Characters / Titanfall

This is a list of characters who appear in Titanfall; for characters who debut in the sequel, click here.

Frontier Militia

A group of resistance fighters operating in the Frontier, after an unspecified number of conflicts in the core systems cut off the colonies, the Militia established itself as an independent, self-sufficient government under the "Frontier Systems Territorial Defense Pact". The IMC is coming to reclaim its former territory, a prospect the Frontier's inhabitants will fight tooth and nail to avoid. The Militia is largely composed of various kinds of people living in the Frontier's star systems, from freedom fighters to mercenaries to citizen soldiers.

James "Mac" MacAllan

Voiced by: David Forseth (English), Nikita Prozorovsky (Russian)

Leader of a small, backwater colony that is suddenly attacked by the IMC, James MacAllan agrees to a request for help in the Frontier Militia's war effort, provided they evacuate the civilians. Once completed, MacAllan leads the Militia, due to his history with the IMC and the experience and tactics he provides in dismantling their operations throughout the Frontier.

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• The Ace: Throughout Titanfall, once he joins the Militia, MacAllan out-gambits the IMC at every operation in the campaign, regardless of whether the Militia wins or loses the ground battles.
• A Father to His Men: MacAllan never wanted to be a part IMC/Militia war, but he sides with the latter after they save his fellow colonists. When elected leader of the Frontier Militia, MacAllan encourages the Militia to fight for the ideal of the Frontier's independence. When he joins the "Battle of Demeter" for Mission 8 of the campaign, he Lampshades "I wouldn't put you into the fire I myself would not go in", backing these words up by not just piloting a Titan for the first time since his retirement, but also pulling a Heroic Sacrifice to destroy Demeter, his last words assuring the Militia men and women left that It Has Been an Honor serving alongside them.
• Batman Gambit: When the super-carrier IMS Sentinel appears in Mission 4 "Get Barker", MacAllan orders Militia "Hornet" fighters to head on a suicide run to damage the vessel. Militia leaders are aghast about this order; during the briefing of Mission 5 "Assault on the Sentinel", MacAllan justifies the Militia can now directly attack the Sentinel as it's left in dry dock for refueling and repairs at the loosely-guarded "Outpost 207".
• Defector from Decadence: 15 years before the start of the campaign, MacAllan was a former IMC executive officer of the IMS Odyssey, serving under his friend IMC Vice-Admiral Marcus Graves, before staging The Mutiny. He only joined the Militia after the IMC came knocking on his door to destroy a colony he helped found.
• Heroic Sacrifice: MacAllan locks himself in the reactor of the IMC facility on Demeter to ensure its destruction.
• It Has Been an Honor: At the end of Mission 8, these are MacAllan's last words to the Militia troops on the ground right before the reactor core of Demeter blows.
• The Mutiny: Played with - fifteen years ago, MacAllan led a mutiny against Graves aboard the IMS Odyssey due to being fed up with the IMC's immoral targeting of civilians and escaped with the ship. At the review board afterwards, Graves maintained MacAllan and his men managed to take over the ship. However, at the end of Mission 8, Graves reveals he let MacAllan have the Odyssey with his blessing.
• Named After Somebody Famous: In-Universe, by the time Titanfall 2 begins, the Militia has constructed "MacAllan-class" battleships in honor of their leader, with their first vessel being christened the "MCS James MacAllan".
• Price on Their Head: 100,000 credits, the highest in the game.
• Recruitment by Rescue: He joins the Militia after they evacuate the residents of his colony to safety. Though he does blame them for having brought the war to his doorstep to begin with.
• Retired Badass: Before abandoning the IMC and founding a colony in hiding MacAllan was one of its most capable officers. After being dragged back into the fight he single-handedly leads the Militia in crippling the IMC war machine.

Commander Sarah Briggs

Voiced by: Abbie Heppe (Titanfall), Jolene Anderson (Titanfall 2) (English), Elena Ivasishina (Russian)

The Frontier's worth every part of this fight!

