John "Soap" MacTavish

Sergeant MacTavish joined the SAS just hours after the Russian Civil War broke out, at the SAS base in Credenhill. Before joining the squad, Soap had to undergo a short training course under Gus, which consisted of practicing various shooting and close combat techniques. After that, he was sent to Captain Price, the commander of Bravo Squad, who was training with his unit for an upcoming landing operation. He ordered the sergeant to go through an obstacle course simulating the compartments of a ship, and after he showed good results, he announced some details of the upcoming operation to all the soldiers. Operation on the ship The next day, Bravo Team heads to the Bering Strait to intercept some radioactive cargo being transported by Russian ultranationalists on a transport ship. Despite a severe storm, the squad lands on the ship's deck and begins the assault, splitting into two groups - Soap is in the first group along with Captain Price. Having cleared the bridge, living quarters and deck, the group descends into the cargo holds, where they encounter strong resistance from the ultranationalists, but still destroy all opponents. They find the required cargo, but there was no time to transport it - the helicopter pilot reported approaching enemy aircraft. Price orders Soap to take an important document from the container and the group runs to the helicopter, but the aircraft still manage to bombard, and the ship begins to sink. During the evacuation, Soap barely manages to leave the ship - he clings to an already flying helicopter, almost falls down, but Price manages to help him.

Rescue of Nicholas Later, Bravo Squad was deployed to Western Russia, where the Civil War was going on, to rescue a British intelligence informant, Nikolai, who had been identified and captured by Russian ultranationalists. However, this required teaming up with Russian loyalists led by Sergeant Komarov, as only he knew the location of the British spy. The British had to pass through a village occupied by ultranationalists and destroy the enemy group before Komarov met them on the outskirts. He informed them that in order to save the spy, they needed to liberate a nearby village occupied by the enemy. Price agreed, and they got down to business. But even after the ultranationalist forces were destroyed, Komarov was clearly in no hurry to reveal Nikolai's location, and Price decided to "beat" the information out of him - he signals Gus, who grabs the sergeant and pretends to throw him off a cliff. Komarov, frightened, tells them that the prisoner is in one of the houses near the village. Now Price's squad begins to act separately from the Russians and heads for this house. To gain an advantage in the fight with the guards, the captain orders Gus to go to the electrical panel and turn off the electricity in the house. After this, Price and Soap begin the assault. Using night vision devices, they easily shot the militants in complete darkness and found Nikolai on the second floor. They proceed to the extraction point, where a helicopter was waiting for them.

They were not allowed to fly peacefully - the helicopter with the group was shot down in Western Russia. Private Paulsen and both pilots were killed. The group (Gus, Nikolai and Soap) contacted the base, which said that an AC-130 was flying towards them, but it needed time. Meanwhile, patrol units of the RUNRP were already arriving at the crash site. After the unit arrived in a local village, they rescued a farmer who was almost killed by ultranationalists. After that, while passing through the fields, they destroyed several units, cleared a barn, and shot down a helicopter. A few dozen meters away, they were helped by aviation, destroying the enemy reinforcements that had arrived. Then, with the help of the AC-130, they break through a village filled with enemies. They capture a couple of UAZs on the road and drive them to the rescue zone. Then, under the cover of the same AC-130, they break through the dump and fly away by helicopter. Soon they fly to Azerbaijan to find and kill al-Assad. Having cleared several houses, they found him. After a short interrogation, Captain Price killed him, learning that the main enemy was Imran Zakhaev. The next morning, the group was surrounded by ultranationalists, but managed to hold off superior forces until the helicopter arrived and evacuate. Next, they needed to find Imran Zakhaev's son, Victor. Soap almost caught him, but he shot himself in the head, and the SAS did not have time to find out anything. After that, Bravo and the American Marines decided to conduct a joint operation to neutralize a nuclear bomb that could kill a huge number of people in the United States. During the landing, Staff Sergeant Griggs is captured by the RUNRP fighters and Captain Price's group decides to free him. After freeing him, the group moves to the power line and Soap blows it up with C4. After that, Gus freezes the wire that was preventing the squad from going further, and Price's squad goes inside the base. Later, Price's group joins up with Smith's group (American snipers). They prepare to storm the base, but an intercontinental ballistic missile is launched from there...

