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The following is a list of characters in the Command & Conquer series by Westwood Studios and Electronic Arts.

GDI[link]

This is a list of the Global Defense Initiative (GDI) characters.

[edit] GDI in Command & Conquer

Mark Sheppard

The first supreme commander of the multinational GDI task force. Sheppard was a United States general before being tapped to run the newly formed GDI. He is one of two people who frequently brief the player about the next mission. An oversight by Westwood Studios had his last name officially spelled as both "Shepherd" and "Sheppard" within the Command & Conquer manual. He was played by Eric Martin.

Ignatio Mobius

The world's foremost expert and leading scientist on tiberium prior to and during the First Tiberium War. Mobius is officially credited for having first discovered Tiberium along the Tiber River, from which the substance got its name. However, if the player has sided with the Brotherhood of Nod the Brotherhood's leader Kane dismisses this claim, saying he discovered Tiberium himself and that he named it after the Roman emperor Tiberius. Kane dismisses Mobius as a quack and a fraud, in his words, "an obvious lunatic." Dr. Mobius along with his science staff was killed in an Ion Storm following the First Tiberium War. However, according to the novelization of Tiberium Wars, he is killed when the Philadelphia station is destroyed. The character is portrayed by Richard Smith while in Renegade he is voiced by Rene Auberjonois.

J.C. Carter

One of GDI's field commanders during the First Tiberium War, he always kept closely in touch with the player. His final fate is unknown, though it is believed he was killed onboard one of the GDI Gunboats destroyed by one of Nod's earliest Obelisk of Light prototypes. Carter is portrayed by Bill Collins

M.O. Morelli

A fighter pilot and commander of Global Defense Initiative's air force. She is responsible for maintaining and commanding GDI's airforce, as well as briefing field commanders on occasions. She is portrayed by Wendy Bagger.

[edit] GDI in Renegade

Nick "Havoc" Parker

A GDI commando with a characteristically bad attitude. He is the primary character in Renegade. Before joining GDI, Parker was a US Marine who excelled in the use of high explosives. He was recruited by the GDI and cycled through special forces training before being assigned to GDI's elite "Dead-6" commando unit. Eventually, Havoc quit the unit and began operating solo, using his special forces training to fight Nod his own way. According to Mike Verdu's Tiberium Wars blog, "Havoc" is still alive in 2039, a retired war veteran holding the rank of colonel. He is a conservative pundit who was opposed to the retirement of the Mammoth Mk. II and was a strong proponent of the "Kane lives" theory. Havoc is voiced by Wally Wingert.

Adam Locke

Havoc's commanding officer. He is chief of GDI special warfare operations, and has commanded Havoc for two years. Locke operates a group of GDI's amphibious assault ships, and constantly updates Havoc’s EVA unit with mission objectives and critical commentary. Before he joined GDI, Locke was a member of the British Army and is considered somewhat of a rogue himself by his peers; he was chosen to deal with Havoc because he can tolerate a bit of insubordination by his men. Adam Locke is voiced by David Lodge.

Adriana Maus

Communications officer aboard General Locke's flagship. She is frequently seen in the background of video briefings held aboard Locke's ship.

Dariel "Deadeye" MacInnis

Originally from Scotland, Deadeye is a tactical field sniper with incredible accuracy; he has a nearly flawless ratio of shots fired and targets hit. He was formerly a member of the British Special Air Service before joining GDI.

Nigel "Gunner" Grant

A GDI special forces rocket soldier with a massive frame, Gunner is responsible for operating the heavy artillery, as his primary weapon is a rocket launcher. His real name was Nigel Grant, born and raised in London's worst parts. He made his mark in the British Special Boat Service before joining GDI. He is voiced by Andre Sogliuzzo.

Shai "Hotwire" Aviv

Prior to joining GDI, Shai Aviv was a member of the Israeli Mossad, where she served with distinction. When she joined the Dead-6, she took on the roles of tactical engineer, proving to be an invaluable asset on the battlefield, when vehicle repair, structure capturing and demolitions were needed.

Erich "Patch" Wulfe

Patch is a specialist grenadier for the Dead-6, using a Grenade Launcher as his weapon of choice. Patch hails from Berlin, and served with the GSG 9 counter-terrorist unit prior to joining GDI.

Sydney Mobius

Dr. Ignatio Mobius' daughter. Unlike her father, Sydney is driven to use Tiberium as a weapon on the battlefield. She worked with GDI to develop the "Mobius Suit", the precursor of the Zone Trooper armor. Like her father, Sydney is one of the worlds foremost experts on tiberium, and frequently reports her findings to the GDI. Sydney is voiced by Leigh Allyn Baker in Renegade.

Logan Sheppard

The son of Mark Sheppard. Due to the fact he was the son of a general, he had to work hard to prove that he didn't get his position in the GDI due to nepotism. He is Havoc's instructor during the refresher course Capt. Parker receives, and doesn't appear again in the main campaign. In the original concept for Renegade, Logan was used as the main protagonist and had the codename Havok.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] GDI in Tiberian Sun

James Solomon

The commanding general of the GDI in Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun, James Solomon was a decorated war veteran from the First Tiberium War. He exercised his command authority from GDI's orbital main base of operations, the space station "Philadelphia", throughout the Second Tiberium War. Solomon was often portrayed as a responsible and strong leader, yet he apparently held mutants in low regard, often referring to them as "shiners" and saying that they "can wait." It is unknown what happened to Solomon during the period between the second and Third Tiberium War. It is possible that he either retired, or was killed when the "Philadelphia" was destroyed at the advent of the Third Tiberium War. The role of General James Solomon was played by James Earl Jones.

Michael McNeil

Commander who was placed in charge of GDI forces during the Second Tiberium War. He was a hard headed commander with a reputation for doing everything in his power to win, though he occasionally takes heat for his battlefield decisions. GDI medical report No. PSY89902 describes him as fiercely loyal and a highly competitive man, focusing tightly on what he had to do. McNeil's base of operations was the command ship Kodiak. It is hinted Umagon and McNeil had a love interest which didn't endure since she suffered of Tiberium injuries. The novelization of Tiberium Wars establishes that he is still alive at the start of the Third Tiberium War. He is one of the main characters of the book, and commands the GDI 22nd Infantry Division throughout the conflict. Commander Michael McNeil was played by Michael Biehn.

Chandra

Second-in-command of field GDI operations and a long time friend of Michael McNeil. He served aboard McNeil's flagship, the Kodiak, and accompanied McNeil during missions away from the ship. Chandra is portrayed by Kris Iyer.

Jake McNeil

A high ranking GDI officer stationed in Hammerfest, Jake McNeil was well-known and respected by his subordinates. He was also the brother of GDI field commander Michael McNeil, and essentially worked in his shadow. In the Nod campaign, Jake McNeil is portrayed as an idealist, envious of the position his brother occupies. In the GDI storyline, Jake is killed in action when the Brotherhood of Nod attacked and took control of Hammerfest. Jake is portrayed by Daniel Kucan, Joseph D. Kucan's brother.

Paul Cortez

A high ranking commanding officer, who did not receive much fame for his work during the events of the Second Tiberium War. He was decisive and highly responsible during Firestorm. He was married to Dr. Gabriella Boudreau, but divorced prior to Firestorm. Cortez resigned from his position as a commander and became the head of the Bureau for Mutant Affairs. Eventually he retired from GDI prior to the events of the Third Tiberium War. General Paul Cortez is portrayed by Efrain Figueroa.

