Important Characters
David Armstrong(s)
Something of a Running Gag, every game in the series has a commanding officer named David Armstrong who appears as minor characters except the first one which is the main Player Character of Cold War Assault.- Ambiguously Related: It's never stated if they are blood-related or not.
- Ambiguous Situation: It's implied that the David Armstrong that appears in ArmA: Armed Assault (Captain Armstrong) it's the same one that appears in ArmA II (General Armstrong).
- The Cameo: General Armstrong (ArmA II) only appears at the beginning and end of the Red Harvest campaign.
- Colonel Badass: The Armstrong that appears in ArmA III.
- Do-Anything Soldier: The first one from Cold War Assault eventually becomes this.
Matthew Cooper
The main Player Character of ArmA II's Red Harvest campaign. A member of the USMC Force Recon's Razor Team.Howard Drake
A Player Character of ArmA II's Operation Arrowhead campaign. A member of the US Airborne's Task Force Knight.- The Everyman: He's just another soldier doing his work with him being a very unexceptional person.
- Nice Guy: He's very optimistic and tends to get along with other soldiers, even under stress.
Terry Graves
A Player Character of ArmA II's Operation Arrowhead campaign. A member of the US Special Operations Group's Delta Force.- Elites Are More Glamorous: He's part of Delta Force, the US' premier fast response anti-terrorist task force.
- The Nondescript: He's a very bland and uninteresting person when not on a mission.
Brian Frost
The Player Character of ArmA II: British Armed Forces and Private Military Company.- Fallen Hero: Goes from a good-natured soldier to mentally-broken amoral mercenary.
- Demoted to Extra: He's a minor NPC in the Take On Helicopters DLC.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Over the course of Private Military Company he becomes this.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: He was abandoned on a empty island near the coast of Seattle and his fate is unknown.
Scott Miller
A major supporting character in ArmA III and its DLCs. A member of the British Armed Forces' CTRG who is obsessed with damaging the CSAT's operations and reputation, no matter the cost.- A Lighter Shade of Grey: There's no two ways about it: the man is a complete and ruthless asshole who will use and then leave anyone to die, from random scattered grunts to entire populations of nations, if it means completing his mission. But it cannot be overlooked that it's all unambiguosly to thwart CSAT war efforts, who themelves are just as ruthlessly working on expanding their own sphere of influence often through the shadiests and most cruelly imaginative ways you can think of.
- Anti-Hero: He's a manipulative bastard that will stop at nothing to damage the operations and reputation of the CSAT across the globe no matter how many innocents or allied soldiers he has to sacrifice.
- Knight Templar: His objective is to slow the CSAT's expansion and nothing will stop him.
- Pragmatic Villainy: The man is not to be trusted, be he sometimes lend a hand or gives an evac ride to those who help him. note
- Villain Protagonist: Of ArmA III as a whole as he a major character who with a ruthless agenda.
- War Hawk: He's so determined in his officially sanctioned-crusade against the CSAT that would continue waging a guerrilla war against them even in times of peace.
Santiago
The Player Character of ArmA III's Old Man DLC. A retired soldier from the French Foreign Legion who's forced to take action after the CSAT takes control of Tanoa following a strange pandemic.- Old Soldier: He's looks fifty by the time of the Old Man DLC.
- Returning War Vet: He was part of the French Foreign Legion and has been retired since the early-to-mid-2010s.
Fictional Nations of the ARMA series
Cold War Assault
Malden, Everon and Kolgujev
An island chain of former French and Russian colonies situated in the Atlantic Ocean. Each island have their own government with Malden being pro-west, Everon being mostly neutral and Kolgujev being pro-east. However, in 1985, the Soviet Union invades an occupies Everon and Malden, leading to a short conflict between NATO and the Soviet Union that ends with the liberation of the Islands.- Culture Chop Suey: They were former-French colonies but have plenty of Eastern European influences and are inspired by the Cyprus situation.
- Face–Heel Turn: By the time of ARMA III, Malden willingly entered into the China-led CSAT's sphere of influence following a failing out with NATO.
- La Résistance: One formed in Everon mostly composed by civilians following the Soviets pushing the NATO garrison out of the Island.
- Occupiers Out of Our Country: The island of Everon is very wary of both NATO and the Soviet Union influencing their affairs and when the Soviet Union invaded the island, they wasted no time in opposing them through guerrilla warfare.
Nogova
A small island state that broke away from Soviet Union that was subsequently invaded and occupied by the Soviet Union in 1982. Following a month-long rebellion against the soviet occupiers, it was liberated and the civilian government reformed. This conflict led to NATO creating garrisons in the islands of Everon and Malden to prevent further soviet aggression.- La Résistance: One formed following the Soviet Occupation and managed to defeat the Soviets in a month.
- Occupiers Out of Our Country
Armed Assault
The Kingdom of South Sahrani
A Spanish-influenced NATO-allied nation comprising the southern half of the Sahrani island. In 2006, the nation was invaded by its northern neighbor in an attempt to reunify the island, forcing a small NATO garrison to intervene.- Culture Chop Suey: Supposedly a former-British colony, it clearly has more Spanish and Mediterranean influences and imagery than British.
