Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance/Characters

Boris Vyacheslavovich Popov
"Voiced by: Takayuki Sugo (JP), J.B. Blanc (EN)"

""Kept you waiting, eh?""

The head of Maverick Security Consulting. A former special forces officer for the Soviet Union, he did some "gray-area mercenary jobs he regretted afterwards and Maverick was started as an attempt to make up for that.


 * The Atoner: Maverick is his attempt to atone for his shady mercenary past by refocusing those talents in a more upright/above board operation.
 * Benevolent Boss: To the extent that is practical. He tries to take care of his employees as much as possible and provide the best that he can afford with Maverick's budget.
 * Badass: We did mention his spec ops background, didn't we?
 * Badass Normal: Just an ordinary human, but used a .50 caliber machine gun and later a rocket launcher to save Raiden's ass during the prologue.
 * Retired Badass: Mostly, at least from the active duty stuff, the above trope moment being the exception.
 * Da Chief: Is a little pissed when Raiden tenders an abrupt resignation notice (though he understands why), but decides to unofficially support him anyway.
 * Gratuitous Russian: Is fluent in English, but his speech drops a few articles and he lapses into Russian at a few intervals.
 * Mission Control: Officially during the first half of the game.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: Run a PMC, but does so as Honest Corporate Executive that looks out for his employees best interests, mostly as a conscious contrast to the less scrupulous PMCs
 * Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right: Officially, he has to condemn Raiden's action as unlawful and unsanctioned by his company. Unofficially, he decides to help Raiden anyway because it's the right thing to do, even increase the security on their communications to make sure Maverick can continue to provide covert support.

Kevin Washington
"Yuuichi Nakamura (JP), Phil La Marr (EN)"

""Time to increase the peace.""

A former member of the DDR NGO affliated with the UN, he was convinced to join Maverick after seeing how Boris was trying to run a PMC in as benevolent and above board manner as possible. Does a lot of the research and arms procurement for Maverick and serves as Raiden's main intel support.


 * Black and Nerdy: Not as much of a geek as the trope would imply, but he provides a lot of geographic and cultural intel.
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * To Be Lawful or Good: Is one of the support team least on board with, but eventually realizes the necessity of doing so, eventually throwing aside any remain reservations as.

Courtney Collins
"Voiced by: Miyuki Sawashiro (JP), Kari Wahlgren (EN)"

""Energy consumption, check. Damage levels, check. Blood pressure, brain waves, blood sugar - check, check, check. All this monitoring equipment, I got a better view than if I was standing next to you.""

A data analyst for Maverick. Was a university student studying for an MBA at the same place as Kevin, but was convinced by him to join Maverick instead. Her reason for sticking around is basically experiencing a PMC from a civilian perspective.


 * Alliterative Name
 * Big Eater: Makes a lot of comments about the food in the regions Raiden visits and complains about she's has considered cyborgification so she can eat whatever she wants without attendant weight gain.
 * Expy: Fulfills most of the same roles as Mei Ling and Paramedic.
 * Dojikko: The Running Gag involving her coffee cup.

Wilhelm Voigt ("Doktor")
"Voiced by: Mugihito (JP), Jim Ward (EN)"

""Ich liebe Kapitalismus! Had the wall come down a few years earlier, I would have a Nobel Prize on my shelf.""

A former GDR (East Germany) scientist who has contracted with Maverick as their cybernetics specialist.

"And people say Germans aren't funny."
 * Badass: Yes, really.
 * Badass Driver: Most people would piss themselves over flying a transport chopper with light offensive capability into a warzone. Not only does he not do that.
 * Bloodier and Gorier: Remarks on how Americans seem to enjoy that sort of thing.
 * Cool Old Guy
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Do Not Call Me Paul: Prefers being called "Doktor" instead of his real name.
 * Germanic Depressive: Defied. In fact, not only does he have major sense of humor, Raiden lampshades it with:


 * Herr Doktor
 * Insufferable Genius: Unintentionally, due to his tendency to monologue, which tends to annoy Raiden.
 * Mad Scientist: Tends to invoke some of the tropes, but he's actually fairly sane and surprisingly ethical, even showing disgust at the breaches of morality Desperado will resort to . Even better,
 * Only Known by Their Nickname: His real name is almost never used. In fact, he prefers to be called "Doktor" anyway.
 * Transhuman: Believes strongly in cyberization, but has yet to have it done to himself because he doesn't know whom to trust to do the job aside from himself.