Gabriella Boudreau

A Tiberium scientist whose research into Tiberium has led her and her team to work with GDI and the Forgotten. She was the one who originally suggested GDI use CABAL to translate the Tacitus. She is the ex-wife of General Cortez. Dr. Boudreau is played by Linnea Pyne.

[edit] GDI in Tiberium Wars

Redmond Boyle

Portrayed by Billy Dee Williams. The acting director of GDI. His original position was the GDI Treasurer, but he ended up being the highest ranking official after the Philadelphia was shot down. Despite maintaining the image of a responsible and honest man, Boyle leads the war against Nod with purely political motivations, which leads to ideological clashes with Jack Granger. Boyle does not hesitate to exert his authority over Granger, often forcing him to lead impractical or suicidal missions. Also, despite his vows not to interfere with military affairs, Boyle spends much time trying to manipulate the player into disobeying Granger's orders. In the expansion pack Kane's Wrath it is revealed that Kane used Boyle as a pawn.

Jack Granger

Portrayed by Michael Ironside. The player's commanding officer for the GDI campaign. Granger assumed leadership over GDI's standing forces worldwide after the destruction of the organization's orbital command station, the "Philadelphia". He is an experienced soldier who has not discarded his ideals, and continues to consider the Brotherhood of Nod a threat, contrary to popular opinion. He is also shown to dislike his superior, Director Redmond Boyle, because the latter is a politician who directly interferes with decisions made by GDI's military personnel, and also because Boyle eventually begins to sanction Tiberium-based weaponry, something Granger is staunchly opposed to because of the inherent conflict between GDI's mission to eradicate the threat of Tiberium, and the usage of Tiberium-based weapons in warfare. Granger has over 25 years of combat experience, making him a veteran of the second Tiberium War.

Sandra Telfair

Part of GDI InOps, is an aide to General Jack Granger and provides briefings as well as assistance between missions. She bears a resentment against the Brotherhood, often referring to them as maniacs and propagandists. She is portrayed by Grace Park.

Kirce James

Portrayed by Jennifer Morrison, Lieutenant Kirce James is a contact at InOps and is usually the one to brief the player before a mission. Her information sets out the mission parameters before the mission begins and is usually vital to the success in the mission. Lt. James appears in all five theatres of war. Morrison replaced Ivana Bozilovic as the actress portraying this character.

[edit] GDI in Tiberian Twilight

Louise James

Daughter of a First Tiberium War veteran, Colonel James has fought in the Third Tiberium War where she lost her two sons to the Scrin invaders. She blames this however on Nod and Kane since they were the ones who caused the Liquid Tiberium explosion and attracted the aliens to Earth. She begrudgingly followed GDI's orders to work with Nod even though she (among others) believe Kane to be a mass murderer. In 2077 she commands the GDT Tzadik and, by extension GDI's First Fleet. Col. James still views Nod as a threat and dislikes her political leader Evelyn Rios for trying to interfere in GDI military affairs and Rios's support for Kane, putting James and Rios into conflict multiple times during the short war with the Nod Separatists. While James will cooperate with Nod, and Kane to a lesser extent, she will not hesitate to terminate the GDI-Nod alliance herself if she believes Kane to have a more sinister plan for the TCN. She is portrayed by Iona Morris.

Wesley Riggs

A veteran of the Second and Third Tiberium Wars, General Riggs has been respected among GDI to survive even one, let alone two, Tiberium Wars against Nod. He is a realist however, when Kane approached GDI for an alliance to halt the Tiberium spread in2062, Riggs put in his support of the alliance, earning him political backlash. Nevertheless he would not keep his back turned for long, in case Kane backtracks on the alliance. By 2077 General Riggs is the supreme commander of the GDI military and is seen to be confident of the alliance and the TCN. However he is torn between supporting his extremist subordinate Col. James in combating the Nod Separatists, and supporting the TCN with his political counterpart Evelyn Rios that already has a tenuous political climate. General Riggs is portrayed by Tim Dezan.

Evelyn Rios

A former employee of the Idris Corporation, Evelyn Rios rose up to become GDI General Secretary. Despite the shaky political climate, Rios confidently supports the alliance with Kane and the TCN unlike many in the GDI military and populace. Rios is determined to preserve the fragile democracy of the last old superpower left on Earth, and attempts to assert her authority over the GDI military. This particularly irks Colonel James, who Rios also dislikes because of her aggressive actions to combat the Nod Separatists and maintaining the TCN without causing civilian casualties. This comes to a head when James launches an insurrection against Rios due to the latter disregarding James' belief and evidence that Kane has a more sinister motive. Rios is portrayed by Nastascha Roi.

Nash

A NCO and serves onboard the GST Tzadik alongside Col James. Nash holds high regard for the player, having saved the GST Methuselah from crashing in which Nash was on board at the time of the Separatist attack. He will support and guide the commander in his missions if the player sides with GDI. If the player joins Nod, the player will be battling Nash on several occasions. He is portrayed by Caleb Moody.

Nod[link]

This is a list of Nod characters.

[edit] Nod in Red Alert

Kane

Kane is a shadowy advisor to Joseph Stalin. He provides occasional counsel, usually standing apart from the rest of the advisors. Unlike the other Soviet characters, he dresses in civilian clothes. He remains silent until the cutscene following the final Soviet campaign, when he makes the player the new leader of the Soviet-led world and tells him to keep the peace until the Brotherhood of Nod no longer needs Russia and is able to emerge from the shadows.

Nadia

Nadia is an NKVD officer and Stalin's mistress. In the cutscene following the final Soviet mission, at Buckingham Palace, she poisons Stalin before revealing to the player that she is a member of the Brotherhood, stating that Nod "had waited for centuries to emerge from the shadows", and that now "they would make themselves known". She then proceeds to inform the player that the Brotherhood would "tire of the USSR in the early 1990s", and instructs him to keep the peace until then. Shortly afterwards, she too is killed by Kane - though the reasons for this are unclear. The character is played by Andrea C. Robinson.

[edit] Nod in Command & Conquer

Kane

Kane is the enigmatic leader of the Brotherhood of Nod. His name is derived from the biblical Cain. He positions himself as a prophet and controls the Brotherhood with an iron fist. Kane claims to have discovered Tiberium and personally oversees the Brotherhood's research into that substance. He was believed killed at the end of Command & Conquer. The character is played by Joseph D. Kucan.

Seth

Kane's "right hand man", and the first character the player encounters while playing the Nod campaign in Command & Conquer. He takes his name from the biblical Seth. Seth briefs the player on several missions, however, it is evident that he slowly grows irritated by the player's successes. In Renegade, it is revealed that instead of simply being disposed of in some manner, his corpse is kept perfectly preserved inside a machine, as a warning to anyone who would dare circumvent Kane's authority. The character is played by Eric Gooch, who also worked on Command & Conquer as a 3D artist.

Greg Burdette

A news reporter of the fictional WWN news network who covered several stories relating to the events of the original Command & Conquer. The character was played by Eric Randall.

[edit] Nod in Renegade

Gideon Raveshaw

The leader and founder of the Brotherhood of Nod's elite Black Hand unit, General Raveshaw is a cold and unforgiving man. Although he is of a short stature, he possesses unmatched charisma and intelligence. His soldiers are as loyal to him, as he is to Kane. He was eventually killed by Captain "Havoc" Parker in the underground part of a Nod Tiberium research facility. The name Gideon is of Hebrew origin, meaning "mighty warrior". He is voiced by Rodger Bumpass.

