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| NOTE: This article is about the incarnation of Imran Zakhaev from the 2007 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare sub-series. For the reboot version of character, please click here. |
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| “ | Our so-called leaders prostituted us to the West... destroyed our culture... our economies... our honor. Our blood has been spilled on our soil. My blood... on their hands. They are the invaders. All U.S. and British forces will leave Russia immediately... or suffer the consequences. | „ |
| ~ Imran Zakhaev's famous speech following his son Victor's death. |
Imran Zakhaev (Russian: Имран Захаев) is the overarching antagonist of the Call of Duty franchise's original Modern Warfare sub-series.
Originally a Russian arms dealer, Zakhaev became the founder and chairman of the Ultranationalist Party, a militant and political faction seeking to restore Russia to the days of the Soviet Union. In his quest for Russia's restoration, he had instigated conflict around the world and aligned himself with numerous terrorist organizations. He is also the father of Victor Zakhaev, member of the Four Horsemen and the mentor of Vladimir Makarov.
He is voiced by the late Yevgeni Lazarev, who also portrayed Anton Vanko in Iron Man 2. In Find Makarov, he was portrayed by Mic Boogie.
Biography[]
Past[]
| “ | Что значит, "маловато"? Я думал, мы договорились! (What do you mean, "it's not enough"? I thought we had a deal!) | „ |
| ~ Zakhaev arguing with his arms dealer in Pripyat, just before he gets shot by Lieutenant Price. |
Fifteen years prior to the outbreak of the Second Russian Civil War, Imran Zakhaev was a black market arms dealer who smuggled weapons to various clients around the world. He witnessed the fall of communism and the eventual collapse and dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Zakhaev had saw the collapse of the communist regime as an opportunity to salvage radioactive material from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Pripyat, Ukraine to sell them on the black market. Through the profits that he gained from his illegal activities, Zakhaev would use them to rally up a fighting force to fund and form his own extremist faction intent on taking over the Russian government and restoring the former Soviet communist regime.
Zakhaev's arm is shot off by Lt. Price during his assassination attempt in Pripyat, 1996.
Zakhaev's illegal criminal activities were noted and discovered by British Special Air Services and the organization eventually carried out its first assassination mission since the end of the Second World War. The SAS dispatched Lieutenant John Price and Captain MacMillan to Pripyat, an abandoned ghost town since the 1986 nuclear disaster, with the intent on assassinating Zakhaev. There, the peaceful countryside was found to be sweeping with Russian mercenaries that Zakhaev had employed, along with still being highly radioactive in some places, but Price and MacMillan had ghillie suits so they were able to sneak by and eventually find the position they needed to be at for the operation within the abandoned Polissya Hotel in Pripyat. When Zakhaev met with his clients in the abandoned city center, he was shot by Price with a Barret M82 sniper rifle which shot off his left arm. He was originally thought to have died of blood loss, but he managed to survive and resurfaced years later to restore the Soviet Union and conquer Russia and get revenge against the Western Powers for attempting to burke him. After Zakhaev was escorted to safety by Makarov and Yuri after being shot and losing his arm, he gave them power for helping him.
Modern Warfare[]
Fifteen years later, in 2011, Zakhaev reappears as the Chairman of the Ultranationalist Party. In his opinion, the pro-western Russian government has "prostituted" Russia to the west, ruining the country's economy, culture, and pride in the process. Having harbored a strong and deep hatred for the Western Powers, Zakhaev seeks to return Russia back to its "prime", the days of the Soviet Union, and possibly even the return of Soviet-era conditions prior to the union's dissolution, but with himself in power this time. To topple the Russian government, Zakhaev starts a political crisis which eventually sparks an all-out civil war by 2011 which engulfed all of Russia and other parts of the world. The Ultranationalists are supported by Soviet-era military hardware such as BM-21 rocket artillery, BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, and Mi-24 Hind attack helicopter gunships. His son, Victor, joins his cause and becomes a field commander for the Ultranationalist ground forces.
The Second Russian Civil War breaks out and it becomes a major event that will decide the fate of world peace as the conflict soon spreads beyond Russia to engulf parts of the former Soviet Union and even the Middle East due to Ultranationalist support for OpFor forces in the Middle East who overthrow a western-backed regime in the country. If Zakhaev were to win and seize power, he would have control over the entire Russian nuclear arsenal of 15,000 active nuclear warheads. During the civil war, factions of the Russian military defect to the Ultranationalists while the rest fight on behalf of the pro-western government and form the Russian Loyalists.
