Nikolai Belinski


 * For the WWII Russian tank commander, see Nikolai Badanov. For the Loyalist helicopter pilot, see Nikolai.

"Stay away from my vodka!!"

- Nikolai

Nikolai Belinski (Russian: Николай Белинский) was a Russian soldier who fought in World War II. He appears in Shi No Numa and Der Riese in World at War, but in Black Ops he appears in all four original zombie maps, as well as Kino der Toten and Ascension. He is voiced by Fred Tatasciore.

Biography
"Stalin himself cannot stare Nikolai in the eye, no one can. For in his eyes you see the soul of a man burning with a hatred of all things living. His closet is full of skeletons, many of them with the flesh still attached. Before the war, Nikolai quickly made his way up through the party ranks by killing the next man in line, and by marrying politically. His aspirations all came crashing down after his fifth wife mysteriously died while cleaning Nikolai’s axe with her neck. Little did he know that she had been sleeping with a high ranking party official on the side. After her tragic demise, Nikolai’s reputation spread quickly through the party, and it wasn’t long before Stalin himself had heard about the psychopathic politician who killed anything that came within 5 feet of him. As soon as the war started, Nikolai was dropped at the front line and forgotten about, where he wallowed in self pity and Vodka for several years. With many weapons in his arsenal, not least of which is his breath, Nikolai Belinski can look death in the eye and say 'I know you'."

- Nikolai's Bio added in with Map Pack 3

Nikolai's reason for fighting the zombies is currently unknown. It may never be discovered as his memory was wiped by Element 115 as detailed by a document from Vbush. He, Takeo, and Dempsey are being observed by Richtofen. How he remembers his wives if this is the case is something of a mystery.

