Sova

Sova is an Agent in VALORANT and one of the first Initiators available to play since the Closed Beta.
==Profile==
===Biography===
<tabber>
Biography =
Hailing from the town of Severomorsk, in Murmansk Oblast, Russia, Sasha Novikov (Russian: Саша Новиков) is an archer who became an agent for the VALORANT Protocol as its sixth recruit, "Sova". With his right eye replaced with a mechanical one after he lost it, Sova primarily serves as the team's scout, gathering information and searching for targets using olden methods should technology come up short. Being highly capable and reliable both in the field and with his work, whilst also having experience with multiple radianite-related events (having traveled through a rift and having met his Omega counterpart), Sova has earned a reputation of being one of the Protocol's most trusted agents, especially to the organization's commander, Brimstone.
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Timeline of events =
====SASHA NOVIKOV: Early Life====
*Novikov comes from Severomorsk (Russian: Северомо́рск), Murmansk Oblast, Russia.Sova's home
*Novikov goes under the name of Filin and is known as a Brother of Steel and String.VALORANT Protocol#The Blackmailer's agent dossiers
*Novikov loses his right eye.
**He eventually replaces it with a mechanical one.
*Novikov travels through a rift.Sova quote about going through rifts
*Novikov meets his Omega counterpart.Sova quote greeting Omega counterpart
====SOVA: VALORANT agent====
*Recruited as its sixth agent.
*Sova is assigned as a member of the Thimphu strike team.UNITED TOGETHER
**He helps to hold the Legion agents back, but is killed by one of Ω-Raze's grenades.
====The Omega Project====
*Sova is present during the Max Bot training exercise at VALORANT HQ.Cinematics#WARM UP
*Sova is one of the agents to fight against Max Bot.
====The Blackmailer====
*Sova is involved in searching for the blackmailer.4.03 Sova Email
**Initial leads are unable to produce any results.
*Sova contacts Brimstone to inform him that he needed to change priorities from the Omega project to the blackmailer.4.04 Sova Voicemail
**This was in response to the blackmailer contacting each agent with personal dossiers. Sova’s response to this is suggesting that VALORANT needs them found or dead.
*Sova organizes the agent assignments for the Istanbul strike team, including himself.4.05 Sova Voicemail
**Sova was the Ground commander for the team and fights in the team’s final move to apprehend their target.Istanbul Strike Team
====Continuing the Omega Project====
* Sova witnesses the first use of a dimensional radiometer created by Killjoy at Alpha Lisbon4.11 Sova Voicemail
====First ventures into Omega====
*Sova pushes himself too far in combat training, becoming injured.5.10 Sova Voicemail
====Project Landfall====
*Sova is assigned to gather intel on a Kingdom facility in Norway, but finds it completely dead save for a faint beacon.UNMADE teasers
**He discovers a severely-injured Norwegian woman there who was all that remained of a cargo pickup team the Protocol had been tracking after the rest had been killed.
**After rescuing the woman and bringing her back to HQ, Sova submits his report on the mission.7.0 Sova email
*Sova is assigned as a member of the Los Angeles strike team.Sunset Reveal Trailer
**Upon reaching the portal room, he is tasked with shutting down the portal, but its controls are locked down.
**Wingman then has a plan to jump into the portal, taking Deadlock's nanowire accelerator with him. After Wingman enters the portal and causes it to become unstable, Sova and the rest of the agents leave the facility.
**The portal is successfully shut down, resulting in a massive sinkhole appearing in the facility car park. A Legion strike team then arrives there on a mission for α-radianite, who Sova and the rest of the Protocol team are able to repel.7.04 KAY/O email
====Scions of Hourglass====
*Sova investigates the mysterious disappearance of Landfall's leadership after the events in Los Angeles.7.05 Sova email
*Sova is assigned as a member of the Jakarta strike team.RECKONING
**He is tasked with a supportive role while Omen enters the SoH's skyscraper base alone, providing intel to him from a nearby building under construction.
**When Omen gets captured in an energy beam, Sova fires a large energy blast from his location into the SoH skyscraper, destroying the machine producing the energy beam and freeing Omen.
*Sova contacts Brimstone to insist that he travel to the Elder Grotto immediately after something had escaped from a containment cell at the facility, setting off alarms.9.02 Sova voicemail
</tabber>
===Personality===
A humble hunter that has taken down man and beast alike, Sova works carefully and with precision, scouting around and retrieving information before taking out the enemy. As he has told Phoenix, Sova believes in the value of patience and strategic thinking. Being the team player that he is, Sova always commends his allies and never hesitates to voice out his vote of confidence in them. He seems to value the team to the point of risking his own life, to which Brimstone reminds him that it is equally important that he looks out after himself. 
Cypher has described the hunter to be a 'measured' person, referring to his calm and collected nature. Described as a man of principle, Sova values honesty and transparency, and he expects nothing less but the same from his teammates. 
