John "Soap" MacTavish (Original)

John "Soap" MacTavish is a Scottish main character in the game Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare as a Sergeant serving as the team's sniper and demolitions expert, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 as a Captain and commanding officer of Gary Sanderson (the main playable character of Modern Warfare 2), and is considered to be the general protagonist in the Modern Warfare series. He plays a major role during the Ultranationalist crisis, a newcomer to the British SAS and part of Captain Price's Bravo Team. Players assume the role of Soap in Modern Warfare as well as others. He is present as a NPC in Modern Warfare 2, except the last three levels of the game where the player retakes his role. Soap is the apparent field commander of Task Force 141. He is voiced by Kevin McKidd.

S.A.S. Career
"Soap" begins his SAS career hours before the six-day global war begins. Initially, Soap started out as a Sergeant, unusual in that newcomers to the SAS are usually demoted to Trooper (However, they still retain their rank and the level of pay they previously received the rank of trooper is only given to show that all the new recruits are equal), fresh out of Selection. Whilst in the SAS's training camp in Credenhill, UK, Soap recieved a quick training session in weapons and techniques by a fellow SAS member Gaz, before being introduced to Captain Price and the rest of Bravo Team. After passing the C.Q.B. test (Close Quarters Battle, 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. In the process of escaping the doomed vessel, Soap was forced to leap for the ramp of the team's helicopter, just as it was beginning to fly away. However, he lost his grip, and mere seconds before he was bound to fall off the vehicle, was rescued by Captain Price.

Upon completing the mission, Soap, Price and Gaz travel to the Caucasus Mountains in 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 an Ultranationalist surface-to-air missile. 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, call-signed "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 in search of Khaled Al-Asad. Upon locating him, Soap witnessed Al-Asad's interrogation and execution at the hands of Captain Price, learning that Imran Zakhaev had been Al-Asad's weapons supplier. 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. Afterwards, he was the point man when the squad had to backtrack to the lower part of the village due to heavy coverage of Anti Aircraft weapons in the vicinity. Following this, Soap and the rest of Bravo Team were extracted by US Marines led by Sergeant Griggs.

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. After grouping with US forces, Soap and his allies proceeded to enter a Ultranationalist outpost and secure it, as part of plan to capture Zakhaev's son, Victor Zakhaev. The following day, a convoy arrives in the outpost, led by Victor himself. Bravo Team, disguised as Russian guards, allow Victor to enter the facility, though quickly reveal their true intentions and attack his forces. During the battle that followed, Soap and Griggs provided sniper support for the rest of the team from a high tower. However, a jeep crashes into one of the legs of the tower, sending it tumbling to the ground. Stunned, Soap was unable to take down Victor before he could get away. After chasing him through a small village, and a five story building, Soap and the rest of the team corner Victor. Unwilling to betray his father's secrets, Victor commited suicide before Soap could take away his weapon.

Angered at his son's death, Zakhaev threatened to launch Nuclear missiles at the East Coast of America if Price did not withdraw from Russia. In order to handicap Zakhaev's nuclear threat, Soap, Price, Gaz, Griggs, and several other SAS members parachuted into the Altay Mountains in order to reach his launch facility. However, their mission was delayed by Grigg's separation and subsequent capture. After eventually locating and recovering him, Soap planted a set of C4 on a power tower, destroying the electricity supply to the facility. Following this, the team regrouped with US sniping forces before witnessing a double nuclear missile launch at Zakhaev's hands. Entering the facility, the team furiously fought against time to reach the launch control center, and eventually deactivated the missiles. However, the team was unable to prevent Zakhaev's escape, and he managed to depart the facility before anything could be done. The group then attempted to escape, with Soap provided all-around covering fire for their jeep as they made their way to the extraction site. However, Zakhaev's Mi-24 Hind damaged the bridge, forcing Soap and his companions to fight their way on foot.

Fighting fiercely at the bridge in a massive penultimate battle, Soap was thrown to the ground and severely injured by an exploding oil truck. He was pulled into cover by SSgt. Griggs, moments before Griggs himself was killed. He then watched helplessly as Imran Zakhaev and his bodyguards executed Gaz and two other SAS operatives. Just as all hope seemed lost, a Loyalist Mi-28 gunship destroyed the Ultranationalist Mi-24 Hind, forcing Zakhaev and his henchmen to turn away from Soap and open fire on the helicopter. A heavily wounded Price slid Soap his M1911 pistol, which Soap used to kill Zakhaev and two of his bodyguards.

Moments later, Loyalist forces flooded the scene and Kamarov came to Soap's aid, placing him onto a stretcher, assuring him that he will be alright. Soap passed out during the middle of extraction, though survived his wounds alongside Price.

