Juggernaut (character)

The Juggernaut is a unique type of enemy found in the Special Ops game mode of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, and rarely in Call of Duty: Black Ops during the campaign.

They are heavily protected by explosive-ordinance disposal suits, requiring excessive amounts of damage to kill. In game, they are able to deal out massive amounts of injury with a shotgun or a light machine gun (mostly with their LMGs). Juggernauts are first encountered in the Snatch & Grab Special Ops Mission. The Juggernaut was originally supposed to be a level 4 upgrade for the Juggernaut perk in Multiplayer, however this was replaced by Pro perks. In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, players can wear Juggernaut suits obtained by strike packages in Multiplayer, in certain Spec Ops missions, and in the Campaign mission "Dust to Dust".

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Juggernauts are heavily armored enemies that appear in several Special Ops challenges. A Juggernaut's tactics differ from a normal enemy in that they tend to approach the player head on and rarely take cover or aim down their sights, though in some missions, they do take cover (most notably on Armor Piercing). Juggernauts are quite fast despite their heavy armor, and will charge the player at a steady jog while constantly firing their weapon. Juggernauts are usually accompanied by an ominous musical cue that plays just before they appear on screen. They do not appear in the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 singleplayer campaign.

Unlike regular enemies, Juggernauts do not lose their footing or become stunned while taking fire due to their heavy armor. Even a direct hit from an explosive will only cause them to stumble slightly. However, a direct hit from a sniper rifle will cause one to stagger or possibly fall over, interrupting its attack.

Juggernauts can survive an incredible amount of damage, requiring almost 80 rounds of assault rifle fire, at least five Intervention sniper rifle torso shots, around 14 shotgun blasts, or five-six direct hits from a M203 40mm grenade launcher to kill.

By far the best weapons with which to engage Juggernauts are the Barrett .50cal, which only requires three-five shots to kill, and the Thumper, which, if aimed right, can kill a Juggernaut with one hit to the head. One must note that the round must explode but not direct impact to one shot kill a Juggernaut. 10 claymores stacked together or a similar amount of C4 charges are also able to 1 hit kill a Juggernaut. Predator Missiles are very effective against Juggernauts and can kill then with just one hit (or at least a very close one).

The words "Get Sum!" and "Kick Me!" are graffitied on the front and rear groin sections of the Juggernaut's armor, a reference to the film Full Metal Jacket. This is more easily seen in the Museum level. A decal of a skull can also be seen in the armor that covers their shoulders.

They appear in Special Ops missions Snatch & Grab, Estate Takedown, Armor Piercing, and High Explosive. When they do appear, a lone drumbeat sounds. In Armor Piercing and High Explosive, unharmed, newly spawned ones will stand still and move only after some time or after the player shoots at them. When dealing with multiple enemies, a Juggernaut should take top priority. While most enemies will stay behind cover and keep their distance, the Juggernaut will seek out and attack the player.

Little is known about the Juggernauts. It is probable they are Russians, as they speak Russian and are seen with other Russian forces in the Museum level. It is unknown who employed them or who they officially work for, but it is most likely they are mercenaries, as they are seen fighting alongside Shadow Company in Snatch & Grab, with Makarov's elite mercenaries in Estate Takedown, alone in High Explosive and Armor Piercing and with Russian Armed Forces in Museum. This is also supported by the fact that they use the M240 and were supposed to use the Striker, but the concept was scrapped.

Call of Duty: Black Ops
The Juggernauts appear very differently than their Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 counterpart; they now look more alike the Flak Jacket character model in multiplayer. They also wear balaclavas. They appear in the missions Vorkuta and Redemption, and wield shotguns and Light Machine Guns, most commonly the KS-23, and the RPK. They can also be put into Last Stand, in which case they will pull out a Full-Auto CZ-75.

They are more resistant to bullets compared to ordinary enemies; and are also highly resistant to explosions. Whilst on lower difficulties they are easy to kill, on Veteran difficulty the player is recommended to go for headshots to quickly dispose of them. However, they are not as powerful as their Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 counterparts, and can easily be dispatched by a single headshot on lower difficulties. In Vorkuta It takes about 2-3 KS-23 shots to the torso, one shot to the head although a full on close up shot will kill them without a headshot.(confirmed on PS3), roughly 27-45 rounds from an AK-47 to the chest and approximately half of a magazine of the AK-47 to the head. Also it is possible to gib the Juggernaut, although doing so is difficult.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
"Yes, there are juggernauts returning from the previous games; there will be several different types of them, too."

- Rubin discussing Juggernauts in Modern Warfare 3.

Juggernauts reappear in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, once again taking the form of enemies in Special Ops mode. Compared to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Juggernauts in this game are noticeably slower, moving at a steady walk instead of running. Juggernauts are extremely tough enemies, with the basic Juggernaut capable of withstanding at least 70 assault rifle rounds at close range and around 100 rounds at long range, while the Armored Juggernaut is significantly more durable.

