"Tank" Dempsey

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"Tank Dempsey! Kicking ass and making messes!"

— Tank Dempsey

Corporal "Tank" Dempsey is an American Marine who fought in the United States Marine Corps, and is a playable main character in the Zombies game mode. His player indicator color is white (shared with John F. Kennedy and Sarah Michelle Gellar), but is randomized in his appearances since and including Moon. An alternate version of Dempsey is introduced in Origins, and reappears in Call of Duty: Black Ops III as a main playable character in The Giant, Der Eisendrache and Zetsubou No Shima.

Biography & Personality

Original Timeline

Tank Dempsey of the Original Timeline

"Tank Dempsey: American hero. Hand him a loaded weapon, a good woman, and something to shoot at and he is happy. Enrage him and he will rip your guts out and use them as a bandolier.

Dempsey was selected for this mission after he showed his true grit at the battle for Peleliu. Remarkable though it may seem, his unit was captured during the early raids before the main invasion, and he spent 2 weeks in a rat infested bamboo cage submerged in malarial water. Well that did not stop The Tank. After he gnawed his way through the cage, he then gnawed his way through his captors armed only with a Bobby pin and his Medal of Honor which he keeps secreted in various body cavities.

Now you know there is no before the war for Dempsey, and there is no after. There is only the legend of Tank Dempsey, and how he will win the war for the rest of us."

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

In the original timeline, Dempsey is a stereotypical United States Marine who is brash and self-satisfied. He thinks highly of himself and his country. He was a part of an experiment conducted by Dr. Edward Richtofen; alongside Takeo Masaki and Nikolai Belinski, his memories were wiped out as a result of Element 115 exposure, while his personality was amplified to an extent. He unknowingly helped Richtofen's scheme to control the zombies, due to the memory loss. as with the other two. In Der Riese, Shi No Numa, Kino der Toten and Ascension; he and the others fought for survival and unwittingly helped Richtofen's plan, but he was the first to regain his memories and became suspicious of Richtofen. In Moon, all three realized Richtofen's scheme for unlimited power and attempted to stop him; first by contacting Ludvig Maxis, who was at the Griffin Station in the Moon to help them stop Richtofen. Maxis manipulated the trio by claiming that Richtofen's link can be destroyed by launching three missiles to sever the link from Agartha and the Moon, however the plan was made in haste and the Earth's ozone layer became polluted, and the explosion created more zombies, and as of this, his fate is unknown, as well as the other three. As of the rewritten original timeline after all the future events were erased by Richtofen the original Dempsey is dead, he was killed in Der Eisendrache by his younger self.

Origins/Alternate Timeline

"Corporal Tank Dempsey: American Hero. Originally assigned to intercept Dr. Edward Richtofen in Northen France, Dempsey now fights alongside Nikolai, Takeo and Richtofen as they attempt to put an end to the ennemy war machine once and for all. Though he's seen more than his fair share of bloodshed, nothing could have prepared him for the events of Der Eisendrache..."

— Dempsey's biography for Call of Duty: Black Ops III

When Samantha Maxis traveled to an alternate timeline in 1918, "Tank" Dempsey was still deployed with the US Marines in France when he was assigned to grab Dr. Edward Richtofen as a H.V.T, and was given a transport in the form of a MKIV tank; he is also aware of the circumstances of the time, where giant robots, zombies and potential foreign intervention from Russia and Japan. When met with Takeo, Nikolai and Richtofen, the three set aside their differences to survive the zombie outbreak. When meeting Samantha Maxis and freeing her from Agartha, he and the others were informed of the future apocalypse and was tasked to avert the future apocalypse. He, Nikolai and Takeo were sent to the original universe to the Der Riese facility, just after the original universe Richtofen sent Maxis, Samantha and Fluffy to their original fates, and threatens original universe Richtofen to not change the future. When the alternate Richtofen appeared and shot his original self, unwittingly erasing all the future events, he lamented Richtofen's doing, but accepts it as the future needed to change. However in The Giant due to exposure to Element 115, Dempsey has started to curse more and becomes more brash. Thus resulting in his original personality mixing with his younger self. In Der Eisendrache, the original Dempsey was killed by the younger Dempsey in order to save his soul using the Summoning Key acquired in Shadows of Evil, much like what Richtofen did with his older self in The Giant. Dempsey despite slowly becoming like his older self due to 115 showed great sadness and remorse when killing his Original timeline self, showing that Dempsey still had compassion like in Origins.

In the alternate timeline, he is more focused to the mission, and cursed less and he is more willing to use other weapons as well. He is also quite concerned with Samantha Maxis' safety in Agartha and along with Nikolai, he is willing to save her, but will make negative comments to her if she threatens the group. As he never encountered Richtofen before and was just briefed about him, he doesn't develop the hatred that he had, but will become annoyed if he doesn't do well, but will tolerate him in the team. He will respect both Takeo and Nikolai if they fight well, but dislikes them if they don't.

Letters

Dempsey's first letter.

