Characters / Modern Warfare Task Force 141

Task Force 141

A multinational special operations unit formed after the events of the first game, Task Force 141 conducts a number of high-risk counter-terror special operations across the globe, with particular emphasis on containing the threat presented by Ultranationalist Russia.

It is not confirmed which units Task Force 141 recruits from, but being that the majority of their operators are from the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and Australia it's likely that they recruit from the aforementioned countries' Tier 1 or equivalent Special Forces. Most likely examples are the UK's SAS, SBS, the USA's Delta Force, DEVGRU (Seal Team Six), Marine Raiders, and 75th Rangers. Canada most likely contributed their Joint Task Force 2, and Australia's SAS. While other countries are not confirmed to be a part of Task Force 141, it's probable that most countries that contributed would be NATO countries or allies. Being that the entirety of Task Force 141 operators seen in game are from English-speaking countries implies that the majority of Task Force 141 are from the US, UK, Canada and Australia (and possibly New Zealand) as there would likely be a need for common language communication between the operators, which explains the absence of French, German or other NATO operators although it wouldn't be impossible for them to be attached to Task Force 141. Nikolai and Yuri are the only two (that we know of) operators who are "attached" to Task Force 141 who are not from a English speaking or NATO-aligned country. Although they work with Task Force 141, it is not known whether Yuri and Nikolai are officially Task Force 141 operators or- that they simply assist them.^note In the multiplayer of Modern Warfare 2, Task Force 141 is entirely represented by British soldiers despite its international background, making it the game's equivalent of the SAS.

A bit of Truth in Television as Task Force 141 is likely inspired by real multinational Special Forces units such as Task Force 121, Knight, 145.etc. Although these were indeed multinational Special Forces units working together with specific objectives it was not common for them to be on the same mission at the same time. Oftentimes each team would work with their own respective countries' forces while other nationals of the Task Force had their own assignments but with a mutual "umbrella" objective.

For Cpt. "Soap" MacTavish and Cpt. Price, see SAS. For Nikolai and Yuri, see Russian Loyalists and Government.

Shepherd

Lieutenant-General Shepherd

"The more things change, the more they stay the same. Boundaries shift, new players step in, but power always finds a place to rest its head."

Voiced by: Lance Henriksen (English/Modern Warfare 2), Don Berns (Operation Kingfish)^note Other Languages: Tetsu Inada (Japanese), Yuri Menshagin (Russian)

Live Actor: David Brandon George (Operation Kingfish)

Commander of the US military task force invading Khaled Al-Asad's nation in Modern Warfare. Afterwards, becomes commander of Task Force 141.

