Quake (1996) | Quake II (The Strogg) | Quake III: Arena | Quake IV | Quake Champions
Character sheet for units and characters introduced in Quake II. The Strogg can be found on their own page.
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The Terran Coalition of Man (TCM)
The Coalition in general
"So, go forth and kick ass, soldiers!"
A coalition of Earth's forces who invaded Stroggos in retaliation after the Strogg failed to conquer Earth. Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, the game that details the Strogg invasion of Earth, establishes its previous name as GDF (Global Defence Force) with a specific subdivision named the SMC (Space Marine Corps).- Badass Army: The best Earth has to offer, military-wise.
- Drop Pod: Their drop-pods are rather unusual; instead of being literal pods that crash into the ground or slow their descent by parachutes, they are aircraft in their own right, with their occupants being able to control where they land. They also seem to only house one individual and have a bed-like cockpit.
- Redshirt Army: More than 90% of them don't make it out alive from Stroggos.
- Shoulders of Doom: The cyborg skins display one incredibly thick pauldron with a striking similarity to those on Astartes Power Armour.
- Small Role, Big Impact: The "cowboy" who crashed Bitterman's pod in the intro of the main game of II. By knocking Bitterman off-course from the designated landing zone, the marine inadvertently saved Bitterman's life at the cost of his own when the interplanetary defence systems wiped out the rest of the TCM forces. Were it not for his showboating, Earth would have indeed lost the battle against the Strogg.
- World of Muscle Men: Not one Marine isn't absolutely jacked.
- Zerg Rush: Their most prevalent strategy in the invasion of Stroggos is deploying drop pods of marines en masse to the planet's surface to carry out various missions. This invariably results in the majority of their forces ending up dead or captured, with the missions only succeeding thanks to a handful of One-Man Army marines.
The Player Characters in general
The various Player Character protagonists of Quake II and its expansions. Their callsigns are as follows:
- "Bitterman" (Base Game, has his own folder below).
- "Joker" (The Reckoning)
- "Stepchild" (Ground Zero and the PSX version of the base game)
- "Viper" (Quake II 64)
- "The Machine" "Surgubbe", "C.J.", "Brickslayer", "Positivity" and "Eriksson", plus one unnamed marine (Call of the Machine).
After Bitterman's success, the TCM launched a new strike on Stroggos with the intent of locating the Moon Reactor and shutting it down. The task was given to a fleet of which Joker was one of the only survivors.
The final strike on Stroggos was given to a fleet that had Stepchild as one of their members. First, Stepchild is tasked with taking down the Gravity Booster on an area of Stroggos that resembles quite a bit the main game (PSX version), and afterwards, he's sent with a fleet again to Stroggos, this time to take down the Gravity Well. In both cases, his fleet is doomed.
Near the end of the Stroggos campaign, a group of six marines was dispatched from an orbital base to various conflict zones to seek out Strogg Data Discs and upload their contents. This would allow them to determine the identity of the Strogg Maker, the newest leader of the Strogg forces, with their commanding officer "The Machine" remaining behind to monitor their progress.
- Back from the Brink: They're the only space marines who survive past their respective introductions.'
- Character Title: The commanding officer of the Marines taking on various ops in "Call of The Machine" has the callsign "The Machine".
- Commanding Coolness: "The Machine" is in charge of sending the troops to collect the data discs, and is also the one to face the Strogg Maker head-on at the end.
- Featureless Protagonist: All of them can take a lot of appearances as reflected by the game's multiplayer skin options, including female and cyborg.
- Go Mad from the Revelation: The Marine sent to the Darkest Depths not only fails to transmit the data disc, but loses his sanity in the process without even the dignity of a Heroic Sacrifice.
- Heroic Mime: In-game, at least, they never speak, and they're the player characters.
- Heroic Sacrifice:
- Surgubbe doesn't make it out alive after transmitting their data disc.
- Averted for the Marine sent to the Darkest Depths, but they probably would have preferred it.
- The Machine's reward for defeating the Masters of the Machine from the same campaign is to be trapped in an infinite void.
- Infinite Flashlight: Joker is given one at the beginning of "The Swamps" after his ship crashed down in the 2023 version.
- Let's Split Up, Gang!: The marine protagonists of Call of the Machine take a mission each, with their commander, The Machine, taking the fight to the final boss.
