Gabriel T. Rorke

"To us, Rorke was a legend. The man could walk through hell and not get burned. Ghosts were the best of the best. But Rorke was the reason we were feared."

- Elias Walker

Captain Gabriel Rorke is the main antagonist in Call of Duty: Ghosts. Formerly the leader of the Ghosts, his last action as part of the organization was to lead a covert mission in Caracas to assassinate Federation leader General Diego Almagro, twelve years prior to the events of Call of Duty: Ghosts. During the mission, then-Lieutenant Elias T. Walker was forced to abandon Rorke when the latter was caught in falling debris and pulled into a nearby river. Rorke was captured and tortured by the Federation, who eventually brainwashed him to their cause, drawing upon Rorke's resentment of Walker and the Ghosts for leaving him behind. He now serves as the Federation's ultimate weapon, hunting down his former comrades in order to clear the way for the Federation's takeover of the United States of America.

Operation: Sand Viper
In early 2005, sixty men from Tier One teams were deployed to protect a hospital and its occupants from five hundred enemy fighters. After three days of vicious fighting, the sixty men were cut down to 15, among them were Elias Walker, Thomas Merrick, Keegan Russ, Alex Johnson, and Gabriel Rorke. They decided to evacuate the occupants led by one of the remaining Tier One operators. The other fourteen returned to the line and stayed beneath the bodies of the fallen soldiers. When the enemies arrived, they fought with their weapons, their knives and eventually their fists. The remaining soldiers attacked so fiercely and so quickly that they defeated their enemies. This led to the formation of Task Force: STALKER, known unofficially as the Ghosts. Afterwards, the remaining soldiers were put under psychological evaluations in Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, and Rorke was noted as the traumatic experience giving him purpose, making him much more focused and calm in combat. He was cleared for duty to lead Task Force: STALKER as Captain of the Ghosts.

Assassination of Diego Almagro
In Caracas, Venezuela, Federation General Diego Almagro declared an act of war on the United States, ordering every US-born citizen either be killed or imprisoned. On July 8th, 2014, Rorke, Lieutenant Elias Walker, Sergeant Thomas Merrick, and Private Alex "Ajax" Johnson fought in Caracas alongside the U.S. Army and the USMC in an attempt to assassinate General Almagro. During the mission, Almagro destroyed the dam, flooding the city and killing U.S. soldiers, civilians, and his own men as an act of last resort. Rorke, Walker, Ajax and Merrick survived the flood, however despite being advised by Merrick to fall back, Rorke kept on going, claiming he'll vow revenge on all of the American soldiers Almagro has killed. As they finally boarded Almagro's escape chopper, the squad engaged in a fierce fight with Federation soldiers and Almagro himself, which Rorke manages to overpower as Elias kills him with his P226 pistol. As the helicopter crashes, Elias tries to save Rorke from falling off and meeting his doom as a debris was stuck in between them, however because of the vehicle was too damaged to carry all of them, Elias made what he claims to be the hardest decision, by letting Rorke go and eventually saving the others. Surprisingly though, Rorke survived the fall and was found by the Federation. They used extreme methods to brainwash Rorke into joining the Federation and successfully turning him into a Ghost killer.

Torturing Ajax
Ten years after the ODIN strikes, while David "Hesh" Walker, Logan Walker, and Riley are on a reconnaissance mission ten miles north of San Diego, they spot Rorke in a Federation division salvaging a crashed ODIN satellite near San Diego and holding Alex "Ajax" Johnson captive. He sends Ajax to the Greenway Park Stadium, where he is interrogated by Federation soldiers and Rorke, where he learns of the Ghosts' Las Vegas safehouse. When the Ghosts go in guns blazing into the stadium to rescue Ajax, they arrive too late, succumbing to his wounds and dies. After Ajax dies, the hosts discover Rorke's mission to kill the Ghosts and a hit list with all of the Ghosts' identities on the wall. sedat

Federation Day
On June 15, 2026, Hesh, Logan, and Keegan are tasked with infiltrating a skyscraper in Caracas, Venezuela during Federation Day and interrogate Victor Ramos, a high-ranking officer in the Federation Science Division, and obtain Rorke's location. After a stealthy infiltration and intense firefights inside and outside the skyscraper, they finally reach Ramos and obtain a laptop containing Rorke's location. Suddenly, Rorke appears on a television and taunts the Ghosts before detonating explosive charges on the skyscraper, collapsing the building and forcing the Ghosts to parachute to safety as the skyscraper collapses in downtown Caracas.

The Freeport
The Ghosts successfully hack the laptop and the next day, Elias sends in an squadron of AH-64 Apaches to clear the skies of anti-air batteries and enemy helicopters in the Freeport, a floating industrial complex in the Campeche Oil Fields in the Gulf of Mexico. After intense fighting in the air, the squadron clears the way for the Ghosts to be inserted into the Freeport. They make their way through the complex, fighting against squads of Federation soldiers, before they finally reach the safehouse and successfully capture Rorke. The next morning, while in a C-130 heading back to the United States, the Ghosts interrogate Rorke, demanding to know why the Federation is interested in the ODIN satellite crash in San Diego. Suddenly, a Federation plane attaches grappling hooks in mid-air and flips their plane upside down. Federation paratroopers climb in and extract Rorke from the plane, but not before Rorke shows his admiration for Logan and tells him to join him with the Federation. He is extracted with the Federation as the Ghosts fall from the sky and into Yucatan in Federation-occupied Mexico.

