Friedrich Steiner

"Killing me will not stop Nova!"

- Steiner seconds before his death .

Dr. Friedrich Steiner is a character in Call of Duty: Black Ops. He was a German scientist who created the chemical weapon Nova-6, a nerve toxin capable of killing a human in a matter of seconds.

Early Life
Steiner was born on June 11, 1904 in Hamburg, Germany. Not much else is known about his early life.

World War Two
"In '43, the Fuhrer realized that the Allies could not be held back much longer. We began to look for more "unconventional" solutions. Throughout the war, my own research was focused on chemical weapons...."

- Steiner revealing his job during the war.

Before the war Friedrich Steiner was a genius who had earned a collection of degrees and was thus sought by the Waffen-SS for his service in the Wunderwaffen projects. His role was the creation of Nova 6, a toxin with such deadliness even the creator himself was horrified.

It is inevitably likely that Steiner, as a Nazi scientist, developed Nova 6 in the concentration camp laboratories and tested it on camp detainees.

Post-War
"Do not point that weapon at me... Russian DOG!"

- Steiner yelling at Reznov.

Towards the end of the war, Steiner belonged to the task force which was sent to launch Nova 6 loaded rockets towards the United States, but his cargo ship was crippled by British bomber planes and trapped in the Arctic ice. As much as they tried to salvage what they could, Germany lost the war. To cut a deal for himself, Steiner defected to the Soviet Union and subsequently was captured by a strike team lead by Viktor Reznov and Dimitri Petrenko and commanded by Nikita Dragovich and Lev Kravchenko. Under the traitorous Dragovich's orders, Steiner uses Reznov's squad for the "demonstration" of the Nova-6, while most of the squad including Dimitri are killed, Reznov and what is left of his men manage to escape amid the chaos created by a British strike team. Reznov vows revenge on Steiner for the death of Dimitri, his friend and companion

Although Reznov escapes after having caused the destruction of the original Nova-6 shipment, for the next 23 years Steiner works for Dragovich to make a refined version of the toxin, the centerpiece of conquest against America.

Rebirth Island
"In 36 hours, the sleeper agents will receive their final orders. Only I can tell you how to stop the broadcast. I am at Rebirth Island -the Aral Sea. The choice is yours."

- Steiner asking Hudson for help.

After his role in the creation of Nova 6 has become known, Steiner is listed a top-priority target for SOG. His facility in the Ural Mountains is revealed by Daniel Clarke, a former freelance chemist who worked for Project Nova before his escape. As Jason Hudson and Grigori Weaver reach the facility, Steiner makes contact with them and once again negotiates for his life: not only does Steiner tell them of Dragovich's plan, but also he discloses something more dire. In thirty-six hours the United States would be hit with Nova 6 by Dragovich's sleeper cells. Steiner offers to tell them how to stop the attack if only the two could retrieve him from "Rebirth Island."

Death
"Killing me will not stop Nova!"

- Steiner's last words

However, before the two can extract him, Mason arrives and executes Steiner thinking Viktor Reznov is achieving his revenge.

Trivia

 * Reznov, Dimitri, Dragovich, Kravchenko, and Steiner had a photo taken with the wrecked ship as a backdrop before they entered the ship for the Nova 6. The photo can be found at Kravchenko's office both at the underground command post and the cave compound.
 * He is the first German to be the player's ally in the campaign of the Call of Duty series (during a brief part of Project Nova, and the second half of Rebirth). He is second in the series after Edward Richtofen from Nazi Zombies.
 * He is the third oldest born character in the Call of Duty series, behind Major Ingram and Lieutenant Robiechauld.
 * Before walking to the ship, one will see Steiner holding a Mosin-Nagant with what looks like a pistol grip but this "grip" is his P38 going through the rifle itself.
 * On the intel page for the mission WMD, his name is incorrectly spelled "Freidrich Steiner" when it should be Friedrich Steiner.
 * Just like his collaborators Dragovich and Kravchenko, Steiner is also an opportunist since he defects to the Soviet Union until he realized his use was up so he tried to defect to America though he was killed by Mason before he could do so.
 * Steiner most likely resided in East Germany (the former communist half of Germany from 1949-1990) during his time working with the Soviets.
 * Its implied Steiner has a dislike of Russians, as he openly insults Reznov once apprehended, calling him a Russian dog, although he seems to have no problem with Dragovich and had defected to the Soviet Union (which was mostly made up of Russians), however this was most likely due to his fear of Dragovich and to save him self from Soviet persecution.

Quotes
"Dragovich's men are rounding up everyone on the island! Those no longer essential to his plans are being executed! You must hurry, before they kill me too!"

- Steiner to Jason Hudson and Grigori Weaver on Rebirth.

"This is Friedrich Steiner. Dragovich is burying everything and everyone connected with Project Nova. I am sure I will be next. All across America, Dragovich has sleeper cells waiting for the signal to release the Nova 6. In 36 hours, the sleeper agents will receive their final orders. Only I can tell you how to stop them. I am on Rebirth Island, the Aral Sea... the choice is yours."

- Steiner over the intercom in WMD.

"Do not point that weapon at me, Russian dog! You will take me to Dragovich."

- Steiner to Reznov in Project Nova.

"I know you... Vorkuta! You don't know... What we did to you..."

- When he saw Alex Mason on Rebirth Island.

"The subject has been successfully implanted with the knowledge to translate the number sequences."

- Steiner to Dragovich in Vorkuta in Mason's flashback in the mission "Revelations".

"His responses to our orders have been - sporadic. Unpredictable. He shows a remarkable resilience."

- Steiner to Dragovich in Vorkuta in Masons flashback in the mission "Revelations".

"He is unusual... atypical. Few men possess such will... Our other test subjects have been far more successful."

- Steiner to Dragovich in Vorkuta in Mason's flashback in the mission "Revelations".