Nikolai Belinski

"It is said, that is is better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all. I... feel differently. Regret can consume a man so deeply, that it will blacken his heart and swallow his soul. For so long we have been fighting. Many battles, many wars. I lost... only one. We have seen impossible things, cheated death countless times. I can no longer deny the possibility of an unseen power, a guiding hand helping us to fufill our destiny. My path is chosen... Our fate is sealed. But the innocent... the children. Those untainted by darkness and chaos. They can find a better tomorrow."

- Nikolai Belinski

Sergeant Nikolai Belinski (Russian: Николай Белинский) is a Russian soldier who fought in the Red Army, and is a playable main character in Zombies. His player indicator color is blue (shared with Robert McNamara and Robert Englund) but is randomized in Moon and all subsequent maps. An alternate version of Nikolai appears in Origins, and reappears in Call of Duty: Black Ops III, in The Giant, Der Eisendrache, Zetsubou No Shima, Gorod Krovi (which also includes the original timeline Nikolai Belinski) and Revelations.

Biography
"Stalin himself cannot stare Nikolai in the eye, no one can. There, in his eyes, you will see the soul of a man burning with the hatred of all things living. His closet is full of skeletons, many of them with the flesh still attached.

''Early in his career, Nikolai had quickly made his way up through the party ranks by killing the next man in line, and by marrying politically. Ultimately, his aspirations all came crashing down after his fifth wife mysteriously died while cleaning his axe with her neck. Little did he know that she had been sleeping with a high ranking party official on the side. This made Nikolai infamous, and his reputation spread quickly through the party. It was not long before Stalin himself had heard about Nikolai. More importantly, he feared Nikolai. As soon as the war started, our hero was dropped on the front lines and forgotten about, where he wallowed in self pity and vodka for several years.''

There are many weapons in his arsenal, not least of which is his breath."


 * — Nikolai's biography added with Map Pack 2 in Call of Duty: World at War.

"Forgotten and abandoned on the front lines of Europe, Red Army Sergeant Nikolai Belinski has learned to survive and endure even in the darkest of times. His loyalty to the Motherland has seen him battle his own demons, overcoming personal trials that few have ever truly understood."


 * — Nikolai's biography for Call of Duty: Black Ops III.

Origins letters
"December 10th - 1917 Reports from the area suggest the Kaiser's War Machine may be gearing up to unleash something unlike anything we have seen before...''"
 * ''It appears my current exile from the motherland may prove fortuitous. I have received orders to undertake a vital mission in Northern France.
 * — Nikolai Belinski



"February 23rd - 1918 The people of France share my hatred and contempt for the Hun. They have been very kind to me on my journeys; offering me food, shelter and other more worldly comforts. It is a great relief that even amongst the madness of war, I may still find moments of joy in the arms of a good woman…''"
 * ''Despite the abdication, my country remains gripped by Civil War. Reds and Whites battle for power as I am forced to watch helplessly from afar. Despite the March treaty, many among us do not expect lasting peace… Our memories will not allow us to forget the tens of thousands of souls lost at Tannenberg… This war remains a threat to all our futures…
 * — Nikolai Belinski

Original Timeline
Nikolai seems to lack intelligence as revealed from various amount of quotes. He tends to crack jokes, intentionally and unintentionally. He seems to not care about his physical appearance and smell. However, at the darkest of times, he can also be vigilant and appears to have a very keen survival instinct. He likes Dempsey, and tends to despise as well as appreciate Richtofen at times (until Moon), but holds a deep hatred for Takeo. His fate is left unknown after Moon.

Origins Timeline
Due to his alcoholism not yet acquired, his personality is completely different. He is intelligent and gets along with and tries to cooperate with his comrades; although does not hold himself in high esteem. He is willing to give his life for the greater good, humble and has a high survival instinct, while also maintaining an enjoyment in life. Unlike his original/future self, his opinions on the other three vary depending on how well they fight, he dislikes Takeo and Dempsey if they fight poorly, and respects them if they fight well. However he hates Richtofen if he fights poorly and tolerates him if he fights well. When Samantha begins to speak, he is the most concerned for her safety and wishes to attempt to save her more than the other three. He is a proud revolutionist and supporter of Communism who does not wish for medals or glory. He also worries and fears the damages they can do when teleported into the future, but relents as he needed to make sure future events don't happen. However, as seen in later rounds of The Giant, Nikolai talks more about drinking vodka and alcohol due to exposure of Element 115, thus resulting in his original personality mixing with his younger self.

By Der Eisendrache, Nikolai has a nearly identical personality to his original self as when conversing with Richtofen he says he has a thirst for alcohol. However, when the Original timeline Dempsey was put down by the Origins timeline Dempsey, Nikolai along with Takeo watched in silence of the deed solemnly with remorse, showing that despite his original self mixing with his younger self, he still had the respect and passion from Origins. Later in Zetsubou No Shima, Nikolai seems to be silent and remorseful toward the original timeline Takeo's suffering after he had been cured, suggesting that Nikolai is a very honorable man. In Gorod Krovi, when Nikolai sees his original timeline self he glares back at him implying that he hates his original self.

In this timeline, the original timeline Nikolai is found in the ruins of the zombie-infested Stalingrad, piloting a mech that seems to be based off of the Manticore. He remains a drunk, but is now extremely hostile to others, as he attempts to kill his Origins self as well as the rest of the Origins crew upon first meeting them. He is later thrown into a building by a Dragon, though he survives this and questions who the Origins characters are in the beginning of the game. In the Easter egg, the original timeline Nikolai asks the four to help him kill a dragon. Once the deed is done, however, he betrays the four and attempts to kill them, showing a more traitorous nature. "I am sorry Nikolai. I wish... I wish there was another way. But know this, in my heart I share the same pain as you. The pain that you have buried and blurred beneath an alcohol fueled haze! Yes, the pain of your own memory! You loved and you lost, everything else has been delusional fantasy that distances you from painful truth! You know what I speak of, you remember. Before the bombs fell... Before she was... Taken from us (...) YARGH!"