Carlos Mendoza

An ex-mercenary who came to Nod after his methods became too extreme even for the extremists he was working for. He stays in General Raveshaw's employ due to the amount of money he receives for his services. Mendoza has a very confident and arrogant character, often insulting his enemies during firefights and gloating. He is extremely proficient with flamethrowers, and uses them along with the flame tanks without any fire-retardant suits. Ironically, he meets his end after his flamethrower tanks explode during a firefight with Captain Nick "Havoc" Parker. His model was originally intended for Gideon Raveshaw, while Mendoza was supposed to be a tall, black-haired muscleman. Mendoza is voiced by Gregg Berger.

Sakura Obata

Rumoured to have been brought up in the Yakuza, Sakura was a mercenary who originally operated for the CIA before siding with GDI, as a member of the "Dead Six" special forces team with Nicholas "Havoc" Parker. She eventually left the Dead-6, lured by the Brotherhood of Nod's ample bank accounts. It is eventually discovered, though, that she is a double-agent working for GDI and helps Havoc escape a prison. Sakura is voiced by Mari Weiss.

Elena Petrova

The main antagonist of the game. One of the three top Tiberium scientists in the Tiberian universe, Petrova worked for GDI together with Dr. Ignatio Mobius and his daughter, Sydney, researching Tiberium and its practical applications. However, she switches sides during the course of the game, and defects to the Brotherhood, taking the position of main researcher in the Nod eugenics program, "Project Re-Genesis". Ultimately in a final battle, Captain Nick "Havoc" Parker kills her. Dr. Petrova is voiced by Lori Tritel.

[edit] Nod in Tiberian Sun

Kane

After a thirty year absence from his followers Kane finally reappeared in Tiberian Sun. He had undergone some aesthetic changes, the most noticeable of which were the burns and disfiguration around the left side of his face which are believed to be scars from the Ion Cannon strike that obliterated the Temple of Nod in Command & Conquer. He digitally enhances the image in many of his transmissions to give the impression that he was unharmed by the blast. Kane’s reappearance was met with much joy from the followers of the Brotherhood, and disbelief from members of the GDI. The character is played by Joseph D. Kucan.

Anton Slavik

A gifted and relatively young commander of Nod, who would rise to become one of the most influential and powerful figures of the secret society during the events of Tiberian Sun. Slavik originally was a freedom fighter of Serb origin and came to be known as "The Serbian Wolf" for his reputation of sheer ruthlessness. His abilities, intelligence and zealous loyalty made him rise up quickly through the ranks of the Brotherhood, eventually establishing him as the leader of Nod's elite special forces - the Black Hand. Anton Slavik was eventually assassinated by one of his own within the Black Hand; a man known as Marcion. Anton Slavik was portrayed by Frank Zagarino in both Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun and its expansion pack Firestorm. The actor does not appear in the expansion of Kane's Wrath.

Oxanna Kristos

A Nod propagandist, Oxanna Kristos was a member of the Black Hand and alongside Anton Slavik one of the few upper members of the Brotherhood who would prove completely loyal and dedicated to Kane's vision throughout the long period of his absence. She apparently possessed a powerful hatred toward mutants. Her true loyalties became evident when she rescued Anton Slavik right before he could have been executed by Hassan's men. It is not specified what happened to Oxanna Kristos after the end of Tiberian Sun, however she did not appear in its expansion pack of Firestorm. Oxanna Kristos was portrayed by Canadian actress Monika Schnarre.

Vega

A general of the Brotherhood of Nod, as well as a powerful South American druglord. In the novelization of Command & Conquer: Tiberium Wars, it was revealed that Vega had a brother (Major Javier Vega) and nephew (Captain Ricardo Vega) who were working for GDI. Vega was portrayed by Francesco Quinn.

Hassan

A north-African military ruler of the Brotherhood of Nod prior to the Second Tiberium War, Hassan was a Nod puppet leader for the Global Defense Initiative. Hassan was executed during a public ceremony in which Kane himself reappeared. Hassan was portrayed by Adoni Maropis.

[edit] Nod in Tiberium Wars

Kane

Once more, Kane seemingly cheats death, reappearing as Nod's leader. Kane reappears after the Brotherhood, under Qatar's command, ally with the GDI to fight against the Scrin.

Kilian Qatar

The right-hand woman of Kane throughout the earlier events of the Third Tiberium War. The general of the Brotherhood of Nod's armed forces worldwide and described by Kane as "the greatest military asset we have", she was the mastermind behind the strike against the GDSS Philadelphia, and was later on tasked with the preparation of Nod deployment in Australia, where the Brotherhood had established a major command center at Ayers Rock. Kilian was executed by Kane after her framed betrayal. She is portrayed by Tricia Helfer.

Ajay

Ajay is one of Kane's most valued intelligence officers and battlefield tacticians. He is of Australian descent, having grown up in the remote Outback regions of the country. A great devotee of the cause of Nod, he views the GDI as a corrupt and oppressive regime that has to be destroyed for the betterment of mankind. His fate is left unknown. He is portrayed by Josh Holloway.

[edit] Nod in Kane's Wrath

Marcion

A Nod character and leader of the Black Hand who was convinced by a GDI spy that he was born to be the leader of Nod, and Kane was just a traitor. He led his followers into the Australian desert, and created a new Black Hand. Legion captured him and Kane made him the puppet leader of the Brotherhood. Despite his vain betrayal during the post 2nd Tiberium war, Marcion goes on to become one of the higher members of the inner circle. According to Kane, he has a "oratorical gift". He is portrayed by Carl Lumbly.

Alexa Kovacs

The abbess of Nod, who informs LEGION about his objectives in Act II. She seems to idolize Kane, calling him as "prophet". Her parents were killed by Cabal's cyborg army, and because of this, she fears Legion. It is revealed that she was the one who ordered Copperhead Actual's troops to attack Sarajevo, framing general Qatar. She shoots herself after she uploads a virus to Legion's system in the ending of Act II. She is portrayed by Natasha Henstridge.

[edit] Nod in Tiberian Twilight

Kane

Having arisen out of the shadows once more, Kane proposed an alliance between Nod and GDI in 2062 using the Tacitus as leverage. He helped GDI in constructing the Tiberium Control Network and also installed optical implants among five people. But he was facing stiff resistance from both factions with extremist beliefs; many Nod followers believed Kane was going against everything he fought for since the First Tiberium War by eliminating Tiberium and siding with GDI and broke away to form the Nod Separatists. Much of the GDI military and civilians were also distrustful of Kane, believing him to be a mass murderer.

Chavra

Having a rank of sister and an experienced battle commander, she is essentially the counterpart to GDI's Sgt Nash. She operates on Kane's personal command ship, GST Uzziel. Not much is known about her except that she is very loyal to Kane. It is likely that Chavra had Ascended as she was last seen fighting in both campaigns at the Threshold tower.

Gideon

The leader of the breakaway Nod Separatists, who the player will fight against early on and in the middle stages of both campaigns. He is a gloating murderer and a fanatic, yet he does care for the lives of his men. Gideon proved to be a thorn to the GDI-Nod alliance and was aware of Kane's plan for Ascension, hence he murdered four of the five people who received optical implants (keys) to stop him. Gideon was later captured in a brutal and final power struggle between the Nod Loyalists and Separatists, hence explaining his disappearance in the GDI campaign. He is played by Chris Wolfe.

Allied[link]

This is a list of Allied characters.

