Characters of the Commandos video game series.
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Original Games
The Commandos
Tropes which apply to all commandos
- Badass Crew: A small team that nonetheless completes daring raids a classic and larger military unit wouldn't be able to perform.
- Elites Are More Glamorous: They're a commando unit of the British Army, who were historically famed for pulling off daring raids.
- Godzilla Threshold: There are only two occasions during the entire series that the entirety of the team is available in a single mission and these are occasions where the stakes are at their highest; "Operation Valhalla" in Behind Enemy Lines, where the Commandos must sabotage Germany's atomic bomb development, and "Is Paris Burning?" in Men Of Courage, where they must foil a plot to level the entire city.
- Multinational Team: Despite being part of the British Army, the Commandos consist of an Irishman, two Englishmen, an Australian, an American, two Frenchmen, and a Sovietnote woman.
- Oddly Small Organization: Initially a team of six, rising to nine in 2 and dropping back to six in 3, the commandos are faced off against far superior numbers to complete their objectives. Even then, the entire team isn't deployed for every mission. In fact, the only two occasions where every commando is available both occur in the final mission of both Behind Enemy Lines and Men Of Courage. There is actually some historical precedent
to operations involving smaller numbers, justifying this trope. - Stealth Expert: They achieve their missions using unconventional tactics such as staying hidden and each of them has a quiet method of taking down enemies (except for the Driver in the original game).
- True Companions: Each member of the unit is vital and irreplaceable. Losing even one of them results in failure of the mission.
Colonel Montague Smith
The Colonel / Colonel Montague Smith
Appearances: Behind Enemy Lines | Beyond The Call Of Duty | Men Of Courage | Destination Berlin | Strike Force
The officer who oversees the commandos' missions.
- Armchair Military: Supervises the commandos' operations from a command room in London.
- Big Good: Briefs the player in Behind Enemy Lines and Beyond The Call Of Duty and is implied to be the Player Character in the following games.
- He Who Must Not Be Seen: He was never seen onscreen until a deleted cutscene in Destination Berlin.
- Mission Control: In Behind Enemy Lines and Beyond The Call Of Duty, he provides the mission briefings. He's implied to be the officer whom the commandos communicate with in Men Of Courage. He also briefs the Diver on his mission in Destination Berlin.
- The Voice: Does not appear onscreen outside of a removed cutscene in C3, giving Mission Briefings with a voiceover.
- Voice with an Internet Connection: Voice With A Radio, that is.
The Green Beret
Jack O'Hara / The Green Beret
Nicknames: "Tiny", "The Butcher"
Voiced by: Philippe Dumond (French, Men Of Courage)
Appearances: Behind Enemy Lines | Beyond The Call Of Duty | Men Of Courage | Destination Berlin
An Irish sergeant, and the leader of the commandos.
- Anti-Hero: He was arrested once for slapping his superior officer. He's also a former boxer.
- The Big Guy: A rare instance of one also being The Leader.
- Blood Knight: He's happiest when fighting Nazis, noting that it's what he does best.
- The Butcher: Downplayed. He doesn't receive this nickname because of some sadistic tendencies, but because he uses a knife as weapon. Then again, he does state that "kicking Nazi arse" is what he does best.
- Charles Atlas Superpower: The strongest of the commandos, by far.
- He's able to carry barrels of fuel by himself in all games.
- He's strong enough to move kerosene reservoirs on wheels in Beyond the Call of Duty.
- In Men of Courage, he's able to carry a golden statue which should weight tons.
- In Destination Berlin, he's able to carry machine guns and fire them, and he can also move a German PaK gun all by himself and fire it.
- Close-Range Combatant: His specialisation is killing enemies at close range, especially in the earlier games. In addition to his knife and his fists, he has a number of tools and abilities that allow him to get in close, such as his ability to bury himself in sand or snow and his radio decoy. It's less obvious in Men of Courage and Destination Berlin (the decoy and the punch are usable by most of the team and he can attack at longer range with a rifle), though he retains his knife and his ability to bury himself in soft ground.
- Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: Being based on Mike Kirby, he bears a very strong resemblance to John Wayne.
- Eagle Squadron: He is an Irish citizen fighting in British army. The Republic of Ireland remained neutral during the entirety of World War II. There's a lot of Truth in Television to this one: many Irishmen joined up to fight for the British Army during the conflict, many of them even deserting from the Irish Army to do so.
- Expy: Of both Mike Kirby and real life World War II commando Paddy Mayne. There's also a Rambo vibe about him.
- Field Promotion: His promotion to Sergeant came as the result of one mission where, wounded, out of ammunition, and cut off from his unit, he entered an enemy bunker and killed sixteen German soldiers.
- Fighting Irish: Born in Dublin, he enlists in the British Army in order to fight.
