035 and is mentioned several times by Artyom and Sasha in their conversation, but never makes an appearance in the book.
- Gratuitous English: Hunter uses the English word "Hunter" as hi!!!!!s name. Artyom notes at their first meeting that it isn't Russian, and comments that it is very strange.
- If I Do Not Return: He tells Artyom to head for Polis station and look for a man named Miller if he doesn't come back. He doesn't, and Artyom decides to fulfill Hunter's wishes, driving the main plot.
- Meaningful Name:
- His name "Hunter" is synonymical with Artyom's name (which is the Russian verion of "Artemis" the Greek goddess of hunting). Fittingly Artyom initially seeks to emulate him.
- His name is also fitting as he came to Exhibition to hunt the Dark Ones (as well as any other non-human threat to the Metro). This is symbolic of his true nature, as deep down he does not care about protecting the Metro as much as he enjoys tracking down and killing dangerous things, as he finds out rather jarringly. This is reflected in his personal motto: "If it's hostile, you kill it.", which he prefers over the Rangers' more defensive/selfless motto.
- The Mentor: The first of several to Artyom and also probably the most influential one of them all. It's implied that he's the one who taught him on how to properly handle firearms and aim. Artyom even mentions in Metro 2035 that he owes everything in his current life to Hunter and his teachings.
- Mentor Occupational Hazard: He never returns from his mission to hunt down and deal with the Dark Ones. In the games, its heavily implied he died on his mission to hunt down the Dark Ones, as he is never seen or heard from again for the rest of the entire series. In the books it is realized he survived, but the experience broke him completely and he decided to secretly leave his old life behind.
- Never Found the Body: If he died, we never know it. In the books this is because he had actually survived, but as an utterly broken shell of himself who decided to flee his old life.
- One-Man Army:
- Not only is he a member of an entire Order where being a One-Man Army is an entry requirement, he is known as Miller's "Right Hand Man" aka he is the Second in Command of said badass order.
- In Metro 2034 he frequently ends up fighting and winning against overwhelming numbers of enemies and is mentioned to be capable of defending entire sections of a metro station that would regularly take 15 men to guard properly.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Becomes one in the Metro 2034 novel after his encounter with the Dark Ones.
- Small Role, Big Impact: His disappearance early in the first game drives the rest of the plot.
- Tragic Keepsake: Artyom keeps Hunter's Spartan tags as this after the latter's disappearance. They ended up taking the bullet meant to kill him during the encounter with hostile Hansa soldiers at the beginning of Exodus.
- Uncertain Doom: He heads off to search the area after the Dark Ones attack Exhibition at the start of 2033, but never returns.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: He shares Miller's view of eliminating any potential threats to metro's survival as quickly and swiftly as possible, even if there is a potentially better solution available.
Alex
Alex/Sukhoi
Voiced by:
English: Kirk Thornton (Metro 2033)
Russian: Eugene Maluha (Metro 2033)
Artyom's stepfather, and the head of Exhibition station.
- Authority Equals Asskicking: The head of Exhibition station, who happens to be really good at handling an assault rifle and killing a few dozen Nosalises.
- Fantasy-Forbidding Father: Tries to discourage Artyom from joining the Rangers, seeing their lifestyle as dangerous.
- Honorary Uncle: Artyom only ever refers to him as "uncle".
- Parental Substitute: Adopted Artyom after his mother's death.
Eugine
Eugine
Voiced by:
English: Mark Ivanir (Metro 2033)
Russian: Igor Melnikov (Metro 2033)
One of Artyom's childhood friends. He accompanies him to Riga station as part of a supply caravan.
- Bus Crash: The last Artyom sees of him is in Riga. By the time of Last Light, Artyom states that he died sometime after parting ways with him.
- Childhood Friends: With Artyom. He was even one of two people that accompanied him to the surface back when they were kids.
- The Cameo: He appears in Last Light's prologue as one of two children accompanying the young Artyom. He also makes a voice-only appearance in Metro Exodus's bad ending.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: He's just killed off unceremoniously between the events of 2033 and Last Light, with no explanation. In the book, he was killed by the dark ones while Artyom was on his way to Polis.
- Killed Offscreen: It's mentioned in Last Light's prologue that he died sometime after arriving at Riga with Artyom.
- Shotguns Are Just Better: He initially uses a duplet, which he later gives to Artyom when nosalises attack their caravan.
Bourbon
Bourbon
Some people call these demons, I call them bitches!
