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| “ | Too right, mate. Now, in the eyes of the world, they're the victims. No one was going to say a word when the Russians clubbed every American that they could reach. | „ |
| ~ Soap speaking of the airport massacre. |
| “ | It's all we got. If this con's the bait to catch that psychopath, let's hang him from a tree. | „ |
| ~ Soap to Ghost in the opening cutscene of "The Hornet's Nest". |
| “ | Shepherd betrayed us. | „ |
| ~ Soap learned of Roach and Ghost's deaths and Shepherd's betrayal. |
| “ | Makarov knows Yuri. | „ |
| ~ Soap final words to Captain Price, moments before his death. |
Captain John "Soap" MacTavish is the deuteragonist of the Call of Duty franchise's original Modern Warfare sub-series: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (plus its remaster), Modern Warfare 2, Modern Warfare 3.
He was a Scottish sniper and demolition sergeant while in Special Air Service's 22nd Regiment, and joined Bravo Team under Captain Price. After killing Imran Zakhaev, he was reformed into Task Force 141 and promoted to the rank of captain, and continued to hunt for Ultranationalist leader Vladimir Makarov. During his pursuit with the task force, they were betrayed by General Shepherd, and Soap went on to hunt down his former ally.
After he killed the rogue general, he and Price were falsely declared as "war criminals", with Task Force 141 disavowed and both of them wanted by INTERPOL. With their new friend, Yuri, they've continually hunted down Makarov. In "Blood Brothers", Soap's wounds are re-opened by Makarov's detonated bomb, and he dies of blood loss. His death is avenged by Captain Price and Yuri in 2017, as they proceeded to kill Makarov at Hotel Oasis following the end of World War III.
He is voiced by Kevin McKidd, who also portrayed Poseidon in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief film adaptation, Owen Hunt in ABC's Grey's Anatomy, and also voiced Fenn Rau in Star Wars Rebels and Flashpoint Thomas Wayne in Justice League: The The Flashpoint Paradox.
In Call of Duty: Ghosts, he was voiced by Dan Glenn. In Find Makarov: Operation Kingfish, he was played by Michael Heathcote, and voiced by Julian Wierzbicki. In Find Makarov: Operation Kingfish, he was played by Jon Morgan and voiced by Fraser Jardine.
History[]
Background[]
Born in the heart of Scotland, Soap began his SAS career hours before the six-day global war begins. Initially, Soap started out as a Sergeant, unusual in that newcomers to the SAS are usually demoted to Trooper. However, they still retain their rank and the level of pay they previously received.
The rank of trooper is only given to show that all the new recruits are equal, fresh out of Selection. Whilst in the SAS's training camp in Credenhill, UK, Soap received a quick training session in weapons and techniques by a fellow SAS member Gaz, before being introduced to Captain Price and the rest of Bravo Team.
Second Russian Civil War[]
After passing the C.Q.B. test (Close Quarters Battle, intended to be reminiscent of the real SAS "Killing Houses"), Soap is briefed on the mission to infiltrate and assault a cargo ship in the Bering Strait. On board the ship, they discover a nuclear bomb bound for an Arabic country due to the Arabic writing on the container and the banner hanging inside it as well, though enemy MiGs interrupt their investigations, and Soap barely escapes with his life when the MiGs sink the ship.
In the process of escaping the doomed vessel, Soap was forced to leap for the ramp of the team's helicopter, just as it was beginning to fly away. However, he lost his grip, and mere seconds before he was bound to fall off the vehicle, was rescued by Captain Price.
Upon completing the mission, Soap, Price and Gaz travel to the Caucasus Mountains in Russia to extract the informant who supplied them with the intelligence for the cargo ship, a man codenamed "Nikolai". Working in close conjunction with Russian government Loyalists led by Sergeant Kamarov, they successfully locate and extract Nikolai from the battle zone, though their helicopter is shot down by an Ultranationalist surface-to-air missile. Bravo Team, Nikolai and another SAS operator are forced to fight their way through enemy lines, before being provided with support from an AC-130H Spectre Gunship, call-signed "Wildfire." They are extracted by helicopters under cover of heavy air support from Wildfire.
