"Tank" Dempsey

"Field Report: Final entry. Well, this is it. The end game. I know what I have to do. Richtofen's barely holding it together, but I gotta believe he can go the extra mile. None of us really know how this is gonna play out, but we all know it's the only way forward. We can only hope that our souls may find a better future."

- "Tank" Dempsey

Corporal "Tank" Dempsey is an American Marine who fought in the United States Marine Corps, and is a playable main character in the Zombies game mode. His player indicator color is white (shared with John F. Kennedy and Sarah Michelle Gellar), but is randomized in his appearances since and including Moon. An alternate version of Dempsey is introduced in Origins, and reappears in Call of Duty: Black Ops III as a main playable character in The Giant, Der Eisendrache (which features a WWII version of "Tank" Dempsey), Zetsubou No Shima, Gorod Krovi, and Revelations.

Original Timeline
"Tank Dempsey: American hero. Hand him a loaded weapon, a good woman, and something to shoot at and he is happy. Enrage him and he will rip your guts out and use them as a bandolier.

''Dempsey was selected for this mission after he showed his true grit during the Battle of Peleliu. Remarkable though it may seem, his unit was captured during the early raids before the main invasion, and he spent 2 weeks in a rat infested bamboo cage submerged in malarial water. Well that did not stop The Tank. After he gnawed his way through the cage, he then gnawed his way through his captors armed only with a Bobby pin and his Medal of Honor which he keeps secreted in various body cavities. ''

''Now you know there is no before the war for Dempsey, and there is no after. There is only the legend of Tank Dempsey, and how he will win the war for the rest of us."''


 * — Dempsey's biography added with Map Pack 2 in Call of Duty: World at War.

In the original timeline, Dempsey is a stereotypical United States Marine who is brash and self-satisfied. He thinks highly of himself and his country. He was a part of an experiment conducted by Dr. Edward Richtofen; alongside Takeo Masaki and Nikolai Belinski, his memories were wiped out as a result of Element 115 exposure, while his personality was amplified to an extent. He unknowingly helped Richtofen's scheme to control the zombies, due to the memory loss, as with the other two.

In Der Riese, Shi No Numa, Kino der Toten, Shangri-la and Ascension, he and the others fought for survival and unwittingly helped Richtofen's plan, but he was the first to regain his memories and became suspicious of Richtofen. In Moon, all three realized Richtofen's scheme for unlimited power and attempted to stop him; first by contacting Ludvig Maxis, who was at Griffin Station on the Moon to help them stop Richtofen. Maxis manipulated the trio by claiming that Richtofen's link can be destroyed by launching three missiles to sever the link from Agartha and the Moon, however, the plan was made in haste and the Earth's ozone layer became polluted and the explosion created more zombies and further chaos.

Dempsey's ultimate fate is left unknown.

Origins Timeline
"Corporal Tank Dempsey: American Hero. Originally assigned to intercept Dr. Edward Richtofen in Northen France, Dempsey now fights alongside Nikolai, Takeo and Richtofen as they attempt to put an end to the enemy war machine once and for all. Though he's seen more than his fair share of bloodshed, nothing could have prepared him for the events of Der Eisendrache..."


 * — Dempsey's biography for Call of Duty: Black Ops III

When Samantha Maxis traveled to an alternate timeline in 1918, "Tank" Dempsey was still deployed with the US Marines in France when he was assigned to grab Dr. Edward Richtofen as a H.V.T, and was given a transport in the form of a MKIV tank; he is also aware of the circumstances around him, where giant robots, zombies and potential foreign intervention from Russia and Japan, and the state of the world in that moment in time. When met with Takeo, Nikolai and Richtofen, the three set aside their differences to survive the zombie outbreak. When meeting Samantha Maxis and freeing her from Agartha, he and the others were informed of the future apocalypse and were tasked to avert it.

He, Nikolai and Takeo were sent to the original universe to the Der Riese facility, just after the original Richtofen sent Maxis, Samantha and Fluffy to their original fates, and threatens the original Richtofen to not change the future. When Origins Richtofen appeared and shot his original self, he lamented Richtofen's doing, but accepts it as the future needed to change. However, in The Giant, due to exposure to Element 115, Dempsey has started to curse more and becomes more brash, thus resulting in his original personality mixing with his younger self.

