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| “ | Who I am, or what I am? Who I am is complicated. What I am is a little easier. I'm a threat. I alter outcomes. | „ |
| ~ Nicolai to Little John. |
| “ | Who are you?! | „ |
| ~ Nicolai's last words. |
Nicolai Itchenko, also known as Teddy Rensen, is the main antagonist in the 2014 vigilante action-thriller film The Equalizer, the first installment of The Equalizer trilogy, based on the CBS television series of the same name.
He was portrayed by Marton Csokas, who also played Poggle the Lesser in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, Mr. Smith in Kangaroo Jack, Guy of Lusignan in Kingdom of Heaven, Jack Barts in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Ashley Kafka in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Baron Quinn in Into the Badlands.
Biography[]
Backstory[]
Nicolai Itchenko is enigmatic, with little of his past known. It is known that he was a former Russian secret police agent who received training in Spetsnaz, but went to work in the private sector after the Soviet Union was dissolved. He eventually became the enforcer of Vladimir Pushkin, a Russian oligarch with ties to the Russian Mafia.
However, there is a shade of backstory given as McCall makes a speech after Nicolai asked if he thought he knew him. McCall talks about an orphaned boy who lived a horrible life abused and struggling on the streets. Having never been loved, and had psychological trouble found early. At the age of 12, The boy was adopted by a good-hearted, wealthy businessman as his sixth child. Yet he still continued having behavioral problems, getting into fights in school and doing criminal acts.
Just when he was starting to improve due to finally feeling loved, his adoptive parents were suddenly killed one night, causing him to go insane, There was speculation that the boy might have murdered them when he became paranoid of the fact that his adopted father wouldn't love him anymore. There are speculations that the speech is McCall having done research on Itchenko and figuring out his start of darkness, but it is unknown, and further implied that it is false when Itchenko responds with "It's a famous story".
Going after McCall[]
After the East Coast hub of Pushkin's criminal network was destroyed by Robert McCall, Nicolai, going under the alias, Teddy Rensen, was sent to Boston to investigate. Aided by Boston PD detectives under Pushkin's payroll, he was brought to the site of the incident and given photos of the victims. After looking through the evidence, he demanded one of the detectives, Frank Masters, to bring him images from every security camera near the site, before ordering him to take him to his place of residence. Frank initially refused, stating that he was simply a guest in their town. Teddy however, threatened them, stating that they did not matter in the grand scheme of things and that he was not in Boston to say "please", he was there to give them orders.
Suspecting rival gangs may be responsible, Teddy had Frank bring him to the headquarters of all major criminal organizations in Boston. While visiting the Irish Mob, he was taunted by mob lieutenant "Little John" Looney. As a show of dominance, he beats John close to death, while Frank killed two of Looney's men.
Upon assuming the incident may have been tied to sex trade operations headed by Slavi, one of his associates, he pulled aside and questioned one of the prostitutes named Mandy about what happened in the incident. Mandy denied knowing anything that Slavi was involved with before his death. Teddy then asked her if she knew another one of Slavi's girls, Teri, to which Mandy deceitfully claimed she did not know her that well. Believing she was lying, Teddy came to her home the next day. Under pressure, Mandy finally admitted that when Teri was sent to the hospital, she was also visited by a black man. Out of anger, Teddy strangled Mandy to death.
Using images from security cameras, along with Mandy's vague description, Teddy discovered where McCall lived. That night, he came to his apartment posing as a police detective. The two talked, with Robert providing a false alibi in response to Teddy's questioning. Before leaving, he showed Robert a picture of Mandy's corpse, offering it as a warning. The next night, while Robert was reading at his all-night diner, Teddy sent a hitman to abduct him. Robert however, saw through the hitman's guise and killed him. As Robert left the diner, he took several pictures of Teddy and Frank, who were waiting in a car across the street. Teddy came out of his car and sent his men in multiple directions to pursue McCall. Yet McCall managed to knock out one of them before successfully escaping back to his apartment.
Teddy and Frank, alongside corrupt police detectives Morgan Henderson and Remar, arrived at McCall's apartment and broke in, only to find the place unoccupied. McCall, who was in the building across the street, began spying on them through hidden cameras in his apartment. Having left behind evidence of plane tickets and airsickness medication, Frank believed McCall had left for the airport. Yet Teddy quickly realized it was a ruse and left the apartment, suggesting to his men that they find McCall before he replaces them with people who can. Later, Teddy murdered Remar and Henderson, with their bodies being found in the back of their vehicle at the police precinct they worked at, possibly due to failing their task.
Several days later, McCall personally confronted Teddy at the restaurant of the incident, now referring to him by his real name, Nicolai. Having taken down Pushkin's money laundering warehouses and oil tankers, McCall asked Nicolai if he finally had enough, threatening to do more damage to Pushkin's operations if he continued to pursue him. Deciding to give him an opportunity to be spared, McCall gave Nicolai his number to call him when he made his decision.
In response to his threats, Nicolai assembled a new team and had his men invade McCall's workplace, Home Mart, and took all of his co-workers hostage. Nicolai then called McCall, threatening to kill his co-workers if he did not meet him. Nicolai continued to track his phone as McCall boarded a bus and began to head for Home Mart. As the bus got closer, Nicolai gave him another call and asked if he was willing to die for his friends, to which he replied "Are you?".
Death[]
Nicolai ordered his men to shoot the moment they saw him. One of them looked into the bus from a distance with a sniper rifle, but discovered it to be empty, despite Nicolai's tracker continuing to follow the bus. Realizing McCall tricked him, Nicolai ordered his men to kill one hostage. At that moment, the Home Mart's speakers began to play music, confusing the two guards watching the hostages. One guard ordered Ralphie, a security guard and McCall's close friend, to take him to the source of the music. The two reached the security office, and the guard turned the music off, only to be caught off guard and swiftly killed by McCall. With Ralphie's help, McCall killed the other guard and freed the hostages.
Nicolai and the rest of his men reentered the building to search for McCall. McCall cut the power, using the darkness and the store's products to kill the rest of the men. With Ralphie's help, he set off an explosion by putting cans of propane in the break room microwave, before turning the power back on. Thus, killing the last mercenary, and setting off the sprinklers. Ralphie, having been shot, hid in the building's receiving office. Nicolai approached the room, aiming his gun through the window. Yet before he could shoot, McCall returned with a nail gun in hand, and shot Nicolai several times, rendering him immobile. McCall then shot a nail through his neck, finally killing Nicolai.
Personality[]
Nicolai is a violent sociopath who takes pleasure in torturing and killing people, evidenced when he beat a man into a bloody pulp over "nothing" and calmly strangled a girl to death. As such, Nicolai considered himself to be free from emotions, having no remorse or regret, However, as Robert McCall stated using a story of an orphan who killed his adoptive parents as a allegory, Nicolai was a person who used violence to cover what he really is: "a scared little kid". Thanks to his military background, he is an expert in hand-to-hand combat and an excellent marksman.
Furthermore, Nicolai has a habit of playing with his prey before killing them - but that habit would often lead him to underestimate his opponents, especially Robert McCall, who was two steps ahead of him, both strategically and military. His overconfidence led to his boss, Vladimir Pushkin, to lose money, resources, influence and clients due to his mismanagement. And ultimately, it led to him losing his own life at the hands of McCall.
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 Villains
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