Soap's next mission with Bravo Team would take him to Azerbaijan, clearing through an abandoned village in search of Khaled Al-Asad, whom Nikolai mentioned had a safehouse there should things go south as they did in the Middle East when U.S. forces had nearly captured Al-Asad's capital city before the city, Al-Asad's OpFor forces, and the U.S. forces, were wiped out by a nuclear device Al-Asad had left behind while he fled for the safehouse. Upon locating him, Soap witnessed Al-Asad's interrogation and execution at the hands of Captain Price, learning that Imran Zakhaev had been Al-Asad's weapons supplier. The next day, it appears Soap was designated the team's support man, being equipped with both an M249 and M21 sniper rifle.
He was placed in charge of covering the team's retreat with the Minigun from a downed Black Hawk (destroying several Ultranationalist Helicopters in the process) and detonating the explosive charges placed at Phase Line Bravo. Afterwards, he was the point man when the squad had to backtrack to the lower part of the village due to heavy coverage of anti-aircraft weapons in the vicinity. Following this, Soap and the rest of Bravo Team were extracted by U.S. Marines led by Staff Sergeant Griggs.
MacTavish's final mission in the Russian Civil War saw him infiltrating Russia as part of the joint task force of U.S. Marines and SAS operators in order to eliminate Imran Zakhaev's nuclear capability. After grouping with U.S. forces, Soap and his allies proceeded to enter a Ultranationalist outpost and secure it, as part of plan to capture Zakhaev's son, Victor Zakhaev. The following day, a convoy arrives in the outpost, led by Victor himself. Bravo Team, disguised as Russian guards, allow Victor to enter the facility, though quickly reveal their true intentions and attack his forces.
During the battle that followed, Soap and Griggs provided sniper support for the rest of the team from a high tower. However, Victor Zakhaev rams his jeep into one of the legs of the tower, sending it tumbling to the ground, providing the perfect distraction to get away. Stunned, Soap was unable to take down Victor before he could get away. After chasing him through a small village, and a five story building, Soap and the rest of the team corner Victor. Unwilling to betray his father's secrets, Victor committed suicide before Soap could take away his weapon.
Angered at his son's death, Zakhaev threatened to launch nuclear missiles at the East Coast of America if US and British forces did not withdraw from Russia. In order to handicap Zakhaev's nuclear threat, Soap, Price, Gaz, Griggs, and several other SAS members parachuted into the Altay Mountains in order to reach his launch facility. However, their mission was delayed by Griggs' separation and subsequent capture. After eventually locating and recovering him, Soap planted a set of C4 on a power tower, destroying the electricity supply to the facility. Following this, the team regrouped with U.S. sniping forces before witnessing a double nuclear missile launch at Zakhaev's hands.
Entering the facility, the team furiously fought against time to reach the launch control center, and eventually deactivated the missiles. However, the team was unable to prevent Zakhaev's escape, and he managed to depart the facility before anything could be done. The group then attempted to escape, with Soap provided all-around covering fire for their jeep as they made their way to the extraction site. However, Zakhaev's Mi-24 Hind damaged the bridge, forcing Soap and his companions to fight their way on foot.
Fighting fiercely at the bridge in a massive penultimate battle, Soap was thrown to the ground and severely injured by an exploding oil truck. He was pulled into cover by SSgt. Griggs, moments before Griggs himself was killed. He then watched helplessly as Imran Zakhaev and his bodyguards executed Gaz and two other SAS operatives. Just as all hope seemed lost, a Loyalist Mi-28 gunship destroyed the Ultranationalist Mi-24 Hind, forcing Zakhaev and his henchmen to turn away from Soap and open fire on the helicopter. A heavily wounded Price slid Soap his M1911 pistol, which Soap used to kill Zakhaev and two of his bodyguards.
Moments later, Loyalist forces flooded the scene and Kamarov came to Soap's aid, placing him onto a stretcher, assuring him that he will be alright. Soap passed out during the middle of extraction, though survived his wounds alongside Price.
Task Force 141[]
During the next five years after the events of the civil war, MacTavish was rising in the SAS taking part in an unknown number of operations throughout the world. It was during these five years MacTavish would be promoted to Lieutenant and eventually promoted to the rank of Captain, and was also recruited into the elite Task Force 141, comprised of only the best and most experienced special operations soldiers. In 2013, Soap and Price were assigned to find and eliminate Vladimir Makarov during Operation Kingfish, but the mission went awry and Price was captured by the Ultranationalists and sent to a Russian gulag to be imprisoned there.
By 2016, MacTavish had become the task force's field commander, leading the 141's operations with Lieutenant Simon "Ghost" Riley and Sergeant Gary "Roach" Sanderson under his command. MacTavish evidently did not reveal his SAS nickname to any of the members, hinted in the mission "The Gulag" where Price is rescued by the Task Force 141 and exclaims "Soap?", followed by Worm asking "Who's Soap?".