Samuel Rodrigues ("Jetstream Sam")
"Voiced by: Hiroaki Hirata (JP), Philip-Anthony Rodriguez (EN)"

""I see... you deny your weapon its purpose! It yearns to bathe in the blood of your enemies, but you hold it back!""


 * A Day In The Limelight: Playable in the Jetstream DLC.
 * Afraid Of Blood: More like he has an aversion to getting it all over himself if he can avoid it.
 * An Arm And A Leg: Has a cybernetic right arm in main game. The Jetstream DLC reveals how he got it.
 * Ancestral Weapon: Sam's Murasama has apparently been in the Rodrigues family for generations.
 * Anti-Villain:
 * Badass: No question about it.
 * Badass Normal: All the awesome of Raiden, minus almost all the enhancements Raiden had.
 * Badass Biker:
 * One Man Army: His specialty. The Jetstream DLC shows he's much like Raiden in this regard.
 * Barehanded Blade Block: Does this in QTE in his boss battle.
 * Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: The Jetstream DLC
 * Blood Knight: As Kevin puts it in a Codec call, he's basically a Wild West cowboy like guy who challenges people simply for the challenge alone.
 * But Not Too Foreign: Brazilian-Japanese
 * Catch Phrase: "Let's Dance!"
 * Curb Stomp Battle: See Hopeless Boss Fight for the details.
 * Dead Man Writing:
 * Defeat Equals Friendship:
 * Expy: Looks like Mitsurugi, even uses a similar fighting style.
 * Facepalm Of Doom: One of his fighting moves when temporarily disarmed
 * Fallen Hero: One of his vocations in life was kicking the ass of criminal scum. Unfortuna
 * For Great Justice: Part of his motivations in the Jetstream DLC.
 * Genre Savvy: Probably one of the few MGS characters in the entire franchise to figure debates about ideals can be skipped and that they might as well fight.
 * Go Out With A Smile:
 * Hoist By His Own Petard:
 * Hopeless Boss Fight: Sam will own Raiden so hard at the beginning of the game, no matter how hard you try.
 * Iaijutsu Practitioner: His sword was designed so it fires the blade outwards out of the sheathe, allowing him to quick draw extremely quickly.
 * In Series Nickname: "Jetstream Sam."
 * His Winds of Destruction designation is "Minuano
 * I Shall Taunt You: A playable skill of his in the Jetstream DLC. Enemies attack with more strength but with lower defense.
 * Katanas Are Just Better: Literally.
 * Laughably Anti-Villainous: He does have a good sense of humor, even as someone on the bad guy team.
 * Lightning Bruiser: About as fast as Raiden, but with some more brute force moves.
 * Master Swordsman: So good, he basically does most to all of the awesome stuff Raiden does with almost no enhancement aside from his own skill..
 * Nice Guy: Provided you aren't on his shit list, he's a pretty nice guy.
 * Not In This For Your Revolution: Joined Desperado to find a Worthy Opponent,
 * Older Is Better: His blade was made an actual sword master, hence was of higher quality, which is mentioned to be a key factor in making a high performance HF blade.
 * Only Known By Their Nickname: Called "Jetstream Sam" or "Sam" most of the time.
 * OOC Is Serious Business: The Breaking Speech he did to Raiden is incredibly OOC for Sam according to Bladewolf.
 * Pet The Dog: When Raiden meets before their final duel, he's petting Bladewolf.
 * Practical Taunt: See I Shall Taunt You for the details.
 * Razor Wind: One of his playable moves in the DLC.
 * Ronin: What he was was before the main game.
 * Redemption Equals Death:
 * The Rival: To Raiden.
 * Shadow Archetype: The Jetstream DLC shows he was a lot like Raiden.
 * Simple Yet Awesome: Instead of flipping around like Raiden, he just kicks his enemies really hard during Zandatsu QTE's.
 * Sword Drag: Done in one of his special attacks.
 * Take Up My Sword:
 * Weapon Across The Shoulder: An occasional
 * You Killed My Father: Sam's dad was killed by one of his former students. Sam's response: Take a Level In Badass to Master Swordsman and Pay Evil Unto Evil.
 * Troll: Seems to enjoy screwing with his foes' heads, as evidenced in the beginning of the game where he makes most of Maverick's troops his bitch and gives them the mother of all Trollfaces. Tends to do this in most fights with his taunting skill . Hell, he manages to epically troll Armstrong
 * Troll: Seems to enjoy screwing with his foes' heads, as evidenced in the beginning of the game where he makes most of Maverick's troops his bitch and gives them the mother of all Trollfaces. Tends to do this in most fights with his taunting skill . Hell, he manages to epically troll Armstrong