- Good Old Fisticuffs: He was Army boxing champion four years in a row. In Beyond The Call Of Duty, he's given a punch as one of his abilities to knock out enemies, something that all the commandos can do from Men Of Courage onwards.
- Heroic Build: He's massively muscled and shows off his biceps in sleeveless shirts.
- Ironic Nickname: He's nicknamed "Tiny", yet he is the tallest and most physically imposing of the commandos.
- Lantern Jaw of Justice: Since his appearance is based on John Wayne, he sports a pretty impressive jawline.
- Large and in Charge: At 6'5" and the rank of Sergeant, he's the leader of the commandos in the field.
- The Leader: The highest ranked out of all the commandos. It's telling that the shortcut to select him is number 1.
- Lightning Bruiser: He can run quicker than anyone barring the Thief.
- Made of Iron: He can take more damage than the other commandos.
- Military Maverick: Was sentenced to fourteen years of hard labour after striking an officer. His sentence was suspended upon volunteering for the commandos. According to the tutorials, he is violent and undisciplined, but is more of a nightmare for the enemy than he is for his superiors.
- Noodle Incident: During Destination Berlin's tutorial, he mentions being shot during a mission to Colditz castle for which the Sniper apologises, claiming it to be an accident. It's not mentioned if the Sniper accidentally shot him or failed to cover him as the enemy fired upon him.note
- Oireland: Mostly averted.
- One-Man Army: He's accurately identified as such in the tutorials. Also, his biography mentions that he entered a bunker with a bullet in the arm and no ammo and killed sixteen enemy soldiers. While wounded and with no ammo no less. With careful planning and knowledge of enemy movements, he's capable of this ingame too.
- In every game where the Commandos have different levels of health, he usually tends to be the one able to sustain the most damage without dying and he has the third highest range weapon range with guns in Destination Berlin.
- Person with the Clothing: Despite his real name and ranks been mentioned in the manuals, he is only refered as "the Green Beret" ingame (except in Destination Berlin).
- Precision F-Strike: Sometimes, he'll shout "Shit!" when getting shot in Beyond The Call Of Duty.
- The Protagonist: Unquestionably the main character of the series. In the original game, there's only two missions in which he doesn't feature.
- Removable Turret Gun: In Destination Berlin, he's able to carry around heavy machine guns and use them as personal weapons. He moves more slowly and can't go prone, though.
- Rise from Your Grave: One of his abilities is burying himself in sand or snow to avoid detection. He can then get up once the enemy has passed by and surprise him.
- Sergeant Rock: He's as willing, if not moreso, as the rest of his team to undertake the mission.
- Series Mascot: He has always been the one who showed up the most in promotional material, "No CD" error messages and the animated logo of Pyro Studios.
- Shout-Out: He's very loosely based on John Wayne's character from The Green Berets.
- Sleeves Are for Wimps: Even in the fucking snow in Behind Enemy Lines; in the North Pole mission of Men of Courage he can be frozen to death if he stays outside too long without special winter clothing, in the Stalingrad mission of Destination Berlin he wears all the time relevant winter clothing.
- Super Window Jump: Like the Thief, he can deftly defenestrate himself on command, though his method is faster and much more dramatic. Just be mindful of which floor of the building he's on, because unlike the Thief, he cannot climb walls...
- Team Dad: Even refers to his team as "kids".
- Trading Bars for Stripes: He already was a soldier in the British military, then had to choose between spending fourteen years in jail (for having beaten a British officer) or serve in the British Commandos corp.
- Unexplained Accent: The trailer for Origins changes his accent from Dublin to Northern for some reason.
The Driver
Samuel "Sid" Perkins / The Driver
Nicknames: "Tread", "Brooklyn"
Voiced by: José Luccioni (French, Men Of Courage)
Appearances: Behind Enemy Lines | Beyond The Call Of Duty | Men Of Courage
An American criminal who enlisted in the commandos in Great Britain. He is a specialist in equipment and vehicles taken to the enemy.
- The Ace: He gets the best guns in Behind Enemy Lines and Beyond the Call of Duty, and he is the only one who can man machine gun nests and vehicles in said games. In Men of Courage, he gets molotov cocktails, CS gas grenades and the beartrap to compensate for the fact that everyone else can now use all the guns.
- Angrish: When climbing ladders.
- Anti-Hero: He's an American criminal that only avoids extradition because he is serving in the British Army.