When the Russians get their hands on a downed U.S. satellite, MacTavish and Sanderson are sent to infiltrate a Russian airbase to recover an ACS module within the Tian Shan mountain range in Kazakhstan. After scaling the mountain and sneaking through the base under cover of a heavy blizzard, the two recover the module inside a hangar. However, they are quickly compromised by Major Petrov and his forces. In a daring escape, Roach and MacTavish fight their way out of the base and commandeer snowmobiles, leading to a thrilling chase down the mountainside to the awaiting evac team.
Shortly after the mission in Kazakhstan, MacTavish led Task Force 141 into Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to capture Alejandro Rojas, an arms dealer who had supplied the Russian terrorist Vladimir Makarov with his weapons during his assault on Zakhaev International Airport. While Soap and Ghost interrogated Rojas' right-hand man, Roach and two other task force members, Meat and Royce, went into the favela in search of Rojas. The two are killed in the fighting, leaving Roach to tackle the favela by himself. Roach fights his way through, eventually linking up with MacTavish and Ghost, whom have just captured Rojas. However, they only managed to learn from Rojas is that Makarov has a strong hatred for Prisoner 627 in a Russian gulag.
Due to the surprise invasion of the United States, the airspace around Brazil is locked down, leaving the task force stranded in the middle of enemy territory. In order to escape, MacTavish calls in Nikolai, whom Soap had saved during the events of the Second Russian Civil War. Surrounded by militia, the task force fights its way to a market, where Nikolai was supposed to pick them up in a helicopter. However, due to the fire from the militia he is forced to the secondary extraction point. During the escape, Roach is nearly left behind when he falls off a rooftop. However, he makes his way back to the top, militia in tow, and makes it aboard the helicopter.
Shortly after being extracted from South America, the Navy SEALs and Task Force 141 initiated a two-stage operation. The first stage being to secure a modified oil platform in order to disable SAM sites on the platform, and the second phase to infiltrate the prison itself. After infiltrating the prison, MacTavish led his troops through the Russian gulag, and eventually reach Prisoner 627, who turns out to be none other than Captain Price. Although Price is at first hostile towards Roach, he rejoins after recognizing Soap, and the squad manages to extract (via SPIE rig) from the area. During this time, MacTavish returns Price's M1911 pistol he used to kill Imran Zakhaev five years earlier.
Task Force 141 then headed into Petropavlovsk, Russia, seemingly on a mission to destroy a submarine. During the course of the mission, Roach facilitated Price's infiltration inside the submarine by providing Predator drone support. However, in a sudden twist of events, Price used the submarine to launch a nuclear missile, using it as an EMP to hinder the Russians' attack on America.
After the events of the nuclear launch, Task Force 141 was split up to investigate two locations, with Price and MacTavish investigating an arms deal in Afghanistan, while Ghost and Roach and the bulk of the task force investigate one of Makarov's safehouses in Russia. During their time in Afghanistan, Price and MacTavish are attacked by Shepherd's men and attempt to warn Ghost and Roach, but both men were shot and killed by Shepherd. Soap and Price manage to escape the arms deal with the help of Nikolai while getting some intelligence from Makarov, focusing on killing Shepherd.
The two then pursue Shepherd through Afghanistan, fighting through Shepherd's Shadow Company and into Site Hotel Bravo. They then prevent Shepherd's escape by shooting down the general's Pave Low, where they eventually corner him and attempt to kill him. However, as MacTavish attempts to stab Shepherd, the latter overpowers Soap, knocks him to the ground and impales him with a knife.
Before Shepherd could execute MacTavish, Price tackles Shepherd and engages him in a long hand-to-hand fight that Soap can see as he drifts in and out of consciousness, with Shepherd eventually gaining the upper hand. However Soap, now awake, takes the knife out of his chest, and throws it into Shepherd's left eye, killing the treacherous general. Price then comes to Soap's aid and the two are evacuated by Nikolai, who arrives in a MH-6 Little Bird.
During the course of Shepherd's betrayal, Soap and Price were labeled as international fugitives, and were on the run following their victory over Shepherd. Hours after Shepherd's death, Price and Nikolai rush Soap to a safehouse in India while under attack by Makarov's men. In order to properly save Soap, Nikolai brings in Ex-Spetsnaz soldier Yuri to fight off Makarov's men. Thanks to Yuri and all of the Loyalists still allied with Nikolai, now working as a Private Military Company after losing the Russian presidential election to the Ultranationalists, Price and Soap escape India.