- Origins Nikolai revealing the true reason why the Original Timeline Nikolai drinks and his last words to him before killing him in self defense.

The Origins crew nevertheless manage to defeat the original Nikolai, destroying his mech for good. The Origins Nikolai approaches his original duplicate, training his KRM-262 on him and apologising for having to kill him. He shows remorse and disappointment towards the original for his drinking habits, ultimately giving the true reason for his alcoholism; his first wife was seemingly killed in an air raid, driving him to vodka and lying about his multiple wives before he became wrapped up with the original Richtofen and the others. The original bitterly screams that some things are forgotten for a reason, shooting at the Origins Nikolai with a concealed MR6; the bullet simply bounces off of his armour and he responds in kind, obliterating his original with a point-blank shotgun blast.

While Richtofen absorbs the original's soul, Nikolai is briefly comforted by Takeo (much like the similar interaction between Richtofen and Dempsey in Der Eisendrache), showing no more animosity between them. With Nikolai's soul finally in the Summoning Key, Richtofen sends the original Nikolai, Takeo and Dempsey's souls into the sky to Maxis.

Trivia

 * Nikolai is an alcoholic and loves vodka; however, Richtofen suggests that the Element 115 used on him caused him to become an alcoholic.
 * However, it is suggested that Original Nikolai became an alcoholic in the Origins timeline because of his first wife dying in an air raid.
 * Origins Nikolai appears to have traded his love for vodka for a love for bacon, according to some of his quotes in maps such as Gorod Krovi.
 * Out of all three of the other characters, Original Nikolai shows the highest respect for Original Dempsey while he and Original Richtofen appear to have a strong friendship while having no respect for Original Takeo at all.
 * Between the two World Wars, he was a carpenter.
 * During the song that plays when the "115" Easter Egg is triggered in Kino der Toten, Nikolai will sometimes sing along to one of the verses in his own version of that part.
 * Nikolai at one time in his life either lived or worked on a pig farm.
 * Aside from his many wives, Nikolai's family includes:
 * A sister he refers to multiple times, who he hates.
 * A brother-in-law, who he also hates.
 * A daughter, who was noted to own a teddy bear.
 * A brother, who is homeless and broke.
 * He was married at least nine times, and murdered at least five of his wives. The first wife was killed with a shotgun, the second is by either a PPSh-41 or a PTRS-41, the fifth wife was killed by an axe, and his third wife was killed with a sickle. Only his fourth wife was confirmed to have escaped alive. Even then, another Ascension quote implies he chased this wife down, and promptly beat her to death with his own hands. He mentions having a seventh wife in Moon, which also means he had a sixth but has not mentioned killing either of them. It appears that his seventh wife is still alive, as one of his quotes in Moon states that he has to tell her about his new girlfriend. It is said at the end of the Richtofen's Grand Scheme Easter Egg that "wife number nine" and "his new girlfriend" has died when the Earth was destroyed.
 * He killed his first wife because she looked like him, his second because she is always asking for more, his third wife was killed because "she was bitch", his fourth wife was killed because she took his money and ran away, and because she was "always talking", and he killed his fifth wife when he was cleaning his axe with her neck.
 * In the Origins timeline, his first and only wife was killed by an air raid.
 * Nikolai's favorite weapons are PPSh-41, FN FAL and H115 Oscillator.
 * Nikolai's favorite bow is the Soul Bow.
 * After the player completes the Original Characters Trapped Easter Egg for the first time in co-operative, they will receive a gamer picture of Nikolai's profile card as seen in Shi No Numa's loading screen.
 * Nikolai appears to have pithecophobia judging from his quotes when he gets the Monkey Bomb or when he kills monkeys on Ascension and Shangri-La.
 * According to a quote from Der Riese, at one point he had syphilis.
 * Based on his quotes from Shangri-La, he hates Stamin-Up.
 * Nikolai calls the FN FAL the "FNfalafel" and sometimes refer its sounding name as analogous to "Fucking Fail", similar to Dempsey calling the Wunderwaffe DG-2 the "Wonder Waffle."
 * Rarely when using the Pack-a-Punch Machine, he will sing the Quick Revive jingle.
 * Nikolai was physically abused as a child.
 * In Call of Duty: Black Ops, Nikolai's gloves will show up in first person, but not in third person.
 * Richtofen mentions Nikolai on Green Run, such as asking the survivors if they were going to mention vodka and even claiming he missed him.
 * In the Origins Intro Cinematic trailer, his last name was initially misspelled "Belinksi", but this has since been fixed.
 * Origins Nikolai has a preference of shotguns, as he uses an Olympia in Origins and a KRM-262 in The Giant, Der Eisendrache and Gorod Krovi.
 * Albert "Weasel" Arlington sometimes mentions Nikolai when killing zombies with the Ray Gun.
 * Nero Blackstone may also mention Nikolai's name when all the fuses are placed in the power box inside the subway. This, however, may be a reference to Nikola Tesla, rather than Nikolai.
 * According to a quote whilst interacting with Dempsey in The Giant, Origins Nikolai has taken part in three World Wars, rather than two.
 * Upon activating a radio on The Giant, one can hear an alternate Nikolai claim that he has killed at least three Richtofens.
 * According to Dr. Monty in Revelations, Nikolai used to be a writer, and kept journals of his travels in Europe.
 * Monty also revealed that he attempted to "water" down the Original Nikolai's vodka for years, but he just kept drinking regardless.