- Awesome, but Impractical: Most of his non vehicle related abilities are this in the original game. The Grease Gun can take out patrols in a single burst, but has limited ammo and doesn't appear in many missions, particularly in the latter part of the game. Mounted machine guns provide a good amount of firepower, but have inferior range compared to enemy weapons, so it can only really be of use to get the drop on an enemy as opposed to a protracted fight. He's the only commando without a silent attack in Behind Enemy Lines and his baton in Beyond The Call Of Duty is clearly an attempt to remedy this, except he's the only commando with a non lethal attack that cannot restrain an enemy afterwards. His molotovs in Men Of Courage are quieter than grenades, but set their target on fire, making it impossible to salvage weapons or uniforms from them. Finally, his rifle in Beyond The Call Of Duty, while has decent range and Bottomless Magazines, is loud.
- Badass Driver: As the team's driver, he can make use of any land vehicle from humble Kubelwagens to Panzers.
- Brooklyn Rage: He's the token American in the games. He was a criminal before enlisting in the commandos, and hails from Brooklyn, hence his nickname.
- Car Fu: A viable tactic in the early games for him is to have him run over enemy soldiers using a vehicle. The game's first mission even provides a convenient truck for him to take out a patrol. He also apparently did this to destroy an enemy vehicle in his backstory when he ran out of ammunition.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Didn't appear in Destination Berlin. Justified in that from Men Of Courage onwards, his specializations (namely, being able to drive most vehicles and being able to use rifles and SMGs) are available to everyone. He was the only commando who could drive armored vehicles still, but Destination Berlin sadly had none available. Based on the initial trailer, Origins looks set to reverse this.
- Cluster F-Bomb: When sustaining injury.
- Combat Pragmatist: Men Of Courage gives him some unique tools to attempt to compensate for his unique abilities being made available to the rest of the team. He can use smoke grenades, CS gas, Molotov Cocktails, bear traps, and can dig pits to trap enemy soldiers.
- Dark and Troubled Past: He's a criminal on the run from the authorities in the US, so he joined the British Army to avoid extradition.
- The Driver: His job in a nutshell. The other commandos couldn't drive either trucks or cars in Behind Enemy Lines and Beyond the Call of Duty so it was his speciality.
- Lawman Baton: Beyond The Call Of Duty gives him a baton as a non lethal attack.
- Master of None: In Men Of Courage, his specialisations are less apparent than previously now that everyone can use rifles and submachine guns and can drive cars and trucks. He's still the only one able to drive tanks and is given the Bear Trap, CS gas grenades, molotov cocktails and smoke grenades to compensate for this, but it wasn't enough to prevent him from being Put on a Bus for Destination Berlin.
- The Medic: If he is available on a map, it's always him who carries the medipac.
- Molotov Cocktail: Can use them in Men of Courage.
- Tank Goodness: In missions where he gets his hands on a Panzer, he's unstoppable once he gets on board, turning the situation from a tense sneaking mission to a total rampage. That is provided the enemy doesn't have artillery or tanks of their own.
- Trick Bomb: Can use smoke grenades, molotovs, and Cs gas.
- Universal Driver's License: He can drive all land vehicles, and armored vehicles in Men of Courage. A bonus mission of Men of Courage also has him drive a German amphibious vehicle, the Landwasserschlepper. In his backstory, he tested various captured German vehicles, which is why he is able to drive German tanks.
The Marine / The Diver
James Blackwood / The Marine / The Diver
Nickname: "Fins"
Appearances: Behind Enemy Lines | Beyond The Call Of Duty | Men Of Courage | Destination Berlin
An Australian combat diver.
- The Alcoholic: That's all you need to know.
- Cool Boat:
- His inflatable boat.
- One mission in Behind Enemy Lines has him use a German midget sub to torpedo a battleship.
- Deadpan Snarker: He sounds very sarcastic when given orders in Behind Enemy Lines.
- Demoted to Extra: Only appears in one mission in Destination Berlin.
- Harpoon Gun:
- In Behind Enemy Lines and Beyond the Call of Duty, he can use a harpoon gun to silently kill enemies on land, but its range is short and it has a very long reload time. This problem can actually be circumvented by rapidly clicking right after use and reusing it with the hotkey, making it very handy to get rid of two-men enemy patrols.
- In Men Of Courage, it's the only weapon that can be used underwater, making it very useful against sharks and Japanese divers. A glitch allows it to be used on land; it's medium-ranged with unlimited ammo, and essentially makes the Diver into a silent killing machine.
- Recovered Addict: His bio notes that his alcoholism is apparently under control at the time of writing.
- Super Not-Drowning Skills: When wearing his diving gear, he has an infinite supply of air.
- Super Swimming Skills: According to his bio, he once swam the English Channel on a bet. The rest of the commandos are convinced he could cross the Atlantic in a shoebox provided he is supplied with enough "fuel".
- Throwing Your Sword Always Works: From Men Of Courage onwards, he can collect multiple knives and throw them to kill enemies.
- Up Through the Ranks: Inverted. He was once a commissioned officer, but several incidents of Alcohol-Induced Idiocy resulted in demotions.