Death[]
Two months after his recovery, Soap and Yuri attempt to assassinate Makarov in the Czech Republic, but the attempt backfired after a C4 trap Makarov had planted in advance detonated where Yuri and Soap were hiding, sending them both falling with Soap being more fatally wounded on the hip, and he bleeds immensely. After Yuri, Price, and the Czech Resistance escorts Soap to a table, Price and Yuri try to revive him, but were unsuccessful. Soap's last words were "Makarov......knows.......Yuri", and he then dies of massive blood loss. Soap's corpse was left with Price's handgun, as John and Yuri escaped to continue their mission to stop Makarov.
Nevertheless, shortly after MacTavish dies, Price furiously confronts Yuri at the business end of a Desert Eagle to know why Makarov knows him, and Yuri confesses to being a former Ultranationalist who lost faith in the party following the nuclear detonation in Al-Asad's capital city that Yuri witnessed alongside Makarov, who was the real culprit who ordered the detonation. Yuri and Makarov were also behind Imran Zakhaev's survival after Price shot off his arm back in Pripyat, having evacuated him from the area so he could get medical attention, earning Yuri and Makarov the eternal thanks of Zakhaev in the process. However, after the Middle East incident, Yuri attempted to stop Makarov's slaughter at Zakhaev International Airport in Moscow, even warning the authorities and having the FSB dispatched to intercept Makarov's team, but Yuri was caught and shot point-blank by Makarov before being left for dead as Makarov and his team made good on igniting the Russo-American War that would become World War III. Yuri tried in vain to stop them, but succumbed to his wounds and was found and given medical attention by first responders and surviving airport security. After that, he developed a grudge against Makarov and wanted revenge. This satisfies Price enough to spare Yuri since they had a common enemy and objective now.
Legacy[]
| “ | This is for Soap. | „ |
| ~ Captain Price before assaulting Hotel Oasis with Yuri in "Dust to Dust." |
After the Task Force 141 are reinstated when they rescue the Russian President and his daughter, Price and Yuri are heading toward the Hotel Oasis in the Arabian Peninsula to kill Makarov to avenge Soap, Kamarov, Team Metal and the 30,000 Marines killed by Al-Asad's nuke. After Yuri dies, Price killed Makarov by hanging him with a SPIE rig to avenge not only their deaths but also Yuri's death.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)[]
Main article: Johnny "Soap" MacTavish
| “ | John Price: John MacTavish, SAS. Sniper- demolitions. Goes by "Soap". Kate Laswell: Why? John Price: That's classified. |
„ |
| ~ Captain Price and Kate Laswell. |
| “ | The youngest candidate ever to pass SAS selection, Johnny "Soap" Mactavish is known as a perpetual FNG, a label he wears as a badge of honor. A confident, instinctive CQB expert, Soap was hand-picked by Price for TF-141. | „ |
| ~ Johnny "Soap" MacTavish's biography. |
Johnny "Soap" MacTavish is mentioned in the 2019 reboot of the Modern Warfare series, as Captain John Price considered to bring him into his new task force called 141 due to his skills in sniping and demolition within the SAS. When Kate Laswell asks Price why MacTavish goes by the nickname "Soap", he responds that it's classified. In the season seven cinematic of Warzone, his communicates with Captain Price after the latter killed Viktor Zakhaev and stopped his plan. He later appears as a playable protagonist in the 2022 and 2023 sequels Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, and a playable character in Call of Duty: Warzone, Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 and Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile.
He is voiced by Neil Ellice.
Call of Duty: Heroes[]
Soap appears in Call of Duty: Heroes in a hero unit, being unlocked after the North Europe campaign. His abilities allow give the player increase accuracy by four percent, and his killstreaks are care packages, mine sweep round, and a barrier breaker.
Call of Duty: Siege[]
He appears as a unit card in Call of Duty: Siege.
Call of Duty: Mobile[]
Soap appears in Call of Duty: Mobile, being a playable character after he was added in season four, and appears as a major character in the Mobile comics. In the comics, Soap is a member of the United Anti-Terrorism Coalition under the command of Captain Price, and works with the unit to stop the terrorist organization, Five Knights.