After an intercontinental ballistic missile is launched at the US East Coast, the squad must capture the base and stop the missiles. After penetrating its territory, they engage in a fierce battle with ultranationalists supported by IFVs. Soap destroys the enemy armored vehicles with the help of RPGs and C4. Having destroyed the vehicles and fighters, the squad rushes to the silos. There they continue to fight and blow up the gates leading to the launch silos. In the parking lot, they are met with fierce resistance from two IFVs and ultranationalists. Having destroyed this equipment, the squad heads to the ventilation shafts. Reinforcements arrive in the form of a special squad of marines. Having cut the grates on the missile silos, the team descends on ropes into the underground part of the base. Soap, along with Price and Griggs, make their way through the ventilation and get into the bathhouse of the RUNRP base. Meanwhile, the second team, led by Gus, heads to the east wing, where they are also fighting. Center informs Price and his team that Zakhaev's missiles will soon reach the east coast of the United States. The squad enters the mess hall and kitchen, where they encounter heavy resistance from the insurgents. After killing about 40 ultranationalists, the team descends into the storage areas and launch silos. There, they encounter fierce resistance from the ultranationalist forces. Upon learning of this, RUNRP plans to launch the remaining few missiles to simultaneously kill the enemy at the base and cause more damage to the east coast, and also locks the door to the main control room so that no one can cancel the explosions. The fighters still manage to leave the silos a second before the rest of the missiles are launched. They find themselves in front of a massive metal door to one of the control room's sections. Price contacts Gus and tells him to open the door, which he does. In the first section, they destroy a small detachment, and also blow up a wall and penetrate into the main section through a hole. Soon, having destroyed all the ultranationalists, Soap enters the codes and the missiles self-destruct in mid-air.

After this, the Center reports that quite large enemy forces are being drawn to the base and recommends leaving the territory immediately. Soon the squad destroys the squad of arriving "guests" and takes the elevator down to the garage, where Gus's group is already fighting. Having destroyed all the enemies, they leave in UAZs. The squad is chased, during which Soap covers the car. Soon an enemy helicopter appears and starts firing at the road. Soap shoots at the helicopter several times, but does not hit, and only scares off the pilots a little. A little later, the helicopter begins to move away, but it only made a small detour so that it could calmly shoot at the bridge. By opening fire on the bridge, it destroyed the only escape route for the squad. After a "small" accident that happened during an emergency stop, the squad began to save themselves, moving away from the abyss. After the squad had consolidated their positions a bit, everyone realized that they had nowhere to go, and reinforcements were unlikely to appear. After making another circle, the Mi-24, the helicopter that had been pursuing the heroes all this time, fired missiles for the second time, hitting a fuel truck. An explosion occurred, which finally disabled the squad. Griggs protected Soap, who was seriously wounded, but was killed by an enemy bullet. Then Zakhaev and his two bodyguards killed Gus and two SAS men. If it weren't for Komarov and the loyalists, who arrived at the very last moment, Soap and Price would have met the same fate. Price threw his pistol to Soap, and he, without hesitation, killed Zakhaev and his assistants... After the loyalist detachment lands, Komarov runs up to Soap and assures him that the wound is not dangerous and that everything will be fine. The last thing he sees before losing consciousness is one of Komarov's soldiers giving Price a heart massage, but he does not come to. The loyalists then load Soap onto a stretcher and lift him into a government helicopter, which takes him to a hospital for medical rehabilitation. Soap loses consciousness.

In August 2016, MacTavish was appointed captain and commander of OTF-141. His new mission was to locate and recover the American module of the system. Soap and Roach stop for a rest between climbs up the cliff. After a MiG-29 flies over the cliffs directly above them, the soldiers continue on their way. They climb a steep slope using ice axes. Soap checks the ice for strength and only then allows the sergeant to follow him. When he is almost to the end, another MiG flies over them at a low altitude, and the air flow it raises almost knocks it down. Having reached the height, the saboteurs are faced with another obstacle - a cliff on the right, which is separated by an abyss. Soap jumped successfully and, having caught on, continued to climb further, but Sanderson was less lucky - the ice gave way and he barely survived, thanks to the captain, who was able to help him. Finally reaching the heights, Soap tells Roach to use the heartbeat sensor, which will help him to recognize the enemy from a distance. They head to the Russian airbase. Along the way, they meet two unsuspecting guards, whom they simultaneously kill. Then they see two more - and they suffer the same fate. Then the saboteurs split up - MacTavish goes to the cliff, from where he observes the situation with the help of a thermal imager, and Sanderson makes his way to the gas station and plants explosives there. Thanks to a strong snowstorm, Roach remains unnoticed and makes his way through the base past enemy patrols. Having reached the gas station, he plants the explosives and heads to the meeting place with Soap - behind one of the hangars. Having united, they enter the hangar where Soap kills another soldier with a knife, and, having made his way into the main room, they see a satellite, which, apparently, has already been examined by the Russians.

