Juggernaut (character)

The Juggernaut is a unique enemy type seen in Special Ops mode of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, and Call of Duty: Black Ops, while sometimes appearing as friendlies in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

Juggernauts are heavily protected by explosive ordnance disposal armor, requiring excessive amounts of damage to kill. When encountered, they are able to deal out massive injuries with a shotgun or a light machine gun (mostly with their LMGs). Juggernauts are first encountered in the Snatch & Grab Special Ops Mission. The Juggernaut was originally supposed to be a level 4 upgrade for the Juggernaut perk in Multiplayer, however this was replaced by Pro perks. In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, players can wear Juggernaut suits obtained by strike packages in Multiplayer. They appear in certain Special Ops missions (notably Toxic Paradise and Invisible Threat), and in the campaign mission "Dust to Dust".

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Juggernauts are heavily armored enemies that appear in several Special Ops challenges. A Juggernaut's tactics differ from a normal enemy in that they tend to approach the player head on and rarely take cover or aim down their sights, though in some missions, they do take cover (most notably on Armor Piercing). Juggernauts are quite fast despite their heavy armour, and will charge the player at a steady jog while constantly firing their weapon. They are usually accompanied by an ominous musical cue that plays just before they appear on screen. They do not appear in the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 singleplayer campaign.

Unlike regular enemies, Juggernauts do not lose their footing or become stunned while taking fire due to their heavy armor. Even a direct hit from an explosive will only cause them to stumble slightly. However, a direct hit from a sniper rifle will cause one to stagger or possibly fall over, interrupting his attack.

Juggernauts can survive an incredible amount of damage, requiring almost 80 rounds of assault rifle fire, at least five Intervention sniper rifle torso shots, around 14 shotgun blasts, or five-six direct hits from a M203 40mm grenade launcher to kill.

By far the best weapons with which to engage Juggernauts are the Barrett .50cal, which only requires three-five shots to kill, and the Thumper, which, if aimed right, can kill a Juggernaut with one hit to the head. One must note that the round must explode but not direct impact to one shot kill a Juggernaut. Predator Missiles are very effective against Juggernauts and can kill then with just one hit (or at least a very close one).

The words "Get Sum!" and "Kick Me!" are graffitied on the front and rear groin sections of the Juggernaut's armor. This is more easily seen in the Museum level. A decal of a skull can also be seen in the armor that covers their shoulders.

They appear in Special Ops missions Snatch & Grab, Estate Takedown, Armor Piercing, and High Explosive. When they do appear, a lone drumbeat plays, alerting the player to swap tactics. In Armor Piercing and High Explosive, unharmed, newly spawned ones will stand still and move only after some time or after the player shoots at them. When dealing with multiple enemies, a Juggernaut should take top priority. While most enemies will stay behind cover and keep their distance, the Juggernaut will seek out and attack the player.

Little is known about the Juggernauts. It is probable they are Russians, as they speak Russian and are seen with other Russian forces in the Museum level. It is unknown who employed them or who they officially work for, but it is most likely they are mercenaries, as they are seen fighting alongside Shadow Company in Snatch & Grab, with Makarov's elite mercenaries in Estate Takedown, alone in High Explosive and Armor Piercing and with Russian Armed Forces in "Museum". This is also supported by the fact that they use the M240 and were supposed to use the Striker, but the concept was scrapped.

On April 13, 2012, the official Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Facebook page confirmed that "Heavy Armor", like the Juggernaut killstreak, was to appear in Modern Warfare 2 but was scrapped before it was added to the game.

Call of Duty: Black Ops
The Juggernauts appear very differently from their Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 counterparts; they now look more like the Flak Jacket character model in multiplayer wearing balaclavas. They appear in the missions "Vorkuta" and "Redemption", wielding shotguns, the KS-23 and can also be put into Last Stand, in which case they will pull out a CZ-75.

They are more resistant to bullets compared to ordinary enemies; and are also highly resistant to explosions. On lower difficulties they are easy to kill, but on Veteran mode the player should try for headshots to quickly dispose of them. Nevertheless, they are not as heavily armored as their Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 counterparts. In "Vorkuta" killing one requires approximately 2-3 KS-23 shots to the torso or one point-blank shot or a headshot, or roughly 27-45 rounds from an AK-47 to the chest and approximately half of a magazine of the AK-47 to the head. Furthermore it is possible to gib the Juggernaut, although doing so is difficult.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
"Yes, there are juggernauts returning from the previous games; there will be several different types of them, too."

