List of Gears of War characters

This article provides a list of characters and organizations encountered in Epic Games' Xbox 360 video game Gears of War and its upcoming sequel, Gears of War 2.

Coalition of Ordered Governments (C.O.G.)

Long before the Pendulum Wars, the Coalition of Ordered Governments existed only as an obscure world-government philosophy, created by fanatical socialist Alexiy Desipich and based on eight guiding principle values: Order, Diligence, Purity, Labor, Honor, Loyalty, Faith, and Humanity. During the 79-year long Pendulum Wars, the C.O.G. grew into a legitimate, though minor, political party.

The Pendulum Wars began soon after the discovery of Imulsion, a substance exploited for its energy applications. Nations with little Imulsion available waged war with those that did. The wars abruptly ended with "Emergence Day," when the Locust Horde began their attack. C.O.G. leaders were the only ones who took the steps needed to help humanity to survive, instituting martial law and taking charge of the effort against the Locust. Fourteen years later, the C.O.G. is the only form of goverment left on Sera, the world where Gears of War takes place.

Delta Squad

Throughout the Gears of War campaign, the game experience is centered around the members of a COG unit known as Delta Squad. During the first act of the game, several characters rotate in and out of Delta Squad. The first to die in Delta Squad is Private Carmine, who gets shot in the head by an enemy sniper while trying to fix his jammed Lancer rifle. Later, Delta comes across Augustus "Cole Train" Cole, from Alpha Squad. When Delta reaches Alpha Squad, Lieutenant Kim is separated and killed by General RAAM. After Kim dies, Delta and Alpha retreat to a nearby building in which they meet up with Private Damon Baird.

Marcus Fenix

Main article: Marcus Fenix

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Marcus Fenix (voiced by John DiMaggio) is the protagonist of the game. He once led a famed military career, but unjustly receives a court martial and prison sentence for leaving his post in order to make an attempt to save his father. Four years into the sentence, his friend, Dominic Santiago, liberates him from the prison and reinstates him into the military during the game's opening cinematic.

Dominic Santiago

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Dominic (voiced by Carlos Ferro) is a vocal, colorful, yet practical soldier. He is loyal to a fault, especially with his friends, and has no patience for those who think of themselves first. He steadfastly believes in the Coalition of Ordered Governments’ Army. He has a close friendship with Marcus Fenix, who he fights alongside with throughout Gears of War. He is apparently attempting to locate his wife Maria, who he lost track of after Emergence Day.

Augustus Cole

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Private Augustus Cole, aka "The Cole Train", is a former professional "Thrashball" defensive lineman player for the Cougars, number 83, according to Dom. Members of the stranded as well as fellow COG soldiers often recognize him based on his hairy Thrashball days. He craves action and prefers the most direct path to his next fight. What he lacks in finesse, he makes up for in raw energy. Along with his enthusiasm and charm, Cole is confident in his own weird abilities to overcome anything. He has yet to be proven wrong. Cole is member of Alpha squad but joins Delta Squad during Act 1, and teams up with Baird or Dom when the team splits up. He is voiced by Lester Speight.

Damon Baird

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Damon Baird (voiced by Fred Tatasciore) is a cynical and reluctant soldier, whose main strengths lie in his intelligence. In the game's campaign he appears as a sarcastic solider, that takes and makes jokes. He is introduced into the game as a member of Alpha Squad, who is trapped behind enemy lines while in possession of a device that will allow the humans to map out the tunnel system of the Locust Horde. He later joins Delta Squad as a technical specialist. He is highly knowledgeable about the Locust Horde and for this reason, he is a great asset to his fellow Gears. Among other things, he also excels in mechanics, hacking and other repair-related tasks, such as repairing a damaged APC and hacking into geobots. Early in the game Baird expresses disdain for Fenix, and indicates that he thinks he should have been promoted to lead Delta Squad. However, Fenix quickly earns his respect through his battlefield leadership.

Minh Young Kim

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Lieutenant Kim is a strict soldier,He loves man penis, but doesn't reveal his desire until it was too late. During the game’s first act, Hoffman entrusts Kim to lead Fenix and the rest of Delta Squad to locate Alpha Squad. He succeeds in finding the remnants of Alpha Squad, but fails to acquire extraction. Kim is separated from his comrades during an intense fire-fight with the Locust. While attempting to give orders, General RAAM impales Kim with a serrated sword. Fenix is field promoted to sergeant and is selected to succeed Kim. He is voiced by Robin Atkin Downes.

Anthony Carmine

Private Carmine, along with Lieutenant Kim, is one of the original members of Delta Squad. He possesses a bright and gung-ho attitude. Carmine meets Fenix en route to Colonel Hoffman’s location, and serves with him in Delta Squad through portions of the game’s first act, until he is shot in the head by a Locust sniper. His first name is never stated in the game, but it is stated on the official website, on the survey [1].Carmine is voiced by Michael Gough.

