In the multiplayer mode of Call of Duty: Black Ops II, medals are rewarded for outstanding accomplishments. These accomplishments can range from securing flags and bombs in objective game modes to getting an exceptional amount of kills in a single life. Each medal, including duplicates, provide bonus XP, which is displayed in the After Action Report at the end of the match.
Kill Medals
Kill Medals are rewarded whenever a player kills an enemy under circumstances different from a regular kill. This can include killing an enemy before they kill a teammate, awarding the Savior medal, or killing an enemy that has killed you before, awarding the Revenge medal. They are also rewarded with unconventional weapons and equipment, such as the Combat Axe and the Ballistic Knife.
| Medal Name | Medal | Description |
| Afterlife | 
|
Kill an enemy when you are dead. |
| Assisted Suicide | 
|
Injure an enemy that then kills themselves. |
| Avenger | 
|
Kill an enemy that recently killed a teammate. |
| Backfire | 
|
Kill an enemy with their own weapon. |
| Backstabber | 
|
Knife an enemy in the back. |
| Bait Taken | 
|
Kill an enemy with a booby-trapped Care Package. |
| Buzzkill | 
|
Kill an enemy before he reaches his next scorestreak. |
| Chopped Up! | 
|
Kill an enemy with the Combat Axe. |
| Comeback | 
|
Kill an enemy after dying 3 or more times in a row. |
| Deadeye | 
|
Kill an enemy with the Crossbow. NB: cannot be a direct-impact kill. |
| Dropshot | 
|
Kill an enemy shortly after diving to prone. Not rewarded through conventional "dropshotting". |
| Efficiency | 
|
Kill multiple enemies with a single bullet. |
| First Blood | 
|
Achieve the first kill of the game. |
| Headshot | 
|
Kill an enemy by shooting them in the head or neck. |
| Long Shot | 
|
Kill an enemy outside your weapon's best range. |
| One Shot, One Kill | 
|
Kill an enemy at full health with a single shot from a Sniper Rifle. |
| Revenge | 
|
Kill an enemy who killed you before. |
| Savior | 
|
Kill an enemy before they kill a teammate. |
| Shield Bash | 
|
Kill an enemy with the Assault Shield. |
| Skewered | 
|
Kill an enemy with the Ballistic Knife. Does not include melee attacks. |
| Stick | 
|
Stick a semtex to an enemy. Rewarded on stick, not kill. |
| Survivor | 
|
Kill an enemy while badly injured (red screen). |
| Quad Feed | 
|
Kill four players in a short amount of time while being uninterrupted in the Killfeed. Stacks with Rapid Kill medals. |
Killstreak Medals
Killstreak Medals are rewarded for going on a killstreak (multiple kills in a single life). Scorestreaks do not contribute to this streak; only kills from weapons, the knife, lethals and tacticals are counted. Medals scale until the 31st kill, at which point each non-scorestreak kill will be rewarded with the Unstoppable medal.
| Medal Name | Medal | Description |
| Bloodthirsty | 
|
Achieve a 5 kill streak. |
| Merciless | 
|
Achieve a 10 kill streak. |
| Ruthless | 
|
Achieve a 15 kill streak. |
| Relentless | 
|
Achieve a 20 kill streak. |
| Brutal | 
|
Achieve a 25 kill streak. |
| Nuclear | 
|
Achieve a 30 kill streak. |
| Unstoppable | 
|
Awarded for every kill after 30. |
Rapid Kill Medals
Rapid Kill Medals are awarded for killing multiple enemies in a certain timeframe. Unlike previous games, the timeframe to achieve these kills is much larger, and each kill extends the time to achieve the next. As with the Killstreak Medals, scorestreak kills do not contribute to this.