Roach goes to the upper room to get the automatic control module for the satellite, and while he was there, the hangar doors opened and several soldiers demanded that Soap surrender - he raised his hands, but radioed his partner to proceed with plan "B". Roach takes the detonator and blows up the gas station. The Russian soldiers turn around in surprise, but for the fighters it was enough - they grab their weapons and kill all the enemies. The alarm is raised at the base. The heroes flee from there, shooting back at numerous enemies and covering each other. Enemies appear on snowmobiles. Soap and Roach kill them and get on the snowmobiles. They drive to the evacuation point. They are pursued by helicopters and snowmobiles. Having overcome a huge chasm, the fighters finally break away from the pursuit and arrive at the evacuation helicopter CH-46 Sea Knight. The mission is over. Soap's next task was to find Rojas, who could lead OTF-141 to the new leader of the ultranationalists - Vladimir Makarov. The squad drives a car, pursuing a van with militiamen who are supposed to "meet" with Rojas' assistant. Suddenly the van stops, and militiamen get out of it, who are killed by Rojas' assistant, as well as the driver of the car where the squad is. The target tries to escape, with Soap ordering Roach to shoot him in the leg. Roach successfully carries out the order and catches the fugitive. Later, the terrorist is placed in a garage (for interrogation) under the care of Ghost. Soap orders Meath, Royce and Sanderson to catch Rojas. During the breakthrough through numerous militia units in the favelas, Meath and Royce are killed, and Soap orders Roach to go alone. After a long chase, Soap runs into Rojas and lands with him on the roof of the car. The target is captured. From him, he learns that the one person Makarov hates the most is in prison. But first, they need to escape to Brazil - they are surrounded by militias. Nikolai, who is also a member of the special forces, saves them.

"It looks like we're heading in the wrong direction, Sir. Should we return to the fight?" — in the briefing. Soap and his squad must get out of the slums. They move to a small square where the militia have set up an ambush. After prolonged fighting, the squad turns to the market, where there is an evacuation area. After fighting the militia, Nikolai's Pave Low attempts to land at LZ1. The LZ is too "hot" and Soap tells Nikolai to land at LZ2 near the rooftops of the slums. The team will jump from rooftop to rooftop of the building, but at one point Roach fails to reach the rooftop. He desperately clings to the rooftop and Soap tries to grab his hand. Unfortunately, he fails and Roach falls off the roof. Soap yells at Roach to get back to the rooftops so he can be rescued. Nikolai informs him that the helicopter is running low on fuel and that it will have to leave in 30 seconds. Soap and the squad have already reached the helicopter, and he helps Roach get to the helicopter by showing him the way. Roach eventually reaches Nikolai's Pave Low, jumps and grabs the ladder, and Soap tells Nikolai to fly to the submarine. The squad, holding onto the SDV, heads towards the oil platform, followed by another SDV launched by the Dallas submarine. The squads reach the platform and surface to the top. Roach, along with Robot, carefully disables two enemies located on the lowest level of the platform. Soap then leads the group to the next level, where they encounter a smoking enemy. Soap orders him to take him out, and Roach does so. Next, they blow up the doors behind which the hostages and several guards are located, and after clearing out the latter, the squad moves to the next level of the platform.

Moving forward a little, the team discovers another room with hostages. Repeating the cleanup, Soap learns that a group of enemies is approaching and orders Roach to plant C4 on the dead guards. After waiting for the enemies, Roach detonates the explosives, thereby revealing the squad's disguise. A shootout with the fighters who survived the explosion begins. Having destroyed them, the team moves up another deck, where they encounter a numerical cluster of enemy squads. Having finished with them, the path to the fourth deck opens. While the squad is moving there, Russian soldiers raise a smoke screen and open fire from behind cover on the OTG-141 fighters. Having defeated the enemy, the group proceeds to the last room with hostages, clearing it of four guards, Soap and Roach with the surviving fighters, head to the helicopters, which soon take them from the platform. "The Sixth Fleet begins the cleanup, it's time. A building with a long history. A long and sad one. It was once a castle. A real fortress, a stronghold, ready to withstand any blow. It has survived many harsh winters. Which cannot be said about its inhabitants. A monastery where monks live. For the last 100 years, they have been holding those who are inconvenient to the state, but who cannot be killed. Inside, there are many surviving victims of the last war... which we should have won... But it seems that in politics - as at the hippodrome: bet on the wrong horse - and you will end up here. Makarov wants #627. That's what we came for." — all of Soap's words in the briefing

