Soap MacTavish

Soap MacTavish
Call of Duty character
The character as he appears in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
First appearance	Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007)
Last appearance	Call of Duty: Warzone (2020)
Created by	Infinity Ward
Portrayed by	Neil Ellice (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, facial model)
Voiced by	Kevin McKidd (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, 3) Neil Ellice (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
In-universe information
Full name	John MacTavish
Nickname	Soap MacTavish
Gender	Male
Occupation	British Army, SAS, Task Force 141
Nationality	Scotland

John "Soap" MacTavish is a fictional character and protagonist in the Call of Duty story arc Modern Warfare. He first appears as a main playable character in the 2007 video game Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare where he is part of the 22nd Special Air Service (SAS) regiment as a sniper and demolitions expert. He later appears in the sequel Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, released in November 2009, as both an NPC and as one of the playable characters. He also appeared in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, released in November 2011. In both games John "Soap" MacTavish plays the role of Captain and Field Commander of Task Force 141 along with Captain John Price who also appears alongside him in the original three titles. Soap was well received by critics and became one of the most popular Call of Duty characters, especially its death scene at Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Soap has also made a cameo appearance in the 2019 reboot title Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and its battle royale companion mode Call of Duty: Warzone, where he is featured as a playable character in the multiplayer modes.

Overview[]

John "Soap" MacTavish plays a key role in the storyline of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare where he is on the front lines of the fight against the Ultra-nationalists as part of the SAS, more specifically Captain Price's Bravo Team. In Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the player experiences the storyline through the eyes of Soap. However, certain missions were played from a different characters perspective. Soap appears to be modeled after the character "Lake" in the 2003 movie Tears of the Sun.^[1]

The later games present MacTavish as a non-playable character (NPC) that the playable character fights alongside. However, in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 the player takes control of MacTavish in the final three missions. In the final game in the series, MacTavish appears as a playable character only for the first mission then reverts to an NPC for the remainder of the storyline.

MacTavish is later killed in action during the course of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 after an explosion where he experiences massive blood loss, whilst on a mission to assassinate Vladimir Makarov, a continuing antagonist of the series appearing in all three titles. MacTavish is voiced by Scottish actor Kevin McKidd in Modern Warfare 2 and Modern Warfare 3.^[2]

The developers of Call of Duty: Ghosts added a DLC (Downloadable Content Package) which allowed the player to play as the iconic character called the Soap Legend Pack which was released in April 2014.^[3]

The fourth season of Call of Duty: Mobile features Soap as a playable avatar upon purchase of the season battle pass.^[4]

In the 2019 reboot title Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Soap was first teased during the ending of the singleplayer campaign as a potential recruit for Task Force 141. In a story cinematic for the battle royale companion game Call of Duty: Warzone, Soap made his first appearance in voice only, portrayed by Neil Ellice. In August 2021, Soap was added to Modern Warfare and Warzone as a playable Operator character.

Appearances[]

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare[]

MacTavish is first introduced in the opening mission, after having been selected for the 22nd SAS, based at Hereford. He is introduced to fellow squadmates as well as his new commanding officer, Captain John Price, where he undergoes a routine training exercise in the killing house before proceeding on a mission to infiltrate a container ship in the Bering Strait and retrieve a nuclear device. He is part of the team responsible for the capture and execution of Khaled Al-Asad, the man responsible for the detonation of a similar nuclear device in an unnamed Middle Eastern country, and also the death of Imran Zakhaev, the man responsible for providing Al-Asad nuclear weapons. Soap is part of Bravo Team, which works with US Marine Force Recon in disabling nuclear missiles which Zakhaev launched at the shores of the United States, where he later kills Zakhaev after an Mi-24 Hind destroys a major bridge on their evacuation route. Soap and Price are barely spared the untimely death their squad received when a diversion created by Russian loyalists buys Soap time sufficient to kill Zakhaev and two soldiers with Price's M1911 pistol.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2[]

John "Soap" MacTavish as he appears in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Soap makes his appearance in Modern Warfare 2 as Captain of Task Force 141, a promotion he received in the aftermath of Operation Kingfish, where Price was captured and taken to a gulag in eastern Russia after an attempt on the life of Vladimir Makarov, Zakhaev's former top lieutenant. He appears on the mission "Cliffhanger" as an NPC, assisting the player's character, Gary "Roach" Sanderson. In the following mission where the player controls Roach, MacTavish and his team capture the right-hand man of an arms dealer and interrogate him, which then leads them to hunt for Alejandro Rojas, whom they captured in time, which leads to the rescue of Captain Price – the man Makarov hates most. In the final three missions of the game, he and Price discover that their commanding officer, Lt. General Shepherd had double-crossed them, but are unable to warn their team (Ghost and Roach) in time and they are subsequently killed. After battling through a massive battalion of armed military contractors (dubbed Shadow Company,) Soap attempts to kill Shepherd with his combat knife, but Shepherd manages to stab him in the chest. With Shepherd distracted by a hand to hand duel with Price, and with what little strength he has left, Soap pulls the knife from his chest and throws it, directly hitting Shepherd in his eye and killing him instantly. Price patches up Soap as their friend Nikolai lands near their pickup point and extracts them to safety, setting the stage for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3[]

