Factions of Command & Conquer

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The real-time strategy video game series Command & Conquer revolves around a conflict between groups of competing factions vying for world domination. There are three sub-series, each with three main factions. The majority of these are based on real-world human organisations such as the Soviet Union and the United States of America, with one, the Scrin, being alien.

Contents 1 Tiberium series 1.1 Global Defense Initiative 1.2 Brotherhood of Nod 1.3 Scrin 2 Red Alert series 2.1 Allied Nations 2.2 Soviet Union 2.3 Empire of the Rising Sun 2.4 Yuri 3 Generals series 3.1 People's Republic of China 3.2 Global Liberation Army 3.3 United States of America 4 Minor factions 4.1 The Forgotten 4.2 CABAL 4.3 LEGION 4.4 FutureTech 4.5 Steel Talons 4.6 ZOCOM 4.7 Traveler 59 4.8 Reaper 17 4.9 Marked of Kane 4.10 Black Hand 5 Cultural impact 5.1 Critical reception 6 References

Tiberium series

The three main factions of the Tiberium series are the Global Defense Initiative, Brotherhood of Nod, and Scrin.

Global Defense Initiative

The main protagonist faction of the tiberium series, the Global Defense Initiative's internal structure and organization is quite similar to a supranational and large-scale integration of all of the world's major modern day conventional armies into a single globalized military force.^[1] GDI is capable of instantly deploying vast quantities of well-trained and well-equipped soldiers backed by powerful ground, air and naval assets to any point on the globe, and this in ways that are considerably more organized, advanced, as well as on a much greater scale than any conventional real-life military force of today possibly could.^[1] Global Defense Initiative troops utilize both superior armor and firepower, making them typically much more powerful than Nod forces in direct open confrontations, but also more cumbersome and less flexible. The Brotherhood is notoriously adept at exploiting these weaknesses through its combination of futuristic guerrilla warfare with uniquely advanced Tiberium-based technologies.^[2] In-game, their units are unit-for-unit more powerful than those of Nod and the Scrin. Their superweapon is the quintessential ion cannon, an orbital weapon that has appeared in every Tiberium title to date.

Brotherhood of Nod

The main antagonist faction in the tiberium series, the Brotherhood of Nod is a mysterious and highly-militant Abrahamic society of allegedly ancient origins,^[3] which in modern times began showing the combined characteristics of a vast religious movement, a multinational corporation and a decentralized nation-state, while being none of the three in itself.^[3] The globalized brotherhood is led by a mysterious man known only as Kane,^[4] and its influence in the world at the advent of the events in which Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars takes place reached nothing short of the status of an unconventional superpower.^[3] The Brotherhood of Nod represents a flexible, elusive and worldwide cultic army which thrives on the sophisticated synergy between low-tech guerrilla warfare and highly-trained forces that are equipped with state-of-the-art communications gear and the most advanced weapon systems available, which have been derived from the Brotherhood's uniquely adept understanding of Tiberium-based military technologies.^[3] Nod tactics are highly radical and appear more cruel than GDI's, often showing little to no regard for human life, and their religious fascination with Tiberium also leads them to use the dangerous and toxic substance offensively whenever possible. Nod forces typically are weaker than GDI's or the Scrin in a head-on engagement, yet their use of stealth and advanced hit-and-run tactics to their advantage to control the pacing of the battle, as well as sabotage an opponent's momentum. Their super weapon in the first and third games in the series was a nuclear missile, though in the second it was replaced with cluster and chemical missiles.

