Character page for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.
open/close all folders
Jack Mitchell
- Voiced by: Troy Baker (English)note
- An Arm and a Leg: Loses his left arm at the start of the game when some shrapnel from the ship he blows up hits him. Likewise loses his artificial arm when Irons disables it, and cuts it off to give him a Disney Villain Death.
- Artificial Limbs: Is given a cybernetic arm when he starts working for Atlas.
- Defector from Decadence: Along with Ilona, he betrays Atlas after discovering their corruption.
- Determinator: Like many a Call of Duty protagonists before him.
- Handicapped Badass: What with him being an amputee and all, albeit one with a nifty artificial arm in place of the one he lost. This trope becomes especially notable in the mission "Captured" where Irons damages his artificial arm, leaving him unable to load weapons. This doesn't stop him from gunning down Atlas troops in droves, getting around his reloading problem by simply swapping guns once the magazine has run dry.
- Heroic Mime: While Mitchell does speak in the between-mission cutscenes, we don't hear a peep from him in the gameplay other than pain sounds. This leads to some very odd moments where he has conversations with another character, but doesn't speak and has a third character fill in his end of the conversation.
- Last-Name Basis: Everyone calls him Mitchell.
- Made of Iron: Takes a number of numerous injuries throughout the game that would've killed a normal person — even one with an exo-suit — but he keeps on trucking, with no in-story debilitation other than the aforementioned disabling of his artificial arm.
- New Meat: For the first three missions.
- Perma-Stubble: Cutscenes show that Mitchell has an unshaven, almost-beard on his face.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Irons thinks of him as this when he goes against Atlas, referring to the arm he gave him as a "second chance".
William "Will" Robert Irons
- Voiced by: Paul Telfer (English)note
- Foreshadowing: Mentions he joined the military so he doesn't have to work for his father. We start to see why later in the game.
- Heroic Sacrifice: His arm gets caught in the ship's door of an enemy after he attaches a bomb inside it. When he and Mitchell can't get it open as the ship starts taking off, he tells Mitchell it's alright and shoves him off the ship so he won't be caught in the blast.
- Meaningful Echo: "See you on the other side."
- Obi-Wan Moment: When he realizes he can't free his arm before the bomb goes off.
- Personal Effects Reveal: After his death, we see the items he had on him as the coroners prepare him for burial. Of note is a wedding band, indicating he had a wife.
- Plot-Triggering Death: See Unwitting Instigator of Doom.
- Sacrificial Lamb: He is killed off in the first mission.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: It's implied his death drove his father over the Despair Event Horizon and caused him to try and Take Over the World.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Doesn't make it past the first chapter.
Jonathan Irons
- Voiced by: Kevin Spacey (English)note
- Affably Evil: He's very personable to his men and women, to say the least. Even when he is exposed, he remains relatively nice.
Word of God stated that they aimed for the character to be at home in a corporate boardroom while not looking out of place having a beer with his subordinates. - Ambition Is Evil: One part of the reason for his actions, he feels the government isn't doing an effective job and that ATLAS can do much better.
- Benevolent Boss: He treats his employees quite well, provided that you don't cross him, and at no point is he depicted as belying this for any employee or contractor who isn't opposing him.
- Big Bad: Once his treachery comes to light, he becomes the primary antagonist of the game.
- Bond Villain Stupidity: More than once during the campaign, Mitchell finds himself at Irons' mercy, but Irons refuses to simply kill him.Irons: I could've killed you in the prison camp. I could kill you now! But I won't. I'm not a monster.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: He knew about the planned KVA terrorist attacks, but allowed them to happen anyway because it would result in more governments giving ATLAS control of their critical infrastructure.
- Death by Irony: Irons gives Mitchell a prosthetic arm after he lost in in Korea. At the end of the game, Mitchel literally gives it back to Irons by cutting it off while the latter is holding it for dear life, sending Irons down a fiery grave. Also counts as a Laser-Guided Karma as Irons damaged it in the previous chapter when he had Mitchell in custody.
- Democracy Is Bad: Zig-Zagged. He himself gladly admits the benefits of living in a democracy, he just doesn't believe most of the world would be capable of supporting it - nor does he believe that it will last, because humans will reject freedom in favor of powerful leadership in times of crisis. He thus justifies seizing power as simply the smallest of a list of evils.
- Despair Event Horizon: Crossed it when his son Will was killed in Seoul.
- Disney Villain Death: How he finally checks out, thanks to Mitchell severing his already-disabled prosthetic arm that Irons had been holding onto.
