Commando

"*Always Stay One Step Ahead.*"

**Commando** is a RED Scout TF2 Freak created by the user ScoutCommandoProx, and is a member of the 10-man unit known as Spectre Squadron.

Commando's theme song is "A Theme for Kjell - BF4 OST". His combat theme is "Ho Ho Ho - Payday 2 OST".

## Backstory

"*There's a reason I'm called Commando. And it's not just because I used to be one. It's because I'm willing to take the step into the places noone else wants to go. I'm willing to do what no other mercenary wants to do. And most important of all? I do it well.*"

Commando's backstory reaches all the way back to his childhood, in Boston, Massachusetts. Commando was the second of three brothers in a working-class family who lived in the lower-class part of the city. By the time he became a schoolboy, he was being bullied for numerous reasons, such as being interested in things considered nerdy, as well as having unrealistically high hopes and dreams for his future. At first, those comments were ignored, but Commando realised he had to take action when the bullying started becoming physical. He would on a regular basis get ambushed by bullies in daily life, upon which he would end up being beaten up pretty badly. However, instead of learning how to fight, he learned how to run. And not only run, but use his environment to aid it in the process. He started learning the art of parkour at an age of 12, and kept going until he finally perfected it with a mix of talent and practice, capable of easily outrunning his foes with style.

However, upon finishing high school at 18, he made a pretty drastic decision in life. Willing to see more of the world rather than the city he was born in, he decided to join the military. Despite initial doubt and comments from the Drill Sergeants regarding his skinny figure, his skills in movement made him a valued soldier in his platoon, rising along the ranks quickly until he got the offer to join a Special Operations branch. Accepting the offer, he quickly got into the ways of the Spec Ops, being trained in guerilla warfare and gaining proficiency with a wide range of weaponry. As Commando started completing more and more missions, he started noticing how easy it was for him to eliminate his targets and finish the objectives. As he realized this, he started getting gradually more and more reckless, eager to finish his job.

However, his career turned to the worse, and at an age of 24, he was given an honorable discharge for being too reckless in the field. Now, left without a job in the wide country of the U.S.A, Commando had to find a new job. Wanting to find a job that matched his field of expertise, he eventually found the company RED, who was hiring mercenaries to fight its rival company, BLU. He got the job, and immediately started to impress his superiors with extreme combat skills as well as leadership skills. He wanted to use as much of his past equipment as possible, up to almost fully recreating his service uniform. His past, as well as his profession gave him the nickname Commando.

Commando was then offered the chance to join a team of elite mercenaries, known as Spectre Squadron. As he joined, he quickly became aquainted with fellow team member and Heavy, Tsar. They would then be given multiple kinds of missions considered too dangerous for common RED Mercenaries.

One day, Commando and Tsar were sent to 2Fort to make a revenge attack on the BLU base, where they also found and rescued a RED FemScout, who Commando later offered to personally train. That FemScout would go on to be known as Echo.

During a mission to stop a payload on Borneo, Commando got ambushed by a well-prepared BLU Spy, who severely injured Commando in hand-to-hand combat to the point of sending him unconscious with multiple broken bones and other injuries. One RED Medic was capable of getting him out of the battle before the Spy was able to kill the wounded veteran however, upon which Commando was then assigned to be a test subject for a new experimental version of the Über-heart that all mercenaries were given. As an effect of the upgrade, Commando gained several abilities that would prove to massively increase his dominance in the fight against the BLU Team.

Commando's most known success in combat is the Siege of CP\_Grotto, where he along with Heavy teammate Tsar were able to hold off a BLU offensive for 10 hours until RED reinforcements arrived. According to Commando's tally, he scored an average of 74 kills an hour, and even took out five armored vehicles in that time, including a light helicopter. In this time, he had spent approximately 12 thousand rounds of ammunition, 9 rockets and 241 concussion grenades. He left the area with minor injuries.

