Call of Duty Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Call of Duty Wiki
The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Warzone The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Vanguard The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III The subject of this article appeared in Zombies mode

"I know you have your suspicions about me. I hear what your type says about me in the halls. "Mein Gott. Is that Doctor Oskar Strauss, former Nazi scientist? They put him in charge of Energy Research? It is so horrible." To this I have two things to say. One: I was never a fucking Nazi. I am, and always have been, a man of science trying to survive in a nasty, despicable world. Two: I do not care if you have your suspicions. All I care is if you are able to follow your orders."
— Oskar Strauss


Doctor Oskar Strauss is a character featured in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Zombies mode. Once a former member of the atomic research division of Projekt Endstation, Strauss is now part of Requiem as their Head of Energy Research, seeking to find new ways to utilize Aetherium for Requiem to combat Omega Group and the undead forces unleashed by their actions.

He is also mentioned briefly in intel for Call of Duty: Warzone and makes a brief appearance in Call of Duty: Vanguard, in a photograph with Ulrich Vogel on Der Anfang. He also worked on the development of the Wunderwaffe DG-2 featured in Vanguard's Shi No Numa. He makes a cameo appearance in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III as well, in a cutscene for Operation Deadbolt.

Biography[]

World War II[]

Little is known about Strauss' early life, only that he was born on May 19th, 1918 in Germany. After finishing university in 1943, Strauss was recruited by the Uranverien, where he was promised an opportunity to explore a new frontier of atomic research with Projekt Endstation where he became the assistant of Ulrich Vogel. Prior to the incident of March 1944, Strauss realized that Endstation was working on developing nuclear weapons for the Third Reich, and promptly requested a reassignment to another project; to Strauss' dismay, he found himself transferred to Friedrich Steiner's Nova 6 program. Strauss' work at Endstation led Vogel to develop the Wunderwaffe DG-2 for the SS unit Die Wahrheit. After the end of World War II, Strauss defected to the United States during Operation Paperclip. He would then find work under DARPA.

Requiem[]

Recruitment[]

On November 5th, 1983, the clandestine Requiem organization was created by the CIA in response to the formation of several dimensional breaches caused by Omega Group's reactivation of the cyclotron at Projekt Endstation, which previously opened the first breach to the Dark Aether shortly after Strauss' departure. Despite his previous history, Strauss was selected to become the Head of Requiem's Energy Research department, where he was tasked with leading studies of new discoveries in the Outbreak Zones forming around the world to determine military and scientific applications.

Operation Cerberus[]

On November 13th, Requiem launch Operation Cerberus at the abandoned Projekt Endstation facility to deactivate the ongoing dimensional breach originating from the facility in an attempt to quell the other worldwide breaches. If present on the comms, Strauss will provide brief mentions of his history working at the facility and the work Projekt Endstation managed to achieve with the dimensional breach they had. Through Requiem radio transmissions, Strauss will introduce himself to the Requiem strike team and reveal the aim of his work: to study Aetherium and learn the means of utilizing it for Requiem. At the behest of colleague Mackenzie Carver, one of Strauss' earliest works with Aetherium yielded the creation of Weaponized Aetherium Neutralizer Devices for Requiem's strike team to utilize in combat.

Operation Lost Property[]

In the months following Operation Cerberus, Requiem had yet to catch up to Omega Group's research of Aetherium and the Dark Aether. In June 1984, Requiem learned from Omega Group double agent Sergei Ravenov that Requiem's agent Samantha Maxis was captured and being held at Outpost 25, the primary center of Omega Group's research. Strauss was present in a meeting between himself, Carver, Elizabeth Grey and Grigori Weaver as they discussed the opportunity of a mission at Outpost 25 to recover any Omega Group research and rescue Maxis from William Peck, the head of Outpost 25. On June 15th, Operation Lost Property is launched by Requiem's strike team, proving to be massively successful as they managed to rescue Maxis and leave the site with critical information of Omega Group's work with Aetherium.

Operation Threshold[]

To further close the gap in the Aetherium Arms Race between themselves and Omega Group, Requiem launch Operation Threshold, an ongoing mission in the world's largest Outbreak Zone at the Ural Mountains to perform various military and scientific tasks to surpass Omega Group's work in Aetherium research and weapon development. During the operation, Strauss tasked Requiem strike teams to harvest Aetherium from the site and transport it to him via rocket, and experiment with Essence Conversion Modules to manipulate essence into objects from the Dark Aether.

On December 14th, the Requiem strike team was tricked by Hugo Jager into being captured by Colonel Lev Kravchenko. After this occurred, Grey met with Strauss to ask him any information he knew about the strike team's status, and to see where he was at regarding his research with the Aetherium Neutralizer. Strauss stated there were benefits to entering and exiting the Dark Aether safely, but made a comparison to those residing within the other dimension, asking Grey if she thought that they had harnessed similar powers, and if they were on their way. She then left, sarcastically calling him a "bag of laughs" and went to bed.

The Forsaken Threat[]

After the incursion in Berlin, the Ural Mountains Outbreak Zone began to increase it's terraforming process, as well as Outbreak Zones appearing in Algeria and the North Atlantic Ocean, with Requiem's strike-team being deployed to take care of it. He, along with the rest of Requiem's Senior Staff, held a meeting and agreed to free Kazimir Zykov from the Dark Aether, under the assumption he could help stop the Forsaken. Afterwards, he met with Carver where the two set aside their differences in hopes they could stop the Forsaken together.

Operation First Domino[]

On May 12th, Requiem was authorized to proceed with Operation First Domino, a direct response to Omega's Operatsiya Izbavitel, with all the departments working together on this operation aimed to secure Zykov and take him into custody before Omega. The same day, Strauss recorded a personal log talking about both the possible end of his Aetherium research, and the end of the world at the hands of the Forsaken. He then recalled one Professor Gabriel Krafft, who, during World War II, had faced a similar situation to him when attempting to stop a great calamity. He compared himself to the Professor, hoping that he could make the right decision as he had.

Strauss was witness to the Forsaken's escape from the Dark Aether, and Requiem's final battle against the Elder God. After the Forsaken was captured by the Requiem strike-team (thanks to the sacrifice of Samantha Maxis), the Director of Requiem ordered the Senior Staff to be arrested by military police. While being detained by military police, he did not go quietly - as his final moments at Requiem saw him kicking and yelling, attempting to break free as he was dragged away from his laboratory.

Death[]

Ravenov: "Strauss..."
Soap: "Old mate of yours?"
Ravenov: "Friends are a luxury I can seldom afford."
Sergei Ravenov and Johnny "Soap" MacTavish after seeing an old photograph of Strauss.

While the specifics of Strauss' fate remain unknown, by 2021 during the outbreak in Urzikstan he was listed as dead by Operation Deadbolt. His data regarding an Aetherium Neutralizer was first rediscovered by Terminus Outcomes, and later stolen by Deadbolt for Ava Jansen's use.

Gallery[]

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War[]

Call of Duty: Vanguard[]

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III[]

Trivia[]

References[]

  1. Operation Deadbolt Act II Cutscene
  2. "MEMORANDUM FOR: Dr. Oskar Strauss" - Express Intel, "Los Angeles Outbreak AAR"
Advertisement