Strelok

Strelok, also known as the Mechenyj, is the main protagonist of the Ukrainian FPS Survival Horror franchise S.T.A.L.K.E.R.. He serves as the main protagonist of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow Of Chernobyl, the main antagonist of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky and a major character in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call Of Pripyat.
Strelok is experienced and well-known stalker around the Zone. He and his crew were the first people to get to center of the Zone. However, he was captured and brainwashed by C-Consciousness and renamed to Mechenyj, or the Marked One by Sidorovich
== Personality ==
Originally, before the amnesia, Strelok is a enthusiastic stalker who is determent to find a way for the center of the Zone and discover her secrets with his friends and allies. He had a honorable side, warning Shram about the ambush by saying "Mercenary, stop the chase. Otherwise you'll die"Automatically plays in the beginning of the quest "Stop Strelok" in Clear Sky and expressing his passion in a message he sends to Shram after escaping. After being brainwashed by C-Consciousness, Strelok becomes amnesiac and renames to Mechenyj. As Mechenyj, his personality is fully player-determinant since Mechenyj doesn't talk in-game. However, the "false" endings, which appears if going to the Wish Granter. Mechenyj does speak, depending on the player's actions prior, Mechenyj may become power-hunger, greedy, a immortality-seeker, a misanthrope or selfless.
In Call Of Pripyat, Strelok appears again, where he helps the Military, expressing his pragmatic nature. Since he fought the Military before and the only reason he truly help is to leave the Zone. The player can return the note that he left for his friends and the note Klyk left for him. If done, Strelok will express sadness for their demise and trust issues for the Scientists, but will quickly recover
==Appearance==
Strelok is a Caucasian man in his late 20s to early 30s, perhaps of Ukrainian descent. He has dark eyes and crew-cut black hair. He is seen sporting what looks to be a survival outfit, which includes a bulletproof vest, brown military pants, black gloves, and a gun holster with a Makarov handgun inside of it. The leather jacket has the Ukrainian flag sewn into the sleeves.
==Biography==
===Background===
Strelok, one of the most skilled and knowledgeable stalkers in the Zone, and his companions were among the select few who made it to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and survived. As one of the earliest stalkers—those who enter the Zone and bring back artifacts—he started gaining experience right away.
He discovered maps of the Pripyat subterranean city on one of his explorations. He and his soldiers started off after realizing that doing this would allow him to avoid the Brain Scorcher and get to the power plant. When Prizrak, Klyk, and Strelok penetrated the sarcophagus, a code-locked door prevented them from entering the Monolith Control Center, making their initial raid to the Zone's center ineffective.
The Common Consciousness became aware of their existence while they were on retreat since they were practically at its door. It became enraged and released a huge discharge in an effort to kill them. Strelok had a serious injury as a result, and his two friends gave him to Doctor for treatment.
===S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky===
Strelok after healing goes to Prof. Sakharov to get a psi-blocker before heading to the center
Shram, Scar from Russian, a mercenary hired by Clean Sky is able to follow Strelok to the Red Forest with the aid of Sakharov. Strelok briefly appears in plain sight but instantly flees, preventing Scar from catching or killing him. The head of Clean Sky, N. A. Lebedev, then commands Scar to stop Strelok, to which Strelok replies that he would kill anybody who continues to pursue him. Scar had to fend off an ambush carried out by Loners hired by Strelok after being pursued to a motorised drawbridge. Strelok blows up the tube connecting to the Brain Scorcher behind him to flee by taking advantage of the disarray. Scar is given the reassurance that he can no longer be followed and that he would do whatever it takes to get to the centre.
Unbeknownst to Strelok, however, Shram and the Clear Sky veterans were able to bypass the Limansk Hospital and abandoned city in order to reach the power plant. Strelok is nearby, protecting himself from both Clear Sky and the Monolith guards. Scar uses the EM1 rifle prototype to deactivate the psy-blocker Strelok is wearing. Without the device, Strelok cannot withstand the powerful psi emissions for very long, and Lebedev believes that when Strelok is beaten, activities in the Zone will stabilise. Scar utilises the Gauss Rifle to take out the machine and is successful despite having to battle through a horde of Monolith warriors.