## Appearance

"*Just give me some colors that'll blend in and I'll be good to go.*"

In combat situations, Commando wears an Airdog, the Orion's Belt, the Flapjack, the Brooklyn Booties as well as several custom cosmetics such as the Kevlar Casing and Brisk Britches. This outfit is meant to reflect on Commando's past in the military, closely resembling (If not being identical apart from the colors) his service uniform.

When he is not in combat, he occasionally varies his outfits depending on how incognito he wants to be, but his most common casual outfit consists of the Brooklyn Booties, the Brisk Britches, the Airborne Attire and a green colored Bill's Hat.

Another notable appearance feature on Commando is his dog tags, which he wears for honor, rather than style like many common Scouts.

## Personality and Behavior

"*If you ain't in the chopper, I'd start prayin'!*"

Commando is a person who heavily relies on experience, and as such he will deploy fairly different tactics to your average Scout. Thanks to his former military experience, he will often use military terms when communicating with teammates, which can at times confuse them. When faced with enemies on his own, he can act two ways, depending on his current mission. He can either have the trademark snarky behavior of a common Scout, or he can have a very silent and professional behavior.

In terms of personality, Commando retains the militarized discipline of a soldier, and unlike a majority of Scouts, has a very friendly attitude for allies, treating them as equals to himself, regardless of position or skill. This also leads to him being very protective of his allies, even attempting to assist Medics when it comes to downed teammates. He gets very bound to his teammates, attempting to develop strong friendships, both for having their trust in combat as well as simply to have them as friends.

However, when entering combat, he will enter a much more serious, almost aggressive behavior. In these situations, he may also gain the snarky behavior of a common Scout, which can be heard in mid-fight dialogues with him, often berating his enemy.

When it comes to attitude towards enemies, he will often berate and insult his enemy, as seen previously, but he often prefers non-lethal methods of taking out enemies. He also has a personal policy that prevents him from killing unarmed enemies, however, should the enemy put up heavy resistance, Commando will not hesitate to go in guns blazing against said enemy. When he first enters a combat situation, he acts very carefully and precisely, but the longer his enemies are capable of holding out against his attacks, the more reckless he gets.

Commando is shown to have a serious dislike of enemy Pyros and Spies. His dislike against Spies is directly connected to his backstory, whereas his dislike of Pyros most likely comes from his lack of protection against fire.

In terms of relations, Commando has contacts within the government, however he rarely uses them. Commando keeps mostly within Spectre Squadron, his closest friend being fellow teammate Tsar. He also acts as Echo's personal trainer, and also has an unvoiced interest in her.

Commando also really likes Sandviches.

## Powers and Abilities

"*Alright, le'mme give ya a small tip; The safe word is "You're out!"*"

Commando is fully trained in the ways of parkour, capable of scaling walls and other obstacles with ease. He will also tend to use parkour-style moves in melee combat, such as flips, slides and jump-kicks.

After receiving an experimental prototype of a RED Medic's Über-heart transplant, Commando also received several abilities meant to increase his performance in his already high speed and agility;

* **Portable Über-generator:** Although less of an ability and more of a gadget, this piece of machinery is what allows Commando to use his abilities in the first place, which he carries in the bag strapped around his back. The gadget is built to pick up the signal of Commando's Über-heart, and when within range, it produces a weaker variant of Übercharge from an advanced battery. This charge can then be transferred over to the wearer on demand, and in Commando's case, it is what allows him to use his abilities. *It takes about 4 minutes for the generator to reach a full charge.*

* **Charge:** Commando is capable of performing a move which allows him to move in a superhuman speed in one direction, by making a crouch-jump-like move in the direction he wants to move in. The ability moves Commando between 8-10 meters in a straight line, and the move is completed in about half a second. Although he can be hit while performing this move, it is extremely hard, meaning that to be able to properly hit him, he would have to be going straight at you. *This ability takes 15% of the charge from Commando's Über-generator.*
* **Combat Sense:** Commando is capable of nearly instantly seeing open paths that allow him to follow through with advanced strategies and tactics, connecting both to the presence of enemies and parkour paths. It is not known whether it is caused by a neural or visual upgrade, but Commando has personally described it as "*being able to see a green trace along where the path leads, showing exactly how he should react or move*". *This ability does not take any charge from Commando's Über-generator, but it is needed in his presence if he is to use it.*

