The 10 Most Badass Russian Characters In Video Games

They will tell you where you can stick your bottle of vodka.

Complex Original

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Russia's role in video game plots have been a well that's been flowing for years. From professional wrestlers like Zangief in Street Fighter to action shooters like The Club, we've seen Russian characters represent as both heroes and villains to our Americanized excitement.

In tribute to our excitement over the release of Metro: Last Light—which is set in an apocolyptic Russia—we've decided to take a stroll down video game memory lane and salute he 10 Most Badass Russian Characters In Video Games. Check out the latest Metro: Last Light trailer below to see why we're so amped up.

The 10 Most Badass Russian Characters In Video Games

10. Alisa Bosconovitch

Video Game: Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion (2008)

After Doctor Geppetto Bosconovitch's beloved daughter died, he created a cyborg in her image. That mechanized humanoid would be Alisa Bosconovicth who later finds out that she was also created to protect fellow Tekken Tournament fighter Jin Kazama. Alisa has the ability to pop chainsaws out of her arms and while her enemies bounce around during fights, she has jet wings to propel her into wooping someone's ass. Other than that, Alisa is known to be a real sweetheart once you get to know her.

9. Necro

Video Game: Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike (1999)

Necro is a fugitive on a totally different level than others. It's not the police or feds that are after him, it's the Illuminati. Tricked by the promise of a life of wealth and happiness, Necro became and experiment that left him mutated with the ability to stretch his limbs as if he were made out of elastic and use electricity to his advantage. In an attempt to gain his freedom from the Illuminati, Necro competed in the Street Fighter 3 tournament but was tricked again and left to die in a rigged explosion. Luckily, his girlfriend Effie was able to help him out before the blast and they're now living on the low since the Illuminati thinks Necro is no more.

Figthing using Necro is like using a combination of Dhalsim and Blanka. You've got both long range attacks as well as an electrified short range defense. Once a person masters the controls of this Soviet hammer, there's not much a competitor can do to get an advantage.

8. Alexander Nesterov

Video Game: Cryostasis (2009)

Don't call Alexander Nesterov a weather man, he's a meterologist with an uncanny ablilty called Mental Echo. What it does is allows the wielder to correct the wrongs of a person that died thus rewriting history. Sure, it may not be the flashiest power to have but its impact goes far beyond throwing ball of energy or manipulating elements. If there were to ever be a sequel to Cryostasis, we'd want Alex to Mental Echo a few dead billionaires and have them will their money to us.

7. Sophia

Video Game: Battle Arena Toshinden (1995)

At a time when almost every fictional Russian character in and outside of video games were vodka swilling war criminals with fur hats, Battle Arena Toshinden brought us private detective Sophia who armed with a whip and powerful moves like her "Thunder Ring" and "Aurora Revolution." Like many other characters to follow, Sophia had all of her memories wiped out by an evil, secret organization named the Himitsu Kessha. In subsequent releases, Sophia continued to compete in additional Toshinden tournaments and eventually retired from fighting to live a simpler life. Sophia may be more hockey mom than brawler now but there's no doubting the impact she's had on fighting video games.

6. Biff Slamkovich

Video Game: Saturday Night Slam Masters (1993)

Biff is a rich kid turned hardcore pro-wrestler that earned his respect the hard way. He trained in Mike Haggar's gym and came up under the great Zangief from Street Fighter. Dude is always looking for the adrenaline rush of a fight, so much that if you look closely at Ken's level in Street Fighter Alpha 3, you can catch him doing a Ghostface--over in a corner not speaking (click the additional photo slide above to see).

5. Dasha Fedorovich

Video Game: Command & Conquer Red Alert 3 (2008)

The Command & Conquer series has always boasted beautiful militants and the Red Alert 3 release is no different. Dasha Fedorovich is a hard-boiled, calculating mastermind who proclaims herself and her Soviet comrades to be liberators of American people. Dasha has loyalty to her commanders that would make the most dedicated ride-or-die chick look like a Benedict Arnold. If you think that Elizabeth from BioShock Infinite is an assett, Dasha is down to kill as many people as she humanly can without blinking. Just make sure you acknoledge her contributions though, General Krukov made the mistake of not doing that and she destroyed him and everything he built.

4. Dragov

Video Game: The Club (2007)

All Dragov wants is the freedom that was promised to him for joining The Club tournament. With being the most notorious criminal in Russia's history, slaughtering his way through a few competitors isn't asking a lot at all. Before The Club, it took three platoons of special forces teams to capture Dragov and after getting locked up, he broke out and killed his way through the frozen tundra. Straight up and down, you don't want it with D, you can put your best soldiers and mercenaries up against him and Dragov will run through them as if Usain Bolt competed in the Special Olympics.

3. Zelenin

Video Game: Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey (2010)

This scientist and First Lieutenant found herself in a world of paralyzing fear when she was abducted and experimented on by demons. Because of the ordeal, she refuses to use her demon summoning abilities no matter how much they could help her in battle. Instead she relies on her cool head and military discipline to gain victories. After speaking with Masterma--a demon who is said to have been responsible for unleashing the biblical ten plagues on Egypt--Zelenin trades in her mortal life to become an angel and is tasked with leading mankind back into righteousness. That being said, who would want beef with a woman who handled her business without the help of demon summons as a mortal and now has the power of an angel?

2. Heavy

Video Game: Team Fortress (1996)

Here's a man who can appreciate a well-made sandvich. Heavy is the most recognizable and dangerous character in the Team Fortress world. Heavy and the mini-gun that he lovingly refers to as "Sasha" is responsible for the deaths of countless enemies. While Heavy is virtually unstoppable, he's crazy slow and sometimes drops sandviches for enemies by mistake. Minor flaws aside, he's still the guy you want on your team if you need to roll out the red carpet of bullet-riddled death.

1. Zangief

Video Game: Street Fighter II (1991)

By far the most popular and lovable Russian badass to ever appear in a video game, Zangief or "Vodka Gobalsky" was first introduced to gamers in Street Fighter II in 1991 and has been a franchise favorite ever since. The former brown bear wrestler is the first ever video game character to use grappling moves and has one of the few unblockable fighting moves in gaming. Once an opposing fighter on the receiving end of his spinning piledriver, it's a wrap. Zangief's pop appeal earned him a mention on FOX's Family Guy and a massive cameo as a bad guy gone good in the animated film Wreck-It-Ralph.

The 10 Most Badass Russian Characters In Video Games

They will tell you where you can stick your bottle of vodka.

The 10 Most Badass Russian Characters In Video Games

10. Alisa Bosconovitch

9. Necro

8. Alexander Nesterov

7. Sophia

6. Biff Slamkovich

5. Dasha Fedorovich

4. Dragov

3. Zelenin

2. Heavy

1. Zangief

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