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."

Biography
Bowman fought alongside Alex Mason and Frank Woods during "Operation 40". During the planning phase, he met up with Carlos in a bar before having to fight through a police raid. Later, he infiltrated the compound of Fidel Castro. He separated from Mason and Woods after the initial assault, rejoining them after Castro is killed. He escaped Cuba on a transport plane after Mason jumped off to destroy the vehicles blocking the runway.

Years later, Bowman again fought alongside Mason and Woods in Baikonur to sabotage the Russian Soyuz launch. He infiltrated the facility with Brooks and joined with the other operatives. Disguised as a Russian soldier, Bowman led a pair of guards away from the comm tower to dispatch them, allowing Woods and Mason to storm the tower. Bowman and Brooks proceeded to rescue Weaver, who had been captured by Kravchenko. The operatives moved to the Soyuz launch platform to destroy the rocket. During their escape, Bowman presumably assisted Mason in the attempted assassination of Dragovich, but they were unable to confirm the kill after destroying his limosine.

In 1968, Bowman was deployed to Vietnam was part of the Studies and Observations Group. He again met up with Woods and Mason after a battle at Khe Sanh and assisted Mason during the Tet Offensive at Hue City, establishing contact with a Russian defector and helping Mason out of trouble. Bowman took part in a clean-and-sweep operation to root out local Viet Cong. During the Laos incursion, Bowman rode shotgun on Mason's boat, using a Grim Reaper to destroy numerous enemy positions on the river. He located the wreck of a Russian cargo plane, but found nothing other than a map and a China Lake grenade launcher. He helped defend the plane when Russian Spetsnaz tried to recapture the site, and was captured and given to the Viet Cong.

Bowman was held captive for a period of time. During "Payback", Mason relates that Bowman had "given up". Bowman was forced to play Russian roulette by the VC Bookie, but instead he angered the Russian interrogator, sparking him to beat him to death with a pipe. When Mason and Woods escaped, they avenged Bowman's death by killing the Russian while he was trying to flee.

Trivia

 * Bowman's father served in the US Navy in WW2.
 * According to his dossier, Bowman's family has a history of asthma.
 * 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.
 * According to his intel, Bowman is said to be a Navy SEAL. Bowman's voice actor Ice Cube had previously played a Navy SEAL in the action movie xXx: State of the Union.
 * 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. In real-life, Ice Cube (Bowman's voice contributor) is in fact Muslim rather than Christian like Bowman.
 * When the kid dies in Crash Site Bowman can be heard shouting "Medic!" but like random voices say by NPC characters it also does not appear in the subtitles
 * He and Hudson (When interrogating Mason) are the only people in the campaign who addresses Mason by his first name. In S.O.G Bowman says, "It's good to see you, Alex." And Hudson calls him Alex Mason when Mason wakes up at the beginning of the campaign.
 * 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." Mason may also say in the tunnels "I'm gonna kill that Russian - 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 was probably 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.
 * Fuck...you...Charlie... Spits at the VC Bookie