[edit] Allied in Red Alert

Gunther von Esling

The German Commander-in-Chief of European Allied forces. Esling is portrayed as pragmatic and reserved, though he congratulates the commander after difficult missions. He is played by Arthur Roberts.

Nikos Stavros

The Greek Second-in-Command to von Esling. Stavros is more emotional than Esling, as his home in Greece is under attack early on in Red Alert. Also, Stavros originally objects to Tanya's employment in the Allied war effort. Despite this, he remains in the upper echelons of the Allied army throughout the campaign. At the end of the Allied Campaign, Stavros orders Allied Soldiers who had discovered the trapped Josef Stalin that they "saw nothing", and then kills Stalin himself, apparently in revenge for the rampant destruction across Greece. He is played by Barry Kramer.

Ben Carville

Carville is the player's commanding officer in the Retaliation expansion pack. He was played by Barry Corbin, who reprised the role in Red Alert 2. His role was not reprised in Red Alert 3.^[1] Carville is a comic combination of proud-Texan and George S. Patton (whose picture is visible on the wall in some scenes). Carville is patriotic and tough, in one scene revealing that the general arms himself to the point of ridiculousness, though friendlier to the player than Allied leaders of other installments. The character was killed toward the conclusion of Red Alert 2, but his absent-minded tough-guy image lent itself to a surprise return in Yuri's Revenge as a result of a timeline alteration.

Tanya Adams

Special ops commando. She is played by Tanya Brassie in Red Alert.^[2] Tanya Adams was a civilian who volunteered for service in the Allied forces. She proved to be an extremely capable field operative, eventually becoming one of the Allies' most important assets, receiving orders directly from von Esling, the Allied commander. She appears on a significant number of Allied forces' missions, especially during their assault on Moscow. During the game Tanya appears on the battlefield as a female commando capable of taking down entire groups of enemy infantry and instantly destroying any building at point blank range. Her appearance on the map is marked by a loud maniacal laugh heard by all players.

Albert Einstein

A German physicist, based on the real life Albert Einstein. He is played by John Milford. Unlike his real life counterpart, Einstein managed to live until the 1970s, during which Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge takes place.

[edit] Allied in Red Alert 2

Michael Dugan

The current President of the USA. He is played by Ray Wise. During the introductions to both Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge, he is portrayed as somewhat conniving; he attempts to negotiate a truce with the enemy leaders (Romanov in RA2, and Yuri in YR), but when that fails, he assumes a stern demeanor. Throughout the game, he appears in several Allied briefings, as well as a mission where he must be rescued from a mind-controlled Washington DC after which he is evacuated to Canada. In the Soviet Campaign of Red Alert 2, he is mostly absent except for a mission where the player is told the President has "resurfaced" in San Antonio, Texas and is instructed to use Psychics to bring him under Soviet control.

Carville

A Major General of the US Army from Texas. He is a veteran of the earlier war with the Soviets (He briefs the player in Red Alert: Retaliation). He trains and commands new commanders in the military. He was killed in a suicide bombing, then had his death prevented in Yuri's Revenge as the player goes back in time to before Carville was killed. Played by Barry Corbin.

Lieutenant Eva Lee

The American intelligence adviser. She guides the player through the entire campaign and regularly provides first-hand mission briefings. She is played by Athena Massey.

Jerry Boyd

The USAF lieutenant in the opening cutscene who is mind-controlled by Yuri. His last name comes from his nametag and his first name from what his friend calls him. He is mind controlled to sabotage American nuclear weapons. Both Boyd and his friend are killed from the nuclear silo's explosion.^[3]

Tanya

An American commando. She is played by Kari Wührer in Red Alert 2 and is the daughter of the original Tanya from the first Red Alert game. Like the first game, Tanya appears on a number of Allied missions, especially once again on the final mission during the assault on Moscow. As in the first game, Tanya is shown to have a somewhat disrespectful attitude towards authority, especially toward General Carville, the Commander (the player) and other world leaders. However, as the game progresses, she gradually changes attitude towards the Commander and even shows some affection for the player, going as far as to challenge the president and combined leaders of Europe so that only the player would be her commander.

Albert Einstein

The German physicist who was responsible for the removal of Adolf Hitler through time using the Chronosphere in the first Red Alert. He is played by Larry Gelman.

Lyon

The commander of the French Allied forces. He is only seen in one FMV, during which the player is in a meeting with other Allied leaders. He bears a resemblance to Charles de Gaulle, right down to his kepi. Lyon is strongly in favor of a joint Allied effort to help the U.S. In another cutscene (in the Soviet campaign), France is stated to be calling for "an enormous Allied commitment" to fighting the Soviets. Lyon is played by Frank Bruynbroek.

[edit] Allied in Red Alert 3

Howard Ackerman

The political leader of the Allies. He is staunchly anti-Communist, believing the Soviets stand opposed to everything he holds dear including freedom, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, apple pie and freedom. He is vehemently supportive of the Allied coalition effort, at least when it comes to fighting back against Soviet incursions. President Ackerman is portrayed by J. K. Simmons.

Robert Bingham

The Supreme Commander of all Allied forces. He clashes with newly inaugurated U.S. President Howard Ackerman in several instances, primarily when the President oversteps his boundaries. Though Bingham technically outranks the President, he is not one to get on the man's bad side. Being English, he has the stereotypical stoic and calm mannerisms. He believes it is the duty of the Allies to defend the free world from tyranny. Bingham is played by Jonathan Pryce.

Eva McKenna

A communications officer for the Allied coalition. She was one of the top students at the military academy and wears the stripes of an RAF sergeant on her uniform. Throughout the Allied campaign, she has a crush on the commander, seeing as she speaks to him in an increasingly flirtatious fashion and later asks him out to dinner at the end of the campaign. She is also the model for the Allied Victory Banner (which is unique, as the Soviet and Empire Banners depicted their lowest infantryman triumphing rather than one of their characters). Lieutenant Eva McKenna is portrayed by Gemma Atkinson and speaks with a strong Manchester accent.

Tanya

As in Red Alert and Red Alert 2, she is the commando unit of the Allied forces. Tanya is a veteran of previous Soviet-Allied wars, and her commanding officers trust her implicitly with top priority missions. Ackerman admits that she can kill a man 15 ways with her barehands, and she has express permission to speak freely at all times, a privilege she relishes. In contrast to her portrayal as a brunette in the first and second Red Alert games, Tanya has blonde permed hair in Red Alert 3. It is unclear therefore if she is the same Tanya from Red Alert 2, or another daughter of the original Tanya. Presumably the change is due to shifts in the timeline, or was a conscious design choice by the game's creators to differentiate her from Natasha. Tanya is portrayed by Jenny McCarthy.

Warren Fuller

An AI co-commander of the Allied forces. As a US Marine, Fuller is man of few words — his actions speak for themselves. A born leader and natural fighter, he is a powerful force on the battlefield. Commander Fuller is played by former UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture.

Lissette Hanley

An AI co-commander of the Allied forces. She is a navy commander with a background in the French Intelligence Service and a gift for seeing through enemy tactics. As such, her tactics are unorthodox but very effective. In battle, Lissette is a jack-of-all-trades, excelling equally well at land or sea but not specializing in either one. Her personality reflects a childish nature which cause many commanders to underestimate her. Commander Hanley is played by Autumn Reeser.

Giles Price

An AI co-commander of the Allied forces. He was a top RAF fighter pilot that may initially give a low impression of himself to the Allied Commander, but this top-gun is in fact a shrewd tactician with acute perception for trouble and equally quick to deal with it. Due to his military background, he tends to use Air Units to attack his opponents. He returns in Command & Conquer Red Alert 3: Uprising and is portrayed by Greg Ellis.

