Raul Menendez

"Come my friends. 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world."

- Raul Menendez quoting the poem Ulysses.

Raul Menendez (previously known as Raul Martinez) is a Nicaraguan political activist and the main antagonist of Call of Duty: Black Ops II and Call of Duty: Strike Team. He is the leader of a rebel organization named Cordis Die and is an old nemesis of Alex Mason and Frank Woods, and David Mason's arch foe in 2025. He hijacked several hundred of the United States' own automated military drones and after using them to attack its domestic major cities, as well as cities throughout China such as Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, he destroyed them thus crippling the United States' defense, leaving the American military vulnerable in an attempt to ignite a worldwide uprising. He has a noticeably large scar, and burn mark on his right eye.

Raul is apparently extremely charismatic and influential to a number of people; according to trailers, he is nicknamed "The Messiah of the 99%" and has a subscriber count on his Cordis Die YouTube channel in the millions and views in the hundreds of millions. According to Harper, "He's the most dangerous terrorist since Osama bin Laden." According to Briggs, "People in America... idolize him", despite being the one responsible for the blood spilled on U.S. Soil.

Early life
Raul Menendez was born in Nicaragua on September 5th, 1963. According to J-SOC Operative Salazar, Menendez spent the first part of his childhood during his country's tumultuous years in the Nicaraguan Revolution. Seeing first hand the horrors the American-backed Contras conducted on his fellow countrymen would sow the seeds for his hatred of the west. After the colossal 1972 earthquake of Nicaragua, Raul's family lost most of all they had, including their home. A year after the quake, his only sister Josefina was horribly disfigured and crippled from a warehouse fire the two were seeking shelter in. Raul first believed that Josefina was dead and tried to kill himself by slitting his throat with her pendant until she woke and begged him not to. The warehouse was burned down by its American owner for $11,000 in insurance money. This tragedy would further embitter Raul Menendez towards the United States and its capitalist culture.

The Menendez Cartel
When Menendez entered into his teenage years both he and his father, Jose Luiz Menendez, started over by selling drugs for easy money. As time passed they became rich and powerful 'legends of Managua'. Their height of power was so great that the Menendez Cartel had an almost god-like status in the criminal underworld. This was of great concern to the United States to the extent that the CIA was sent in to eliminate Raul's father in a U.S. sanctioned assassination, an assassination a young Raul observed and escaped in a pick up truck in the events of Call of Duty Black Ops: Declassified.

Angola/Encounter with Alex Mason
Fueled by his anger for the U.S., in 1986, Menendez began to run guns into Afghanistan for his own private army. On July 2, 1986, Menendez was in Angola supplying the Soviet, Cuban, and Nicaraguan backed Communist government the MPLA with arms. It was also the same time in which Alex Mason and Jason Hudson were in Angola to rescue one of Menendez’s victims, the recently captured Frank Woods. Alex Mason ran into Menendez after breaking into his hut, while the gun runner was relaying propaganda on his radio. As his men entered the hut, Menendez wrestled with Mason after pulling a grenade. Mason overpowered Menendez and shot him in the right side of his face, destroying his eye and leaving him permanently disfigured. Mason then escaped the hut as the grenade exploded.

Afghanistan
This drew the attention of the CIA. Later in the year, the CIA authorizes a strike against Menendez, now making a healthy profit running arms across Soviet-occupied Afghanistan, sending in Alex Mason, Frank Woods, and Jason Hudson to investigate. Unbeknownst to the trio, the leader of the Mujahideen whom they considered their ally, Mullah Rahman, was one of many in which secretly worked for Menendez. It was this same time in which Menendez also dealt with Lev Kravchenko, who sold the arms dealer Soviet weapons and arms in exchange for money. Sending the arms into third world countries such as Cuba and Angola, Menendez began to fund and arm many anti-Western rebellions and revolutions in the hope to bring down corrupt capitalist nations.

Josefina's death
The CIA, in conjunction with the Panamanian Defense Forces, conducted a raid on Menendez’s compound in Nicaragua. Menendez was ambushed in his room but broke free once he saw a guard hurting his sister. However he was sedated and awoke outside the city. When Manuel Noriega freed him, Menendez attacked him and ran through the compound to find Josefina. When Raul reached his sister's room, Frank Woods throws a hand grenade into Menendez’s sister’s room, killing her and presumably Menendez himself.