Voiced by:
English: Sven Holmberg (2033, Exodus)
Japanese: Shinya Fukumatsu
Russian: Grigory Herman (2033), Mikhail Sushkov (Exodus)
The first of Artyom's companions. An explorer who knows the ins and outs of the Metro, who also happens to get into trouble often.
- Adaptational Heroism: In the novel, Bourbon had no plans to pay Artyom, and in fact, planned to off him once they made it through the tunnels. The game Bourbon is grumpy, but nonetheless honest and supportive of Artyom.
- Deadpan Snarker: He's constantly cracking sarcastic comments.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": "Bourbon" is just a moniker. We never learn his real name.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite his cynical and sarcastic demeanor, he is genuinely helpful and cares for Artyom. It comes to the point that he risks his own life to save him.
- The Mentor: Teaches Artyom several important basic lessons on Metro survival during their travels from Riga all the way to Dry.
- Mutual Kill: He and the bandit leader both shoot each other at the same time when Artyom arrives at the end of Dry.
- Not Quite Dead: Last Light reveals he survived his injuries, only to be captured by bandits and sent off to become a slave labourer in Venice.
- Reformed Criminal: Implied by his demeanor, and the fact that the bandits at Dry station are familiar with him.
- Spared by the Adaptation: He lives longer in the games (making it up to at least Dry Station), while he is truly dead in the original novels; the "Great Gate" kills him.
- Wisdom from the Gutter: Bourbon may be a smuggler, a con-man and crooked as a dog's hind leg, but his advice on dealing with everything from Hansa patrols to mutants to radiation is good.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Artyom discovers in the novel that Bourbon wasn't planning to pay him, and would likely have killed him once they'd made it past danger.
Khan
Khan Aitmatov
You reap what you sow, Artyom. Force answers force. War breeds war. And death only brings death. To break this vicious circle one must do more than just act without any thought or doubt.
Voiced by:
English: Graham McTavish (2033), JB Blanc (Last Light, Exodus)
Japanese: Akimitsu Takase
Russian: Oleg Stalchuk (2033, Last Light), Mikhail Georgiou (Exodus)
The second of Artyom's companions. An associate of the Rangers who helps stations in peril such as Cursed. He is also known for his extensive knowledge of supernatural and mysterious events in the Metro.
- Ambiguously Human: It's not clear what he is. He seems to understand a lot of supernatural phenomena that no one else does, and his origins are rather murky. Artyom puts it best in one of his diary entries:"...I don't even really know what he is. A traveling philosopher? A wizard? A guest from a parallel dimension? How does he earn his living — by saving people or by killing them? He always makes me feel like I don't understand anything about life and world I'm living in. He shows me things I can't explain — and will never be able to. He makes the obvious seem absurd, while the absurd becomes logical and natural..."
- Ascended Extra: He has a far smaller role in the novels than in the games, only appearing in the Metro 2033 novel, and never again. In the games proper, he's a significant mentor figure to Artyom, and one of the key people involved in finding a way to prevent D6 from falling into the Red Line's hands.
- Dead Person Conversation: In Exodus, when Artyom dies in the bad ending, he finds himself in a sort of purgatory realm where he meets Khan. Khan is genuinely surprised to see Artyom there and gives Artyom some sage advice before returning to the realm of the living.
- First-Name Basis: In the novel, he gives his last name, but everyone primarily refers to him by his first name.
- Flanderization: In regards to his attitude towards the Dark Ones. In the first game, Khan never fully voices his thoughts regarding Artyom's mission and only makes vague comments about how violence may perpetuate and how everything deserves a right to live. In Last Light, he vehemently argues that wiping out the Dark Ones was a mistake and that Miller is wrong in seeking to finish their race off. Albeit, this might be justified due to the emotional impact of the genocide upon the Dark Ones and some time to stew with his own thoughts and feelings on the matter.
- The Mentor: Teaches Artyom about the unexplainable and supernatural phenomena on their way to Cursed Station, and advises him not to assume that everything is hostile.
- Never Found the Body: He just disappears after the final battle in Last Light.
- The Paragon: He encourages everyone to be more open-minded, especially in regards to the Dark Ones.
- Past-Life Memories: He claims to remember being Genghis Khan, among others.
- Promoted to Playable: In part of his namesake chapter of the Chronicles Pack Downloadable Content.
- Respected by the Respected: Artyom writes down in his notes that most Rangers show reverence toward him and while Miller might have disagreement with Khan he lets him in their base (possibly because they can't keep him out).
- Seen It All: He's completely unfazed by most supernatural phenomena when passing through the Ghost and Anomaly-filled tunnels.