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• Adaptational Jerkass: In the remaster, after shooting Roach and killing Ghost, Roach will grab his arm as he takes the DSM. Shepherd will coldly snatch his hand away, with a disgusted expression on his face. On a lesser note, he virtually throws Private Allen onto the frontlines when he stands him up in "Team Player".
• Bad Boss: Orders an artillery strike on his own men in an attempt to kill Price and Soap.
  Price: Since when does Shepherd care about danger close?
• The Bad Guy Wins: Although he dies before getting to see his plan come to fruition, he successfully starts World War III, reminding the world of the cost of freedom and leading to Makarov's downfall. He also dies a "hero", complete with burial at Arlington National Cemetery, with no indication that his exploitation/purge of TF141 was exposed to the public at large. Though given that the surviving members of Task Force 141 are exonerated by NATO at the end of MW3, it's more than likely that Shepherd's dark side was finally brought to light. With that said, he still ultimately accomplished his goals.
• Bald Head of Toughness: He has a very obvious buzz cut, the first non-tutorial level has him fighting on the front lines with his men, and he comes this close to overpowering and killing Price and Soap in hand-to-hand combat.
• Bald of Evil: Turns out to be a ruthless extremist with about as few moral scruples as hairs on his head.
• Big Bad Ensemble: Of Modern Warfare 2 with Makarov.
• Big Good:
  • At the start of the game, he seems to have this role, being a high-ranking and respected US Army general in charge of Task Force 141. Subverted in "Loose Ends".
  • He was genuinely this in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for the USMC. What happened there completely broke him.
• The Chessmaster: He has made the whole thing in Modern Warfare 2. It's revealed in Modern Warfare 3 that fellow chessmaster Makarov was playing him too, but it still doesn't take much away from Shepherd's scheme in the previous game.
• Colonel Kilgore: He sees the war as a time for heroes and legends and he brags all the time about how good the United States Armed Forces are... but then we see how much of a warmonger he actually is and it ain't pretty.
• Combat Pragmatist: Waits for Price and Soap to run out of ammo to fight them head on.
• Cornered Rattlesnake: Shepherd usually prefers to let his men do all the fighting for him, but when he has no more men to rely on and faced with certain death, he's more than capable of fending off his attackers himself.
• Despair Event Horizon: Crossed it when his entire task force was nuked in the first Modern Warfare.
• Dirty Coward: Subverted. While he spends much of the final level running from Soap and Price, it isn't out of fear but out of pragmatism since he still has his men to rely on and still keeps a calm demeanor. In fact when it's just him, Price, and Soap, he's willing to fight them himself and nearly kicks both their asses. Also, military commanders generally are supposed to rely on their men and not go "1-v-1 me bro" when assassins come after them.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: There are numerous deliberate parallels between him and Osama bin Laden. The fact that the finale of the game involves hunting him down through caves in Afghanistan is a huge tip-off.
• Et Tu, Brute?: His betrayal of Task-Force 141 in the mission "Loose Ends".
• Even Evil Has Standards: He balks at using nuclear weapons in the war, chastising Price for even considering it. It may have had more to do with the fact that it was aimed at America than anything else, however. There's also the fact that his motivation stems from losing 30,000 of his men in a nuclear explosion, which may give him a very personal reason for not being too thrilled about it.
• Evil All Along: He was involved in starting the war in the first place.
• Evil Plan: His is to start up a third World War to not only secure his own place in history as a hero, but to turn the United States from a nation full of apathetic and complacent citizens to one full of patriotic, war-mongering volunteers.
• Eye Scream: Soap throws a knife. It hits him in the eye.
• Fallen Hero: He was genuinely good before the loss of 30,000 soldiers.
• Faux Affably Evil: After The Reveal, it becomes clear that his caring, Frontline General persona was nothing but a front to mask his true plans.
• Four-Star Badass: Though technically 3-star since his beret indicates he’s a Lieutenant General. In the final mission of Modern Warfare 2 Shepherd goes toe-to-toe with Price and is actually winning. Only a timely knife throw by Soap stops Price from being killed.
• Frontline General: In the first mission, he personally leads the Rangers across a bridge into battle. Subverted in subsequent missions where he hides behind Shadow Company and even attempts to bomb his opponents rather than fight him.
• General Ripper: Pretty much to the letter. Extends to, possibly even exemplified, after his Face–Heel Turn. The causes and reasons that he wants the war to continue are magnified after we find out what role he really played in the game's events.
• Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: At the end of Loose Ends, he briefly enjoys a smoke... just before using it to light Ghost and Roach on fire.
• Hand Cannon: He carries a .44 Magnum revolver as his signature weapon, adding to his image as a powerful badass war hero. In heavier combat situations, such as in "Team Player", he seems to prefer the M4A1 assault rifle.
• Hero Killer: He kills Ghost and Roach to tie up loose ends, and given that he fixed the plot to massacre a Russian airport and pin it on America, his scheming lead to PFC Allen's death as well. Several months later, the explosion of a Prague building caused by Makarov also reopens the stab wound he inflicted on Soap during their final confrontation, leading to his death as well.
• He Who Fights Monsters: He eventually becomes a monster himself.
• Hypocrite: Talks greatly about loyalty, honor, and sacrifice but shows no hesitation to use his men as fodder for the meatgrinder. He also mourns the 30,000 soldiers that were nuked but gets far more killed by inciting World War III.
• Irony: He, who pretty much played the rest of Task Force 141 and Makarov like fools doing his bidding, turns out to be an Unwitting Pawn himself to the latter come 3, via falling for false information and being manipulated directly and indirectly. And that's not including the fact that he chose to help Makarov, the very same man who ordered the nuclear detonation in the Middle East that killed 30,000 of Shepherd's own men, and the prime motivation for the General's Face–Heel Turn.