Revenge/Death of Mason and Hudson
However, unknown to the U.S. or the CIA, the corrupt Noriega made a deal with Menendez offering him sanctuary in Panama. Before the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989 (Operation Just Cause), with the help of his moles within the CIA, kidnapped the young David Mason and brought him to Panama just ahead of the elder Mason’s mission to capture Noriega. Around this same time Menendez’s men kidnap Jason Hudson and forced him to relay information to Frank Woods to kill what was believed to be Menendez. After taking the shot, the man shot was not Menendez but instead Alex Mason. To further punish the now grief-strickened Woods, Menendez kills Hudson. Still not content with his revenge, Menendez allows Woods and the young David to live and vows that in due time he will return to finalize his revenge. However if the player chooses to shoot Mason in anywhere but the head, he will turn up alive years later after Menenedez' execution or capture (player-determined).

Cordis Die/Wanted Terrorist
During the course of the next thirty years Menendez hides in the shadows working to gather the men and resources needed to begin his world revolution. To generate funds for his private army, Menendez used the wealth he made in drug trafficking and weapons smuggling, and invested heavily in various weapons technology, including Tacitus Corporation.

On June 22, 2014, Menendez began his campaign by creating Cordis Die, a social networking group drawing in billions of followers to his cause of ending the "corrupt capitalist 1% nations", using the alias Odysseus. With his followers unaware that their leader was an arms smuggler and a narco-terrorist, Menendez recruits armed insurgent groups such as the Mercs and the Militia. He also builds several secret military facilities all around the world, such as in Myanmar and Haiti.

By 2025, Cordis Die has just over two billion followers who see Menendnez as their idol, YouTube, Twitter and various other sites have very large subscriber counts. Despite the large support, Menendez is seen as a threat to the U.S. government who brand him the most dangerous terrorist since Osama bin-Laden and have him under constant surveillance.

Celerium
As part of Menendez's plan he hires Chloe Lynch to develop a new rare earth element called "Celerium" which has more processing power than the entire U.S. military infrastructure. The plan is to use it to hack into the drones controlled by the USA and China and to turn them against their respective cites. To process it into a smaller form, Menendez hires Erik Breighner. Once developed, Menendez stores the chip in a fake eye ball where his right eye used to be.

Cyber Attack
As part of Menendez plan to wipe out both America and China, he uses the Celerium worm to hack the Chinese Stock Market and send it into depression. The blame however is pinned on the United States Government, though some people like Woods would know better than to believe this.

Pakistan and Karma
Menendez and his second in command DeFalco visit Pakistan to meet up with Tian Zhao and the ISI Leader, to gain support of the SDC and rogue elements within the ISI. David "Section" Mason, Mike Harper, Javier Salazar and Crosby are sent in to spy on him. However this is also part of Menendez's plan, claiming to have engineered the infiltration. Menendez meets with DeFalco about Chloe and assigns DeFalco to find and capture her. After doing so Menendez blows the Americans' cover but they are able to escape.

Mason and his team are sent to infiltrate Colossus, a high-end exotic island getaway, to find out about Chloe and her connection to Menendez's plans. Depending on the players actions DeFalco can be killed while apprehending Chloe or she can be captured and rescued in the mission "Second Chance" in which DeFalco will survive to be with Menendez once more.

Betrayal and capture
In Yemen, Menendez holds a meeting with his followers with Farid at his side. Farid however, unknown to Menendez at this point is a spy for the CIA, though Menendez is suspicious at this point. Menendez, Farid and DeFalco (if not killed at this point) stand assembled with their followers just in time for the American attack. Menendez and Farid split up and regroup at the citadel. Though Farid begs Menendez to retreat he instead shoots down Harper's VTOL and takes him prisoner. Though Harper refuses to state the name of the traitor, Menendez hands a gun to Farid and orders him to kill Harper:

Outcome 1=If the player decides to follow Menendez's orders and shoots Harper then he will die and Farid's cover will remain safe. This will ensure Chloe's survival later in the game and subsequent defeat of Menendez's cyber attack. Outcome 2= If the player decides to shoot Menendez instead then he will stop him and shoots Farid in the chest before shooting him in the head and killing him. This will doom Chloe to her demise and ultimately Woods (if Menendez is captured), however Harper will survive.