The Sapper
Thomas Hancock / The Sapper
Nicknames: "Inferno", "Fireman"
Appearances: Behind Enemy Lines | Beyond The Call Of Duty | Men Of Courage | Destination Berlin
An English sapper and explosives specialist.
- BFG: The Bazooka in Men of Courage and Destination Berlin, which only he (and nameless allied soldiers) can use. He also functions as a tank gunner in Men of Courage.
- Cool Helmet: Wears an American style GI helmet as opposed to the Brodie Helmet that would have been issued at the time.
- Demolitions Expert: He, as the explosives expert, is the only one who can throw grenades in the earlier games (something of a gap in the others' training it seems, though this was changed in Destination Berlin), and only he can detonate timebombs and radio-controlled bombs. In Men of Courage, he can use a metal detector to spot and deactivate landmines, then use said mines.
- Improvised Weapon: The blowtorch is mainly used to open locked doors if the key isn't available. It can also be used as an improvised flamethrower.
- Mad Bomber: The manual describes him as being courageous to the point of recklessness.
- Mighty Glacier: He's the slowest runner. The manual states that this is due to all the explosives he carries and in Men Of Courage, he mentions that he has to carry a lot of extra equipment.
- He has decent health and the second highest range with firearms in Destination Berlin to offset his slow speed.
- Molotov Cocktail: Can use them in Destination Berlin.
- Not Even Bothering with the Accent: His biography states that he's from Liverpool yet none of the games actually have an actor for him to even emulate a Liverpool accent. That's also considering that the British submarine crew in the Men Of Courage missions "Das Boot: Silent Killers" and "White Death" (with the exception of the Captain) all have scouse accents, somehow. It should be noted however that the Scouse accent is a fairly recent affectation historically, and he could be from the outskirts of Liverpool where the accent wasn't always present.
- Oop North: From Liverpool, apparently.
- Playing with Fire: He can use a flamethrower in Men of Courage.
- Throw Down the Bomblet: He can use grenades to take out groups of enemies and vehicles. In Behind Enemy Lines and Beyond The Call Of Duty, his grenades will destroy buildings outright (very useful for cutting off reinforcements from barracks), but from Men Of Courage onwards, they can be thrown through doors, windows, and hatches as a room clearing technique.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Seems to have developed this with the Thief.
The Sniper
Sir Francis T. Woolridge / The Sniper
Nickname: "Duke"
Appearances: Behind Enemy Lines | Beyond The Call Of Duty | Men Of Courage | Destination Berlin
A sniper from an aristocratic English family.
- Blue Blood: He has a nobility title.
- Cold Sniper: More of a Stiff Upper Lip Sniper, but still, he's rather stoic in his conversation.
- Crippling Overspecialization: Take the sniper rifle (with very limited bullets) out of him and he's basically useless in Behind Enemy Lines and Beyond the Call of Duty.
- Problem solved in Men of Courage, since everyone minus the Thief and Natasha is able to knock enemies unconscious and truss them up and everyone can use rifles and submachineguns. Although, this has the opposite problem of him being a Master of None outside of his rifle. Thankfully, ammo is a little more plentiful (though still not everywhere).
- In Destination Berlin range for all weapons is effected by Commando and naturally Sniper has the longest range, making him great for engaging enemies safely even with non-sniper weapons.
- Cultured Badass: Due to his nobility background, he has the most polished language out of all the commandos.
- Foil: To the Green Beret. While the Green Beret is a working class Irishman who specialises in close combat, the Sniper is, well, a sniper who comes from an English noble family.
- Gentlemen Rankers: He holds a title, but is one of The Squad.
- Hollywood Silencer: His rifle seems to have a silencer built in. Justified in that if it were a loud weapon, the sniper would be utterly useless.
- The Medic: When the Driver is not available in Behind Enemy Lines.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Hilariously, any time he's shot in Beyond The Call Of Duty, his accent completely changes from RP to Scouse.
- Sniper Rifle: His main weapon.
- Too Awesome to Use: His sniper rifle comes with extremely limited ammo, meaning a player has to save it for when they really need it, especially in Beyond The Call Of Duty's first mission, where two rounds are required to take out some sea mines to allow for an escape. Men Of Courage remedies this by making ammo more readily available.
The Spy
René Duchamp / The Spy
Nicknames: "Spooky", "Frenchy"
Appearances: Behind Enemy Lines | Beyond The Call Of Duty | Men Of Courage | Destination Berlin
A French Resistance agent and master of disguise.
- Cunning Linguist: He can speak English, French, German, Russian and Italian fluently.
- Does Not Like Guns: Downplayed. According to the manual, he prefers other weapons, though will use a gun if he has to.
- In Destination Berlin Spy has the second-lowest range with firearms in a notable drop compared to other Commandos only surpassed by the Thief.