[edit] Allied in Red Alert 3: Uprising

Rupert Thornley

Played by Malcolm McDowell. He is the current President of the European Union, and a keen sponsor of the Futuretech corporation, in many ways another spokesman for them. He is revealed to be a man of ill intentions much like the FutureTech corporation as he plans on taking over the Soviet territory and transforming it into his personal paradise by using a new FutureTech machine called the Sigma Harmonizer, which can be used to freeze objects in time.

Kelly Weaver

Played by Jodi Lyn O'Keefe. She is both the chief public relation officer and spokeswoman of FTC (FutureTech Corp), who orders the player to fight around the world to pick up the technology of every faction.

Douglas Hill

Played by Ric Flair. An old school war veteran with years of experience under his belt. He leads his men in a traditional way and his no nonsense attitude to war while making him popular with the men makes him somewhat unpopular with the latest commanders and CO's. It has been mentioned he has a huge distrust in Futuretech Corporation and its technologies. Commander Hill gloats often and is proven defeated at countless times in the Commander's Challenge despite the fact that he truly is a war veteran. This marine officer is overwhelmed by his pride and this usually ends in his defeat.

Soviet Union[link]

This is a list of characters of the Soviet Union in the Command & Conquer: Red Alert series.

[edit] Soviets in Red Alert

Joseph Stalin

Played by Gene Dynarski. The Premier and General Secretary of the Soviet Union, who is based on the real life Joseph Stalin.

Kane

Played by Joseph D. Kucan. The mastermind of the Brotherhood of Nod in the Tiberium series, who appears several times throughout the Soviet campaign as a mysterious counselor to Joseph Stalin.

Gradenko

Played by Alan Terry. A competent military officer who commanded Red Army troops in the conquest of East Asia. His success there resulted in his promotion to Marshal and won him an advisory position to Joseph Stalin during the subsequent war in Europe. Gradenko was the Soviet leader who was most suspicious of the player and seemed to have a somewhat aggressive attitude towards him. After numerous failures, Gradenko was killed by poisoned tea served by Nadia and replaced by General Georgi Kukov. Gradenko was subsequently proclaimed a traitor to the Soviet Union.

Nadia

Played by Andrea C. Robinson. The chief of the NKVD, she often gives the player specific assignments as the intelligence officer. Secretly, Nadia actually is a member of the Brotherhood of Nod society, which is featured prominently in the Tiberian series, as revealed in the final Soviet cutscene. Several scenes hint that she was Stalin's mistress as well. Nadia is shown to favor the player over the other Soviet officers, Gradenko and Kukov.

Georgi Kukov

Played by Craig Cavanah. The commander of the Red Army, who was inspired by Georgi Zhukov's figure. Unlike Zhukov, Kukov is depicted as a poor strategist.

Topolov

Played by Alan Charof. A high ranked Soviet military commander and mentor to the player. He only appears during Red Alert: Retaliation. After the final Soviet mission in retaliation, Topolov retires. Unlike the other Red Alert Soviet military personnel, Topolov is not scheming or manipulative, instead acting friendly towards the commander.

Vladmiral Kosygin

An atomic scientist working for the Soviet Union, but loathes Stalin's ethics and defects to the Allies during the course of the game. He is the first to alert the Allies of Soviet nuclear missiles and instructs the player to destroy them.

[edit] Soviets in Red Alert 2

Alexander Romanov

Played by Nicholas Worth. The eccentric Premier of the Soviet Union following the death of Joseph Stalin, and launches an attack on the United States. Romanov has a painted turtle named Sam, after Uncle Sam. Though he is shown to very ruthless, he is an extremely comical figure and is very prone to make a fool of himself in when things are not going his way. Romanov is a distant relative of Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia, and—despite the purge of his extended family—he is also a Bolshevik.

Vladimir

Played by Adam Greggor. A loyal and experienced general of the Soviet Union, and its most senior commander. He is well liked by Premier Romanov, who is often wary of sending the other general (the player) out to face enemies without Vladimir's aid in the Soviet missions.

Zofia

Played by Aleksandra Kaniak. The Soviet Commander's advisor of Bulgarian descent. In both the original game and the expansion pack, she plays little to no other role than being a nonetheless competent assistant to the player. She shows great esteem and loyalty towards both the player and Premier Romanov, and seems to be completely devoid of any ulterior motivation.

Boris

A Soviet commando and counterpart to the Allied Tanya Adams in Yuri's Revenge. It is said he is a 'hero of all Russia' after distinguishing himself in the last war, although he is never seen in Red Alert 2.

Yuri

Played by Udo Kier. Yuri plays a key part in both the preparation and execution of the Soviet invasion of the U.S., using his mind-control technology to prevent nuclear retaliation, and later to turn the American population into mindless slaves via giant Psychic Beacons.

[edit] Soviets in Red Alert 3

Anatoly Cherdenko

Played by Tim Curry. Colonel Anatoly Cherdenko was the director of the Soviet Temporal Displacement project and went back in time to erase Einstein, resulting in him becoming the Premier in the new timeline. His intention was to save the USSR from defeat at the hands of the Allies. While the USSR is stronger now, his actions led to the rise of the Empire of the Rising Sun.

Nikolai Krukov

Played by Andrew Divoff. The leader of the Red Army, who was Cherdenko's superior prior to the trip to the past, so he naturally resents the new Premier. He does not think highly of the Commander as he was Cherdenko's choice and never shows the commander any respect. Krukov is somewhat narcissistic, sporting a huge row of self-awarded medals. He is a decent commander, but is the type to take credit for the player's successes and blame the player for his failures.

Gregor Zelinsky

Played by Peter Stormare. A scientist, considered one of the most intelligent minds of Russia and developed the USSR's Temporal Displacement Device in a twelve-year long secret project. His device would be used in the mission to eliminate Einstein, shown in the prelude of Red Alert 3, though he is against the decision and worries of the consequences as he tried to stop the assassination when they met Einstein. With resulting creation of the Empire of the Rising Sun, his concerns were shown to be well-founded.

Dasha Fedorovich

Played by Ivana Miličević. The Soviet Intelligence officer, who performs essentially the same function in the game as the Allies' Lt. Eva and the Empire's Suki Toyama. Her loyalty is with the commander, proven when Premier Cherdenko goes mad and attempts to kill the commander. She is perhaps the firmest believer in communism on the Soviet side, in the Allied campaign she actually considered the Soviets invading New York liberators. In the end of the Soviet Campaign she toasts the commander on his election to Premier. She returns in Command & Conquer Red Alert 3: Uprising as the new Soviet leader.^[4] She performs as a respected leader commanding the resistance forces of the Soviet Union who is only a shadow of its previous glory.

Natasha Volkova

Played by Gina Carano. A Russian folk hero, so much so that hers is a household name among Soviet citizens who love to show up in throngs to her staged appearances on national holidays and in military parades. Paraphernalia autographed by this highly decorated Leningrad-born sniper is known to sell for many tens of thousands of rubles, though few Soviets would be unconscionable enough to willingly part with such a treasure. Allegedly, Natasha's natural talent with a rifle was discovered early on by Soviet military recruiters, who worked with the press to make her name and prowess become the talk of the Union—and, before long, the world.

