Nikolai (Modern Warfare)


 * For other characters, see Nikolai

"Da - I know a place."

- Nikolai responding to Price at the end of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

"Nikolai" is the code name of a Russian informant amongst Imran Zakhaev's Ultranationalists, and an ally of the SAS in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. He continues to help MacTavish in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. His real birth name has not yet been revealed.

Cold War
Nikolai is a former Soviet Army Senior Sergeant from an anti-tank rifle unit.

Nikolai is also a veteran of the Soviet-Afghan War. During this war, which lasted from 1979 to 1989, the Soviets attempted to protect the Marxist regime in Kabul from Islamic guerrillas. He was also a pilot as it was mentioned in 'The Enemy of My Enemy' mission in Modern Warfare 2.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Prior to "Crew Expendable," Nikolai has supplied Bravo Team with the cargo ship intel. In events before the mission "Blackout," Nikolai has been detained by the Ultranationalists under suspicion of espionage. The SAS team under Captain Price must find and rescue him before he is executed. He has been informing the British from the Ultranationalist camp until his cover was blown. He helped to start the entire chain of events in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, as it was he that supplied the intel for the cargo ship mission.

In "Hunted," the Black Hawk carrying the extracted team is shot down over hostile territory, and he is forced to fight alongside the team with only the AK-74u he has been found with. Finally, under cover of AC-130 fire, Nikolai is evacuated by a second helicopter airlift to a safe house in Hamburg, and his last mention in the game is a loading cutscene in which he sends the SAS the coordinates to Khaled Al-Asad's safehouse in Azerbaijan.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Nikolai plays a bigger role in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 than in its prequel, and he is quite adept at flying multiple vehicles, though it is unknown how he has acquired them. He appears to be a mercenary pilot.

In "The Hornet's Nest," the stranded Task Force 141 team is left without a helicopter, since the U.S. has been barred from entering Brazilian airspace and the invasion has overwhelmed civilian communications. Captain MacTavish calls Nikolai to come rescue the team. Nikolai arrives in a Pave Low, but heavy RPG fire makes the landing zone too "hot," or dangerous. Soap orders Nikolai to wave off, as the team should be able find a secondary extraction point. Roach, when running and keeping up with the Task Force, falls from the rooftops, further delaying the exit. Roach quickly rushes throughout the favela, evading enemy forces, reaching the rooftops, and making it to the helicopter.

In "The Enemy Of My Enemy," Nikolai extracts Price and Soap from the Boneyard under fire in a C-130 Hercules as they drive their jeep into the cargo hold of the plane. Nikolai then drops off Price and Soap at Site Hotel Bravo in "Just Like Old Times," but despite having been told that it is a one-way flight, he returns to rescue the two in "Endgame" with a Little Bird.

Before Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

 * Afghanistan — Took part in the Soviet-Afghan War.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

 * Caucasus Mountain — Rescued by Captain Price's Bravo Team.
 * Western Russia — Shot down but evacuated to Hamburg.
 * Hamburg — From this location during a cutscene, he gives Bravo Team the coordinates to Al-Asad's safehouse in Northern Azerbaijan.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

 * Rio De Janeiro, Brazil — Evacuated Soap's team in a Pave Low.
 * Kandahar, Afghanistan — Rescued Soap and Price from the Bone yard.
 * Site Hotel Bravo, Afghanistan — Rescues a heavily wounded MacTavish and Price and takes them to a "secret place".

Quotes

 * See Nikolai (Modern Warfare)/Quotes.

Trivia

 * Nikolai's physical likeness is a facial scan of Joshua Lacross, a Hollywood Visual Effects artist who won a VES award for his work on the "John Adams" miniseries.
 * It is mentioned in the level "The Enemy Of My Enemy" in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 that Nikolai took part in the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan as a Soviet soldier.
 * Nikolai played a big part in the story of Call of Duty 4, as he supplied the intel for the cargo ship operation.
 * Nikolai looks very different in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in "Endgame" than he did in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare in "Blackout", although this could be because of the five year time gap. Nikolai seems to have much shorter hair and some heavy stubble. His appearance may also be different because in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare he is encountered after being a prisoner, apparently suffering from physical abuse, and possibly from malnutrition.
 * Nikolai stands at 188 centimeters, as mentioned in "Blackout".
 * He is not featured in the Museum, even though his Pave Low is.
 * In "The Enemy of My Enemy", Nikolai is heard yelling in Russian after Price told him to shut up. However this was directed at Shadow Company or the Mercenaries who were attempting to shoot him down (He says: Вот дерьмо! Нет, мне недоплачивают за эту работу! Одни ракеты сколько стоят! Твою мать! Пизда!!; trans. Holy shit! No, I'm really not paid enough for this job! The missiles alone cost so much! Damn it! Fuck!).
 * "Da," Russian for "yes," is a sort of catchphrase of Nikolai's, as he repeats it many times.
 * Soap most likely participated in several missions with Nikolai between Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2, as Nikolai refers to Soap as his friend quite often, despite not even acknowledging that Soap exists in Modern Warfare.
 * "Endgame" is the only mission in which Nikolai physically appears in Modern Warfare 2. In other missions he is only heard over the comms or piloting aircraft.
 * The name Nikolai is very common for important Russian characters in Call of Duty, like Nikolai Badanov and Nikolai Belinski.
 * If you look closely at the plane's cockpit in The Enemy of My Enemy, you will see that no one is actually piloting Nikolai's plane.
 * He was born in April 1969. This can be seen in the "Blackout" intro. It means he is 42 in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and 47 in the events of Modern Warfare 2.
 * It is possible for the Russian Loyalist in the mission Safehouse in Call of Duty 4 to be named Nikolai, but rare.
 * During the "Blackout" cutscene, one can see pictures of Nikolai with an AK-47 (which he never wields) in F.N.G, and him crouching near the crashed UH-60 equipped with a Minigun on Heat, which is impossible, because by then, he would be in his safehouse in Hamburg.

Appearances

 * (2 games)
 * Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (First appearance)
 * Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2