Russell Adler

Special Officer Russell Adler (born February 12th, 1937) is the deuteragonist and anti-hero of the 2020 first person shooter Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, the sequel to the 2010 video game Call of Duty: Black Ops. He also appears a playable operative and major character in the 2020 online battle royale, Call of Duty: Warzone, a featured character in Call of Duty: Mobile, and a supporting character (later revealed overarching antagonist) in the Mobile comics. He is set to return in the 2024 sequel Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
He is a mysterious CIA agent who is tasked with leading a Black Ops team to stop a Soviet spy code named "Perseus". After stopping Perseus and his spy network from detonating nukes across Europe in 1981, he was kidnapped by Vikhor "Stitch" Kuzmin, another Perseus operative who is planning to enact his revenge against Adler by having him be a Verdansk test subject. Though rescued by his allies, Adler had been successfully brainwashed, becoming a rogue agent in the CIA. He would have his mind restored by Mason, and succeeded in stopping Stitch, and continued to foil the spy network in Verdansk.
Following the death of Stitch, Adler and the team came across Carver Butcher, who explained that he formed numerous task forces to find the Nazis' secret activities during and after World War II.
He is voiced and motion captured by Bruce Thomas.
==Biography==
===Early Career===
Russell Adler was born on February 12th, 1937 presumably in the United States and later joined the U.S. Army Special Forces by the 1960s, and later became an agent of Central Intelligence Agency in 1966. He was assigned to the MAC-SOG by the CIA to investigate Soviet activity in Vietnam, and later met Lawrence Sims, whom became one of closest allies. The two also participated in an operation called "Fracture Jaw", where Alder learned of a Soviet spy named "Perseus", whom he would hunting down for three decades. By 1981, Adler presumed Perseus to be dead, either believing he had eliminated him, or he was killed by someone else. According to Alex Mason, Adler was present during the battle of Khe Sanh, as Mason's team met him there. 
In 1968, Adler headed an operation in infiltrating the Rebirth Island facility, and captured a Soviet operative and scientist named Vikhor Kuzmin. Adler tortured Kuzmin on information, but the latter only revealed his name and rank, which was stripped by Lev Kravchenko for failing to repel the CIA's mission. In addition, Adler worked with fellow agent Grigori Weaver, and stabbed Kuzmin's eye as an act of retribution for Kravchenko taking Weaver's eye back in 1963.
After his service with the SOG in Vietnam, Adler disappeared from the CIA's records, but continued to work with the agency and other affiliates and associates. When Adler was key a figure in a CIA program, he met MI6 agent Helen Park, who was assigned to protect two British scientists who collaborated on the program. Adler's personality, dark charisma, skills in covert operations and espionage earned him the title of "America's monster", but he was considered a reliable asset by the CIA. Before 1981, Adler had a scar across his face, and it's unknown how received it, considering that he often tell different stories on how he got to "Bell". Park also tells "Bell" not to bring up his scar, hinting that she may have asked him how he got it herself.
==Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War==
By 1981, Adler is still working with the CIA on covert operations, and is tasked by President Ronald Reagan on stopping Iranian terrorist leaders Arash Kadivar and Qasim Javadi during the Iranian hostage situation. In Amsterdam, Adler, Mason, and Woods corner Javadi, who reveals that Kadivar is meeting someone at the Trabzon Airport in Turkey. Adler and the team then either kill or capture Javadi, and head to Turkey where they fight Kadivar's men, and stop him from escaping. When confronting Kadivar, he reveals that the hostage situation was a distraction for "Perseus", revealing that the Soviet spy is still alive to Adler. After killing Kadivar, Adler saves an injured Soviet operative, who is later revealed to be a close associate of "Perseus", whom Kadivar attempted to kill out of jealousy.
After the operation, Adler, Mason, and Woods are briefed by Jason Hudson on the "Perseus" threat, and Adler tells Alexander Haig and James Baker that "Perseus" only appeared on radar to shift the balance of the Cold War. President Reagan then gives Adler the authorization to create a team to stop Perseus, and Adler handpicks Mason, Woods, Park, Sims, and Eleazar "Lazar" Azoulay to join him in stopping "Perseus". Before leading his team, Adler and Park brainwash the Soviet operative he rescued in Turkey, implanting false memories in them to help the CIA, and is given the code name "Bell". At the CIA safehouse in Germany, Adler has "Bell" recall Operation Fracture Jaw, where they alongside Sims gathered intel on "Perseus" and collected a nuclear device in Vietnam.
