Viktor Reznov

Captain Viktor Reznov (Russian: Виктор Резнов) was a renowned Russian squad leader of the Red Army during World War II. He had a large influence on the Nova 6 Crisis of 1968, despite being dead at the time. He also impacted the decorated CIA black ops operative Alex Mason's life after his death.

Early life
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 the sound of his music even years later. His father had his throat slit by a German while he slept, one of the many reasons Viktor hated the German soldiers.

Battle of Stalingrad
On September 17, 1942, Sergeant Viktor Reznov served as a sniper trying to assassinate the German general Heinrich Amsel, the "Architect of Stalingrad's misery", amidst the scattered and defeated Russian forces. On his own for three days, Reznov had tracked Amsel's movements and planned to assassinate him. 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 meet each other, with Reznov explaining his situation to Dimitri. Reznov, who can no longer snipe precisely as a marksman due to his injured hand and blown off trigger finger, gives Petrenko his scoped Mosin-Nagant rifle, and asks him to eliminate the general. Reznov guides Dimitri on killing a few German soldiers as German bombers fly overhead, to shroud out the noise of the gunshots. He leads him through Stalingrad, dueling against a German sniper, and then dispatching a whole German platoon with multiple soldiers equipped with M2 flamethrowers.

Then, they are saved by Petrenko's squad led by Daletski, and continue with them on an assault against a German communication post. After fierce fighting, Petrenko kills Amsel, which gives Reznov a hearty chuckle. They are soon attacked by German Panzers and soldiers. Reznov holds off numerous German soldiers before he jumps in a canal, with Dimitri soon following him.

Battle of Berlin
Three years later, on April 18, 1945 in Seelow Heights, Germany, Soviet troops are pushing towards Berlin. Sergeant Reznov along with a new recruit Chernov comes to rescue the captured Dimitri Petrenko from 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 Wehrmacht soldiers. When a T-34 tank blows a hole in the house where Petrenko was being interrogated, Reznov and his men put down several injured Germans with vicious prejudice. Reznov handed Petrenko a rifle and told Pretrenko to kill the remaining German soldiers, even though they were extremely wounded and already bleeding to death. Petrenko executed one and left the other for dead. Later on, the men were tasked with executing several Germans who were surrendered: Reznov ordered Petrenko to shoot them, but he instead chose to burn them to death with a molotov cocktail. Chernov grew to dislike Petrenko, who, having witnessed many atrocities against his people during the war, had a penchant for revenge and violence. Reznov, however, never saw this viscous side of Petrenko, instead viewing him as a national hero through-and-through. During the final battle near the Reichstag, Reznov orders Chernov to at least die for his country, if he cannot kill for it, giving him the Russian flag that must be planted on the top of the Reichstag, because Chernov was writing in his diary. Reznov also states that "no one will ever read this." After Chernov had been grievously burned by a flamethrower, he takes Chernov's diary and states that "someone should read this," contrary to what he had said earlier. Chernov died later on, greatly affecting Reznov. Another soldier carried the flag to the top of the roof but is killed before being able to plant it. Reznov then 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 with a machete 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 that he always survives. He then cuts the rope 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 cannot 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 deployed to the Arctic Circle to capture the Nazi scientist Steiner, the mastermind behind Nova-6, a nerve toxin 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 lead the way into the hold of the frozen vessel, discovering that the Germans were planning on using long-range V2 rockets to send Nova-6 to 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 escapes the same fate by the timely arrival of British commandos also seeking to capture or destroy the secret Nazi nerve toxin. He then decides that the weapon is too powerful for either side to wield. Reznov leads his small group of soldiers out of the vessel, killing both British and Russian soldiers in their escape. He manages to arm explosives to sink the ship under the ice, hoping to prevent anyone from using the toxin ever again.

Imprisonment in Vorkuta and death
Reznov was captured and sent to a prison camp in Vorkuta, and remained there for 18 years. There, he became a companion to an American prisoner, Alex Mason, 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 had sacrificed himself to free Mason, stating that Mason deserved the freedom knowing 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 was killed by the pursuing soldiers.

Mind game and legacy
Years later during the Vietnam War, the SOG was dispatched to Hue City to meet up with a Russian defector carrying an important dossier on Nova-6. To Mason's surprise, the defector appeared to be Reznov. In reality, this was simply Reznov's programming at work. 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 that Mason had chosen his friends well. He met up with Mason again inside the Viet Cong tunnels. At this point, an allied soldier nicknamed Swift turned around and asked what was wrong with Mason, oblivious to his mental contact with Reznov.

After 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 had been 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 witnessed by Mason was a guardian angel-like hallucination, possibly developed by multiple personality disorder. 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 Mujahadeen. In exchange for the intel, the Mujahadeen leader demanded that Mason help them fight off an invasion by the Soviet military. In the climax of the battle, Mason discovered Lev 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 regarding his connection to Raul Menendez. During the interrogation, Mason was compelled by his numbers brainwashing and the voice of Reznov to kill Kravchenko. Mason and Woods are betrayed by the Mujahadeen, 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 discuss how Alex Mason credited Reznov with saving their lives in the desert that day. However, Woods dismisses the idea that it was really Reznov, instead believing it to have been anonymous help from passing travelers (although he admits the he himself doesn't remember).