Captain Viktor Reznov's History
Captain Viktor Reznov (Russian: �?ик�?о�? Резнов) is a major character featured in Call of Duty: World at War and the Black Ops series. He was a Russian squad leader of the Red Army in Call of Duty: World at War during World War II. His relationship and influence on Dimitri Petrenko and Alex Mason plays a major part in Call of Duty: Black Ops. He is a playable character in the flashback level, "Project Nova" in Call of Duty: Black Ops. He makes a "return" in Call of Duty: Black Ops II. Reznov is heard in the Intel file, "From Vorkuta with WTF" in the Specialist HQ mode and is one of the "icons" characters of the Blackout mode in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. He is also the first of the four Archetypes. He is also a playable character in Call of Duty: Mobile, and was introduced in Season 9.
Early History
Viktor Reznov was born on April 20, 1913 in Saint Petersburg, Russia (Renamed Petrograd in 1914 and Leningrad ten years later) and joined the Red Army sometime before the start of World War II. According to Reznov, his father was a musician who during the Siege of Stalingrad played music by patriotic composers with his violin. His music was a symbol of hope for his fellow countrymen, but a symbol of defiance to the Germans and Viktor never forgot about the sound of his music years later. His father had his throat slit by a German while he slept which was one of the many reasons why Viktor hated the German soldiers.
The Battle of Stalingrad
He is first seen in the mission, "Vendetta" as a sniper trying to assassinate the German General Heinrich Amsel, the "Architect of Stalingrad's misery". As one of the only two survivors of a brutal German massacre near a fountain, he is saved from being executed by feigning death. It is here that he and Dimitri Petrenko first met each other with Reznov explaining his situation to Dimitri. Reznov who could no longer snipe precisely as a marksman due to his injured hand and blown off trigger finger gave Petrenko his scoped Mosin-Nagant rifle and asks him to eliminate the General. Reznov guides Dimitri on killing a few German soldiers as the German bombers flew overhead to shroud the noise of the gunshots out. He leads him through Stalingrad, dueling against a German sniper and dispatching a whole German platoon with multiple soldiers that are equipped with flamethrowers.
They are saved by Petrenko's squad that was led by Daletski and continued with them on an assault against a German communications post. After fierce fighting, Petrenko kills Amsel which gives Reznov a hearty chuckle. They are attacked by the German Panzers and soldiers. Reznov held numerous German soldiers off before he jumps in a canal with Dimitri soon following him. It is important to note that due to Reznov's injured finger, he could not fire his rifle with perfect aim and his "character class" was changed to Submachine Gunner as he wields a PPSh-41 from now on. He is seen without his finger three years later.
The Battle of Berlin
Three years later, on April 18, 1945 in Seelow Heights, Germany, the Soviet troops are pushing toward Berlin. Sergeant Reznov along with a new recruit named Chernov comes to rescue the captured Dimitri Petrenko from the three German soldiers. Reznov often tells the other soldiers to follow Dimitri as an example, especially to Chernov who seems to be shocked by the vengeful violence of his comrades against the Wehrmacht soldiers. For example, in the level, "Their Land, Their Blood", when a T-34 blows a hole in the house where Petrenko was, Reznov and his men killed a few German soldiers. The remaining German soldiers were extremely wounded and bleeding to death. Reznov hands Petrenko a Mosin-Nagant and tells Petrenko to kill the dying German soldiers even though they are bleeding to death already. Then, the player has the option to kill the wounded or leave. The two scenarios like this occurred during the Soviet campaign. In the opening cutscene of the mission, "Downfall," Reznov will read a passage from Chernov's diary. If the player kills the Germans at both sites, the passage will describe Dimitri as a monster. If the enemies are killed in one of the two sites, Chernov will be conflicted to Petrenko's morality and sparing them will earn his admiration.
In the mission, "Heart of the Reich", near the Reichstag, Reznov chastises Chernov for writing in his diary, stating that "no one will ever read this". After that, he ordered Chernov to prove that
he could die for his country if he could not kill for it by giving him the Russian flag that must be planted on the top of the Reichstag. When the Russian troops reached the final steps outside the Reichstag, Chernov was fatally wounded by a flamethrower and laid dying. Reznov takes Chernov's diary and states that "someone should read this," contrary to what he said earlier. Another soldier carries the flag to the top of the roof, but is killed before being able to plant it. Reznov asks Petrenko to take the flag and plant it. When Petrenko gets shot almost fatally with a P-38 by a surviving SS trooper, Reznov jumps in and slices the unfortunate German twice in the torso and impales him in the back. After that, he helps Petrenko up and tells Petrenko that he can make it and he always survives. He then cut the rope that was holding the Nazi flag and tells Petrenko to plant the Soviet flag. He expects the two of them to return to their home as heroes. Reznov mentions many times that the heart of the army could not be broken as long as Dimitri lives.
Operation Olympus
Six months after the Battle of Berlin, Reznov was promoted to the rank of Captain. Reznov continued to serve in the 3rd Shock Army alongside Dimitri Petrenko under the orders of Kravchenko and Dragovich, despite maintaining animosity with Dragovich for his failure to assist during Stalingrad. Reznov was incorporated with Petrenko in the Unit 45 and they are deployed to the Arctic Circle to capture a Nazi scientist named Steiner who was the mastermind behind Nova-6 which was a nerve toxin that was ordered in secret by Hitler to combat the imminent Allied victory. The Russians swept through the remaining SS troops and made contact with Steiner who was expecting Dragovich. Reznov and Petrenko led the way into the hold of the frozen vessel by discovering that the Germans are planning on using long-range V2 Rockets to send Nova-6 to the Allied cities. The group finds and secures Nova-6, but Dragovich orders his troops to restrain Reznov and his soldiers to see the effects of Nova-6 himself.