Field Commander of Task Force 141
During the next five years after the events of the civil war, MacTavish was rising in the SAS taking part in an unknown number of operations throughout the world. It was during these five years MacTavish would be promoted to Lieutenant and eventually promoted to the rank of Captain, and was also recruited into the elite Task Force 141, comprised of only the best, and most experienced soldiers. By 2016, MacTavish had become the task force's field commander, leading the 141's operations with Lieutenant Simon "Ghost" Riley and Sergeant Gary "Roach" Sanderson under his command. Later, MacTavish and Sanderson were sent to infiltrate a Russian airbase to recover an ACS module within the Tian Shan mountain range in Kazakhstan. They recovered the module, though were forced to escape on snowmobiles after they were compromised by Major Petrov and his forces. Shortly after the mission, MacTavish led Task Force 141 into Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, to capture Rojas, who had supplied the Russian terrorist Vladimir Makarov with his arms during his assault on Zakhaev International Airport. However, they only managed to learn from Rojas is that Makarov has a strong hatred for Prisoner 627 in a Russian gulag. The task force was then swarmed by the Brazilian Militia, though are then saved by Nikolai, who had fought alongside Soap during the events of civil war.

Shortly after being extracted from South America, MacTavish and Task Force 141 initiated 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 led his troops through the Russian gulag, and eventually reach Prisoner 627, who turns out to be none other than Captain Price. Although Price is at first hostile towards Roach, he rejoins after recognizing Soap, and the squad manages to extract (via SPIE rig) from the area. During this time, MacTavish returns Price's M1911 pistol he used to kill Imran Zakhaev five years earlier.

The task force then headed into Petropavlovsk, Russia, seemingly on a mission to destroy a submarine. During the course of the mission, MacTavish facilitated Price's infiltration inside a submarine by providing Predator drone support. However, in a sudden twist of events, Price used the submarine to launch a nuclear missile, using it as an EMP to hinder the Russian's attack on America. After the events of the nuclear launch, Task Force 141 was split up to investigate two locations, with Price and MacTavish investigating an arms deal in Afghanistan, while Ghost and Roach 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 with the help of Nikolai while getting some intelligence from Makarov, focusing on killing Shepherd.

The duo then pursue Shepherd through Afghanistan, fighting through Shepherd's Shadow Company and into Site Hotel Bravo. They then prevent Shepherd's escape by shooting down the general's Pave Low where they eventually corner him and attempt to kill him. However, as MacTavish attempts to stab Shepherd, the latter disarmes Soap, knocks him to the ground and impales him with a knife. Before Shepherd could execute MacTavish, Price tackles Shepherd and engages him in a long hand-to-hand fight, with Shepherd eventually gaining the upper hand. However Soap, now awake, takes the knife] out of his chest, and throws it at Shepherd, killing the treacherous general. 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 were labeled as international fugitives, and were on the run following their victory over Shepherd.

Quotes
"Ghost, our driver is dead. We're on foot, meet us at the Hotel Rio and cut him off if you can."

- MacTavish to Ghost, after Rojas' Assistant shot the driver of the car.

"Nikolai! We're at the top of the favela surrounded by militia!"

- Soap talking to Nikolai at the beginning of "The Hornet's Nest".

"Roach is down!"

- Soap, if Gary Sanderson dies

"Ghost, we got a situation here...GET DOWN! GET DOWN!"

- Soap, when Rojas' assistant opens fire on the car the squad is driving in.

"Too right, mate. Now in the eyes of the world, they're the victims. Nobody's gonna say a word when the Russians club every American they can reach."

- Soap in the cutscene before "Takedown".

"I know a guy. Let's find a pay phone - they still exist?"

- Captain MacTavish in the briefing of "The Hornet's Nest".

"Ok move upstairs. Control - we're advancing to Deck 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 "Takedown".

"Place is filled with living casualties of the last war... which I swear I thought we'd won."

- Soap, in the cutscene before "The Gulag".

"This belongs to you, sir."

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

"It's good to have you back old man."

- Soap to Captain Price in "Contingency".

"We've got one good UMP. They've got a thousand."

- Soap, in the cutscene before "Just Like Old Times".

"Break's over, Roach. Let's go."

- Soap to Roach in "Cliffhanger".

"Oi Numpty! Watch your fire."

- Soap, if you shoot him by accident.

"Dogs, I hate dogs"

- Soap towards the beginning of"Contingency".

