Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zadornov
Vladimir Zadornov, circa 1974.
Biographical information
Also known as	Ramón Gálvez Mena
Nationality	Soviet Russian
Died	Late 1974 Mother Base, Caribbean Sea
Physical description
Eye color	Blue
Hair color	Gray
Ethnicity	Caucasian
Career and family information
Affiliations	KGB U.N. University for Peace
Occupation	Intelligence operative
Metal Gear series information
Appearances	Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
Created by	Hideo Kojima
Designed by	Yoji Shinkawa (character design) Ashley Wood (MPW cutscenes)
Voiced by (English)	Steven Blum
Voiced by (Japanese)	Houchu Otsuka
Motion capture	Takashi Kubo

Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zadornov,^[1] also known as Ramón Gálvez Mena, was an intelligence operative for the KGB, who secretly assisted in the development of the Peace Walker Project. His first name Vladimir has the modern interpretation "Ruler of Peace" in Russian.

BiographyEdit

Early life and careerEdit

At some point in his life, Vladimir Zadornov lost his right hand during a KGB mission. Afterwards, he was awarded both a medal from the Security-General of the Soviet Union and an advanced prosthetic hand that had the ability to produce a flame so he could light cigars or cigarettes. However, he had to quit smoking after it ruined his lungs, so he barely had a use for it. Sometime later, Zadornov departed for Costa Rica on a KGB mission to conquer Costa Rica so that the Cold War would end with the Soviets winning. Zadornov later assumed the identity of "Ramón Gálvez Mena," a professor of the yet-to-be-sanctioned University for Peace, who had been teaching about peace since the 1950s,^[2] and had fought repeatedly to have the university officially sanctioned.

Peace Walker IncidentEdit

Main Article

In November 1974, Zadornov and fellow KGB operative, Paz Ortega Andrade, traveled to Colombia to meet with the Militaires Sans Frontières, posing as Professor Gálvez and his student. He explained to them that a security company had arrived in Costa Rica and was engaging in suspicious activities. When Naked Snake (Big Boss) asked if they were rebels who had fled from Nicaragua, he stated that they weren't as the force was far too organized to be a guerilla group. He explained that the force claimed that they were an international security assessing company hired by the Costa Rican government, but he stated that they couldn't be that, as they were shipping in tons of the latest equipment by the shipload. He feared that the CIA was responsible.

Gálvez asked the Militaires Sans Frontières to help remove the invasion force from Costa Rica, offering them an offshore production facility in the Caribbean sea as a forwarding base in exchange for their help (as well as a chopper for transport). While Kazuhira Miller seemed willing to go with the offer, Snake was reluctant to participate, as he didn't want his unit to become a pack of "Dogs of War" and tells Gálvez that force is most likely not going to do any good, so he might need to do a diplomatic solution, even suggesting to him that he tell the Costa Rican government that he can offer a negotiator that he knew to help them settle the dispute. Gálvez revealed that he never came on the Government's orders, and then explained about Paz's capture by the same force after she stumbled upon their supply port. He eventually gets Snake to agree to partake in the mission by stating that he knew Snake's true identity as Big Boss.

After some discussion, Big Boss and Miller realized that Gálvez was actually a KGB agent, and that allying with him would actually result in their making enemies with America. When talking it over, Gálvez explained that the Russians were interested in Costa Rica due to its strategic value, which could be used to conquer Central America, and thus split America into two. It would also disrupt all economic productions and shipping lanes towards America. For the Soviets, it would mean gaining a base from which all of Latin America would be in their grasp, starting with Nicaragua.

However, Gálvez's reason for hiring the MSF was not to aid them in taking out the CIA's stronghold in Costa Rica: other than disrupting the Soviet's efforts to help the Sandinistas transform Nicaragua into a socialist state, the CIA were planning something else in the region. He wanted Big Boss and the MSF to investigate the facility in which Paz was imprisoned, explaining that her being captured at least was true, and he, until tonight, had hidden his affiliation with the KGB from her.

Gálvez then showed them a cassette tape that Paz's friend had recorded accidentally while bird watching, who had also been captured during their escape from the facility. Playing back the tape, the recording featured The Boss's voice. Gálvez considered burning the tape if Big Boss wasn't going to accept the mission, but Big Boss decided to do it after the shock of hearing his former mentor's voice. Gálvez then spent the remainder of the mission secretly observing Big Boss and his unit's progression.

