Sam Fisher (Splinter Cell)

For other people named Sam Fisher, see Sam Fisher (disambiguation).

This article is about Sam Fisher, the protagonist of the Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell series of video games and novels.

Sam Fisher
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell character
File:Sam Fisher SCC.jpg Sam Fisher, as he appeared in Splinter Cell: Conviction
First game	Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell

Samuel "Sam" Fisher is the protagonist of the Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell series of video games (developed by Ubisoft) and novels (endorsed by Tom Clancy). His full name is first seen in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, the first game of the series, when he was using the computer in the V-22 Osprey to encrypt his call home. Fisher is voiced by veteran actor Michael Ironside in the video games.

Background

Lieutenant Commander Samuel Fisher, USN (Ret.), was a member of Third Echelon, a top-secret sub-branch within the National Security Agency (NSA). He is 177 cm (5 feet 10 inches) tall, weighs 78 kg (170 pounds), has greying black hair (or brown hair, as seen in Splinter Cell: Double Agent) and green eyes. He was the first person to be recruited as a field operative of the "Splinter Cell" program for Third Echelon. Fisher is an expert in the art of stealth, trained in various techniques and tactics, and highly trained in fieldcraft. He is also an expert in the Israeli hand-to-hand combat system of Krav Maga. In Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction, he utilized the Center Axis Relock, a modern gun-fighting technique used in close quarters combat. He prefers to work alone in the field. When not on assignment or at Fort Meade, Fisher resided in a townhouse in Towson, Maryland.

Fisher was born on 1957 in Towson, Maryland. While not much is known about his early life, it is known that Fisher attended a military boarding school shortly after his parents died when he was a child. He later graduated from the United States Naval Academy with a Bachelor's degree in Political Science. While Fisher was stationed at an U.S. Air Force Base in Germany during the 1980s, he met Regan Burns and they married in 1984. They had one daughter together, Sarah (born May 31, 1985 in Frankfurt, Germany). Fisher and Regan later divorced and she had Sarah's surname changed. Regan died from ovarian cancer sometime in 2000 and Sarah was killed by a "drunk driver" in September 2007 (September 2008 in Version 2). However, it was established that the death of his daughter was no accident. After learning this, Fisher attempts to uncover why his daughter was murdered, and what connections it has to Third Echelon, which has become bogged down with red tape to the point of ineffectiveness and corruption. It is soon revealed that Sarah is alive and would have been used as leverage to frame Sam for an unsuccessful coup against the U.S. President.

Sam's direct supervisor and handler was Colonel Irving Lambert, USA (Ret.) (deceased), who coordinated intelligence and objective updates with Fisher during his missions. In addition to being supported by Lambert, Sam was also accompanied and supported on operations by NSA employees Vernon 'Junior' Wilkes (deceased), Anna Grímsdóttir, Frances Coen and William Redding (introduced in Chaos Theory). One of his aides, Dermot Paul ("D.P.") Brunton (introduced in Pandora Tomorrow), became the head of SHADOWNET Operations, a black-ops group within Third Echelon which uses teams of operatives.

Fisher has conducted operations in Canada, the Democratic Republic of Congo, China, Iceland, Israel, East Timor, Indonesia, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iraq, North and South Korea, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Myanmar, Serbia, the Republic of Georgia, and France in order to complete his missions. He has also conducted operations inside the United States, places such as LAX International Airport in Los Angeles, California, New York City, New Orleans, Washington D.C., Ellsworth Federal Penitentiary in Kansas and the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.

Ubisoft's lead character artist Martin Caya established in early interviews about the first game of the series that during his career Fisher had served in Afghanistan, where he had an experience in which he was forced to hide under dead bodies in order to avoid being killed in the middle of an operation. Caya also established that Fisher had served in East Germany and in "other Soviet satellite countries leading up to the collapse of the USSR."

