Friedrich Steiner

"Killing me will not stop Nova!"

- Steiner, seconds before his death.

Doctor Friedrich Steiner was a character and the tertiary antagonist in Call of Duty: Black Ops. He was a German scientist who created the chemical weapon Nova 6, a nerve toxin capable of killing a human in a matter of seconds.

Bio
Steiner was born on June 11, 1904 in Hamburg, Germany. Not much else is known about his early life.

World War Two
"In '43, the Führer realized that the Allies could not be held back much longer. We began to look for more "unconventional" solutions. Throughout the war, my own research was focused on chemical weapons...it was meticulous and frustrating work. However, what we finally developed was a weapon more effective than we ever dared to imagine."

- Steiner revealing his job during the war.



Before the war Friedrich Steiner was a genius who had earned a collection of degrees and was thus sought by the Waffen-SS for his service in the various Wunderwaffen projects. His role was the creation of Nova 6 (the development began in January 1943), a toxin with such deadliness even the creator himself was horrified. The weapon was to be used as a last resort against the Allies, but Germany had lost the war before it was properly tested.

Post-War
"As I looked into the man's eyes, I saw all the evil of the Fascist Reich still burning strong. At that moment, every fiber in my being yearned to put an end to his wretched life."

- Reznov after his encounter with Steiner.



Towards the end of the war, Steiner belonged to the task force which was sent to launch Nova 6 loaded rockets towards the United States, but his cargo ship was crippled by British bomber planes and trapped in the Arctic ice. As much as they tried to salvage what they could, Germany lost the war. To cut a deal for himself, Steiner defected to the Soviet Union and subsequently was captured by a strike team lead by Viktor Reznov and Dimitri Petrenko and commanded by Nikita Dragovich and Lev Kravchenko. Under the traitorous Dragovich's orders, Steiner uses Reznov's squad for the "demonstration" of the Nova 6, while most of the squad including Dimitri are killed, Reznov and what is left of his men manage to escape amid the chaos created by a British strike team. Reznov vows revenge on Steiner for the death of Dimitri, his friend and companion.

Although Reznov escapes after having caused the destruction of the original Nova-6 shipment, for the next 23 years Steiner works for Dragovich to make a refined version of the toxin, the centerpiece of conquest against America.

Rebirth Island
"In 36 hours, the sleeper agents will receive their final orders. Only I can tell you how to stop the broadcast. I am at Rebirth Island -the Aral Sea. The choice is yours."

- Steiner asking Hudson for help.

After his role in the creation of Nova 6 has become known, Steiner is listed a top-priority target for SOG. His facility in the Ural Mountains is revealed by Daniel Clarke, a former freelance chemist who worked for Project Nova before his escape. As Jason Hudson and Grigori Weaver reach the facility, Steiner makes contact with them and once again negotiates for his life: not only does Steiner tell them of Dragovich's plan, but also he discloses something more dire. In thirty-six hours the United States would be hit with Nova 6 by Dragovich's sleeper cells. Steiner offers to tell them how to stop the attack if only the two could retrieve him from "Rebirth Island."

Death
However, before the two can extract him, Mason arrives and executes Steiner thinking Viktor Reznov is achieving his revenge. When one of the interrogators states that they wanted Steiner alive and asks why Mason killed him, Mason states that the numbers he was hearing told him to do so.

Black Ops II
Though not physically seen or mentioned, archival footage of Steiner's execution at the hands of Mason/"Reznov" was shown when Woods was telling Mason's son, David, the story of Reznov.

Trivia

 * Reznov, Dimitri, Dragovich, Kravchenko, and Steiner had a photo taken with the wrecked ship as a backdrop before they entered the ship for the Nova 6. The photo can be found at Kravchenko's office both at the underground command post and the cave compound.
 * He is the first German to be the player's ally in the campaign of the Call of Duty series.
 * Before walking to the ship, one will see Steiner holding a Mosin-Nagant with what looks like a pistol grip but this "grip" is his Walther P38 going through the rifle itself.
 * On the intel page for the mission WMD, his name is incorrectly spelled 'Freidrich Steiner' when it should be Friedrich Steiner.
 * Steiner is an opportunist since he defects to the Soviet Union until he realized his use was up so he tried to defect to America though he was killed by Mason before he could do so.
 * He is the only primary antagonist in Call of Duty: Black Ops to be killed by a pistol, until Call of Duty: Black Ops II, when Kravchenko is executed by Mason or Woods using a M1911.
 * He is briefly seen in Black Ops 2, when Woods mentions Mason and his hallucinations of Reznov. Steiner has the earliest birthday in the call of duty series.