• I Shall Taunt You: Should the player choose not to attack Shepherd with the knife immediately during the final confrontation, the General will taunt Soap into finishing him off, which is ultimately a ruse so that he can attack Soap from up close.
• Knight Templar: Nothing is beyond the pale to achieving his ends, even getting the US invaded by Russia.
• Made of Iron: Soap and Price, two highly trained SAS agents, fall off a waterfall and end up barely being able to stand. Shepherd falls off a waterfall and gets blown up in a helicopter, and he's fine enough to beat them both up.
• Meaningful Name: He is a shepherd who leads his sheep to slaughter, much like the 30,000 soldiers who died under his command.
• Moe Greene Special: Soap gives this to him by throwing the very knife Shepherd tried to kill him with into his left eye.
• Motive Rant: A truly epic one after stabbing Soap.
  Five years ago, I lost thirty thousand men in the blink of an eye, and the world just fuckin' watched. But tomorrow, there will be no shortage of volunteers, no shortage of patriots. *Dramatic Gun Cock* I know you understand. ^note cue Price
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: He does this to Price in the final mission, and will actually kill him if you don't stop him in time.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Shepherd frames his actions as "necessary sacrifices" needed to mobilize a new generation of American patriots, but his callous execution of both Ghost and Roach and willing collaboration with Makarov, reveal him to be a ruthless warmonger without any care for the lives of his men beyond their use in achieving his goals, despite his Motive Rant.
• Old Soldier: Looks to be in his mid-50s at the very least. This doesn't stop him from fighting alongside his troops, and completely overwhelming the younger, exceptionally well-trained Captain Price in hand-to-hand combat.
• Praetorian Guard: He has them in the form of the American Shadow Company, which are more competent than the Russian soldiers you usually fight. It's not really explained whether they're a black ops unit or a Private Military Contractor. In Modern Warfare 2's Remaster, it's clarified that they're an elite unit of the latter, doing all sorts of high profile, morally questionable activities like assassinations.
• Precision F-Strike: Makes his Motive Rant all the more effective.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking:
  • To say he leads from the front is an understatement. He can be seen fighting alongside the Rangers in Team Player. While carrying a .44 Magnum Revolver.
  • The whole Shadow Company, though far more competent than other in-game enemies, failed to stop Price and Soap. Shepherd nearly takes them down in one-on-two combat, after surviving a helicopter crash.
• Revolvers Are Just Better: He uses a Colt Anaconda.
• Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Soap and Price, whom he betrayed for being loose ends, kill him, with the help of fellow World War III co-conspirator Makarov, no less.
• Rouge Angles of Satin: For a while, on this very wiki, people had trouble spelling S-H-E-P-H-E-R-D.
• Rule of Symbolism: Whenever Shepherd appears outside of cutscenes, the player tends to look at him from the ground, usually when the player is lying down. This highlights the amount of power and authority Shepherd has in the military.
• Tragic Villain: A nuke killing his 30,000 men completely broke him, and drove him to seek glory for the United States at all costs.
• Unwitting Pawn: To Makarov. Taking into account all of the revelations of the third game, Makarov turned Shepherd into the Well-Intentioned Extremist he had become in the second game through the nuclear detonation in 2011. In addition, if the safehouse level is compared to Makarov's actions starting in "Persona non Grata" in 3, it also reveals that he had been playing Shepherd like a fool through feeding false information the entire time. It's even implied that had Price and Soap not gone on their Roaring Rampage of Revenge on Shepherd's headquarters at Site Hotel Bravo, Makarov was ready to send the Spetsnaz spec ops units that he sicced onto Price and Soap at the start of 3 onto Shadow Company instead.
• Uriah Gambit: Sends PFC. Allen on an undercover mission knowing he will be exposed and killed by Makarov in order to start a war between the USA and Russia. Unusually for this trope, it was probably Nothing Personal.
• Villain Has a Point: While most of the criminal charges against Soap and Price are trumped up bullshit, the war criminal charge against Price isn't without merit. Price unilaterally launched a weapon of mass destruction that all but assuredly killed American civilians on the East Coast. At the very least that would've landed Price in a court martial at some point, not that he would've cared.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Is buried at Arlington National Cemetery and publicly considered an American war hero.
• The Von Trope Family: His full name is Hershel von Shepherd, as confirmed by Robert Bowling.
• Walking Spoiler: Knowing too much about him gives away that he's the main villain of MW2.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: He wants American citizens to know how much is sacrificed for the freedom and safety that they took for granted. Saying that he used extreme measures to achieve this is like saying tsunami victims are wetter than other people.
• We Have Become Complacent: Shepherd feels this about the citizens of the US, and aims to turn this around by fixing World War III.
• We Have Reserves: As stated by Cpl. Dunn:
  Cpl. Dunn: C'mon, since when does Shepherd care about danger close?
  • Subverted in that at least once he can be seen fighting the enemy alongside the Rangers, even while calling in airstrikes at "danger close" proximity^note that is, being as vulnerable as the Rangers to potential wounding or death from said airstrikes.
  • "All units, this is Gold Eagle. The site has been compromised. I am executing directive one-one-six-bravo. If you're still inside, your service will be honoured. Shepherd out."
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness:
  • To Makarov and ALL of Task-Force 141, a rare case of this being done to Unwitting Pawns instead of Mooks.
  • Actually a Subverted Trope for the former: Modern Warfare 3 subtly reveals that Makarov was actually doing this to him, based on the fact that the latter actually had more resources and influence on hand than initially thought. Having Price and Soap kill Shepherd for him was simply convenience.

