Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Difference between revisions

** And Nikolai drops a [https://web.archive.org/web/20120415014445/http://callofduty.wikia.com/wiki/The_Enemy_of_My_Enemy/Trivia rather foul-mouthed tirade] at Makarov's and {{spoiler|Shepherd's}} goons in "The Enemy of My Enemy"... in Russian, of course.

** In ''Modern Warfare'''s '"The Coup'", when Al-Fulani is driven through the streets of the city to his execution. [[Controllable Helplessness|And you're watching through his eyes]].

* [[Blind Idiot Translation]]: The Japanese version has multiple translation issues, especially the eponymous line in "No Russian". Instead of being translated to the Japanese equivalent of "Do not speak any Russian,", it ended up as "Kill the Russians".

** In ''Modern Warfare 2'', {{spoiler|the '"No Russian'" level, even though you are heavily armed the game prevents you from trying to thwart the terrorist attack by giving you a game over and telling you that you must go along with the massacre should you try and shoot the terrorists}}.

*** {{spoiler|Price}}'s lines during this level also reference many of Captain MacMillan's in "All Ghillied Up.". Specifically "Don't do anything stu-pid", "gooooodnight". and "this one's mine".

** ''Modern Warfare 2''{{'}}s final level is one huge homage to ''Call of Duty 4''{{'}}s final level. Both have "game" in the title ("[[Game Over]]" and "Endgame"), both involve a vehicular chase (in CoD4''Call of Duty 4'', the player is being chased in a truck; in ''Modern Warfare 2'', the player is doing the chasing in a boat); both involve said vehicle being destroyed and the player ({{spoiler|Soap}} in both levels) being wounded, and then even more badly injured; and both involve {{spoiler|Soap}} desperately using an emergency weapon (pistol in ''Call of Duty 4'', knife in ''Modern Warfare 2'') to kill the [[Big Bad]] before he kills {{spoiler|Price}}.

** ''Modern Warfare 2''{{'}}s Ghost is a callback to Gaz from ''Modern Warfare 1''. He's voiced by the same actor, you never see his face behind his skull and his name is "Ghost". As in dead.

** After {{spoiler|Makarov orders the nuclear bombing of Al-Asad's capital in a flashback}}, Yuri comments "This wasn't war, this was madness." which is a virtual callback to Chernov's line "This is not war. This is murder!" in ''World at War''.

** Price's conversation with Baseplate/MacMillan in ''Modern Warfare 3'' is a callback all the way to the first mission (chronologically) in the entire ''Modern Warfare'' franchise, '"All Ghillied Up"/"One Shot, One Kill'":

** ''Modern Warfare 2''{{'}}s multi-player map "Wasteland" has an identical layout to that of ''Call of Duty 2''{{'}}s "Brecourt" map, combined with the general appearance and atmosphere of ''Modern Warfare 1''{{'}}s Chernobyl missions.

* [[Climb, Slip, Hang, Climb]]: The beginning of "Cliffhanger" from ''Modern Warfare 2''.

** ''Modern Warfare'' was a [[Darker and Edgier]] version of the rest of the ''[[Call of Duty]]'', while ''World at War'' went down the [[Bloodier and Gorier]] route for World War II with the Pacific Campaign, as well as a very graphic take on the Eastern Front. ''Modern Warfare 2'' took it further, what with {{spoiler|[[Washington DCD.C.]] becoming a war zone, with the White House taken over}} and the infamous playable "terrorist" level. The [[Moral Guardians]] were not amused.

** The levels ''"[[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Death From Above]]''" and most of ''"Shock and Awe''" in ''Modern Warfare 1'', as well as the gameplay moments where you can call in airstrikes and/or artillery barrages.

** The ''"Iron Lady''" mission in ''Modern Warfare 3''.

* [[Death Is Dramatic]]: Averted. None of the playable characters that die in the series ever get a meaningful last moment with their friends or a heartfelt speech. {{spoiler|Sgt. Jackson}} gets blown up by a nuke and is left all alone in a ruined city to die in agony making all of his accomplishments meaningless. {{spoiler|Roach}} is shot in the gut by his commanding officer {{spoiler|Shepherd}} and burned to death. {{spoiler|Soap}} probably the closet thing to a main protagonist in the whole series bleeds out after an explosion and doesn't get to say any meaningful last words as his friends desperately try and fail to keep him alive. Played somewhat straight in the level "Down Thethe Rabbit Hole", where {{spoiler|Sandman}} and his team all sacrifice themselves to allow Price and Yuri to escape with the Russian President.

* [[Department of Redundancy Department]]: The South American arms dealer that Task Force 141 chases in Rio is known to the men as "Alex the Red". This is said by Shepherd after he dramatically gives the man's real name as "Alejandro Rojas,", which, in English, means... "Alex Red". Doubles as an [[Incredibly Lame Pun]].

* [[Fluffy the Terrible]]: Taskforce-141, which includes some of the best of the best of both US and British Special Forces, gives its members codenames which include "Taco" and "Worm". Special mention goes to our hero "Soap" MacTavish. This tends to actually be the case with most military members. A callsign is bestowed upon you, not picked by you, and it is not usually because of your proudest moment. [[Nightmare Fuel|Soap]]. Do you think that "Honey Badger" is a bad name? [https://web.archive.org/web/20131126224400/http://www.badassoftheweek.com/honeybadger.html Think again].

** More subtly, in "Game Over!", black birds (presumably ravens) can be seen when the helicopter first comes into view. {{spoiler|That helicopter then blows up the bridge you're going over for extract, sealing Gaz and Griggs's fates}}.

** A mixed bag in the case of Task Force 141 --: certain men are almost guaranteed to die, although it is possible to prevent this, while other operators are outright Redshirts; on the other hand, during "Loose Ends" both Ozone and Scarecrow have this ''until'' you plant the DSM. {{spoiler|Makarov's partners during "No Russian"}} also are almost guaranteed to die, and if you somehow manage to prevent this will actually stop and disappear at the end of the level.

** You [[Best Level Ever|know]] the part in CoD4''Call of Duty 4''. Also, ''Modern Warfare 2'' seems to be in love with this trope. Gatling guns as sentry guns, Gatling guns on helicopters, Gatling guns on planes, player-used Gatling guns, Gatling guns on SUVs, Gatling guns on Humvees, about the only thing a Gatling gun isn't attached to is [[Tank Goodness|tanks]] or being as a [[BFGBig Freaking Gun]]. This is a bit of [[Truth in Television|truth in video games]], as Humvees, helicopters, planes, and even SUVs can be equipped with Gatling guns. There are in fact real-life SUVs with Gatling gun roof-turrets exactly like the ones that {{spoiler|Shadow Company}} use.

* [[The Gump]]: In ''Modern Warfare 3'', it turns out that Yuri {{spoiler|1=was there when Zakhaev's arm was shot off, watched the nuke go off in MW1''Modern Warfare 1'', and was supposed to join Makarov in the "No Russian" airport massacre, but Makarov gut-shot him in the underground parking lot after Yuri had a change of heart. Yuri even managed to crawl up to the main terminal and was steps behind Makarov, Private Allen et al., trying to stop them before passing out from his injuries}}.