* **Overpower:** Commando's most powerful ability. It allows him to redirect a full charge from his Über-generator into physical strength and endurance, specifically to his arms and legs. In addition, his hands, as well as any weapon he is holding at the time, becomes crit boosted. The ability last for approximately 8 seconds. *As said, a full charge is required to be able to use this ability, and upon uses all available charge.*
* **Incapacitate:** One of Commando's few abilities that does not require any assistance from his Über-generator, Commando is capable of performing a powerful melee hit, mostly in the form of a spectacular jumpkick. If a weaker target (i.e Scouts and Snipers) gets hit by this attack, they are very likely to go unconscious, whereas healthier targets (i.e Heavies and Soldiers) will only be stunned as if hit by a Sandman ball from a long distance.

* **Return-Shot:** A common tool when Commando is in a hit-and-run mission, the Return-Shot is an ammunition type that combines the technology of the Tele-Max Teleporter with the connection of Commando's Über-heart. He can load it into his Carbine, and upon firing, it will create an Exit Surge where it hits. The surge produces a high voltage of electricity, meant to keep organic beings away from the point until it is used. Then, Commando is capable of using a detonator-like controller to trigger when to teleport himself to the point, upon which the Exit Surge and Return-Shot will be expended. *This ability takes 30% of the charge from Commando's Über-generator.*
* **Soldier Through:** One of Commando's defensive abilities, Soldier Through allows him to stay in the fight for a longer time after being heavily injured. When Commando falls to a low health percentage, his Über-heart will release a dosage of morphine into his bloodstream, restoring a bit of health as well as giving him enough adrenaline to keep moving at high speeds.

"*Oh, you're in charge?! Well, lemme tell ya somethin', from up here it doesn't look like you're in charge a' jack shit!*"

Commando is proficient with a multitude of weapons, though he lacks skill with heavier weaponry such as heavy machine guns and rocket launchers. His armory of choice consists of these weapons:

* **Automatic Carbine:** A classic American weapon design, this weapon will fire at a rate of 800 RPM chambering common 5.56x45mm NATO ammunition with devastating accuracy and forgiving recoil, and in the hands of Commando, it becomes an even more effective killing machine.
* **Dual Handguns:** Commando's choice of weapon for fighting on the move, these two large-magazine pistols may be somewhat weak with their 9mm ammunition, but when throwing agility, lightning reflexes and itchy trigger fingers into the mix, they become two high-speed holepunchers.
* **Modified Sandman:** Commando's choice of melee weapon may appear to be a common Sandman bat, but it has a twist. In the center of the weapon, the bat has been reinforced with a light metal pole, meant to add durability as well as swinging strength.
* **Concussion Grenade:** Although it can be thrown like a normal grenade, Commando has a different approach to using it. Inspired by the ways of the Sandman's baseball, he knocks the grenade at the enemy, which detonates on impact, stunning the target as well as anyone who happens to be too close to the blast.
* **Bayonet (Alternative):** Commando may alternatively carry a military-grade bayonet as his melee weapon, and it is his preference when in operations that require stealth or intimidation. He excels in fighting with it, as it is a very light weapon and therefore easy to use in Commando's common melee moves. The reason he rarely carries it however is because of his personal policy of minimalizing casualties.
* **Wrist-mounted Grappling Hook (Occasionally):** Sometimes, parkour doesn't get all the way. In certain operations, Commando is likely to bring this gadget, both as a means of getting to higher ground and as a combat tool. If he uses it in combat, he will often use it to pull enemies towards himself as to make it easier to engage in close combat.

In terms of protection, Commando wears a modified helmet and a vest, both providing protection against small-arms fire. The vest also carries three large magazine pouches. Together with his helmet, he wears a set of goggles that are great for protection while moving at high speeds, preventing dust, sand and other nuisances getting into Commando's eyes, especially when using his charging ability.