Whatever the outcome of the player's choice, Menendez will then be captured in his downed VTOL by David Mason and Salazar. Menendez then thanks David and asks him to help seek a newer world.

U.S.S. Obama/Cyber attack begins
After being taken prisoner, Raul is taken to the U.S.S. Obama where he is interrogated, first by Salazar and then by David. However an attack from Cordis Die allows him to escape. Later Menendez (with or without DeFalco) will head to the bridge as Admiral Briggs was rebooting the system. Menendez takes Briggs hostage while Salazar shows his true colors, betrays him own men and joins Raul's side. This may or may not result in DeFalco and Chloe's deaths (this is player determined). Menendez will then have Briggs at gun point but Salazar requests that he not kill him but shoots him in the leg. The player can either choose to kill Briggs or wound him. Menendez then takes out his fake eye ball and uploads his virus which allows him to take control of the system. Menendez then makes his escape by means of a jet.

Outcome 1=If the player decides to shoot Briggs in the leg, and has completed the strike force missions and killed Tian Zhao, then Briggs will live to re-activate the Obama's defenses until the Chinese show up and save the Obama. Outcome 2= If the player decides to kill Briggs, or hasn't completed the strike force missions or didn't kill Zhao then the Obama will be destroyed.

Haiti/Final stand
As a series of cyber attacks around the world takes place, Menendez will take refuge in his hidden base in Haiti to control the drones. The United States government (with or without support of the Chinese) will launch an attack on the base. Just before then reach him however, Menendez kills a Marine and puts on his uniform and kit. It will then be discovered that Menendez isn't controlling the drones from the base. Menendez then broadcasts a message to the world and shows various cites about to be attacked before he self-destructs the drones before revealing Cordis Die's true plan: cripple America's drones and leave its military vulnerable so the two billion followers of Cordis Die can rise up and attack the government. However as Menendez tries to make his escape, David will slide down to him, stab his left leg and right shoulder before a wounded Menendez tells David to make him a martyr for Cordis Die.

Outcome 1=If the player spares Menendnez then he will be taken outside and put into US custody with Raul telling David to study Ulysses and be ready for his escape one year from now. If Harper is alive at this point then he will say that he would have just shot him. Outcome 2= If the player shoots Menendez then he will die. If Harper is still alive then he will express concern that David was going to let him live. Additionally, a YouTube video will appear revealing Menendez' death, angering Cordis Die's followers, resulting in the White House being burned down.

Effect on the Ending
Menendez, being the catalyst for most of the events in game, obviously has a large impact on the ending. Primarily, the player has the greatest choice when choosing to execute Menendez or capture him after David Mason stabs him in the right leg and shoulder with a knife. The decision to save Alex Mason (David's father) will also impact how the game ends. He will taunt David to kill him by saying "Martyr me.... for Cordis Die".

Choice 1=Chloe survives, Menendez survives If Chloe is alive when Menendez is captured then she will find Menendez escape plan by means of a celerium worm and disable it, foiling Menendnez escape plan. A year after she will appear on a talk show where an enraged Menendez watching will bash his head against the T.V. multiple times before just laughing it off. Choice 2=Menendez dies If Menendez is simply shot by David then a video triggered to play upon his death will activate and cause mass anger among the Cordis Die followers. Choice 3=Chloe dies, Menendez survives If Chloe is dead when Menendez is captured then Raul will make good on his word and escape prison one year after his capture and head to Woods house. Once there he stabs Woods in the neck with his sisters pendent (just like he killed Hudson 37 years prior) and lay his body on the bed. Menendez will then head to his sisters graveyard site where he will dig up her remains before lighting himself on fire and killing himself.