- Sole Survivor: He's the sole surviving member of a group of Metro defenders, as he explains in 2033, and seen (and playable) in a flashback in Last Light.
- The Stoic: Remains calm and composed in most of his appearances in 2033.
- Not So Stoic: In Last Light, shows emotions such as concern and joy, especially with regards to The Baby Dark One. He also angrily yells "You are a liar!" at Comrade Moskvin near the end of the game.
- Weirdness Magnet: While not only a strange man in general, being very well-versed in the darker side of the metro, he also tends to be subject to paranormal activity significantly more than any other character in the series. Ulman in the namesake level of the Chronicles Pack in Last Light even lampshades it as he and Khan enter inside an abandoned train.
- Zombie Advocate: Apparently the only person in Last Light (sans Artyom) who thinks that the Dark One can save humanity rather than destroy it.
Andrew/Andrei the Blacksmith
Andrew/Andrei
Voiced by:
English: Alex Veadov (2033), Matt Riedy (Last Light)
Japanese: Manabu Sakamaki
Russian: Vladimir Tereshchuk (2033), Eugene Pashin (Last Light)
An associate and friend of Khan, who also happens to be a weapons-making expert. He's also revealed to be smuggling refugees out of Red Line-controlled stations.
- Age Lift: Downplayed. In the original version of 2033, he looks like he's in his late 50s, with greying hair. In the Redux version of 2033, as well as both versions of Last Light, he is shown to be balding and appears to be in his mid-60s.
- Big Damn Heroes: Saves you from the Reds when they have you surrounded.
- The Blacksmith: As his name implies, he's skilled in building things, like weapons and railcars.
- The Engineer: He's one of the most skilled engineers in the Metro.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Created the Heavy Automatic Shotgun/Abzats, the Volt Driver/Hellbreath, and a powered railcar you can use in Last Light.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: By Last Light, he's revealed to have fled Armory Station, having been fed up with the way the Red Line began subverting the place.
Ulman
Ulman
A member of the Rangers, who saves Artyom after he's captured by members of the Fourth Reich.
- Big Damn Heroes: Twice. He first saves Artyom by killing two Nazis threatening him, then later kills another one who finds Artyom inside Black Station, preventing him from alerting the entire base.
- Subverted in Last Light's Chronicles DLC, where, after helping to derail the train The Dark One and Artyom are on, is prevented from helping them due to debris blocking access to the rest of the tunnel.
- Character Development: Goes from joking all the time in the first game to being bitter and cynical in the second game, though his original joking personality still shines through occasionally.
- Deadpan Snarker: All the damn time.(After rescuing Artyom from the Nazis) You know, one thing I like about the bad guys is that there's always a lot of discussion before they get around to pulling the trigger.
- Demoted to Extra: In Last Light, he only appears in the prologue and final level, although he does get A Day in the Limelight in the Chronicles DLC.
- Killed Off for Real: He dies in both endings of Last Light, either from the self-destruct of the D6 base or being executed by the Communists.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The "Khan" level of the Chronicles DLC pack reveals that he was the reason the train The Dark One was on blew up. Thanks to him, Khan couldn't reunite with Artyom until much later, while the latter was forced to take a very risky detour involving Red Line soldiers and mutants.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: He doesn't joke as much in Last Light, emphasizing the seriousness of the situation.
- Promoted to Playable: In the Chronicles DLC, you get to play as him during part of Khan's chapter.
- Race Lift: Overlaps with Age Lift: he's Caucasian and around the same age than Artyom in the books, but is older and has Asian features in the games.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: He's much less friendly in Last Light.
- Voice with an Internet Connection: Alongside Vladimir, he aids Artyom and Miller this way during the final levels of the first game.
Pavel
Pavel
Voiced by:
English: Sven Holmberg (2033)
Japanese: Shinya Fukumatsu
Russian: Alexander Vilkov
A member of the Rangers of the Order. He is part of a two-man squad with Ulman when they save Artyom from execution by vengeful Nazis. The former tasks him with helping Artyom get to Polis to deliver Hunter's message to Miller.
- The Faceless: Only in the original version. Redux shows him without his gas mask on.
- Sacrificial Lion: Gets dragged off the trolley you're riding by nosalises, then blows himself up.
- Taking You with Me: Blows himself up with a grenade when he gets dragged off by nosalises.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Only shows up in a couple of levels before being killed.