IF Prototype LQ-84i ("Bladewolf")

 * A Day In The Limelight: In the Blade Wolf DLC, which explains his backstory in more detail.
 * Apologetic Attacker: "I am sorry. You must die."
 * Badass
 * Badass Automaton
 * Cultured Badass: Tends to find lowbrow humor and crude people unfunny and repulsive.
 * Canine Companion: To Raiden post-defeat.
 * Canis Major: It's robot wolf with HF Blades, including a massive chainsaw tail.
 * Calling Your Attacks: "Combination Attack!"
 * Chainsaw Good: His chainsaw tail in the Blade Wolf DLC and pre-Heel Face Turn.
 * Contemplate Our Navels: Does this a great deal with Raiden during the course of the story.
 * Cool Pet: Sam and Sunny seem to feel this way about him, which he doesn't object to. Raiden never regards him as a "pet", though.
 * Cuteness Proximity: Sunny reacted to him like a kid would when their parents bring home a puppy. Sam even regards him affectionately as "Wolfy".
 * Cyber Cyclops / Faceless Eye: Pre-Heel Face Turn, it had a head with a glowing lamp like interface around it's vocal center. It is later reshaped to have more wolf like appearance, complete with ears and teeth.
 * Defeat Means Friendship: Joins Raiden in gratitude after the Desperado Restraining Bolt is removed by Maverick when they rebuild him. Has a similar respect for Sam in the Jetstream DLC.
 * Expy: Word Of God states Bladewolf was inspired by Friender.
 * Fragile Speedster: Raiden and Sam are more durable than Bladewolf, at least when Bladewolf is playable.
 * Heel Face Turn: From reluctant Desperado grunt to Raiden's loyal ally.
 * Hot Blade: His knives are referred to as such.
 * Humans Are The Real Monsters: Believes he lacks true human brutality, which lessen his ability to be truly effective in battle.
 * I'm Taking Him Home with Me!: Sunny thinks that Bladewolf is cute and expresses an interest in bringing him home with her, so long as Raiden is OK with it, of course. Raiden makes it known that Wolf isn't really his "pet" and that Wolf follows Raiden around of his own free will, Raiden does nothing to make Wolf help him. Ultimately it is Wolf's decision to make... and judging by the ending, Wolf decided to take Sunny up on her offer.
 * Interspecies Friendship: With Raiden, Sam, and Sunny. All three see him as more than just an AI with a wolflike form, and he has reasons to like all three in return.
 * Kick The Dog: The recipient of this treatment twice. First, at the end of the Blade Wolf DLC, when . Second, just before the final battle, when
 * My Master Right Or Wrong: Clearly is disturbed and concerned with Raiden's more erratic actions, but refuses to quit helping him despite his reservations due to the debt he owes the former.
 * No Sense Of Humor: He understands Raiden's jokes just fine, he just doesn't see the humor in most of them.
 * Pet The Dog: Raiden does this him multiple times by providing him emotional support, and is the recipent of this trope in a more literal sense from both Sam and Sunny.
 * Punch Clock Villain: Quickly realizes he wants no part of working for Desperado, but has no choice if he wants to survive. When the Restraining Bolts are removed by Maverick, he immediately turns on his former masters.
 * Restraining Bolt: Desperado had him wired up so that he'd be reduced to a mindless AI if he disobeyed orders. This feature is removed when Maverick rebuilds.
 * Robot
 * Robot Buddy: Post Heel Face Turn.
 * Robot Wolf: Kevin lampshades this by calling him "K-9000."
 * Spell My Name With An "S": "Bladewolf", not "Blade Wolf", though the DLC is oddly referred to as the latter.
 * Super Prototype: For the mass-produced LQ-84 Fenrir UGs.
 * Super Speed: Even faster than Raiden.
 * Talking Animal: While robotic, he is equipped with a vocal interface for audio communication.
 * Wake Up Call Boss: You'd better have a good grasp on how to parry attacks before fighting him, or he will destroy you.
 * Wetware CPU: Not in the literal sense, but his neural AI was made to emulate a human brain as much as possible, which means that due to a lack of basic database memory, he has to remember most beings by XIFF code instead of visual recognition (and his ability to remember faces is on par with the average human). On the flipside, this means he is capable of full sapience and having a conscience, though he can only make decisions based on available data and hypothesis like the average human.
 * Weaponized Animal:
 * Beware My Stinger Tail + Chainsaw Good: Has a HF Blade chainsaw on its back.
 * Flechette Storm: Throws high frequency heated knives using his tail.
 * We Can Rebuild Him: Raiden had Doktor rebuild him after their fight as a more fearsome looking wolf like being.
 * What Measure Is A Non Human: Is regarded even worse than a third part contractor by Desperado and thus kept ignorant of almost all their plans.
 * Win Your Freedom: Wanted this, and eventually got it after he and Raiden fought when Raiden brought him back to be rebuilt minus Desperado's Restraining Bolt.