** In ''"Down Thethe Rabbit Hole''", Grinch dual wields Desert Eagles... ''at two different targets''.

** "Loose Ends" has you holding a mountain estate while a portable hard drive with the worst transfer speeds ''ever'' takes anywhere from twenty-eight hours to four minutes to perform a file dump. It actually only takes around five minutes, but the file transfer status shown on the HUD makes you wonder why the manufacturer's building hardware for TF141. It doesn't help that fellow TF141 operator Scarecrow, the main NPC guard for the portable hard drive, simply stands next to it in a ''de facto'' hallway and fires towards the front door despite his complete lack of cover or even concealment, while the layout of the ground floor allows two or three routes for enemy troops to reach the DSM. Fortunately, two of those routes merge directly in front of his fire arc, and the enemy helicopter-inserted troops ''can'' be interdicted, (i.e. shooting them down once they fast rope down or even shooting down the helicopter in midair).

** The end parts of ''"Iron Lady''" and ''"Down the Rabbit Hole''" has you holding out for a couple of minutes protecting a VIP while evac arrives.

* [[Identical Grandson]]: ''Modern Warfare'''s Captain Price looks just like (right down to the [[Porn Stache|righteous mustache]]) Captain Price in ''Call of Duty 2'' who looked like Captain Price in ''Call of Duty''. [[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|The Price Mustache has been passed down the Price line for generations]]! Also, Sgt. Reznov in ''World at War'' is an ancestor of Zakhaev from ''Modern Warfare''. As this seems to be a theme of the series, identical names could carry the same weight even if one of the characters in question is never shown by his face: Dimitri Petrenko is both the Red Army player-character in ''World at War'' and the Loyalist medic trying to revive {{spoiler|Price}} at the end of ''Modern Warfare''. Also, Foley, who was present in the first game, makes a reappearance in ''Modern Warfare 2''. However, the first Foley was white and a captain while the ''Modern Warfare 2'' version is black and a sergeant. His go-to guy, Ramirez, was in ''United Offensive'' as a sergeant.

** Subverted;: sometimes in campaign, if shot once in the leg, enemies will crawl around or draw their guns when downed. With the Last Stand perk, someone taking will receive a chance for payback by drawing their sidearm while downed. With the Final Stand deathstreak, your character will draw ''their primary weapon'', and if they manage to survive long enough, will be able to pick themselves up and return to the fight.

** Averted. The level "The Coup" in CoD4''Call of Duty 4'' shows civilians fleeing from and subsequently being gunned down by Al-Asad's soldiers.

** Sandman beats up Volk at the end of ''"Bag and Drag''", and he is presumably interrogated after ''"Iron Lady''". They following exchange happens in the next mission.

* [[Melee a Trois]]: The airplane graveyard level features a 3three-way shootout between the player, Makarov's men, and Shadow Company. Though Makarov's men and Shadow Company are rather eager to ignore each other and focus on the player instead.

* [[Misblamed]]: "No Russian" in ''Modern Warfare 2''. The general consensus, before release, is puzzlement at an already wildly popular, M-rated game series going the [[Rated "M" for Money]] route, some even demanding that Infinity Ward should remove it from the game. The game allows the player to choose to skip it right at the outset or during the mission, which does not count towards any Achievements/Trophies or towards the completion percentage, and no one would even [[Moral Guardians|think about making that demand of a book or a movie]]. The idea that they're doing it for the sake of the narrative barely seemed to cross ''anyone's'' mind. To quote [http://www.destructoid.com/why-i-will-support-modern-warfare-2-153852.phtml Destructoid];:

** {{spoiler|Look no further to Washington D.C.}}.

** Part of ''Modern Warfare 3'' takes place in Paris. What more do you have to say? The New York Stock Exchange also gets quite a beating; but the Statue of Liberty and the Freedom Tower seem to be intact. The Hamburg City Hall gets hit by a few missiles, but remains standing with only superfacial damage. The church in Prague seems to be a stand in for the Saint Nicholas Church, but is not an actual recreation. But it also gets blown up {{spoiler|with you inside.}}. The Diamond Mine in Siberia also exist in [[Real Life]], but it's not really a monument. The Louvre in Paris was also hit by chemical attacks, but it is unclear what type of structural damage it suffers.

* [[Moral Dissonance]]: Subverted in ''Modern Warfare 2''. {{spoiler|It initially looks like Price fired the nuke at Washington to wipe out the invading Russians, but instead he detonates it in the air, setting off an EMP which turns the tide for the Americans... albeit at the cost of their own electronics too.}}. {{spoiler|[[Double Subversion|It also destroys the ISS and everybody on it.]]}}.

* [[More Dakka]]: They really didn't tone down the dakka. In many ways there's even MORE in ''MW2Modern Warfare 2''.

* [[Multinational Team]]: Task Force 141, as well as the "Joint Operation" team from near the end of COD4''Call of Duty 4''. The COD4''Call of Duty 4'' team is made up of SAS and USMC Force Recon, TF141 is made up of US, British, Australian and Canadian special forces, and modeled on real-life special operations task forces operating in Iraq, Afghanistan and probably elsewhere.

** Of course {{spoiler|1=TF141 ends up being [[Red Shirts]] and cannon-fodder for Shepherd's plans, with only two Brits left and everyone else either dead or completely unaware of what Shepherd did.}}.

** In the intro to the final mission in ''MW2Modern Warfare 2'', it becomes clear that Price is carrying three weapons, one of which is his pistol. This is a rather crafty joke about his origins; he's such an old hand, he still has his ''CoD1Call of Duty 1'' dedicated pistol slot, which contains the same incorrect-for-his-country M1911!

** In the first Russian mission of the original "''[[Call of Duty]]"'', you (as Alexei) team up with a sniper named Borodin to take out German MG nests. In the Red Square mission right after, you team up with a Sgt. Makarov to flank another MG nest.

* [[Nerf]]: The Model 1887 shotgun. All shotguns in the online mode lose reach and accuracy when used in akimbo. [[Game Breaker|The Model 1887 shotgun lacked this reduction]]. It was fixed, though, in subsequent patches, turning it from a [[Game Breaker]] to a regular gun, and then to a [[Joke Item|Joke Gun]].

* [[Never Bring a Knife to A Fist Fight]]: The start of the {{spoiler|General Shepherd}} fight, where he defeats Soap despite the latter having a knife.

* [[Never Speak Ill of the Dead]]: Invoked by the Ultranationalists in ''Modern Warfare 2'' to diabolical effect;: after Zakhaev is killed, they portray him as a hero and martyr gunned down by evil Americans, and gain control of Russia as a result.

** Soap starts off like this in ''Modern Warfare'', as he's whisked off to his first mission hours after reporting to Captain Price on his first day in the Regiment. Ironic to be treated so, considering that he'd had gone through and passed [[wikipedia:United Kingdom Special Forces Selection|Selection]]. The reason Price seems to have no respect for Soap at the beginning of the game is because he doesn't seem to believe that [[Painting the Fourth Wall|a guy like]] [[Player Character|Soap]] ''could'' pass Selection. Suffice to say, Soap [[Asskicking Equals Authority|proves his worth.]].

** Ironically, there's a new minor character in MW2''Modern Warfare 2'' called "Meat" who accompanies you and Royce in the Brazilian ''favela''. {{spoiler|He dies first}}.

* [[Next Sunday A.D.]]: Price's attempted assassination of Zakhaev took place in 1996. ''Modern Warfare'' and ''Modern Warfare 2'' take place in 2011 and 2016, respectively. ''Modern Warfare 3'' is also mostly late 2016, with the final level taking place after New Year's Day.

** In ''Modern Warfare 2'', the current [[Big Bad]]'s reign of terror is attributed to the fact that, without the previous game's [[Big Bad]], no one is around to "keep him in check.". As it turns out, {{spoiler|"No Russian" was a [[Batman Gambit]];: Makarov knew all along the player was a spy, and kills him at the end so the Russians will find the body and blame it on America, touching off a war.}}.

