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| “ | We will watch Europe burn. We will watch the empire of the United States collapse under it's own weight. A world with two superpowers will become a world with one. The Soviet Union. And if the leaders of this new world order squander the opportunity we have provided for them, then they too will be replaced. | „ |
| ~ Perseus in the Soviet ending. |
| “ | And to think after all this time, they still believe I'm Perseus. As if Perseus could ever be an individual, working alone. So American. | „ |
| ~ Perseus after "Bell" gives the order to detonate the nukes from Solovetsky. |
Perseus (Russian: Персей) is the main antagonist of the 2020 first-person shooter game Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.
He is a rogue Soviet intelligence officer and the leader of a spy organization named "Perseus", and shares his collective activities with other networks to eliminate the United States' dominance in the world, and also restart Russia from ashes of detonating nukes across Europe. He is also the archenemy of Russell Adler.
He is portrayed by Andrey Ivchenko through motion-capture, who also played Grigori in Stranger Things, whilst being voiced by William Salyers, who also voiced Darcy in Deep, Doctor Octopus in Insomniac Games' Marvel's Spider-Man, Rigby in Regular Show, Victor Valente in The Darkness II, Truman Marsh in Avengers: Ultron Revolution, and Erich Soders in HITMAN.
Biography[]
Past[]
Not much is known about "Perseus'" background, but he was presumably born in Russia and became an officer in the Soviet Union. At some point, he joined a Soviet terrorist spy network also known as Perseus, where its name would be adopted by each of its leaders, like a mantle being passed on with each successor. He eventually became its newest leader and therefore the newest Perseus. It's also implied that Perseus isn't entirely loyal to the Soviet Union, as he intends on rebuilding his motherland from the ashes since he sees America's influence going through the country.
Perseus revealing his plan to his associates during a meeting.
He has connections to the KGB and Russian Mafia, with whom they share the goal of subverting and ultimately destroying the dominance of the United States and other western countries permanently. His friends include Russian mob boss and arms dealer Anton Volkov, ex-Stasi agent Franz Kraus, CIA defector Robert Aldrich, KGB agents Major Vadim Rudnik, Colonel Lev Kravchenko and Imran Zakhaev, and Iranian terrorists Arash Kadivar and Qasim Javadi. He was also close to a Soviet soldier whom he deeply trusted, as the soldier appeared at a meeting with Perseus and other Soviet officials. Perseus was also targeted by the CIA for his actions during the height of the Cold War, and was often nearly killed by Russell Adler, but managed to evade him for decades.
Before the events of the game, Perseus came into contact with the Soviet operative Vikhor "Stitch" Kuzmin, who was sent to the gulag by Kravchenko for failing to stop the Rebirth assault. Finding Kuzmin a broken warrior, Perseus managed to get Stitch to join his cause, and the latter also joined to get revenge on Adler for causing his fall.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War[]
Arash Kadivar would later betray Perseus' close associate during an operation in Turkey, but the operative survived the incident and was saved by CIA agent Russell Adler. Adler and the CIA decided to brainwash the operative, so they could give them information on Perseus' plans, and gave him the code-named "Bell" and tasked them with Adler. Despite the loss of his close associate and Kadivar, Perseus continued his plan to destroy the west and Europe, specifically stealing an American nuke from the CIA project Operation Greenlight. However, Perseus' true plan was to detonate all the American nukes across Europe and have the United States take the fall, but needed a scientist who worked on Greenlight. Perseus and his network decided to collect the names of sleeper agents that were programmed by Nikita Dragovich and Friedrich Steiner in the 1960s.
Perseus killing Theodore Hastings and his staff in Havana.
After collecting the names, Perseus had Mount Yamatau's mainframe wiped, so the CIA couldn't follow his trail, and pin-pointed his sleeper agent on Theodore Hastings. Hastings was part of Operation Greenlight, and Perseus had him re-programmed to give him access to all the nukes in Europe, and sent him to Cuba to have them armed for him. When the CIA attacked the facility in Havana, Perseus quickly had Hastings arm the nukes and killed him and the staff before shooting out the cameras. Perseus managed to escape from Havana, and went to a safe location to prepare to signal the detonation of the American nukes. Unbeknownst to Perseus, his close associate "Bell" succeeded in helping the CIA in stopping his associates, but failed to learn of Perseus' location due to the brainwashing.
Endings[]
If "Bell" tells the truth, they will assist the CIA in destroying the AA-guns in Solovetsky Islands and calling in a bombing run to destroy the signals. Perseus and his network will be crippled, and his associates Robert Aldrich and Vadim Rudnik can be eliminated if the player decides to solve the evidence before hand. According to Jason Hudson's superior Emerson Black, Perseus was never found at the compound, and it's presumed that he escaped the area, or was at a different location. If Park is chosen to live, she will be leading a team to find and eliminate Perseus.
