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I am a soldier. I've served my country for twenty years. But if I'm captured or killed, I know that nobody will come to rescue me. I won't even get a funeral. Because the nation I protect can never admit that I exist. So my death would go unremarked, my bones would go unclaimed. I don't know if that day will come... but I do know that it must not be today. I am invisible. I am relentless. I am Sam Fisher. I am... a Splinter Cell.
„
~ Sam Fisher in Chaos Theory.
“
My name is Sam Fisher. I used to be a hero — now I'm a wanted man. I used to hunt terrorists — now I am one. I used to take orders — now I execute them. I've become... a double agent.
„
~ Sam Fisher in Splinter Cell: Double Agent (Version 1).
“
Few presidents have ever granted the Fifth Freedom. It's the right to defend our laws, by breaking them. To safeguard secrets, by stealing them. To save lives, by taking them. To do whatever it takes to protect our country. The Fifth Freedom is mine alone. I am Sam Fisher. I am a Splinter Cell.
„
~ Fisher in the Splinter Cell: Blacklist trailer.
Samuel "Sam" Leo Fisher (born August 8, 1957) is the main protagonist of the Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell franchise. He also appears as a supporting character in the downloadable content of Ghost Recon: Wildlands and Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, and a playable character and Rainbow Six: Siege expansion, Operation Shadow Legacy.
He is a legendary military hero and a top-class Splinter Cell operative who is sent on dangerous missions to stop terrorist threats and is capable of detaching himself emotionally for each mission to complete them no matter the cost.
He is voiced by Michael Ironside in the series, as well as providing motion-capture in Wildlands and Breakpoint of the Ghost Recon series. In Splinter Cell: Blacklist, he was voiced and motion-captured by Eric Johnson (who also portrayed Whitney Fordman in Smallville), as Jeff Teravainen voiced the character in Rainbow Six: Siege.
Sam is apathetic to many of the things that happen around him, often cracking jokes regardless of the danger present to him and rarely losing his composure, though he does have noticeable fits of emotion such as when Lambert orders him to sacrifice two pilots' lives in order to prevent Korean forces from obtaining valuable data, seeing it as an immoral thing to do and the supposed death of his daughter filled him with grief to the point of not caring about his own life anymore. He also sees the torturing and murdering of innocent people to be wrong, often getting angry whenever he witnesses it or is forced to do it himself by his superiors.
Sam's daughter Sarah is described by Victor Coste as "the one thing that humanizes him", being noticeably less cold whenever he interacts with her and seeing her safety as his most important priority, opting to keep her safe after the blackout instead of going to help Grim at the White House until he was convinced by Coste and his daughter to do so. After the events of Conviction, Sam became a lot more jerkish and harsh towards others, often treating Briggs badly and not cracking light-hearted jokes nearly as often anymore, instead becoming far more serious and assertive, though he grows to become a more fair leader over the course of 4th Echelon stopping the Blacklist attacks.
Sam also developed trust issues after being betrayed by the NSA after the events of Double Agent, with him being forced to go on the run for three years until the events of Conviction, where Grim would play both sides of the fence when stopping the conspiracy between Megiddo, Black Arrow and Third Echelon, further adding to his trust issues, though he seems to have become less paranoid by the events of Blacklist, with him and Grim now working together again and trusting Briggs enough to allow him on the team despite coming from the CIA.
Appearance[]
TBA
Abilities[]
“
I've been a ghost my whole life. Time to see if a ghost can really disappear.
„
~ Sam Fisher.
Due to his extensive military and covert intelligence training, Sam Fisher is one of the best covert operatives in the world. These are the known abilities and skills that Fisher uses throughout his life-long career in the Navy SEALs, CIA, Third Echelon, Paladin Nine Security, Team Rainbow and finally Fourth Echelon.
High Intelligence: Having graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Political Science and served in the SEALs, CIA, Third Echelon, Paladin Nine Security, Team Rainbow and Fourth Echelon, Sam is highly intelligent, utilizing his techniques and resourcefulness for any given situation.
Intimidation: Despite not being known in the world unless being part of special forces units, Fisher is a dreaded operative who is able to detach himself emotionally from his line of work. His intimidating personality and willingness to torture people allows him to intimidate almost anyone he comes across, which allows him to get information from his enemies.
Multilingualism: He can speak his native language English but can speak numerous other languages.
Extensive Military Training: A man renowned for his skills and abilities, Fisher received extensive training when he joined the SEALs during the 1990s and later the CIA, then the NSA black ops unit called Third Echelon. His training was further improved due to his experience during the Gulf War, which gave him abilities and techniques that got him recruited into Third Echelon.
Expert Interrogator: Fisher is an expert in interrogating techniques, utilizing his environment when confronting his targets.
Peak Human Condition: Due to his extensive military training, Fisher is on the peak physical condition, having fast reaction time, peak strength, speed and endurance.
Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant: He is an extremely skilled hand-to-hand combatant as a result of his training in the SEALs, and primarily utilizes Krav Maga when performing close-quarters combat. His fighting skills allow him to disarm his opponent swiftly, such as Dmitri Gramkos, Andriy Kobin and a Black Arrow field commander.