Soap, Roach, and the rest of the squad fly a helicopter to the colony. After the helicopter arrives, Soap and Roach take out their sniper rifles and begin firing at the defenders of the fortress who are on the walls. After another shift of the helicopter to the side, the plane flies near the helicopter, destroying the tower. The pilots briefly lose control, but they quickly level out. Soap demands that Shepard force the troops to cease fire on the colony, but Shepard says that he cannot delay the attack for long. The helicopter lands in the central courtyard, a shootout immediately begins, after the enemy is destroyed, the squad heads to the "heart" of the colony. Ghost takes control, and Roach and Soap, in search of the prisoner, go to the next level, down. However, they did not find prisoner #627 there. Ghost reports that he was transferred to another wing of the building. Soap and Roach head there, but on the way the squad gets stuck in the armory, Soap orders to take a police shield for cover, after a while Ghost opens the door. Then the squad quickly follows into the tunnels. After passing several labyrinths, Roach blows up the wall blocking the shower, a shootout begins again, in the end the squad destroys the enemy and continues on to the cell of prisoner # 627. Roach blows up the wall and watches the scene as Price kills a guard with a chain. Considering Roach an enemy, Price hits him with the butt and takes aim with an AK-47, but seeing Soap he lowers the weapon. "I think this is yours, sir." — Soap, handing Price his gun. The fleet immediately began bombing, the squad rushed to run to the helicopter. But the passage was blocked, they had to look for another way, Soap stopped near a through hole in the ceiling and fired a signal flare, a minute later the cables were lowered, when all members of the squad caught on, the ascent began.

"Roach! Ghost! Do you hear me? Come on in! Can anyone hear me?" — In the pre-mission briefing After General Shepherd's betrayal, Makarov and Shepherd's men attack Soap and Price. Price decides to get out of there and gives their coordinates to Nikolai. Meanwhile, Soap walks through the battlefield in a ghillie suit in stealth mode, observing the battle between the opposing sides. Nikolai is forced to make a detour due to sandstorms in the Kandahar area. Exiting through the cockpit of a wrecked plane onto the field, Soap sees Nikolai's C-130 under a barrage of RPG-7s. He then makes his way further and eventually comes to a road, where Price spots him and tells him to get in the jeep. However, Nikolai interrupts the conversation and says, "Captain Price, I'm leaving in a minute! If you want to get out of here, you'd better hurry!" Soap gets in and they drive to the plane. During the pursuit, one of Shepard's soldiers kills the driver of the jeep they are riding in, Rook. Soap has to grab the steering wheel with his left hand and steer the car into the cargo hold of the plane himself. Soap and Captain Price are wanted by Interpol, and now they have no choice but to kill the traitor Shepard. They got to the "Hotel Bravo" point, which Makarov told them about, on Nikolai's helicopter. They managed to silently eliminate several patrols, but when they were already inside the point, they were noticed by a fairly large detachment. Price had to turn off the lights so that their exact location would not be known. After they destroy the patrol, they were reported to Shepard, who realized that it was Price and MacTavish and ordered to protect only essential objects. However, despite fierce resistance, they quickly captured the point. Shepard gives the order to blow up the base along with the people who were there. Soap cracks the code to the door leading to the surface at the last moment, allowing them to escape the base just before the explosion.