The novel version of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell establishes that Sam hated his time in the CIA, and that he mostly had official cover (i.e. he was a "diplomatic aide"). The "Bank" mission in Chaos Theory established that Fisher served in Panama during Operation Just Cause when Redding reveals in the level's pre-mission briefing that Fisher was part of a CIA team that raided the same bank during the conflict searching for some of Noriega's drug money. The "Bank" mission also established that he served in Kuwait, where he said he spent the months leading up to the Gulf War "sleeping in a ditch on the road between Baghdad and Kuwait" shortly after the invasion in 1990. The end of the training mission in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell established that he saw action during the Gulf War in 1991 and was active in Kuwait when Lambert tells Sam "I hope you don't mind I told him ['Junior' Wilkes] some of your stories from Kuwait". Wilkes makes a comment stating "I've heard crazy things about your work".

It was revealed during the flashback level in the series' fifth installment, Splinter Cell: Conviction, that Sam served in southern Iraq during the Liberation of Kuwait campaign when he led a four-man SEAL squad on an routine reconnaissance operation in al-Diwaniyah, where he and his team was ambushed by Iraqi military forces while patrolling a highway leading to Baghdad during Operation Desert Storm. Although Sam survived, two of his teammates were killed, and he was subsequently captured. However, his teammate and second-in-command, Victor Coste (callsign "Husky"), who survived the ambush and was left for dead, rescued him after he fought his way through several Iraqi soldiers in order to reach Fisher, who was being tortured for information regarding their mission in the region.

The novel Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Checkmate revealed that Sam served in Senegal where his team was deployed to hunt down and assassinate a French black market arms dealer who had been arming both sides of a brush war between Senegal and Mauritania. Fisher’s team eventually tracked down the arms dealer in Dakar where they eliminated him after weeks of searching through the jungles along the Senegal-Mali border.

Shortly after Fisher rescues Douglas Shetland from a hostage situation during the "East Timor" mission in the second game, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, Shetland established that Fisher had served with the Navy SEALs when he asks Sam "Where are the rest of the SEALs?" to which Sam replies and establishing that he left the Navy in 1996 by saying "I came alone. Haven't been Navy for a decade." It's also been established in the original Splinter Cell in the interview with Sam found in the extra features that he was indeed with the Navy SEALs, when he says "I've had the good fortune in my life to work with some really talented and professional people. U.S. Navy SEALs, the folks at Third Echelon. All real pros." The "Sam Fisher Interview" was an exclusive behind-the-scenes video with Sam going undercover as Ubisoft's "technical advisor" after the "Presidential Palace" level. According to his DD214 from the website for Double Agent, Sam rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander (O-4) in the Navy, where at some point he spent nearly three years (2 years, 11 months) as an intelligence analyst.

Personality

As a covert operative of the U.S. government, Fisher approaches his target objectives in a gruff, no-nonsense manner, but maintains a light-hearted relationship with his colleagues and even with his momentary hostages (even if he is going to kill them). Fisher has little patience for government bureaucracy or political maneuvering. A political realist, Fisher maintains a cynical, jaded and sarcastic sense of humor about the covert, illegal, and often morally ambiguous nature of his work. In Pandora Tomorrow, when Lambert informs Fisher that "Nobody knows whether he's (Norman Soth) a U.S. Agent or a terrorist" Fisher replies that "Those things aren't mutually exclusive."

At the same time, he is highly loyal and a staunch believer in the ideals his work ultimately protects. He is quickly angered by the casual slaughter of civilians or unarmed military personnel by his enemies.

In the original Splinter Cell, Fisher is a new member of Third Echelon, and thus his interactions with his commander Colonel Lambert are relatively straightforward and respectful. At the same time, Fisher does drop the occasional "smart" comment at particularly unusual or obtuse mission orders. For instance, during the final level in Pandora Tomorrow, Sam is in an elevator that shuts down when his enemies cut the power. Lambert informs him that the elevator has stopped, and Sam retorts with a sarcastic, "Thanks, Lambert."

In Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Fisher is shown as rather ruthless towards his enemies, and he appears fairly disappointed when Lambert orders him to avoid enemy fatalities as part of his mission parameters. Frequently holding captured enemies at knife-point, his dialog with them is creative and highly intimidating, though often morbidly humorous to the audience.