Readings are conducted to determine whether the stabilization has started once Strelok has been defeated. A Third Emission that is sudden, large, and far above average happens. Everyone around, whether they are a part of Clear Sky or not, is affected by the emission and starts to perish.
They may be seen crammed together in the NPP's hallways shivering strangely during the cutscene, as video displays show old, blurry black and white photographs of the NPP. These warning indications indicate that individuals who have not already died directly from the explosion are destined to suffer a worse fate, such as being indoctrinated into joining the armies of the Monolith or, like Strelok, becoming agents of the C-Consciousness.
===S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow Of Chernobyl===
Strelok is trasported by the "Death Truck" until it crushed due to the Zone's instability, Strelok was saved by an unidentified stalker and brought to Sidorovich, the local merchant. With little memory left, Strelok, now named "Mechenyj" or the "Marked One" as a reference to his S.T.A.L.K.E.R. tattoo, is only left with a PDA stating "Kill Strelok". Mechenyj, unknowing of his actual nature, is left with no other option except to start looking for Strelok inside the Zone. Mechenyj pursues the information from contact to contact, tracking Strelok's historical activities and learning more about his alleged murder victim; the more he knows about him, the more memories he is able to piece together.
Mechenyj is able to get a fully working psy-protection device that would protect him from the harmful effects of the Kaymanov emitter at Lab X-19 and, eventually, the Brain Scorcherю After helping Professor Sakharov with his studies of the Yantar region and taking out the bothersome Kaymanov emitter and executing the Controller responsible for his fate, he eventually finds Prizrak's body in the lab X16. Mechenyj discovers Provodnik, a member of former his group, after he successfully escapes Lab X16 with the documents from Prizrak. As he comes upon Provodnik, he informs him about Doc, who was at the group's underground refuge in Agroprom. Mechenyj arrives there and trips an explosive trip mine, rendering him comatose. Mechenyj encounters Doc as he awakens, who informs him that the Monolith is a fabrication that was created in a lab inside the sarcophagus, as well as of a decoder that Klyk put together and concealed in a Pripyat's hotel room. Doc also reveals to Mechenyj that his prior intended victim, the stalker known as Strelok, is indeed him.
Now that Strelok has recalled the most crucial details, he travels to the Brain Scorcher in the north, where he defeats multiple Monolith soldiers to turn off the device. He then travels to Pripyat, where he discovers the decoder that Fang concealed in an abandoned hotel.
Strelok battles his way to the ChNPP with the help of a few skilled Stalkers. The plant is under attack by Millitary operatives who are escorted by APCs and Hind Gunships, and it is fortified by fervent and committed experienced and elite Monolith forces.
Against all odds, Strelok manages to penetrate Reactor #4 despite the approaching Fourth Emission while battling through the swarms of Monolith warriors with the Military hot on his tail. Once within the sarcophagus, Strelok engages Monolith's best skilled soldiers and defeats them after much struggle in the extremely radioactive sections. With the decoder, he is able to enter a bizarre, code-locked door after ignoring the Wish Granter's persistent, stormy cries. It has been suggested that this is likely the same door that Strelok's party was unable to access earlier.
He destroys the generators that the Monolith relied on to power it after taking out more of its elite agents. The destroyed Monolith, a participant in the Common Consciousness experiment, is replaced with a hologram. The hologram provides answers to several of Strelok's queries, including those regarding the function of the death vehicles and C-Consciousness' covert agenda. Strelok is then given the option of joining them or dying by the hologram.
Strelok opts for the latter, and while teleporting from one section to another at the top of the old facility, he is forced to battle against even more elite Monolith warriors. Ultimately, Strelok is transferred to a central laboratory that housed stasis pods of several victims who gave their lives to conceal the C-Consciousness, one of the Zone's darkest secrets. Strelok fires the C-Consciousness subjects' support pods with his AKM-74/2U, essentially wiping it out.