Juggernauts appear in three variants: the standard Juggernaut armed with a PKP Pecheneg, the Riot Shield Juggernaut armed with a Riot Shield and a PKP Pecheneg, and finally the Armored Juggernaut which begins to appear in later boss waves and possesses heavier armor (identical in appearance to the Juggernaut suit seen in campaign and multiplayer) which allowing them to sustain even more damage than a regular Juggernaut. Juggernauts will not drop their PKP Pecheneg when killed, although Riot Shield Juggernauts will drop their Riot Shield. Because of their heavy protection, Riot Shield Juggernauts are best dealt with using flanking, explosives, or missile strikes. Additionally, hitting a Riot Shield Juggernaut with a flashbang will stun them for a few seconds and also force them to permanently drop their riot shield. Armored Juggernauts bear resemblance to the ones from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 ' s Special Ops, as they wear more or less the same outfit with a slightly different paint job. They are extremely lethal, as even a Predator missile or full on air strike won't kill them, it will just get their attention and wound them. However, the wounds they receive via a missile or air strike are extremely beneficial to a player, as they can eliminate Juggernauts faster this way.

In Survival Mode, on the lowest difficulty, they mostly appear in waves 10 (1 Juggernaut), 15 (2 Juggernauts), 20 (3 Juggernauts), and 26 (2 Armored Juggernauts and 1 Riot Shield Juggernaut). They enter the map via an Mi-8 helicopter (which can't be destroyed). Once the helicopter is in position, a smoke grenade will be thrown and the Juggernaut will rappel down into the smoke. They will destroy any Sentry Turrets if seen by them or if attacked by the turret. The most effective weapons to kill a Juggernaut are explosives (C4 can be deployed under the rope they rappel from and used for an easy kill), shotguns (specifically a Striker) and LMGs. Select types of assault rifles are usable against the Juggernaut, but only high damage ones are able to eliminate a Juggernaut with any success, examples would be the CM901 and the MK14, as both posses high damage, and the CM901 is capable of eliminating a Juggernaut at close range with one magazine if the player lands most of the shots in the head, or two magazines if hitting the body, the MK14 can be used if the player is fast enough, and more often than not, will eliminate a Juggernaut about as fast as any other effective weapon for killing Juggernauts. Flashbangs are also extremely useful as they can incapacitate a Juggernaut for several seconds and can give the player's team a chance to take it out. Predator missiles and Air Strikes are also highly effective against these enemies as they have the potential to kill multiple Juggernauts at once. Note that the Air Strike will deal much more damage than a Predator, and won't require a direct hit on higher levels, although it is more difficult to use without risking being killed by the Airstrike due to the wait-time before the AC-130 fires upon them.

The player gets to wear a Juggernaut suit in the Spec Ops missions Toxic Paradise and Invisible Threat. Price and Yuri also wear a Juggernaut suit in the last level of the Modern Warfare 3 campaign, "Dust to Dust". It is noted that unlike an enemy Juggernaut suit, the Juggernaut suit worn in these levels are vulnerable to melee and explosives damage, as a single enemy melee hit will drop the player to critical health on Regular difficulty, and they can still be killed outright by an overcooked grenade.

The Hardened Edition of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 includes a Juggernaut suit for Xbox 360 Avatars.

Weapons

 * PKP Pecheneg (Spec Ops and Singleplayer only, primary weapon)
 * Riot Shield (Spec Ops, Singleplayer, and primary weapon for the Juggernaut Recon Pointstreak)
 * M60E4 (primary weapon for the Juggernaut Pointstreak)
 * MP412 (secondary weapon for the Juggernaut Pointsteak)
 * USP .45 (secondary weapon to the Juggernaut Recon Pointstreak)

Trivia

 * Getting a Game Winning KillCam with a Riot Shield earns the player a comic Juggernaut head emblem and the "Owned" title.
 * In the museum, before one presses the button, the Juggernaut can be killed with one hit from anything - including a direct hit from a flashbang (as with all other characters). Pressing the button reverts him back to his normal health and durability.
 * They were originally planned to use the Striker in combination with an M240.
 * Juggernauts are not bulletproof, as rounds will pass straight through them and kill enemies.
 * If the player looks closely, the Juggernaut appears to hold the M240 as if it has a grip.
 * In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the Juggernaut's helmet says R7130.
 * At the Call of Duty XP event, attendees were able to sumo wrestle in Juggernaut suits.
 * In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the Juggernaut's weapons can have a ACOG Scope, Red Dot Sight or a Red Dot Sight with a Heartbeat Sensor or other attachments.
 * In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, when Juggernauts use their Riot Shield, they hold their PKP Pecheneg in one hand.
 * When Juggernauts holding Riot Shields take enough damage, they drop their riot shield and continue fighting with their main gun.
 * In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Survival Mode, it is impossible to shoot down the helicopter transporting them.
 * They do not drop their weapons in Survival Mode, other than their Riot Shield.
 * In the later waves of Survival Missions, Juggernauts may actually sprint for short periods of time, and occasionally even try to melee players.
 * Juggernauts can be knocked off their feet by Riot Shield squads in Survival Mode, however they will merely sit up and shoot at the particular soldier that knocked them down.
 * Juggernauts have gained the ability to hip-throw (judo flip) and execute friendly AI (Delta Squads and Riot Squads) at melee range in Survival Mode. There is a chance, however, that a Riot Squad member will do the same to the Juggernaut, tackling the Juggernaut with the riot shield and shooting him. Delta Squad members cannot execute Juggernauts. This can be best observed on close quarters maps like Resistance.