Abilities

Athletic Skills

Fisher is extremely agile and athletic. He is capable of many different climbing and scaling abilities, such as step-jumping to climb raised walls, performing a split leg maneuver to keep himself supported for a long period of time, as well as being able to hold tight to ceiling pipes or even the undercarriage of a moving train. He is also strong enough to lift the body of a full grown man onto his back and carry it around, and can run somewhat faster than the average soldier.

Fisher uses very unorthodox climbing techniques (split jumps, half split jumps, drop kick/punch attacks, inverted strangleholds/neckbreaks, difficult techniques to climb pipes, etc.). Speculation points to his having cross-trained with Israeli Hostage-Rescue Rappelling and Climbing Sections, also known as "Terror Monkeys." These people are widely acknowledged experts in climbing in order to conduct assaults from above. In the novel, Fisher's acrobatic maneuvers extend to using not only walls, but also furniture and even human beings to push off from in order to escape. Strictly speaking these are not unarmed combat techniques - Many of these techniques are forms of parkour, for instance, in Splinter Cell: Conviction Sam [the player] can run up a wall to get to higher ledges and perform a small variety of vaults. He can also perform a cat grab after jumping out of a window or over a rail after a simple vault as well as quick hand-over-hand shimmy to the sides, climb, or drop.

Stealth Tactics

As the nature of Fisher's job relies on stealth and non-detection, he is highly adept at blending into shadows and moving silently. He is able to sneak up on most opponents undetected and quickly subdue them using either lethal or non-lethal means.

Close Combat

The first novel,Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, and the series' fifth game, Splinter Cell: Conviction, establish that Fisher "exclusively uses Krav Maga for unarmed combat". Krav Maga is a combat form that was developed by the Israeli Special Forces. He has reached the advanced level of 3B under the tutelage of his instructor, Katia Loernstern (who later dies in the second novel, Splinter Cell: Operation Barracuda). This system is widely used by special operators, police, and similar personnel. It also bears mentioning that even though he is an American and he specifically states that he is not Jewish, he had an excellent working relationship with Israeli security services, and he seemed intimately familiar with Israeli weapons (including brand new ones). However in the first two games Fisher's hand-to-hand capabilities seemed limited in direct combat with opponents, (this was obviously for gameplay purposes) but becomes much more effective in hand-to-hand combat and even gains the ability to use a knife to deadly effect in Chaos Theory.

Linguistics

Fisher possesses a command of a startling number of foreign languages and scripts including Russian, German, Korean, Arabic, Chinese, Farsi (Persian) and Spanish. This is stated and demonstrated explicitly in the novels. However, in Pandora Tomorrow there are two instances where Sam asks a guard how good their English is.

Dexterity

Although Fisher usually fires right-handed, he is also able to shoot left-handed (Chaos Theory), in order to keep better cover without any apparent loss of accuracy. It is unknown whether he acquired or perfected this talent in the time between Pandora Tomorrow and Chaos Theory or he always had this ability without it being included in the first two games' controls, but the former seems unlikely.

Weaponry and Equipment

Through the games, Fisher primarily uses two firearms, the 5-7 SC Pistol (a FN Five-seveN Tactical in the first four games of the series, later a USG civilian model in Splinter Cell: Conviction) and SC-20K M.A.W.S. Assault Rifle (an FN F2000). In Chaos Theory, Fisher added a combat knife to his arsenal of weapons.

• SC 'Protector'

A military combat knife and CQC weapon

The player first got the chance to wield Fisher's knife in Chaos Theory. In the first novel, it is described as a USMC KA-BAR with a hilt covered in compressed leather of standard design. In the third novel, Sam uses a Fairbairn-Sykes dagger, given to him by Frank Bunch, a close friend of Sam's father. However, in Chaos Theory, some close-ups of the hilt suggest that it is custom made. The knife appears to be double-edged, with a blade roughly 5 inches long, and lacks any sort of guard. It has a central groove called a "fuller" in order to reduce weight, often mistakenly called a "blood groove". With the exception of its large size, the knife is very similar to the Gerber Guardian Back Up or an SOG Pentagon. According to the Splinter Cell Conviction novel, Sam's knife is a Gerber Guardian. In Splinter Cell: Double Agent, the knife looks very different resembling the Master of Defense Keating Hornet knife and is described as, quote:

"SC 'Protector' double-edged combat knife. Overall length 71⁄2 inches with a 3 and 3/8 inch, black oxidized high carbon stainless steel blade to prevent reflections and a black polymer rubber handle."