After Paz was captured by CIA Station Chief Hot Coldman, leader of the Peace Sentinels, Big Boss and Kazuhira Miller speculated that Gálvez may have been killed due to Coldman deducing the KGB's involvement in MSF's hiring.^[3] In reality, Zadornov had allied himself with Coldman, by providing the money and technology while Coldman provided the land. However, he feigned cooperation so that as Coldman was busy making preparations for Peace Walker's only launch, he would covertly seize the U.S. missile base in Nicaragua. Zadornov turned on Coldman just as he was preparing to input false data into Peace Walker's AI, placing the MSF's Mother Base at a retaliatory launch trajectory. He then decided to change Peace Walker's target to Cuba; the launch from the U.S. missile base at one of the Soviet Union's biggest allies, would cause anti-American sentiment to spread globally, thus allowing the Soviets to win the Cold War.

Zadornov then tried to have Paz kill Coldman with his gun, referring to what he did to her on the base near the coast. However, despite her anger towards him for what he did, she simply could not commit the murder. Instead, he shot Coldman, although he deliberately missed shooting him in the head so that he could acquire the access code from him, as he can't input the launch code if Coldman died. Gálvez then contacted Strangelove telling her to change the false data targeting system to Cuba, and threatened that he would kill her as well as her "beloved" if she didn't comply. He then explained to Big Boss the true reason why he hired the Militaires Sans Frontières: he planned to manipulate Big Boss to do all the work in helping the FSLN in their revolution so that Coldman would end up launching Peace Walker, allowing him easy access to it without dirtying his hands as an intelligence officer. He then planned to kill Big Boss as his usefulness had come to an end, remarking that, like The Boss before him, he was nothing more than a fraud.

However, the FSLN group led by Amanda Valenciano Libre ended up overtaking their former KGB allies and saving Big Boss, and Zadornov was placed under arrest by the MSF. When Coldman decided to activate Peace Walker on his deathbed, despite the target change to Cuba, Zadornov expressed shock.

After Coldman's death and Peace Walker's "self destruction," Vladimir Zadornov was placed in a cell onboard Mother Base, as well as planted with a tracking device. In addition, because his KGB affiliations were exposed to the Costa Rican government as a result of the MSF's mission, his funding for Paz Ortega Andrade's stay at her high school stopped, thus resulting in her leaving the school. However, Zadornov managed to escape after cutting a hole in his cell door with his prosthetic hand,^[4] although he didn't get very far before being recovered by the MSF, to which they removed the red hand as well as increased security around his cell and did a full body check to ensure he didn't escape.^[5]

Despite this, he still managed to escape from his cell on several more occasions thanks to Paz, and served as a distraction for the MSF while Paz made modifications to the nuclear-armed Metal Gear ZEKE, in order to gain control of it. Kazuhira Miller had some plans to have Vladimir join MSF so they could bolster some of the Russian soldiers that they managed to recruit's morale, but his frequent escapes as well as Big Boss's deduction that maybe he didn't want to be recruited had Miller consider abandoning that plan.^[6]

During his last escape attempt, in which he also located and removed the transmitter so he wouldn't be found, Zadornov waited at the shooting gallery for Big Boss. When Big Boss went up to the second floor, Zadornov attempted to gun Big Boss down, forcing Big Boss to shoot him out of self-defense. After cryptically remarking that his "job here is done," Zadornov made a last ditch effort to kill Big Boss by launching his prosthetic arm (posed in a Peace/V for Victory sign) at Big Boss, only for it to impact harmlessly against the railing. Zadornov then died. Paz later revealed herself to be a triple agent who had been operating under the orders of Cipher. Following Paz's defeat, Big Boss retrieved Zadornov's prosthetic hand and used it as a cigar lighter.

Personality and traitsEdit

In his guise as Gálvez, Zadornov claimed to enjoy drinking Costa Rican coffee, believing there was "nothing like it."

Zadornov was a former heavy smoker, which was the main reason why his prosthetic hand came equipped with a lighter device. However, he later quit smoking due to it ruining his lungs, which consequentially resulted in his having little use for his prosthetic hand.

Zadornov, as expected of an intelligence officer, is perfectly willing to use people to accomplish his goals, and throw their lives away when he felt their usefulness was fulfilled. This trait was especially evident by his attempted execution of Big Boss shortly after revealing his true motives. Likewise, he is also perfectly willing to betray his allies to have his goals accomplished, as evidenced by his actions towards Hot Coldman. His views on peoples lives being thrown away when their usefulness is outlived was also extended to include himself, as evidenced by his remark upon being shot in self-defense by Big Boss that his job was finished.

Zadornov also held little respect for The Boss, presumably either due to her official stance as a war criminal and defector from the United States or due to knowledge of her true mission. This was especially evident when he attempted to kill Big Boss as a means to instigate more rebellions in Central America a'la Che Guevara and due to otherwise outliving his usefulness, where he told Big Boss that he'll die just as The Boss did, which is as "an eternal fraud."