=== Appearance===
Sova has a fair skin tone and sports long blond hair that flows down to his shoulders. He has a bionic right eye with blue lenses. He is seen wearing a fur-lined coat suited for the cold weather of his home along with a dark blue cape with a white leaf-shaped symbol on the left shoulder and a X-shape on the back. He wears archery leather gloves and his owl drone rests against his left forearm. His bow is slung across his back in an easy-to-reach position. His boots take on the appearance of owls. His quiver of shock darts is located on the side of his right thigh and he has a hunting knife strapped against his left calf. 
==Abilities==
===Basic ===
===Signature ===
===Ultimate===
==Agent Cosmetics==
The following are cosmetics related to Sova from Agent Gear and from other sources (e.g. Battle Pass).
===Gear===
===Other cosmetics===
Player Cards
Image	Name 	Source
 	Agents on Leave Seoul 	Broadcast Drops
 	Be Mine: Sova 	Battle Pass:EP 04 Act 1
 	Doodle Buds // Agents 	Store:
 	EP 2 // FORMATION 	Prime Gaming Drops
 	Epilogue: Mementos Pt. 1 	Battle Pass:EP 02 Act 3
 	Hitlist 	Battle Pass:EP 08 Act 2
 	Mementos Pt. 1 	Battle Pass:EP 02 Act 3
 	Steel and String 	Battle Pass:EP 09 Act 2
 	VALORANT GO! Vol. 2 Sova 	Store:
 	VERSUS // Sova + Cypher 	Battle Pass:EP 02 Act 2
----
Part of collection:
 	Warm Up // Maxbot 	Battle Pass:EP 04 Act 3
 	Written in the Stars: Sova	Battle Pass:EP 05 Act 3
----
Part of collection:
Sprays
Image	Name 	Source
 	Backseat Coaching 	Battle Pass:EP 04 Act 3
 	Cover Me 	Battle Pass:EP 09 Act 1
 	Defuse Deception 	Battle Pass:EP 07 Act 2
 	I've Been Hit 	Battle Pass:EP 05 Act 2
 	Is This A Drone? 	Battle Pass:EP 02 Act 2
 	One Correct Answer 	Battle Pass:EP 08 Act 3
 	Sova Says Sorry 	Battle Pass:EP 03 Act 1
 	This Is Not Fine 	Battle Pass:EP 03 Act 2
 	VALORANT GO! Vol. 2 Sova	Store:
Weapon Skins
Image	Edition	Skin	Weapon 	Variant	Source
 	 	 	Vandal 	— 	Store
 	 	 	Shorty 	Base 	Store
 	 	 	Stinger 	Base 	Store
 	 	 	Phantom 	Base 	Store
 	 	 	Marshal 	Base 	Store
 	 	 	Ares 	Base 	Store
 	 	 	Operator	— 	Store
Buddies
Image	Name 	Source
 	VALORANT GO! Vol. 2 Sova	Store:
==Quotes==
:
==Update History==
==Spotify Playlist==
<spotify uri="spotify:playlist:7J6DUID1keujXLYNucTUkO" height="500px" width="100%" />
==Trivia==
*Sova means "owl" in most Slavic languages.
* Sova does photography. So far, he has shown to have taken interest with nature as his subject.@PlayVALORANT Agent Takeover: Sova's interest in nature
===Relations===
*Sova has close ties with his grandmother.@PlayVALORANT Agent Takeover - Sova and his grandmother's cooking
** "My babushka (grandmother) told me not to brag. But for this I make an exception!"
*There is friction between him and Cypher due to all the secrets Cypher keeps to himself, which conflicts with Sova's values of honesty and openness and makes Cypher difficult to trust.Reddit Narrative AMA: Sova's opinion of Cypher
** "Goodbye Cypher. You will not be missed."
**However, Sova has secrets of his own, as Cypher has pointed out that some details in the hunter's background files are fabricated. 
***"Sova, I accessed your background file, a good story! But that's not really how you lost your eye."
*Sova has met his Omega counterpart.
** "Sova, I spared you when we first met. I can't let you go again."
**Whilst many agents react to the fact that there is an alternate version of themselves on the opposing team, Sova is one of the few agents who mentions anything about having met them before the battle.
===Development=== 
*Sova's Owl Drone ability was originally the ability Drone Dart for the scrapped agent, Joules.
*In an earlier version of VALORANT, the character that would go on to be Sova was originally a woman who wore a visor.
*According to a VALORANT dev, Sova being a Serb was considered during his early development as well as him being a descendant of Nikola Tesla.Interview with Stefan "R4kiya" Jevremović (article in Serbian)
==Gallery==
_Sova.png|Concept Art
Sova Concept.jpg|Concept Art
Early_sova.png|Early Concept
VALORANT GO! Vol. 2.jpg|VALORANT GO! Vol. 2 Full ArtworkVALORANT GO! Vol. 2 Full Artwork
Warm Up Max Bot Defeat.png|WARM UP
Pride 2023.jpeg|Pride 2023Pride 2023
United Together Sova.png|UNITED TOGETHER
Sunset Sova.png|SUNSET
Reckoning Teaser 3.jpeg|RECKONING teaserRECKONING teaser
Reckoning Teaser 4.jpeg|RECKONING teaserRECKONING teaser
RECKONING Poster.jpeg|RECKONING posterRECKONING poster
Reckoning Sova.png|RECKONING
==References==
==Navigation==
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Category:Agents
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