Scrin

In Tiberian Sun, GDI forces locate and seize a massive alien vessel, identified as a "Scrin ship", from the Brotherhood of Nod. The ship contained the Tacitus, a crystal-like orb that contained vast information on Tiberium as well as a "warning" regarding an imminent Scrin invasion. The Scrin invade Earth in Tiberium Wars to harvest the Earth's Tiberium deposits.^[5] They are not referred to by name, though a reference of the name exists in GDI intelligence files: "...the translator returned four words: brother, ascended, enemy and Scrin. This casts some confusion over the identity of the invaders, whether they are the Scrin themselves or a distant relative..."; they are only called by GDI as "invaders" and "Aliens" and by Nod as "Visitors". They have remained dormant along the edge of our Solar System for millennia, until awakened by the massive detonation of liquid Tiberium beneath the Brotherhood of Nod's "Temple Prime"; it is revealed that GDI knew about their existence from the Tacitus, an alien databank captured from Kane at the end of Tiberian Sun; this resulted in the upgraded Ion Cannons, that can fire on incoming space-born targets with a single, concentrated beam. Upon approaching Earth, they are surprised to encounter a heavily militarized native population (according to the Scrin campaign introduction movie, "Level IV population on 50% of planetary surface" and "Level V population on 20% of planetary surface") still coping with Tiberium's spread, and swiftly proceed to launch an assault on Earth's cities, wreaking havoc on GDI and Nod alike. This is done mainly for intimidation purposes because the real objective of the Scrin is to construct large "Tower" structures all across the planet. Scrin units and structures show a distinctly bio-mechanical and insect-like appearance, and possess several economic and military advantages related directly to Tiberium,^[5] including the ability to promote the growth of the substance, store it in infinite amounts, and use it to enhance the performance of their units and weaponry in a multitude of ways. Scrin forces possess a powerful aerial fleet,^[5] capable of constructing fast "Stormrider" fighters, hovering "Devastator" warships and the versatile "Planetary Assault Carriers", which are capable of generating localized ion storms. The faction can also create wormholes and instantly teleport units around the battlefield through various means. The Scrin can deploy a large aerial unit known as the "Mothership", with a massively-powerful Catalyst Cannon that can devastate all structures in a large radius beneath it by initiating a chain reaction upon them. However, the "Mothership" is extremely slow and open to attack. Their in-game superweapon is the "rift generator", which creates a rip in space-time in the targeted area, drawing everything near to it into deep space.^[6] According to GDI intelligence on the Rift Generator, "it makes the science behind our Ion Cannons look downright primitive" and "its destruction potential is on par with GDI Ion Cannons and Nod nuclear missiles."

Red Alert series

The three main factions of the Red Alert series are the Allied Nations, the Soviet Union, and the Empire of the Rising Sun.

Allied Nations

This section requires expansion.

The Allied Nation Coalition was created by a variety of European Nations to fend off Soviet Union Aggression in Europe. The allies were suffering heavy defeats against the surprise Soviet invasion initially, but rallied together aided with the help of the Chronosphere were able to finally stop the Soviet War Machine. The Allied Nations once again rallied together in the invasion of the United States to once again put a stop to the Soviets. In Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 the Allies were no longer fighting a war with one enemy, they now had to contend with the Empire of The Rising Sun. However, the Allies manage to defeat the Empire with some aid from the Soviets, despite the Soviets backing out and turning on them at the last minute, and later defeated the treacherous Soviets. In the Allies campaign in the Uprising expansion, they suppress a rebellion by the Empire, but it isn't known yet whether this campaign is canon.

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union's expansion was facilitated by Albert Einstein's mistake whilst trying to prevent the horrors of World War 2 (see Command & Conquer: Red Alert). The Soviets were defeated by the Allies in the original Red Alert, however they came back in "Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2" with the assistance of a mastermind and a "Mind Controller" called Yuri. Little comes of this though as they are defeated again by the Allies and Yuri begins his own army in "Command & Conquer:Red Alert 2 Yuri's Revenge". In the expansion Yuri is set to control the world with "Psychic Dominators". Yuri is defeated by the Allies and partial help from the Soviets. In the latest game of the series "Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3" the Soviets decide to use their own "Time Machine" and reshape the past when they are on the brink of defeat. In doing so they created the Empire of the Rising Sun (see below) and without "Atomic Bombs" or "Nuclear Missiles" the Empire soon takes over most of the land held by the Soviets (they were actually defeating the Allies before the Empire arose). The Allies and the Soviets joined forces to stop the Empire, but the Soviets ultimately showed their true colors and abandoned the Allies during the final assault on Japan, though the Allies managed to defeat the Empire regardless. After the Allies foiled the Soviet's plan to use Weapons of Mass Destruction against the United States, they defeated the Soviets. The Soviet campaign in the Uprising expansion depicts them as freeing themselves from Allied occupation, but it isn't known yet whether this campaign is canon.