Trivia

 * Menendez in his youth bears a striking resemblance to David Mason in his youth - right down to the hairstyle, polo-styled striped shirt, and facial features.
 * Menendez appears alongside Frank Woods in the music video for the song Carry On by Avenged Sevenfold.
 * Also, Menendez's shirt on the back shows the dates and locations of concerts, which reference the locations and dates of Future Missions.
 * Raul Menendez is the third playable antagonist in the Call of Duty series, the first being Edward Richtofen and the second being Fidel Castro, although Menendez is the only playable antagonist in any Call of Duty campaign. Unlike the first two, Menendez is not playable in Zombies mode (in fact he doesn't appear in Zombies at all).
 * In "Time and Fate", Menendez plays very differently from a normal Call of Duty player character. He moves noticeably faster than normal, deals so much melee damage he can actually dismember enemies with his machette, can reload the starting SPAS-12 shotgun nearly instantly if he has fired more than three rounds and gets a 16-round magazine on it, and has infinite ammunition for any weapon he uses. He can also take an extremely high amount of damage (at least as much as a player-controlled Juggernaut), and his health regenerates much faster than normal.
 * Raul Menendez is the first main antagonist in the Call of Duty series that can be chosen to be killed or to be spared.
 * He has a habit of killing people by first shooting at his victim's knees and then slitting the throat with his sister's pendant. He does this first to an unknown man in the opening cutscene of "Old Wounds", then to Hudson in "Suffer with Me", and then Woods when he disabled him by shooting his knees in "Suffer with Me" and finally slits Woods throat in one of the endings. DeFalco even follows this, as shown in the opening cutscene of "Fallen Angel".
 * Menendez is multilingual, as he speaks Spanish, Russian and English.
 * Menendez was ranked #1 on GameInformer's list of top 10 villain's of 2012.
 * Ironically, Cordis Die has an agenda against the rich, but Menendez is rich himself.
 * However, Cordis Die most likely holds Menendez in a high regard because he initially grew up very poor and later became rich on his own merits or simply tolerates his wealth due to the fact he uses it to fund them.
 * This shows Menendez's only true is to cause widespread destruction throughout the First World as vengance for America and the Soviet Union causing the Nicaraguan Civil War by supporting the Contras and Sandinistas respectively, rather then free the alleged 99%.
 * Menendez is the third character in the Call of Duty series to commit suicide, the first being Viktor Zakhaev and the second being an unknown man in a Der Riese radio message, although Menendez's death depends on the player's actions in the story. Kravchenko also tried to commit suicide in Payback to kill Woods.
 * Menendez is the only playable character in Black Ops II to be playable in a mission of both 1980's and 2025.
 * Menendez is the second character to have a missing eye the first being Grigori Weaver. Though unlike Weaver, Menendez does not use an eye patch.
 * Menendez's favorite weapon in 2025 is the Executioner revolver; in the 1980's, his favorite weapon appears to be the SPAS-12, as he stole Noriega's in "Time and Fate" and had his own in "Suffer With Me". Due to this, it is possible he may have a fondness for shotguns.
 * He is the second primary Call of Duty antagonist to repeatedly wield a revolver. The first is General Shepherd. He's also the first antagonist to repeatedly wield a shotgun.
 * If Menendez survives and Chloe Lynch is killed or captive, after he kills Woods, and is at his sister's grave, his hair has grown back out, which means that a significant amount of time passed after he killed Woods.
 * Menendez only appears as a friendly NPC in "Achilles' Veil".
 * When Menendez is about to kill Woods (Player-determined), he appears to have his right eye back, however it's more likely a fake one.
 * If Menendez is killed in "Judgment Day", his tongue will roll out.
 * In "Pyrrhic Victory", Menendez uses a SOG Knife, which is strange, since he wasn't a part of SOG. He most likely took it from Woods or a member of his team when they were captured.
 * If Graphic Content Filter is enabled, and if the player gets the good ending, and when Menendez slams his head to the TV, Menendez's entire body, including the face, is censored.
 * Menendez can kill four playable characters, three of which are player-determined. He kills Jason Hudson (playable in Black Ops) and can kill Frank Woods, Farid, and himself.
 * In "Time and Fate", it's possible to kill Menendez. Player should equip the Storm PSR (however, player must finish the campaign first in order to use the future weapon in past mission), and when seeing Menendez at the barn, player will need to wait for being able to use the weapons again, then look for Menendez and kill him. However, this doesn't change the game, and Menendez is seen in the house later in the mission.
 * Despite having only one eye, Menendez's field of vision is exactly the same as any other character's when he is playable. This is likely an intentional developers' choice not to limit the player's vision of his surroundings.
 * If the player chooses to spare him (assuming Karma is still alive at that point) and Menendez is arrested, then he will be the first primary Call of Duty antagonist to survive his game debut.
 * Vladimir Makarov technically doesn't count, as he first appeared as a secondary antagonist before transiting to primary.
 * Menendez is seen, heard from, or mentioned in every mission of Black Ops II, including all of the Strike Force missions, and makes an appearance in every ending of the game.