- "Ideas don't determine who's right. Power determines who's right. And I have the power, so I'm right."
- — Irons in the Campaign Story trailer for Advanced Warfare
Jonathan Irons was the founder and CEO of the private military corporation, the Atlas Corporation, in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. He started off as a supporting character for the player, but was then revealed to be the main antagonist throughout the rest of the campaign.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Jonathan Irons once served in the United States Army and trained as a soldier in the West Point Graduate Program. Leaving the military at some point, Irons founded the Atlas Corporation in 2035 using his connections with the U.S. Military and other powerful organizations. He would later establish Atlas International in 2043, which would become one of the largest PMCs in the world. Irons would also get married and have a son named Will, who, contrary to Jonathan's pessimistic views about the U.S. government, disappointed his father by joining the United States Marine Corps. Will joked about this by claiming that he enlisted in the Marines in order to stay away from his father and instead serve his country.
Events of Advanced Warfare[]
After having finished a funeral service for his son Private Will Irons, who was killed during an U.S. operation to counter a massive North Korean invasion of Seoul, Jonathan Irons offered Will's close friend Jack Mitchell to join him at Atlas, the world's most powerful private military contractor, of which he is CEO. As compensation for his injuries in Seoul, Mitchell is given by Irons an advanced prosthetic arm to replace his amputation.
Meanwhile, a terrorist organization calling itself the KVA, led by a Georgian terrorist code-named Hades, began staging numerous terrorist attacks, with the world turning to Atlas to stop them. As part of the operation to combat the new enemy, Mitchell, joined by a notorious Atlas member named Gideon, along with other Atlas forces rescued the Nigerian Prime Minister and later a technologist in Lagos during a technology summit. However, the KVA forces toughened up after their defeats, as evidenced when Mitchell and his team failed to prevent the planned nuclear reactor meltdown in Seattle by the KVA.
The KVA launched similar attacks against nuclear power plants worldwide, irradiating numerous cities, killing thousands of people, and put numerous national governments and military forces in turmoil. Atlas emerged as the dominant military force in the world, coming to the aid of civilians affected by the attacks and holding back the KVA's rampage.
Four years later, in 2059, Mitchell and Gideon search downtown in Detroit to find Dr. Pierre Danois, the KVA's second in command. After having the doctor interrogated by Ilona, an ex-Spetsnaz sniper now working for Atlas, they are able to track Hades down to Santorini, Greece, where KVA leaders were holding a conference. The mission was a success, as Mitchell managed to kill Hades, finally "ending" the war. Before succumbing to his death, Hades uttered "Irons knows" while giving Mitchell a data chip with his last breath.
After Hades' death, Irons and Atlas received international recognition and respect, with many even questioning if Irons would become a politician.
However, Ilona analyzed the data chip given by Hades, only to find the technologist they rescued in Nigeria was executed by Irons after the latter learned of the KVA global attack, proving that Irons deliberately allowed the attacks to occur to improve Atlas' reputation. Irons and a pair of Atlas MP soldiers subdued both Mitchell and Ilona. Ilona told Irons that she, Mitchell and Gideon have seen it. Irons questioned what did they see and Ilona replied this about a thousand of innocent dead, but Irons claimed this video they watched was faked by KVA. Ilona angrily called him a "monster", much to Irons' disappointment, stating that they lost anything they could have. Ilona attempted to confess to Gideon about what happened now, but he claimed this footage was faked too, and he decided to join Atlas. Both Atlas soldiers attempts to have Mitchell and Ilona arrested, but they escape Atlas headquarters in New Baghdad, guided by a mysterious voice known as "X", while Gideon reluctantly stays at Irons' side. The stranger turns out to be Cormack, who revealed that he is part of the Sentinel Task Force, an international effort to prevent Atlas' rise to power.
In 2060, Mitchell, now a member of the Sentinel Task Force, infiltrated Irons' private residence in Bangkok. He and Cormack discovered that Danois is now collaborating with Irons on "Manticore", a biological weapon. They set up a tracker on the plane carrying the bioweapon bound for Argentina. Sentinel later intercepts the plane, causing it to crash in Antarctica, eventually eliminating all Atlas forces after discovering Irons' intentions for the bioweapon. The team successfully retrieved the WMD, gaining a sample of it. After analyzing it, they discover that Manticore is a weapon designed to attack and infect those who weren't genetically encoded with Atlas' DNA implants, preventing the harm of their own operatives. The task force, now with Gideon, infiltrated and destroyed an Atlas WMD facility in Bulgaria, eliminating much of the Manticore samples.
With his plot revealed, Irons released his ultimatum: the forced removal of all politicians whom he pinned the problems of society on, announcing it at the United Nations assembly and effectively declaring war against the world. Sentinel soon discovers that Irons was planning a preemptive strike on the United States and proceed to try and stop the attack on San Francisco. Atlas destroys the Golden Gate Bridge, trapping the U.S. Third Fleet in the Bay Area, and attempt to destroy the fleet in a single strike. Sentinel, in retaliation, uses a rail gun aboard USS Arrowhead to destroy the Atlas cargo ships attacking the fleet. With the ultimatum and the attack on U.S. soil, every nation formally declared war against Atlas, causing Irons to retreat to his headquarters in New Baghdad, Iraq.
Seven months later, Sentinel and the US military launched an attack on New Baghdad to stop Irons and bring him to justice. However, Atlas released Manticore, killing most of the invasion force except Mitchell, Ilona and Gideon, as well as Cormack, who was outside the blast radius. Brought to a prison camp serving as a testing ground for Manticore, Irons first tortures Mitchell and Cormack, shooting the latter with a pistol and disabling the former's prosthetic arm. Leaving them for collection, Irons returns to his quarters while Ilona and Gideon are brought into the same cell as their compatriots. Eventually overpowering the guards, the four escape the facility, discovering along the way that Irons already had enough Manticore to attack every military base in the world, and will be launching a missile shortly. Despite the successful escape, Cormack succumbs to his injuries while the group leave in a hijacked truck.