===S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call Of Pripyat===
A UAV module may be used to locate his stashes in the Yanov region. He apparently left his SGI 5K, which he had previously used in Clear Sky, for Klyk, but it is certain that his colleague never found it again. The player can find the gun, Strelok's message, as well as a note that he wrote for Prizrak and a note Klyk wrote for him, before their tragic journey.
He ultimately shows up in Pripyat just as the powerful Fifth Emission hits. He then promises to give the military information that will enable them to seize control of the area and eradicate it. He wonders out loud if he made the correct decision, but he doesn't explain what he did to the player or Kovalsky. Also, he provides information that clarifies what transpired with Operation Fairway's helicopters, resolving the game's central mystery and enabling the launch of a new helicopter evacuation mission for Pripyat. The player can give him the notes in exchange for his thanks, which will increase his toughness and effectiveness in the game's climax.
Strelok aids the Military during their escape of Pripyat, cutting through the gathered horde of zombies and remaining of the Monolith, escorted by the group to the Prometheus Cinema where rescue awaits.
== Powers & Skills ==
# High-Level Intelligence: Strelok is one of the most experienced and knowledgeable stalkers in the Zone. He was the one who came up with the idea of discovering the secrets of the Zone and he informed Tarasov's Squad about the anomalies' changes after every Emissions. After the events of the series he, if survived, became a professor at the university of the Zone's studies
# Leadership: Strelok was the leader of his own Group and they even received a legendary status.
# Peak Human Endurance: Strelok endured, Emissions, bullets, blasts of a gauss gun, mutants and many other near-fatal injuries throughout the series
# Peak Human Durability: Even after he was badly injured after the Emission, the second he was able to walk, he left. 
# Pain Tolerance: Strelok showed no signs of pain through the whole series. Even after he was injured almost fatally, he still was able to reach Doc, all by himself
# Firearms: In Shadow Of Chernobyl, Mechenyj can use every firearm in the game, no matter how different they are
# Knifemanship: In Shadow Of Chernobyl, Mechenyj is able to use a knife, Volk gave him or the one that is granted in the arena
# Trading Skills: In Shadow Of Chernobyl, Mechenyj, just like every other stalker, can trader weapon, artifacts and food.
=== Artifacts ===
# Superhuman Endurance: Upon using a variety of artifacts Mechenyj can endure bullets, rupture, Impact to a inhuman level.
# Superhuman Durability: Upon using a variety of artifacts Mechenyj can go through huge amount of injures that are lethal for normal human.
# Peak Human Stamina: Upon using artifacts, such as Sparkler, Flash, or Moonlight, Mechenyj can increase his stamina.
# Regeneration: Artifacts, such as Soul, Meat Chunk and Mica give Mechenyj the a ability to regenerate his wounds much faster then regular humans.
# Fire Resistance: By using Shell or Pellicle, Mechenyj is able to resist fire and even chemical burns.
# Electricity Resistance: By using Battery, Mechenyj can resist electricity.
# Radiation Resistance: Artifacts, Crystal Thorn, Urchin and Crystal give Mechenyj the ability to endure radiation for a long time
== Trivia ==
* His likeness is based on Australian actor Vincent Stone, who also serves as the game model for Call of Pripyat's cutscenes.
* While Strelok was initially to be the returning main protagonist for the upcoming sequel S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, Skif is revealed to be the game's new protagonist, as shown in the gameplay trailer.
==Gallery==
Strelok.png
==External Links==
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== References ==
Category:Mature
Category:Spoilers
Category:Video Game Heroes
Category:Horror Heroes
Category:Amnesiac
Category:Rogues
Category:One-Man Army
Category:Lethal
Category:True Neutral
Category:On & Off
Category:Legendary
Category:Leaders
Category:Antagonists
Category:Anti-Heroes
Category:Mentally Ill
Category:Redeemed Villains
Category:Big Good
Category:Fighters
Category:Status Dependent upon Player Choice
Category:Pragmatists
Category:Localized Protection
Category:Chaotic Neutral
Category:Protectors