** Veteran difficulty. Crazy accurate baddies, your aim is thrown off moreso and the screen bloodied more quickly when you get hit, no blindfiring, painfully short time limits... Ouch. It's so hard, it could be called ''[[I Wanna Be the Guy|I Wanna Be The Soldier]]''. Technically, all the combat in the ''Modern Warfare'' games are short-to-medium range. Assault rifles can generally hit a small window from ''a thousand feet away''. Veteran isn't just hard. It's realistic.

** The ''Call of Duty'' franchise's Veteran mode is truly [[Nintendo Hard]]: The Next Generation. The ferris wheel stage in COD4''Call of Duty 4'' was quite literally the only case where the only chance of survival came from acting like a devil or a moron, as in abandoning the sniper and rushing enemies with an AK-47. The only solution which worked was hiding in a one-person booth the entire time while grenades came by the DOZENS every second.

** ''Modern Warfare 2'' is mostly better about it. The more 'special' sequences in the game where you must go though it in a particularly different manner than the rest of the game tended to be still enraging, though. You will probably still die at least once every level, so get used to that fact.

** {{spoiler|Shepherd}} beating the ''hell'' out of both {{spoiler|Price and Soap}} in the climax of ''Modern Warfare 2'', ''by himself.''.

** At the end of ''Modern Warfare 3'', {{spoiler|Price delivers one to Makarov. It's immensely satisfying}}.

** Played straight in the missions '"Wolverines!'" and '"Exodus'" taking place in "Northeastern Virginia". Averted once you get to {{spoiler|Washington DCD.C}}.

** The Oasis Hotel, "Arabian Pennisula" at the end of MW3''Modern Warfare 3'', is obviously modeled on the Burj Al Arab Hotel in Dubai.

* [[No Good Deed Goes Unpunished]]: theThe American protagonist {{spoiler|dies because, after saving a downed chopper pilot, he isn't far enough away when the nuke blows}}.

** Every friendly soldier has a name. Members of the [[Redshirt Army]] have randomly-selected ones. [[Redshirt Army|Don't bother learning them.]].

** Also, the trailer for ''Modern Warfare 2'' shows {{spoiler|1=Captain MacTavish}} being gunned down if the player fails to rescue him.

'''Gaz:''' Bloody right you do. }}

** [[Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies|Deconstructed hard]] for the Americans in ''"Shock and Awe''" from the first game.

** Played straight in "Blackout" (and paid back with interest throughout the rest of the series) and "One Shot, One Kill" (even though [[Memetic Badass|MacMillan]] would have been fine no matter what you did).

** Averted in "Heat". [[Red Shirt|Mac]] is wounded and left behind (though some [[Dummied Out|leftover dialogue files]] suggest the player would have at least had the option of rescuing him), and Gaz also tries to motivate the player to fall back by suggesting he'll be left behind.

** Subverted in "Blood Brothers". {{spoiler|Soap is injured and you spend the entire mission getting him to safety, but as soon as you do he dies anyway.}}.

* [[Now You Tell Me]]: Subtly [[Played for Drama]] at the end of "Loose Ends". {{spoiler|Price tells you over radio not to trust Shepherd. Shepherd, meanwhile, is setting you on fire.}}.

** In multiplayer, your announcer is usually calm and collected;, but when the opposition rolls out a higher-end Killstreak, he loses it, though the Task Force 141 announcer is rather calm when an enemy AC-130 is called in.

*** A USMC Force Recon grunt who {{spoiler|gets blown up by a nuclear warhead}}. Then you {{spoiler|see through his eyes as he desperately crawls through the nuclear wasteland.}}.

*** An SAS operative {{spoiler|watching helplessly as his comrades are gunned down, then personally kills the [[Big Bad]]}}.

** A minor example in ''Modern Warfare 2'': when {{spoiler|Price opens the doors on the nuclear sub}} all the Ultranationalists will get the HELL out of there. This is even funnier when one of the Russians is most of the way up the ramp, and then immediately turns back around.

* [[One-Man Army]]: Averted... [[Artificial Stupidity|in theory.]].

* [[Out-Gambitted]]: Zig-zagged between Shepherd and Makarov. {{spoiler|Shepherd outgambits Makarov, then Makarov outgambits Shepherd, then it turns out that was part of Shepherd's plan, then Price throws a spanner in the works, then Shepherd uses that to outgambit Makarov further, then Price and Soap go on a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] against Shepherd that may have been part of Makarov's plan. Then Makarov gets killed later.}}.

* [[Painting the Fourth Wall]]: In ''Modern Warfare 2'', {{spoiler|the between-mission briefing is at one point replaced with an "EMERGENCY BROADCAST" for several minutes.}}. In fact, ''every'' cutscene qualifies as this trope, they're presented as an information system displaying relevant details about the mission in an [[Rule of Cool|unrealistically efficient manner]] while the characters all talk over it off-screen, as if they're standing next to the player watching it. The {{spoiler|emergency broadcast}} cutscene just kicks it up a notch. These type of cutscenes were also used by Treyarch in their [[Quantum of Solace]] game.

* [[Playing Both Sides]]: {{spoiler|1=General Shepherd and Makarov in ''MW2Modern Warfare 2''.}}.

** In the single-player campaign, when critically wounded and grounded, some enemies will keep shooting at you with their sidearms. (Thisthis only applies if they only take a single bullet to the leg that drops them fully and manage to crawl away long enough to turn over and draw the sidearm, as opposed to simply staggering them; a subsequent hit would kill them.). In multiplayer, the "Last Stand" and "Final Stand" perks allows the player to do so, and in Special Ops the player(s) can do this... albeit it's not exactly "possum" against the AI.

** Played with near the end of "Endgame,", when {{spoiler|1=Soap starts staggering towards the Pave Low crash site;: as you reach it, a lone Shadow Company trooper lays on his back next to the wreckage, and as you get closer you realize that he's pointing his G18 machine pistol at you --... but after a few squeezes of the trigger just result in empty clicks, he tilts the weapon and takes an almost surprised or exhausted look at it before collapsing against dirt and rock behind him and going limp}}. Other than seeing his comrades' pitiful fate at the end of "Just Like Old Times,", possibly the only truly sad moment for {{spoiler|Shadow Company}}.

* [[Plot Armor]]: Any NPC who isn't scripted to die wears [[Plot Armor]].

** Also, Corporal Dunn during the MW2''Modern Warfare 2'' level "Second Sun" (well, a Precision ''S'' Strike, really); considering that he and his squadmates (including Ramirez/you) {{spoiler|were running for their lives as, thanks to an EMP, it was literally raining aircraft all around them}}.

** In ''"The Sins of the Father''", if Soap has 100% accuracy up to that point, Griggs will say "Oh Fuck" when Victor Zakhaev rams the guard tower. Otherwise, he says "Oh shit".

* [[The President's Daughter]]: Appears in ''Modern Warfare 3''. {{spoiler|She's the daughter of the ''Russian'' president.}}.

* [[Press X to Die]]: The [[Big Red Button]] in ''Modern Warfare 2'''s {{spoiler|"Museum" level. It will make all the people in the exhibits in the room come alive and attack you.}}. They do warn you, though. Go up to the button and a little message will pop up on screen that tells you NOT to press the button.

* [[Pretty Little Headshots]]: Oh so averted. Especially so in the cases of {{spoiler|Griggs and Gaz}}.

* [[Punched Across the Room]]: In MW3,''Modern Warfare 3'', {{spoiler|Yuri opens a door to a basement and gets punched down a flight of stairs by Price}}.