Two weeks later, the Origins crew find that the Original Timeline Dempsey's capsule had been captured by Group 935 and attempt to pursue the truck containing his body with a Giant Robot in the Austrian Alps. However, this fails when one of the Nazis shoots the robot down with a Panzerschreck, forcing the crew to proceed on foot to a Group 935 castle fortress in the mountains. The crew are too late, as a rocket containing the Original Timeline Dempsey's pod is launched.

In Eagle's Nest, Dempsey and the others attempt to find a way to bring his original self down from space. The crew also finds the Original Timeline Richtofen's room, Samantha's room, and Maxis' room, which contains a projector of the three test subjects. Eventually, Doctor Groph contacts the castle from Griffin Station on the Moon. Origins Richtofen then poses as his Original Timeline self to fool Groph, and says his death report at The Giant was "erroneous". Groph tells Richtofen the MPD is ready for a conduit, to which Richtofen nervously agrees to meet Groph. When Groph suggests killing Samantha and Maxis with Security protocol 935, Richtofen refuses saying they've already been "dealt with."

Eventually, Groph catches wind of Richtofen and the others after seeing them from a security monitor, and attempts to not allow them to leave the castle alive. Dempsey and the others eventually bring his Original Timeline self down by using the Death Ray but Groph electrifies the pod so the crew can't complete their mission. Dempsey and the others eventually revive a Keeper and have him displace the MPD from the Moon, to which Groph freaks out. The Crew open the MPD to find the Keeper to be corrupted and need to be cleansed by fighting it.

Dempsey and the others succeed in killing the Keeper and grab the Summoning Key to input in a computer monitor, to which Groph says he will kill all of them even going as far as destroying the entire Castle. Due to this threat, Richtofen and the others fire several missiles at the Moon, killing Groph and all Group 935 members on the Moon; which secures the Earth from being blown up from future events to occur.

Origins Dempsey walks toward his Original self, with Richtofen noting he's still alive, to which Dempsey says "I fuckin' hope so." Richtofen activates the Summoning Key, traps the three in mid-air and reveals his plan to kill their original selves and preserve their souls in the Summoning Key to save the universe. Before Richtofen disables the life support, Dempsey stops him and says he should be the one that does it. "Wait! If someone's gotta take him out to save the universe, it should be me that does it! (...) Good to see ya Tank."

- Origins Timeline Dempsey's last words to the Original Timeline Dempsey before cutting his life support.

In Der Eisendrache, the original Dempsey was killed by the younger Dempsey in order to preserve his soul using the Summoning Key acquired in Shadows of Evil, much like what Richtofen did with his older self back in The Giant. Dempsey, despite slowly becoming like his older self due to 115, showed great sadness and remorse when killing his Original timeline self, displaying that he still had compassion, like in Origins.

In Zetsubou No Shima, Dempsey appears to be silent and remorseful toward the original timeline Takeo after curing him and learning of his torture and the cruel experiments done on him. It is also mentioned that he seems more "peaceful" while in battle by the origins Takeo, suggesting that Dempsey has regret of killing his original self and had a sudden shift in personality. Dempsey himself says that seeing how he died is a "hell of a way to get perspective", implying that Dempsey is respectful and insightful.

In Gorod Krovi, he is silent while the original Nikolai dies and origins Richtofen releases their souls, showing that he is focused on the mission's completion.

In the Origins timeline, he is more focused to the mission, using less profanity and is more inclined to use other weapons as well. He is also quite concerned with Samantha Maxis' safety in Agartha, and along with Nikolai, he is willing to save her, but will make negative comments to her if she threatens the group. As he never encountered Richtofen before and was just briefed about him, he doesn't develop the hatred that he had, but will become annoyed if he doesn't do well. Overall, Dempsey will tolerate him in the team. He will respect both Takeo and Nikolai if they fight well, but dislikes them if they don't.

Letters
"November 19, 1917 It seems beyond doubt that Fritz is up to no good. Air reconnaissance suggests prototype armored weaponry is being tested in Northern France. Scuttlebutt reads like the ramblings of a mad man; strange lights in the sky... a mysterious plague... even giant metal men. I'll be at the site within the week to learn the truth with my own eyes..."

- Tank Dempsey

"April 14, 1918 After far too long waiting on the sidelines, we finally got our first taste of combat. Our actions at Belleau Wood seem to have brought their Spring Offensive to a grinding halt. We even heard talk that Fritz has nicknamed us the 'Devil Dogs', following the allround ass kicking they took... and that's fine by me. We intercepted communications suggesting that we're not the only nation to learn of the enemy's plans. Scuttlebutt is that the Russians & Japanese are looking to grab a slice of the action. Things are going to get interesting."