Prosthetic handEdit

Zadornov possessed a mechanical right hand like Doctor Julius No in the James Bond film Dr. No. Although Big Boss joked that he had deduced Zadornov's true affiliations from his "stench," he admitted that it was because the prosthesis was "fit for an assassin," and would not have been worn by a Professor of Peace.^[7] Upon closer inspection, the hand actually bore the letters "CCCP" (Союз Советских Социалистических Республик), which is the Russian equivalent of U.S.S.R. Besides its use as a lighter, his prosthetic hand could also operate as a blowtorch with a flame powerful enough to cut through iron, as well as a makeshift rocket, the latter presumably as a means of last resort due to the circumstances in which he attempted to use it on Big Boss.

Behind the scenesEdit

Vladimir Zadornov serves as one of the main antagonists of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Due to his assistance of Cipher agent Pacifica Ocean in ZEKE's hijacking, as well as Paz's choice of words when revealing her true allegiance,^[8] it is commonly assumed that he is also a member of the organization. However, the game does not detail the characters' relationship to one another, beyond their common affiliation with the KGB.

Gálvez's English voice actor, Steven Blum, is the voice actor of Gene in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops. Coincidentally, his partner Paz Ortega Andrade is voiced by Tara Strong, who also voiced an accomplice to Gene.

Zadornov is the second person in the Metal Gear series, after Ocelot, to refer to Big Boss by his real name, "John." Similarly, both Zadornov and Ocelot worked for the KGB and are of Russian descent.

Design sketches contained in the promotional Peace Walker art book, as well as the Official Art Works, showed that he smoked cigarettes, and that his prosthetic hand, in addition to its abilities as a lighter as well as a rocket launcher, also was able to shoot bullets. This latter aspect was presumably not implemented in the final version, as he was shown to utilize the Makarov firearm. According to storyboard sketches included in the Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker Official Arts book, Zadornov would have killed Hot Coldman by shooting Coldman in the head, and at some point when the MSF arrive, he himself would have been executed by Paz in a similar manner, prior to her hijacking ZEKE. Also, in addition to the aforementioned concept character artwork of Zadornov, the Official Art Works also included some more concept artwork of what he would have looked like, including a design where he possessed glasses, and a design giving him a similar appearance to Indiana Jones. There was also one concept artwork where, although he overall looked similar to his final design, he possessed an actual right arm rather than a bionic one.

Vladimir Zadornov and Kazuhira Miller share the same motion capture actor, Takashi Kubo.

In the PlayStation Portable version of Peace Walker, Zadornov's patronymic name was spelled "Alexandrovich." In the Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection version, the spelling was changed to "Aleksandrovich."

GameplayEdit

"I am Vladimir Zadornov. And Vladimir is Russian for "ruler of peace.""

— Zadornov's quote on his staff menu on the Mother Base menu.

Although Zadornov was never actually recruited into MSF, and thus not usable on Mother Base, his stats were included in his profile. His title was KGB Agent. In addition, he is also the only Brig character to retain his character quote (most of the other soldiers, should they be placed in the brig, have "[...]" in the dialogue box). These stats, however, will be permanently removed upon completion of Chapter 5, owing to his demise shortly before the fight with Paz.

• Life: 5000
• Psyche: 5000
• GMP: 5765
• Combat Unit: C
  • Shoot: A
  • Reload: C
  • Throw: C
  • Place: C
  • Walk: C
  • Run: B
  • Fight: C
  • Defense: C
• R&D Team: B
• Mess Hall Team: C
• Medical Team: B
• Intel Team: A

Also, despite his demise at the end of Chapter 5, the Zadornov search missions (exempting the variation of Extra Ops 001) can still be played.

If the player kills Zadornov in any of the Zadornov capture missions, even the one in Extra Ops 001, it will instantly result in a mission failure.

Zadornov is seen wearing a trench coat in the Zadornov capture missions even though he was not wearing it when he was captured.

GalleryEdit

PSP wallpaper from the Piece Walker website.

Gálvez preparing to burn the cassette tape when anticipating Big Boss might refuse the mission.

Zadornov arriving at the Comm Tower of the U.S./Nicaraguan base where Coldman is at.

Zadornov's face up close in-game.

Zadornov's prosthetic hand.

Zadornov crouching to hide.

Zadornov lying flat against a wall to hide.

Zadornov lying flat against a tree to hide.

Zadornov lying flat against a tree to hide, another view.

Zadornov lying prone to hide.

Zadornov flat on the ground and surrendering.

Zadornov tranquilized.

Add a photo to this galleryAdd a photo to this gallery

Notes and referencesEdit