Statue

 * Captain "Soap" MacTavish ultra-premium ARTFX Statue sculpted by Kotobukiya
 * 1/6-scale, 12" tall if standing upright
 * Depicts Modern Warfare veteran Cpt. "Soap" MacTavish of Task Force 141
 * Equipped with custom snow camouflage and weaponry as seen in "Cliffhanger" mission from Modern Warfare 2
 * 3 sets of interchangeable weapons and arms, including: Dual ice-climbing pickaxes, Dual .45 caliber pistols, M14 Enhanced Battle Rifle
 * Environmental ice base stores alternate weapons when not in use

Trivia

 * Soap seems to be a designated marksman, as he starts with a long range weapon at least one time during every operation. The only exceptions are during "Crew Expendable", as a sniper rifle would be inappropriate for such a setting, during Safehouse even though a sniper rifle would have been very valuable here, but an M21 comes out of nowere for Heat, and during the events of Act Three, as an American Sniper Team is already covering the squad. Also, Kamarov refers to Soap as "your sniper" while talking to Price.
 * Soap also seems to be an explosives specialist, often using C4 (sometimes claymores) to surprise or ambush enemy forces. In Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, he uses a variety of explosives (mostly C4) in Blackout, Heat, Ultimatum, All In, and No Fighting in the War Room. In Modern Warfare 2's Cliffhanger and The Only Easy Day...Was Yesterday, he tells Roach/his team to set up C4's for "Plan B."
 * In the E3 2007 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare demo where they showed the audience some clips of Hunted, you can see Soaps hands. From this footage it was possible to identify that he was Caucasian, although he had dirt on his hands.
 * Soap's face in "Cliffhanger" looks much different than his face in all other missions. This is due to the fact that he is unshaven and is concealing his mohawk with a beanie. Also, most of his face is covered in snow.
 * Soap is referred to as the F.N.G. in the level of the same name. This is military slang for "Fucking New Guy".
 * Soap is the second highest-ranking playable character in the Call of Duty series, with the first being Major Badanov from Call of Duty: Finest Hour.
 * In the endings of both Modern Warfare titles he is hurt and carried to safety by Russians in Helicopters (Kamorov and Nikolai)
 * Soap has killed two high profile enemies; (Imran Zakhaev and Shepherd), something few playable characters have done in the Call of Duty series.
 * Soap takes a more mature role as leader than Captain Price. He only swears on one occasion when he loses sight of Alejandro Rojas and gets pinned down by militia, he doesn't make as many jokes, and even disciplines his second in command, Ghost, for making a comment about Americans which may annoy some American task force members.
 * Soap's first name is John, as seen during the 2007 E3 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare gameplay. However, during the SAS mission briefings in the actual game, his nickname is only shown. However, on Twitter, Robert Bowling confirmed his name was John.
 * Soap's rendering in Modern Warfare 2 may have been based off Navy SEAL Kelly Lake, a character from the film Tears of the Sun, and he also resembles Joseph Turok, along with Sev from Killzone 2.
 * 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.
 * There is a scar above his left eye, which he likely received from the events of "Game Over".
 * There appear to be many similarities between Soap and Captain Price:
 * 1) They like to smoke before missions, like in Cliffhanger and Crew Expendable.
 * 2) They have the same first name (John).
 * 3) In Modern Warfare, Captain 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'.
 * 4) Both appear as snipers in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
 * In the mission "S.S.D.D.", one of the U.S. soldiers refers to Soap as "a guy with a mohawk", who "spoke with some funny accent", "British maybe", which is technically correct as Soap is Scottish (Scotland is part of the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland").
 * A conversation by two soldiers in S.S.D.D. regarding the performance of "Deltas" in "The Pit" (obstacle course) can be heard. The man with the "freaky mask", referring to Ghost, and "that mohawk guy", (Soap), had beaten the course in 18 seconds, a feat which made the actual Delta members look like they were moving in slow motion by comparison. They were so amazed that they thought Ghost and Soap must have been something far better than Deltas. Soap also apparently "bitchslapped" the other soldiers on base, (which likely means he made the others guys look pathetic in comparison).
 * Soap is one of only seven playable characters to have his face revealed (the others being Captain Price and the Nazi Zombie characters).
 * 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. Worm even asks "Who's Soap?"
 * In Modern Warfare 2, he is referred to as "Captain MacTavish" until "Contingency", where the subtitles refer to him as his nickname: "Soap".
 * Both John "soap" Mactavish and Dimitri Petrenko are somewhat similar as they both worked with the commanding officers, cheated death, and have an important role in their respected game.
 * If the player takes awhile to capture Rojas, the player will hear Soap say, "Shit" whenever Ghost gives him a visual of Rojas.
 * In Modern Warfare 2, whenever a C4 needs to be setup, Soap always refers it as "Plan B".
 * It is odd how Soap became Captain from Sergeant (Trooper) in the five year space between games, when Price was a lieutenant and became a Captain sometime in the 15 years since Zakaev's attempted assassination (though Price may have stayed a Captain for some personal reason of his own). He either could have quickly risen up the ranks, or he could have later gone through officer training.