- Lifesaving Misfortune: While Bitterman is the most famous case, as his drop pod was damaged, leading him away from an EMP and an apparent ambush by the Strogg, Stepchild and Joker likewise have crashed away from their teams. Nevertheless, just like him, they land in areas with no apparent hostiles ready to kill them.
- One-Man Army: Each of them is fully capable of wiping out hordes of Strogg solo, up to and including those that would technically constitute vehicles.
- One Riot, One Ranger: Compared to the other campaigns where the player character is solo due to circumstances, the missions in Call of the Machine are deliberately handled by only one Marine each.
- Queer Colors: C.J.'s drop pod features a prominent pride flag emblazoned behind the text of their name.
- Rank Scales with Asskicking: The Commander that dispatches the Marines to their missions in Call of the Machine is the same one who fights the final boss.
- Silent Protagonist: They speak quite a lot in their intro cinematics (and in Joker and Stepchild cases' also their ending cinematics), but are completely silent during the games themselves besides the usual jumping/pain grunts.
Bitterman
Bitterman as he appears in Quake III: Arena.
Click here to see his original look (Grunt) in Quake II as the default player character.
Click here to see Grunt as he appears in Quake III Arena.
Click here to see his original look (Grunt) in Quake II as the default player character.
Click here to see Grunt as he appears in Quake III Arena.
"This hero of the Strogg War may also be its most tragic victim. While a captive on Stroggos, vile experiments transformed his flesh into something both far more and far less than human."
— Quake III: Arena manual
The Protagonist of the main game of Quake II. One of the few survivors of Operation: Counterstrike, Bitterman was part of the TCM fleet that launched an attack on Stroggos to locate and disable key structures as well as the Makron. An accidental crash with two other ships leads to him crashing on Stroggos earlier than anticipated, saving him from the wipeout his fleet was subjected to at the hands of the Strogg Big Gun.
He later appears as a selectable character in Quake III: Arena, revealing that, even after he escaped from Stroggos, he was eventually caught and experimented upon, the results leaving him more Strogg than human. The player fights against him in the Place Of Many Deaths, the Camping Grounds and Brimstone Abbey.
For tropes about his default appearance (Grunt) in Quake III: Arena, go here.
- Bald of Authority: He seems to be referred to as a squad leader by Mission Control, and he's completely bald.
- Bald Head of Toughness: Again, not a single hair on his head and still a One-Man Army.
- Blood Knight: According to the manual, he couldn't wait to finally come face to face with the Strogg and bring the fight to their home.
- Canon Name: If the Easter Egg at the beginning of the game wasn't clear enough, Quake III: Arena gave the main game's Player Character the nickname Bitterman.
- Decomposite Character: In II Grunt was the default skin for multiplayer games and the assumed appearance for Bitterman. In III, both Bitterman and Grunt were given separate character slots, with Bitterman being given a brand new appearance.
- Deep South: His voice in the intro has hints of a Texan accent. In III, after dying in a lava pit he says this:"This is like an Alabama August!"
- Distinctive Appearances: Compared to the Strogg in Quake 2 and Quake 3's Tank Jr. Bitterman looks nothing like them: His head has been unnaturally enlarged and he has lime-green skin tone, compared to the necrotic paleness of the Strogg. He doesn't seem to have cybernetic limbs of any kind (unless they are internal or they match his organic torso) and his outfit doesn't really match the armor the Strogg usually have either, looking merely like stylized pants. His only Strogg-like trait is the dreadlock-like cables embedded in his scalp.
- Gratuitous Spanish: Has a habit of sprouting "Amigo" every 4 or 5 lines in III.
- Hero of Another Story: For Quake III: Arena.
- Lifesaving Misfortune: In the intro for the main game, his ship gets hit by another marine pod, prompting him to fall earlier to Stroggos. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as the rest of the marine force was wiped out by the Big Gun. Now everything's up to him. His Expansion comrades follow suit (minus the Call of the Machine soldiers, who seem to have successfully landed their drop pods).
- Raised Hand of Survival: At the end of the main game of II, his escape pod crashes back on Stroggos. The hatch is knocked away, and a hand rises out. It ends with it clenching into a fist.
- Sergeant Rock: Subverted. While a squad leader, he doesn't get to spend any time fighting alongside his men due to his aforementioned Lifesaving Misfortune. His only way of helping his marines in the game is by providing them with a Mercy Kill.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: A survivor of the Strogg invasion and the posterior strike on Stroggos. Grunt's profile in particular says he cannot tell friend from foe. Bitterman says in Quake 3 if defeated: "Don't push me, [fighter]. I've been to hell and back, and back I'll be!"