Empire of the Rising Sun

In the first two Red Alert games, Japan is unaligned with either faction nor a major power. As an unintended result of the Soviet Union going back in time to eliminate Einstein, the Empire of the Rising Sun came into being and become a major force in Red Alert 3. They are enemies of both the Soviets and the Allies and believe it is their right to rule the world. Utilizing advanced technology, such as transforming mechaunits, robots, a psionic schoolgirl, and submersible planes. While the Empire initially holds the upper hand against the Allies and the Soviets since it attacked them when they were at their weakest from fighting each other, the two archenemies join forces and beat back the Empire. Despite the Soviets backing out of the alliance, the Empire is defeated by the Allies. In Red Alert 3: Uprising, the Empire drives the Allies and Soviets out of Japan and reestablishes itself as a global superpower, but it isn't known yet whether this campaign is canon.

Yuri

Yuri, a powerful telepath and the chief advisor to Premier Romanov in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2, decides at the start of Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge to defect from the Soviets. He creates a secret army of his own to take over the world by using Psychic Dominators, devices with the power to mind-control everyone in the world.^[7]. His units generally rely on mind control abilities and cunning rather than brute force.^[8] The main goal of both the Allied and the Soviet campaigns in Yuri's Revenge is to destroy Yuri's psychic beacons and eventually eliminate Yuri himself. Dependant on the chosen side, the Allies track Yuri down in Antarctica with the aid of Soviet technology while the Soviets find Yuri in Translyvania as well as mind controlled Allied and Soviet generals, who, once certain psychic beacons are destroyed, join the Soviet player.

Generals series

Generals takes place in the near future. The United States and the People's Republic of China are the world's two superpowers, and are the targets of the Global Liberation Army, a large, well-organized terrorist organization, fighting as a fanatical irregular force. The United States and China are depicted as allies in the series, and frequently co-operate with each other throughout the storyline against the Global Liberation Army, which is depicted as an omnipresent, borderless organization with unclear goals beyond opposition to and expulsion of both China and the United States. The three factions are thus engaged in a war similar to that of the real-life War on Terror.

People's Republic of China

The People's Republic relies largely on brute force and sheer numbers, culminating in a variety of powerful and heavily armored tanks, and has limited air power. China's playstyle emphasizes direct assaults and sheer power to defeat American technology and GLA stealth. Chinese troops and tanks gain special bonuses when in groups, and make extensive use of propaganda (passive healing) to support their troops. China has a wide range of vehicle types, including several specialized tanks like Type 59 as "Battlemaster", BTR-80 as "Troop Crawler", "Overlord" tank(s) and two artillery units. Chinese forces also make heavy use of gattling, nuclear, and napalm weaponry to destroy the enemy. China also utilizes advanced electronic warfare technology, including elite hackers, a spy called Black Lotus, and electromagnetic pulse weapons. The Chinese "Inferno Cannon" and "Nuke Cannon" are the only artillery units whose shells cannot be intercepted.

China has a major disadvantage in that its ground forces are generally slower than those of the other two factions. Due to having virtually no fast attack units, except for their MiGs, China is forced to make large, ponderous assaults with heavy units, a tactic that can be countered by the GLA's speed or the USA's air power. However, the Chinese forces are well-suited to winning drawn-out battles of attrition.

China's campaign is the first chronologically in Generals. China retaliates after the GLA launches a devastating nuclear attack on Beijing. During one battle, China destroys the Three Gorges Dam in order to eliminate a large GLA army. China uses its nuclear arsenal to further fight against the GLA and eventually crushes the GLA cell masterminding all Pacific rim operations. In Zero Hour, China defeats the GLA during their invasion of Europe and seizes the opportunity to rise as a world power.