Reznov witnesses Petrenko's horrific death when he and his comrades are gassed. Reznov escaped from the same fate by the timely arrival of the British commandos that are also seeking to capture or destroy the secret Nazi nerve toxin. He decides that the weapon is too powerful for either side to wield. Reznov leads his small group of soldiers out of the vessel by killing both British and Russian soldiers in their escape. He manages to arm the explosives to sink the ship under the ice, hoping to prevent anyone from using the toxin ever again.
Imprisonment in Vorkuta and Uprising
Reznov was presumably captured and sent to a prison camp in Vorkuta and had been there for the past 18 years. There, he became a companion to an American prisoner named Alex Mason by gaining his trust and protecting him during their time in the gulag. Because of this bond, Reznov was able to exploit Mason's resistance to Steiner and Dragovich's attempt to brainwash him by overriding their original mission with his own personal agenda: Killing Dragovich, Kravchenko and Steiner.
Reznov masterminds a massive uprising in Vorkuta's prison camp. He and Mason engaged in a mock fist fight to draw the guards' attention. Once Mason eliminated the guard and seized the keys, Reznov led the prisoners to the surface. The Russian prisoners expressed doubt over Mason's trustworthiness, but Reznov convinced them by explaining how they were both "soldiers without an army" and betrayed by their leaders. Reznov continued to lead the insurrection, securing a secret weapon for Mason to blow their way out. He pulled Mason out of a tear gas barrage and the two escaped on motorcycles. Mason managed to escape by leaping onto a train. However, Reznov stayed behind. He sacrificed himself to free Mason, stating that Mason deserved the freedom knowing that he would carry on to go after Dragovich. When Mason told Reznov to jump onto the train to freedom, Reznov exclaimed, "For you, Mason. Not for me." He drove the truck to lure the pursuing soldiers away from Mason and leaving his fate unknown.
Mind Game and Legacy
Years later during the Vietnam War, the SOG was dispatched to Hue City to meet up with a Russian defector that was carrying an important dossier on Nova-6. To Mason's surprise, the defector turned out to be Reznov. Reznov gave Mason the dossier and revealed that Dragovich and Kravchenko are nearby. Reznov fought alongside Mason, but went missing during the American incursion into Laos. He reappeared after Mason's helicopter crashes, stating that Woods was a good man and Mason chose his friends well. He met up with Mason again inside the Viet Cong tunnels. At this point, Swift turned around and asked what was wrong with Mason, seemingly oblivious to his contact with Reznov.
After seemingly being released from captivity and Kravchenko's presumed death, Reznov accompanied Mason in his unauthorized assault on Rebirth Island. The two of them fought their way to Steiner and Reznov proceeded to execute him with a pistol. Mason insisted that it was Reznov who killed Steiner. However, the real events were witnessed by Hudson and Weaver who saw Mason executing Steiner with a pistol while proclaiming himself to be Viktor Reznov.
During Mason's interrogation, Hudson revealed that the real Viktor Reznov was dead for five years, having been killed in the escape from Vorkuta. Having brainwashed Mason, Reznov was able to complete his personal objective of killing Dragovich, Kravchenko and Steiner leading Mason to become obsessed with pursuing them in spite of his other objectives, inadvertently continuing Reznov's posthumous legacy. The Reznov that was witnessed by Mason was a guardian angel-like hallucination, possibly developed by multiple personality disorder.
Due to Mason's contact with the CIA throughout the operation in Vietnam, Reznov is listed in official CIA files as both the defector and a member of the SOG team. However, once Hudson and Weaver realized that he was never there, they marked him "Deceased". Yet, it remained unclear how he died.
After Mason finally killed Nikita Dragovich, he heard the voice of Reznov congratulating him for doing what he could not accomplish.
In 1986, Alex Mason was sent to Afghanistan along with Frank Woods to obtain intel on Raul Menendez from the Mujahideen. In exchange for the intel, the Mujahideen leader demanded that Mason should help them fight an invasion off by the Soviet military. In the climax of the battle, Mason discovered that Kravchenko was still alive and leading the Soviet attack from within a massive Soviet tank. As Mason fought Kravchenko on top of the tank, the numbers were retriggered inside his head and he heard the voice of Reznov telling him that "Kravchenko must die."
After being captured by Mason and Woods, Kravchenko was interrogated for information that was regarding his connection to Raul Menendez. During the interrogation, Mason was compelled by his numbers brainwashing and the voice of Reznov to kill Kravchenko. The player is given the option of either resisting the brainwashing to hear what Kravchenko knows or giving in and killing him (Immediately). Regardless of their decision, Mason and Woods are betrayed by the Mujahideen, beaten and abandoned in the desert to die. After some period of time passes, Mason saw Reznov, dressed in desert garb, riding up on a horse. Reznov dismounted and offered Mason a drink of water.
In 2025, David Mason and Frank Woods discussed how Alex Mason credited Reznov with saving their lives in the desert on that day. However, Woods dismisses the idea that it was really Reznov, stating that if he had really been there, he would have "stuck around" for them to regain consciousness in order to explain a few things.
