Lucas Riggs

Second Lieutenant Lucas Riggs is one of the four main protagonists of the 2021 video game Call of Duty: Vanguard, a playable character in Call of Duty: Warzone, and a unlockable character in Call of Duty: Mobile.
He is an Australian demolition expert serving in the British Eight Army during the Second World War, and was given the reputation of being insubordinate and temperamental. Though only seen for his character flaws by those in command, Riggs was chosen by the SOE to become a member of Task Force Vanguard to foil Nazi General Hermann Freisinger's project, "Phoenix".
He is voiced by Martin Copping, who voiced Sipes in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare.
==Biography==
===Background===
Lucas Riggs was born on June 6th, 1915 outside of Melbourne, Australia to sheep farmers, and his spent his youth helping his parents collect wool and tending to the animals. When the Second World War began, Riggs joined the British Eight Army before the conscription was implemented. He would become a member of the 20th Brigade and Australian 9th Infantry Division, where he was noticed for his mastery with explosives. During the 1940s, he would be stationed in Tobruk, Libya, and was assigned to the Australian contingent labeled "Rats", where he became good friends with Desmond "Des" Wilmot and "Bluey" Smith. Despite wanting to serve his country, Lucas and his colleagues were looked down upon by the British Army (notably Major Henry Hamms), who saw the "Rats" as insubordinate and expendable soldiers.
===Tobruk===
In 1941, Lucas, Des, "Bluey" and Lieutenant Robert Jacobs are members of Hamms' squad, and the "rats" are tasked with setting explosives on a Nazi supply line. Despite Lucas warning Hamms that they cannot detonate the explosives on a Nazi tank, the major detonates them prematurely, and blames Riggs on the incident. Riggs and his squad then battle the surviving Nazi soldiers, and Hamms assigns him, Des and Jacobs in recovering supplies as "Bluey" was wounded in battle. The group come across an outpost and find intel that shows maps and gives the name of two Nazi officers - Erwin Rommel and Hermann Freisinger. After collecting the intel, Lucas and the group evade Nazi patrols and come across a depot where the Nazis are repairing their tanks and other vehicles. Once dealing with the depot, Lucas manages to destroy a Stuka plane that attempts to kill him and the others. Despite getting intel, Riggs and Des are detained for insubordination by Major Hamms.
===El Alamein===
In 1942, Lucas, Des, "Bluey" and Jacobs work with Major Hamms during the Battle of El Alamein, an operation to defeat the Nazis at the Egyptian railway halt. While advancing through the area, the squad and the Britsh Army were ambushed by Nazi forces and suffer from great causalities. Though Hamms orders them to hold the position at the line, Lucas and Des disobey his orders and decide to retake the hill so they can call in air support. Defeating the enemy forces at the hill, Lucas and Des destroy the flaks and hold their ground until air support arrives. Though successful, Des is killed, and Riggs mourns his fallen comrade until he notices that Hamms has placed the British flag on the hill after removing Australia's own. Angered by Hamms disrespect for the "rats", Lucas assaults him and accepts being detained and sent to the brig once again.
Following his imprisonment, Riggs was recruited by the SOE to become a member of Task Force Vanguard, a special unit made by Carver Butcher to find any intel on the Nazi project "Phoenix". Partnered alongside Polina Petrova, Wade Jackson, Richard Webb and Novak under the command of Arthur Kingsley, Riggs and his teammates were sent to Hamburg, but only Kingsley knew of their objective.
===Call of Duty: Vanguard===
In Hamburg, Riggs and the team hijacked a train that was traveling to a submarine base, and Riggs and the others were informed by Kingsley of the objective. The team managed to enter the submarine and found a crate that contained intel, but Wade abandoned the team as they captured by the Nazis. The team were then interrogated by General Freisinger, who proceeded to murder Novak with his chair and take the others to the Gestapo' prison cells. Seeing an opportunity to obtain intel from the Gestapo headquarters, Kingsley formed a plan to trick Jannick Richter, and informed the others to lie about Wade's status and to not give any information. Despite Riggs and Petrova believing that Wade wouldn't return, Jackson did arrive and was interrogated by Richter. Seeing that they lied to him, Richter killed Webb in retaliation and as a warning.
Despite the loss of Webb, Kingsley remained determined to escape and formed another plan to have Riggs pretend to cooperate with Richter so they escape. Lucas agreed and pretended to cooperate with Richter, telling him of the events in Tobruk and El Alamein, who started to put the pieces together that "Phoenix" was a coup by Freisinger to become the new Führer and create the Fourth Reich. When Wade's explosive went off, Lucas took the moment to capture Richter, taking him back to the prison cells to allow Kingsley to personally kill Jannick. After dealing with Richter, Lucas and others agreed to stop Freisinger from escaping Hamburg, and managed to apprehend him before he could leave. Though Freisinger believed that he would receive luxury for cooperating with the Allied Powers, Polina and Kingsley decided to take action by burning him alive with Lucas' assistance.
Leaving Hamburg in Freisinger's plane, Lucas and the group discovered countless documents that showed that the Germans were planning cover operation across the globe. Riggs came across a document that told of Project Nova, as Polina spoke of Project Aether that thought of reviving the dead. Seeing that their job wasn't through, Kingsley told Wade to fly the group to Project Aggregat, an operation by the Nazis to release secret V-2 rockets.
==Quotes==
==Gallery==
Vanguard-Phoenix.jpg|Lucas with his teammates, traveling to Hamburg.
Vanguard-captured.jpg|Lucas and the team captured by General Freisinger, with the others seeing the general speak with Kingsley.
Vanguard-files.jpg|Lucas, Arthur and Polina looking through the documents.
Riggs-COD-M.jpg|Riggs in Call of Duty: Mobile.
==Trivia==
*The character is based on Captain Charles Upham, a New Zealand soldier who was awarded the Victoria Cross twice during his service.
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