Global Liberation Army

Being technologically disadvantaged, the GLA has comparatively weak (though highly mobile) ground vehicles and no air force, prompting the use of guerrilla tactics such as mining, suicide bombing, hijacking, and ambushing.

The GLA has a larger array of infantry types and vehicles to make up for this disadvantage, and has the widest range of stealth options. The GLA also has a very powerful economy, with various resource-gathering techniques such as salvaging wreckage, gaining cash bounties on destroyed enemy units, and building multiple "black market" structures to bring in large amounts of money over time. Also, the GLA are unique in that they have no energy requirement for any of their structures or units. The GLA's upgrades make it more powerful when fully equipped, transforming a relatively weak group of units into a more respectable threat. The GLA is also unique in that its structures, particularly base defenses, rebuild themselves over time unless completely destroyed; this makes it difficult to permanently damage the GLA with many single-shot weapons or units.

The GLA's toxic weapons, suicide units, and stealth and surprise abilities enable it to hit enemies from unexpected directions, and its powerful economy, combined with cheap, fast units, enables it to flood opponents with sheer numbers. The GLA's primary disadvantage is that, in terms of firepower, range, and durability, its units are outmatched by Chinese and American units, and it has a complete lack of air power. This forces a GLA player to outmaneuver or outnumber opponents, as in an even, direct confrontation the GLA will lose to superior Chinese firepower and American technology.

The GLA campaign is the second chronologically in Generals. Following the setback at the hands of the Chinese, they raise funds and instigate attacks against their American and Chinese antagonists. They eventually overtake the Baikonur Cosmodrome in order to fire a Soyuz rocket bearing a biological MIRV at a nondescript city. In Zero Hour, the GLA loses control of the Baikonur Cosmodrome to the USA and attacks the west coast of America in retaliation and eventually invades Europe. They are defeated in Europe by China.

United States of America

The United States is the most technologically-advanced faction, and fights with a combination of powerful ground units and a large, versatile fleet of aircraft. USA forces rely on skill, mobility, and high technology to defeat the raw firepower of China and the guerilla tactics of the GLA. USA ground vehicles can construct unmanned drones to support and repair them in combat, and American troops and vehicles make extensive use of laser technology to guide weapons and defend against attack. American infantry have a number of special abilities, and include stealthy long-ranged snipers and a powerful commando named Colonel Burton with a number of abilities revolving around demolition and stealth. The USA also fields the largest air fleet in the game, including attack and transport helicopters, fighter planes, high speed bombers and stealth bombers. American Generals' abilities revolve around air power, including air strikes by A-10 Thunderbolt IIs and fuel air bombs. They also possess a Particle Cannon super weapon capable of destroying units and most buildings instantly.

The USA has a major disadvantage, however, in that it has the slowest resource gathering in the game; in comparison to troop costs, it has a less stable supply of power than China, and its high-tech units are very expensive. However, they gain resources the fastest, with their speedy chinooks taking $600 at a time. This method, though makes them vulnerable to a GLA quad cannon attack, or a Chinese Gattling tank.

The USA campaign is the third chronologically in Generals. In response to the GLA's launch of the biochemical weapon, the USA engages the GLA across several locales, including Baghdad and the Caspian Sea. They later defeat a rogue Chinese general supporting the terrorists and track them back to their base of operations in Akmola, Kazakhstan. In Zero Hour, the USA retakes the Baikonur Cosmodrome, but is later pushed back into Europe after the GLA invades the west coast of the United States.