** At least in ''Modern Warfare'', they don't bother naming the country. The pre-mission briefings show where in the Middle East various missions take place, but they take care to spread them over the geographic locations of several different real-life countries. And its overthrown president, Al-Fulani, is named the Arabic equivalent of "John Doe".

** The final mission in MW3''Modern Warfare 3'' takes place at the Oasis Hotel at the "Arabian Peninsula". Yet it's a dead ringer for the Burj Al-Arab Hotel in Dubai, UAE. Granted, IWInfinity Ward was probably trying not to get sued by the real Hotel, for suggesting they would {{spoiler|allow the most famous terrorist on Earth to just check in with 50 of his terrorist buddies}}.

** Averted in MW2,''Modern Warfare 2'' though, where you're fighting in Afghanistan. {{spoiler|But that's of little importance to the plot.}}.

* [[Ranger]]: In ''Modern Warfare 2'', SGT Foley, CPL Dunn, PVT Ramirez, and PFC Allen are from the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment (1/75).

* [[Reasonable Authority Figure]]: Russian President Vorchevsky, who doesn't really want war with the United States. {{spoiler|However, he's not as in control of his military as he would wish, and early on in ''Modern Warfare 3'', he gets kidnapped by Makarov to derail the peace process.}}.

* [[Redemption Equals Death]]: {{spoiler|Yuri.}}.

* [[Red Herring]]: {{spoiler|1=In the cutscene preceding the '"Turbulence'" level in MW3''Modern Warfare 3'', Harkov's name is labelled 'inside man', implying that as the Russian President's bodyguard, he's actually working for Makarov. Nothing comes of this, however, as Makarov murders Harkov just like the other bodyguards at the end of that level.}}.

* [[Revision]]: In the third game, it is revealed that {{spoiler|Yuri played a background role}} during several key events in the ''Modern Warfare'' timeline. He is first seen during the nuke deal held in the "[[Call Back|One Shot, One Kill]]" mission from the first game (where {{spoiler|he and Makarov are the ones who drive the injured Zakhaev to safety}}), as well as being present when {{spoiler|Makarov (standing in Al-Asad's safehouse) detonates the nuke in the "Shock Andand Awe" mission}}. He is then revealed to have been present during the "No Russian" mission in ''MW2Modern Warfare 2'' -: {{spoiler|Makarov shoots him in the stomach before he, Private Allen and the other Ultranationalists massacre the civilians in the airport. Yuri makes it to the lobby and witnesses the aftermath of the massacre before collapsing and being treated by paramedics}}.

* [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]]: {{spoiler|In the final mission of ''Modern Warfare 3'', Price and Yuri don Juggernaut suits and shoot their way through a small army of terrorists on their way to kill Makarov.}}.

** In ''"All Ghillied Up''", if you ignore MacMillian and shoot the lone dog in the ruins, you get attacked by a pack of dogs which, if they kill him, will result in a [[Nonstandard Game Over]].

** ''Modern Warfare 3'' has a similar killstreak for making 25 kills in one life -: it still instantly kills everybody on the map, but it doesn't instantly win the game for the guy who called it in this time around.

* [[Rouge Angles of Satin]]: For God's sake, the General's name in ''MW2Modern Warfare 2'' is '''Shepherd''', not any of the following: Shepard, Sheperd, Shephard, Shepperd or Sheppard.

** You get to "Create a Class", where you get to choose a primary weapon, sidearm (or [[More Dakka|Machine Pistol]], or [[Short-Range Shotgun|Shotgun]], or [[Awesome Yet Impractical|explosives Launcher]]), as well as Equipment, a special grenade, and three perks. And a [[Consolation Prize|deathstreak reward]]. It overlaps with [[Archive Panic]] quite a lot-, especially in ''Modern Warfare 2''.

** The ''Modern Warfare'' series actually has a unique system for it, though. Besides standard level ups, there is also a system where for each kill you get with a specific weapon, you get to unlock one of its many attachments. So get ten kills with the M4A1 in ''Modern Warfare 2'', and you get to attach a grenade launcher to it. However, if you decide to switch to a different assault rifle, you lose that attachment and must get ten kills for your new AR before you can attach a grenade launcher to it. (Fortunatelyfortunately, you don't lose the grenade launcher ''for'' the M4A1.).

* [[Running Gag]]: An unbelievably subtle one. In the first mission of CoD''Call of Duty 4'' (F.N.G.), there are posters for "Porter Justice" movies on the wall. These reappear later in the game and in ''Modern Warfare 2'' (the Brazil missions, among others, I believe).

*** Gaz in ''"Heat''":

'''Gaz:''' Oh, he's gotta be takin' the piss! We just busted our arses to get to this LZ and now they want us to go all the way back down?! }}

*** Again in ''"Game Over''". Although it's then subverted.

'''Sgt. Kamarov:''' Standby, we're almost there, ETA 3 minutes Kamarov out. }}

*** Ghost in ''"Takedown''":

*** Wallcroft in ''"Mind the Gap''":

'''Wallcroft:''' Bollocks! Nothing takes five minutes! }}

* [[Sawn Off Shotgun]]: Which can be [[Guns Akimbo|dual wielded]]. [http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/11/30/ Tycho and Gabe agree;]: it's the mark of a cad.

** The {{spoiler|nuclear wasteland}} and Prypiat in the first game definitely count too.

** In ''MW3Modern Warfare 3'', multiple European cities get torn apart by fighting. [[The City of Light|Paris]] tops it, with the {{spoiler|collapse of the [[Monumental Damage|Eiffel Tower]].}}.

* [[Sergeant Rock]]: Foley in ''Modern Warfare 2'' is willing to put his squad (and himself) at great personal risk to get the job done. For instance, refusing to pull back when ordered, so that they could continue to cover evacuating civilians, and ordering that a crippled Blackhawk be positioned to take out as many surface-to-air missile launchers as possible before it could go down; {{spoiler|he maintains his cool after the EMP starts causing aircraft to fall out of the sky, gets the squad under control, and continues to lead the squad through the rest of the Second Battle of Washington, D.C.}}. Sandman in ''Modern Warfare 3''.

* [[Sequel Escalation]]: One of the ''themes'' of MW2''Modern Warfare 2'' is how crazy things have gotten due to the events of the first game. Yes, [[It Got Worse]] than {{spoiler|a nuke going off}}. There's an underlying theme about how you can't just shoot everything and hope to win.

** ''Modern Warfare 2'': {{spoiler|''Washington, DC,D.C. is turned into a war zone, with the White House and Washington Monument in ruins.''}}. The fact that it's clearly not {{spoiler|the [[Fallout|Capital]] [[A Nuclear Error|Wasteland]]}} is what makes it truly striking, with the {{spoiler|White House}} mostly intact, except for the enemy combatants occupying it and shooting at the American troops storming up the front lawn. The rest of {{spoiler|[[Washington DCD.C]]}}. is full-on [[Nightmare Fuel]], with fires breaking out everywhere, concertina wire strung out, Apache gunships in the air, and what looks like a casevac chopper taking off from the streets.

** There's also the matter of {{spoiler|character deaths. In ''Modern Warfare 4'', you get to watch Gaz and Griggs be shot and killed. Then in ''Modern Warfare 2'', you get to watch in first person as you and your friend are shot and burned. Then in ''Modern Warfare 3'', you spend a whole level watching [[The Hero|Soap]] fade, before a [[Hope Spot]] and then his death. Not fun.}}.