Part of the Frontier Militia's covert operations, Sarah Briggs commands the organization's special Pilot branch, the "Marauder Corps" (M-COR). Considered one of the Militia's most valued members, following the Battle of Demeter, Sarah creates a dedicated special forces group called "Special Recon Squadron" (SRS) that handles deep reconnaisance and infiltration missions.

Sarah returns in Titanfall 2 as part of the campaign, but also as the leader of the Marauder Corps "Faction" in multiplayer.

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• Action Girl
  • In Mission 7 "The Three Towers" of Titanfall, she leads a small covert ops team that successfully destroys two of the three "Resonance Towers" at the IMC Sierra Airbase, causing the place to be overrun with hostile wildlife.
  • In Titanfall 2, Sarah directly leads the Marauder Corps and their Titan battalions to strike at the IMC airbase on Typhon, and personally(along with Barker) flies into the middle of a Negative Space Wedgie about to cause an Earth-Shattering Kaboom to rescue Jack Cooper in the end.
• Ascended Extra: Although Sarah primarily serves as Mission Control in the first game, she plays the part of the Big Good for the Sequel in the campaign, commanding the 9th Militia Fleet on Typhon.
• It's Personal: She holds a grudge against the IMC because they killed her family when she was a child.
• Lady of War: One of the Frontier Militia's highest-ranking officers and the leader of the Marauder Corps.
• Price on Their Head: The IMC has put a bounty of 50,000 credits on her head.
• Voice with an Internet Connection: Averted - although she serves as Mission Control for both games, players will see her in-person during the campaign.

Robert "Barker" Taube

Voiced by: Liam O'Brien (English), Mikhail Tikhonov (Russian)

First we fight, then we drink! Good luck!

Another ex-IMC officer who served with MacAllan as his wingman during the "Titan Wars", Robert "Barker" Taube left following The Mutiny aboard the IMS Odyssey, fleeing to Angel City and drinking his problems away. However, Barker is thrust into the IMC/Militia conflict when he is unwittingly extracted by the Militia thanks to his knowledge of the location of an IMC blacksite called "the Boneyard" where he was stationed, housing valuable data for prototype "Repulsor Towers" which the Militia need for their first steps towards taking Demeter.

By the time Titanfall 2 begins, Barker has founded the "Angel City Elites", a freelance group of mercenaries assisting the Frontier Militia, while trying to solve mysteries behind their region of space. Barker is also head of the same-named Faction for multiplayer.

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• Ace Pilot: While an Informed Ability in the first game, just about every appearance in Titanfall 2 has him pulling off some aerial feat.
• The Alcoholic
  • In his debut scene for Mission 4, when playing as the Militia, Barker's so tanked he's slurring his words; he continues on a drunken rant during the Mission 5 briefing. After he briefs the Militia at the start of Mission 6 "Here Be Dragons", he tells MacAllan he'll "be at the bar".
  • Barker spends a lot of time glued to his bottle of moonshine: he's even holding a flask in the Drop Ship during the start of a multiplayer match in Titanfall 2 should players choose the Angel City Elite as their Faction.
• Mission Control: Takes over Titanfall duties when Sarah is absent during Mission 7 of the first game, and resumes this role as leader of the Angel City Elite in the second game's multiplayer.
• Price on Their Head: 50,000 credits, accumulated to crimes against the IMC for "attacks on [IMC] facilities resulting in death".

Cheng "Bish" Lorck

Voiced by: Dave B. Mitchell (English), Maxim Pinsker (Russian)

A combat intelligence specialist of the Frontier Militia, Cheng "Bish" Lorck is an IMC-trained electrical engineer. Although he was born and raised on Earth, Bish aligned with the Militia after a job placement by the IMC in the Frontier forced him to use up all his savings just to move there. His talents are not gone to waste as Bish becomes the go-to person for remotely hacking into IMC systems for Militia infantrymen during combat and providing tactics for Pilots.

