Sam Fisher | |
---|---|
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell character | |
![]() Sam Fisher in Splinter Cell: Blacklist | |
First appearance | Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (2002) |
Created by | J. T. Petty |
Designed by | Martin Caya |
Voiced by | Expand
|
In-universe information | |
Nationality | American |
Samuel Leo Fisher is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell series of video games developed by Ubisoft as well as a series of tie-in novels. He was created by the writer JT Petty and designed by artist Martin Caya.
Fisher was originally voiced by veteran actor Michael Ironside in the first five installments of the series. In 2013, Eric Johnson provided the voice and motion capture for the character in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist . Ironside later returned to the role in 2018, participating in a crossover downloadable content for Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands and again in 2020 for Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Breakpoint . He was also added as a playable character in Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege , voiced by Jeff Teravainen, and as a supporting character in Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix , voiced by Nigel Barber.
Sam Fisher was created for the video game Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell . He initially worked for the National Security Agency in the organization's "Third Echelon" program. His design was created by lead character artist Martin Caya. Initially, Caya professed that he was trying to come up with a design that would "look cool," examining military magazines, comics, and movies to be inspired. During a sketching session, Caya came up with the idea of a "dark silhouette hiding in the shadows, and the only thing visible would be the reflection of some lights bouncing off the lenses of some night vision goggles." This became the "visual foundation" for Sam Fisher. He noted that, while it was unrealistic for a stealth game, it looked "fucking cool." [1] Other ideas came from members of the staff, such as making him older and make his hair greying. When writing the character, J. T. Petty wrote him to have "wry, detached humor," alongside dialogue meant to convey "the confidence of a man comfortably past his prime but none the worse for wear." [1] In Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction , Fisher is designed with a more "civilian" appearance. Players control Fisher using a "panther" play style, which involved letting Fisher "swiftly [going] from kill to kill" before vanishing. A big push was to allow Fisher to be more lethal. In Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist , he is the leader of the "Fourth Echelon", and he is designed with his goggles and wet suit. The designers made a point of ensuring players could use their preferred play style. [2]
He was voiced by Michael Ironside in Splinter Cell as well as multiple other games in the Splinter Cell series. [3] Fabien Noel, a member of the sound team, was responsible for directing Ironside's performance. Noel noted that Ironside became more invested in the character as time went on, becoming attached to him. [1]
Sam Fisher originally appeared in the video game Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell . In this game, Fisher joins the National Security Agency as part of the division "Third Echelon", sent to investigate two missing Central Intelligence Agency operatives in Georgia. Fisher eventually discovered that they were both murdered under President Kombayn Nikoladze's orders, who Fisher discovered was leading an ethnic cleansing campaign in Azerbaijan, leading to NATO intervention that sent Nikoladze underground. Fisher was eventually sent to recover data, on technology called The Ark. Nikoladze declares war on the United States, and Fisher eventually discovers a network used by Nikoladze which he traced to Myanmar. He finds captured US soldiers and Chinese diplomats, and discovers that Nikoladze is working with rogue Chinese soldiers. Fisher interrogated their leader, discovering Nikoladze went back to Georgia to activate The Ark, which turns out to be a nuclear suitcase bomb placed somewhere in the United States. Fisher is about to be executed after failing to secure The Ark, but is rescued. He eventually assassinates Nikoladze, and the National Guard eventually secures the suitcase bomb.
In the sequel, Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow , Fisher is sent to gather intelligence on the militia group, Darah Dan Doa, helping to retake an embassy held by the group. Their leader, Suhadi Sadono, escapes, and he later discovers that Sadono is executing a plot called "Pandora Tomorrow," where he plans to unleash biological bombs containing smallpox on the United States, having a failsafe to prevent him from being killed or captured. Fisher is sent to discover the locations of the bombs, and spies are sent to deactivate them. He is sent to take Sadono alive, a decision made due to complications caused by his assassination of Nikoladze. After securing him, one smallpox bomb was set to be detonated at an airport, but Fisher is able to kill him and have the bomb safely detonated.