Miller
Colonel Sviatoslav Konstantinovich "Miller" Mel'nikov
Voiced by:
English: Mark Ivanir (2033, Redux), Jamieson Price (Last Light, Exodus)
Japanese: Yasuhiro Mamiya
Russian: Eugene Pashin (2033, Redux, Last Light), Vladimir Antonik (Exodus)
Head of the Order of the Rangers. He decides to help Artyom destroy the Dark Ones even when the Polis council refuses to help. To this end, he becomes the leader of an expedition to find the D6 bunkers, which are said to house a control center for WMDs said to be still operational.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: In Exodus, he joins Artyom on his journey eastward, unlike in 2035, when he opposed most of Artyom's actions.
- An Arm and a Leg: In the good ending of Last Light, he loses both of his feet, and is confined to a wheelchair. In 2034, he also loses one of his arms while searching for Hunter.
- Artificial Limbs: After the events of Last Light which resulted in him losing both his legs, Miller is given artificial legs. Some grade-A artificial legs, too, given that they articulate like the real deal and Miller's knees are gone.
- Authority Equals Asskicking: To be expected of someone who leads a group that requires you to already be a badass before you are even allowed to join.
- Colonel Badass: Played Straight. His given rank is "Colonel" and he is head of the Sparta Order of Rangers. Despite his age, still a badass soldier who is able to kick as much, if not outright more, ass that even his top subordinates.
- Domestic Abuse: He used to frequently beat his wife when Anna was a child, to the point that she eventually committed suicide. Miller's subsequent guilt over this lead to him becoming overprotective towards Anna.
- Dub Name Change: The English dub of the games calls him "Miller", which is the literal translation of Melniknote . There is only a single reference to his real name in the English dub of Metro Exodus when he identifies himself as "Colonel Sviatoslav Melnikov" as the Aurora is approaching the Yamantau mountain bunker and the presumed remains of the Russian government. This makes it likely that "Miller" is just a codename or nickname, like his subordinate "Idiot".
- Fatal Flaw: His My Country, Right or Wrong tendencies cause a lot of trouble over the course of Metro Exodus.
- Handicapped Badass: Losing both his legs didn't slow him down considerably. If anything, he gets more badass in "Exodus".
- Heroic BSoD: the revelation that there was no government in Yamantau, just cannibals, combined with months of unfounded paranoia about NATO forces in Russia, in addition to losing his power and prestige in the Moscow Metro, breaks Miller, and he eventually beats one of his captors in Yamantau to death. He gets better.
- Hypocrite: Miller follows the Invisible Watchers' orders of keeping Moscow hidden to the outside world to prevent anymore bombs dropping from the sky. In the first game, Miller himself has no qualm in launching missiles at the Dark Ones' lair.
- Irony: He is extremely paranoid about NATO forces occupying Russia and thinks the war may still be going on. His personal bodyguard in Exodus is a former US Marine and the only member of NATO seen in the main storyline of the games so far.
- Killed Off for Real: He dies in the non-canon bad ending of Last Light when Artyom destroys D6. And in Exodus, he canonically dies of radiation poisoning while retrieving medicine for Anna in both endings.
- The Knights Who Say "Squee!": He is all nervous when he is about to meet the Minister of Defense at the Ark.To the point he ignores the blatant red flags that something is wrong and has to be told to his face the government is not there by the cannibals. He flies in an Unstoppable Rage over it.
- Like a Son to Me: He admits in Exodus's good ending that he sees a lot of himself in Artyom, and has always wanted a son like him.
- The Leader: Of the Rangers as a whole, as well as the expedition in search of D6.
- My Country, Right or Wrong: One of his main character flaws. Being an Old Soldier of the former Soviet military, he seems to still hold a lot of pride and patriotism which shows through from time to time despite Russia having been blasted to bits like the rest of the world. For example, during his "take back the world with fire and sword" speech in D6 upon seeing the preserved tanks and war machines stored there, one gets the impression he isn't talking about taking back the world from the mutants only.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Twice.
- The first happened before the series' story even started. He negelected Anna and abused his wife, until his wife killed herself. The shock of the Heel Realization turning him into a Papa Wolf towards Anna.
- The second is after leading the Aurora crew into the Ark, despite several warning signs, against the advise of several of his team who suspected something was off, and in opposition to Anna and Artyom's wise to go settle on a beach somewhere. Miller again realizes he was putting his own desires first and again endangering those close to him. After the team escapes the ambush, Miller doesn't raise a single word opposed to Anna and Artyom's plan from there and does everything he can to make it happen.
- Old Soldier: Served in the Soviet military, heavily implied to have been Spetznaz, many years ago. Now serves as the head of his own special forces military order, the Sparta Order of Rangers, to protect the survivors within the Metro from each other and the mutants that lurk in the darkness.
