Thomas Merrick

"I'll be in Elias's seat coordinating your resources. Your father was a great man, a great leader. He saw the same potential in both of you."

- Merrick to David and Logan Walker.

Captain Thomas A. Merrick is a supporting protagonist in Call of Duty: Ghosts, and is the field commander and member of Task Force STALKER, better known as the Ghosts. He is also a playable character in Call of Duty: Mobile.

He was voiced by Jeffrey Pierce, who also voiced Joseph Turner in Call of Duty: WWII, Mother in the 2010 reboot Medal of Honor series and its sequel, and voices Tommy in The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part II.

Early Career
Thomas A. Merrick was in 1986 in Sacramento, California to Nicholas Merrick, and an unnamed mother. Merrick was the third generation of his family to enlist in the military, as his father was a staff sergeant who was killed in Iraq, and his grandfather fought and was killed on Normandy in World War II. Thomas joined the United States Navy, and was seventeen years old when he completed his Navy SEAL training. Afterward, he was assigned to SEAL team 2, and was later assigned to a tier one group under the command of Captain Gabriel Rorke and Lieutenant Elias Walker.

Merrick was part of the tier one group that participated in Operation Sand Viper, as him and sixty soldiers were tasked to defend a civilian hospital from enemy fighters. Merrick, Rorke, Elias, Keegan Russ and Alex "Ajax" Johnson survived, and defeated the enemy fighters, leaving only one to tell the tale of them. The survivors were known as the Ghosts, and Merrick was recruited into Task Force STALKER, which was better known as the Ghosts.

Stopping Almagro
When the Federation led by Diego Almagro started invading Caracas, Venezuela, Rorke asked the U.S. president to have his team assassinate the general. The team fight through the streets, but are forced to go to higher ground when the dam was destroyed, and flooded the city. The ghosts succeeded in killing Almagro, but the helicopter he was in crashed with them on it. Elias attempted to help Rorke from falling into the flooded waters, but Merrick tells Elias that he has to let him go, and Elias does so to save the others.

Rorke survived and was captured by the Federation, and was tortured and brainwashed by them to make him become vengeful to help them. Afterward, Merrick was promoted to Lieutenant from Sergeant, and Elias became the commanding officer of the Ghosts. Merrick's location was unknown when the ODIN strikes California and the southern states. He was promoted to Captain before the events of the game, and he, Keegan and Ajax were put into "No Man's Land" to watch the Federation's territory.

Call of Duty: Ghosts
Merrick and Keegan were told to meet up with Viking Squad, which consisted of Elias' two sons, David "Hesh" Walker and Logan Walker, and the captain saves them and their pet Riley from wolves. Merrick leads the team through the Los Angeles river checkpoint, and go to the stadium to rescue Ajax from capture. The group fail to save Ajax, as he dies of his wounds before telling them that Rorke was alive, and was targeting the Ghosts.

Merrick and the others return to Fort Santa Monica to stop the Federation as they have started Operation: Homecoming. During the battle, Merrick and Keegan met up with Elias, and rescue his sons, and learn that their father is the commanding officer of the Ghosts. During this, Merrick intervenes and asks Elias what they were going to do about Rorke, and Elias explains to his sons who Rorke was. Later on, the Ghosts learn of Rorke's location in the Gulf of Mexico, and the team are assisted by an Apache pilot in fighting Federation forces. Merrick and the Ghosts make it to the center of the Freeport, and capture Rorke.

Merrick and the Ghosts interrogate Rorke, but a Federation Y-8 appears and destroys the team's plane, and secure Rorke. The Ghosts survive and land into the jungle, but Merrick and Hesh are captured by the Federation, but are saved by Elias, Keegan and Logan. Afterward, the group evade Federation forces, and are extracted to safety.

The ghosts launch multiple attacks against the Federation, first starting by assaulting a oil platform, Atlas, and destroy it and are extracted by a helicopter. Merrick later participated in Operation Clockwork, where the team infiltrate the Federation's weapons factory in the Andes mountains, and later escape. Later on, the team learn that the Federation are rebuilding kinetic projectiles like the ODIN Space Station called LOKI. Elias orders an airstrike on the facility, and the hack computers to get more information, but are attacked by a large enemy patrol. The ghosts defeat the soldiers and are rescued by Kick on a flatbed trailer, as the factory is destroyed.

Merrick, Elias, Hesh and Logan regroup at a safehouse in Las Vegas as Keegan is sent on a mission, but are captured by Rorke and his soldiers. Merrick is tortured alone, having his ribs broken, and Elias is killed by Rorke to get his revenge for his lieutenant for leaving him in Venezuela. Keegan saves Merrick, Hesh and Logan before they could be executed, and the group continue through the building. The group escape by extraction, but Logan has to help Riley, who was wounded by a Federation soldier.

The Ghosts regrouped on the USS Liberator, and planned their assault against the Federation before they could attack. Merrick was promoted to C.O. of the Ghosts, and tells Hesh he will lead the assault, and gives Logan his father's mask to honor his fallen friend. Merrick is only heard through the last missions, and orders Icarus to attack the LOKI Space Station, and to take control of its orbital weapons to defeat the Federation on the battlefield.

When Hesh ordered Merrick to send a rod onto Rorke's train that he and his brother were on, Merrick agreed and the rod destroyed the train. Despite this, Hesh, Logan and Rorke survived the crash, but the brothers wound him and escape to land to rest from their injuries. However, Rorke survived the bullet wound, and captures Logan to brainwash him and make him a member of the Federation. It's assumed that Merrick rescued Hesh, and the two are currently trying to find and rescue Logan from his imprisonment.

Quotes
"It was breaking apart! We got to move, now! What are we doing here, Elias? We can't save him! We are too heavy! You got to let him go!"

- Merrick to Elias on letting Rorke go.

"You look lost."

- Merrick after saving Hesh and Logan from the wolves.

Trivia

 * He is the announcer for the Ghosts faction in multiplayer.
 * His voice actor, Jeffrey Pierce, also voiced Joseph Turner in Call of Duty: WWII.