===Hunting Volkov===
After having "Bell" recall their time in Vietnam, they decode the intel and consider the name "Anton Volkov" important, and the team decide to go after him. Volkov, a Russian mafia boss who heads a ring in Germany, has a chief courier named Franz Kraus, and the team decide to follow the latter to get to Volkov. The team are assisted by BND spy Greta Keller and her informant Lukas Richter, bu the latter is captured by the Stasi and reveals that he is a KGB spy and betrayed the CIA. As a result, "Bell" and Keller are captured by Kraus and interrogated by Volkov, but Adler, Park, and Lazar rescue them in the knick of time. Adler and the team fight Volkov's henchman, and "Bell" corners Volkov before he can escape. If "Bell" apprehends Volkov, Park thanks them on the behalf of MI6, but Adler states that capturing him is "more than he deserves." If "Bell" kills Volkov, Adler thanks them for getting rid of one of "Perseus'" associates, but Park expresses disappointment, as she wanted him captured.
===Operation Greenlight===
Adler and Mason are later tasked with helping Woods and "Bell" escape from the Zakarpatska Oblast, and the two learn from Woods that Hudson is heading a nuclear program called Operation Greenlight. Adler and the team confront Hudson, who reveals that Greenlight is a CIA project where they have nukes stationed across Europe as a scorched earth policy, if ever the Soviet Union successfully invaded the United States. The CIA also learn that "Perseus" collected a list of names of Nikita Dragovich's sleeper agents, as he intends on arming the nuke he stole from Berlin. Adler sends Mason and Woods to Mount Yamatanu to collect the mainframe, but Hudson's superior, Emerson Black, reveals that "Perseus" wiped the mainframe by the time Mason and Woods retrieved it.
===Infiltrating the KGB===
Despite the mainframe being wiped, the only source of information to receive the names comes from the KGB headquarters in Moscow, and Hudson authorizes the mission for Adler. At the safehouse, Adler is confronted by Hudson for assigning "Bell" to the mission as well, considering that Alder could fail for doing so. With the assistance of the CIA informant and KGB mole, Dimitri Belikov, Adler and "Bell" succeed in getting uniforms and infiltrating the archive bunker. Getting the names on disc copy, Adler and "Bell" save Belikov and escape from the KGB headquarters with Lazar.
===Havana===
With the intel, the CIA pin point Theodore Hastings as the sleeper agent that "Perseus" will use, as Hastings was a scientist who worked on Operation Greenlight. The CIA also learn that "Perseus" has the nuke in Cuba, and is sending Hastings to a compound to arm it for him. Adler and the team are sent to Havana to stop Hastings, but learn that "Perseus" had the scientist re-programmed to arm all of the American nukes in Europe. With the detonation of all of the American nukes, the United States will take the fall as "Perseus" and his spy network can further their agenda. Adler and the team managed to escape from Havana, but "Bell" is injured and saves either Park/Lazar, or leaves them both behind.
===Interrogating "Bell"===
After the failed operation in Havana, Adler takes "Bell" to the safehouse and gives them an intracerebral injection in their eye to forcefully to get "Perseus'" location. With the assistance of Sims (and Park/Lazar or nether), Adler uses implanted memories of Vietnam to get "Bell" to tell them of "Perseus" and his network's plan. The player has the option of either obeying or disobeying Adler, and will hear "Perseus'" voice telling them not to trust Adler. Even if the player obeys or disobeys, "Bell" will retrieve the information on "Perseus", learning that he plans on detonating the nukes safely on the Solovovetsky Islands.
===Endings===
<tabber>
Truth (Solvovetsky) = If "Bell" tells the truth and reveals that "Perseus" is at the Solovovetsky Islands, Adler will lead a team that consists of Mason, Woods, and "Bell" to assault the islands. Adler and the team destroy the AA-guns, allowing Hudson to call in a bombing run to destroy the monastery, thus destroying the signal for "Perseus" to call in the detonation. The team reunite after the bombing run, and Adler declares victory to Mason, Woods, and "Bell". After the operation, Adler takes "Bell" to a cliffside to kill them, tying off loose-ends. Both draw their guns on each other and a gunshot is heard, leaving both their fates unknown. Due to Adler's appearance in the Warzone storyline, it's confirmed that he survived the confrontation with "Bell".
|-|
Lie (Duga-2) = If "Bell" decides to betray Adler and the team, they will lie and say that "Perseus" is located at an abandoned town in Duga-2. Adler and the team make it to Duga-2, but find it abandoned and confront "Bell", who reveals that they lied to the team out anger for brainwashing them. If "Bell" didn't contact their Soviet allies, Adler will kill "Bell" and contacts Hudson to inform President Reagan about the situation. If "Bell" contacted their Soviet allies, Adler and the team are ambushed, and "Bell" will kill Adler inside a building. "Perseus" reveals himself as the head of the ambush, and will allow "Bell" to signal the detonation of the American nukes.