- Even Evil Has Standards:
- Despite having multiple chances to kill Mitchell, he doesn't, claiming "I'm not a monster", and there is no indication that he mistreated any of his employees who didn't turn on him.
- At the end of the game it's mentioned that his Manticore bio-weapon ICBMs are aimed solely at military targets rather being indiscriminately fired at random civilian populations. However, due to the very nature of bio-weapons the strikes would almost certainly still have resulted in significant civilian casualties if Mitchell and Gideon hadn't managed to stop them in time.
- Exact Words: He reassures the U.N. that Atlas is absolutely not developing any kind of genome-targeting biological weapon...because they already have one, and its name is Manticore.
- Expy: Of General Shepherd. Both are Well Intentioned Extremists who exploit a terrorist in order to usher in a new era of supremacy for their faction. Both also directly betray two of the main protagonists. One is a corrupt military officer, while the other is a Corrupt Corporate Executive.
- A Father to His Men: He damn well tries and makes the effort to care for his employees provided they don't turn on him.
- Freudian Excuse: Along with ambition, it was seeing his son die in a U.S. military operation.
- Have You Told Anyone Else?: Doubles as a Wham Shot when Ilona decrypts the chip Hades gave them showing Irons murdering the Nigerian technologist after he tells him what Hades was after. All to keep it covered so he can continue to have ATLAS's undermine the world's governments and grow in power.
- He Knows Too Much: Pulls this on the technologist after he privately reveals information about the KVA nuclear attacks. He later tries to do this to Mitchell and Ilona after they find out about it, with worse results.
- Hypocrite: Irons wants to end all wars, and keep them from happening. He does this by declaring war on the entire world.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Yup, that's Kevin Spacey all right.
- Knight Templar: His belief that the governments of the world are ineffectual at self-defense and that the only true military solution comes from the private sector; a belief he will use any means necessary in order to bring to fruition.
- Like a Son to Me: Has a classic case of this with Mitchell. Irons even maintains the position after Mitchell is disavowed, acting as a father who discovered their son is involved in something they don't approve of would and expressing regret that he refused to listen to reason.
- The Man Behind the Man: For the first half of the game, having plotted to take over the United States for quite some time — letting the Disc-One Final Boss succeed at first was just part of that.
- Might Makes Right: His entire philosophy.
- My Death Is Just the Beginning: Even though he's stopped at the end, he warns that Atlas will continue on even if he's gone.
- Non-Action Big Bad: Although it's hinted that he's a veteran himself and he manages to appear menacing when Mitchell is incapacitated and held at gunpoint, the final confrontation consists of you chasing him down and shoving him off of a building.
- Opportunistic Bastard: When he discovers Hades' plot to cripple the world powers, he murders the information leak and allows it to happen so he can fill in the power void.
- Take Over the World: His true objective, as he believes that only a world under one banner can be free of conflict.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: He pretty much unveils his plans at a U.N. conference, additionally giving a reason why they're inept.
- Utopia Justifies the Means: He intends to unite the world under Atlas in order to prevent any more pointless wars from happening.
- Villain Has a Point: There's quite a lot of Truth in Television when Irons criticizes the United States' inability to bring peace and democracy to the Third World due to flawed policies, as countries with little in the way of democratic practices in their histories tend toward other systems or adapt democracy to their own systems instead, rendering the changes often useless or temporary - those cultures lack all of the concepts necessary for it; freedom of religion, freedom of the press, even basic freedom of speech. He makes an equally good point that America has been trying to turn other nations into democracies since World War II and it has never worked, instead starting a cycle of wars that has continued into the 21st century. He also points out that even America itself could be considered an anomaly, because in times of chaos, humanity will eagerly embrace a good ol' firm-but-fair iron fist - the 2050s have seen the country become a police state in all but name due to fear of terrorism - so he sees no reason not to provide said fist himself via his PMC, Atlas. He's still a Card-Carrying Villain, though, willing to commit mass murder through biological warfare to "end wars before wars end mankind".
- Villainous Breakdown: You can see the effects pretty clearly toward the end of the game, when his evil deeds have been exposed and most of the world has turned against him — he freaks out at being called a "monster", going on and on rationalizing his actions against the US, and starts to make stupid decisions. Most notably, he refuses to kill Gideon and Mitchell even when he has them dead to rights, claiming that it proves he's not a monster. This, naturally, catches up with him pretty fast...
- Walking Spoiler: See the amount of tropes spoiled out.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: He wants to end war and bring about world peace by establishing ATLAS as the world's only superpower. Unfortunately, his plan for doing this involves attacking the United States Military and using a biological weapon to kill countless innocent people.