- Tank Dempsey

Trivia

 * Dempsey's favorite Perk-a-Cola is Juggernog and his least favorite is Quick Revive.
 * Dempsey thinks Stamin-Up is sour.
 * Dempsey says Double Tap "tastes chewy."
 * Dempsey has a strong dislike for fish, as mentioned when he is disgusted each time after drinking a Quick Revive soda.
 * Sometimes he says that it tastes like "fermented herring dipped in cat piss."
 * However, in Gorod Krovi, Dempsey says Quick Revive tastes delicious.
 * The Original Dempsey hates the Original Edward Richtofen, who in turn hates him as well.
 * However, in Origins, they are both more mutual in tone due to being alternate versions and the situation at hand.
 * In The Giant, Dempsey has once again become suspicious of Richtofen, in the ending of the Der Eisendrache Easter egg Dempsey states he should never have trusted Richtofen when the latter reveals his plan to kill Dempsey's Original self, despite this after Dempsey euthanized his Original self Richtofen briefly comforted him showing that Richtofen seems to no longer hate Dempsey.
 * Sometimes when Pack-a-Punching on The Giant, Dempsey can mention that he forgot why he hates Richtofen.
 * In Zetsubou No Shima, Dempsey and Richtofen make fun of each other in some quotes and Dempsey is still skeptical of Richtofen, showing that the two don't think too highly of one another yet are still friends.
 * Original Dempsey seems to disrespect Original Nikolai Belinski.
 * In the Original Characters Trapped Easter egg, Dempsey and Nikolai appear to be drunk together, demonstrating how Dempsey does not actually hate him.
 * In Origins and The Giant, he and Origins Nikolai seem to be on good terms, although their relationship becomes strained in The Giant.
 * In Der Eisendrache, their relationship begins to heal, with both of them becoming more suspicious of Richtofen.
 * Original Dempsey treats Original Takeo Masaki with much respect, but Takeo does not seem to return the same feeling, until Shangri-La where he begins to subtly reciprocate, and shows it more openly on Moon.
 * In Origins and The Giant, Origins Dempsey's friendship with Origins Takeo has gotten better as he and Takeo both agree to keep an eye on Richtofen, and their conversations are friendlier than with Nikolai or Richtofen.
 * This however is later strained in Der Eisendrache, due to Takeo's fixation with Richtofen's knowledge of the Emperor.
 * This later seems to be healed in Zetsubou No Shima.
 * Dempsey's favorite weapons are the BAR, the M16, and heavy weaponry, such as the MG08/15, MG42, Dingo, and HK21.
 * He seems to know much about the M16, despite him having no contact with one prior to Kino der Toten.
 * In Origins, his favorite staff is the Wind Staff.
 * In Der Eisendrache, his favorite bow is the Wolf Bow.
 * Dempsey often calls the Wunderwaffe DG-2 the “Wonder Waffle", which has sparked a trend among the community, who often do the same.
 * Rarely, while using the Pack-a-Punch machine, Dempsey will sing the jingle for Juggernog.
 * By the time of Kino der Toten, Dempsey has grown a small beard, and by the time of Ascension, he is covered in dirt and blood. This blood is gone in Shangri-La and returns in Moon.
 * In a file on the computer terminal, it says that part of the original Richtofen's super-soldier experiments were the original versions of Dempsey, Nikolai, and Takeo.
 * The Original Dempsey has a five-year-old daughter.
 * The Original Dempsey was briefly mentioned by Richtofen on Green Run, along with Nikolai.
 * In Der Eisendrache, Origins Dempsey mentions he was once kicked by a horse.
 * The Origins Dempsey had a cat.
 * In a wisp found in Revelations, Dr. Monty refers to Tank as "Thomas" and "Ringo", jokingly citing them as his first names.
 * According to Monty, the Origins Dempsey holds the universe record of most one armed pushups; even in the universe where everyone only has one arm.
 * It is also revealed that the Origins Dempsey once made a bet that he could eat fifty hard boiled eggs in fifteen minutes for fifteen dollars. He regretted it almost immediately after winning and feared for his life.
 * Monty reveals that once Dempsey had gotten his testicles painfully stuck in bedsprings and lived to tell the tale.
 * Further more, Origins Dempsey is able to throw a grenade farther than a professional baseball player.