This description is contradicted by the knife's visual appearance in-game and in cutscenes. It appears much larger, with a silver, partially serrated blade that is roughly 5 inches long. It also appears to be single-edged, and may even be a folding knife as it has a thumb-stud near the spine and a visible liner-lock, though it is still carried opened in a sheath.

In the novel Conviction, Fisher uses the Gerber Guardian Back Up, carried in a sheath on his calf. Later in the novel, Fisher goes back to using his "favorite" knife, the Fairbairn-Sykes. At one point in the novel Fisher is said to use the serrated part of his knife. Seeing as the Gerber Guardian does not have a version with serrations, this could be seen as either a continuity error, or that there is a third, unknown, knife used.

Fisher carries his knife horizontally at the back of his belt, allowing him to draw it easily and quickly in either forward or reverse grips. When attacking with it, he always aims for the heart, throat, or axillary artery, and thus a single strike with the weapon always results in the immediate takedown of the target. In addition to being a deadly weapon, Fisher also makes use of it as a multipurpose tool in the field. He can use the knife to interrogate suspects, cut tent-fabric, chainlink fences, wires, and plastic sheeting, break locks, disable small machinery (such as gas powered generators), defuse bombs, pry hidden microphones from walls, and strip wires to tap into phone lines and camera feeds.

• 5-7 SC Pistol

A modified FN Five-seveN semi-automatic pistol

In the game, the pistol is a modified Fabrique Nationale Five-seveN Tactical model, a 20-round, semi-automatic handgun with an attached suppressor that uses proprietary 5.7mm ammunition.

The Five-seveN is touted by FN to be able to penetrate NATO kevlar vests and helmets, but this is only when firing the SS190 Duty Round, a high velocity, military-grade bullet designed to punch through armor. In the games, the pistol's ability to penetrate armor is limited, taking at least three to five shots to the torso to down a foe. This is likely due to the subsonic ammunition being used. These slower-moving rounds are used to quiet the report by eliminating the supersonic crack of a bullet traveling faster than the speed of sound. The suppressor reduces the report of the pistol further by slowly allowing gases from the barrel to expand and escape, resulting in a soft "pfft" noise.

The pistol is much quieter than the SC-20K. In Pandora Tomorrow, the pistol is equipped with a laser aiming module. In the series' third installment, Chaos Theory, the pistol is equipped with an Optically Channeled Potentiator (OCP) prototype, a device that can be used to temporarily disrupt electronic devices, such as light fixtures, gun turrets and security cameras. Oddly enough, as with the SC-20K, the spent shells were no longer visible in Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory or Splinter Cell: Double Agent. In Conviction, Fisher is given the USG civilian model with a Flat Dark Earth finish.

• SC-20K Modular Assault Weapon System

A modified FN F2000 bullpup assault rifle

The SC-20K M.A.W.S. is a 30-round, selective fire 5.56×45mm NATO bullpup assault rifle with a suppressor, a 1.5x reflex sight or a 2/4/6x scope (in the first 2 games), and an underslung grenade launcher used to launch various less-than-lethal devices. It is a variation of the F2000 Assault Rifle. In the first novel, Sam Fisher also said that the SC-20K was his favorite weapon.

The SC-20K (which resembles the Tactical model) was modified for use in Chaos Theory. The fixed buttstock was replaced by a collapsible buttstock. Also, the 1.5x reflex sight replaced the stronger 6x full scope, but in compensation the SC-20K gained the ability to mount additional undermount modular configurations. It has been designed with a bullpup configuration, allowing for maximum power with a minimum weight and size. In the field, Fisher can carry a maximum of two undermount modules at once. The SC-20K was again modified for use in Double Agent. The F2000 design was retained, but the buttstock was greatly stripped down, along with the fore-end of the weapon. The scope was replaced with a Picatinny rail that later had a reflex sight attached to it. The modules were removed from the next-gen version of Double Agent, except for the launcher, and a shotgun shell (despite the fact that Sam does not put a shotgun module underneath).