Gideon
- Voiced by: Gideon Emery (English)note
- Broken Pedestal: Suffers a mild case when he finds out just how far off the deep end Irons has gone. He was willing to stay with Atlas when Irons' plot was revealed, if only to give him the benefit of the doubt after years of faithful service. When he discovers the true scope of Irons' ambitions, he says that he's "betrayed everything I stand for".
- Catchphrase: Tends to say "Fuck me" whenever a difficult situation presents itself.
- Deadpan Snarker: He has a very dry and sardonic wit.
- Defector from Decadence: Takes a little longer than Mitchell and Ilona, but he comes over in the end.
- Defrosting Ice King: Is a bit of an abrasive smartass to Mitchell at first, but warms to him considerably over the course of the game as he proves himself.
- Early-Bird Cameo: He briefly appears in the prologue, escorting a civilian out of a war-torn Seoul. He becomes a major character in the next mission, but In-Universe, this is a full year before Mitchell joins Atlas.
- Expy: Of Gaz/Ghost— he's an older, more seasoned Britishnote squadmate, with a heavy accent and a brutal, no-nonsense demeanour, who accompanies the player throughout most of the game and is their buddy up to the end. He even says "Let's do this" at one point. The main difference is that he lives. Also shares a voice with SAS sniper Mac.
- Face–Heel Turn: Subverted - it seems he is going this route but ultimately he turns against Irons.
- Fake Defector: Inverted. He fakes remaining loyal to Irons in order to investigate him further, and then turns against him after confirming Mitchell and Ilona's story.
- If I Wanted You Dead...: The quote is inverted. After Ilona has some trouble believing his Heel–Face Turn, Cormack points out that Gideon could have simply shot them when he had the chance.
- The Lancer: To Mitchell's Hero.
- The Mole: Becomes one for the Sentinels to keep them informed of Atlas' doings.
- The Rival: To Cormack, after he joins Sentinel.
- You Are Already Dead: Does this to Atlas mooks Juarez and Michaels just before shooting them dead.
- Younger Than They Look: Appears to be in his late 40's or early 50's, but contends with the younger Ilona and Mitchell as Atlas' top operative. In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment in the opening of "Traffic", the fly drone places Gideon's birth year as 2025, making him only two years older than the fresh-faced Mitchell.
Ilona
- Voiced by: Angela Gotz (English)note
- The Ace: In the Atlas training grounds, she holds the high score for every exercise.
- Action Girl: Proves she is more then capable of holding her own.
- Chekhov's Gunman: She briefly appears in "Atlas", a good four missions before she becomes an important part of the plot.
- Defector from Decadence: Along with Mitchell, she betrays Atlas after discovering their corruption.
- Elites Are More Glamorous: She was a former Spetsnaz.
- Heel–Face Turn: After finding out what Irons is up to, she quickly turns against him and Atlas.
- Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: She's the only soldier character who never wears any headgear, even in "Crash", where she must dive under sub-zero waters along with Mitchell and Cormack.
- Hidden Depths: A force to be reckoned with on the battlefield, Ilona is also an accomplished interrogator, as seen in her cutscenes with Danois.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: She manages to carry a mortally wounded Cormack out of the Atlas concentration camp by herself, and we see precisely none of it.
- One-Woman Army: Spying? Check. Sharpshooting? Check. Front-line combat? Check. Ilona probably has the most diverse set of talents of any of the main characters. Also, in the second-to-last mission, she carries a wounded Cormack out of the Atlas concentration camp and secures transport by herself, although we don't get to see this, sadly.
- The Smurfette Principle: The only female member in the cast.
- You're Insane!: Gives one to Irons after discovering his Evil Plan.
Cormack
- Voiced by: Russell Richardson (English)note
- Big Damn Heroes: Saves Mitchell twice within the game. First after he loses his arm and again when Atlas goes after them following the reveal of Iron's true nature.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Appears very early in the game, and seemingly already Put on a Bus after Will's funeral.
- Majorly Awesome: After reentering the plot as a Sentinel operative, he's been promoted to Major and is still just as awesome as he was in the Marines.
- Mentor Occupational Hazard: He's fatally shot by Irons in "Captured", but he hangs on for quite a while afterwards.
- Only a Flesh Wound: Averted; after Irons shoots Cormack in the hip, Cormack begins to bleed out. And without any medical assistance at the time, he ends up dying of blood loss in the beginning of the last mission.
- Sacrificial Lion: He is killed at the beginning of the final mission to motivate Mitchell, Gideon, and Ilona to get revenge on Irons.
- Sergeant Rock: When introduced at the beginning of the game, he's Mitchell's badass sergeant.