Death[]
With the fate of the world at stake, Sentinel launch a final assault on Atlas' HQ. Mitchell and Gideon successfully destroy the missile, eventually turning their attention to Irons as Sentinel prepare to bombard the building. Reaching his quarters, Irons disables their exoskeletons before they can harm him, forcing Mitchell to release his own in chase. As an explosion throws Irons off the building, forcing him to hang onto Mitchell's left prosthetic arm, the former father reminds Mitchell about the aid he provided, attempting to persuade the soldier to save him. Despite his pleas, Mitchell cuts off his prosthetic arm with a knife, causing Irons to fall to his death.
Exo Zombies[]
In the Exo Zombies map Infection, Lilith Swann at one point may say "Irons knows. He knows!... I don't know why I said that." This is a reference to Hades' dying words in the level Manhunt. It is, however, unknown whether the quote can be taken seriously, so it is uncertain whether Jonathan Irons is even alive, let alone the CEO of the Atlas Corporation in the Exo Zombies storyline.
Personality[]
Jonathon Irons was a strict man of principle, believing that his way of fighting wars was the only way to achieve peace in this lifetime. In pursuit of this goal, he was willing to use whatever means he had at his disposal, no matter the cost. As the President and CEO of the Atlas Corporation, Irons didn't see it as just a military force for hire; he saw it as a superpower capable of changing the world, and had spent the majority of his adult life strengthening it. Irons viewed himself as a visionary, believing that if Atlas could unite the world under its rule, it could create a utopia free from oppression, state tyranny, material hardship and potentially even the limits of biological mortality.
After the death of his son Will, Irons gained an obsession with absolute power, soon hoping to enact his vengeance against those he blamed or stood in his way, including the very governments that hired his company. Irons' menacing nature is further seen when Mitchell and Gideon discover the POWs who died of medical experimentation with Manticore at an Atlas prison camp. The event that effectively caused him to snap was Hades plot to force nuclear reactors around the world into a meltdown, using the Technologist Mitchell rescued from Nigeria in the pursuit of global harm. Rather than warn the people of the world, Irons murdered the specialist, letting thousands of innocents die for personal gain in order to improve Atlas' public image. He justified these acts by stating that the casualties were a "necessary sacrifice". Even in his last moments, Irons felt no remorse for his actions, dying a power-hungry madman who believed he could save humankind from inevitable destruction.
Irons held that because every person viewed their own ideas (be they religious fundamentalism, capitalism, communism etc) as correct, no one would ultimately convince anyone else that their particular beliefs were the truly correct ones. Instead, Irons held that it was power who ultimately determined who was correct.[1] In this view Irons justified his attack on the United States, arguing that for over a century the US had been able to engage in a belligerent, destabilizing foreign policy that failed to promote peace purely because they had the power to do so. By defeating the US and uniting the world under the rule of Atlas, it would be possible to create world peace under one banner.
Irons also enjoyed a cult of personality as he held New Baghdad as his personal haven and an exemplar of his philosophy. Propaganda posters of his image were plastered across the city, and after the defeat of the Sentinel Task Force during the invasion, he broadcasted a victory speech proclaiming the perseverance and victorious nature of Atlas and New Baghdad itself.
Before Mitchell's betrayal of Atlas, he seemed to hold Mitchell in high esteem and often referred to him affectionately, calling him "my boy" and remarking the similarities between Mitchell and his deceased son, Will Irons. Furthermore, when Mitchell's prosthetic arm malfunctioned during a simulation, he remarks that his arm "is worth more to me than this entire facility." In this way, he seemed to treat Mitchell as his own kin. It was due to this sentiment that he was left deeply insulted and angry at Mitchell's defection to the Sentinel Task Force.
Gallery[]
Quotes[]
- "Ideas don't determine who's right. Power determines who's right. And I have the power. So I'm right."
- — In the Campaign Story Trailer.
- "ATLAS is an internationally registered private company. We don't need Congress."
- — Irons replying to "Kingpin's objection.
- "Politicians don't know how to solve problems. But I do."
- — In the Gameplay Launch trailer.
- "What you're seeing is Advanced Warfare. ATLAS has the single largest standing military in the world but we answer to no country."
- — Jonathan showing the Atlas HQ to Jack Mitchell.
- "Unlike the government we don't keep secrets of our capabilities. We don't sell policy, we sell power. We are a super power for hire."
- — Jonathan Irons
- "I have sent people to die in your wars. So I feel uniquely qualified to tell you, your wars don't work!."
- — Jonathan Irons
Intel collectables[]
- Main article: Intel
When all Intel is collected from certain levels within the campaign, each reveal an audio log by Irons citing his political, economic and social beliefs, his actions, experiences, decisions and evaluations.
| Induction Transcript |
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| Atlas Transcript |
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| Traffic Transcript |
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| Fission Transcript |
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| Aftermath Transcript |
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| Manhunt Transcript |
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| Utopia Transcript |
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| Sentinel Transcript |
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| Crash Transcript |
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| Bio Lab Transcript |
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| Collapse Transcript |
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| Armada Transcript |
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| Throttle Transcript |
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| Captured Transcript |
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| Terminus Transcript |
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Trivia[]
- Jonathan Irons had a collection of antique guns that can be seen during "Sentinel".
- Jonathan Irons is mentioned in Claire "Alias" Richmond's dossier in Call of Duty: Mobile.[2]
References[]
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