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• The Chains of Commanding: Discussed and Lampshaded at the end of Mission 1 - Bish states to Sarah neither of them know how to fight an interstellar war with the IMC as the two of them aren't effective command material for an entire organization. Once MacAllan and his plans enter into the picture, Bish claims his IMC experience and intel regarding Demeter is worth more than a year's gathering of enemy data, relegating to MacAllan's immediate leadership.
• The Engineer: Creates the "Icepick" from data gathered about the prototype Repulsor Towers in Mission 6 that allows Sarah and her covert ops team to complete their objectives in Mission 7 of taking the Towers down surrounding IMC Airbase Sierra. Furthermore, the Icepick becomes a Pilot kit used in multiplayer that allows faster hacking of enemy Specters and turrets.
• In-Series Nickname: "Bish" is short of "Bishamon", the war god from Japanese Mythology.
• Voice with an Internet Connection: Averted - Bish appears in-person during the Militia's opening sequence for Mission 1 of the campaign, but is otherwise another part of the Militia's Mission Control whenever it's not Sarah or Barker.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Bish does not appear nor is he mentioned in Titanfall 2.

Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation (IMC)

Formerly known as "Hammond Engineering", the IMC is a massive, industrial conglomerate operating as a military corporation that funded the colonization of the Frontier, who have returned with its fleets to the distant human colonies to take back its old territories and exploit the Frontier's resources, while unifying their fledgling power base, by force if necessary.

Vice-Admiral Marcus Graves

Voiced by: Nathan Constance (English), Vladislav Kopp (Russian)

The incumbent Commander-in-Chief, Frontier Command (Cincfront) of the IMC's military, Vice-Admiral Marcus Graves personally leads IMC forces in the Frontier. Unlike traditional commanders from the Core Systems, he operates far more informally thanks to the lack of protocol upheld in this region of space. Graves also has a reputation within the IMC for being a strategic maverick, able to deduce where the next Frontier Militia operations will be next and strike hard against them, though he's known to argue for a change in policy often deemed a potential detriment to the organization, while offering leniency for Frontier citizens. Graves has a history with Frontier Militia leader James MacAllan, serving as the Foil to him throughout Titanfall.

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• Defector from Decadence: Following the destruction of the Demeter base and MacAllan's death, Graves pulls a Heel–Face Turn, joining and leading the Militia on a raid against a Hammond Robotics facility to steal an army of Specter combat drones to aid them.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Graves pointedly asks Blisk how many civilian ships were taken out during Mission 1 "The Refueling Raid".
• Meaningful Echo: Fifteen years ago, Graves gave MacAllan a chance to start a new life following The Mutiny aboard the IMS Odyssey; MacAllan extends the same courtesy to Graves by leading the Frontier Militia in his stead post-Battle of Demeter.
• The Strategist: Graves knows exactly where MacAllan and the Militia will be next throughout the Titanfall campaign, as if he's psychic. Prior to The Mutiny aboard the IMS Odyssey, Graves and MacAllan played "war games" with one another, coming up with strategies on how to take down the IMC in the Frontier. MacAllan's campaign is a result of one of their many scenarios, hence why Graves can easiliy deduce where the Militia will go to next.
• Take Up My Sword: Before he dies on Demeter, MacAllan asks Graves to lead the Militia and continue where he left off; three months after Demeter, Graves becomes Field Commander of the Frontier Militia.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Graves is absent in Titanfall 2 despite being the new leader of the Militia.

Spyglass

Voiced by: Lex Lang (English), Valery Storozhik (Russian)

The physical representation of the IMC's vast computer network, the AI known as "Spyglass" is in charge of communications, logistics, navigation and infantry and Titan deployment of all IMC forces in the Frontier, serving as Mission Control for their ground operations.

