John "Soap" MacTavish (Original)

"Right...what the hell kind of name is "Soap", eh? How'd a muppet like you pass selection?"

- Captain Price's first words to Soap

"Soap" MacTavish is one of the main characters in the game, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare as a Sergeant, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 as a Captain and commanding officer of Gary Sanderson (the main playable character of the Modern Warfare 2). He plays a major role during the Ultranationalist crisis, a newcomer to the British SAS and part of Captain Price's Bravo Team. Soap is one of the characters the player assumes the role of in Call of Duty 4, and is a NPC in Modern Warfare 2, except near the end of the game where the player has to retake his role.

MacTavish is voiced by Kevin McKidd in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
"Soap" begins his SAS career hours before the six-day global war begins. He starts out as a Sergeant, unusual in that newcomers to the SAS are usually demoted to Trooper so that they must learn from the ground up. He's therefore likely a replacement for a recently deceased Sergeant and has transferred from another unit. He is given a quick training session in weapons and techniques by Gaz, before being introduced to Captain Price and the rest of Bravo Team. After passing the CQB (Close Quarters Battle) test (intended to be reminiscent of the real SAS "Killing Houses"), Soap is briefed on the mission to infiltrate and assault a cargo ship in the Bering Strait. On board the ship, they discover a nuclear bomb bound for Russia, though enemy MiGs interrupt their investigations, and Soap barely escapes with his life, being forced to leap for the ramp of their helicopter just as it begins flying away which causes him to lose his grip just to be rescued at the last second by Captain Price.

Upon completing the mission, Soap, Captain Price and Gaz move into Russia to extract the informant who supplied them with the intelligence for the cargo ship, a man codenamed Nikolai. Working in close conjunction with Russian Government Loyalists led by Sergeant Kamarov, they successfully locate and extract Nikolai from the battle zone, though their helicopter is shot down by Ultranationalist anti-aircraft missile fire. Bravo Team, Nikolai and another SAS operator are forced to fight their way through enemy lines, before being provided with support from an AC-130 Spectre Gunship, callsigned "Wildfire". They are extracted by helicopter under cover of heavy air support from Wildfire.

Soap's next mission with Bravo Team would take him to Azerbaijan. Clearing through an abandoned village, Soap witnessed Khaled Al-Asad's interrogation and execution by Captain Price. The next day, it appears Soap was designated the team's support man, being equipped with both an M249 and M21 sniper rifle. He was placed in charge of covering the team's retreat with the Minigun from a downed Black Hawk (destroying several Ultranationalist Helicopters in the process) and detonating the explosive charges placed at Phase Line Bravo.

MacTavish's final mission in the Russian civil war saw him infiltrating Russia as part of the joint task force of US Marines and SAS operators in order to eliminate Imran Zakhaev's nuclear capability. He was in charge of destroying the electricity supply to the facility, and then, during the escape, provided all-around covering fire for their jeep as they made their way to the extraction site. Fighting fiercely at the bridge during the penultimate battle, he was thrown to the floor and severely injured by an exploding tanker. He was pulled into cover by SSgt. Griggs, moments before Griggs was killed, and watches helplessly as Imran Zakhaev and his bodyguards execute Gaz and two SAS operatives. Just as all hope seems lost, a Loyalist Mi-28 gunship destroys the Ultranationalist Mi-24 Hind, forcing Zakhaev and his henchmen to turn away from Soap and open fire on the helicopter. A heavily wounded Captain Price slides Soap his M1911 pistol, which enables him to personally kill Imran Zakhaev and two of his bodyguards. Moments later, Loyalist forces flood the scene and Kamarov comes to Soap's aid by helping him onto a stretcher, assuring him that he will be alright. Soap passes out during the middle of extraction and is revealed to have survived as the events of Modern Warfare 2 begins.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
After the events of the civil war, MacTavish is promoted to Captain and is a squad leader of Task Force 141 alongside Sergeant Simon "Ghost" Riley and Sergeant Gary "Roach" Sanderson. MacTavish and Sanderson infiltrated Kazakhstan to recover an ACS module and escape on Snowmobiles. Shortly after the mission, MacTavish leads Task Force 141 to capture Rojas in Rio De Janeiro only to find out from Rojas that Makarov has a strong hatred for Prisoner 627 in a Russian gulag. The task force is then swarmed by the Brazilian Militia but is saved by Nikolai, who had fought alongside Soap during the events of Call of Duty 4.

Shortly after extracting from South America, MacTavish and Task Force 141 initiates a two-stage operation, the first stage being to secure a modified oil platform in order to disable SAM sites on the platform, and the second phase to infiltrate the prison itself. After infiltrating the prison, MacTavish reunites with Captain Price and returns the M1911 pistol he used to kill Imran Zakhaev. Although Price is at first hostile towards Roach but rejoins after recognizing Soap and the squad manages to exfiltrate from the area.