Ghost

Lieutenant Simon "Ghost" Riley

"Looks like we're all out of friends."

Voiced by: Craig Fairbrass (English/Modern Warfare 2), Andrew Randall (Operation Kingfish)^note Other Languages: Takuya Sato (Japanese), Alexander Barinov (Russian)

Live Actor: Keagan Wilson (Operation Kingfish)

British soldier in Task Force 141, who prefers to wear a skull-faced ski mask. His face is never shown, and name is never stated in-game, though the tie-in comic centered on him revealed that it's Lt. Simon "Ghost" Riley. Has a suspiciously similar voice to Gaz.

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• Abusive Parents: His father was a complete bastard who put his son through Hell. Scaring him with live snakes, making him laugh at a dying woman, and just being a horrid, toxic influence in his life.
• The Ace: Ghost is one of the best 141 has to offer.
• Bash Brothers: With Soap/Roach.
• Big Brother Bully: Inverted. His little brother liked to scare him in the middle of the night wearing skull masks, which most likely inspired his Balaclava.
• Big "NO!": Throws one between when Shepherd shoots Roach and he himself gets shot.
• Breakout Character: If you were to ask someone who their favorite Call of Duty character is, they'd probably answer with Ghost. He's become so popular that he's gotten his own comic dedicated to his backstory, and plenty of cameos in future games, such as being a playable character in Call of Duty: Ghosts' multiplayer on top of inspiring the game's main faction and title. He's also featured heavily in marketing for Call of Duty: Mobile and has many of his outfits as skins.
• Broken Ace: See Dark and Troubled Past below.
• Buried Alive: Suffered this at the hands of Manuel Roba, though he was thankfully able to escape using the jaw of the dead man he was buried with.
• Catchphrase: "Let's do this!"
• Cold-Blooded Torture: Was a victim of this in his backstory, and proves quite adapt at dishing it out on enemies of the free world.
• Cool Mask: A balaclava with a skull painted in white, giving him an intimidating appearance.
• Cool Shades: His eyes not covered by his balaclava are covered up by a pair of shades, which never come off.
• Dark and Troubled Past: As shown in the prequel comics, good boy is this man's past ever tragic and messed up. Growing up under an Abusive Dad (who once scares him in his sleep with a live snake), getting sent to a failed mission that gets him tortured and brainwashed for months and Buried Alive, ending with him barely escaping with only half of his life left, only to see his now-functional family massacred by brainwashed men who were once his comrades, who ruin his life even more by framing all the murders on his head, turning him into a fugitive.
• Decomposite Character: Like Fairbrass' two other characters in the trilogy, he's a Good Counterpart Foil to his voice actor's The Brute role Delmar from Cliffhanger, as both characters carried a Beretta 92 as a sidearm and a variant of the MP5 as a primary submachine gun, while both characters died instantly from a gunshot wound to the chest, ironically Ghost's death was held after being devastated by Shepherd shooting his close colleague Roach, while Delmar's death was held after he himself caused a Deuteragonist's devastation by killing off his close friend. Additionally, Ghost's diving outfit from "The Only Easy Day... Was Yesterday" and "The Gulag" resembles Delmar's black jumpsuit, while Ghost wears a balaclava much like Delmar's during the plane heist scene of Cliffhanger. Also, both characters are quite the Torture Technicians, even though Ghost is a rare heroic example, but their torture tactics and motives tends to differ. While Delmar's brutal Kick the Dog No-Holds-Barred Beatdown soccer torture was For the Evulz out of his own meaningless sadistic gratification, Ghost's less brutal and more subtle Cold-Blooded Torture on the other hand was meaningfully for extracting important information to take down the enemy.
• Defiant to the End: Spends his last moments attempting to gun down Shepherd.
• Et Tu, Brute?: He had this reaction when Shepherd shoots Roach, moments before he was killed by the General.
• Everyone Has Standards: Is willing to torture enemies and do other unsavory things for the greater good, but he loses his shit at Price for launching nukes at the Eastern Seaboard just to knockout Russian equipment.
• The Faceless: Never seen without his trademark skull mask and sunglasses. Ever. Except in the comic book.
• Freak Out: When the nuclear submarine's missile doors open and the missile launches. Justified, as he didn't know what Price was up to.
• Friend to All Children: Saves a group of students he was being held captive alongside in his prequel comic.