 * "The Gulag" is the last mission he is seen in person. From "Contingency" on, he is only heard on comms and is played from "The Enemy of my Enemy."
 * Despite speaking in earlier missions as an NPC, Soap no longer speaks (aside from grunts) when the player takes control of him. This is probably to keep in line with the tradition of playable characters being "silent heroes".
 * Additionally, all of his grunts and breathing audio when controlled by the player sound nothing like Soap's usual voice and instead are identical to the other playable characters.
 * In "Just Like Old Times", when hanging from the rope and stabbing the enemy soldier, Soap sighs in his actual voice.
 * At the end of Endgame, when Soap pulls the knife out of his chest, the player can clearly see the Infinity Ward logo near the hilt.
 * It is implausible that Soap is still alive at the end of Endgame after falling down a waterfall, smashed into a car, stabbed in the chest and being face stomped, as he would have lost a considerable amount of blood which would have only been hampered even more by Soap dragging his body along the ground to reach Shepherd's Magnum. Also notice how Price doesn't give any attention to his head (though the process of Price patching up Soap's wounds is blacked out briefly so his head may have been attended to off screen), as it probably would have been very damaged.
 * It seems Soap is about to give up hope and on life as he stares at Price's apparently unmoving body, as the screen begins to darken, then suddenly lights back up once Price begins to cough. Though it is probable it was just Infinity Ward trying to tease the player that they were going to make another ending where the fate of Soap and Price are unknown as it was in COD4, only to show their survival more convincingly this time.
 * Soap's prefered weapons are the M4A1 Carbine, MP5K, or M1911, as opposed to most TF141 members who instead use the ACR.
 * When Soap finds Captain Price in "The Gulag", he says "This belongs to you, sir" and hands a M1911 to Captain Price. This is the same gun Price slid to him to kill Zakhaev.
 * Soap and Sanderson appear to be good friends, as he smiles at Roach at the beginning of Cliffhanger, risking his life in The Hornets Nest at the end, beckoning Roach towards the helicopter. The player can hear him mutter "No!" in the Hornets Nest when Roach falls off the building. Also during Contingency, Soap appears to be concerned of Roach's well being as he asks Price what his status is (probably since it was the first time Soap and Roach weren't side by side), so it's likely that, other than Ghost, Roach was Soap's favored comrade.
 * The melancholy music in "The Enemy of my Enemy" is probably symbolic of Soap's mourning of his friends' executions, it stands out in a mission where such chaos is going on all around.
 * Soap is the only NPC to acknowledge when the player dies in combat. He usually alerts the team that "Roach is down" though sometimes he will simply shout "Roach!". However, this only takes place in the mission The Gulag.
 * Soap yells "Oi! Numpty, watch your fire" if the player shoots him.
 * Many fans have ranked Soap among heroes of war genre video games such as the Master Chief from the Halo series and Solid Snake from the Metal Gear/Metal Gear Solid series.
 * In "Endgame", before the player throws the knife at Shepherd, if he/she waits a moment before throwing the knife, the player can hear Soap quietly mutter "Shepherd", albeit not in his voice. He most likely does this to get Shepherd's attention and get a clear shot on him. He is one of the few playable characters in the series to talk during gameplay (the others being the Nazi Zombie characters, the AC-130 TV Operator, and Private Allen).
 * It is possible to conclude that Soap is ambidextrous, as in the picture at the top of this page he has a left-handed grip on his M4, even though he uses his right hand while you play as him, and as seen in "Endgame", after waking up from the crash, he takes out his knife and holds it in his left hand before attacking Shepherd and being impaled.
 * In the Museum, it takes two knife stabs to kill Soap.
 * In both Modern Warfare titles Price and Soap are the only surviving main characters following the killing of a primary antagonist.
 * In the Modern Warfare 2 E3 2009 Preview, Soap had less of a deep Scottish accent but later his voice was changed.
 * Soap, along with Price and Allen are the only members in the Task Force 141 who go by rank while everyone else goes by a unique nickname.
 * Both MacTavish and Dimitri (from World at War) are comparable since both have cheated deaths many times, have played an important role in their respective game, survive the final ending of the game (Dimitri surviving from a German shot while adding a flag at the end of the game and MacTavish surviving the gun shot from Zakhaev and surviving from a knife stab from General Shepherd in the ending of Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2) and work with a partner of higher power in their respective games (Dimitri worked with Sergeant Reznov in World at War while MacTavish worked with John Price in both Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2)
 * The Soap statue is 12 inches tall and 1/6 size, meaning Soap is six feet tall.
 * It is possible to conclude that Soap had some degree of throwing knife practice as he successfully kills Shepherd with the knife the latter had stabbed into his chest. Though it seems unlikely that Shepherd would have a throwing knife as a close-quarters weapon and that its appearance is for gameplay purposes, so it is quite remarkable that Soap could throw an Army knife effectively as he did.

Appearances

 * Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
 * Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2