During the events of "Contingency", MacTavish facilitates Price's infiltration inside a submarine by providing Predator drone support. After the events of the nuclear launch, Task Force 141 was split up to go investigate two locations, with Price and MacTavish investigating an arms deal in Afghanistan, while Ghost and Sanderson and the bulk of the task force investigate one of Makarov's safehouses in Russia. Price and MacTavish are attacked by Shepherd's men and attempt to warn Ghost and Sanderson, only to be late in the process. Soap and Price manage to escape the arms deal while getting some intelligence from Makarov, focusing on killing Shepherd.

The duo then pursues Shepherd through Afghanistan, where they eventually corner him and attempt to kill him. However, Shepherd disarms Soap, knocks him to the ground and impales him with a knife. Price then engages Shepherd in a long hand-to-hand fight, with Shepherd eventually gaining the upper hand. However Soap, now awake takes out the knife in his chest and throws it at Shepherd, killing the general for good. Price then comes to Soap's aid and the two are evacuated by Nikolai, who arrives in a MH-6 Little Bird. During the course of Shepherd's betrayal, Soap and Price are labeled as international war criminals, and are on the run at the end of the game.

Quotes
"Ghost, the driver is dead. We're going on foot, meet us at the hotel!"

- MacTavish to Ghost, after Faust shot the driver of the car.

"Ok move upstairs. Control - we're advancing to Dock Two"

- Captain MacTavish after they cleared a room on the Oil Platform.

"Negative. They've stopped twice already - no sign of him"

- Captain MacTavish at the beginning of the level.

"This belongs to you sir."

- Soap giving back the M1911 he recieved on the bridge to Captain Price in The Gulag.

Trivia

 * Soap seems to be the squad's designated marksman, as he starts with a long range weapon at least one time during every operation (operation, not mission.) the only two exceptions being Crew Expendable, as a sniper rifle would just be too large and cumbersome to use effectively in the cramped compartments of a ship's interior, and during the events of Act Three, as you already have an American Sniper Team. Also, Kamarov refers to you while talking to Price as "your sniper," and he covers Gary Sanderson during the mission Cliffhanger with a M14 EBR.
 * Soap is the second playable character to be involved in a sequel, as in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 he returns as an NPC and playable character. The first returning character was James Doyle, who also came back as a playable character.
 * The left side of Cpt. Soap's face has scars, most likely acquired during Game Over.
 * "Soap" appears to have adopted many mannerisms of Captain Price. For example:
 * He apparently likes to smoke before missions, like in Cliffhanger (much like Captain Price in Crew Expendable).
 * Like Captain Price, Soap apparently uses aggressive tactics and close-combat fighting.
 * In Cliffhanger, the part where he saves Sanderson is very similar to what Captain Price does when Soap goes onto the helicopter in Crew Expendable.
 * He has a beard/5 O'Clock shadow similar to Captain Price.
 * In the Modern Warfare 1, Price's name when looked at is 'Captain Price' - the only name featured to have an unabbreviated rank. In Modern Warfare 2, Soap seems to inherit this distinction, as he is similarly titled without abbreviation, as 'Captain MacTavish'.


 * In the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Gameplay Video, MacTavish's voice sounds very different from his voice in the Cliffhanger trailer (it is slightly higher pitched and has more of a Scottish accent). This is likely his final voice by Kevin McKidd (the E3 version was being done by an Infinity Ward staff member).
 * In the reveal trailer for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, there is a scene where Soap is surrendering to the Ultranationalists in Cliffhanger. After a few seconds, Soap seems to be shot and killed. Soap is not actually killed, but this will happen if you fail to trigger a bomb in time after retrieving the ACS module in the hangar.
 * If you look very closely on the back of his neck on the image above, you can see a tattoo.
 * Soap looks very similar to Sergeant Roebuck in Call of Duty: World at War; particularly the hair style.
 * In the picture above, a patch is clearly seen with the letters S.A.S. on Soap's vest.
 * His portrait shows him wielding an M4A1 Carbine with his left hand, which is incorrect, as in the previous Call of Duty game and in the first Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 gameplay trailers, he is right-handed. One explanation is that he could be ambidextrous.
 * Soap is one of only seven playable characters to have his face revealed (the others being Captain Price, Pfc Allen and the Nazi Zombie characters).
 * Soap's call sign is similar to Price's, his being Papa Six and Price's being Bravo Six.
 * A sculpted head of MacTavish is available with the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition.
 * After finding Price, Price greets him as Soap. This confuses the members of Soap's team, meaning that Soap never told them his nickname and they simply call him Captain MacTavish. One even says "Who's Soap?"
 * In Modern Warfare 2, he is referred as "Captain MacTavish" until Contingency, where the subtitles refer to him as his ancient nickname: "Soap" (because we no more see him in person from this mission).

Appearances

 * (2 games)
 * Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (First appearance)
 * Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - Kevin McKidd