- False Flag Operation: The government ordered the massacre of two border towns and pin them on the SLA as a pretext to invade the Democratic Republic after they were repelled out of the Kingdom.
- Evil All Along: Queen Isabela in the Queen's Gambit expansion.
- Karma Houdini: Queen Isabella not only kills her father and her brother but all evidence to the truth was lost and still rules the kingdom as of ARMA III.
- Private Military Contractors: The Black Element PMC was hired by the monarchy to hunt down an insurgency opposing Queen Isabela during the Queen's Gambit expansion.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Following the defeat of the Democratic Republic of Sahrani, Queen Isabela demands the complete withdrawal of NATO forces from the island.
The Democratic Republic of Sahrani
South Sahrani's northern authoritarian neighbor that broke away from the kingdom with the help of the Soviet Union. In 2006, taking advantage of NATO withdrawing their forces from the island, they invaded their southern neighbor in an attempt to annex the nation. Their faction is named the Sahrani Liberation Army (SLA).- Culture Chop Suey: Supposedly a former-British colony, it has more in common with Latin America and its dictatorships, most notably Cuba.
- Dirty Communists: The nation is officially communist and they are authoritarian with a desire to reunify the island by annexing the Southern Kingdom.
- People's Republic of Tyranny: The government was very authoritarian and punished all dissent yet it had the gal to call themselves the People's Republic, even their armed forces are named the "Liberation" Army.
ARMA 2 & Operation Arrowhead
Chernarus
A former-soviet republic situated in the Green Sea. In 2009, the country's Russian minority forms the Chernarussian Movement of the Red Star (ChDKZ) and takes over the nation in an attempt join the Russian Federation. The government-in-exile pleads NATO for help, leading to an invasion of the nation to depose the ChDKZ and restore the civilian government in an operation codenamed Red Harvest.- The Bus Came Back: They are the independent UN Peacekeeping faction in the Operation Arrowhead expansion.
- Culture Chop Suey: The nation takes a lot of elements from countries like Georgia, Ukraine and the Czechoslovakian Republic. "Chernarus" ("Black Rus") itself is a mirror of Belarus ("White Rus").
- Government in Exile: During the fall of the capital, the remains of the Chernarussian government was forced to flee the country. However, the prime minister was captured and executed.
Takistan
An Islamic republic situated in the Green Sea. Formerly a kingdom until a Soviet-backed revolution toppled the monarchy. In 2012, after losing many oil wells and refineries to rebel attacks, the government issues an ultimatum to a southern neighbor to surrender their oil fields under threat of chemical attacks, leading to NATO to invade the nation in an operation codenamed Arrowhead.- Culture Chop Suey: The nation is a mishmash of Afghanistan and Iran both geographically and politically.
- Face–Heel Turn: Many of the anti-government tribes turn hostile against NATO following the fall of the military regime.
- The Remnant: Following the fall of the military government, an anti-NATO insurgency composed of both former military personnel and civilian militias begins.
ARMA 3 & APEX
Altis and Stratis
A Greek-influenced island nation in the Mediterranean. Following a brutal civil war that ended with the establishment and political acknowledgement of a usurping military regime, the new government asks NATO for help to support the Altis Armed Forces (AAF) against an anti-government insurgency (the FIA). However, due to tensions between NATO and the military regime due to their heavy-handed methods, they end up requesting support from the CSAT who immediately displace NATO's task forces, causing them to slowly withdraw their forces from the island in 2035. However, just as the last garrison was leaving, they are attacked by the AAF, leading to NATO ordering an invasion of the island to depose the pro-CSAT military regime.- Culture Chop Suey: The island was inspired by Cyprus and has shades of Turkey and North Africa.
- La Résistance: The Freedom and Independence Army (FIA) which is the successor of the loyalist forces that fought in the civil war.
- Military Coup: How the military regime came to be and the reason for the four years-long civil war that ravaged the island.
- Proxy War: During the civil war, the Loyalist faction was supported by NATO while the military regime was supported by the CSAT.
The Horizon Islands
A group of islands in the Pacific Ocean with its capital situated in the island of Tanoa. In 2035, a huge tsunami destroyed many towns and a pro-CSAT rebel faction named Syndikat started taking over the island, forcing the island's government to ask NATO for help. Their involvement leads to the discovery of a CSAT conspiracy known as the Apex Protocol to destabilize governments in order to turn them into CSAT-satellite states. However, a pro-CSAT political party ends up winning the national elections with covert help from the CSAT sometime later. In 2038, a strange deadly pandemic strikes the nation with no one being able to make a cure except the CSAT who immediately develops a cure and wins the trust of the locals but many in the international community suspect something is going on...- Culture Chop Suey: The island combines elements from Fiji, Philippines and many other Pacific islands.
- Face–Heel Turn: A pro-CSAT political party was elected in the national elections (with covert help from the CSAT of course) and they forced NATO to withdraw from the island to make way for the CSAT's Chinese garrison.
Livonia
A small Eastern European nation bordering Russia. Due to its strategic position close to Russia, both NATO and the CSAT are secretly fighting over it to maintain their military presence.- Secret War: There's one involving NATO, CSAT and the local Armed Forces, with NATO and the CSAT's objective is to maintain their military presence in the country.