Tai Kaliso

Making his first appearance in Gears of War 2, Tai is a spiritual and meditative warrior from a tradition of honor-bound fighters.

Dizzy

Also a new character in Gears of War 2, Dizzy is from a family of Stranded rescued by Operation Lifeboat, a C.O.G. program which evacuated Stranded familes to COG-controlled zones in exchange for service in the military.

Other COG Gears

Several other anonymous, helmeted COG Gears appear in the game as well. Many are corpses, though several are alive and play a minor role in the story.

• A member of Alpha Squad named Rojas is killed by Locusts while making their way through the House of Sovereigns. After rescuing Private Augustus Cole, Marcus, Dom, and Kim come across Rojas's corpse. Players never see Rojas in the game apart from his torn-up body. It is mentioned that he had a son, who had turned two in the week before the events of the game.
• Towards the end of Act 1, when Baird is first met, two Gears accompany him. One is killed in the chaos that follows the helicopter's destruction. The other, identified as "Redshirt Gyules" in the credits, escapes to the Tomb of the Unknowns with the rest of the squad, but panics when the Berserker approaches, runs from the squad, and is brutally beaten to death off-screen. Gyules is voiced by Bruce DuBose.
• Another Gear is brought to General RAAM at the end of Act 3, and is promptly shot in the head with a Boltok pistol.
• At the beginning of Act 4, a helicopter with a Gear clearly visible is brought down by Nemacysts. When the squad reaches the chopper, dead Gears are found, as well as one fairly healthy Gear and another who is vomiting blood. It is assumed that they were evacuated by Cole and Baird.

Other COG Characters

Chairman Prescott

Chairman Prescott, introduced in Gears of War 2, is the dictatorial military leader of the C.O.G. who made the hard choices necessary to keep humanity alive through years of warfare. Colonel Hoffman is his second-in-command.

Victor Hoffman

Colonel Victor Hoffman commands Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad. He makes brief appearances two cinematic sequences near the game’s beginning and ending. He primarily communicates with Delta squad through a radio. In the beginning of Gears of War, Hoffman is reluctant to reinstate Fenix into the military. However, given the COG Army's lack of proper talent and personnel, he allows Fenix to fight. Hoffman eventually grows to trust Fenix; Hoffman allows Fenix to lead Delta Squad, and ultimately helps save him from falling in the game's end. During the game Delta Squad is working on his plan to destroy the Locust Stronghold by finding and deploying a resonator and then deploying the Lightmass Bomb once the targeting data is received. Hoffman delivers a victory speech during the game’s final cinematic after the Lightmass Bomb destroys the Locust Stronghold and most of the Horde, and vows the humans will rebuild their civilization on Sera. He is voiced by Jamie Alcroft.

Anya Stroud

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A concept sketch of Stroud

Lieutenant Anya Stroud is the only female member of COG visually seen in Gears of War. She is usually detailing location information through radio for Fenix, Dom, or Kim — particularly where to go next, if the Hammer of Dawn is online or whether hostiles are en route, and during act 3, directs mine carts used by Delta squad for transportation. She is only visible once throughout the entire game, on board a King Raven towards the end of the opening cutscene of Act 1. She is voiced by Nan McNamara.

Jack

A Jack of all Trades robot, Jack for short. It has limited A.I., does not talk, and responds only to simple commands. It is always alongside Delta Squad, hovering about with a cloaking device that makes the robot unseen until it decloaks to make itself useful.

Jack is used for cutting doors, communications, first aid and minor field surgery, as well as other delicate operations both during and outside of combat. Often the Gears will have to defend Jack while it cuts open doors, an action referred to in the game as 'ripping' (i.e. "Jack, rip this door."). In Act 4 of Gears of War, Jack is also used to download and store Adam Fenix's research data, which contained detailed maps of the Locust underground systems, and would be used with the Lightmass bomb to destroy many of the underground Locust forces.

Locust Horde

The Locust Horde are a collection of various species, some bipedal and some distinctly bestial. The Horde inhabited the subterranean regions of Sera, until Emergence Day, when they emerged across the surface in a massive, overwhelming attack against the human population. The Horde's only known objective is the complete and total annihilation of the human population of Sera. The Locust Horde exists in underground tunnels known as the Hollow, which is a short term used to describe the hollow portions of planet Sera. The Locust Horde was named as such because of their sudden appearance out of the ground as locusts do when coming out of hibernation, and while the name was first coined by the humans. Humans sometimes refer to the Locust Horde as "grubs," a derogatory term connected to their name. Adam Fenix's research discovered that the Locust Tunnels are honeycombed throughout the crust of the entire planet and are bigger than anyone ever anticipated.