- Dressing as the Enemy: The only one able to do so in Behind Enemy Lines and Beyond the Call of Duty, and the best at this in the later games.
- Instant Sedation: In Beyond The Call Of Duty, he uses chloroform to knock enemies out. Averted from Men Of Courage onwards, where his syringe takes two does to knock someone out.
- Master of Disguise: Starting in Men of Courage, every commando soldier can wear the uniforms of basic enemy soldiers, but they have a limited duration and it only works in the long-range view of enemies. René can wear any uniform indefinitely and distract soldiers, even give orders to subordinates if he finds Lieutenant or Officer uniforms. Wehrmacht Officers will unmask him in their short-range view, and SS Officers and soldiers can unmask him as soon as they see him no matter the distance.
- Maurice Chevalier Accent: He has a thick French accent when talking in Behind Enemy Lines and Beyond the Call of Duty.
- The Medic: In Behind Enemy Lines if no one else is available.
- Perfect Poison:
- The syringe is an infinite instantly silent One-Hit Kill weapon in Behind Enemy Lines and Beyond the Call of Duty.
- In Men of Courage and Destination Berlin, the weapon is still totally silent, but has been deprived of its unlimited supplies and One-Hit Kill properties (one sting: the enemy staggers as if having had a bottle of wine, two stings: he is out cold for a bit, three stings: death).
- Power Copying: In Beyond The Call Of Duty, disguising himself as an enemy soldier allows him to use their weapon as well, meaning his standard issue pistol is replaced with a Luger if posing as a Sergeant or officer, or a rifle if posing as an ordinary soldier.
- La Résistance: He is a member of the French Resistance.
- The Sixth Ranger: He's a member of the French Resistance who's considered a part time member of the Commandos team since he's not actually a soldier in the British Army. He even occupies the number six slot on the team, except in Destination Berlin, where he takes over the number five slot from the Driver. Nonetheless, he's an important asset to the Commandos.
- The Smart Guy: The Allies owe a lot to his intelligence gathering skills, which crippled an admirable number of enemy vehicles and bases.
- Weak, but Skilled: With the re-addition of Commando health not being uniform in Destination Berlin; he is tied with Thief for the lowest health pool in the game and with low ranges for firearms so while the Spy has his disguises, he is one of the worst commandos in a fight.
- Younger Than They Look: According to the manual, he is in his early-to-middle thirties. There is an official artwork◊ where he looks to be at least twenty years older than his actual age.
The Seductress
Natasha Nikochevski / Natasha Van Der Zand / The Seductress
Nickname: "Lips"
Appearances: Beyond The Call Of Duty | Men Of Courage
A Dutch (in Beyond The Call Of Duty) / Soviet (in Men Of Courage) spy who uses her charms to deceive the enemy.
- Action Girl: She could use a gun in Beyond the Call of Duty already, but Men of Courage added submachine guns, bolt-action rifles and sniper rifles for her to use.
- Adaptational Nationality: She was a Dutch resistance agent of Russian descent in Beyond The Call Of Duty. Men Of Courage turned her into a Soviet agent born in Ukraine, likely to not let USSRnote completely out of the game.
- Alliterative Name: Natasha Nikochevski.
- Ascended Extra: Started out as a Guest-Star Party Member in Beyond The Call Of Duty and returned for Men Of Courage for three missions, including the big finale in Is Paris Burning?
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Didn't appear in Destination Berlin.
- Cold Sniper: She can wield sniper rifles in Men of Courage.
- Cunning Linguist: In addition to English and Russian, she's able to speak Dutch, German, and Japanese.
- Dirty Harriet: In Beyond The Call Of Duty, she lures a German general into a brothel to steal him secret documents. What exactly happens there is up to the player's imagination.
- In Men of Courage, it's implied she disguises herself as a prostitute in Haiphong.
- Distaff Counterpart: For the Spy (minus the syringe) in Beyond the Call of Duty and Men of Courage.
- To the Sniper also in Men Of Courage.
- Dressing as the Enemy: In Men of Courage, her disguises are restricted to secretaries and Asian prostitutes, but they can fool anyone barring officers and SS, just like the Spy's officer disguises.
- Femme Fatale Spy: She can infiltrate enemy bases disguised as a secretary or prostitute and uses her looks to distract enemy soldiers.
- Grievous Bottley Harm: She can KO enemy soldiers with wine bottles in Men of Courage. The downside is that she can't tie them up.
- Honey Trap: It's heavily implied she gets the secret documents this way in the last mission of Beyond The Call Of Duty.
- Jack of All Trades: In Men of Courage, she can disguise herself durably and she's a sniper.
- Master of Disguise: Her disguises are durable and unnoticeable by most enemies just like those of the Spy, minus the latter's ability to give orders.
