| NOTE: This article is about the incarnation of Imran Zakhaev from the rebooted Call of Duty: Modern Warfare sub-series. For the original version of character, please click here. |
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| “ | In my days, violence was specific. We used stateless entities, some even branded as terrorists, to influence policy. Then I met Perseus, and found my own line. It is because of this, I give you caution, stay wise to your allies. As well as your enemies. | „ |
| ~ Imran's message to his son Victor. |
| “ | Thank you, Secretary Gorbachev. And thank you all for welcoming me with open arms. I can think of no greater tragedy than a home violated from the inside. The trust and love within a family is sacred. | „ |
| ~ Zakhaev to Mikhail Gorbachev. |
Imran Zakhaev (Russian: Имран Захаев) is the overarching antagonist of both the Spec Ops story in the 2019 video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and the Verdansk storyline in the 2020 video game Call of Duty: Warzone, and a minor antagonist in the 2020 video game Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.
He was a high-ranking Soviet Union official who tried to instigate a world war so that he can restore the Soviet Union. While he is confirmed to have died years before, his plans were assumed by his son Victor Zakhaev and is therefore the main reason for what he is doing.
He was voiced by Dan Donohue in English, who also played Warden Eternal in Halo 5: Guardians, Gerard Bieri in Horizon Forbidden West, and Hermann Freisinger in Call of Duty: Vanguard, and Ondrej Habinak in Russian.
Biography[]
| “ | I almost buried him in Pripyat with MacMillan. | „ |
| ~ Price recalling the time he almost killed Imran. |
While not much is known about Imran's past, it is known that he had three children and his middle son was Victor, whom he had high expectations for. As a high-ranking official in the Interior Ministry during the era of the Soviet Union, Imran had access to tunnels, bunker systems, underground barracks, shelters and silos across the Eastern Bloc. Valuing education, Imran insisted that Victor should be fluent in Italian, German, English and French, and enrolled him into a prestigious preparatory school in Verdansk, Kastovia. However, after Victor was expelled for breaking a teacher's cane to evade corporal punishment, Imran sent him to a Suvo Military School as punishment, something that Victor actually seemed to enjoy since his peers were the more austere families of Soviet military personnel.
The introduction of the new economic cultural freedoms in the 80s crippled the U.S.S.R. as a major world power and forced the regime to return the countries to their separate nations, much to Imran's dismay. Knowing that this would cause civil wars across the former Soviet states due to a major power vacuum, Imran joined the Ultranationalists with Victor under his wing to try and instigate a world war so he could restore the Soviet Union, but ultimately failed. In addition, Zakhaev met a Soviet spy known as Perseus, who wanted to recruit him to his "Perseus" spy network. However, Zakhaev didn't support Perseus's methods, and prevented him from gaining control of Verdansk.
In December 1994, Imran underwent emergency heart bypass surgery and remained in hospital for months. According to Victor, Imran's troubles were the manifestations of a broken heart after seeing the Soviet Union fell. At some point, Zakhaev was almost killed by John Price and MacMillan, two S.A.S. operatives, during a mission in Pripyat.
Eventually, Imran finally passed away in 2011 and left Victor even more disenchanted with modern Russia and fled the country with his wife Yulia. It is currently unknown what became of his other two children.
Legacy[]
| “ | His father was a Soviet Era hero who wanted a world war he never got, so Victor found a willing partner to fulfill his father's wishes. | „ |
| ~ Captain Price talking about Victor Zakhaev's father. |
However, while Imran never lived to fulfill his goals, Victor vowed to finish his mission and restore the Soviet Union in his honor. To that end, he founded Zakhaev Arms and spent the next eight years making profit from trafficking weapons to former Soviet countries, while also altering surveillance of him to look like his father to fool anyone looking for him and made them believe he was still alive. He eventually started working with Khaled Al-Asad and Al-Qatala to take control of Verdansk so they could gain access to its bunkers that contained Soviet resources and weapons, including a nuclear weapon. Eventually, the Allegiance, Coalition forces and their allies learned that Imran was dead and that Victor was in fact the one they were looking for. Victor was later killed by Captain John Price before he could successfully launch the ICBM and complete Imran's mission.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War[]
In 1981, Zakhaev was welcomed into the KGB by Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, and appeared at the meeting with Lev Kravchenko and Dimitri Belikov. Informed that there was a mole within the KGB, Zakhaev insisted to Gobachev that he only give General Anton Charkov access to the bunker keys. After the meeting, Zakhaev had an appointment with Commander Sobol, and encountered two Soviet officers who were actually CIA operatives Russell Adler and "Bell". While on the elevator, Zakhaev asks them when they had arrived, and which commander they reported to. The player can either say Commander Sobol, Utkind/Petrov, or knock out Zakhaev with the assistance of Adler.
If the player says Utkind/Petrov, Zakhaev will recognize that they are lying and pulls a gun on the two, but is knocked out when "Bell" pushes him towards Adler. If the player says Sobol, Zakhaev will state that he has an appointment with him, and will send them his regards as he leaves the elevator. Despite each option, Zakhaev will fail to inform/realize that they were spies and that they came to collect information off of the KGB mainframe.
Quotes[]
| “ | Why I have an appointment with him now! I'll give him your regards. | „ |
| ~ Zakhaev if the player chose Commander Sobol (player-determined). |
| “ | Do not take me for a fool! | „ |
| ~ Zakhaev if the player chose Utkind/Petrov (player-determined). |
| “ | What are you doing? | „ |
| ~ Zakhaev if "Bell" puts him in a chokehold (player-determined). |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Because of surveillance photos of Imran looking like Mr. Z, many assumed that Imran Zakhaev was Al-Asad's partner during the invasion of Verdansk and therefore one of the two main villains of both the Spec Ops and Warzone stories. However, it was later revealed that Imran has been dead for nearly a decade and that his son Victor was in fact Mr. Z, Al-Asad's ally and the other main villain since the photos turned out to be altered to make him look like his father.
- The year he died (2011) was also the year that his original counterpart was killed in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
- Also, like his original counterpart, Imran was almost killed in Pripyat by Price and MacMillan but it's unknown if he had also lost his arm.
- During his appearance in Black Ops Cold War, which took place in 1981, his beard is black, despite being only one year before his 1982 photo, where his beard has greyed.
- It has not been officially confirmed by the developers that they are the same character, although the community has speculated that they are.
External links[]
- Imran Zakhaev on the Call of Duty Wiki.
