Joseph Allen

http://i3.ytimg.com/vi/VWjTvNfr5X0/default.jpg Alexei Borodin Attacking at the airport.

"So how do I look?" "Like one of the bad guys."

- PFC Joseph Allen and General Shepherd

Private First Class Joseph Allen is a playable character and the main protagonist in the early part of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. He is introduced in S.S.D.D. helping Sergeant Foley train local Afghan resistance fighters at Firebase Phoenix in Afghanistan. He then undergoes a selection phase for Task Force 141 prior to engaging local OpFor troops. He is then hand-picked by Shepherd to go undercover in Vladimir Makarov's cell under the alias Alexei Borodin.

Allen is killed by Makarov when attempting to escape from Zakhaev International Airport, Makarov having learned about his real identity. Allen's corpse is used as a catalyst for Russian forces to invade the United States. It is interesting to note that his voice is heard later on in the game after he has been picked for Task Force 141, making him the one of the few Call of Duty playable characters to be heard (another example of which is the Thermal Imaging TV Operator in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare). Before joining the Rangers, he lived in Ithaca, NY.

Trivia

 * The name Alexei Borodin might be a reference to the first Call of Duty game because of the fact that the first playable Russian character's first name is Alexei, and the first person the player meets has the last name "Borodin".
 * He is one of the few playable characters in the Call of Duty series that can be heard speaking. His voice can be heard in a conversation with Shepherd in the cutscene before Cliffhanger.
 * Allen is the multiplayer announcer for the Rangers.
 * The tattoos on Allen's chest that were added as part of the operation are Russian Prison tattoos. The cathedral is symbolic of how long a person has been in prison, with each steeple representing either a year or a sentence. The cathedral itself may be a representation of Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow.
 * At the beginning of Team Player when you watch Shepherd, look down at his hands. They're just placed on the ground.
 * Joseph Allen was only 22 years old during the events of Modern Warfare 2.
 * A Corporal Allen can be seen in Call of Duty 4:Modern Warfare (In level Charlie Don't Surf).