Who dies in CoD Modern Warfare 3?

See you in another reboot.

Ghost staring at the camera in MW2
Image via Activision

Prior to release, several Modern Warfare 3 leaks pointed at main characters biting the dust, and fans finally got the answer to who those would be during the game’s early access. Considering the rebooted series has been a second chance to enjoy the adventures of their favorite characters, seeing them getting the axe too soon can be upsetting.

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The remaining sections of this article will contain HEAVY SPOILERS—consider yourself warned.

MW3 deaths: Who dies in CoD: MW3?

John “Soap” MacTavish gets shot in the head and dies during the MW3 campaign. Herschel Shepherd is the second notable character who dies in MW3 as he gets shot by John Price.

In the same mission Soap dies, John Price also gets wounded in action. Price, Gaz, and Ghost later scatter Soap’s ashes while fondly remembering MacTavish.

Soap (left) and Price (right), two main characters in the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare franchise, wearing tactical military equipment and moving underground in a tunnel holding weapons.
Not everyone is making it out alive. Image via Activision

Modern Warfare does not usually kill off characters all the way. Some who die come back in later games like Zakhaev’s son who reappeared in the Zombies storyline after ‘dying’ in Modern Warfare Remastered.

Background on the characters who die in MW3

MW3 seems like it is going in the direction of permanently killing off beloved characters including John “Soap” MacTavish which is one of the saddest deaths in MW3. He was a member of Task Force 141 at the beginning of MW2 alongside Ghost and Roach and fought from Russia to Brazil. Players have been through a lot with Soap as he was a playable character in the first and second Modern Warfare.

Herschel Shepherd, the second character who suddenly dies in MW3 was the secondary antagonist of the Modern Warfare franchise. He was head of Task Force 141 and had an obsession on ending Vladimir Makarov, the Russian high-ranked mercenary. He first appeared in MW2 and kept his title as antagonist in MW3, 2011.

In addition to gameplay twists that come at the expense of beloved characters, fans will also get to play the MW3 campaign’s version of ‘No Russian,’ the memorable MW2 mission from 2009. Sadly, players will be alone in these adventures since there isn’t co-op support in Modern Warfare 3’s campaign.

Once you’re done with the campaign, you can jump into multiplayer action. MW3’s servers can go down during the launch period or major patch releases, so you might need to wait longer than expected to get into a match in times of high demand.

Author
Image of Gökhan Çakır
Gökhan Çakır
Gökhan is a Staff Writer and Fortnite Lead at Dot Esports. Gökhan graduated as an industrial engineer in 2020 and has since been with Dot Esports. As a natural-born gamer, he honed his skills to a professional level in Dota 2. Upon giving up on the Aegis of Champions in 2019, Gökhan started his writing career, covering all things gaming, while his heart remains a lifetime defender of the Ancients.