- Rubin discussing Juggernauts in Modern Warfare 3.

Juggernauts reappear in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, once again taking the form of enemies in Special Ops mode. They appear in "boss" waves in Survival Mode, as well as in the Special Ops missions Toxic Paradise and Server Crash. Compared to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Juggernauts in this game are noticeably slower, moving at a steady walk instead of running, although they can sprint (abit slower than a regular soldier) to catch up with the player if the player is on the far side of the map. Juggernauts are extremely tough enemies, with the basic Juggernaut capable of withstanding at least 70 assault rifle rounds at close range and around 80-90 rounds at long range, while the Armored Juggernaut is significantly more durable. Juggernauts also receive a small health multiplier in later rounds or higher difficulty maps.

Juggernauts appear in three variants: the regular Juggernaut armed with a PKP Pecheneg, the Riot Shield Juggernaut armed with a Riot Shield and a PKP Pecheneg, and finally the Armored Juggernaut which begins to appear in later boss waves and possesses heavier armor (visually similar in appearance to the Juggernaut suit seen in the campaign and multiplayer) which allow them to sustain even more damage than a regular Juggernaut. Juggernauts will never drop their PKP Pecheneg when killed, although Riot Shield Juggernauts will drop their Riot Shield. However, the dropped shield will invariably have its durability almost depleted (note that unlike other modes, player-held Survival mode Riot Shields eventually break from damage).

Because of their heavy protection and armament, head-on firefights are ill-advised. Juggernauts are best dealt with using tactics like flanking, explosives, Predator missiles, and airstrikes. Judicious use of Claymores, C4 and Flashbangs are recommended to minimize exposure to their return fire while wearing them down. A useful tactic is stacking multiple explosives at the spot directly beneath a Juggernaut's helicopter dropoff point to eliminate at least one at the start of a boss wave. High rate-of-fire automatic weapons directed at the head are recommended when gunfire is employed against a Juggernaut, and notably, Juggernauts can be dispatched relatively quickly by rapidly emptying a full Striker shotgun magazine up close into their head, though this is a high risky tactic; couple with Flashbangs for best results.

Meanwhile, Riot Shield Juggernauts tend to advance toward the player slowly while crouched, keeping their shield facing toward the most threatening player, and are less dangerous offensively as they will not fire their machine gun until they are at very close range. However, the shield cover means that more creative tactics are needed to inflict damage on them. Stunning a Riot Shield Juggernaut with a flashbang will stagger them for a few seconds, providing a window to deal damage; after being dealt sufficient damage, they will permanently drop their Riot Shield and behave like a normal Juggernaut. Alternatively the Player can easily knife the Riot Shield Juggernaut in the back if Riot Shield Juggernauts are the only remaining enemies in the wave, until they drop their Shield.

Lastly, Armored Juggernauts bear resemblance to the ones from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 ' s Special Ops, as they wear more or less the same outfit with a slightly different color scheme on their body armor and a striped paint job on their blast helmet. They are incredibly durable, and in later waves even a direct hit from a Predator missile or airstrike will not kill them, though the damage they receive is nevertheless significant and expedites their elimination. Note that all three types of Juggernauts begin to run at a much faster pace when their health is low, and although this makes them more dangerous, this means that they are near death.

The player gets to wear a Juggernaut suit in the Special Ops missions Toxic Paradise and Invisible Threat. Price and Yuri also wear similar armor in the last level of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 campaign, "Dust to Dust". It is noted that unlike an enemy Juggernaut suit, the Juggernaut suit worn in these levels are vulnerable to melee and explosives damage, as a single enemy melee hit will drop the player to critical health even on Regular difficulty, and they can still be killed outright by an overcooked grenade.