Sam Fisher was added as a playable character in the video game Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege . [4]
An alternate version of Sam Fisher appears in the 2023 animated series Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix . This version of Fisher is depicted as an amputee who lost his legs in battle. Following the rise of the Eden megacorporation and its takeover of the United States, he becomes a revolutionary fighting against their control, while his daughter Sarah willingly joins Eden, becoming the warden of its Supermaxx prison. [5]
Sam Fisher has been generally well received since his appearance in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell , being hailed as one of the biggest characters on Xbox and one of the console's synonyms in 2002, with praise going to the characterization used by Microsoft Game Studios and Ubisoft. [6] [7] [8] [9] In 2008, PC Zone staff felt that Fisher started as an iconic character, but the "genuine lack of imagination" let him down. [10] Although Fisher ultimately did not make the cut, Game Informer staff considered his inclusion in their "30 characters that defined a decade" collection, with writer Bryan Vore stating that while he may seem like "a poor man's Solid Snake," his "quiet and deadly efficiency, gruff yet sarcastic demeanor, and the willingness to disobey orders he doesn't believe in" set him apart. [11] Fellow Game Informer writer Nolan Good felt that Michael Ironside's portrayal of Sam Fisher was as iconic as Fisher himself, stating that Ironside's performance was enhanced by Fisher's "quintessential design." [1] Writer Scott Beattie discussed how Fisher's actions were essentially terrorism, that if he did what he did while working for Al-Qaeda, it would be indistinguishable. While discussing Fisher's mindset, that regular guards are not his enemy, Beattie invoked writer Kurt Vonnegut's view on the "expendability of bit characters in American literature," talking about how players are given ethical dilemmas while controlling Fisher. [12]
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell is a 2002 stealth game developed by Ubi Soft Montreal and published by Ubi Soft. It is the first game in the Splinter Cell series. Endorsed by author Tom Clancy, it follows the activities of NSA black ops agent Sam Fisher. The game was inspired by both the Metal Gear series and games created by Looking Glass Studios, and was built using Unreal Engine 2.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell is a series of stealth action-adventure video games, the first of which was released in 2002, and their tie-in novels that were endorsed by Tom Clancy. The series follows Sam Fisher, a highly trained agent of a fictional black-ops sub-division within the NSA, dubbed "Third Echelon", as he overcomes his adversaries. Levels are created using Unreal Engine and emphasize light and darkness as gameplay elements. The series has been positively received, and was once considered to be one of Ubisoft's flagship franchises. The series had sold 19 million units by 2008. No further installments have been released since 2013. A remake of the first game was announced in December 2021. Some of the game's characters are featured in XDefiant.
Frederick "Michael" Reginald Ironside, is a Canadian actor and filmmaker. A prominent character actor with over 270 film and television credits, he is known for playing villains and antiheroes, but has also portrayed sympathetic characters. He is best known for his roles in action and science fiction films, and had his breakthrough performance in the 1981 David Cronenberg film Scanners.
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield is a 2003 tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Red Storm Entertainment and published by Ubi Soft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It is the third entry in the Rainbow Six series. The game's plot follows Rainbow, a secret international counterterrorist organization, as they respond to a wave of terrorist attacks threatening South America.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow is a 2004 stealth game developed and published by Ubisoft Shanghai and Ubisoft Milan. The game is the sequel to Splinter Cell and the second game in the Splinter Cell series endorsed by writer Tom Clancy. It follows the covert activities of Sam Fisher, an agent working for a black-ops branch of the National Security Agency (NSA) called "Third Echelon". Michael Ironside returns to voice Sam Fisher, while Dennis Haysbert voices the character Irving Lambert, Fisher's boss, making this the only time he is not voiced by Don Jordan. Lalo Schifrin provides the theme music for the game.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is a stealth game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft Milan. The game was released for GameCube, PlayStation 2, Windows and Xbox in March 2005. Handheld versions for the Nintendo DS, mobile, and N-Gage were also released.
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon is a series of military tactical shooter video games published by Ubisoft. In the series, the player is in charge of a fictional, newly conceived squad of U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers from Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group stationed at Fort Bragg. Except for the "1st Battalion, 5th SFG" designation, this reconnaissance unit is entirely fictional, as Special Forces Battalions currently only support three Companies. They are often referred to as "the Ghosts". Their role is like other real world special operations forces, in that their operations are kept highly classified. In Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, it is shown that the Ghost's unit has multiple designations and is part of JSOC; they are also known as the Group for Specialized Tactics, much like real JSOC units such as Delta Force and SEAL Team Six. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon has also been novelized by Grant Blackwood under the pseudonym David Michaels.