Minor factions

The Forgotten

First introduced to the series in Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun, The Forgotten are a loose-knit faction of people whose exposure to Tiberium radiation has begun to result in severe genetic mutations, either by freak accident or through the Brotherhood of Nod's eugenics programs. The Forgotten are commonly known as "Mutants" or "Shiners", the latter being a reference to the Tiberium crystals that grow on and through their bodies. The Forgotten can heal themselves through exposure to Tiberium radiation as it appears to trigger a highly rapid cellular regeneration within their bodies (which is rather ironic as a normal person would experience the exact opposite). They also have been shown to be capable of domesticating a number of Tiberium-based life forms. The Forgotten use equipment which consists almost entirely of scavenged, hijacked or otherwise stolen weaponry and vehicles from both GDI and Nod depots.

Rejected by Nod as corrupted abominations trapped between humanity and its alleged Tiberium future, they were nonetheless forcefully studied upon by them to have Nod enhance and speed up its "Divination" project. As a result The Forgotten are often shown being cautiously non-belligerent to the Global Defense Initiative, and even became actively involved in the Second Tiberium War at the side of GDI as loose allies to the organization. In Firestorm they were revealed to have struck a genuine alliance with the GDI in order to aid them in their efforts to stop the global spread of Tiberium. The Forgotten do not appear in Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. Although mutant populations exist, they have degenerated into a feral race. The GDI provide shelter for the mutants, but they are seen willingly fighting for GDI, Nod, and even the Scrin.

CABAL

CABAL was the main AI unit used by the Brotherhood of Nod during the events of Tiberian Sun. After these events, CABAL decided to rebel against Nod and formed his own faction of robotic soldiers. In order to stop CABAL from conquering the world, Nod and GDI decided to forge an alliance to destroy the evil AI. CABAL only appears in the firestorm campaign (both of Nod and GDI) as a faction (although it uses Nod units).

LEGION

LEGION is the NOD AI featured in Command & Conquer Kane's Wrath. It is the second AI after CABAL's defection during the Second Tiberium War. During the events of Kane's Wrath LEGION, under the direction of Kane, not only helps defeat GDI, but helps reclaim the tacitus that they stole, uncover Alexa Kovacs as a traitor to NOD, and reactivate Kane's army of cybornetic soldiers, The Awakened and The Enlightened. He assists Kane in capturing the Tiberium Tower that will be the beginning of NOD's journey to enlightenment.

FutureTech

FutureTech is a corporation operating within Allied jurisdiction. FutureTech only appears in Red Alert 3 and its expansion, and it takes an important role on the storyline. It was responsible for developing many of the technologies used in the Allied arsenal during the events of Red Alert 3. During the Empire of the Rising Sun campaign of Red Alert 3 the last mission consists in destroying the FutureTech HQ in Amsterdam as it was the only real thing that could stop the Empire.

In the expansion pack Uprising FutureTech takes a larger part in the overall plot. After the war FutureTech became much more powerful and acquired control of various Allied military divisions. FutureTech, under the rule of the corrupt President Rupert Thornley, wanted to erase the Soviet Union from history through the use of a new temporal device called the Sigma Harmonizer, so that they could have easily conquered the rest of the world. Their plans were however discovered by the Soviet Union when the soviets rescued some captured scientists in Romania who where forced by FutureTech to work on their new weapons. Later the soviets attacked various installations also in Russia, where they found out FutureTech were experimenting the new weapons on the Civilian population. The soviets then started a personal war with FutureTech which ended when the soviets assaulted FutureTech's biggest stronghold on the Sigma Island, where the Future Tanks production centers and the Sigma Harmonizer were located, the weapon which Thornley wanted to use to conquer the world. Despite extremely heavy resistance by FutureTech forces, which unleashed even the prototype Future Tank X-1 on the soviets, all the production facilities and the sigma harmonizer were destroyed. After these events, the allies thanked the soviets for having stopped Thornley plans and make sure FutureTech will never attempt to build such a powerful weapon again.

Steel Talons

The Steel Talons are a splinter Faction of GDI which prefere to use the older weaponry such as Wolverines & Titan Walkers. Among these potential downsides they have extreme fire power & capabilities to increase stopping power of vechicular weapons. They are a small faction featured within Command & Conquer Kane's Wrath which appear in the first act of the campaign when the commander has to retrive the stolen NOD stealth technology.