Sundowner
""I'M FUCKIN' INVINCIBLE!""
 * American Accents: Speaks like a Texan, though he's from Alabama.
 * Ax Crazy
 * Bald Of Evil
 * Battle In The Rain: Fights Raiden during a thunderstorm.
 * Complete Monster: Gleefully admits he enjoys committing war crimes because he enjoys the business of committing war, morality be damned,.
 * Dual-Wielding
 * Child Soldiers: Purposely trying to make them.
 * Combat Pragmatist: None of the Winds of Destruction fight fair, but Sundowner is the least inclined to fight fair, using hostages, heavy firepower, and even destroying the battle arena you're in just to gain the upper hand.
 * Corrupt Hick: A bloodthirsty lunatic from the Deep South.
 * Dirty Coward: For a guy with a lengthy military record, his only notable kill in story was a defenseless civilian, and he can't even fight you without a lot of gimmicky shit to stack the odds heavily in his favor.
 * Famed In Story: Kevin reveals he has lengthy military history that goes back to the 1990's.
 * Hoist By His Own Petard: The gunships that he sics on you can damage him.
 * Hypocrite: Claims Desperado is only a supplier of warfare muscle, even though Desperado is trying to create a need for it by underhanded means.
 * Kids Are Cruel: Believes this is why they make great soldiers.
 * Large And In Charge: Built like a titanium reinforced keg of beer.
 * Large Ham: Hard to avoid given he's voiced by Crispin Freeman.