In Survival Mode, on Easy difficulty, they mostly appear in waves 10 (1 Juggernaut), 15 (2 Juggernauts), 20 (3 Juggernauts), and 26 (2 Armored Juggernauts and 1 Riot Shield Juggernaut). On the opposite end of the spectrum is Insane difficulty, where they first appear in every sixth wave (waves 6, 11 and 16), and from then on, in every third wave (19, 22, 25, 28, etc.); on Insane, they are accompanied by 6-12 normal troops, and attack helicopters, increasing the complexity and difficulty of handling the Juggernauts. They enter the map via an Mi-8 helicopter (which can't be destroyed). Once the helicopter is in position, a smoke grenade will be thrown and the Juggernaut will rappel down into the smoke. They will destroy any Sentry Turrets if they see them or if attacked by the turret. The most effective weapons to kill a Juggernaut are explosives (C4 can be deployed under the rope they rappel from and used for an easy kill), shotguns (specifically a Striker) and LMGs. Some types of assault rifles are usable against the Juggernaut, but only high damage ones are able to eliminate a Juggernaut with any practical success, examples would be the CM901 and the MK14, as both possess high damage, and the CM901 is capable of eliminating a Juggernaut at close range with one magazine at earlier waves if the player lands most of the shots in the head, or two magazines if hitting the body, the MK14 can be used if the player is fast enough, and more often than not, will eliminate a Juggernaut about as fast as any other effective weapon for killing Juggernauts. Flashbangs are also extremely useful as they can incapacitate a Juggernaut for several seconds and can give the player's team a chance to take it out. Predator missiles and airstrikes are also highly effective against these enemies due to their potential to kill multiple Juggernauts at once. Note that the airstrike will deal much more damage than a Predator, and won't require a direct hit on higher levels, although it is more difficult to use without the Juggernauts killing the player or moving out of the airstrike impact zone due to the wait-time before the AC-130 fires upon them. Flashbangs are useful for pinning them in place while waiting for the airstrike shells to arrive.

The Hardened Edition of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 includes a Juggernaut suit for Xbox 360 Avatars.

Weapons

 * PKP Pecheneg (Spec Ops and Singleplayer only, primary weapon)
 * Riot Shield (Spec Ops, and primary weapon for the Juggernaut Recon Pointstreak)
 * M60E4 (primary weapon for the Juggernaut Pointstreak)
 * MP412 (secondary weapon for the Juggernaut Pointsteak)
 * USP .45 (secondary weapon to the Juggernaut Recon Pointstreak)

Trivia

 * Getting a Game Winning KillCam with a Riot Shield earns the player a comic Juggernaut head emblem and the "Owned" title.
 * In the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 bonus mission Museum, before one presses the button, the Juggernaut can be killed with one hit from anything, even a direct hit from a flashbang (as with all other characters). Pressing the button reverts him back to his regular health and durability.
 * They were originally planned to use the Striker in combination with an M240.
 * Juggernauts are not bulletproof, as rounds can pass straight through them and kill enemies behind them.
 * If the player looks closely, the Juggernaut appears to hold the M240 as if it has a grip. This trait applies to the Juggernauts with the PKP Pecheneg in Modern Warfare 3.
 * In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the Juggernaut's helmet says R7130.
 * At the Call of Duty XP event, attendees were able to sumo wrestle in Juggernaut suits.
 * In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, when Juggernauts use their Riot Shield, they hold their PKP Pecheneg in one hand.
 * Juggernauts do not reload and neither do they run dry on ammo.
 * When Juggernauts holding Riot Shields take enough damage, they drop said weapon and continue fighting with their main gun.
 * In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Survival Mode, it is impossible to shoot down the helicopter transporting them.
 * In the later waves of Survival Mode, Juggernauts may actually sprint for short periods of time, and occasionally even try to melee players.
 * It is possible for Juggernauts to have different paint jobs on their armor.
 * Juggernauts will spawn as close to the player as possible. Unless an allied chopper (not Perk Care Package Chopper, it must be dropping off Delta and riot shield personnel) is in the airspace, they will always spawn in the immediate area of the player. This will apply if a player is on one end of the map, and the other player on the other, one Juggernaut will go after whichever one is closest to it. If it is a two Juggernaut round, one Juggernaut will go after the player each, with the other one (if on a three Juggernaut round), going after the closest player.
 * Juggernauts appear to be capable of flexible movements, as they can jump over obstacles, run, judo flip friendly AI (Delta/Riot Teams), melee with their LMG, and climb ladders. Interestingly, the Juggernaut who appears in Toxic Paradise, if lured back to the first ammo crate, near the GAZ truck, will not be able to come back after the player via climbing the ladder.
 * Only three Juggernauts will be present on the battlefield on any particular wave.
 * Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has a trophy called 'I'm the Juggernaut...' which one must kill said enemy to earn.
 * They drop their weapons in Modern Warfare 2, but in Modern Warfare 3 they don't.
 * The Regular Juggernaut is noticeably shorter than the Armored Juggernaut.