John Price

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

In the original timeline, Price serves as commanding officer of the 22nd SAS Regiment alongside Sergeant John "Soap" MacTavish. Flashbacks reveal his past as a Lieutenant in 1996 under Captain MacMillan during missions like "All Ghillied Up" and "One Shot, One Kill" to assassinate Imran Zakhaev. After the Russian Civil War ends with Zakhaev's death and Price's imprisonment as "Prisoner #627," he escapes a gulag in Kamchatka Krai five years later during Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009). Joining Task Force 141 under General Shepherd, Price launches an ICBM over the US East Coast to aid retaking Washington D.C. When Shepherd betrays and kills Ghost and Roach, Price and Soap kill him in Afghanistan after a brutal fight leaves Soap impaled. In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011), as a fugitive with Nikolai and Yuri, Price tracks Makarov to an Arabian Peninsula hotel. After Yuri is fatally shot while distracting Makarov, Price hangs the terrorist from a broken ceiling, avenging his friends before lighting a cigar.

In Their Own Story

The narrative of Captain Price spans two distinct timelines rooted in different eras of conflict. In the original trilogy, his journey begins with the infiltration of a Nazi battleship where the WWII version of the character died, though the Modern Warfare version is confirmed as his grandson by designer Sami Onur, despite no official confirmation. The story shifts to 1996 where Price, then a Lieutenant, executes a sniper mission that sets the stage for the future threat of Zakhaev. Years later, the stakes escalate in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 when Price detonates a nuclear warhead over the US to save Washington D.C., an act that brands him a war criminal after General Shepherd frames the unit. The climax sees Price and Soap confronting Shepherd, resulting in Shepherd's death via a knife to his left eye. In the final chapter of this arc, Price hunts Makarov across World War III with Yuri and Nikolai. The story concludes with a tragic victory where Yuri sacrifices himself, allowing Price to execute Makarov by hanging him from a hotel ceiling.

Reader's Guide

Captain Price appears in every game of both the original Modern Warfare trilogy and the reboot series starting with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019). In the reboot, he is called by Kate Laswell to handle chemical weapons seized by insurgents in Urzikstan. A flashback mission depicts him freeing resistance leader Farah Karim from Russian General Roman Barkov ten years prior. The present-day story culminates in Price, Gaz, Nikolai, and Alex killing Barkov. A post-credits scene shows Price proposing Task Force 141 to Laswell with Ghost, Soap, and Gaz as members. Beyond the main campaigns, Price appears as a playable character in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (2020), featuring a design reminiscent of the "Crew Expendable" mission where he wears all-black gear and a gas mask instead of his signature hat. He also features in Call of Duty: Mobile and Call of Duty: Online.

Did You Know?

• Captain Price's design for Call of Duty 4 included a receding hairline and a bald spot to give him a grizzlier look.
• In the original Modern Warfare trilogy, Price is voiced by Billy Murray; in the reboot series, he is voiced by Barry Sloane who also performs motion capture.
• A 2021 study by Top10Casinos ranked Captain Price as the most attractive male video game character with a Golden Ratio score of 88.90%.
• Price was imprisoned in a gulag and assigned the prisoner number "Prisoner #627" after the Russian Civil War.
• While designer Sami Onur stated Price is the grandson of the WWII Captain Price, this lineage has never been officially confirmed.