Zhana Agonskaya

Played by Vanessa Branch. A Soviet Co-Commander, who has a background in the Russian Air force and Russian Intelligence. She constantly boasts about having the most loyal units to the Motherland, and is deeply committed to the cause of Soviet Communism. With her background in the Air force, she has preference for air units, in particular the Twin Blade attack helicopter. Since she came into command of the air force (and was included in their ad campaign), the Soviet military has received an unprecedented number of new recruits. She helps the player clear Vladivostok of Empire troops and survive the Premier's betrayal on Easter Island. In the Allied campaign, she leads the Soviets in the attack on one of the Imperial floating fortresses, with the Allied troops. In the Imperial campaign, she fights the Japanese in Stalingrad.

Oleg Vodnik

Played by Dimitri Diatchenko. A friend to the Soviet Commander since their days at the Academy. He is mentioned in the game to be one of the few commanders to be promoted from a conscript to a General due to him cheating death on a consistent basis on the battlefield, which explains his respect for the lower ranks of the Soviet Army. Despite being overly casual for a General, his positive attitude and reliability in battle more than compensate for his quirks as a commander. In Uprising, Oleg returns as a military leader of the Soviet affairs. His uniform has changed since Red Alert 3.

Nikolai Moskvin

Played by Gene Farber. A commander with a notorious sadistic streak, his mood swings are as unpredictable as his tactics. His swings from cool to hysterical rage happen without warning but his strategies are always aggressive regardless of his mood. He likes the player and encourages him to eliminate the enemy painfully. In Uprising, he is a Soviet warlord fueled by revenge against the Japanese forces.

Vera Belova

Played by Moran Atias. Appearing new in Red Alert 3: Uprising. Known as a White Sparrow, this Ukrainian freedom fighter restored some sense of order and hope to the Soviet people after the collapse of their leadership after the war. Her promises of glory and retribution have inspired a new generation of Soviets to take up arms in the defense of their nation. She only appears in the Commander's Challenge.

Imperial[link]

This is a list of characters of the Empire of the Rising Sun.

Yoshiro

Played by George Takei. The emperor of the Empire of the Rising Sun. He is cherished as a living god by his people and the military. Emperor Yoshiro is a traditionalist who strictly follows the code of Bushido, the way of the warrior. He fundamentally believes that the Rising Sun's destiny is to rule the entire world, he is Emperor by divine right and that his fate is preordained. He rarely shows emotion and often speaks in a seemingly wise tone.

Tatsu

Played by Ron Yuan. Emperor Yoshiro's son and heir. He is a major figure in the Imperial armed forces and directs many of the missions against the Empire's enemies. He intends to modernize Japan, unlike his strictly conservative father.

Suki Toyama

Played by Kelly Hu. Toyama is the Intelligence Officer for The Imperial military. Unlike Eva who shows her affections openly to the Allied Commander, Suki does not show it often and it is only revealed in the ending that Suki has developed an affection for the Imperial Commander.

Yuriko Omega

Voiced by Lisa Tamashiro. Omega, born Yuriko Matsui (松井 百合子), is a young girl in a sailor fuku and the Empire's Commando unit. The power of her mind can destroy any unit or building in a matter of seconds. She is a dehumanized, contemptuous, yet lonely personality appropriate to her backstory as the only survivor of whatever was done to create her. She has an uncredited actor who appear only in her Uprising campaign ending. Red Alert 3: Uprising presents Yuriko as having a much more humane side, her behavior on the battlefield having been shaped by her traumatic experiences and by inhibitors placed upon her powers.

Shinzo Nagama

Played by Bruce Asato Locke. A calculating shogunate who is referred to as the "Emperor's Shadow". His ambitions for the Empire are great and sees the Imperial Commander as his protégé as the Imperial campaign ends. He returns in Command & Conquer Red Alert 3 Uprising.

Kenji Tenzai

Played by Jack J. Yang. A shogunate leader. Young, arrogant and full of life, this man is a patriot and loyal servant of the Empire. He has great confidence and trust in the Emperor and his sacred will. He was the one that helped mastermind the Imperial Invasion of Russia. Kenji is at his best on the battlefield, and his knowledge of Imperial technology is unmatched. He returns in Command & Conquer Red Alert 3: Uprising.

Naomi Shirada

Played by Lydia Look. A shogunate with a cold soul and ruthless battle strategies to match it. Bearing strong hatred towards the foreign "barbarians", she will stop at nothing to bring glory and honor to the Empire.

Takara Sato

Played by Jamie Chung. Appears new in Red Alert 3: Uprising. A female master of the samurai code. She inspires much trust and confidence in her fanatically loyal forces.

Izumi

Played by Julia Ling.^[5] Appears new in Red Alert 3: Uprising. A psionicist who appears in the Yuriko campaign and proclaims herself Yuriko's sister. She communicates telepathically with Yuriko and guides and encourages her. She is killed by Yuriko.

Shinji Shimada

Played by Vic Chao. Appears new in Red Alert 3: Uprising. An experimental research scientist who appears in Yuriko campaign. A renowned, if controversial, scientist who made remarking breakthroughs in the field of psionics.

References[link]

Command & Conquer
The series logo in Command & Conquer 4
Developers	Westwood Studios (1995-2003) EA Los Angeles (2003-2010) BioWare Victory (2011- ) EA Phenomic (2011- )
Publishers	Electronic Arts
Platforms	Apple Macintosh, Nintendo 64, PlayStation, PC (MS-DOS, Windows), Sega Saturn, PlayStation Portable,[1] Mac OS X, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
First release	Command & Conquer 1995
Latest release	Command & Conquer: Tiberium Alliances 2012
Official website	www.commandandconquer.com

Command & Conquer (often abbreviated as C&C or CnC) is a video game franchise, mostly of the real-time strategy style as well as a first-person shooter game based on the former. The Command & Conquer series was initially developed by Westwood Studios between 1995 and 2003, with development being taken over by Electronic Arts with the liquidation of Westwood Studios in 2003.

The first installment of the series was released worldwide on August 31, 1995 and was named Command & Conquer with the subtitle of Tiberian Dawn. It was based on Westwood Studios' earlier strategy game Dune 2. The series was originally marketed to an Anglophone audience, though many of the games have been translated into other languages including Russian, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese. The series is primarily developed for personal computers running Microsoft Windows, although some titles have been ported to various video game consoles and the Apple Macintosh. The later games of the series starting with Tiberium Wars have also been developed in parallel for Xbox 360. Another spin-off game, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, was developed for PC/Mac, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.

In 1999, American game marketer and developer Electronic Arts purchased Westwood Studios. Westwood was eventually closed down in 2003 and absorbed into EA Los Angeles which has become the current development center for the ongoing Command and Conquer series. Some of the original Westwood developer team remained at EA Los Angeles, but most left to form Petroglyph Games.

As of July 2010, the Command & Conquer franchise consists of eleven games and eight expansion packs with sales of more than 30 million units worldwide and EA has confirmed that a new game is in the earliest stages of development.

Common gameplay elements[link]

The Command & Conquer games belong to the real-time strategy genre, with the exception of the first person shooter Command & Conquer: Renegade. A staple of the series is the parallel campaigns of various different factions to one central storyline. Games in the series also offered multiplayer game options, via LAN and modem connection. All games in the series have also offered online play.

All Command & Conquer real-time strategy games except Command & Conquer: Generals and its expansions have featured the "side bar" for navigation and control as opposed to many other similar games where the control bar is located on the bottom of the screen.