- Ranger: He's the leader of an entire order of them.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: When Polis refuses to help Exhibition Station in 2033, making your entire journey through the game pointless, he decides to help you take down the Dark Ones regardless. In Exodus, while he is stern, everything he does is what he believes is the best of his men, based on his understanding of the situation, and he is never unreasonable. He even overlooks minor infractions of standard operations, such as Damir smuggling vodka onto missions in his canteen; even having Damir share it with the rest of the team as they celebrate.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Miller... changed after the Battle of D6. He hasn't been able to get over the sorrow of losing half of his comrades and has become a paranoid wreck who refuses to accept his crippled state and helps hunt down anyone who is suspected to have come from outside the metro in the fear of NATO retaliation.
- Still Wearing the Old Colors: Justified through most of the games as the Metro's ability to produce new uniforms is limited at best, so he and his order just use modified Spetznaz uniforms and equipment. In Exodus he dons a blue Spetsnaz beret with the USSR era Order of the Red Star emblem after revealing that WWIII never ended and that Russia was still at war with the NATO countries. This is to signify his belief that Russia, as a nation, still exists and that he is still part of its military.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Is much more hostile to Artyom in Metro 2035, seeing the latter's actions and beliefs as reckless.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: As mentioned under Fatal Flaw, Miller's blind, near-quixotic patriotism is the cause of a lot of trouble in Metro Exodus up until Caspian.
- His patriotism makes it easy for the Invisible Watchers to manipulate him to help with deceiving the entire Metro into believing that nobody but they had survived the war. All they had to do was tell him that the orders came from the Minister of Defense. The lack of a real answer is also responsible, in part, for stoking Artyom's curiosity.
- His paranoia about finding NATO troops in Russia leads to Anna investigating the bunker and contracting a deadly disease.
- His extreme patriotism almost gets him and the rest of the Aurora crew killed and eaten by cannibals when it blinds him to the warning signs that the Ark was NOT actually housing the remnants of the former Russian government.
- Walking Spoiler: A literal example in Metro Exodus, where he firstly confronts Artyom after nearly getting killed by lethal radiation above the surface. For new players of the series who start off with Exodus, Miller's prosthetic legs is already a major spoiler: Exodus follows the canon Redemption ending of Metro: Last Light.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Firmly believes in killing all the Dark Ones, regardless of their intentions.
- In Metro 2035, it's revealed that he's helping hide the fact that people in the rest of the world survived the apocalypse, believing that if the West found out, they'd come and finish them off.
- Windmill Crusader: His devotion to Russian government - or rather, anything resembling it, such as the Invisible Watchers and the cannibals - is downright quixotic, leading him to expect occupying NATO troops behind every corner after leaving the Metro.
- You Don't Look Like You: In a franchise where character designs evolve as improvements are made to the engine, Miller is perhaps hit the hardest by this. Whereas other characters are simply fine-tuned as they appear in the sequels, Miller's three appearances across 2033
, Last Light and Exodus look like three completely different people.
Vladimir
Vladimir
Top: Vladimir in Metro 2033 Redux; Below: Vladimir in Metro: Last Light
Voiced by:
English: Alex Veadov (2033), Boris Kievsky (Last Light)
Japanese: Naomi Kusumi
Russian: Oleg Stalchuk
A Ranger who specializes in weaponry and old technology. He's also one of the Rangers who accompanies Artyom in the search for D6.
- The Cameo: Appears in the first level of Last Light, as the one in charge of the armory in D6.
- Demoted to Extra: In Last Light, he only gets a cameo appearance in the first level.
- The Engineer: Of Miller's team.
- Gadgeteer Genius: An expert at handling electric locks, and Miller's go-to guy when dealing with military computers.
- Old Soldier: Implied to have served in the Russian Army alongside Miller.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Vladimir's fate after the Battle of D6 is unknown.
- Voice with an Internet Connection: Once the Rangers manage to reach the control room, he fills this role for Artyom and Miller alongside Ulman.
Boris and Stepan
Boris and Stepan
Top: Boris; Below: Stepan
Voiced by:
English: Yuri Lowenthal (Boris), Boris Kievsky (Stepan)
Russian: Oleg Stalchuk (Boris), Vladimir Tereshchuk (Stepan)
Two Rangers that accompany Artyom in search of D6.
- Killed Offscreen: When you meet up with the team again after Boris' death, Stepan is gone, apparently killed by mutants.
- Red Shirt: Both of them get killed, one after the other, in D6.
- Those Two Guys: Neither of them really stand out in terms of character traits, and both get killed off pretty quickly.