** {{spoiler|Potentially MW''Modern Warfare 2;'': Shepherd's plan succeeded although you killed him, Soap and Price are fugitives, and the USA and Russia are about to start World War III.}}. Darned if there isn't a third installment. Let's not forget, everything Jackson and the USMC did in the original MW''Modern Warfare'' was rendered inconsequential when that nuke went off. Though to be fair, they *did* effectively demolish Al-Asad's war machine and regime to the point where he got desperate enough to do it, which considering the very heavy implications that he was a threat to the entire Middle East proves that [[Downer Ending|what happened]] [[Middle-Eastern Coalition|was preferable to the alternative.]]. Of course, that should tell you [[War Is Hell|something about the games in general....]]

** {{spoiler|In MW''Modern Warfare 3'', itsit's suggested the nuke would have gone off regardless of whether Al-Asad had been caught, Makarov's dialogue during Yuri's flashback gives the impression he had intended for the nuke to go off and kill as many Americans as possible in a trap. Its consistent with his actions in that game and his far reaching plans. Adds a delicious irony: Shepherd's alliance with the man who is responsible for killing his 30,000 soldiers is motivated by the lack of response from the world at their deaths.}}.

* [[Short-Lived Aerial Escape]]: {{spoiler|Hunter 2-1's Blackhawk (and the accompanying SEAL team's Little Bird) in "Of Their Own Accord", General Shepherd's Pave Low in "Endgame", Makarov's Little Bird in "Dust to Dust".}}.

* [[Short-Range Long-Range Weapon]]: The main reason helicopters were considered overpowered in the original was because of the notoriously poor accuracy of the RPG-7 (the only real anti-vehicle weapon available), making it impossible to reliably hit anything beyond 5-10 meters. Of course, the splash damage meant that using it at that range was a [[Yet Another Stupid Death|bad idea]]. In real life, the RPG-7's range is... bad... compared to other launchers. In any case, ''inverted'' with the other weapons -: you can shoot across the map with a [[Sniper Pistol|pistol]], and hit far and away in large maps with assault rifles.

* [[Shot to the Heart]]: At one point in ''Modern Warfare 3'', you need to press X to do this to Soap.

** ''[[Airplane!]]!'': - Beforebefore "Mile High Club":

Gaz: "I am serious. And don't call me Shirley." }}

*** Price gets back at it in ''Modern Warfare 2''. "Whatever you're going to do, Soap, do it fast!"

*** A Ranger over the radio in "From Their Own Accord" also goes "We - are - leaving!".

** ''[[Apocalypse Now]]'': - Aa level named "Charlie Don't Surf" during a helicopter assault.

** ''[[Behind Enemy Lines]]'' -: Zakhaev's son wears a track suit almost identical to the one worn by Sasha.

** ''[[Black Hawk Down]]'' -: ''Modern Warfare'' has you landing to rescue a downed helo pilot in an obvious ''[[Black Hawk Down]]'' reference. {{spoiler|In ''Modern Warfare 2'', you are briefly trapped in a downed helo, and for that time re-enact the Shughart/Gordon scene from the same movie, complete with a "last magazine.". Fortunately, it doesn't end the same way.}}.

*** ''Modern Warfare 3'' has {{spoiler|you and your highly trained special-forces friends visiting Somalia to get some information out of the local warlord. Another of your friends pilots a helicopter as support. It gets shot down, and then you have to rescue the pilot.}}.

*** When told that police help is five minutes away, Wallcroft responds that "nothing takes five minutes!".

** ''Collateral'': - Atat the beginning of Takedown, the main villain waxes two NPCs in a re-enactment of the "Hey homie, is that my briefcase?" scene.

** ''[[Command & Conquer]]'': - Thethe TF141 uniform from "Loose Ends" is nearly identical to that of GDI soldiers from ''Command & Conquer: Renegade''.

** ''[[Counter-Strike]]'': - Inin ''Modern Warfare 3'', the S.A.S. and G.I.G.N. special forces appear exactly like their depictions from ''Counter-Strike'' (noteable because this depiction is not necessarily reflective of their real-life appearance, especially in the case of the S.A.S., due to variances in equipment loadout and battle dress uniforms).

** ''[[Dr. Strangelove]]'' -: A level named "No Fighting In The War Room" in ''Call of Duty 4''.

** ''[[Fallout]] 3'' -: ''MW2Modern Warfare 2's''s damaged Washington Monument recalls the one in this game; both have exposed metal reinforcing rods, while the real monument is solid stone.

** ''[[Generation Kill]]'': - Thethe level in ''MW2Modern Warfare 2'' where you control the gun of a humvee is very similar to the end of the second episode, when the Marines of First Recon were shown being ambushed after leaving Nasiriyah. The sudden prevalence of the [[Military Alphabet]] compared to the first game, where no one ever even said "Oscar Mike,", could be attributed to ''[[Generation Kill]]'' as well.

*** And the fact that every enemy infantryman is a "foot mobile.".

** ''[[Lethal Weapon]]'': Shepherd's group is called "Shadow Company". The antagonists in the first ''Lethal Weapon'' were also called "Shadow Company".

** ''[[Mass Effect]]'' -: Shepherd is voiced by Lance Henriksen and is your overarching commander. Foley is voiced by Keith David and is your direct superior in the American campaign. With names, voices, and roles like that, it's too big to be a coincidence.

** ''[[Night at the Museum]]'' -: "An Evening with Infinity Ward" a bonus level that takes place in a museum, has most of the exhibits be real, live characters, although they only act out scenes from the missions, reminiscent of ''[[Night at the Museum]]''. [[Press X to Die|Pressing a button]] at the main desk will cause all of those said exhibits to stop being docile and attack you.

** ''[[Portal (series)|Portal]]'': - Thethe multiplayer title "Companion Crate"."

** ''[[Predator]]'': - Thethe mission "Of Their Own Accord", where you [[Memetic Mutation|get to tha choppa]].

** ''[[Pulp Fiction]]'': - Oneone of the achievements in ''Modern Warfare 2'' is called "[[Pulp Fiction|Royale With Cheese]]".

*** In the first ''Modern Warfare'', during "Crew Expendable", if the player strays too far from Price in the first cargo bay, a mook will leap out with a goddamn [[Hand Cannon]] and ambush you while screaming, pretty much exactly like the last of Brett's gang did in the movie. Making it better is that surviving the ambush is very hard -; in fact, almost a ''miracle''.

** ''[[Red Dawn]]'': - Oneone of the missions in ''Modern Warfare 2'' is titled "Wolverines!". The acheivement for beating the level on Veteran is ''[[Red Dawn]],'', as well.

** ''[[Rainbow Six]]'': - Thethe heartbeat sensor is a fictional device that first appeared in the ''Rainbow Six'' novel and video games. Also, Task Force 141 is very similar to Team RAINBOW in that they are both multinational teams of badass special forces soldiers.

** ''[[Rambo]]'': - Intn the ''Modern Warfare 3'' mission "Back Onon Thethe Grid", there is a part where you commandeer a .50 caliber machine gun mounted on a technical and use it to mow down waves of enemies. This mirrors a scene in the fourth ''Rambo'' movie.

** ''[[The Rock]]'': - Thethe Gulag mission is essentially a [[Whole-Plot Reference]] which also involves {{spoiler|breaking an SAS captain out of jail to stop a rogue American general motivated by others' callous disregard for his soldiers' lives}}. The shower room in the gulag is a recreation of a scene from the movie, and {{spoiler|using green flares to avert an air strike during ''Whiskey Hotel''}} references this movie as well.

