Russians have their own distinct characters which make them easily recognized by people around the world. Not only in real life, some Russian characters in video games also makes gaming experience feels colorful.
These characters have a major impact on the game’s experience as they mostly play as important characters in the game. Some of them act as the main protagonists, some act as antagonists, and some other acts as major supporting characters.
So, you want to know who is the most popular Russian characters in video games? Here they are!
1. Artyom
He is the most popular Russian character in the most popular game set in Russia. Artyom Alekseyevich Chyornyj is the main protagonist of the Metro game series.
What makes this character popular (aside from being the only playable character) is his general badassery. He has killed lots of men, mutants, and Nazis. Yes, Nazis.
The game itself is inspired by the best-seller post-apocalyptic fiction book series named “Metro: 2033”. The book was written by one of the most popular Russian author in the present time, Dmitry Glukhovsky.
This game sets in a post-apocalyptic Moscow after a worldwide nuclear war struck the city. The surviving citizens are forced to live underground inside the famed Metro underground railway networks, due to the radiation and lurking mutants in the surface world. The residents of the city are scattered in several factions, some of them have armed personnel that constantly fighting for territory and already-limited resources.
Metro isn’t the only famed place in Moscow. Here you can find more attractive places in Moscow.
2. Yuri
This bald bad guy really left his mark on Real-Time Strategy game players’ memories. He is so memorable by his appearance and his dialogue with his subordinates and colleagues. His psychic power makes him entitled as “the enemy of mankind”, and with it, he can turn people into mindless slaves.
Yuri is a Russian man with powerful psychic capabilities. He is the chief advisor to the (fictionalized) USSR leader, Alexander Romanov.
From his appearance, there are similarities between him and Vladimir Lenin. His bald head and his goatee is the main resemblance between the two of them.
His role as an advisor makes him the most influential person in Russia. His title provides him with the capability to train a secret military regiment consisting of super soldiers with psychic capabilities. By using his psychic soldiers, he turns his back on Romanov and assaulted the Kremlin.
3. Viktor Reznov
Captain Viktor Reznov is a major character in Call of Duty World at War and Black ops Series. Although he is not the main playable character, he can be played in one of the game’s missions.
Born on April 1913 in Saint Petersburg, and later joined the Red Army, Reznov has to face the invasion of Nazi Germany in the battle of Stalingrad and the battle of Berlin in the following years.
His military career extends to the Cold War era. In that time, he met with our good guy, David Mason, an American Navy Seal soldier. Despite their different alignment, Reznov always helped Mason in some of his missions. Even after Reznov has died, Mason always had hallucinations seeing that Reznov is still there to help him.
4. Pvt. Vasili Ivanovich Koslov
Vasili Ivanovich Koslov was a Red Army soldier who fought in the Second World War against the Germans. This guy is the main playable character featured in the Soviet chapter of Call of Duty 2.
This fictional character is inspired by one of the most successful Russian snipers, Vasily Grigorevich Zaytsev. He is the man with 225 confirmed kills, and one of his victims was one of the best German sniper, Major Erwin Koenig.
As you play this game as this guy, you will find one of his mission that reminds you to the best sniper film of all time, Enemy at the Gates.
5. Zangief
This guy is truly a juggernaut. He is Zangief, a fictional character from the fighting game that 90’s kids loved most, Street Fighter, and make his first appearance in Street Fighter II.
The creator of this game has made an interesting backstory of this character. Zangief is a Russian hero that will always love to fight for his motherland. He is portrayed as a bulky man with weighing over 180 kilograms and standing for slightly over two meters high. His beard, mohawk, and scarred body is his true signature.
Having a massive body means that this guy excels at close range combat. If you have played this character since Street Fighter II, you would find that opponents which rely on ranged attacks are such a nuisance. But once you can get to a close range, this tough guy will pummel just about everything.
6. Colonel Volgin
If you have played Metal Gear Solid 3, you will find that this guy is a tough nut to crack. Yevgeny Borisovitch Volgin or Colonel Volgin is one of the bosses that you’ll find when playing this game.
Colonel Volgin is portrayed as a tall, big man with capabilities of electrokinesis. Who needs guns when you can shoot lightning from your bare hands? He can shoot a lightning bolt from his hands as long as there are electricities around him.
As an antagonist, Colonel Volgin’s backstories are full of his betrayal to the Soviet Union. In mid-1960, he attempted to overthrow Nikita Khrushchev and gained control over the country by installing Leonid Brezhnev and Alexei Kosygin in control.
7. Revolver Ocelot
Another character from the Metal Gear Solid universe, Revolver Ocelot a.k.a Adamska is a supporting character in the series. He is a friend and a rival of our main protagonist, Naked Snake.
His nickname came from his proficiency in using the single action revolver. His gunfighting skills are well-honed, he can literally shot his target by ricocheting his bullet. Not only he is known as a formidable gunslinger, but he is also known as an efficient interrogator.
By his appearance, Revolver Ocelot is pretty unique. Despite his strong Russian ancestry, his weapon of choice and his cowboy styled apparel makes him hard to distinguish whether he is Russian or American.
8. The Heavy
Misha, or also known as the Heavy Weapon Guy (“the Heavy” for short), is the face of Team Fortress 2. This character covered a large portion of the game’s poster and sometimes placed in the middle of the poster along with other rosters.
This towering hulk is coming from the USSR carrying his weapon of choice, the minigun. He is, by far, the most dangerous character in the game as he can mow down squishy characters with a rapid hail of bullets from his minigun.
Being big and bulky made him the most durable character in the game, even though it will cost him his mobility. His low speed will make him a nice picking for snipers if the player who played him is careless. Otherwise, when he is played by a good hand, and supported by a good supporting player, this guy is the one you don’t want to mess with.
And there they are. 8 most popular Russian characters in video games. There are dozens of Russian characters that you can find in video games, but what makes them made it on this list is because of their role and their impacts on the story. At the first moment when you saw them in the game, you will know that your gaming experience would be great!