| Medal Name | Medal | Description |
| Double Kill | 
|
Kill 2 enemies in rapid succession. |
| Triple Kill | 
|
Kill 3 enemies in rapid succession. |
| Fury Kill | 
|
Kill 4 enemies in rapid succession. |
| Frenzy Kill | 
|
Kill 5 enemies in rapid succession. |
| Super Kill | 
|
Kill 6 enemies in rapid succession. |
| Mega Kill | 
|
Kill 7 enemies in rapid succession. |
| Ultra Kill | 
|
Kill 8 enemies in rapid succession. |
| Kill Chain | 
|
Kill more than 8 enemies in rapid succession. |
Scorestreak Medals
Scorestreak Medals are rewarded for getting direct kills on enemy players from scorestreaks. Due to this, it is impossible to get medals from support scorestreaks such as the UAV. Medals stack, meaning that multiple medals can be awarded from a single scorestreak. Example: a double kill from a Hunter Killer will award two Bullseye medals.
| Medal Name | Medal | Description |
| Kaboom | 
|
Kill an enemy with the RC-XD. |
| Bullseye | 
|
Kill an enemy with the Hunter Killer. |
| Cooked | 
|
Kill an enemy with the Guardian. |
| Raining Death | 
|
Kill an enemy with the Hellstorm Missile. |
| Strike Delivered | 
|
Kill an enemy with the Lightning Strike. |
| Crackdown | 
|
Kill an enemy with the Sentry Gun. |
| Decimated | 
|
Kill an enemy with the Death Machine. |
| Boomstick | 
|
Kill an enemy with the War Machine. |
| Red Baron | 
|
Kill an enemy with the Dragonfire. |
| Bouncer | File:Bouncer Medal BOII.png | Kill an enemy with the A.G.R.. |
| Silent Killer | 
|
Kill an enemy with the Stealth Chopper. |
| Wingman | File:Wingman Medal BOII.png | Kill an enemy with the Escort Drone. |
| Cropduster | 
|
Kill an enemy with the Warthog. |
| Distant Thunder | File:Distant Thunder Medal BOII.png | Kill an enemy with the Lodestar. |
| Death From Above | 
|
Kill an enemy with the VTOL Warship. |
| Warbeast | 
|
Kill an enemy with the K9 Unit. |
| Falling Skies | 
|
Kill an enemy with the Swarm. |
Scorestreak Destroy Medals
Scorestreak Destroy Medals are rewarded for destroying enemy scorestreaks. This can be done in a variety of ways, be it from using the FHJ-18 AA on a Counter-UAV, to using the Black Hat PDA on a Guardian. Destroy medals are visually similar to their scorestreak counterparts, but have a dark red background instead of a gold one.
| Medal Name | Medal | Description |
| Blackout | 
|
Destroy an enemy UAV. |
| Road Rage | 
|
Destroy an enemy RC-XD. |
| ? | File:Hunter Killer Destroy Medal BOII.png | Destroy an enemy Hunter Killer. |
| No Tip | 
|
Destroy an enemy Care Package drone. |
| Fuzzbuster | File:Fuzzbuster Medal BOII.png | Destroy an enemy Counter-UAV. |
| Burn Out | 
|
Destroy an enemy Guardian. |
| Intercepted | 
|
Destroy an enemy Hellstorm Missile. NB: It must not have delivered its cluster payload. |
| Scrapped | 
|
Destroy an enemy Sentry Gun. |
| Flyswatter | 
|
Destroy an enemy Dragonfire. |
| Drone Hunter | File:Drone Hunter Medal BOII.png | Destroy an enemy A.G.R.. |
| Shadow Catcher | 
|
Destroy an enemy Stealth Chopper. |
| Demolished | File:Demolished Medal BOII.png | Destroy an enemy Escort Drone. |
| Uppercut | File:Uppercut Medal BOII.png | Destroy an enemy Lodestar. |
| Big Game Hunter | File:Big Game Hunter Medal BOII.png | Destroy an enemy VTOL Warship. |
Playlist Medals
Playlist Medals are rewarded in different game modes when certain parameters of obtained, such as capturing flags in Domination or defusing bombs.
Objective Medals
Objective medals offer some of the highest XP rewards in the game, incentivising objective play when applicable.