Hours after being extracted from Site Hotel Bravo, Task Force 141 has been disavowed and a dying Soap has been extracted to a Russian loyalist holdout in India. With Makarov on their trail to tie up loose ends and a quick patch job by a loyalist doctor, loyalist Yuri joins Bravo Team in escaping the relentless assault by Russian ultranationalists loyal to Makarov to lay low while Russia is engaged in all-out combat with the United States across the eastern seaboard. Sometime later, Price contacts former 141 operator Sandman whom they worked with during Operation Kingfish for assistance with leads on Makarov's location, as well as SAS commanding officer MacMillan, Price's former captain in the SAS with whom he worked during the initial attempt to kill Imran Zakhaev 20 years prior.^[a] After retrieving intel from a number of sources and with help from loyalist Kamarov, the team is able to lock down Makarov's location in a martial law run-down Prague, in the Czech Republic, where Makarov is expected to attend a high-level meeting with other senior officials in his organization. Makarov, however, is aware that 141 is in the city, and, after letting Yuri know he shouldn't have come after them, activates bomb charges intended to kill Soap and Yuri both. Soap saves Yuri's life by pushing him out of the window at the last moment, and is then jettisoned himself from a very high elevation, at which point Soap's previous knife wound is reopened. During an attempted extraction, Soap dies from massive blood loss moments after informing Price that Makarov knows Yuri. Soap is later mentioned by Price when the latter calls MacMillan to let him know that Soap has died and pleads for help in finding Makarov's location. He is mentioned one final time at the beginning of the last mission of the game by Price, who the player takes control of, when he and Yuri suit up in EOD armor, says "This is for Soap."

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare / Call of Duty: Warzone[]

Following the death of General Roman Barkov, Captain John Price meets up with Kate Laswell to discuss the formation of Task Force 141, in preparation against the Russian terrorist Victor Zakhaev. Price receives the dossiers of several potential recruits from Laswell, among which John "Soap" MacTavish was named. At some unknown point during 2020, Soap is officially recruited to join TF141, though he does not participate in the operations in Verdansk alongside Price and the other Task Force members. After Price successfully stops Victor Zakhaev from launching nuclear missiles to destroy Verdansk, he is contacted by Soap, who requests assistance.

Other appearances[]

Due to the popularity of the character, an Xbox 360 user avatar was released for purchase, which allows players to look like Soap.^[5] Similar to the Call of Duty character Captain Price, MacTavish appears in a video posted on YouTube by Machinima entitled "Captain MacTavish Plays Halo 3", as part of their Call of Duty and Halo crossover series. The character also appears in the Soap Legend Pack, a DLC for Call of Duty: Ghosts where Soap is a playable multiplayer character. This was released on 22 April 2014.^[6] On 22 November a mobile app designed for iOS and Windows Phone entitled Call of Duty: Heroes was released which featured Soap as a character that the player could control once unlocked.^[7][8] The fourth season of Call of Duty: Mobile features Soap as a playable avatar if the player purchases the Disavowed Battle Pass.^[4] The season also included weapons, equipment and vehicles with MacTavish themed skins.^[9] In the ending cinematic of Warzone, Modern Warfare's battle royale gamemode, Soap is heard interacting with Captain Price requesting for back-up.^[10]

Reception[]

The character was well received by many fans of the Call of Duty franchise. An online poll on the Guinness World Records 2011 Gamers' Edition which involved over 13,000 gamers voting has placed John "Soap" MacTavish in 12th place out of a list of 50 fictional game characters.^[11] Matthew Wilkinson of TheGamer has claimed that Soap is third greatest Call of Duty character of all time by stating "Captain MacTavish, who is better known as 'Soap' to most gamers, was not only the greatest character in the history of Call of Duty (to this point), but he has also become one of the most beloved characters in gaming, full stop."^[12] Gus Turner of Complex has included Soap on his "25 Dead Video Game Characters We Wish Were Still Here", and by stating "After playing with him through multiple CoD titles, losing Soap was like saying goodbye to an old friend."^[13] Tom Senior of PC Gamer has described Soap's death at Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 as "The most crushing video game deaths.",^[14] while Mike Fahey of Kotaku has described it as "One Of Call Of Duty’s Greatest Heroes that died", and stated that "He’s one of the series most recognisable characters, and he will be missed."^[15]

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

• John "Soap" MacTavish at IMDb
• Giant Bomb: John MacTavish