Trivia

 * He and Chernov share the same character model.
 * It is possible he changed his name to Nikolai Belinski and is in Nazi zombies.(Highly unlikely)
 * Looking from his quotes, Nikolai is an alcoholic and likes vodka.
 * Nikolai has a close connection to his vodka and refuses to share it with the exception of two quotes-"Vodka for everybody!" (upon getting double points) and "Hello Ray, would you like some vodka?" (upon getting the Ray Gun).
 * In Blood and Iron, when Dimitri Petrenko enters the train, the player will see two figures similar to Nikolai. One of them is probably Chernov, while the other one could be Nikolai. However, when he exits the train in Ring of Steel, there is only Chernov on the right. The other figure is nowhere to be found. He might have exited the train before reaching Pankow.
 * The PPSh-41 seems to be his weapon of choice.
 * Nikolai is the only Soviet character heard cursing in English through out the entire game (besides Reznov occasionally cursing in Russian in "Vendetta" and "Heart of the Reich").
 * The player controlling Nikolai will have their point color as blue.
 * One of Nikolai's quotes in the zombie map Shi No Numa when he gets a sniper rifle (or rarely the PPSh-41), is "Vasili would be proud". It may refer to the Call of Duty 2 character, Vasili Koslov, but it is more likely a reference to the famous Russian sniper, Vasili Zaytsev.
 * Another one of Nikolai's quotes in Shi No Numa when he gets a headshot is "Holy shit, did you see that fucking head come apart?", this is a reference to a line from Platoon, a 1986 War film set in Vietnam. Call of Duty: World at War has been known for referring to Platoon before.
 * It is currently unknown why or how he was in the middle of a swamp in the Pacific. Possibly he was dropped at the front lines to end the Zombie threat or maybe was part of Operation August Storm, Soviet Union's invasion of the Japanese-controlled Manchuria. This attack is mentioned in Max Brook's "The Zombie Survival Guide" this story is related to the Nazis' attempt to control zombies.
 * It is interesting that Nikolai always pairs up with Richtofen in the trailers, as they are direct enemies. As being Russian/German, and completely hating each other in-game.
 * Nikolai seems to have no respect for Takeo Masaki, as in Der Riese, he makes quotes such as "We should watch Takeo, there's something wrong with that boy" or "Maybe Takeo is a zombie, I mean, how can you tell?" Also in Kino der Toten, if the player holds the action button in front of Takeo's portrait, he will say "I hate you Takeo."
 * Additionally he may say "You're a walking fucking cliche, Takeo" with a joke lying in the hypocrisy of this statement being said by the patriotic, blind-stinking drunk, communism supporting Russian.
 * Before the war, he was apparently a Carpenter, because when the player gets the Carpenter power up, he says "I used to be a carpenter", which explains, somewhat, why he owned an axe but in Kino der Toten, he says "Please I have no job" when he does not have enough money to buy a gun.
 * He commonly makes quotes about vodka, like I'm almost out of vodka, I mean, ammo along with saying Pack-a-punch. Oh my God I think it makes vodka, and Oh look a distillery. Oh wait it's just a teleporter feeding to a common stereotype that Russians are heavy vodka drinkers.
 * His hobby was apparently hunting, or he just carried two jobs before the war, as one of his quotes when he gets the Teddy bear is "In Russia, I kill bears TEN TIMES your size!".
 * Nikolai seems to be the only one of the playable characters who does not directly disrespect Dempsey. In fact Dempsey seems to be the only character Nikolai respects as he often comments Dempsey's actions with phrases like 'Ura! The Marines' Dempsey!' 'Ura Tank! Destroy them! ' and 'Right here with you Tank!' Dempsey on the other hand does not seem to notice this and completely ignores Nikolai. Except in the Shi No Numa Trailer When He Says:"Shut up Nikolai and get your gear on!".
 * There appears to be writing on Nikolai's bag, and upon closer inspection, it says Nikolai's Vodka.
 * Dr. Richtofen calls Nikolai his Cossack comrade or friend. A possible reason for this is that Richtofen likes Nikolai because he murdered his wives brutally.
 * Rarely, Nikolai will sing the jingle for Quick Revive when using the Pack-a-Punch Machine.
 * Nikolai is apparently a Cossack, as one of his quotes are "This is not a good weapon for a Cossack!" Also, Richtofen refers to him as his "Cossack friend." (A reference to the fact Cosacks served for both the USSR and the Nazi's, since the majority of them fell victim to "Decossackization" under Stalin).
 * It seems that Tank, Nikolai, Takeo, and Richtofen all hate each other, but one of the bigger friendships lies between Richtofen and Nikolai.
 * Apparently, Nikolai knows that he is in a game, much like the other main charecters. When the player who is playing as Nikolai activates the Dead Air Achievement/Trophy, he will say: "Another musical easter egg. I like this!"
 * Whenever Nikolai kills a zombie by knifing, he says a line. Knifing many zombies during insta kill can result in him saying over 4 lines simultaneously.
 * Nikolai uses the same character model as Chernov, although he looks older in Nazi Zombies.
 * Sometimes, when buying the Bowie Knife, he will say "Good strong Russian steel", although it is invented and manufactured in America.
 * Although Nikolai is an avid drinker of vodka, you never see him talking about other alchoholic drinks (probably because vodka is routinely thought of as the strongest sort of alcoholic drink).
 * If the player has a Panzerschreck with ammo in the red (3 or 4) he will say at least 7 lines simultaneously
 * Occasionally, on the level "Ring of Steel" in the Campaign Mode, immediately after exiting the train, look to the left; There may be a soldier named Sgt. Belinski. This soldier wears the same uniform as Nikolai, so it may be the same soldier. This is most probably an easter egg put in by Treyarch. So far, Nikolai makes his only campaign appearance in "Ring of Steel" (and it possibly is not even him).
 * He is a father, as he says: "My daughter loved that fucking bear." But he does show some hatred to teddy bears. An example is when he gets the teddy bear from the Mystery Box he will say "I have been humiliated by child's toy."
 * In Kino der Toten he has fingerless gloves in 1st person view but in 3rd person he has no gloves.
 * In Black Ops, his first-person character model is the same as Alex Mason's first person model in the level Vorkuta.
 * Whenever Nikolai buys a weapon off the wall or Mystery Box he will sometimes say "I got 99 problems but a gun ain't one!" possibly referring to rapper Jay-Z's song 99 Problems
 * One of Nikolai"s new quotes is said without a Russian accent, and it does not even sound like him. This could be a dubbing problem. The quote is 'His head's at crotch level, do not get excited Dempsey."
 * During 115 in Kino Der Toten, Nikolai will sometimes sing along to one of the verses in his own version of that part.
 * In Kino der Toten Nikolai has a bandage on his arm, indicating he is injured.
 * Nikolai at one time in his life either lived or worked on a pig farm, as when he receives/buys a poor weapon, he will sometimes say "There were better weapons on my pig farm."
 * Nikolai has a sister, as sometimes in Kino der Toten, he will say "You shoot like my little sister, Takeo!"
 * Sometimes he will call a zombie a comrade, such as when getting a headshot he may say "A toast to our headless comrade."
 * He was married 5 times, and murdered at least 3 of them (First wife was killed by some sort of shotgun, second by either a PPSh-41 or PTRS-41 (to whchi he lamely states "It was an accident!"), and, as mentioned in his bio, the fifth and final wife was beheaded by an axe (he probably didn't have the time to remarry as he was kicked to the front soon-after)) Only the fourth wife is confirmed to have escaped Nikolai's wrath, as he says on Kino der Toten: "First it takes my money, then it disappears... just like my fourth wife!" However, it is possible that he tracked her down and beat her to death, as he says on Ascension: "I'll have to use my bare hands... just like with fourth wife. Always talking..." (or this may just show he physically abused her, prompting her to flee in the first place)
 * Part of his left sleeve has been ripped off in Ascension. He is also covered in more blood and has more facial hair.
 * Nikolai's Matryoshka Doll in Ascension is the only one that will respond negatively to its "counter-part", as, when Nikolai interacts with it, it says"Ugh, you look like my sister".
 * In Der Riese, Kino der Toten, and Ascension, It should be noted that Nikolai seems to have a vast amount of knowledge regarding who the zombies are, about Der Riese, Group 935 and even about Samantha. This is stated when he says "Did you ever hear about that Die Glocke thing" (when entering a teleporter room), "Sam, when I find you, you are so grounded" (after losing the mystery box), "I'm going to call you Maxis Jr" (after getting a headshot). It is possible that this is because Richtofen told him about everything as when he states "Edward, that girl is taunting me again" (after the mystery box disapears) and "Your secrets safe with me" (when Richtofen revives Nikolai).
 * Even though Nikolai respects Richtofen and vice versa, when Richtofen presses X on Nikolais doll it says "I hate you, Richtofen." The dolls also reflect their respective character's personality, meaning Nikolai may hate Richtofen... but then again, the doll even responds negatively to Nikolai, meaning Samantha is mearly using it to mock the others.