Expert Marksman: Due to his military training, Fisher is an extremely skilled marksman, capable of hitting his targets from great distances. Having no equal, Fisher is capable of marking and executing his targets, and can hit them without missing a shot.
Weapon Proficiency: Fisher is capable of using any firearm he comes across and being ambidextrous allows him to use any weapon with both of his hands. However, he mainly uses sidearms since he preferred to use stealth when infiltrating areas.
Knife Mastery: Sam is skilled in using combat knives, as he utilizes a Karambit during the Blacklist attacks and uses a knife to interrogate his enemies while also using them to break locks at times.
Stealth Mastery: Due to his extensive training and his line of work, Fisher prefers to remain in the shadows to sneak on his targets or get through an area undetected. Noted to be more of a threat in dark environments, Fisher relied on several improvised techniques and his athletic abilities to remain stealthy. He also utilized stealth to move around in the dark, as he could better see due to being on night operations in the past.
Master Acrobat: Despite being 68 years old, Fisher is flexible, athletic and agile, capable of free running and climbing through areas. He was capable of pulling off tough maneuver for great periods of time, such as a split jump or holding onto pipes and rails upside down.
Gadget User: Having the resources from Third and Fourth Echelon, Fisher has numerous gadgets he utilizes during any mission such as sticky cameras, sticky shockers, and the OCP for disabling lights temporarily.
Resourcefulness: Even without Third Echelon's connections or resources, Fisher relied mostly on his own training when unraveling on the conspiracy between Third Echelon, Black Arrow and Megiddo.
Quotes[]
“
You have the right to freedom of speech. Freedom of worship. From want. From fear. These rights would not exist without a fifth. The right to protect all other freedoms, by whatever means necessary. It's my freedom. It's my duty. It is my war.
„
~ Sam Fisher.
“
I used to want them to forget about me - it made sense at the time. I'd lost my daughter, I'd shot my best friend, I'd seen the agency I gave my life to turn around and throw me to the dogs. So I made a deal: I wouldn't bother them and they wouldn't bother me, and we'd both let sleeping dogs lie. It was good enough for a while, when all I wanted to do was be someone else and forget everything I'd done. But that never lasts... You always come back to who you are, you always come back to what's important. I started asking questions, I started finding answers. When those answers took me back home, that's where I went. The only thing worth hunting is the truth, no matter where it's hiding. Maybe they did forget about me, maybe they didn't. They're sure as hell gonna remember me now.
„
~ Fisher in the Splinter Cell: Conviction trailer.
“
I have a message for those who stand in my way... Pray.
„
~ Sam Fisher in the Splinter Cell: Conviction trailer.
“
Looking for me, asshole?
„
~ Fisher to Gramkos.
“
Do not lie to me about this or I'll kill you. Do you understand? I. Will. Kill. You.
„
~ Fisher to Grim when she reveals that Sarah is alive.
“
Haven't lost the touch.
„
~ Fisher after clearing an area in Conviction.
“
Once an agent...
„
~ Fisher after clearing an area in Conviction.
“
You really need to work on that bullet proof thing.
„
~ Fisher to Vice President Samson.
“
Trust? Funny you should say that. Goodbye, Grim.
„
~ Fisher to Grim, leaving the White House.
“
A guy once said, 'The price of success is hard work and dedication.'
„
~ Fisher in Ghost Recon: Wildlands.
“
Then it's only me...
„
~ Sam after learning that he's the only one left of the covert operatives.
“
You should know better than to write me off. Consider this a teaching moment.
„
~ Fisher in Rainbow Six: Siege.
“
Prepare, execute, vanish.
„
~ Fisher in Rainbow Six: Siege.
Trivia[]
In Splinter Cell: Fallout, it is said that Sam and Lambert served together in the U.S. Special Forces (Green Berets) and later in Delta Force. This doesn't make sense considering that there is no mention nor visual evidence that they were both actually part of the unit. It is most likely that Sam (a Navy SEAL) and Lambert were part of JSOC.
In the cutscene for the "Lighthouse" mission in Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, while aboard the USS Walsh, Arthur Partridge asks Sam Fisher "when was the last time he saw him" to which Sam replies by saying "I'm afraid I have no recollection of that, Senator," which is a reference to a line said in Clear and Present Danger.
In the book Splinter Cell Blacklist Aftermath, that takes place after the events from the game, Sam Fisher uses a SIG P226 Mk.25 (the pistol used by Navy SEALs) in addition to his FN Five-seveN.
In the book Splinter Cell (chap. 5 p. 47), Sam Fisher owns a 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland 4x4 with 265 hp and the V8 engine.
As of 2019, Fisher is around 59–62 years old around the LA Cruz mission, and as of 2025 for Operation Greenstone, he is 68 years old.
The Age ranked the character as the seventh greatest Xbox character of all time.
The character was voted twelfth by Game Informer's of the top character of the 2000s decade.
Listed as the twenty-fourth most popular video game character in the 2011 Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition.
Ranked 18 by Complex as the greatest soldiers in video games in 2013.
GamesRadar ranked him as the 37th "most memorable, influential, and badass" protagonist in games in 2012.
Heroes