ZOCOM

ZOCOM are a splinter faction to GDI who specialise in splash damage weapons. They are more technologically superior to the Steel Talons & even so to GDI. They also are a minor faction which appears in Command & Conquer Kane's Wrath. They appear during the Second act of the campaign in which the commander must destroy all ZOCOM forces including 3 MARVs.

Traveler 59

The Traveler 59 sect specialise in high speed galactic travel & with their Advanced Articulators & Traveler Engines they can quickly move & mobilise forces around the battle field. They appear in Command & Conquer Kane's Wrath appearing in the final act of the campaign in which the commander must rescue NOD forces being mind controlled by Scrin Cultists. These units make a vast resemblance to Yuri's unusual, mind controlling forces in Command & Conquer Yuri's Revenge. They supposedly use their advanced movement capabilities to move Tiberium quickly between the Ichor Hub & else where in the universe.

Reaper 17

Reaper 17 are another splinter faction of the Scrin Race which appear in Command & Conquer Kane's Wrath. Their lust for Tiberium makes them superior in their attack & defense especially due to there advanced shields on units such as the tiberium harvester. They also utilize Tiberium Converters & reserves to power-up & charge weapons on board the Annihilator Tripod & the Devourer Tanks thus making them more powerful, however they do not have air superiority with only one air unit available. They are the Scrin collectors of the Galaxy.

Marked of Kane

These cybernetic soldiers of NOD are lead by the NOD AI, LEGION. They are a spilter faction in their own right & appear in Command & Conquer Kane's Wrath. They use cybernetic infantry & enhanced lasers & particle cannons to control the battle field. Another strength is that most of their units are immune to mind control by Scrin Masterminds or Cultists. Weak but fast & maneuverable they emphase more offensive than defensive.

Black Hand

The Black Hand are a secret faction within NOD, being around since the first Tiberium War under the control of Gideon Raveshaw who was turned into a tiberium enhanced super solider, as a result of Doctor Mobius's project regenesis. During the second Tiberium War and the Cabal Crisis (Firestorm) the Black Hand were under the control of Anton Slavik, until he exposed the Black Hand to the Public eye during the Cabal Crisis which led to his assassination by Brother Maricon. The Black Hand were briefly under the control of Brother Marcion, until he was exposed as a traitor to NOD and to Kane. They were then brought back into the core of the brotherhood.

Cultural impact

This section requires expansion.

Critical reception

Many reviewers have praised the diversity of the factions presented in the Command & Conquer games. Because of the markedly different units, a different playing style is often needed depending on the faction. Reviewers praised this diversity, particularly since similar RTS games of the time had little diversity between the factions.^[9]

References

v • d • e Command & Conquer Video games Main universe: Command & Conquer (The Covert Operations) · Red Alert (Counterstrike & The Aftermath) · Tiberian Sun (Firestorm) · Renegade · Tiberium Wars (Kane's Wrath) · Tiberian Twilight Spin-offs: Sole Survivor · Red Alert 2 (Yuri's Revenge) · Generals (Zero Hour) · Red Alert 3 (Uprising · Commander's Challenge) · Red Alert (iPhone) Playable factions Tiberian series: Brotherhood of Nod · Global Defense Initiative · Scrin Red Alert series: Allied Nations · Soviet Union · Empire of the Rising Sun Generals series: United States of America · People's Republic of China · Global Liberation Army Characters Tiberian series: Nod characters · GDI characters · Kane Red Alert series: Allied characters · Imperial characters · Soviet characters Miscellaneous   Tiberium · The First Decade · Tiberium Wars (novel) · A Path Beyond · Cancelled games · Music of the series · List of media · Factions · Misc factions Companies Developers Westwood Studios (1992–2002) · EA Pacific (2000–2003) · EA Los Angeles (2003—) Publishers Virgin Interactive (1992–1998) · EA Games (1998–2005) · Electronic Arts (2005—)