</tabber>
===Call of Duty: Warzone===
In Call of Duty: Warzone, Adler is a playable operative once Black Ops Cold War is purchased, and is mentioned in intel pieces on his investigation on "Perseus". 
In the season one cinematic of Black Ops Cold War, Alder is seen with a team before they are attacked by Vikhor Kuzmin, who wants revenge on Adler for causing him to lose his rank and being sent to the gulag. Adler is captured by Kuzim, presumably being taken to his base to torture him like Adler did back on Rebirth Island. By April of 1984, Adler was still a prisoner to Kuzmin, and according to Kapono "Naga" Vang, he will be transported to Verdansk. 
Adler was tortured by Perseus troops and Naga, and was taken to Verdansk while Woods and his rescue team were tricked into believing Naga cared for the Nova 6 supply lines. Adler was transferred to Verdansk, where he was tortured by Stitch, whom tasked Freya "Wraith" Helvig and Roman "Knight" Gray to steal tapes from Mount Yamantau. The tapes held the brainwashing program that Nikita Dragovich used back in the 1960s, implying that Stitch and Perseus intend to brainwash Adler to be a sleeper agent in the United States. On June 10th, Adler was rescued by Woods and his team, but Stitch notes that his work with Russell was already done. Brainwashed by Stitch, Adler went on to obtain the data recorder from a crashed satellite caused by Owethu "Jackal" Mabuza, and lied to his teammates that the recorder burned on re-entry. 
After the operation, Adler went off the grid and started working on an unnamed project in Verdansk, which caused Hudson to privately meet with Woods to conclude that Russell had been compromised. He noted that forensics stated that the data recorder would have survived re-entry, and that the Perseus Spy Network was brainwashing American soldiers after the incident at the Echelon base. Seeing that Adler has been brainwashed, Hudson told Woods to find Mason to bring Russell in. It's later revealed that Adler's secret project was placing explosives across Verdansk, which would later be discovered by Stitch. Before he could finish his secret project, Adler would be taken in by Mason, who was called by Woods and Hudson to bring Adler back to the states since he's been compromised.
Adler was interrogated by Hudson and Mason to try to break his programming, but Adler refused and stated that he did what the CIA wouldn't. Once broken from his programming, Adler showed immediate remorse for his past actions, but was told by Mason that he wasn't him. Seeing that Stitch and the spy network needs to be stopped, Adler joins Mason, Hudson and Woods in going to Verdansk to stop Kuzmin. Traveling through Verdansk, Adler and the group encountered Stitch, and Kuzmin revealed to the agent that "Perseus" died of cancer a year prior. After hearing Stitch's speech, Adler decided to eliminate him, and presumably informed Mason, Woods and Hudson about "Perseus's" death.
Following Stitch's death, Adler and the team continued to operate around Verdansk, and came across an abandoned Nazi bunker in the city's territory. The group encountered Carver Butcher, the retired SOE captain who explained that he founded Task Force Vanguard, a group formed to stop the Nazis who were trying to strengthen their army following the death of Adolf Hitler and the Fourth Reich.
==Call of Duty: Mobile==
In Call of Duty: Mobile, Adler can be unlocked as a playable character, and is a supporting character in the comics. 
In the comics, Adler was a member of the United Anti-Terrorism Coalition, and assists Captain Price and his team in fighting against the Five Knights. However, it's later revealed that is the leader of the Five Knights, starting a "false flag" scenario for what he thinks is best for his country. He was then killed by Ghost upon the confrontation, being shot several times and thrown off the cliff.
==Quotes==
==Trivia==
*His blood type is AB negative.
*Adler will change his answer when asked by Bell on how he got his scars:
**He was attacked by a tiger during a mission.
**Fell into the wrong crowd when he was young and for a girl that wasn't worth.
**Landed on his face when chasing a target in Calcutta.
***Helen Park will also vaguely confirm that Adler will change the answer.
==See Also==
*Russell Adler on the Villains Wiki.
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