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• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Subverted - at the end of the Battle of Demeter, due to MacAllan irreversibly sabotaging the reactor at Demeter so it will blow no matter what, as the IMC awaits for evacuation, Spyglass suddenly and unexpectedly aborts the retrieval, leaving all IMC ground forces to die on the surface in favor of moving the larger capital ships away from the planet. Considering the size of the explosion and MacAllan ordering Militia leaders to do exactly the same thing, Spyglass' decision is a justified one.
• General Ripper: As a machine, Spyglass cares only for results at the cost of men and morale.
• Genius Bruiser: Given its the IMC's tactical AI, Spyglass is mentally superhuman in all aspects. It likes to use modified Specters as disposable avatars to directly participate on the battlefield.
• Godzilla Threshold: The IMC must really be in dire straits if they promote an AI to the rank of Vice-Admiral after the events at Demeter.
• Rank Up: Spyglass becomes Vice-Admiral after Graves defects following the destruction of Demeter.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Spyglass does not appear in Titanfall 2, presumably as General Marder becomes the Big Bad of the IMC forces on Typhon. However, lore for the series states it's in command of a "Remnant Fleet", continuing the IMC's cause in its own way.
• Wild Card: The Remnant Fleet doesn't seem to be affiliated with the IMC anymore by Titanfall 2, given it targets Militia and IMC-occupied worlds altogether. This explains why "Bounty Hunt" and "Frontier Defense" mode for multiplayer in the Sequel uses them as the common enemy - the implication the Remnant Fleet has gone rogue, turning itself into a third-party, possibly turning Spyglass into a Hidden Agenda Villain.

Sergeant Kuben Blisk

Voiced by: JB Blanc (English), Alexander Novikov (Russian)

Oi! This fight is what you were born for!

Leader of the mercenary "Apex Predators" employed by the IMC, Kuben Blisk is hired as a commander for their infantry divisions, as well as providing combat intelligence and counter-insurgency tactics. Committed and loyal to whomever employs him, Blisk will always see to it his contracts are completed and is fully paid for his services no matter what. This "mission first" mindset means he will commit any action, morals be damned, ranging from massacring civilians to shooting down evacuation ships; because of this, Blisk is considered a wanted war criminal by the Frontier Militia.

After the events of Titanfall, he is again hired by the IMC to take over control of military operations on the planet Typhon in Titanfall 2. Approximately 30 years after the events of the latter, he hosts a Bloodsport tournament featuring the top mercenaries from across the Frontier called the "Apex Games".