"November 19, 1917
It seems beyond doubt that Fritz is up to no good. Air reconnaissance suggests prototype armored weaponry is being tested in Northern France. Scuttlebutt reads like the ramblings of a mad man; strange lights in the sky... a mysterious plague... even giant metal men.
I'll be at the site within the week to learn the truth with my own eyes..."

— Tank Dempsey

Dempsey's second letter.

"April 14, 1918
After far too long waiting on the sidelines, we finally got our first taste of combat. Our actions at Belleau Wood seem to have brought their Spring Offensive to a grinding halt. We even heard talk that Fritz has nicknamed us the 'Devil Dogs', following the allround ass kicking they took... and that's fine by me.
We intercepted communications suggesting that we're not the only nation to learn of the enemy's plans. Scuttlebutt is that the Russians & Japanese are looking to grab a slice of the action. Things are going to get interesting."

— Tank Dempsey

Appearances

Nacht der Untoten
Black Ops only

Verrückt

Shino.jpg

Shi No Numa

Der Riese

Kino der Toten

"Five"
Cameo as portrait

Ascension

Call of the Dead
Heard only

Shangri-La

Moon

Origins
Young version.

The Giant
Young version.

Der Eisendrache
Young version (Original appears in intro cutscene, dies in ending cutscene).

Zetsubou No Shima
Young Version

Gallery

Dempsey as seen in Der Riese.

Dempsey as seen in Kino der Toten.

Dempsey's portrait. Found in "Five" and Kino der Toten.

Dempsey's appearance in Moon while using a Death Machine.

Gamer Picture that is received after completing the Eclipse Easter Egg (Xbox 360 only).

Demspey shown in the training level for Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies.

Dempsey's Matryoshka Doll.

Dempsey's character model, as seen in Samantha's room in Kino der Toten.

Tank Dempsey as he appears in Origins.

Tank Dempsey with other characters, as seen in Origins.

Tank in the Origins intro.

Model of Tank Dempsey in Origins.

Dempsey about to kill Rook.

Dempsey in the player lobby screen.

WWII Dempsey before being killed.

Young Dempsey shutting down the life support for his older self.

Richtofen preserving WWII Dempsey's soul in the Summoning Key.

WWII Dempsey's model as seen through a Theater Mode glitch in Black Ops III.

Dempsey's biography for Black Ops III.

Dempsey seen with the others in the bio for The Giant.

Trivia

• Dempsey's favorite Perk-a-Cola is Juggernog and his least favorite is Quick Revive.
  • Dempsey thinks Stamin-Up is sour.
  • Dempsey says Double Tap "tastes chewy."
  • Dempsey has a strong dislike for fish, as mentioned when he is disgusted each time after drinking a Quick Revive soda.
    • Sometimes he says that it tastes like "fermented herring dipped in cat piss."
• Dempsey hates Edward Richtofen, who in turn hates him as well.
  • However, in Origins, they are both more mutual in tone.
    • In The Giant, Dempsey has once again become suspicious of Richtofen, in the ending of the Der Eisendrache Easter egg Dempsey states he should never have trusted Richtofen when the latter reveals his plan to kill Dempsey's Original self, despite this after Dempsey euthanized his Older version Richtofen briefly comforted him showing that Richtofen seems to no longer hate Dempsey.
• Dempsey seems to disrespect Nikolai Belinski.
  • In the Original Characters Trapped Easter egg, Dempsey and Nikolai appear to be drunk together, demonstrating how Dempsey does not actually hate him.
    • In Origins and The Giant, he and Nikolai seem to be on good terms, although their relationship becomes strained in The Giant.
    • In Der Eisendrache, their relationship begins to heal, with both of them becoming more suspicious of Richtofen.
• Dempsey treats Takeo Masaki with much respect, but Takeo does not seem to return the same feeling, until Shangri-La where he begins to subtly reciprocate, and shows it more openly on Moon.
  • In Origins and The Giant Dempsey's friendship with Takeo has gotten better as he and Takeo both agree to keep an eye on Richtofen and their conversations are friendlier than with Nikolai or Richtofen.
    • This however is later strained in Der Eisendrache, due to Takeo's fixation with Richtofen's knowledge of the Emperor.
• Dempsey's favorite weapons are the BAR, the M16, and heavy weaponry, such as the MG08/15, MG42, Dingo, and HK21.
  • He seems to know much about the M16, despite him having no contact with one prior to Kino der Toten.
  • In Origins, his favorite staff is the Wind Staff.
• Dempsey often calls the Wunderwaffe DG-2 the “Wonder Waffle", which has sparked a trend among the community, who often do the same.
• Rarely, while using the Pack-a-Punch machine, Dempsey will sing the jingle for Juggernog.
• By the time of Kino der Toten, Dempsey has grown a small beard, and by the time of Ascension, he is covered in dirt and blood. This blood is gone in Shangri-La and returns in Moon.
• In a file on the computer terminal, it says that part of Dr. Richtofen's super-soldier experiments were Dempsey, Nikolai, and Takeo.
• Dempsey has a five-year-old daughter.
• Dempsey was briefly mentioned by Richtofen on Green Run, along with Nikolai.
• In Der Eisendrache, Dempsey mentions he was once kicked by a horse.