• Good Is Not Soft: Given his experiences, he will use any means necessary to take down the enemy and protect the peace of the world, even torturing the bad guys for important info. He stops at betraying his own band of brothers to start a world war, unlike Shepherd.
• Instant Death Bullet: Dies instantly after Shepherd shoots him.
• The Lancer: Until Price shows up, then Soap becomes the Lancer.
• Not So Stoic: Absolutely loses his shit when Price launches the nukes. He also screams in despair after Shepherd shoots Roach.
• Serial Killer: Cartel leader Manuel Roba has two of his brainwashed stooges slaughter Simon’s family and colleges and pinned the murders on him, effectively framing him as one.
• The Stoic: Remains calm even in the most tense situations. It’s telling that one of the few things that makes him drop this are nukes being launched at the Eastern Seaboard.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Of Gaz.
• That Man Is Dead: Acts as if Simon Riley is an old, deceased friend in his prequel comic.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: After he and Roach get the DSM for General Shepherd, he murders the two of them in cold blood.

Roach

Sergeant Gary "Roach" Sanderson

Live Actor: Dennis Allcock (Operation Kingfish)

Player character for most of the Task Force 141 segments of Modern Warfare 2.

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• Alternate Self: His Mobile counterpart, coming off as a hypothetical Modern Warfare (2019) version of him, as he works alongside that game's version of Price and Ghost.
• Atrocious Alias: Whoever gave him the nickname "Roach" was either very cruel or knew how durable he was...
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: In Remastered, when Shepherd shoots him and kills Ghost, he grabs Shepherd’s hand as he takes the DSM off of him, as if asking him why he did such a thing, or perhaps being Defiant to the End. Shepherd coldly brushes him off.
• Bash Brothers: With Ghost in "Loose Ends". Then he got wounded by a mortar and Ghost dragged him to the evac chopper. Then Shepherd shoots them and lights them on fire, burning Roach alive.
• Book Ends: His story begins and ends with the throw of a lit cigar.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Poor guy got burned alive with Ghost after being shot by Shepherd.
• Et Tu, Brute?: Implied in the remastered version. When Shepherd shoots him and Ghost, Roach grabs Shepherd's arm as if to ask why he did this. Shepherd curtly brushes him off.
• Expy: His rank, role as a Player Character, and muteness makes him a Junior Counterpart for his superior, Captain, fomerly Sergeant "Soap" MacTavish. Soap even lampshades this in his journal, where, after acknowledging the similarities, notes that he spotted Roach writing in his own journal.
• The Faceless: Because we play as him, we don't ever get to see his face. Even when we do see his character model, as shown here from one of the game's official images (and when briefly seeing him in Operation Kingfish), we don't get to see it due to him wearing a balaclava, helmet, and goggles. His Mobile counterpart dresses similar, at least confirming that is his canon apperance.
• Foil: As noted in Expy above, Roach is indistinguishable from a younger Soap. Sadly, unlike Soap, Roach is killed before he can really reach his true potential.
• Heroic Mime: As per tradition, he speaks nothing from the start of the game to the end. The only lines we get from him are in Soap's Journal, where Soap catches him musing about more exercises in his own journal.
  • Subverted in Remastered, he's still doesn't have a voice actor, but they added more voice sounds (grunts and screams) for Roach to make him have more personality.
  • Averted for his Mobile counterpart; as of Season 4 2022, he speaks full sentences.
• Man on Fire: Dies from a combination of his gunshot wound from Shepherd and getting burned alive with gasoline.
• Meaningful Name: Roach survives a lot of crap, even for a Call of Duty Player Character. It takes him being clipped by a mortar, shot at point blank range with a revolver, and then set on fire while bleeding out to finally kill him.
• Player Character: He is the main playable character in Modern Warfare 2. Until he dies.
• Reused Character Design: In Mobile, he uses the USEF I mil-sim model from Modern Warfare (2019). While it does resemble his original appearance, it retains the American flag, when his previous two appearances indicated that he was British, and he actually does speak with a British accent.
• Spared by the Adaptation: He shows up in the Mobile timeline comics alive and well, unlike his main counterpart.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: After he and Ghost get the DSM for General Shepherd, he murders the two of them in cold blood.
• You Remind Me of X: Soap in his journal, says Roach reminds him of himself, even down to writing in his own journal after their first mission.

