I read on TV Tropes that XCOM is a deconstruction of a classic 80’s cartoon like G. I. Joe and I honestly can’t deny that.
I mean, you have tons of soldiers in colorful uniforms and costumes going up against bizarre and formulaic aliens.
But all the XCOM games show the absolute horror it would be to fight in such a war- the wacky aliens taken out of a cartoon context are an absolute nightmare to regular soldiers; from the scrawny little Sectoids to the terrifying Sectopods.
Every gadget and fancy firearm you arm your squad is bought on the blood of thousands of soldiers. The energy weapons used by both sides are far from harmless; sometimes they can kill a soldier with a single shot. (Just be glad that, thanks to engine limitations, we’ve not yet seen what a plasma weapon would really do to someone.)
I recently got XCOM 2 for the PS4 because my computer could barely handle it in the first place and it would have no chance to run War of the Chosen, so I went into the character pool and recreated a lot of my favorites from the PC version.
I’ll probably post about each of them individually as time goes on. While they’re not all from the same campaigns, I loved playing all of them! They’re labeled according to which of my 3 playthroughs thus far they were a part of; Alpha, Beta, and Gamma.
Descriptions and bios under the cut.
David “Deacon” Palmer (Canada, Medic/Specialist, Age 42, Beta) - A combat medic from the original XCOM project, David went AWOL after the initial invasion proved to be too much for him to handle. After living as a drifter for the rest of the invasion he settled down in a small town in rural Ontario, found faith, and became a priest in his new home. When the local resistance set up shop nearby however, the ADVENT retaliation was swift, and David was one of the few survivors. He sought out and joined XCOM not long after, intending to atone for his desertion 20 years prior.
Taryn “Passover” Pax (Israel, Sniper/Sharpshooter, Age 27, Alpha) - When the aliens occupied Tel Aviv in Israel, the local resistance was quickly flushed out and dispersed. As ADVENT worked to seek out the displaced rebels, they found themselves the victims of a streak of assassinations from an unknown, unseen assailant. The locals came to call their savior “Pesach”, the Hebrew word for Passover, in reference to the final plague God called down upon the Egyptians. Taryn Pax, claiming this kills as the mysterious assassin, later enlisted with XCOM after the Tel Aviv resistance was able to recover. It is unknown if the Passover assassinations were the work of one person or several shooters sharing an alias, but most agree that Pax’s skills speak for themselves.
Naomi “Neon” Montefiore (America, Hacker/Specialist, Age 20, Alpha) - As the youngest of five orphaned siblings in ADVENT-occupied Manhattan, Naomi grew up as a loyal citizen of the elders while looking up to her older siblings, particularly her oldest brother Isaac. As she grew up, however, she discovered a penchant for technology and robotics, and as this was expressed with tinkering, Isaac pulled her aside for a private conversation. There he revealed that their mother was an XCOM operative killed in the late days of the invasion, and that he was an agent for the local resistance. Minutes later their door was kicked down as ADVENT peacekeepers stormed the home, and Naomi escaped to the folds of XCOM as Isaac sacrificed himself to ensure the escape of his siblings. It is unknown if the other 3 Montefiore children survived.
Keiji “Hex” Nakamura (Japan, Sniper/Sharpshooter, Age 52, Alpha) - A high-ranking soldier from the original XCOM project, Keiji was Japan’s first and most prestigious offering to the ranks of XCOM during the original invasion. With shooting skills honed to perfection since childhood, Keiji went on to an exemplary service record with XCOM, achieving almost two-hundred confirmed kills before the project’s defeat. He went into hiding and prowled the deserts of New Mexico, eventually becoming one of the first soldiers of the renewed XCOM initiative when he found Bradford near Roswell. He has returned to bring his fury upon the alien menace, and to look out for the younger generation of soldiers as well.
Franz “Deadeye” Richter (Germany, Gunslinger/Sharpshooter, Age 46, Beta) - Franz was a talented soldier in the German army who was passed up in the recruitment drive for XCOM in favor of other recruits. He served the German army during the invasion, but abandoned his post when his home was threatened and escaped with his family. Life on the run, however, was unsustainable, and instead the Richters joined a resistance cell in Northeastern Europe. From there he joined the newly founded XCOM project to take the fight to the aliens. He holds a resentment towards the XCOM organization for ‘abandoning’ the nations of the world in their darkest hour, but is more than happy to oblige their call to arms against the ADVENT occupation.
Mei-Li “Whisper” Jingfei (China, Scout/Ranger, Age 25, Alpha) - Despite having no ties to the original XCOM project, Mei-Li’s parents were wise enough to escape the ADVENT occupation during its early stages in order to join the Chinese resistance. Her parents died in the pursuit of freedom while she was still a teenager, and in order to contribute she became a runner and scout for her resistance cell. She grew to be exceptionally talented for the role, and was specifically sought out by XCOM recruitment efforts to join the fight in earnest.