The current gen version features all but the foregrip. The following is a list of details about the modules:

Launcher: A Splinter Cell's standard loadout (as seen in Splinter Cell and Pandora Tomorrow), the attached 40mm grenade launcher, is able to fire ring airfoil rounds, sticky shockers, sticky cameras, gas grenades, EMP ammunition and other such less-than-lethal devices. The ring airfoil round is a small ring that can knock out enemies silently. The drawback is its parabolic trajectory. The sticky shocker is an LTL device that shocks enemies into unconsciousness. They are launched at a flat trajectory and causes some noise. Sticky cameras are reusable devices that allow you to observe areas without being detected, or, in case of a head shot, can incapacitate an enemy. They can also make noises that can attract the enemy or can self-destruct which will release a non-lethal gas. The latest incarnation of the sticky camera can also create a small, lethal explosion. If enemies detect the sticky camera then they will open fire on it which will either release the gas or explode, depending on the version of the camera. The launcher can also launch grenades, including gas grenades that release a non-lethal gas that will knock out anybody in the vicinity of the gas.

Foregrip: A foregrip used to steady firing and counter the effects of recoil, resulting in far more accurate fire when shooting in fully automatic mode.

Shotgun: An undermount 12-gauge triple ought buckshot shotgun attachment. Useful for close quarters combat. Extremely lethal against enemy personnel, but also very loud. It was first introduced in Chaos Theory.

Sniper (prototype): Another undermount for the SC-20K is a sniper attachment that fires 20 mm kinetic energy propelled, high-heat sabot rounds (also known as APDS; Armour-piercing discarding sabot) that can penetrate most forms of armor and even can destroy small armoured machines such as (UAV's). The module also carries a full 4x scope and modified barrel, increasing range and accuracy, though it is rather loud and unwieldy. This weapon configuration can only be fired when the scope is used however. Along with the Shotgun attachment, this attachment was also introduced in Chaos Theory.

Other weaponry and equipment

In addition to the SC-20K (M.A.W.S.) Rifle, 5-7 SC Pistol, and SC Protector Knife, Sam uses several other weapons and gadgets such as the M67 Fragmentation Grenades, rapid-release smoke grenades, EMP grenades to disable surrounding electronics, stun grenades, a laser microphone (which was separate from the goggles in the first and second games, and the next generation version of the fourth), a fingerprint scanner, and a retinal scanner. Depending on whether or not he killed a certain target, Sam is able to carry a standard 9mm handgun on the prison level of the Xbox/Wii/PlayStation 2/Nintendo GameCube versions of Splinter Cell: Double Agent. Also in Double Agent, Sam uses a SC-303 less-lethal launcher, based on the FN 303 grenade launcher. It shoots rubber bullets and tranquillizer darts. In certain missions, he carries a syringe filled with adrenaline, which can bring someone back from the brink of death. He has been known to use a V-22 Osprey, a tilt-rotor VTOL aircraft, for insertion and extraction in certain missions.

Clothing

Remaining unseen is a very important factor for Fisher on his missions, thus wearing the right clothing is necessary. He mostly wears the Mark V Tactical Operations Suit (codenamed RhinoPlate), a specialized-designed wetsuit made from Dragon Skin that fits tightly around his body (similar to a bodysuit), making it almost impossible to hear it move. The fabric is interwoven with Kevlar, "RhinoPlate" and Gore-Tex, allowing it to stop bullets from long range. The cloth and equipment are black, but at times other versions of the suit will even appear to be a blue-green color in very bright light. Though mostly wearing his signature matte-black stealth suit, Fisher sometimes changes his suit to fit the appropriate conditions, such as jungle camouflage, a grey snowsuit in the Nadezdha Nuclear Plant mission in the first game, shorts with a short-sleeved shirt in hot environments, or multiple suit layers of a different color. Sam also has a pair of black combat boots, a weapons belt, a Nomex balaclava, and a radio on his back that emits light (only visible to the player). When extensive swimming will be required, Sam uses a compact rebreather.