Middle East Coup[]
Zakhaev gifting Al-Asad with a Desert Eagle to use in executing Al-Fulani.
Zakhaev had known that his plan would never work as he knew that the civil war would easily attract the attention of western powers such as the United States and United Kingdom, and especially the United Nations, who would fight to maintain the western-backed Russian government. To divert their attention away from Russia, Zakhaev has made an alliance with a Middle Eastern warlord and terrorist leader known as Khaled Al-Asad and funds his coup against his rival, President Yasir Al-Fulani. Al-Asad eventually launches a successful military coup where Al-Fulani is captured and Saudi Arabia is eventually taken over by the OpFor, prompting the United States to send troops to the region, diverting attention away from the civil war in Russia. Fulani is brought before an arena surrounded by OpFor insurgents where Zakhaev is present, hands Al-Asad a Desert Eagle, and watches Fulani's execution on live television broadcasted to the entire world. Al-Asad's take-over is eventually countered by the deployment of the United States Marine Corps to Saudi Arabia to overthrow Al-Asad and eventually forces him to retreat to the nation's capital. There, a Russian warhead is handed over to Al-Asad and he flees into a safehouse while Vladimir Makarov, Zakhaev's protégé, detonates the bomb on behalf of his orders, destroying the city and killing 30,000 Marines and countless OpFor fighters in the process.
The attack shocks the world and makes Al-Asad and Zakhaev two of the most wanted men in the entire world. During their hunt for Al-Asad, he is found hiding out in Azerbaijan under the protection of a large detachment of Ultranationalist fighters. A fight soon breaks out in the village and Al-Asad is eventually found hiding out in the farm far north of the town, being captured and interrogated on where he got the bomb, when his phone rings and Zakhaev is revealed to be on the phone. Not long after the call, John Price, who had the cellphone, shoots and kills Al-Asad at point blank and eventually tells what happened fifteen years prior. The next day, an Ultranationalist force is dispatched to pick up Al-Asad, when Price and his team ambush them, but the Ultranationalists overrun them and force them to make a quick retreat.
After Britain and the United States learn of Zakhaev's plot to distract them and divert attention away from Russia and towards the Middle East, the Special Air Service and the United States Marine Corps are called into action and participate in a joint operation where the two are sent to track down and eliminate Zakhaev before he can overthrow the Loyalists in Russia. In order to discover where he is, they decide to track down and capture his son, Victor, still a field commander of the Ultranationalist ground forces. SAS-USMC forces eventually regroup with Russian Loyalists forces outside of the Russian city of Volgograd and they locate Victor's convoy which they ambush, but he escapes. Eventually cornered on top of an apartment building, rather than surrender, Victor instead commits suicide, eliminating the only known lead to his father. Outraged by his son's death, Imran launches two nuclear warheads from a facility captured by the Ultranationalists, targeting the eastern United States and warned that all British and American forces are to leave Russia immediately or suffer the consequences.
Zakhaev killing Gaz, moments before his death at the hands of "Soap" MacTavish.
After the missiles are launched, the SAS and USMC Reconnaissance Forces manage to locate the facility and self-destruct the missiles in mid-air, sparing 41 million American citizens from nuclear destruction. The task force is eventually forced to evacuate the silo and escape on a bridge which is later seen swarming with Ultranationalist forces which are chasing them with army vehicles and an Mi-24 Hind attack helicopter. During the fight, the bridge is destroyed and the SAS-USMC forces are cut off and later gunned down one by one. Griggs is killed trying to save Soap and Zakhaev himself enters the battlefield shooting and killing Gaz in the process. Before he can kill the rest of them however, a Loyalist Mi-28 Havoc attack helicopter arrives and destroys the Ultranationalist gunship and amidst the chaos and distraction, Soap shoots and kills Zakhaev along with his two guards.