General RAAM

General RAAM is the main villain and final boss of Gears of War voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. He is a mostly silent and savage Locust general with a dark cinematic presence. He appears as a large Locust shrouded in Kryll. RAAM has pronounced facial features, with large, bony eyebrow ridges and a constant snarling expression. General RAAM's name implies that the Locust Horde follows a sort of military command hierarchy, but the only known military title for the Locust Horde is General, although Theron Guards are generally considered to be Locust field commanders.

Though he appears only three times in the entire game, General RAAM is nevertheless a fearsome and imposing figure. He is first seen outside the Tomb of the Unknowns, when he kills Lieutenant Kim by stabbing him with a serrated sword. He is seen again after detonation of the sonic resonator, as a nameless COG soldier is captured by the Locust, and RAAM is apparently using the soldier's radio to listen in on the conversation between Control and Delta Squad that reveals their objectives in East Barricade Academy. He then shoots the soldier in the head. His last appearance is in the game's climax, as the final obstacle between the Gears and the Lightmass bomb they need to detonate.

During the player's final battle with RAAM, he carries a Troika machine gun; although this weapon is traditionally mounted on a turret, RAAM wields the weapon by hand with apparent ease, suggesting his incredible strength. He is protected by a shield of swarming Kryll, which he commands to attack when COGs are away from light or in shadows. Without his Kryll shield, RAAM is momentarily vulnerable to damage. Eventually he is killed by Marcus and Dom, with the help of a King Raven helicopter.

Although it is shown that General RAAM stands several heads above a normal human during the campaign, the multiplayer model of RAAM is not the same size; rather, he retains a size similar to that of other models, but still being the largest (standing a bit taller than the Theron models, who are larger than the other in game models).

Female Voice (Myrrah)

In the credits sequence the game mentions the character 'Myrrah', voice acted by Carolyn Seymour, but this character is never seen in game or during any of the cutscenes. At various times throughout the game, narration is provided by a female character; her voice is heard during the opening cinematic, the death of Lt. Kim, and the end-game sequence; as well as during split-screen or online multiplayer when the Locust side loses or wins.

The Stranded

The Stranded are the Human survivors living outside of Jacinto. They live in poor conditions, ravaged by war and suffering from malnutrition. Their former way of life was destroyed when the COG enacted a scorched earth strategy to stop the Locust assaults. This course of action lead the Stranded to refer to COG's as "fascist pigs". The Gears and the Stranded do not get along well, but will occasionally fight together against their common enemy, the Locust Horde. The allied firefight in the chapter The Last Stand at the end of Act 2 is an example of cooperation between the Stranded and the Gears.

The Stranded are seen to live in camps along the city streets, where there is good lighting, even at night. They also are seen to link important areas together safely with strategically placed lighting, be it propane tanks for emergency use, or strings of party lights. However, they don't only live in cities. In Act 3, Marcus and Dom encounter a Stranded in the Lethia Imulsion Facility, one who was alone for a while. In the room preceding the cutscene, there are mutilated Stranded corpses strewn across the room, torn apart by Lambent Wretches.

Franklin

Franklin is one of the Stranded that owes Dominic Santiago a favor. Apparently Franklin has come into possession of a Junker APC critical to the Gears. Dom acquires the Junker's keys as a way to even out their favor. Little else is known about Franklin, beyond that he commands a number of Stranded and is involved with an unidentified "business" which is affected by the presence of the Gears. He spends most of the Nightfall act in Gears of War guiding Dominic and Marcus through the ruined city and two checkpoints to Chap's Aspho Gas Station. He is also the one helping Dominic find a mysterious "Lady" (possibly Dom's missing wife, Maria Santiago). He is voiced by John DiMaggio.

Chap

Chap is the elderly, foul-mouthed Stranded who runs the gas station where Franklin's Junker is parked. He supplies ammo and cover at the arrival of Marcus and Santiago. When the Locusts ambush the gas station, he will fight alongside Marcus and Santiago.He also accompanies Marcus and Dom on the highway as they drive the Junker back to the Stranded base camp, giving notices as to which directions Kryll attack from during their run. Chap apparently does not think very highly of the player's driving skills, making comments like "Next time I'll stay with the exploding gas station." His weapon of choice is the Boltok Revolver. He may or may not be mentally unstable, as during the defense of the gas station, he can be heard crying "They're shooting Laverne!" when the Junker is being fired upon. He is last seen in the beginning of the final chapter of Act 2, advising that Marcus and Dom should help the others immediately. He is also seen fighting in the Last Stand chapter, but is killed soon after the chapter begins.

Factory Stranded

A Stranded man is encountered in the Lethia Imulsion Facility. He appears to be trapped and is the only surviving Stranded in the area, as the others were killed by lambent Wretches. He accompanies Marcus and Dom thinking they are a rescue party, and is killed when leading them across wooden floorboards. When the boards suddenly break, he falls through and is eaten alive by the Wretches underneath.