Commando has knowledge of how to effectively use multiple military-grade tools, which he uses as an advantage in combat. Although he has limited skill when using larger weapons such as rocket launchers, he has a fairly wide knowledge of different types of explosives, being fully trained in the art of guerilla warfare, capable of striking with powerful explosives from unexpected angles in combat.

Commando also seems to have knowledge of how to defuse bombs, as in one artwork he is seen using a BLU Spy's balisong knife to cut the cables on a large bomb setup.

Commando facing off against BLU Mercenaries alongside Patriot on a gas-filled cp\_junction, as shown in "Gassed on the Homefront".A close-up of Commando's Armory, also showing an unused lever-action shotgun as seen in "Getting an Upgrade".Commando holding his dual pistols, alongside his catchphrase as seen in the artwork "Akimbo King".Commando, Echo and Patriot infiltrate the BLU base on ctf\_sawmill.Commando, Tsar and an unidentified RED Demoman brief for an attack on what appears to be koth\_king.
## Faults and Weaknesses

"*Ah, not again!*"

Although Commando is very fit and agile, he suffers from multiple weaknesses;

* He becomes a very vulnerable target when he is not on the move. A good tactic to make use of this weakness is to heavily injure one of his teammates, upon which Commando may attempt to risk himself for getting the injured teammate to safety, which severely slows him down.
* His Charge ability may be used in combat, but should he use it incorrectly, it can become a serious weakness. It is possible that he uses that ability in the wrong direction, instead sending him into the open, making him exposed. A more notable weakness however is using the ability indoors, as Commando does not seem to have a certain control over how far the ability can reach, meaning that if he is not careful when using it in enclosed spaces, he might end up slamming himself into a nearby obstacle or wall.
* It should also be noted that while Commando is capable of using the Charge ability to enter melee combat with an enemy, he is not actually capable of using weapons whilst in the middle of performing the move. It also takes a moment for him to recover and assess the situation after using the ability, which can expose him for a few valuable seconds.
* If his Über-generator runs out of charge by overusing abilities in a fight, Commando becomes little more than a normal Scout with military training. This becomes especially apparent when he uses his Overpower ability, as when it has been used, it will take some time before Commando is able to use any ability again.
* The goggles on his helmet are fairly large and protective, however they can become a weakness since a well-placed hit against them can cause them to crack, which severely reduces Commando's field of vision.
* He may be a quick attacker, but he has a fairly fragile frame, only slightly healthier than a normal Scout. The best strategy to fight Commando would be to use a strong attack to daze him, and then follow through with quick attacks, leaving no window for Commando to recover, which he does quickly.
* Blunt force will very often slow him down, and depending on the strength and placement of the hit, can also stun him temporarily.
* Disarming Commando can make a serious hit on his morale.
* Should an enemy be able to stay up for a longer time when fighting Commando, one may start noticing a pattern in his movements, which can make him fairly predictable.
* Although Commando's vest and helmet are capable of providing minor protection against low-caliber gunfire, it offers no protection when fighting enemies with special damage types, such as explosives and fire.
* Commando's vest only covers the front side of his torso, leaving his back exposed.
* Should an enemy get their hands on Commando's Carbine, a Return-Shot and the detonator, they can send him anywhere they want, which can be a great way to disrupt his attacks.
* Commando is very protective of his teammates, and may choose to jump in front of an ally in order to prevent them taking damage, making him an obviously vulnerable target.