Perseus reuniting with "Bell" after killing Adler's team (non-canon).
If "Bell" lies to Adler and the team, the player has the option to call in the Soviets to set an ambush at Duga-2, which Perseus personally leads. If "Bell" doesn't signal the ambush, they are killed by Adler, and Perseus will continue with his goals since they are still out there.
If the player signals the ambush, Perseus helps "Bell" kill Alder, Mason, Woods, and Park/Lazar (if present) and allows them to signal the detonation of the American nukes. After detonating the nukes across Europe, Perseus and "Bell" go into hiding for the time being, and awaits to further his agendas. Due to the 1984 storyline Warzone and the events of Black Ops II, this ending is non-canon.
Call of Duty: Warzone[]
Perseus is a minor character in the Verdansk storyline of Call of Duty: Warzone, being referenced in Imran Zakhaev's letter as being his mentor, and helping radicalized his attitude toward the west.
Black Ops Cold War[]
| “ | Russell Adler: Spare me your horses**t. Where the f--k is Perseus? Vikhor Kuzmin: Right here. Cancer took him in '83. |
„ |
| ~ Russell Adler and Vikhor Kuzmin in the season six outro cinematic. |
In the Warzone storyline of Black Ops Cold War, Vikhor "Stitch" Kuzmin revealed that "Perseus" died of cancer in 1983, and was buried in an unmarked location in Verdansk. As a result, Stitch became the leader of the spy network, and focused on obtaining Nikita Dragovich's broadcast to plant sleeper agents across the west. Though successful in brainwashing new agents, Stitch would be killed by Adler in 1984 at "Perseus's" grave.
Quotes[]
| “ | Comrades... The United States and its allies slowly consume that which is dear to us. Our leaders continue to weaken under this threat. It is the moral duty of Perseus to act, when they will not. Soon we will possess an American nuclear bomb. The key to unlocking their entire Greenlight arsenal. Once we control the Greenlight arsenal, we will detonate them all from the safety of Solovetsky. | „ |
| ~ Perseus to his network's associates during a bunker meeting. |
| “ | And Helen Park was wiped out with him. She had been sniffing around the edges of our group for years. One less Western nuisance for us to deal with. | „ |
| ~ Perseus to "Bell" if Park was left behind (player-determined). |
| “ | You say Eleazar Azoulay perished in Cuba. We will not miss that one. His interference with our middle east assets will be a distraction no more. | „ |
| ~ Perseus to "Bell" if Lazar was left behind (player-determined). |
| “ | The others, however, are still out there. I will finish them off if I have to. | „ |
| ~ Perseus if "Bell" didn't signal the ambush and their former team is alive (player-determined). |
| “ | Today we reshape the world. Our motherland is lead by cowards and weaklings. In time, the Americans and their NATO puppets will bring the Soviet Union to its knees. We will break the stalemate, then burn them both to the ground. They sleep soundly at night, knowing they put on a good parade - but they lack the will to do what must be done. The superpowers will fall, victims of their own greed and corruption. We will rebuild Greater Russia from the ashes. | „ |
| ~ Perseus in the multiplayer intro. |
| “ | They sleep soundly at night, knowing they put on a good parade - but they lack the will to do what must be done. | „ |
| ~ Perseus. |
| “ | The superpowers will fall, victims of their own greed and corruption. We will rebuild Greater Russia from the ashes. | „ |
| ~ Perseus. |
| “ | Perseus sends their regards. | „ |
| ~ Perseus. |
| “ | On your feet Comrade. Ready for a little retribution? | „ |
| ~ Perseus helping Bell to get up during the ambush. |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Perseus is loosely based on the codename of a hypothetical Soviet atomic spy who would've allegedly breached U.S. national security by infiltrating Los Alamos during the development of the Manhattan Project, and consequently would have been instrumental for the Soviet Union in its development of nuclear weapons. However, researchers of the subject point that Perseus never existed and was actually a creation of the Soviet intelligence.
- Perseus is the fourth Call of Duty main antagonist to canonically survive in the campaign.
- Perseus is also the and seventh antagonist to avoid justice, following Anatoly, Mullah Rahmaan, Gabriel T. Rorke, Pierre Danois, Xavier Hirtzel and Savannah Mason-Meyer.
- Perseus is currently the only main antagonist to die off screen.
- Perseus is the fifth Call of Duty main antagonist to be Russian, behind only Imran Zakhaev, Nikita Dragovich, Vladimir Makarov, and General Barkov.
- However, unlike most of these villains, Perseus is the most honorable and his motives were, in his eyes at least, for the greater good of humanity.
External Links[]
- Perseus on the Call of Duty Wiki.
