- "Born into enormous wealth, the magician grew up surrounded by lackeys and sycophants… and a lifetime of constant praise and attention has only fueled his deeply misplaced arrogance."
- — Nero's bio
Nero Blackstone is a character appearing in Call of Duty: Black Ops III Zombies, as one of the four main characters of Shadows of Evil. He is voiced and motion-captured by Jeff Goldblum.
Biography[]
Nero was born into a wealthy family and a lifetime of praise made him a man full of misplaced arrogance.[1] His family estate declined later in life,[2] though his wealth was not affected as Nero had become a very successful Illusionist in Morg City. His popularity later sunk, going as far as being crowned "Worst Magician of the Year" by the Magician's Weekly magazine. Nero married a woman, who he viewed as demanding and always finding a reason to complain about him. In 1943, Nero was hospitalized and comatose for the entirety of November after a performance of The Amphibious Man. On November 5,[3] The Shadowman posed as Nero's Wife and forged a series of loan document in Nero's name, putting Nero into massive debt. Posing as a company executive, The Shadowman told Nero's laywer of the loans. On April 21 1944, Nero missed a call from his lawyer, informing him that the loan agreements were forged as they were signed while Nero was in hospital and that he had nothing to worry about.[4] With fifteen days until the company seek reparations,[4] Nero, unbeknownst to the Shadowman's actions and the lawyer's call, killed his wife with a throwing knife in a staged accident in order to claim the life insurance money and pay off their debts.
On April 25,[4] Nero pays a visit to the Black Lace burlesque club, where he watches the dancer Jessica Rose. During Jessica's performance, Nero is knocked out cold. He wakes up on the road to the Footlight district, next to the bar, and finds his left hand branded with the Mark of the Beast. Nero discovers the city totally devoid of life, inhabited solely by Zombies, and attempts to escape, running past the convenience store. He finds 3 other individuals in an alleyway: the boxer Floyd Campbell, Detective Jack Vincent, and the dancer Jessica Rose, all of whom were present at the Black Lase and were knocked out and branded. A mysterious figure calling himself The Shadowman asks the group to complete four rituals to atone for their sins. Nero collects his lawyer's golden fountain pen, a ritual item, from a box, opened by The Beast. He takes the pen to Nero's Landing and places it on the table with the Summoning Key. The lawyer is levitated above the table and asks for Nero's help, wondering if it is one of his illusions. Nero finishes the ritual and sacrifices his lawyer.
After finishing all the rituals, the Shadow Man reveals that they have opened a gateway to freeing the Apothicon on their dimension. Nero begins to remember all of the events being depicted in a book, located in his lair. After reading the book, they find out the true nature of the Apothicon, as well as the Keepers. The four then proceed to summon the Keepers under the Rift, where they work together to "kill" the Shadow Man (unknowingly to them, only his physical body was destroyed, while his soul is preserved within the Summoning Key). Using the power of the Keepers, they destroy the large Apothicon creature roaming the skies of Morg City, freeing their dimension from the Apothicon's wrath. As the Keepers return the key to them, Edward Richtofen quickly appears and takes it. He thanks Nero and the others for their efforts, then teleports away. The next day, the Apothicons return to destroy their dimension, killing everyone who lived in Dimension 63, including Nero.
Personality[]
Born into a prosperous and wealthy family, Nero often feels a sense of entitlement yet also is nervous when talking to people or asking for help, and seems to be socially inept. This is supported by his consistent stuttering when talking to his allies and even to himself. Oddly, his lawyer appeared to sympathize with Nero and had no doubt that he wouldn't willingly sign a massive loan. Nero even went as far as to consider his layer his only friend.
Nero is also very fearful of the zombies and especially Margwas around him despite having some knowledge of the supernatural. This knowledge comes from his book that he keeps in his room about how the Keepers protected the world from the Apothicons.
Despite murdering his wife in cold blood, as well for the life insurance payments, he seems to be the most regretful and merciful of the crew, although not above justifying his actions by stating that no matter what, he was never enough for his wife and that she would always complain to and about him.
While the group doesn't trust each other, Nero in particular is disliked the most, being called “magic man” pejoratively by the other members of the crew. Jessica appears to be the only one to remotely tolerate Nero, agreeing with him to ally with the group to survive, yet she also distrusts him and believes he knows more than he lets on. Jack, being superstitious, returns the latter sentiment, and believes that Nero is a jinx as well as a cause for the situation around them and prefers to stay far away from him. Floyd, a loner, is indifferent to Nero, although he does feel slighted when Nero doesn't think he has much for brains because of his brawn.
Nero enjoyed reading. He has a large collection of books in Nero's Landing. One of the books he read involved the concept of 'inter-dimensional convergences'.[5]
Quotes[]
- Main article: Shadows of Evil/Quotes#Nero Blackstone
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Nero is similar to the real life 20th-century magician, Harry Blackstone Sr.
- He apparently likes Jessica, as he tries to introduce himself to her during a certain round. However, Jessica doesn't return his feelings.
- He tries to get along with Jack Vincent, though the latter hates Nero.
- Nero seems to be neutral towards Floyd and even admires his strength at one point, though the latter doesn't return said feeling and slightly dislikes him.
References[]
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||