Legacy[]
A memorial statue honoring Zakhaev as the "Hero of the New Russia".
| “ | History is written by the victor, and here I am, thinking we'd won. But you bring down one enemy and they find someone even worse to replace him. | „ |
| ~ General Shepherd regarding Zakhaev's successor, Makarov. |
Despite Zakhaev's death, the Ultranationalists would go one to win the Second Russian Civil War and overthrew the pro-western government. The Russian Loyalists were sent into exile hiding out in India and Russia began rearming itself and preparing to restore its former glory. A power struggle had broken out in the Ultranationalist party between Boris Vorshevsky, the moderate faction leader and legitimate President of Russia, and Zakhaev's disciple, Vladimir Makarov, leader of the extremist faction who later formed his own terrorist group known as the Inner Circle. Five years after his death in 2016, a statue of him was built and erected in Moscow calling him the "Hero of the New Russia" and an airport was even named after him, but it was the sight of a massacre and terrorist attack which would spark World War III between Russia and NATO. Five years later, the Ultranationalists are popular and have gained sympathy from the Russian people, especially after Makarov massacred everyone at Zakhaev Airport.
Personality[]
| “ | Just as they lay waste to our country, we shall lay waste to theirs. | „ |
| ~ Imran Zakhaev during the E3 trailer. |
Imran Zakhaev was a deeply patriotic and nationalistic person who held his home country of Russia in deeply high regard. The collapse of the Soviet Union had affected him on a deep and personal level to the point where he was motivated to start a movement dedicated to restoring Russian power and influence on the world stage back to the levels it was during the days of the Soviet Union. This extreme disillusionment lead him to eventually form the Ultranationalists and take power to restore Russia's former glory to the days of the Soviet Union. He was opposed to the Russian Federation to the point of sparking a civil war and spreading it beyond Russia's borders and lead his followers to war.
Zakhaev was not hesitant to use lethal force against the people of Russia if it meant restoring the country's power as he and his followers had killed many civilians during the civil war and he even went as far as to allow the detonation of a nuclear warhead in the Middle East to kill thousands of American soldiers. His hatred for the west lead him to commit various atrocities and was only increased when his son had died motivating him to attempt to level the eastern United States with nuclear attacks as an act of retribution. Despite his crimes however, he would go down as a hero in the eyes of the Russian people and his dream would be fully realized five years after his death.
It is also implied that while Zakhaev was grateful to Makarov for saving his life on the day of his assassination attempt, he also kept him in check, possibly due to the fear of Makarov's extreme methods and ambitions, which later proved correct. This shows that while Zakhaev was still utterly ruthless, he still had his boundaries.
Victims[]
- President Yasir Al-Fulani (Caused)
- Vasquez (Caused)
- Pelayo (Caused)
- Volker (Caused)
- Paul Jackson (Caused)
- Griggs (Caused)
- Gaz
- 30,000 United States Marine Corp soldiers (Caused)
- Numerous Russian Loyalists (Caused and Direct)
- Many Russian and Middle Eastern civilians (Caused and Indirect)
- Numerous British SAS soldiers (Caused and Direct)
Trivia[]
- Given that Imran is named as the "Fourth Horseman", he is presumably symbolized as the Horseman of Death since the figure is the fourth and final horseman in the New Testament.
- In early versions of the game, Zakhaev's first name was Drago.
- In the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 starting video clip, it shows that Soap shot Zakhaev in his torso, but in Soap's flashback during the prologue of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, it is seen that Soap shoots Zakhaev in the head.
- In the CoD4 level, "Ultimatum", Zakhaev says "My blood on their hands" in regards to his son Victor's death, whereas in the starting video clip of Modern Warfare 2, he says "My son's blood on their hands".
- Despite his prominent role in the trilogy, there is only one scene out of the 3 games where he speaks, that being the briefing for the COD 4 mission 'Ultimatum'.
- In the same mission, the subtitles of his name appear green. It was later fixed in the 2016 remaster.
- Using console command "god" in "Game Over", Zakhaev switches to an M9 when shooting at Soap.
- He is briefly mentioned in the Nintendo DS version of Call of Duty 4.
- He also appears as a playable skin from the "Zakhaev Special Character Pack" of Call of Duty: Ghosts.
- An image of Imran is used for Victor Zakhaev in the 2019 Modern Warfare reboot.
External links[]
- Imran Zakhaev on the Call of Duty Wiki.
References[]
- ↑ He wears a coat with two golden starts as lapels, implying he was a Lieutenant General