""Like I said, kids are cruel, Jack. And I'm very in-touch with my inner child.""
 * Jerkass
 * Luckily My Shield Will Protect Me: Only from the front, and even they can be overcome by wise use of Blade Mode. That, or you can flank him.
 * Machete Mayhem: "Bloodlust" (his twin machetes).
 * Mighty Glacier: The slowest of the "Winds of Destruction", though still fairly fast given his size.
 * Psychopathic Manchild: As he puts it:


 * Shield Bash: Uses the shields on his back for offense and defense.
 * Slasher Smile: Whenever he's feeling smug or murderous.
 * Stone Wall: His "fuckin invincibility" is really a bunch of explosive shields he puts in front of himself to prevent frontal assaults.
 * Sweet Home Alabama: Where he's from.
 * The Brute: His fighting style is more about overpowering his foe than outfighting them.
 * The Heavy: The leader of the Winds of Destruction
 * Villain Ball: Stupidly reveals enough info about the Evil Plan that even though he stops short of saying everything, Maverick puts the rest of the pieces together fine on their own.
 * War For Fun And Profit: His raison d'etre.

Mistral
"Voiced by: Romi Park (JP), Salli Saffioti (EN)"

A cyborg commander of Desperado and one of four "Winds of Destruction". Her code name comes from a cold regional winds that blow along the Mediterranean coast of France. Her weapon is "L'Étranger", a dual-bladed staff made from the arms of Dwarf Gekkos that can double as a whip.

""I butchered those fuckers!""
 * Ambiguous Cyborg: Mostly cybernetic, but her bouncy chest area has a lot of people (in and out of universe) convinced she has her own natural torso, as it wouldn't make a lot of sense for her to have an artificial torso be that.....prehensile.
 * Ax Crazy: Clearly enjoys killing, a fact she discovered when she killed the murderers of her parents and then realized she enjoyed the sheer act of killing.
 * Bad Boss: Is a total asshole to Bladewolf, and is not very nice to the Dwarf Gekkos, even sitting on some of them BDSM queen style despite the fact they are buckling under her weight.
 * Blade On A Stick / Whip It Good - The alternating modes of her Weapon of Choice
 * Batman Gambit: Realizes wants his freedom, so she uses the possibility of getting it to achieve her own objectives.
 * Blood Knight: She enjoys killing, and she's disappointed when Raiden's reasons for killing aren't the same.
 * But Not Too Foreign: French-Algerian.
 * Combat Sadomasochist: In BDSM queen style, she gets off having multiple limbs attached to her, moaning in pleasure in the process.
 * Combat Stilettos
 * Cruel and Unusual Death:
 * Dark Action Girl
 * Dark-Skinned Evil Redhead
 * Dying Declaration Of Love:
 * Everything Sounds Sexier In French: Her English VA has a pronounced low octave French accent.
 * Evil Is Petty:
 * Femme Fatale: Invokes this when she spots Raiden when he's doing recon, but facing his direction and blowing him a kiss and a visible heart symbol.
 * Flunky Boss: Her arena has a ton of Dwarf Gekkos running around, which respawn every so often to replenish her weaponry and annoy the player.
 * Go Out With A Smile / Graceful Loser: Doesn't hold any regret when she dies, telling Raiden to keep fighting for what he believes and even leaves a Dying Declaration of Love.
 * Gratuitous French: Speaks English mostly, but adds a lot of French words in her speech.
 * Grievous Harm With A Body: Throws the Dwarf Gekkos at Raiden like bombs, since each has a detonator inside them.
 * Interplay Of Sex And Violence: We did mention she regards battle with the same enjoyment as someone would hardcore BDSM, right?
 * Jiggle Physics: Her chest does this in cutscenes. Tips off Doktor it's probably her natural torso.
 * Kick The Dog: Practically everything she does in the Blade Wolf DLC is this trope incarnate. Also tends to be rather callous to the Dwarf Gekkos, ripping off their arms or destroying them if they failed to meet her needs.
 * Male Gaze: The camera does a lot of panning to her chest and leg area.
 * Manipulative Bitch: Again, the Blade Wolf DLC, this is her role.
 * Ms. Fanservice: Her dress sense is modesty, but this soundly canceled out by her figure and the form fitting bodysuit. Is definitely aware of this trope, as she openly flirts with Raiden before their fight.
 * Multi Armed And Dangerous
 * Not So Different: Shares her past with Raiden of being a child soldier. He sympathizes a little, until she admits she gleefully murdered her parents' killers. Granted, so did he, but it was her obvious bloodlust that ended any further sympathy.
 * Peek A Bangs
 * Reality Ensues: Has her health drop rapidly if you striker her, which would make a lot of sense if her torso is her real one.
 * Red Eyes Take Warning: Seen in game trailers and when she attaches the Dwarf Gekko arms to her body.
 * Shout Out: Her weapon and Image Song are basically a giant shout out toward Albert Camus' novel, L'Etranger, which her creators are fans of. Her spider woman like appearance is a reference to similar beings from Japanese mythology, since her creators want to give her a degree of Japanese aesthetic as well.
 * Slipknot Ponytail: Her hair has this effect as the fight with her goes on.
 * The Smurfette Principle: The Winds of Destruction only female member.
 * Sophisticated As Hell: Her intro is pretty calm and effusive until she gets to the part about her family's killers:


 * Spin Attack: One of her special moves with L'Étranger.
 * Statuesque Stunner: 190 cm tall, around 6'3" in height.
 * We Hardly Knew Ye: We don't see her much in the main story, but she does show up more in the Blade Wolf prequel DLC.

Monsoon

 * Sai Guy
 * Villains Out Shopping: When not in combat, he can be amazingly laid back and chill, and most of his involvement in the Jetstream DLC is focused around him when he doesn't sound like a psychopath.

Desperado Scientist

 * Asshole Victim

Prime Minister N'Mani

 * Black Dude Dies First: Though not the very first, that would be a Maverick bodyguard.
 * Nice Guy

Steven Armstrong (SPOILERS!)
"Voiced by: Unsho Ishizuka (JP), Alastair Duncan (EN)"

""Nationalism! Unilateralism! Materialism! Welcome maxims for those with no faith -- without guiding principles of their own. Give yourself up to the whole. No need to better yourself -- you're American! You're "number one"!""

A Senator for Colorado and a candidate for the 2020 Presidential Elections.

""'I have a dream.' That one day every person in this nation will control their own destiny. A nation of the truly free, dammit. A nation of action, not words, ruled by strength, not committee! Where the law changes to suit the individual, not the other way around. Where power and justice are back where they belong: in the hands of the people! Where every man is free to think -- to act -- for himself! Fuck all these limp-dick lawyers and chickenshit bureaucrats. Fuck this 24-hour Internet spew of trivia and celebrity bullshit! Fuck American pride! Fuck the media! FUCK ALL OF IT! America is diseased. Rotten to the core. There's no saving it -- we need to pull it out by the roots. Wipe the slate clean. BURN IT DOWN! And from the ashes a new America will be born. Evolved, but untamed! The weak will be purged and the strongest will thrive -- free to live as they see fit, they'll make America great again! ... In my new America, people will die and kill for what they BELIEVE! Not for money. not for oil! Not for what they're told is right. Every man will be free to fight his own wars!""
 * Adjusting Your Glasses: He does this while Raiden is trying (in vain) to punch a hole through him. He also does as a nonverbal version of "You think that even qualifies as damage?"
 * Affably Evil: Even when he's got the upper hand in a fight, he's willing to be polite. In fact, he spends most of the Jetstream DLC repeatedly being nice to Sam, even as the latter is trying really hard to kill him.
 * He's even civil enough that when it looks like Raiden is about to join him dusts Raiden off and given him a handshakes/brohug.
 * Ambiguous Robots: The line between how far he's a fusion of man and machine is a bit hazy given the level he's infused with nanomachines.
 * An Arm And A Leg: In the Jetstream DLC, Sam takes off his hand and as he does the same to Sam's sword arm.
 * Anti-Villain: Of the "ends justify the means" Well Intentioned Extremist variety. His end game objective is what he truly believes will better America, though he's not above using Desperado to start wars and creating child soldiers as a means to his end of making America a land without any control except what each citizen desires for himself.
 * Awesome McCoolname: Armstrong.
 * Awesome But Impractical: His nanomachine enhanced Super Strength and Nigh Invulnerability have the downside of insane power requirements to activate..
 * BADASS: Probably the biggest badass in the Metal Gear universe based on raw power alone.
 * Authority Equals Asskicking
 * Badass Abnormal: The nanomachines make whatever fighting skills he inherited from his Navy and college football days superhumanly strong. He also can suck the energy out of all nearby power sources to recharge his other powers.
 * Badass Normal: He can pilot a Metal Gear fairly well.
 * Badass Baritone: Possibly a side effect of his Scottish voice actor disguising his accent.
 * Badass Bureaucrat: Though most of his badassery comes from things that aren't centered around paper pushing.
 * Badass Boast: Everything out of his mouth when he's in a fighting mood.
 * Badass In A Nice Suit: Wears a nice suit when you first fight him.