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2 is a tactical shooter video game developed by Red Storm Entertainment and published by Ubisoft for Xbox, PlayStation 2 and GameCube. A Microsoft Windows version was planned but cancelled in April 2005 in favor of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. It is a direct sequel to the 2001 video game Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon.
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Lockdown is a 2005 tactical first-person shooter video game published by Ubisoft for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, and Windows. It is the fourth game in the Rainbow Six series. The game's plot follows Rainbow, an international counterterrorist organization, as they battle a terrorist organization that has stolen a deadly bioweapon.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent is a 2006 stealth game developed by Ubisoft Milan and Ubisoft Shanghai, and published by Ubisoft. The Splinter Cell series, endorsed by American author Tom Clancy, follows Sam Fisher, an agent employed by a black-ops division of the National Security Agency (NSA), dubbed Third Echelon. The game was released for GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox and Xbox 360 in October 2006. The Wii and Windows versions were released in November 2006. A PlayStation 3 version was released in March 2007.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Essentials is an action-adventure video game with heavy emphasis on stealth. It is part of the Splinter Cell series and was released for the PlayStation Portable handheld system. It was developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft on March 21, 2006. It is the fourth entry in the series and runs on the Unreal Engine 2.
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas is the sixth game in the Rainbow Six series of video games. It was released in November 2006 for the Xbox 360, December 2006 for Windows, and in June 2007 for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable. The game's storyline follows a new team that is dispatched to Las Vegas, Nevada to defeat international terrorist Irena Morales and her army of mercenaries that are repeatedly attacking key locations in the city. A sequel developed by Ubisoft Montreal was released on Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 consoles in March 2008 and on PC in April 2008. The game is also playable on Xbox Series X with online features still available.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction is a 2010 stealth action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Microsoft Game Studios and Ubisoft. The game is a sequel to Splinter Cell: Double Agent and part of the Splinter Cell series. Key members of the Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas team, such as creative director Maxime Béland worked on the game. It released for Windows and Xbox 360 in April 2010. Gameloft released a handheld version for Apple's iOS in May/July 2010. There are also versions available for Android, Windows Phone and Bada, as well as a side-scrolling 2D version for mobile phones.
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 is the seventh installment in the Rainbow Six series. It is a first-person shooter video game and the sequel to Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas. It was announced by Ubisoft on November 20, 2007. The game was released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in March 2008. The Microsoft Windows version, however, was delayed until April 2008. It was released in Japan on April 24, 2008, for the Xbox 360 and on May 29, 2008, for the PlayStation 3. This game is also available for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S via backward compatibility.
Clint Hocking is a Canadian video game designer and director. He has primarily worked at the Canadian divisions of Ubisoft, where he developed three titles, and briefly worked at LucasArts, Valve, and Amazon Game Studios.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist is a 2013 stealth action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Toronto and published by Ubisoft. The game is the sequel to Splinter Cell: Conviction and the seventh installment of the Splinter Cell series. Players control Sam Fisher, a highly trained operative working for the Fourth Echelon, in a mission to stop the Engineers, a group of terrorists which is trying to coerce the United States into recalling all of its troops stationed abroad. The gameplay is similar to its predecessors, with players tasked with completing objectives and defeating enemies. Blacklist marks the return of the asymmetrical multiplayer mode Spies vs. Mercs, which was introduced in Pandora Tomorrow.
Tom Clancy's is a branding used by video game company Ubisoft for several video games, some of which feature the works of American author Tom Clancy, while others do not. Various sub-series are often unrelated to each other with a few exceptions, although most are shooters set in modern or near-future military settings.
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands is a third-person tactical shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Paris and Ubisoft Milan, and published by Ubisoft. It was released worldwide on March 7, 2017, for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One as the tenth installment in the Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon franchise and is the first game in the Ghost Recon series to feature an open world environment.
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint is an online tactical shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Paris and published by Ubisoft. The game was released worldwide on 4 October 2019 for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One, and on 18 December 2019 for Stadia. The game is the eleventh installment in the Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon franchise and is a narrative sequel to the 2017 video game Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands.
Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix is a French–American adult animated television series produced by Ubisoft Film & Television, Bobbypills, and Bootleg Universe. It is inspired by the 2013 video game Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, while amalgamating elements and characters from several other Ubisoft franchises. Created by Adi Shankar, the series was released on October 19, 2023 on Netflix and received generally positive reviews from critics.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)