NB: "Any objective game mode" relates to any game mode with a static objective or objective location. To this end, it does not include Kill Confirmed.
| Medal Name | Medal | Game Mode | Description |
| Aggression | File:Aggression Medal BOII.png | Any objective game mode. | Capture an objective while killing an enemy. |
| Bomber | File:Bomber Medal BOII.png | Demolition, Search & Destroy | Plant and detonate a bomb. |
| Clean Up | 
|
Kill Confirmed | Retrieve 3 or more dog tags (allied or enemy) in a short space of time. |
| Denied | File:Denied Medal BOII.png | Capture the Flag | Killed enemy while carrying the flag. |
| Forward Position | File:Forward Position Medal BOII.png | Hardpoint |
Capture a neutral hardpoint as soon as it appears. (Supersedes Hardpoint Secure.) |
| Hardpoint Secure | File:Hardpoint Secure Medal BOII.png | Hardpoint | Capture a hardpoint. NB: Hardpoint must have been previously neutral or enemy-controlled. |
| Hero | File:Hero Medal BOII.png | Demolition, Search & Destroy | Defuse a bomb. |
| Opening Move | File:Opening Move Medal BOII.png | Domination | Capture the neutral B flag. |
| Playmaker | File:Playmaker Medal BOII.png | Capture the Flag | Capture a flag. |
| Retrieved | File:Retrieved Medal BOII.png | Kill Confirmed | Retrieve your own dog tags. |
| Secure | File:Secure Medal BOII.png | Domination, Headquarters | Capture an objective. |
| Takedown | File:Takedown Medal BOII.png | Capture the Flag, Demolition | Kill a flag holder or bomb planter. |
| Wipeout | File:Wipeout Medal BOII.png | Any objective game mode. | Clear objective of two or more enemies. |
Party Game Medals
Party Game Medals appear exclusively in the Party Games playlist. They are rewarded from various achievements, such as getting the most kills within a gun rotation in Sharpshooter, or quickly moving up a rank in Gun Game.
| Medal Name | Medal | Game Mode | Description |
| Bankrupted | 
|
Sticks and Stones | Setback an enemy with the Combat Axe. |
| Combo Breaker | 
|
Sharpshooter | Kill an enemy with the 2x score bonus. |
| Double Down | 
|
Sharpshooter | Obtain a 2x score bonus (4 kills without dying). |
| Elimination | 
|
One in the Chamber | Killed an enemy player on their last life. |
| Frugal | 
|
One in the Chamber | Killed an enemy with the knife while you still have a bullet. |
| Gun Expert | 
|
Sharpshooter | Score the most points in a single gun rotation. |
| Gunslinger | 
|
Gun Game | Killed an enemy within 3 seconds of ranking up. |
| Humiliation | 
|
Gun Game | Setback an enemy player by knifing them. |
| Regicide |
|
Sticks and Stones | Setback the highest scoring player with the Combat Axe. (Supersedes Bankrupted.) |
End of Match Medals
End of Match Medals are rewarded for finishing any public match.
| Medal Name | Medal | Description |
| Strength and Honor | File:Strength and Honor Medal BOII.png | Finish a match completely. |
| Victor | 
|
Finish a match with a victory. (Supersedes Strength and Honor) |
Miscellaneous Medals
There are additional medals that are not rewarded for any of the above reasons, and revolve more around the metagame of stealing, sharing and hacking.
| Medal Name | Medal | Description |
| Shared scorestreak | File:Shared Medal BOII.png | Share your Care Package with an ally. |
| Hijacker | 
|
Steal an enemy Care Package. |
| Hacked | 
|
Hack enemy equipment with the Black Hat PDA. |
Trivia
- The Mega Kill and Ultra Kill medals are only shown in the After Action Report.
- The Efficiency medal is sometimes awarded despite not killing more than a single enemy with a single bullet.
- Though the One Shot, One Kill medal is only rewarded to sniper rifles, Shotguns obtain their Camo through "One Hit Kills" in a similar fashion to sniper rifles. A "One Hit Kill" in this case refers to a single buckshot (or slug for the KSG) in the magazine, and for any shotgun does not award the medal.