Ophelia “Phantom” Grey (China, Psionic Operative, Age 17, Beta) - During the long campaign against ADVENT, the XCOM intel team uncovered a signal leading to an alien facility related to the avatar project. Upon raiding the location, soldiers on-site recovered a test subject, unconscious but still alive, and brought her aboard the Avenger to be treated. Ophelia awoke and relayed how she had been a normal citizen under the ADVENT regime until she was inexplicably kidnapped from her home in Seattle and brought to the testing facility, where they subjected her to intense and invasive mind control to unlock her psionic abilities. While the experiments were incomplete at the time of the raid, and while Ophelia’s powers are still developing, it was from her psionic capabilities that Dr. Tygan drew up the plans for the Psi Lab in which to unlock the Psionic potential of soldiers in gentler, more humane ways. Ophelia now serves as her unit’s main psionic operative, and also as the youngest soldier in the XCOM project’s history.
Ryan “Highlander” O’Connell (Scotland, Assault/Ranger, Age 34, Beta) - Ryan was 14 years old when the ADVENT occupation of Earth was instituted, and was 21 when he was incarcerated in a high-security prison after a string of high-profile bombings and other terrorist activities conducted in major Scottish city centers. Within the prison he orchestrated a mass prisoner revolt and destroyed the ADVENT infrastructure from the inside-out, gaining control of the fort and using it the base of a city of convicts. When other prisoners began acting out for leadership roles and larger shares of supplies, O’Connell left out of frustration and lent both his combat skill and boundless anger to the new XCOM project.
Vadim “Doc” Sokolov (Russia, Medic/Specialist, Age 47, Alpha) - Vadim was offered by Russia to the original XCOM project, in a pair along with his twin brother Dmitri, as combat medics. Dmitri was killed in an early mission, codenamed “Operation Devil’s Moon”, along with two additional operatives. Vadim received the news at XCOM headquarters in Roswell soon after, and committed himself to being the model soldier in the fight against the aliens. Throughout the original campaign he was known as an oppressively strict drill sergeant, feared by recruits but respected and thanked by veterans whose survival could often be attributed to his hard work ethic. During the fall of XCOM HQ he was captured and detained by ADVENT as a high-value suspect, but was broken out by XCOM holdouts led by Bradford. He later went on to run a distraction mission during operation Gatecrasher, and then served the new XCOM; once again as a fierce drill sergeant.
Erin “Moonsong” DeCroix (Argentina, Gunslinger/Sharpshooter, Age 30, Beta) - Erin was one of the initial recruits for the new XCOM project, a colleague known to other soldiers as a resistance colony operative out of Argentina. As a rookie she was sent on Operation “Moon Song”, along with five other soldiers, to destroy an alien transmitter beacon. However, the mission took a deadly turn upon the arrival of a sectopod, and Erin escaped as the sole survivor after destroying the beacon via grenade. She adopted the callsign “Moonsong” in memory of her fallen squadmates, and is known as one of the quickest shooters in XCOM’s arsenal.
Martin “Thunder” Bishop (United States, Gunner/Grenadier, Age 32, Beta) - Martin Bishop has perhaps the highest bounty on an XCOM soldier’s head on ADVENT record, and for good reason. After growing up in the ADVENT occupation with undercover former XCOM soldiers as parents, he sought to do more than to hide in the shadows. He instigated the famous Chicago Square Riot in which the civilian populace of occupied Chicago banded together and torched a city block, then claiming the surrounding areas as the base of a resistance cell. Martin, only 19 at the time, took charge of the organized rebel band known as the Chicago Mavericks and earned international notoriety as one of the biggest thorns in ADVENT’s metaphorical side. After 11 years of fighting, the Mavericks’ numbers began to dwindle, and thus Martin took his unit to join the newly formed XCOM. He soon became the poster boy of the resistance, featuring heavily in pro-XCOM propaganda, and is known as one of the fiercest soldiers in XCOM’s roster.
The other day, this man arrived at XCOM. Look at him.
“Fucking wanker calls himself ‘Diamond’,” you might say. I agreed with you. But XCOM needed bodies, so we took him.
You and I were both wrong. Sure, he’s smug. But Diamond Jay Walker’s got it where it counts.
He’s on an op. Team’s doing well, taking some fire but giving it back better. Everyone’s finish up the turn when from the flank appears a goddamn Sectopod.
If you don’t know what that is, well, it’s a goddamn two story tall walking tank. Stuffed full of guns. Super heavy armor. Death on two legs.
Most men would run for cover. Try to find a way to survive.
Not Diamond Jay.
Diamond Jay brought anti-armor rounds.
Now, that alone might not be enough, but he’s going to try. He levels his plasma shotgun, pulls the trigger.
Critical hit. Half the mechanical monster’s health is gone.
Most men would stop there. Not Diamond Jay. He picked up a little cross class talent.
He fires again.
Critical hit.
The Sectopod explodes.
And that, my friends, is why Diamond Jay Walker gets free drinks whenever he damn well pleases.