Quotes[]
| “ | Price. You need to see this. He's targeting Bravo Six. | „ |
| ~ Soap to Price of Kingfish. |
| “ | Another keeper: Ghost. Can't get over the name though. What the hell kind of name is Ghost? | „ |
| ~ Soap's journal entry on Ghost. |
| “ | Break's over, Roach. Lets go. | „ |
| ~ Soap's first words in the MW2 campaign. |
| “ | Roach, these muppets have no idea we're here. Let's take this nice and slow. | „ |
| ~ Soap to Roach in "Cliffhanger". |
| “ | Roach, go to Plan B. | „ |
| ~ Soap to Roach when confronted by Major Petrov's army. |
| “ | We're the only ones who knew that it was Makarov's op. Our credibility died with Allen. We needed proof. | „ |
| ~ Soap to Shepherd after the airport massacre. |
| “ | Ghost, our driver's dead! We are on foot! Meet us at the Hotel Rio and cut him off if you can! | „ |
| ~ Soap to Ghost when Rojas' assistant starts a shootout. |
| “ | Roach, this is going to take some time. Go with Meat and Royce and check the favela for any signs of Rojas. That's where this guy's headed. | „ |
| ~ Soap to Roach after capturing Rojas' assistant. |
| “ | Long history of this building. Not much of it pretty. Started out as a castle. With an actual dungeon. Built to withstand any siege. Building survived every brutal winter. The occupants... they weren't so lucky. The Monastery. Didn't survive the purges. Over the last century it's played host to anyone the government didn't want, but couldn't kill. Place is filled with living casualties of the last war...which I swear I thought we'd won. But I guess it's all a day at the races: you back the losing horse, and this is where you end up. Six-Two-Seven is the piece of meat Makarov wants, so let's cut him loose. | „ |
| ~ Soap speaking of the Gulag. |
| “ | Price?... This belongs to you, sir. | „ |
| ~ Soap to Price upon reuniting. |
| “ | Dogs. I hate dogs. | „ |
| ~ Soap to Price about German Shepherds. |
| “ | Roach? Ghost? Come in, Ghost. Do you copy? Does anyone copy? | „ |
| ~ Soap attempting to contact Ghost and Roach after their deaths. |
| “ | We've got one good UMP. They've got a thousand. | „ |
| ~ Soap on Shadow Company. |
| “ | What the hell's he talking about?! | „ |
| ~ Soap to Yuri on Makarov referring to him as "my friend". |
| “ | I can still teach you a thing or two, old man. | „ |
| ~ Soap to Captain Price, a few minutes before his death. |
| “ | Just leave me, Price! | „ |
| ~ Soap to Captain Price. |
| “ | You want a new job? There'll be plenty a**holes like these to shoot. | „ |
| ~ Soap to Rosa in the Mobile comics |
Trivia[]
- His blood type is O-positive.
- He has a tattoo of a revolver on the back of his neck.
- He supports the fictional Glaswegian football team, "The Glasgow Football Club".
- Soap's line, "Dogs... I hate dogs." is a reference to Indiana Jones' famous line on his hatred for snakes in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
- This is also a reference to Call of Duty 4, as the player frequently fought against enemy attack dogs.
- In Modern Warfare 2, there is a file that has a U.S. Army Ranger claim that a "Mohawk guy" beat the soldiers in the shooting course.
- In the 2009 demo of Modern Warfare 2, Soap had an English accent.
- Soap was also killed in the mission "Cliffhanger" in a trailer for the game. This will happen in the game if the player doesn't detonate the explosives when the countdown hits one.
- At some point in his career, he received the Victoria Cross, the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross and the Distinguished Service Order.
- His surname is referenced in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare with the sub-machine gun "MacTav-45".
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 Heroes
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Allied Powers Marine Raiders Special Operations Executive Task Force Vanguard Special Air Service Task Force 141 Loyalists FSO GIGN U.S. Armed Forces Delta Force Joint Special Operations Command Operation 40 U.S. Government Central Intelligence Agency Black Ops Vorkuta Prisoners MACV-SOG Ghosts Sentinel Task Force Winslow Accord Specialists Special Air Combat Recon Special Associated Treaty Organization United Nations Space Alliance Special Air Service Task Force 141 Urzikstan Liberation Force Chimera Armistice Die Landebahn Crew NATO Los Vaqueros JTF - Ghost Team SpecGru The Rook Safehouse Crew Rogue Black Ops United Anti-Terrorism Coalition Phantom Corps The Couteau Line Kurohana Corporation La Sous Terre Primis/Ultimis Victis Bureau of Archaic Technologies Chaos Requiem Operation Deadbolt Zombies Others | ||