- Shirtless Scene: Has nothing covering his chest in III. Justified in that he's now "more man than machine" and his original game didn't really show how he looked like.
- Transhuman: Despite undergoing Stroggification, Bitterman still retains his original personality compared to the likes of Tank Jr., implying he didn't undergo any brainwashing procedures. To quote his character description in III: "Vile experiments transformed his flesh into something both far more and far less than human."
- Tuckerization: According to John Romero
, his name comes from the real nickname of id Software employee Kevin Cloud. - You Fight Like a Cow: Invoked in one of his taunts in III:"Hey, <victim>! A sleeping cow makes a tougher target than you!"
Non-Strogg Enemies
Spoiler character for Call of the Machine
Shambler
"This thing is definitely not from Stroggos. It may be from a past Strogg conquered planet, or it might be from another dimension entirely. We're not quite sure. (...) Specimens have been observed covered in fur that stands up when shooting lightning, but some individuals have been found to just be covered in skin and muscle."
— Id Vault in the 2023 remastered edition of II
The only returning enemy class from Quake, Shamblers make their presence as enemies within Call of the Machine, with some even being fought as bosses:
- Modir: An ancient evil awoken by the Strogg in an ancient temple dedicated to the Great Black Goat. Fought at the end of Operation: Darkest Depths.
- Masters of the Machine: A pair of Shamblers who command the Strogg in the power vacuum created following the defeat of several Strogg masterminds. Fought at the very end of Call of the Machine itself.
For tropes concerning their appearance in Quake, check here.
- Ambiguous Situation: The relationship between Shub-Niggurath and the Strogg is not fully explained: They seem to have lent a spacecraft to them in the Dimension of the Machine map Nazard Terminal. But due to the mission to eliminate the Masters, they are ambiguously identified as "Strogg-Maker" collectively. It is unknown if it is merely a pending codename similar to Shub's own "Quake", a designation given by humanity, or Shub-Niggurath and her minions aren't merely allies, but actual creators of the Strogg.
- Dual Boss: Both of the Masters fight you at the same time, with a separate health bar for each.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Two are encountered during the first unit, Operation: Corpse Run.
- After the player exits "The Death Gate" via slipgate, Shambler roars can be heard emanating from the pitch-blackness.
- A Shambler hides behind a secret wall in "Give Me Back My Moon".
- Enemy Summoner: The Masters will periodically summon mutants when they take enough damage.
- Hijacked by Ganon: The Masters are agents of the Great Black Goat, revealed to be controlling the comparatively newer and seemingly unrelated Strogg.
- Interface Spoiler: They possess a profile in the Id Vault's Bestiary, despite only appearing within Call of the Machine and with those appearances being tied to heavy spoilers concerning that mission pack's plot.
- King Mook: Modir is a truly enormous Shambler.
- Meaningful Name:
- Modir's name is a middle-English form of "Mother", and it certainly looks large enough to be the mother of a Shambler.
- The Masters of The Machine, aside from the more obvious example of commanding an army of cyborgs, are introduced in the Machine Games Remaster of Quake II.
- Outside-Genre Foe: Can be considered this, being Lovecraftian creatures from the first Quake which contrast with the exclusively science-fiction theme of Quake II.
- Puzzle Boss: Modir is defeated in the same manner as Chthon; navigating its boss arena to descend two pillars, which generate a laser that kills the beast when activated. Unlike Chthon, Modir does take damage from normal weapons, but it has so much health that you're unlikely to have enough ammo to kill it unless you've been hoarding it. The laser also only has to be activated once to kill Modir, making it by far the easiest avenue to killing it.
- Shock and Awe: Attacks primarily by channelling electricity between its claws to fire at you, as they did in Quake.
- Stylistic Suck: Disabling the enhanced models included in the 2023 remaster causes all Shamblers to use their original Quake model, which is of a markedly lower polycount compared to the original models of Quake II's enemies.
- Stationary Boss: Like Chthon, Modir remains stuck in a pit of magma taking electrical potshots as you dart between columns in its room.
- Unique Enemy: They're extremely rare, being almost exclusively encountered as named bosses or in scripted events that don't last long enough to turn into a fight. Only a couple of regular Shamblers can actually be fought, one in a secret area and one during the boss fight with Modir.