Price and Soap reach the redistribution warehouse, where they are blocked by two Shadow Company platoons. Shepard, fearing for his life, contacts the Excalibur missile battery and gives them coordinates for a strike. After the strike, Price and Soap break through enemy lines at the warehouse and reach the river, where Shepard is already running for a boat. The final The chase continues. Shepard and a couple of fighters try to escape on a boat. Price and Soap follow him on another. Soon, the "Shadow Campaign" soldiers appear on several boats and begin pursuing the heroes. Then enemy helicopters appear, and Soap, who is controlling the boat, has to maneuver so that they do not hit them. Shepard, realizing that he will not escape far on the boat, calls a "Pave Low" helicopter, which lands right in front of the waterfall and takes the general. However, Price opens fire on the helicopter's engine and it begins to fall, and the heroes in turn fall from the waterfall... Soap comes to on the beach. He gets up with difficulty, takes out a knife and walks towards the crashed helicopter. On the way, he meets two soldiers, but neither is able to resist. Shepard gets out of the helicopter and, seeing Soap, runs away from him, but stops exhausted near the exploded car. Coming closer, Soap attacks him, but Shepard intercepts the blow, hits MacTavish on the roof of the car and knocks him to the ground, plunging a knife into his chest. After a short period of time, he loads his pistol and aims it. Just before the shot, Price manages to pounce on Shepard and he misses. A struggle begins between them. Price knocks Shepard's gun out and he falls next to Soap. He reaches for the gun, while Price falls to the ground. Soap gets to the gun, but Shepard kicks him away and punches him in the face. Price fights Shepard again, but is defeated and falls to the ground, with Shepard punching him in the face.

Soap, gathering his strength, with incredible difficulty pulls the knife out of himself, points it at Shepard and throws it... The knife hits Shepard in the eye. Price lies unconscious, and Soap gradually switches off... Price comes to and bandages Soap's wound. At this time, a helicopter descends and Nikolai comes out. Together they drag Soap into the helicopter, and Nikolai says that they are now wanted and mentions a place where they can hide. Escape from Himachal Pradesh After being wounded by Shepard, Soap is taken to the Indian city of Himachal Pradesh. There he receives "quick" medical care, while the city is surrounded by Makarov's men and Nikolai's men, along with the wounded Soap, must escape from the city. After a successful retreat, Soap returns to duty. The Capture of Warabe Soap's new mission was to intercept a valuable shipment in the city of Sierra Leone. He, Price, and new squad member Yuri infiltrate a small militia village near the city. And they encounter stiff resistance from the enemy. In the end, they failed to intercept the shipment. Afterwards, they (Soap, Price and Yuri), with the support of Nikolai's helicopter and several squads, "broke into" the African city with the aim of capturing the "commander of the local thugs", who was supposed to lead them to Makarov's trail. The operation was completed. Makarov's trail was found: he was supposed to hold a meeting in Prague. An old friend, Komarov, who leads the Czech resistance, came to the aid of Soap, Yuri and Price. After many skirmishes with enemy soldiers, Yuri and Soap managed to penetrate the church, which was their sniper position. Makarov arrived exactly on schedule at the hotel, located right in front of the church. Price, who was on the roof of this very hotel, noisily entered there. At this time, right in front of Price, the doors of the elevator open, in which Komarov is sitting tied to a chair, the explosives on him detonate, but Price manages to escape.

The explosives in the church go off, but Yuri and Soap manage to jump out. They survive, although Soap himself is seriously wounded. They are forced to retreat, Price, who came to the rescue, drags Soap, and Yuri covers them... Finally reaching the shelter, they try to help Soap, but in vain. Due to the loss of a large amount of blood, he died on the table, before dying, he managed to tell Price that Makarov knows Yuri. Soap's name is inscribed on a monument in Hereford. MacTavish often recalls Price's first words upon seeing the new recruit: "What kind of stupid name do you have? Soap..." Perhaps those words were etched into his memory quite deeply. Has a personal diary. His personal diary states that he likes the football team "The Glasgow". The diary mentions Walcroft. He smoked the same cigars as Price and thought he had good taste. From Soap's diary, it can be learned that Soap would sometimes copy Captain Price's line, "Yeah. What kind of a stupid name is that, Soap?", but would use it against Ghost, saying, "Yeah. What kind of stupid name is that, Ghost?" From Soap's diary, we can learn that he asked himself the question: "Why does Ghost need a mask?" From Soap's diary, we can learn that he was treated in a Russian hospital, and after recovery was treated to Russian vodka and borscht. Also, while Soap was being treated, he constantly asked how his favorite football team, "The Glasgow", played in the next match. From Soap's diary, you can find out that he was the leader in points, which is why he was accepted into OTF-141. Also, Ghost was second in points, and the third was a fighter named Buck, but he died on one of the missions before joining OTF-141, and his place was replaced by Roach, who was ten points behind him. In his diary, Soap drew a picture of a nurse. He may have liked her.