Civilian

Non

"You shot a civilian, watch your fire!"

- If the player shoots one.

Civilians are non-combatants who fall under the laws of their own country and do not take part in any hostilities.

Call of Duty: Finest Hour
In Call of Duty: Finest Hour, Yusef is a civilian man who helps out Popski's Private Army during the British Campaign levels Mission: Matmata and Depot Saboteurs. He wears clothing common to Arabic civilians in the area and it is possible for him to die in battle.

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 playable 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 is 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 Kriegler, 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 numbers 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 Ultranationalists in an outright massacre in a Moscow airport (Zakhaev International 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 Call of Duty: 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. Also, contrary to initial popular belief, there are no children in the airport (as there have never been children civilians in the Call of Duty series except for some cut-outs in The Pit and "Davis Family Vacation" from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3), but there are many teddy bears near pools of blood, suggesting that some of the player's allies might have already taken out any children, adding to the horror of the level.

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 Special 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 Special Ops mission 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 "U.S.D.D.", there are people in waiting lines and people working in the Pentagon.

In "The Defector", NVA are seen executing many Vietnamese 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, who cannot be killed without penalty, seen shortly after meeting with Viktor Reznov. At one point, the player can also see the NVA executing Vietnamese civilians at a wall.

On the streets in "Numbers", many Hong Kong civilians are seen fleeing once the fighting spreads in Kowloon, they can be killed without penalty.

After the rocket is destroyed in Executive Order, a group of German scientists, as Frank Woods tells the player, is seen on fire, running from their building. After some seconds they will drop to the ground, dead.

In "Victor Charlie", during the village raid, Vietnamese villagers can be seen fleeing from the fighting.

Russian workers, along with Russian and German scientists, are seen fleeing and being killed by Nova 6 in "Rebirth". More scientists are found and can be killed in various missions involving the investigation of Nova 6.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Civilians return in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 in several missions, one of which being "Persona Non Grata", where multiple civilians are shot down in the streets by Ultranationalist forces. Civilians also appear in London in the level "Mind The Gap" three times: once when the SAS are pursuing the Inner Circle train on a platform. Several are caught in the crossfire and killed. Civilians both living and dead appear in the ruins of Westminster Station and large crowds of them appear outside Parliament being held back by police. The player can only kill one civilian free of charge in this level.

Many civilians are seen in Prague in the level "Eye of the Storm". Most but not all are part of the Czech Resistance. They are massacred when the Russian BTRs open fire. Many of the civilians are seen bleeding on the ground in houses. In the safehouse, a woman will open her apartment door, apparently oblivious to the full-scale battle raging outside, quickly take stock of the situation and slam the door shut. This is one of bloodiest levels in this game.

A massacre is seen at the beginning of this level too, when Russian soldiers are throwing bodies of dead civilians into the water.

In "Davis Family Vacation", the playable character, Mr. Davis, is a civilian vacationing with his family in London. He and his family are killed in an explosion of a truck in Westminster as a part of terrorist attacks.

Many civilians also appear in "Dust to Dust" in the Hotel Oasis, running out of the lobby and elevators as Yuri and Price battle Hotel Security and Inner Circle. The Hotel Security Guards will try to kill civilians fleeing from them, indicating that they support Makarov. Again, one can be killed without penalty.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II
Civilians are seen in several campaign missions in Call of Duty: Black Ops. Wealthy civilians feature prominently in "Karma" along with Colossus resort employees such as construction workers and receptionists. DeFalco and his team of Mercs kill civilians in the Solar nightclub.

Zombies
Sarah Michelle Gellar, Robert Englund, Danny Trejo, and Michael Rooker are American celebrities who appear in Call of the Dead. Samantha Maxis also appears physically for the first time in Moon.

In "Five" and Shangri-La, some of the zombies featured were formerly civilians.

Call of Duty: Ghosts
Civilians appear in Call of Duty: Ghosts in the levels "Ghost Stories" and "Brave New World". In Ghost Stories, they watch as ODIN starts to destroy San Diego as Logan, Hesh and Elias run by them. Their final appearance in the game is Brave New World when some are taken hostage by the Federation by a gas station and murdered when Hesh and Logan's recon team find them and attack them. They appear near the end at Fort Santa Monica as Hesh, Riley and Logan drive by their camps located in the city.

Call of Duty: Finest Hour

 * Yusef - A Tunisian man who appears in the missions "Mission: Matmata" and "Depot Saboteurs".

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

 * The Farmer - A rural farmer who appeared in the mission "Hunted".

Call of Duty: Black Ops

 * Sarah Michelle Gellar- A celebrity civilian that appears in the zombie level "Call of the Dead".
 * Robert Englund - A celebrity civilian that appears in the zombie level "Call of the Dead".
 * Danny Trejo - A celebrity civilian that appears in the zombie level "Call of the Dead",
 * Michael Rooker - A celebrity civilian that appears in the zombie level "Call of the Dead".
 * George A. Romero - An American horror film director that appears in the level "Call of the Dead".
 * Samantha Maxis - A female child that makes a physical appearance in the zombie level "Moon".

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

 * Mr. Davis - A civilian vacationing in London who dies due to a chemical explosion in the level "Davis Family Vacation"; the husband of Mrs. Davis and father of Sarah Davis.
 * Mrs. Davis - A civilian vacationing in London who dies due to a chemical explosion in the level "Davis Family Vacation"; the wife of Mr. Davis and the mother of Sarah Davis
 * Sarah Davis - A civilian vacationing in London who dies due to a chemical explosion in the level "Davis Family Vacation"; daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Davis.
 * African Villager - Was saved from being burned alive by African Militia by John "Soap" MacTavish, John Price and Yuri.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II

 * Chloe "Karma" Lynch
 * Erik Breighner
 * Jimmy Kimmel
 * Josefina Menendez
 * Andrea Robbins
 * Synyster Gates
 * M. Shadows
 * Johnny Christ
 * Zacky Vengeance

Trivia

 * In the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare level "Game Over", some of the cars might be driven by civilians that have the same appearance as the Farmer from "Hunted", and sometimes the cars will actually have nobody driving them.
 * Mrs. Davis, a civilian from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, shares some of the same character models as female civilians from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2  and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.
 * At the end of the Modern Warfare 3 mission "Mind The Gap", when encountering crowds of civilians, if the player gets close enough and listen, the civilians will speak although none of their mouths are moving. An example of the civilian dialog would be "What's going on?" or "I'm going to be late for work!"