Hades
- Voiced by: Sharif Ibrahim (English)note
- Authority Equals Asskicking: He leads the terrorists that plague you for the first part of the game, and proves to be ferocious in personal combat.
- Beard of Evil: Sports a goatee.
- Big Bad: For the first half of the game.
- Body Double: Uses one to host a meeting in Greece. After Gideon and his team confirm his ID as not the real Hades, they find out he's rigged. He later blows up, taking an Atlas soldier (who throws himself onto the body to cover the explosion) with him.
- Death by Irony: His codename is Hades (the Greek god of the dead and king of the underworld), and he dies in Greece.
- Disc-One Final Boss: Turns out he knew how crooked Irons was and was trying to stop him. He passes the encoded chip of Iron's true nature along to Mitchell which sets up the second half of the game.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": His real name is Joseph Chkheidze.
- Evil Luddite: Believes that mankind has become too dependent on technology and seeks to revert the world to its "natural state".
- Expy: He has elements of Khaled Al-Asad (evil terrorist who turns out to be a stooge of the real villain, though he and Irons are both enemies) and Raul Menendez (his insane strength and the way he sends his messages to the world).
- Hypocrite: Is technophobic, yet his followers make frequent use of drones. Interestingly, he himself uses a holographic recording to reveal Irons for who he really is.
- Slashed Throat: How he meets his end.
- Take Up My Sword: In a sense, not the terrorist activities but gives Mitchell the task of stopping Irons.
- Unwitting Pawn: To Irons.
- Villain Has a Point: Hades' rants about the over-reliance on technology prove very prudent, as when Irons locks down Gideon and Mitchell's exosuits, they are in fact forced to return to their "natural state" and use primitive means to take down their foe, just as he wanted: pure human determination, strength and stamina - nothing more high tech than a knife.
- Villain's Dying Grace: When he is killed by Mitchell and Ilona, he gives them a recording revealing Irons' corruption before succumbing to his wounds.
- Would Hit a Girl: Goes toe-to-toe with Ilona in hand-to-hand combat, and actually manages to get the upper hand despite her wearing an exosuit.
Joker
- Voiced by: Jeremy Kent Jackson (English)note
- Mauve Shirt: Despite prominently appearing in the initial Atlas missions, he has no real characterization and even disappears after a while.
- Southern-Fried Private
- What Happened to the Mouse?: After Gideon lets Mitchell and Ilona escape from New Baghdad, he's never seen again in the game with no explanation.
Pierre Danois
- Voiced by: Erik Passoja
- The Dragon: To Hades and later, to Irons.
- Evil Genius: To the KVA and later, to Irons.
- Karma Houdini: After being released by Atlas to create a new bioweapon for them, he is not heard from or seen again.
- Mad Scientist: He's the right-hand man of the KVA's leader, but later helps develop the Manticore bioweapon for Atlas.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Drops out of the plot entirely after his defection to Atlas is revealed.
Carter
- Voiced by: Steve Blum
- Mauve Shirt: He dies at the end of the mission where he's first introduced.
Torres
An Atlas field operative who accompanies Mitchell, Gideon, and Joker during the mission to capture Dr. Pierre Danois in Detroit.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: He is one for Carter.
Prophet
- Voiced by: Emerson Brooks (English)note
- The Ghost: He never physically appears.
- Mission Control: He plays this role in the missions where you're employed by Atlas.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: After Mitchell leaves Atlas, he is never heard from (or mentioned) again.
Exo Zombies
Oz
- Voiced by: John Malkovich
- Big Bad: He is revealed to be the patient zero of the infection and becomes a boss in the last map.
- Final Boss: He's the last foe of the Zombies mode, and defeating him stops the outbreak... for now.
- Ink-Suit Actor: He is modeled after John Malkovich, perfectly translating his appearance into the game.
- One-Winged Angel: He undergoes a monstrous transformation during the final battle with him.
Lilith Swann
- Voiced by: Rose McGowan
- Ink-Suit Actor: She is modeled after Rose McGowan, perfectly resembling her likeness.
Kahn
- Voiced by: Bill Paxton
- Ink-Suit Actor: He is modeled after Bill Paxton, serving as his stand-in.
Jim Decker
- Voiced by: Jon Bernthal
- Ink-Suit Actor: He is modeled after Jon Bernthal, much like other playable characters resemble their actors.
Lennox
- Voiced by: Bruce Campbell
- Ink-Suit Actor: He is modeled after Bruce Campbell down to the minor details.
- Sixth Ranger: He joins the other three survivors after Oz is revealed to be a zombie.