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• Amoral Afrikaner: Not only is Blisk actually from South Africa (according to supplemental information), at one point during Mission 1 of the campaign, he orders his men to shoot down fleeing civilian ships.
• Benevolent Boss: Blisk may be an amoral, murderous war criminal, but he displays great management skills.
  • When Ash in Titanfall 2, is putting a little too much "psycho" in Psycho for Hire, he points out that her work is suffering, and when she agrees, sounding crestfallen, he follows up with some encouragement to ensure the interaction ends on a positive note. This is a prolific and effective real-life management technique.
  • In the multiplayer, he's also quick to encourage rather than berate the player, no matter how badly the match is going.
  • As commissioner of the Apex Games, he's very accommodating to the Legends like setting up a workshop for Rampart and letting them personalize their own living quarters.
• Breakout Villain: Originally a mere henchman for the IMC command in the first game, Blisk eventually became the overarching villain of the Titanfall universe. Titanfall 2 expands Blisk's role by making him the de facto bad guy and leader of his own band of elite mercenaries. Apex Legends also features Blisk as the mastermind behind the Apex Games and the one who recruits contestants. As of this writing, Blisk holds the distinction of being the only character to appear in all three games across the Titanfall universe.
• Catchphrase: "You kill me, you're better. I kill you, I'm better."
• Cool Old Guy: By the time Viper's daughter meets him in Tales from the Outlands, his hair and beard have visibly gone light gray. He doesn't even flinch when she pulls a gun on him.
• The Dragon: To General Marder in the sequel; however, Blisk winds up being The Unfought.
• Dragon with an Agenda: He only works for Marder, not out of any loyalty but because Marder is paying him to do so. He stops following Marder's commands once he stops paying Blisk.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Blisk is a legitimate war criminal, but even he frowns on desecrating the dead/looting.
  • Betrayal seems to be a particular Berserk Button for him. He's very particular in making sure his contracts are fulfilled and boasts he'd never kill a man for free, except when it comes to Graves, who defected from the IMC to the Militia.
• The Heavy: While Marder is the Big Bad for the second game, Marder sparsely appears and doesn't even directly interact with Jack Cooper, leaving Blisk to drive Marder's plot and carry out the conflict with Jack.
• It's Personal: In the final campaign mission of the first game, after Graves tells Blisk the Militia will win because they fight for a cause, in contrast to Blisk who simply fights for a paycheck, Blisk counters with an "Oh, I'd fight you for free." Receives a Call-Back in the second game, where it isn't personal; Blisk specifically says he won't kill Cooper for free.
• Karma Houdini: Despite being a murderous hired gun who killed civilians, he never faced any consequences for his atrocities. Even 30 years after the IMC's defeat, Blisk is still at large and enjoying a new career as commissioner for the Apex Games.
• Living Legend:
  • By the time of Apex Legends, as a Pilot fighting during most of the Frontier war, he's solidly this.
    "We've all heard the stories. I've lived 'em."
  • According to the loretext of the Apex Season 9 transition screen "My Hero", history books were being written about him while the Frontier War was still in progress.
• Might Makes Right: Blisk's philosophy; Lampshaded during Mission 9 "The Made Men".
  Graves: No person is better than another, Blisk.
  Blisk: I disagree. You kill me, you're better. I kill you, I'm better.
• Not in My Contract: At the end of the second game, he spares Cooper because his contract didn't specify he was supposed to kill them, though it's implied he also views them as a Worthy Opponent, since gives Cooper his business card.
• Older and Wiser: Has some choice words for Valkyrie when she encounters him in his older age.
• Only in It for the Money: Played with - near the end of the Titanfall campaign, he claims he'll fight Graves for free after his Heel–Face Turn; in Titanfall 2, he doesn't kill Jack Cooper when his contract with Marder and the IMC is completed because they didn't specify in the contract what he should do after delivering the Ark.
• Punch-Clock Villain: Part of the reason why he spares Cooper at the end of the sequel - Blisk already fulfilled his contract with the IMC by delivering the Ark and has no incentive to fight Cooper.
• Psycho for Hire:
  • Blisk could care less about whether ships the IMC destroys are civilian or Militia during Mission 1. Played with in Titanfall 2, where he may head up a mercenary outfit comprised largely of psychopaths, he himself displays little signs of the trope. He just wants to get the job done, get paid and get the hell off Typhon. Blisk may be amoral and ruthless, but he's not blatantly sadistic and is always a professional.
    Ash: Am I not allowed to enjoy myself when I work?
    Blisk: Not when your work suffers!
  • By the time of Apex Legends, it seems this has been fully subverted, both in how he no longer appears to be for hire and seems to have mellowed out. It's best demonstrated in Stories from the Outlands: Northstar, in which he makes no actual attempt to stop Valkyrie from shooting him outside of informing her that Vengeance Feels Empty.
• Psycho Knife Nut: Never appears without a knife, usually used for pointing, gesturing, or dramatically stabbing things.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Delivered to Valkyrie in the animated short Stories from the Outlands: Northstar; challenging her quest to avenge her father, pointing out how her father knew his life was on the line as a mercenary, how there was nothing left for her to do if she enacted her revenge, and that Viper wanted his child to be her own person instead of living just for him.
• Retired Monster: By the events of Apex Legends, Blisk seems to have given up his mercenary career in favor of hosting the Apex Games. It appears that the most he does is commission mercenaries to do his work for him, which is the context of Valkyrie's salvage job in retrieving Viper's Northstar.
• Saved by Canon: Because Apex Legends relies on Blisk creating the Apex Games, any events set between Titanfall 2 and the former guarantees his survival no matter what.
• Shut Up, Kirk!: In Mission 9 for Titanfall, Graves tells Blisk to leave the IMC and fight with him for the Militia, since the IMC is now majorly comprised of Specters rather than men. Blisk counters, claiming machines are loyal to their operators - Graves has no place to speak of loyalty when he defected from the IMC to join the Militia.
• The Unfought: In Titanfall 2, Cooper is always helpless when Blisk is present, and Blisk refuses to kill him on both occasions.
• Worthy Opponent: What Blisk considers Cooper at the end of Titanfall 2 - instead of killing the trapped Pilot, Blisk gives him the Apex Predators' business card and walks away.