 * Determinator: In the Final Battle, the following events can occur: He can be buried under tons of rubble repeatedly, kicked hard enough in the ribs to crack them and gutpunched/backhanded/smashed across the face numerous times. He also does NOT have pain inhibitors like cyborgs at all..
 * Hidden Badass: At first glance, he looks like someone Raiden could take down easily.
 * Rated M For Manly
 * The Glasses Come Off: He takes off his glasses off when he quits playing around.
 * Bare Fisted Monk
 * Bare Handed Blade Block:
 * Battle Aura: Has one when fighting Raiden on foot. Has an even more impressive one in the Jetstream DLC.
 * : Raiden kills him by
 * Big Bad: Of the entire plot.
 * Body Horror: The nanomachines when activated give his body a freakish appearance that makes him look like he overdosed on steroids several times over.
 * Blood Knight: Totally enjoys getting into a fight.
 * Character Filibuster: Two of them.
 * Cluster F Bomb: Most of what comes out of his mouth.
 * Cool Old Guy: Villainous example.
 * Corrupt Politician: Has links to paid killers and child trafficking.
 * Covered With Scars: Extremely noticable when he goes shirtless.
 * Curb Stomp Battle: Most of the with him are incredibly lopsided in his favor in the main story. In the Jetstream DLC, he isn't even fighting at full strength, and
 * Dark Messiah
 * Deadpan Snarker: When annoyed, his dialogue oozes snark.
 * Even Evil Has Standards: Despite his own willingness to cross lines to achieve his ends, one he refuses to cross is . His own morality and gaols are based on preventing that from EVER happening again.
 * Evil Is Petty: Thinks cherry blossoms are pathethic, calls most forms of transiet beauty 'sissy crap", and threatens to beat the shit out of the guy who came up with it, THEN fire him.
 * Evil Sounds Deep
 * Final Boss: Of the main game and the Jetstream DLC.
 * Final Exam Boss: All the other bosses were basically tests for fighting him.
 * Friendly Enemy: Really wanted Raiden on his side the whole time. Felt the same way about Sam, whom he kept offering employment to in the Jetstream DLC.
 * Forehead Of Doom: His concept art made him look more intelligent, but this was modified to show he was a man of action, not words.
 * Genius Bruiser: A University of Texas graduate who can
 * Good Old Fisticuffs
 * Good Smoking Evil Smoking: The only smoker ingame, and he prefers cigars.
 * Go Out With A Smile:
 * Graceful Loser: See the above trope.
 * Healing Factor:
 * Humongous Mecha:
 * Hidden Depths: Does really good job masking his true beliefs, acting like a neo-Patriot when you first meet . Once Raiden realizes what a hypocrite Armstrong sounds like, he demands the truth. Armstrong obliges by revealing he's the direct opposite of what he claimed originally and was merely faking it so he could achieve his goals.
 * Hopeless Boss Fight: The first two fights with him on foot amount to this.
 * Hulking Out: His powers are activated by doing this.
 * I Know Madden Kombat: Uses a lot of football style charges and kicks in his fighting style.
 * I Am Not Left Handed: Twice. Destroy, he then reveals he can kick your ass on foot. When you get the means to overcome that, he decides to reveal he was holding back his true strength.
 * Instant Armor: A part of his powers involve being able to turn his flesh into this.
 * The Juggernaut
 * Kick The Dog: Literally does this to Bladewolf towards the end of the game.
 * Knight Templar
 * Large And In Charge: Especially when hulked out.
 * Large Ham / Evil Is Hammy: To the point the last thirty minutes of the game is him inhaling massive, pork covered chunks of the scenery.
 * Lantern Jaw Of Justice: Depending on if you agree with his version of "justice".
 * Laughably Evil: Almost everything out of his mouth is delivered in such a sincere yet over the top way you can't help but laugh.
 * Lightning Bruiser
 * Magma Man: His punches can send super heated waves of fire through the ground.
 * Manipulative Bastard: Uses Raiden's attempts to stop his plans and incorporates it into his own, still acheiving the desired psychological effect he was hoping for in the process.
 * Meaningful Name: He has large, muscular arms..
 * Motive Rant:, as shown below:

"Armstrong: "Deep down... we're kindred spirits.... you..... and I.""
 * Nanomachines: The source of most of his powers.
 * Nerd Glasses: Look like the ones issued to military personnel who require glasses, apparently retained from his Navy days.
 * Nigh Invulnerability: His nanomachine enhanced body grants him the ability to withstand extreme amounts of physical trauma,
 * Noble Demon: His means are evil, which even he admits, but he does have some principles and humanity regardless.
 * No Sell: Can shrug off most of Raiden's attacks as Scratch Damage.
 * Not So Different


 * Our Senators Are Different
 * Red Eyes Take Warning: Obscured by his glasses.
 * Selective Magnetism: Seems to have a variation of Monsoon's magnetic powers in the Jetstream DLC.
 * Shadow Archetype: Despite their differing goals, Armstrong points out he and Raiden share some basic personal values.
 * Sir Swears A Lot:
 * Super Strength
 * The Social Darwinist: Wants to redefine American government by these principles.
 * Take Up My Sword:
 * The Unfettered: Claims "In making the mother of all omelets, you can't worry about a few eggs".
 * Unskilled But Strong: Raiden and Sam fight with a lot of finesse. He compensates by being really strong.
 * Villainous Friendship: Sundowner has his trust regarding leading Desperado, Monsoon and he are on speaking terms in the Jetstream DLC, and Mistral apparently has a major crush on him
 * Villain Has A Point: Raiden concedes Armstrong has a good point that "ever man should fight for what they want to believe in",.
 * Villain With Good Publicity: Despite some charges of corruption, he's still considered a major contender for the 2020 presidential elections.
 * Visionary Villain: Wants an America where everyone can decide their own destiny, free of the shackles of anyone telling them what to believe.
 * Walking Spoiler: His first appearance gives no hint as what his real role in the plot is.
 * We Can Rule Together: Attempts this on Raiden after giving him his second Motive Rant. . Attempts a variation on Sam,.
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist: He wants to wipe the slate of American government clean of any corrupting influences, and feels any means, no matter their horror or depravity, are Worth It to achieve that end.
 * Worlds Strongest Man: Even stronger than Raiden is, and Raiden
 * Worthy Opponent: Considers both Raiden and Sam to be worthy foes.
 * Utopia Justifies The Means: Wants to replace America's government with a Social Darwinist one where everyone is free to make their own rules, believing to be an improvement over the current one, which he feels is merely a continuation of the corrupted one left behind by the now defunct Patriots.