*** It should be noted that Hans Zimmer did the music for both ''Modern Warfare 2'' and ''The Rock,'', which adds a bit of depth to this particular shout-out.

** ''[[Top Gun]]'': - Aa multiplayer title "Ghostrider", depicting a fighter plane.

** ''[[Splinter Cell]]'': - Inin "The Only Easy Day... Was Yesterday", you have to [[Splinter Cell|infiltrate an oil rig, and can later acquire a F2000 assault rifle]]. The title itself is a motto of the Navy SEALs.

** ''[[STALKER]]: Shadow of Chernobyl'': - Obviouslyobviously, the main influence for the Chernobyl level in the first ''MWModern Warfare''; the ''MWModern Warfare'' Chernobyl level visits many of the same locations, and as in ''STALKER'', the vehicle graveyards are shown to contain Mi-24 Hinds (the real ones don't).

** ''[[Star Wars]]'' -: ''This decryption code better be worth the [[Meaningful Name|price]] we paid...''

*** In the same mission, a suddenly missing patrol squad is blamed on [[A New Hope|a bad transmitter.]].

** ''[[Super Mario Brothers]]'': - Thethe emblem reward for getting ten kills in a row while having ''no'' killstreaks equipped (hence worth trying only for this) is an 8-bit image of Capt. Price that looks exactly like Mario's ''[[Super Mario Bros. (video game)|Super Mario Bros]]. 1'' sprite.

** ''[[Terminator]] 2'': - Therethere is a certain scene in ''Modern Warfare'' with Sgt. Paul Jackson entering a playground that looks eerily similar to the one seen in the dream sequence of ''[[Terminator]] 2''.

*** The Winchester 1887 shotgun is a reference to ''Terminator 2'', being [[Arnold Schwarzenegger|Arnie]]'s choice of gun for half the film;: the gun in the game is a replica of the T2 prop, including having an enlarged lever for easier spin-cocking. Going [[Guns Akimbo]] with them results in the character working the lever action by flipping the whole gun around on his finger like Arnie did.

** ''[[Transformers]]'': - Anan unlockable callsign title in ''Modern Warfare 2'' is "Transformer" and depicts a Pave Low;: it is unlocked for getting the game-winning kill by calling in a Pave Low as a killstreak reward (the challenge is also called "Transformer"). In [[Transformers (film)|the 2007 film]], Blackout transformed into a Pave Low.

** ''[[Tron]]'': - Callingcalling in 5 Tactical Nukes (a killstreak reward earned by amassing a 25 kill streak) unlocks a title with a [[Tron Lines]] background and the text "End of Line", the MCP's [[Verbal Tic]] from the movie.

** ''[[True Lies]]'': - Gettinggetting the game-winning kill with a Harrier unlocks the multiplayer title "[[True Lies|True Liar]]".

** ''[[X-Men]]''/MyWayEntertainment: - Youryour trophy for killing your first [[Giant Mook]] in Special Ops: ''"I'm the Juggernaut..."''

** ''[[Children of Men]]'': - Thethe Prague level in the third game has a sequence which is heavily similar to this movie's apartment scene during the uprising.

** In-series example;: doesn't the attack on the {{spoiler|Whiskey Hotel}} seem a little familiar to storming the Reichstag in [[Call of Duty|previous installments]]?

** Juggernauts, which use the walking animation of your "allies" from "No Russian". They ''can'' charge at you, but only if you're far away, and even then, you're still faster than them. This is used to deliberate effect in the third game, when {{spoiler|Price and Yuri take their slow [[Unflinching Walk]] towards Makarov's safehouse while wearing the suits}}.

** The 1887 shotgun in ''Modern Warfare 2'' has been criticized for its unreasonably long range and accuracy. ([[Reality Is Unrealistic|Inin reality, shotguns are very accurate to about a hundred meters...]]). Thankfully, it is one of the last guns unlocked ''and'' has a shitty fire rate and reload time (compared to other shotguns), preventing most players from using it. The main reason for people hating on the 1887 is the fact that [[Short-Range Shotgun|every other shotgun is atrocious at range.]]. To the point that you can fire at someone across A ROOM and for some reason cause no damage whatsoever since all of your buckshot seems to have magically disappeared for no reason. The 1887 mysteriously lacks this problem. (Notnot to mention that the shotgun with the shortest barrel is somehow the most accurate when compared to even the M1014 which is one of the most accurate shotguns in use today...).

** Pretty much all guns that aren't shotguns can be effective at all ranges with enough skill to use them at exceedingly long ranges -: the bullets will hit whatever you aim at, with no bullet drop needing compensation for.

** Changed around in ''Modern Warfare 3'' -: all weapon sights have sway of some degree, which becomes less severe when the player is crouched or laying down. Using the "Breath" weapon proficiency lets you hold your breath like with a sniper rifle to eliminate sway for a few seconds, while the "Stability" proficiency reduces the overall amount of sway.

** ''"All Ghillied Up''" and ''"One Shot, One Kill''" in ''Modern Warfare''.

** A few Spec Ops missions in ''Modern Warfare 2'' also are designed for sniping.

* [[Sniping the Cockpit]]: At one point, your character does this to a Havoc. Then Captain MacMillan does it to another one. Which almost crashes on top of him.

** A dialogue between two background soldiers in ''Modern Warfare 2'' was clearly written before [[wikipedia:Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010|December 22, 2010]]. Not surprising, since MW2''Modern Warfare 2'' came out in November 2009.

'''Soldier 2''': Don't ask, don't tell, man. }}

** Prior to "No Russian", a screen indicates that Makarov is now as much of a threat as Al-Qaeda. It was more devastating then, since Al-Qaeda has been on the decline of late.

* [[Somebody Else's Problem]]: {{spoiler|Shepherd's motivation in the sequel. After the nuclear explosion in the original murders forty-thousand American soldiers under his command, he is outraged at the apathetic response of the American people, which could only be exasperated by Russia's continued militarisation. In an attempt to motivate his own country to war and bring about a new generation of willing martyrs with which to battle foreign threats, he manipulates Makarov into sparking an invasion of the US mainland.}}.

** Yuri, in MW3''Modern Warfare 3''. For the first time in the trilogy, you play as a Russian. A good guy, too.

* [[Southern-Fried Private]]: Cpl. Dunn in MW2''Modern Warfare 2''.

* [[Space Does Not Work That Way]]: {{spoiler|The destruction of the space station by an [[Explosions in Space|apparent blast wave]] in ''Modern Warfare 2''. Nukes don't have the same effects in space that they do on Earth.}}.

* [[Spanner in the Works]]: In ''Modern Warfare 2'', the only thing that {{spoiler|Shepherd's [[Batman Gambit]]}} doesn't take into consideration is {{spoiler|Price breaking out, going "off the grid," and being willing to do ''anything'' to succeed}}. Unfortunately, as fate would have it the only difference it makes is ''accelerating'' {{spoiler|Shepherd's}} plans instead of stopping him.

** The first parts of "Cliffhanger"," of "Contingency," and the (intended) entirety of "Evasion" (based off of "Contingency") in ''Modern Warfare 2''.

** ''"All Ghillied Up''" in ''Modern Warfare''. Later recreated in the ''Modern Warfare 2'' Special Ops map "Hidden".

* [[The Stinger]]: The bonus level ''"Mile High Club''" in ''Modern Warfare'', and the museum in ''Modern Warfare 2''.

** ''Modern Warfare 3'' has a literal one in "Stronghold", the achievement for beating it is even called Storm the Castle, and ends with one in "Dust to Dust".