Allen

Private First Class Joseph Allen

Picture of Joseph Allen as "Alexei Borodin", found in a loading screen for Modern Warfare 3. Note that he reuses Viktor's model from "No Russian".

"Alexei Borodin" in a flashback from Modern Warfare 3, as part of Makarov's fire team in Zakhaev International Airport. Note that he uses Lev's model this time around.

Voiced by: Troy Baker (English)^note Other Languages: Andrey Barkhudarov (Russian)

Player character for a few missions in Modern Warfare 2, Army Ranger and later TF141 member, sent by Shepherd for a CIA undercover mission.

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• All for Nothing: Regardless of the player's actions, he at the very least allows the airport massacre to occur for the sake of his mission, a mission that was apparently doomed from the start.
• Blind Obedience: His brief dialogue demonstrates his patriotism, as well as his respect for General Shepherd. When Shepherd orders him to join with Makarov's inner circle, he complies without question, even though that means he will have to commit some morally questionable or even heinous deeds in the process, which turns out to be all for naught anyway.
• Decoy Protagonist: Following Paul Jackson, he appears for a while as a player character, got some character development, before dying a horrible death.
• The Faceless: Subverted. We never get to see his face in 2. Come 3, when we finally do get glimpses of him in photos and flashbacks, he reuses both Lev's and Viktor's character models from "No Russian".
• Heroic Mime: Subverted, though he only speaks in cutscenes.
• If You're So Evil, Eat This Kitten!: In the mission No Russian, he is ordered to slaughter Russian civilians along with Makarov's men in order to prove himself as a member of the squad. Regardless if the player-controlled Allen complies or not, Makarov will execute him at the end since he knows that Allen is a mole.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Being at the "No Russian" mission seems to be the reason for pretty much the entire plot of the second and third games.
• The Mole: He's sent on an undercover mission to infiltrate Makarov's terrorist cell. It does not end well.
• Out of the Frying Pan: Spoken word-to-word to him by Shepherd as he gets out of the frying pan that's Afghanistan. But Allen didn't know what fire he was flying into...
• Player Character: You control him for the first, second, and fourth missions.
• Reused Character Design: When we finally get to see glimpses of him via photos and Yuri's flashbacks in 3, he uses both Viktor's and Lev's character models.
• Small Role, Big Impact: His third mission becomes the root cause for the Russian invasion of America, and later the entire European continent.
• Unwitting Pawn: In No Russian, to Makarov. It's eventually revealed he was also one to General Shepherd.
• Uriah Gambit: The victim of one from Makarov - he was added to the terrorist team specifically so he could die and be used to start a war between the USA and Russia. And even worse, you eventually uncover General Shepherd did this to him as well, for the exact same purpose. Unusually for this trope, it was probably Nothing Personal.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: He is suddenly killed off after we play him for only three levels.