Command & Conquer gameplay typically requires the player to construct a base and acquire resources, in order to fund the ongoing production of various types of forces with which to assault and conquer the opponent's base. All available structures of the faction chosen by the player are constructed on-site at so-called "construction yard" - which typically begin as large-sized vehicles capable of deploying themselves into the aforementioned construction yards. When a construction yard has finished building a new structure, the player can select a spot near to a preexisting structure in order to place it, where the prefabricated building will then rapidly unfold in a distinctive manner.

In all games in the series except Command & Conquer: Generals and its expansion, Zero Hour, funds are acquired by specialized "harvester" units which bring their cargo (Tiberium for the Tiberian series of games or ore or the more valuable gems for the Red Alert series) to a "refinery" structure. This in turn will convert the raw material into usable resources, expressed as credits. The raw materials themselves, in games released before Red Alert 2, require storage space in the form of refineries and, in the case of excess, "storage silo" structures.

All factions have structures and units with similar functions at their disposal. However, they are adjusted to fit each faction's theme and have somewhat varying properties. Units can be classified into infantry, vehicles, and aircraft, each with their own subdivisions (note: in the Red Alert series there is also naval craft available). Unit effectiveness against opponents follows the rock-paper-scissors (intransitivity) principle found in most real-time strategy games.

Virtually every type of structure in the series acts as a tech tree node, and additional units, structures and faction-specific abilities will become available as new structures are built and placed. Access to advanced units and abilities may be temporarily blocked if the required structures are destroyed or if they are not being provided with adequate power by the supporting "power plant" structures.

Multiplayer[link]

Each Command & Conquer game has included the ability to play multiplayer games against other humans. Each box of Command & Conquer contains two CD copies of the game, immediately making multiplayer gaming possible with a single purchase of the game. Westwood Studios advertised this on the packaging with the slogan "A second copy, so you and your friend can destroy each other." This resulted in Command & Conquer becoming the first RTS game title to feature competitive online play,^[2] and this is considered the most pertinent outside factor in the success of Command & Conquer.^[3] All games in the series up to Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 also featured two CDs that could be used for this reason. However, later games did not.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 was noted for being the first RTS game to enable the campaigns to be played cooperatively online; others had only supported single player campaigns. However, it was only possible to connect to other computers through EA's servers and not with LAN play.

Games produced by Westwood use the proprietary Westwood Online system to facilitate multiplayer games over the Internet; Renegade also supported Gamespy. Games under EA's development continued to use Gamespy, but dropped support for Westwood Online in favor of using EA's own servers.

Games[link]

Tiberian series[link]

Command & Conquer: Tiberian Dawn, released on August 31, 1995, was the first game in the series and is widely considered as the title which originally defined and popularized the real-time strategy genre.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} Command & Conquer introduced the warring factions of the Global Defense Initiative (GDI) and the Brotherhood of Nod. Command & Conquer was well received and was widely praised by critics: "Command & Conquer is one of the finest, most brilliantly-designed computer games I have ever seen" said GameSpot reviewer Chris Hudak.^{[citation needed]} Command & Conquer has attained 94% as an aggregate score from Metacritic^[8] with the less well received Covert Operations expansion pack obtaining an aggregate score of 72% after its 1996 release.^[9]

Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun, released August 27, 1999, takes place approximately 30 years after the events in its predecessor. While the original Command & Conquer's plot was centered around an allegorical world politics setting, Tiberian Sun shifted this to a more sci-fi-like setting against the apocalyptic background of Tiberium beginning to assimilate vast portions of the Earth's ecosystems. In 1998, Westwood Studios, the developers of Tiberian Sun, was acquired by Electronic Arts. However, EA had no direct part in the development of the title. Compared to its predecessor, Tiberian Sun relies heavily on science fiction technologies and introduces a new isometric game engine featuring varying level terrain to give the impression of a true 3D environment.

The full motion video is also scripted differently; while the cutscenes of Command & Conquer and Red Alert were filmed from a first-person perspective, Tiberian Sun used traditional cinematic shots for its FMVs featuring well known Hollywood actors such as James Earl Jones of the original Star Wars trilogy and Michael Biehn of Terminator and Aliens.

Tiberian Sun was not as well received as Command & Conquer with an aggregate score of 80% and 73% for the title and its expansion pack, Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun – Firestorm, respectively. However the solid storyline, new concepts, more realistic graphics, atmospheric soundtrack and traditional gameplay were praised by critics, making up for its weaknesses.

Command & Conquer: Renegade, released February 26, 2002, takes place in the final days of the events of Command & Conquer and was the last Command & Conquer game to be created by Westwood Studios before their liquidation in 2003. Unlike any other games in the series, Renegade is a first person shooter^[10] giving players their only chance to see the Command & Conquer universe from a first person perspective. Although receiving average reviews, with an aggregate score of 75% on both Game Rankings and Metacritic, Renegade was praised for its online features: GameSpy awarded Renegade its 2002 "Wish it had been better" award, condemning the single player but saying that "C&C: Renegade's multiplayer was innovative and fun".^[11] Online play was praised for encouraging teamwork and coordinated assaults, unlike other contemporary first-person shooters.^[12]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, released March 29, 2007, was a return to the real-time strategy roots of the Command & Conquer series. As a direct sequel to Tiberian Sun, Tiberium Wars is set approximately 17 years after the events of Tiberian Sun and features the introduction of a third faction, the Scrin. The sequel was highly anticipated by fans and critics alike and attained an aggregate score of 85% from both Game Rankings and Metacritic. PC Gamer U.S. gave the game its "Editor's Choice" rating at 90%, stating that "One of the greatest RTS franchises of all time returns to glory", while PC Gamer UK gave it a more reserved rating of 82%, stating that it was "A welcome, but limited, return."

Shortly after the release of Tiberian Wars, the expansion pack Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath was announced. Released on March 24, 2008, Kane's Wrath limited the player to only the Brotherhood of Nod in the campaign mode, though the original factions and six new sub-factions are available for the new strategic mode and skirmish mode. Reception was mainly positive with the expansion attaining an aggregate score of 77%.

Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight, released on March 16, 2010, sees a big change in gameplay from the previous Command & Conquer by removing the resource gathering and base building elements in previous games as well as the removal of the third faction, the Scrin. It is a direct sequel to Kane's Wrath (however not directly following on from its storyline), and is set 10 years after the game's final events, a time when Tiberium has advanced to its next evolutionary stage, and is rapidly spreading across Earth making it soon to be uninhabitable. The only positive comments are aimed at the multiplayer mode. Main criticisms were the problematic control scheme, the departure from the traditional Command and Conquer basics, the fact that the game seemed more adapted for multiplayer rather than solo play, the short campaign with a negatively criticized campaign ending and the troublesome unlock system.

Red Alert series[link]

Command & Conquer: Red Alert, released on October 31, 1996, is set in an alternate universe 1950s and was originally made to be the prequel to Command & Conquer^[13] establishing Red Alert as the prologue of the entire Tiberium series of games. Since then Louis Castle has said that connecting Red Alert with the Tiberium series was a "failed experiment". Red Alert introduces the Allies and the Soviets as rival factions roughly analogous to NATO and the Warsaw Pact of the Cold War. The game was received well by critics and has the highest average score of any Command & Conquer game with an average of over 90% from Game Rankings and Metacritic, unlike the title's two expansion packs, Red Alert: Counterstrike and Red Alert: The Aftermath of which both received below average reviews for the series with 63% and 70% average scores respectively. Before being re-released as freeware on 31 August 2008 by Electronic Arts Command & Conquer: Red Alert had sold over three million copies.^[14]

With the release of Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 on October 23, 2000, and that game's lack of reference to the Tiberian series, the connection established in the first Red Alert game became unclear. Opinion on whether or not the time travel events of the series were forming a separate continuity or just another side adventure on the way to the Tiberian era was divided. However, it has been implied by the original creators of the series, now working at Petroglyph Games, that Red Alert 2 takes place in a parallel universe that came about as a result of time travel experiments taking place some time into the Tiberian series.^[15] Red Alert 2 was again received fairly positively with an aggregate score of 86% from Game Rankings.