** "The Gulag" in ''Modern Warfare 2'' also qualifies, bonus points for having once been a castle.

* [[Story-Driven Invulnerability]]: Zakhaev in the flashback mission, and the Hind gunship in the final mission, in ''Modern Warfare''. {{spoiler|(Thethe bridge goes down whether or not you connect with a shot against the Hind.)}}. However, it IS possible to, with timing and a foreknowledge (or just spamming rounds everywhere), to take out the RPG guy that {{spoiler|shoots down Deadly, the Cobra that's been covering you the entire mission. Rescuing the pilot is what got your helicopter caught in the nuke in the first place.}}. However, {{spoiler|Deadly will still crash}}, and instead of landing to help, your chopper will continue to fly off the map, ending with the game crashing.

* [[String Theory]]: Price has one in ''MW3Modern Warfare 3''.

* [[Super Window Jump]]: Soap seems to like doing this. In MW2''Modern Warfare 2'', he tackles Rojas through a window, and in MW3''Modern Warfare 3'', he dives through one to escape a street full of enemies.

* [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]]: Ghost (in the second game) and Wallcroft (in the third game), who are voiced by the same person as {{spoiler|the deceased Gaz from the first game.}}. He also fulfills the same role as said character.

* [[Take the Wheel]]: In the second game, when Price and Soap escape the Shadow Company in a Jeep, and their driver gets hit by a stray bullet. This can be a very [[Unexpected Gameplay Change]], as you are thrust from [[Rail Shooter]] into [[Driving Game]] with no warning whatsoever.

* [[Take Your Time]]: Many missions feature countdowns, but one notable exception is when you're chasing Rojas in "Takedown.". Despite Ghost and Soap yelling frantically at you during the chase, you have as much time as you need to fight your way through the alleys.

** A bug which was once taking over MW2''Modern Warfare 2'' multiplayer involves players tricking the game into cooking a Javelin Anti-Tank missile. The second you die, it fires into the ground at your feet, killing everyone nearby. Fortunately for everyone ticked off about how a coding error turned half the players in any given match into running suicide bombs, the Javelin Glitch has been excised.

** "Of Their Own Accord" from MW2''Modern Warfare 2'' gave us this awesome line:

** And this is essentially the point of the MW1''Modern Warfare 1''/MW2''Modern Warfare 2'' perk/deathstreak "Martyrdom" (drop a grenade after you die) and the MW3''Modern Warfare 3'' perk "Dead Man's Hand" (detonate [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill|C4]] after you die).

** Best example is from ''MW3Modern Warfare 3'': one of the default classes gives you a G36 (unlocked at level 42) as well as using the Overkill perk (level 47) to also start with a PP-90 (level 28).

** In ''Modern Warfare 2'', before "The Pit", Corporal Dunn comments that he wants some real action rather than just blocking positions for SEALS and Delta. A few days later, America is invaded by the Russians.

* [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill]]: The Tactical Nuke killstreakkill-streak reward in MW2''Modern Warfare 2'', which instantly kills every player on the map and ends the game in victory for your team.

* [[This Is Sparta]]: Right before the last section of the last level, {{spoiler|Captain Price}} ends his speech with a simple "We. Will. Kill him.".

** In ''"Down Thethe Rabbit Hole''", Sandman kills a charging Russian with his knife, and then throws it into another charging Russian. [[Justified Trope|Justified]] both times, as both of these characters are more than badass enough to pull it off.

* [[Title Confusion]]: ''"No Russian''" is often presumed to mean "don't kill any Russians," because Makarov and the Ultranationalists are themselves Russian, and the first line is Makarov doing a [[Title Drop]], using the phrase as an order to the player and his other lackies before the shooting starts. The airport, however, is ''in Russia,'', and as such, the people waiting in line to pass through the metal detectors before boarding outbound flights are most certainly Russian, barring a few tourists or businessmen returning home. "No Russian" means "don't speak any Russian, use English,", to disguise the fact that the attack is conducted by Russians {{spoiler|because Makarov intends to frame the United States for it}}. The ambiguity of this line is probably responsible for the infamous (in Japanese) mistranslation of this line in the Japanese version of the game as "Kill them, the Russians.". It's also a REALLY dark piece of metahumour: Makarov's crew mow down the civilians at a casual pace, without any sense of urgency until the armed forces arrive. There's ''"[[Incredibly Lame Pun|No Russian]]''" about with them...

** From General Shepherd in ''MW2Modern Warfare 2'': "Learning to use the tools of modern warfare is the difference between the prospering of your people and utter destruction."

** Gaz refers to "the sins of our fathers" in the intro for the level "The Sins of the Father".

** In ''"Just Like Old Times''", in the beginning, if you kill both of your guards ''and'' the dog, {{spoiler|Price}} will say "Just like old times.".

* [[Title In]]: Used to introduce every mission, except for one (''"Of Their Own Accord''"). In that mission, it is delayed until [[The Reveal]] when you leave the bunker and see {{spoiler|Washington D.C. in flames.}}.

** Partially subverted in ''Modern Warfare 2'' with Sgt Foley. You'll also find guys like Worm, Meat (sometimes?) and the driver from TF141 and a few randomly generated Rangers and Task Force members are black. (Unfortunatelyunfortunately, in "Takedown", {{spoiler|[[Black Dude Dies First|the driver is the first to go]]... albeit at the hands of another black dude}}, and Meat is always the second.). Also Faust and Warrabe are arguable Token minority Villains.

* [[Took a Level in Badass]]: Definitely {{spoiler|1=Soap, or should we say, ''Captain MacTavish''}} in ''Modern Warfare 2'', who as your team leader is now ''way'' more hardcore than he ever was in ''Call of Duty 4''. Like he had to take any. In the first game, just 4four days after entering the SAS, he took down 5five tanks and 8eight helis all by himself.

* [[Tranquil Fury]]: In the briefing for the penultimate mission of ''Modern Warfare 2'', {{spoiler|Soap angsts about how it's just him and Price up against Shepherd's entire Shadow Company. Price is simply checking inventory and explaining, ''in a voice so calm that it sends shivers down any player's spine'', that there's a certain satisfaction to knowing when you will die, and that Shepherd's number is up.}}.

* [[The Unfettered]]: {{spoiler|Price}} comes back from the gulag a little crazy. He flat-out confronts Shepherd on if he's willing to do whatever it takes to win. {{spoiler|Then he launches a nuke at the country he was sprung to save, wreaking God knows how much hell to eventually turn the tide of the war.}}. He goes straight from that into becoming the world's most wanted man and embarking on a one-way trip to kill the [[Big Bad]]. {{spoiler|Shepherd might have had a blank check, but Price forgot his First Bank of Badass balance years ago and is ignoring all the calls from collections.}}.

* [[Unexpected Gameplay Change]]: ''"All Ghillied Up''" and ''"[[Death From Above]]''" in ''Call of Duty 4''. Some of the levels in ''Modern Warfare 2'' also qualify.

* [[Universal Driver's License]]: Averted, in that you can either fire weapons from a vehicle but not drive it (both games) or the vehicles you can control are relatively simple to do so in real life (MW2''Modern Warfare 2'', using a snowmobile and a small boat; in both cases, you can only fire a small machine pistol).

*** According to the other wiki, hooah is Army talk for "anything other than no.". Which both explains why it's only the Army Rangers who say it, and why they say it constantly. '''Hooah!'''

*** Little known info: "Hooah" is actually derived from "HUA", which means "Heard, Understood, Acknowledged.".

**** Actually HUAA, "Heard, Understood, And Accepted.".

** Well, known fact: Nono one actually knows where Hooah, Hoorah, or Oorah came from. Each branch has its theories, all of which contradict each other, and none have any proof.

