User blog:Pat141elite/PE Proposal:General Roman Barkov

It's been a week and a half following the release of the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare game and I'm excited to do this proposal. If you think Vladimir Makarov from the original Modern Warfare trilogy was messed up? How about this new game's main antagonist, General Roman Barkov

SPOILERS WARNING: For those who haven't played or seen the single player gameplay of the new Modern Warfare, read at your own discretion.

What is the Work?
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is the reboot of the original Modern Warfare trilogy that began with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Taking place in 2019, the story revolves on the Western world's battle against terrorism, particularly the terror network known as Al-Qatala, and the Urzikstani resistance fighting off Russian invaders with a help of a CIA agent.

Who is the villain?
General Roman Barkov is the main antagonist of the game. He is a Russian rogue military general who is using the country's forces to create a full-scale global war between Europe and the Middle East, believing it would manifest into world peace. In reality, however, it was mainly to protect Russia entirely. His plans lead him into conflict with the U.S. Military, C.I.A. and the Urzikstani rebels led by his archenemy Farah Karim. Known for his ruthless methods of investigation and destructive anarchism, Barkov would use any means to get what he wants.

What he has done?
The fact that Barkov is based on Walter E. Kurtz from Apocalypse Now, he has committed innumerable war crimes in comparison to those of Nazi Germany during World War II. Twenty years before the events of the game, he starts his own Holocaust in Urzikstan by killing, abducting, torturing, and imprisoning innocent Urzikstani civilians - including women and children and justifying the invasion to protect peace. Or rather, protect Russia entirely from terrorism. His occupation of Urzikstan has the opposite effect of what he claims of suppressing terrorism, that said leading to the formation of Al-Qatala, who declared their jihad against the West. Farah Karim even calls him out in being no better than the so-called terrorists he sought to purge.

Additionally, Barkov appears to have been keeping chemical weapons and is running a factory for said weapons in Georgia. These chemical weapons were even smuggled by Hadir Karim's forces and Al-Qatala, with the latter group using them to commit acts of terrorism in London.

Ultimately, Barkov's actions did more harm and tarnished Russia's reputation as implied by Nikolai. At the end of the game, he ends up pleading for his life when Farah brutally stabs him multiple times before she throws him down from a helicopter. As a result, the Russian government covered up his death by disowning him and labeling him as a war criminal. The moot point of the matter allowed Al-Qatala, under a new leadership, to invade the Russian city of Verdansk.

Mitigating Factors
God, where to begin? This guy is a potential hate sink, and a bigger one in Call of Duty history. Barkov is a paranoid, tyrannical anarchist whose patriotism taken to extremes. Considering the war crimes he has committed in the story, the Urzikstani resistance even noted his lack of empathy and oppressive methods. Barkov deconstructs the "Necessary Evil" trope as his justification of invading a Middle Eastern country to suppress the breeding ground of terrorists anything but justifiable. Even though he had an understandable goal in doing so, Barkov only cared about himself and his so-called loyalty to Russia. It's ironic that after Farah killed him, Russia made no hesitation of disowning him, going down as a war criminal, and Russia itself in the receiving end of an invasion by Al-Qatala.

Heinous Standards
The Modern Warfare reboot is even darker than the original trilogy; showing the realism of modern warfare (pun intended) and terrorism to a disturbing degree such as two children (namely Farah and Hadir Karim) trying to survive when their homeland is being invaded by Russians as well acts of terrorism committed by Al-Qatala. Even the good guys themselves are more willing to cross the line whatever it takes to complete their mission (e.g., one mission involves kidnapping The Butcher's wife and son and threatening their lives right in front of him to get information).

Barkov has racked a number of atrocities in the game's campaign all for the sake of protecting his country. It's much better to compare him to Adolf Hitler than Walter E. Kurtz. Compared to his predecessors from the original trilogy such as Imran Zakhaev and Vladimir Makarov, Barkov leans on both war crimes and acts of terrorism altogether. He genuinely believes he's doing the right thing, protecting Russia through his actions, even though they make him arguably just as bad, if not worse, as the 'terrorists' he fights. And it was proven correct in the end of the game, something that Farah can call him out for before throwing him out of his helicopter.

Final Verdict
And to sum it up, it's a 100% yes. Otherwise, you are welcome to object on this proposal.