## Trivia

"*Double-Sierra-One, requesting immediate medical backup, we've got a man down, I repeat, we have a man down, we need MEDEVAC over here, on the double! Please, hurry!*"

* Commando's earliest design showed him wearing a Flak Jack, a Track Terrorizer and the Bootenkhamuns. This was changed fairly quickly to the second design which showed him with a Kevlar Casing, Brisk Britches, and the Mercenaries Booties. His Orion's Belt and Airdog have remained the same throughout the designs however. His third and current design shows him with a Flapjack under his Kevlar Casing, and the latter cosmetic is also missing its default sleeves, being replaced with those of the Flapjack, and he wears the Brooklyn Booties. In addition to this, his goggles are now also green like the rest of his cosmetics, unlike the previous where they were orange.
* As seen in Commando's very first appearance, he was originally known as The Scout Commando, but he was later given the current nickname Commando.
* The model of his Concussion Grenade is that of the same scrapped weapon from the Team Fortress 2 Beta.
* It is very possible that Commando's Carbine is his service rifle. This is enforced by the fact that the weapon resembles an AR-15-style firearm, which is the standard issue weapons platform of the U.S. Military. Commando's model most likely resembles the M4A1 Carbine, due to it having a removable top handle (As seen with the bolts on the sides of the weapon) as well as it firing in fully automatic. Strangely however, the Carbine appears to be loaded with an outdated straight magazine which realistically holds 20 rounds, even though it is described to be loaded 30 rounds, matching a modern curved STANAG magazine.
* His dual pistols appears to be a pair of Glock handguns. This is enforced by them being referred to chambering the 9mm ammunition type as well as having large magazines. In addition, it's very likely that they are Glock 19 "Compacts", due to their size (0.5 inches shorter than a common Glock 17) as well as apparently only being semi-automatic.
* Commando's Melee weapon went trough multiple stages of design, such as being a wooden baseball bat with chains wrapped around the head of the weapon. One of the more interesting designs showed a machete-like weapon, similar to that of the Sniper's default melee weapon. The aforementioned bat with chains around the head was reused as the melee weapon for Spectre Squadron teammate Echo.
* A description in one of the creator's artwork with an early information panel about Commando claimed that he used a Tomahawk, however, this has never actually been seen in any of his appearances.
* Ever since 2/7/2017, Commando's Bill's Hat is colored in a rifle-green color, showing that Commando received the Special Forces Tab during his time in the military and was then permitted to wear a Green Beret as a symbol of being a Special Forces operator, which explains the color of his cosmetics and especially his beret. This further confirms that he was a member of the U.S. Army, since the Green Berets (formally known as the 1st Special Forces Command) make up a larger part of the Spec Ops in the Army branch of the U.S. Military.
* The description of the artwork "Akimbo King" on the Steam Community temporarily revealed Commando's first name to be Daniel. It has however since been removed and replaced with Unknown or -REDACTED-.
* Commando's Akimbo fighting style, as well as a few of his melee moves, were inspired by *Captain Rex* from the *Star Wars: The Clone Wars* series, a favorite of Commando's creator.
* Many of Commando's features are inspired by the parkour-based video game Mirror's Edge. Examples of this is obviously his love for parkour and fast movement, as well as most of his melee moves. Combat Sense is inspired by Runner's Vision from the aforementioned game, the main differences being the colors of the trails, Commando's being green and the original being red, as well as the original only showing movement paths, whereas Commando's shows combat targets, reaction times, striking positions as well as movement paths.
* The *Return-Shot* ability was inspired by a community-made weapon from the Team Fortress 2 Workshop, called the Tossable Teleporter. It takes the form of a grenade-type tool that would teleport the user to it's landing position 5 seconds after being thrown.
* The *Incapacitate* ability as well as a few of his quotes take inspiration from the Cloaker from *Payday 2*, who is notorious for his instantly incapacitating jumpkicks and overall aggression.
* Commando's radio callsign is Double-Sierra-One, with Sierra being NATO Phonetic alphabet for S, most likely referring to Spectre Squadron. One most likely refers to him being the first member of the team, which might be coincidental, since the Scout is the first class on the class selection screen ingame.
* Unlike many freaks, Commando does not reside on a map full-time, and can be seen throughout all maps. However, he does own an apartment in the RED district of a city looking like Kong King.

## References

1. ↑ http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=896834371
2. ↑ http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=891159650