* [[Victory Pose]]: The very first thing {{spoiler|Price}} does {{spoiler|after having killed Makarov}}, in his own [[Badass]] fashion. {{spoiler|Without saying a word, he sits up, pulls out a cigar, and lights it.}}.

* [[Video Game Cruelty Potential]]: ''Modern Warfare 2'''s level, "No Russian". If you choose to play the level, what you do with the civilians is entirely up to you --... the game never gives you a single prompt to open fire.

* [[Video Game Cruelty Punishment]]: Killing civilians (in any mission other than "No Russian") results in a instant [[Nonstandard Game Over]]. ''Modern Warfare 2'' takes a somewhat realistic approach to this;: if you shoot a civilian that's been in your line-of-sight for more than a couple seconds, the game assumes you did it deliberately, and thus are a cold-blooded sociopath, and immediately fails you. However, if some dumb-ass civilian runs out in front of you from out of nowhere in the middle of a firefight, and you gun him down reflexively before having time to confirm whether or not he's armed, the game will rule the shooting as "excusable" and let you carry on the mission.

* [[Violent Glaswegian]]: Arguably [[Subverted Trope|subverted]] with Captain MacMillan -: he may be a man with a heavy Scottish accent in a military force, but his appearance in the game is of that of a sniper who tells ''you'' to stay cool and maintain stealth. Also subverted in ''Modern Warfare 2'' with Soap MacTavish ("let's get the 'ell outta hayah!"), who in addition to commanding you during the campaign is your supervisor on the [[Stealth-Based Mission]] "Acceptable Losses" on Spec Ops, and who will berate you should you fail to maintain the element of surprise in the mission. Except with knives. Almost any time Soap uses a knife, it gets creepy.

* [[The War Room]]: theThe penultimate level in ''Modern Warfare''.

* [[Weaponized Animal]]: In Survival Mode in MW3''Modern Warfare 3'', on harder maps, attack dogs may have C4 strapped to them.

* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]: {{spoiler|Shepherd}}'s end goal is to snap average American citizens out of what he sees as willful ignorance towards how much sacrifice is necessary to maintain everything they take for granted, {{spoiler|giving him a near-endless supply of volunteers and the funds to load them out for bear with.}}. To say he does some extreme things to achieve this, crossing the [[Moral Event Horizon]] multiple times in hindsight, is an understatement.

** All games have at least one. ''Call of Duty 4'' has "Shock and Awe" and {{spoiler|the nuke and Jackson's death,}}, the first indication that the game really means business. ''Modern Warfare 2'' ups the ante with a seemingly endless string of these, but the biggest is probably {{spoiler|Shepherd's betrayal at the conclusion of "Loose Ends."}}.

** ''Modern Warfare 3'' has "Blood Brothers.". {{spoiler|Makarov's still one step ahead of you, and Soap dies after it looked like he was going to make it.}}. Also, there's {{spoiler|the little girl and her family dying in a terrorist attack.}}.

** ''[[Title In|Of Their Own Accord:]] {{spoiler|[[Title In|Washington, D.C.]]}}.''

** Frost disappears after "Scorched Earth". There's no rhyme or reason as to why this is;: he just completely disappears after the mission and is never heard from or seen again. The Wiki says, however, that he is still alive. Aside from this, he just disappears and gets no closure in the story.

** Ramirez, Dunn, Foley, and Marshall are a borderline case. They were all still alive in ''[[MWModern Warfare 2]]'', but are not mentioned in ''[[MWModern Warfare 3]]''. Archer and Toad, the sniper team providing cover fire in ''"Loose Ends''", it's never revealed what happened to them. {{spoiler|Shadow Company can be heard saying "Watch for snipers on thermal" and "All targets destroyed", but they may have meant Makarov's men.}}.

** Shooting your own teammates will give you a [[Nonstandard Game Over]], giving you the message I"Friendly fire will not be tolerated!".

** In ''Modern Warfare 1,'', if you instigate a fire fight during the first sniper mission and survive, MacMillan will chew you out with comments like, "The word stealth doesn't mean much to you does it?" In some cases his beratement comes off as praise, such as "You lead a charmed life, Price."

** Going out of your way to shoot down a helicopter during a covert sniping mission will cause MacMillan to berate you for "showing off.".

* [[World of Cardboard Speech]]: {{spoiler|Price}} gets two of these in the final two levels of ''MW2Modern Warfare 2''.

* [[World War III]]: The [http://www.youtube.com/user/CALLOFDUTY?v=coiTJbr9m04&feature=pyv&ad=13337861990&kw=COD2 trailer for MW3''Modern Warfare 3''] explicitly states this is where the series is headed, with scenes depicting the destruction of New York, fighting in the London Underground, guerrilla warfare in France, and urban warfare in Germany.

* [[Wretched Hive]]: The ''favelas'' of Rio de Janeiro, where hundreds of armed men are mobilized to hunt you down within minutes, rather reminiscent of ''Black Hawk Down''. This is actually [[Truth in Television]] to some extent: the Brazilian police rarely (if ever) enter the neighborhoods with anything less than fully armored SWAT teams because the gangs are so well equipped. And the SWAT teams that do get there [[The Elite Squad|have a skull/dagger/pistol emblem]] that pretty much symbolizes how much of a [[Badass Army]] you need to be to pull it off. One of the favelas was recently occupied -... with the handy assistance of the ''Navy''.

* [[Written by the Winners]]: {{spoiler|1=The main topic of Price's final monologues in ''MW2Modern Warfare 2''.}}. {{spoiler|And ends with [[An Aesop]] about why committing so much force against a foe backed into a corner with access to nuclear weapons is a bad thing.}}.

** Same goes for the African militias in ''Modern Warfare 3'', no matter what country they're from (for the record, Sierra Leone and Somalia are at ''opposite ends'' of the continent -... the former at the Atlantic Ocean coast, the latter bordered by the Indian Ocean).

** The final battle in ''Modern Warfare 2'' has {{spoiler|a seriously injured Price and Soap taking on General Shepherd in a brutal hand-to-hand beatdown}}.

** One of the storytelling issues with "No Russian.".

** Thank god for {{spoiler|1=[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THU2H5_nadQ video editing programs].}}.

** And they couldn't thwart the first/main stage of {{spoiler|Shepherd's plot, although they killed him}}.

** Or {{spoiler|Makarov's chemical attacks in Europe.}}.

* [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness]]: ''Modern Warfare 2'' is a rare example of this being done not to minions, but to [[Unwitting Pawn|Unwitting Pawns]]. In the third game, {{spoiler|Yuri becomes this when Makarov shoots him in the "Blood Brothers" flashback. Surprisingly, though, Yuri survives his injuries}}.

** The "Tactical Knife" addon is merely a different pistol stance, with your left hand primed for quick stabs. Your character can only do this when holding a gun with this "addon,", once they pick up another handgun they will also ditch the associated knife, even though there is no reason to do this. Also, the benefits of some multiplayer Perks like Scavenger or Commando.

** The "Breath" proficiency in ''Modern Warfare 3'' is a literal version of this: it lets you hold your breath while aiming down the sights.

* [[You Should Have Died Instead]]: Price clearly feels this way {{spoiler|about Yuri after Soap dies in "Blood Brothers", even if he doesn't outright say it.}}.

** The ending of the Brazil missions in MW2''Modern Warfare 2'' has you rushed by a very angry crowd of gang members.

[[Category:MicrosoftVideo WindowsGame]]