Civilian

Civilians are people not actively involved in military or paramilitary duty.

In Call of Duty
Civilians make several appearances in the Call of Duty games. With the exception of the "No Russian" mission, the player is unable to kill civilians and continue the mission. If they do, they will be loaded back to the last checkpoint with a message telling them they've killed a civilian. Sometimes a player can get away with killing civilians. For example, if a civilian runs in front of a player while they're firing, or if they suddenly surprise the player (who kills them), the player may be able to continue the mission, because the game "knows" when the civilian's death was an accident.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Firstly, in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, many civilians can be seen being executed by the OpFor in "The Coup", in which the player character is the president of the unnamed nation in which the events take place. Several other non-combatants are seen hiding and fleeing from the violence. A rural farmer appears in the level, "Hunted", who is questioned and about to be executed by Ultranationalists (the player can choose to save his life, which earns an achievement, "Man of the People"). Two civilians appear in the following level, "Death From Above", when several S.A.S. commandeer two civilian jeeps (the mission is failed if they are attacked). Many civilian drivers can be seen in "Game Over", particularly the first portion of the level in which the player's jeep enters a highway. Shooting them through their windshields has no effect, likely due to the confusion which would arise from a variable such as randomly crashing vehicle in the midst of a scripted chase. Many dead civilians can be seen in "Mile High Club". One last civilian, originally named Kreigler, is held hostage at the end of the mission and must be rescued.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Civilians appear more frequently and in far greater number in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Easily their most prominent appearance is during the mission "No Russian". As an undercover CIA agent, players (in the role of Joseph Allen) join a group of Russian Ultranationalist in an outright massacre in a Moscow airport. Scores of civilians are murdered in cold blood by the player's allies. It should be noted that prior to the mission's start, players of the game are given several warnings as to the graphic nature of the following scenes, and may choose to skip the mission entirely.

No Russian sparked a wave of controversy regarding Modern Warfare 2, with many in the media displaying outrage at the notion of players being instructed to kill unarmed civilians in cold blood. In Russia, copies of the game had the mission removed entirely. Some gaming outlets also criticized the level, with IGN likening it to a publicity stunt by Infinity Ward.

Civilians make their first appearance of the game in the mission, "Team Player", when the player is riding in the humvee in the town. They run away from the convoy that the player is riding in, and are not actually present when fighting breaks out in the town.

A large group of civilians is seen in a favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the mission, "Takedown." A member of Task Force 141 (Meat) evacuates them from the area with a warning in Portuguese and a burst of gunfire aimed at the sky. Further non-combatants are seen in "Bomb Squad" and O Cristo Redentor.

A single civilian is present in the mission "Exodus". As the player advances down the street at the beginning of the level, a car driving towards the starting point will speed by on the street. The civilian driving said car will crash it and then explode; there is no way to save them.

In "The Pit" for the mission "S.S.D.D." and the Spec Ops mission "The Pit", there are several civilian targets as well as hostile targets. If the civilians are shot in "S.S.D.D.", the player will receive a time deduction after completing the course. If the civilian targets are shot in "The Pit", the player will be unable to achieve a 3-star rating when they complete the course.

Civilians are held hostage in "The Only Easy Day...Was Yesterday" and the Spec Ops "Wetwork" in the oil rig.

Call of Duty: Black Ops
In Operation 40, a woman dancing and a man leaning against a wall smoking appear in the initial cutscene. Later, groups of civilians appear during the fight with police and the escape from Havana.

In The Defector, NVA are seen executing civilians near the beginning. Many dead and living civilians are seen in this level. Of interest is one civilian kneeling and crying over a deceased one, seen shortly after meeting with Viktor Reznov.

On the streets in Numbers, many Chinese civilians are seen fleeing once the fighting spreads.

Russian workers are seen fleeing and being killed by Nova 6 in Rebirth.

Trivia

 * Civilians physically appear during gameplay in only three games: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare ,Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: Black Ops.
 * Players are often verbally reprimanded for the killing of civilians, and in some cases this may cause a mission failure. Except in the Modern Warfare 2 level, "No Russian".
 * In the level, "Game Over", some of the cars might be driven by the Farmer from "Hunted", and sometimes the cars will actually have nobody driving them.
 * "O Cristo Redentor" and "No Russian" are the only two levels in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (as well as the rest of the series) where the player can kill more than one civilian without failing the mission. However, while "No Russian" allows the player to kill as many civilians as they please while O Cristo Redentor has a cap on the number of civilians killed before the Special Ops Mission must be restarted.