- Master of None: In Men of Courage, she can knock enemies out, but this costs a bottle of wine, and she can't tie them up, unlike all the other commandos bar the Thief, who use their fist. She can disguise herself and distract the enemy, but she can't give orders while doing so, unlike the Spy. She's as good with sniper rifles as the Sniper, however.
- Ms. Fanservice: So much so that some artworks (picture) have her wearing a nigh-transparent top.
- Refuge in Audacity: Can walk right into a Japanese naval base dressed as an Asian prostitute (despite being a European woman) with a Sniper Rifle slung across her shoulder and no one will bat an eyelid (barring officers).
- One possible, and somewhat horrible explanation, is that she's part of the 'entertainment' for off-duty sailors. When the Green Beret picks up her equipment from the shopkeeper, he's told to "get her out of there - it's no place for a lady" and the room she's waiting in is bare, save for a few mattresses...
- Retcon: In Beyond The Call Of Duty, her full name was Natasha Van Der Zand, and her birth place was the Netherlands. In Men Of Courage, her name was changed to Natasha Nikochevski, and her birth place was changed to Kiev, Ukraine, Soviet Union.
- Sensual Slavs: In Men of Courage. A Soviet (Ukrainian-born) spy who uses her looks to distract the enemy.
- Sexy Secretary: Her disguise in occupied Europe in Men of Courage.
- Show Some Leg: Her main ability to distract enemies.
- The Smurfette Principle: She is the only playable female character of the original Commandos series.
- Take a Level in Badass: She became a sniper in Men Of Courage.
- Wig, Dress, Accent: At least wig and dress. She still has a thick Slavic accent.
-
Fridge Brilliance / Genius Bonus: Germany recruited volunteers among prisoners of war and locals from Eastern Europe, so why not a secretary? - Also in play during the Haiphong mission - Far Eastern cities of the time, such as Shanghai, Harbin and Beijing, were awash with White Russian refugees from the Soviet Union. She could easily be pretending to be one for the purposes of espionage, and as Japan was at peace with the USSR throughout much of World War II, she would likely remain at large.
- In her initial appearance in Beyond The Call Of Duty, she has a Dutch accent, owing to the fact that she was originally Dutch, but of Russian descent, as opposed to being Ukrainian in Commandos 2
-
The Thief
Paul Toledo / The Thief
Nickname: "Lupin"
Appearances: Men Of Courage | Destination Berlin
A young French thief with exceptional agility and lock-picking skills.
- Deadpan Snarker: Has a few moments, especially in Men of Courage. The French dubbing gives his voice a constant snarky tone, in contrary to the English one.
- Defeat Equals Friendship: He stole some documents from the Spy, believing him to be a German officer. This impressed the Spy enough to recommend him to the Commandos.
- Does Not Like Guns:
- Rarely, if ever, starts a mission armed.
- In Destination Berlin he has the lowest range with firearms of any commando so he can be frequently shot by alerted enemies that he can't return fire against even with a rifle.
- Extremity Extremist: While most commandos normally throw a punch when knocking out enemies, he prefers to throw kicks if ordered to knock an enemy out (namely by employing a Roundhouse Kick).
- Fragile Speedster: Moves faster than anyone else, but isn't as durable as the rest of the team.
- Older Than They Look: His face looks like a teen. He is also the smallest character, so he can be easily mistaken for a child considering the graphics of the games. The manual says that he is in his late-twenties.
- Safecracking: One of his roles. He only needs his picklocks and a few seconds to succeed.
- Shout-Out: Owes his nickname to Arsène Lupin.
- The Sixth Ranger: Joins the team in Men Of Courage.
- Throwing the Distraction: He can send his pet mouse, Spike, to attract the attention of the enemy.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With the Sapper.
The Dog
Whiskey The Dog
Appearances: Men Of Courage
A bull terrier dog. The commandos adopted him after his French resistance owner's death and use him to carry equipment without being noticed by the enemy.
- Canine Companion: Well, obviously. He is best paired with the Thief, as the Thief can reach places the other commandos can't without being noticed, and bring them equipment through the dog.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Didn't appear in Destination Berlin.
- Hammerspace: He's a bull terrier dog, and somehow his inventory is big enough to contain submachine guns, K98 rifles and explosives, all at once. Here's a real bull terrier◊ to compare. What's more? The commandos can carry him on their back with all that stuff in his inventory.
- Non-Action Guy: Well, he is a non-attack dog.
- Team Pet: He is more useful than simply being the team's pet dog/mascot.
- The Cameo: Appears in the ending of Strike Force.
- The Nose Knows: He is able to detect mines, which is useful to dodge, defuse or destroy them.
- Super-Senses: Not only can he sniff out mines, but can also hear and respond to a dog whistle from the other side of the map.
