Joseph Bowman

"You don't scare me. Communist piece of shit..."

- Bowman's last words.

Chief Petty Officer Joseph Bowman is a SOG operative who appears in Call of Duty: Black Ops. He is Woods' right-hand man. He appears in almost every mission played by Mason up until Payback, in which he is killed. He is voiced by O'Shea Jackson, better known as "Ice Cube."

Death
After being captured by Viet Cong fighters, Bowman is brutally clubbed several times in the back of the head with a lead pipe by a Spetsnaz operative when he refuses to play Russian Roulette at the beginning of "Payback." According to his dialogue, he purposely angered the interrogator in order to kill him, supported by what he says, "I'm tired, I just wanna end this.", though before Mason enters to play Russian Roulette, the narrator (Mason) says that "Bowman had given up".

Afterwards he is raped.

Trivia

 * His callsigns are Whiskey and Lima-niner.
 * His face bears a striking resemblance rapper Ice Cube, his own voice contributor. Mainly due to the similar hairstyle (pointed side-burns and line-ups) and facial structure.
 * Bowman also voices the announcer for the SOG, so in turn, Ice Cube is the announcer.
 * Throughout the entire campaign, Bowman is the only African American soldier. This is probably because of how recent the Civil Rights Movement had been, is service dating back to '63 in Executive Order.
 * In the mission Crash Site, Bowman makes a sign of the cross after the forward gunner of the boat is killed. This action implies Bowman is a Christian.
 * When the kid dies in Crash Site Bowman can be hear shouting "Medic!" but like random voices say by NPC characters it also does not appear in the subtitles (confirmed only on the PS3 and PC versions)
 * He is also the only person in the campaign who addresses Mason by his first name. In S.O.G he says, "It's good to see you, Alex."
 * In Payback, Mason says that all he could hear was Bowman sobbing before saying that he had given up.
 * Strangely, Bowman responds to Reznov twice in "Crash Site" although Mason probably said similar things in "Rebirth". It is seen in "Rebirth" that Mason is the one saying what Reznov is presumed to be saying to him and others throughout the game after Vorkuta. Mason is presumably mumbling, so Bowman calls out "Say again?" in "Crash Site".
 * After Bowman is killed by "The Russian", his body disappears after the cutscene though a soldier appears to start dragging him away when the camera loses focus on him.
 * In earlier trailers it appears Bowman was going to be white as he looks paler than he appears in-game.
 * Bowman and Woods appear to be good friends, which is indicated as Bowman arrives to Mason, Hudson and Woods in Vietnam, leading the duo to ignore Hudson as they leave.
 * Also when Bowman was killed, Mason screamed at the top of his lungs and swore to kill the Russian; when chasing him down, Woods yelled something along the lines of "That bastard's gonna die," and when they killed him finally, they both said, "For Bowman."
 * It is strange how Bowman died before Woods, but on the dates it says Woods died first (Woods:2/12/1968 Bowman:2/19/1968). But note that Woods was present when Bowman was clubbed to death. This could be because they were presumed dead when captured in the plane wreck in the mission Crash Site.
 * Bowman appears to be multilingual because in Executive Order, he speaks to the Soviet soldiers in Russian to get them out the way of a door before killing them with Brooks. Bowman also seems to understand Vietnamese, because in The Defector Woods asks Bowman what the NVA are saying over the loudspeakers, which Bowman translates into "Kill the civilians". The in-game intel notes that Bowman is fluent in Spanish. He says "We have a problem, for me" in Executive Order.
 * Bowman carries some similarities and traits from the Call of Duty 4 SSgt.Griggs :
 * Both were African-American.
 * Both were killed by Russians.
 * Both of their voice actors also serve as multiplayer announcers for their respective factions.
 * Both were right-hand men for their leaders.
 * Both are killed by a strike/bullet to the head or neck area.
 * Both faces bear a striking resemblance their own contributor.
 * Both voice contributors were rappers.
 * In the mission "Operation 40", Bowman is seen looking at the dancer in the bar, though when he turns back to look at the map he puts on a "disgusted" face.