An expansion pack to Red Alert 2, Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge was released on October 10, 2001 to mostly positive reviews. GameRankings reports an average score of 85% based on 31 reviews,^[16] making Yuri's Revenge the best received expansion pack in the entire Command & Conquer series.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, released on October 28, 2008, was a continuation of the story of Red Alert 2, however the title continued the series' more "light-hearted" take on Command & Conquer. Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 featured a Soviet invasion of North America with tanks, conscripts, gargantuan airships, and psychically dominated anti-ship giant squid; its expansion, Yuri's Revenge, escalated matters up to UFOs and communists on the Moon. Red Alert 3 escalated matters further introducing many new comical units and the very well received Empire of the Rising Sun faction essentially an anime inspired version of the Empire of Japan. Executive producer Chris Corry stated in a pre-release interview that Red Alert 3 will further differentiate the playable factions from each other and "[play] up the silliness in their faction design whenever possible."^[17] This approach was seen as popular with Red Alert 3 obtaining an aggregate score of 82% from Metacritic. A stand alone expansion to Red Alert 3, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 – Uprising was released on March 12, 2009 to fairly poor reviews for the series with an average score of 64% from Metacritic. Another downloadable standalone game for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 was released known as Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - Commander's Challenge which contained the Commander's Challenge mode of Uprising for consoles.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert (iOS) was released on October 16, 2009 for the iOS which was a continuation of the story of Red Alert 2 and takes place before Red Alert 3. It contained two factions the Allies and Soviet Union with a third faction, the Empire of the Rising Sun, to be added in its expansion pack. The game itself takes place between Red Alert 2 and Red Alert 3.

Generals series[link]

Command & Conquer: Generals, released on February 10, 2003, had a plotline which was completely unrelated to the other games of the Command & Conquer series. Generals is set in the near future and features the United States, China and the fictional terrorist organization, the Global Liberation Army. Generals uses an engine dubbed "SAGE" (or Strategy Action Game Engine) and is the first fully three-dimensional Command & Conquer real-time strategy game. After its release, Generals received mostly positive reviews. Based on 34 reviews, Metacritic gives it a score of 84/100^[18] which includes a score of 9.3/10 from IGN.^[19] Generals has also received the E3 2002 Game Critics Awards Best Strategy Game award.^[20] One review noted that Generals was the first ever Command & Conquer real-time strategy game that did not include full-motion video cutscenes to tell the story and that it departed from the unique interface and base-building mechanics that had characterized all of the previous C&C RTS titles.^[21]

An expansion for Generals, Command & Conquer: Generals – Zero Hour, was released on September 22, 2003 to further the Generals storyline. Unlike Generals, Zero Hour featured the return of full motion videos to the series. Zero Hour obtained much the same reception as Generals with an aggregate score of 85% and 84% from Game Rankings and Metacritic respectively.

Future[link]

After EA Los Angeles started up their new internal group Danger Close and switched its focus to the Medal of Honor series, EA launched a new studio named BioWare Victory to continue the Command & Conquer franchise.^[22] On December 10, 2011, Electronic Arts posted that the next game in the series would be Command & Conquer: Generals 2.^[23] On December 14, it was also announced that a new browser-based, free-to-play MMO Command & Conquer game is currently under development, under the name Command & Conquer: Tiberium Alliances.^[24] On December 15, Tiberium Alliances began a closed beta.^[25]

Development[link]

Westwood Studios (1995–2002)

• 1995 – Command & Conquer

• 1996 – Command & Conquer – The Covert Operations

• 1996 – Command & Conquer: Red Alert

• 1997 – Command & Conquer: Red Alert – Counterstrike
• 1997 – Command & Conquer: Red Alert – The Aftermath
• 1998 – Command & Conquer: Red Alert – Retaliation

• 1997 – Command & Conquer: Sole Survivor
• 1999 – Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun

• 2000 – Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun – Firestorm

• 2002 – Command & Conquer: Renegade

EA Pacific (a.k.a. Westwood Pacific) (2000–2003)

• 2000 – Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2

• 2001 – Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge

• 2003 – Command & Conquer: Generals

EA Los Angeles (2003—2010)

• 2003 – Command & Conquer: Generals – Zero Hour

• 2007 – Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars

• 2008 – Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath

• 2008 – Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3

• 2009 – Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 – Uprising

• 2010 – Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight

EA Phenomic (2011)

• 2012 – Command & Conquer: Tiberium Alliances

BioWare Victory (2011)

• 2013 – Command & Conquer: Generals 2

Music[link]

Much of the music for the series was composed and produced by Westwood Studios' former sound director and video game music composer Frank Klepacki for the early games, with composition duties being taken on by several others following the liquidation of Westwood Studios in 2003. Klepacki returned to the series in 2008 however to assist with the soundtrack for Red Alert 3.

The music has been received positively by critics, although praise was higher with earlier entries.

The original score for Command & Conquer: Red Alert was composed by Frank Klepacki and was voted the best video game soundtrack of 1996 by PC Gamer and Gameslice magazines.^[26] Among his most famous songs from the series is the theme of Red Alert, titled "Hell March", which accents the style of the game with adrenalized riffs of electric guitar, the sounds of marching feet, and synthesizers to a dramatic chant. Originally intended to be the theme for the Brotherhood of Nod faction in the Covert Operations expansion to the original 1995 Command & Conquer game,^[27] the track eventually ended up enlisting itself as a staple in the Red Alert series instead, and a second version of "Hell March" was specifically created for Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2.

After C&C came out we wasted no time kicking out Covert Ops. I wrote some more ambient style themes they asked me for, and then I began tinkering with this heavy metal song that I was trying to gear towards Nod for the next big C&C game. Brett Sperry came in my office and said "You got anything I can hear for the new C&C?" I played it for him. He said "What's the name of this one?" I said "Hell March." He said "That's the signature song for our next game."^[28]

—Frank Klepacki, Senior Composer

Reception and legacy[link]

The Command & Conquer series has been a commercial success with over 30 million Command & Conquer games sold as of 2009.^[56] Games in the series have nearly consistently scored highly on video game review aggregator websites Game Rankings and Metacritic, which collect data from numerous review websites. As noted in the table to the right, the highest rated game is Command & Conquer with a score of 94% from Metacritic. The highest rated game averaged over both sites is Command & Conquer: Red Alert with an average of just over 90%. As a series, Command & Conquer games have averaged approximately 80% when including expansion packs and approximately 84% without.

Command & Conquer's long history resulted in Guinness World Records awarding the series 6 world records in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008. These records include "Biggest Selling RTS Series", "Most Number of Platforms for an RTS", and "Longest Running Actor in Video Game Role" for Joe Kucan, who has played the part of Kane, the villainous mastermind of the series, for 15 years.

References[link]

Notes

External links[link]

• C&C franchise website
• Westwood FTP site
• Command and Conquer Strategy Wiki
• Command and Conquer Wiki, an external wiki
• Command & Conquer at the Open Directory Project