Las Vegas
After discovering that the Federation has reverse-engineered the wreckage of the ODIN Space Station, the Ghosts regroup at a safehouse in Las Vegas while Keegan delivers his debrief to the Secretary of Defense at NORAD. As the Ghosts prepare, they are sedated by tear gas and captured by the Federation. Rorke begins to torture Elias by shooting Logan in the stomach with Logan and Hesh watching. As Rorke beats Elias, Logan breaks free from his binds and pull his MP-443 Grach from his holster. However, Rorke twists his arm and forces him to shoot his father twice before meleeing Logan to the ground. Rorke shoots Elias three more times in before throwing him to the ground. As Elias says goodbye to Logan, Rorke pins him and shoots Elias in the head, instantly killing him. Rorke leaves Las Vegas before Keegan intervenes and rescues the Ghosts from the hands of the Federation.

Retaliation
The United States launch an offensive on the Federation, tasked with destroying a Federation satellite array in the Atacama Desert in Chile which will allow the U.S.A.F. to send a space shuttle to approach the Federation Loki Space Station, take over the station, and launch its ordinance at Federation targets. During the offensive, Hesh and Logan launch a missile to destroy the satellite array and allow the U.S. to take over the Federation Loki Space Station. Afterwards, they hop on a supply train with Rorke onboard and fight their way through the train to kill Rorke. As the rods from the space station destroy the Federation below, Hesh and Logan fight Federation soldiers on top of the train fiercely, determined to kill Rorke. When they arrive at the engine, Hesh orders Merrick to destroy the train with the rods upon hearing the word "Checkmate". They breach the engine, but it explodes and propels Hesh and Logan into the locomotive, where Logan grappels Rorke and kills the Federation soldiers with his .44 Magnum before he is grabbed by Rorke and put at gunpoint by Hesh. Rorke shoots Hesh in the stomach and prepares to kill them both, but Hesh says "Checkmate" and the space station fires its rods upon the train, derailing it and crashing it into the coast. The locomotive holds back the water and Hesh fights off Rorke while Logan grabs his .44 Magnum. Hesh throws him some bullets and Logan catches one, loads the revolver and with no other option, shoots Rorke and Hesh both. The bullet punctures the windows and floods the locomotive. Logan grabs his brother and swims out of the train and he drags them both to the beach. They lay on the beach as Hesh calls for extraction from Merrick and watch as the rest of the rods decimate the Federation fleet. As Hesh and Logan wait for the rescue, Rorke appears and breaks Logan's arm. He shows his admiration for Logan's determination and spirit and vows to continue his mission to kill the Ghosts. Hesh desperately calls out to him, too injured to stop him, as Rorke drags Logan away to be brainwashed by the Federation like him to kill the Ghosts.

Quotes
"I am Gabriel Rorke. I have been trained by your government to be a weapon. Trained to kill and destroy. All in the name of liberty and justice. Even surrender my very life in service to your country. But I am not one of you. The 'just' have turned their backs and become deaf to your cries. Who, then, will show them justice? Who will show you the liberty they have promised? The weapon they have created will be their undoing. But do not fear this. Do not fear me. It is only natural. Like the collapse of Rome, your cities will crumble and there will be great sorrow. But from the ashes of this diseased metropolis, a rebirth will occur. It will be paid for with blood and steel. Liberty must be restored. I am Gabriel Rorke, and I am here to show you the true meaning of justice."

- Rorke's manifesto

"You are right, Elias. I'm not a Ghost... I'm the man that hunts them, and sends them back to the other side!"

- In "Sin City", just before killing Elias

"Look at what you did... You're good. You would have been a hell of a Ghost. But that's not gonna happen. There ain't gonna be any Ghosts... We're gonna destroy them together."

- In "The Ghost Killer", before dragging Logan away

"Everyone breaks, Elias!"

- In "The Hunted", while being interrogated by Elias T. Walker

"Well, what do we have here?"

- In "No Man's Land" as he meets Alex "Ajax" Johnson

"What, are you going to drop me, Lieutenant? Again?"

- In "The Hunted" when Elias threatens to throw him out of the plane if he doesn't talk

Audio Files
Interview with Gabriel Rorke.

Trivia

 * Rorke appears prominently in the game's opening cutscene as one of the soldiers hiding amongst his fallen teammates, during which Elias recalls the origins of the Ghosts.
 * There are interview files of Rorke throughout the levels of the Call of Duty: Ghosts single-player campaign as collectible intel items.
 * Rorke is the second American antagonist in the series, the first being General Shepherd.
 * Both Rorke and General Shepherd use a .44 Magnum as their signature weapon.
 * He is the announcer for the Federation in multiplayer.
 * Rorke is the fourth major antagonist in the series to survive the game he is introduced in, the others being Vladimir Makarov, Lev Kravchenko, and Raul Menendez (player-determined).
 * The player can successfully execute Rorke at the end of Birds of Prey, complete with death animation, but this will result in mission failure.
 * He is the second character in the Call of Duty series to be brainwashed by the enemy, the first being Alex Mason in Call of Duty: Black Ops; despite Mason's brainwash was sabotaged by Viktor Reznov.