Allies of the Commandos / VIPs
The Pilot
Captain Gregor McRae
Appearances: Behind Enemy Lines
An RAF pilot who gets shot down in North Africa.
- Ace Pilot: While he has to be rescued by the commandos, having been shot down, in return he flies the escape plane to get himself and the commandos back behind the Allied lines.
- Artistic License – Military: Under the RAF rank structure, McRae's rank would actually be Flight Lieutenant, which is the equivalent to an army Captain.
- Controllable Helplessness: He's entirely under the player's control for the whole mission in which he features, though until the commandos can open it from the outside, he's confined to the small space of his pen.
The Partisan
Major Dragisa Skopje
Appearances: Beyond The Call Of Duty
A Yugoslav partisan.
- Location Theme Naming: "Skopje" is the name of a city in then-Yugoslavia, nowadays the capital city of North Macedonia
- Shot at Dawn: While fully controllable throughout the entire mission, he's in front of a firing squad. If he takes any action or if the alarm is sounded, the firing squad won't hesitate to execute him on the spot.
The Castaway
Wilson the Castaway
Appearances: Men Of Courage
A British naval officer who got stranded on Savo Island. Since Japanese soldiers leave him alone, he can provide useful distraction for the commandos.
- The Aloner: He was one until the Japaneses built a base on his island (see the Older Than They Look entry below).
- Brits Love Tea: When meeting the commandos, the first thing he says after presenting himself is asking if they have some tea. After receiving a negative answer, he complains that he hasn't drink tea since "twenty years" (it would be more than forty, more accurately).
- Cloudcuckoolander: He described the Japanese garnison as "demons", and the noise of the island artillery as "thunder". Justified, considering he probably spoke with nobody during at least forty years. Even now, the Japanese leave him alone on the island, although they know him and doesn't see him as threatening (which has to be used as an advantage by the player).
- Dreadful Musician: His bugle call is hilariously bad. The Japanese just stare at him in disbelief.
- Go Mad from the Isolation: Decades marooned on Savo Island have left him a bit senile.
- Non-Action Guy: He can't use weapons, nor does he have any hand to hand combat skills, so all he can do is distract the enemy.
- Obfuscating Insanity: The player can use him to distract enemy soldiers.
- Older Than They Look: The character looks to be on his forties. When first reached, he mentions to be a soldier of Queen Victoria. Victoria died in 1901, the mission is set in 1942. Do the maths...
- He also states that he was (somehow) part of the Light Brigade, from The Crimean War 90 years prior...
- Shout-Out: To Robinson Crusoe and Cast Away, even being named after the latter's protagonist's Companion Cube.
- Wild Man: Subverted. He has the appearance, but he is actually a frail Non-Action Guy whose main role is to make noise to distract Japanese soldiers.
Allied soldiers
Appearances: Men Of Courage | Destination Berlin
Allied soldiers who can be used as support for the Commandos.
- Bottomless Magazines: Any weapons they use, be they German or Japanese rifles scavenged in the field have no limit to their ammunition. They also come with a unique weapon of their own, the Lee-Enfield, that, if used by a commando, has the same Bottomless Magazines that the commandos' issued 1911 pistol does.
- Take Cover!: They can use their backpacks as cover and are permanently in overwatch mode, making them ideal for setting up ambushes.
- Redshirt Army: Played with. While they're fairly generic in terms of appearance and personality, they can be extremely useful in direct action, since their effective range is further than that of the Commandos and they come with several useful abilities, such as permanent overwatch mode, Bottomless Magazines, and the ability to use their backpacks as cover. Losing one or two of them also doesn't spell "Game Over", although it's better to ensure their survival, naturally.
Enemies
Axis soldiers
German soldiers / Japanese soldiers
German and Japanese soldiers.
- Artificial Stupidity:
- "Heinz, I'm just gonna leave my post for a moment. I saw a pack of cigarettes laying out in the open, on the ice in the arctic desert. I'll go climb down the whole destroyer and get me some of them before someone else decides to!"
- In Behind Enemy Lines, any vehicle a commando goes in then out of becomes tagged as "enemy" to German soldiers and they start shooting at it till it explodes. The hilarious (and sometimes useful) part is when they do this even when the vehicle is close enough to explode in their face, which means they can be suicidal.
- As Long as It Sounds Foreign: Sometimes (not always), German soldiers speak with very mangled German sentences, and the Japanese mostly use an Asian-sounding gibberish.
- Circling Birdies: These appear over the head of enemies when knocked-out, with the "star" variant.
- Elite Mooks:
- Submachine gun equipped soldiers in Behind the Enemy Lines and Beyond the Call of Duty. Whenever an alarm is triggered, they pop out of garrisons and start patrolling. It's the main reason why alarms spell real trouble for the commandos in the early games.