In the novel Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Fisher explains that his suit contains a thermoregulation system to maintain its temperature, photosensitive threads that detect snipers' lasers, and bladders of water to keep him from becoming dehydrated, in addition to the features seen in the games.

Despite its utility, Fisher dislikes the suit's appearance. In the novel, he says, "My only beef with the uniform is that it's so tight fitting and neat that it makes me look like a comic book superhero. Even my special headpiece looks like a mask when I have the goggles down."

In the fifth installment, Conviction, Sam's clothing appears far more civilian than past games.

Goggles

Fisher's green, three-lensed goggles have become one of the trademarks of the Splinter Cell series. While fans of the series regularly point out that they would give Fisher's position away, it was revealed in "The Real Sam Fisher blog" (Fisher's fictional web journal stating that he's merely the man the games are based on) that the goggles did not actually glow, and were simply portrayed that way on screen to provide visual interest and the location of the character in the dark. This is proven in the first multi-player outing of Pandora Tomorrow where ARGUS mercenaries viewing SHADOWNET devices similar to Fisher's will not notice any illumination. If the player were to look at Sam's reflection in mirrors or reflective surfaces during single player mode in Chaos Theory, he or she would notice that the glowing of all aforementioned gear is nonexistent. It is possible that the green glow is infrared and impossible to see with the naked eye, but put into the game for aesthetic appeal. Fisher's glowing goggles, radio, and OPSAT merely show the current location of his head, body, and arms respectively in the darkness for the benefit of the player. The third vision mode is fluorescent which is only found in the Tom Clancy novels and not in the game. In the book this vision allows the user to see dust and if anything has been moved which aids Sam in finding hiding enemies.

In the first two games of the series, Fisher's goggles have both thermal and night vision capabilities. At the time, this would have required separate sets of goggles because of the complicated circuitry involved. However, game developers decided to combine them into one device, as switching goggles would have made gameplay very cumbersome. Current technology now allows goggles with both thermal and night visions to be available for the military, although the goggles featured in the games are still much more compact in size than their counterparts in reality. In Pandora Tomorrow, the goggles also have limited zoom capability. Starting with Chaos Theory, the goggles have an integrated laser microphone and a third view mode highlighting electromagnetic radiation emitted from nearby power lines, generators, and electrical equipment. Double Agent rewards players who complete side objectives with upgraded goggles that have "enhanced" night vision which shows the full color spectrum, making it seem less obvious that the player is using the night vision (with the exception of some blurring when moving).

In Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction, Sam receives the "Sonar Goggles" (a new and improved version of the Multi-Vision Goggles) in the "Third Echelon HQ" mission by Charlie Fryman, a friend of Anna Grimsdottir. When turned on, the player will be able to see humans, cameras, and lasers in a high-frequency sonic detection (white on black) feature. Another version of the goggles has a red glow instead of green and is worn by Third Echelon's Splinter Cell operatives. It can be unlocked by the player to wear in the game using "Ubisoft" points.

Appearances

Games

• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (2002)
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (2004)
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (2005)
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Essentials (2006)
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent (2006)
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction (2010)
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Retribution (TBA)

Novels

• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (2004) by David Michaels
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Operation Barracuda (2005) by David Michaels
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Checkmate (2006) by David Michaels
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Fallout (2007) by David Michaels
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction (2009) by David Michaels
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Endgame (2009) by David Michaels

Music

• Splinter Cell: Conviction: Original Soundtrack (Limited Collector's Edition) (2010)
• Agent Sam Fisher - Conviction (2008)
• Agent Sam Fisher - Double Agent (2007)

Reception

The character ranks 24th on the "Guinness Top 50 Video Game Characters of All Time" list.

External links

• Sam Fisher on Splinter Cell Wiki
• The Fisher Files