- Those Gestapo officers that can see immediately through the Spy and Natasha's disguise in Beyond the Call of Duty.
- Snipers can see the commandos at any distance and kill them in a matter of seconds.
- In Men of Courage, SS officers can unmask the Spy and Natasha at any range as well as Wehrmacht/Imperial Japanese officers at close range.
- Paratroopers are able to unmask the Spy in Destination Berlin. Their assault rifles (based on the STG-44) are quite effective.
- Grenadiers in Men Of Courage have the same capabilities with grenades that the Sapper does. That is, they can wipe out a cluster of your men in one go.
- The Enemy Weapons Are Better:
- In Men of Courage and Destination Berlin, a basic Axis infantryman can't kill a commando in one shot with the basic rifle, but a commando can kill him in one shot with the same weapon. It takes two shots by SMG-equipped German soldiers to kill a commando, and one shot for a commando to kill an Axis soldier.
- In two Men of Courage missions in Asia, the commandos have access to a German MP-40 submachine gun, which is great to kill several enemies at the same time in one go, and the best weapon Japanese soldiers have meanwhile is the basic rifle, which doesn't kill a commando instantly when used by them. True to history, Japan didn't have submachine guns in significant quantities during World War II (the most produced Japanese SMG was the Type 100 with fewer than 30000 built — Nazi Germany produced over one million MP-40 by comparison).
- The Commandos' issued 1911 pistol is superior to the Luger and the Type 94 not due to any difference in effectiveness, but because the 1911 comes with Bottomless Magazines.
- Evil Counterpart: Snipers, grenadiers, and frogmen serve as Axis equivalents to the Sniper, Sapper, and Diver. Their weapons (sniper rifle, grenades, and harpoon gun) have the same characteristics as those used by your own men and can spell trouble if the enemy are given the opportunity to make use of them.
- Failed a Spot Check: The only way to explain why a German/Japanese soldier would run right to a huge triggered Bear Trap or a thread especially put there to make him trip. It becomes blatant when the reason why they run there is because they saw a pack of cigarettes.
Strike Force
The Spy
George Brown / The Spy
- All Germans Are Nazis: Averted, he is actually German.
- Colonel Badass: He's a capable infiltrator, specializing in stealth kills and subterfuge while holding the rank of Colonel.
- Dressing as the Enemy: Being an actual Germanhelps him greatly with blending in with the Wehrmacht.
- Expy: To the original Spy, with a bit from the Thief (his backstab move consists in strangling a lone German with a piano string).
- Hollywood Silencer: His Walter PP.
- It's Personal: According to the manual, it is how his superiors view his motivation to fight against Nazi Germany, one of his voice lines when equipping a disguise (taken from a dead Nazi) is "Revenge is Sweet" and in the game he also has lines for combat where he yells "NAZI SCUM!" and "Time to pay!", though the exact reason for why it's personal is never stated.
- The Leader: As a Colonel, he's the highest ranking of the trio.
- The Mole: The Green Beret suspects him to be the mole during most of the game. He is not.
- Mysterious Past: The manual features a couple of pages describing the commandos, their abilities, and their past. This specific section of his page is left blank. Even at the end of the game, we only learn that he is German, nothing else.
The Green Beret
Francis O'Brien / The Green Beret
- Expy: To the original Green Beret, obviously, and to the Driver as well.
- Disappeared Dad: Grew up in an orphanage after his mother died as the authorities had no idea where his father was.
- Dumb Muscle: Referenced and averted in the opening cutscene of the first mission, in which the Sniper describes his teammate, saying that the Green Beret is a killing machine but not a brainless brute.
- Genius Bruiser: He's stated in the manual to have a degree in Enginnering.
- Guns Akimbo: He is able to dualwield submachineguns.
- The Lancer / The Big Guy
- Neck Snap: His backstab move involves this, despite carrying a massive knife.
- Non-Indicative Name: He doesn't wear his beret outside of a handful of promotional renders/the opening cinematic and instead has it tucked into a strap on his shoulder that can easily be missed.
- One-Man Army: He is the toughest man of the team and can use any weapon except sniper rifles. He is especially designed for non-stealth missions.
- Orphanage of Love: Grew up in one after his mother's death and regarded the Sisters as his family.
The Sniper
William Hawkins / The Sniper
- Blood Knight: Although he doesn't seem very sadistic or bloodthirsty, the manual states that he is a thrill-seeker, and that's the reason why he joined the OSS.
- Expy: To the original Sniper and to the Marine (he throws his knives and is the best swimmer of the team).
- Friendly Sniper: In contrast to Duke, he's more cheerful and outgoing.
- Roguish Poacher: In his bio in the manual, it's stated this is how he trained his sniping abilities from an early age.
- The Smart Guy
