Daniel Hieronymus Carter, best referred to by just his surname, is a soldier/intelligence officer serving in the Earth Defense Force, where he works behind the front lines and contributes his "unique talents". He is also a member of the Alien Artifact Acquisition team, a squad of elite soldiers hand-picked by renowned EDF general Howard Brand.
He is introduced as a major supporting character in Serious Sam 4. He doesn't make an appearance in Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem, but he is mentioned. Screenshots of him can also be found in a secret in the game's final level.[1]
Biography[]
Carter was born on a human colony in the region of Icaria Planum on Mars. Other than that, not much is known about his life. As he got older, he became a conspiracy theorist and started becoming obsessed with theories relating to the Illuminati. He participated in a redacted leak of some affair that occurred in 2103, after which the government barred him from service, while he himself also vowed not to work for any government organization.[2]
During the Mental War, Carter accepted a pardon from the government and joined the Earth Defense Force when his skills were required. One assignment included the Hermann Stein Alien Technologies Survey. He also founded the "Mothership Malware Masquerade" charity hackathon which lasted from 2106 to 2111.[2] At some point after becoming a member of the EDF, General Howard Brand picked him to be included in his Alien Artifact Acquisition team.
Appearances[]
Serious Sam 4[]
Carter is part of an entourage, along with Serious Sam, Rodriguez, and Jones, along with recruit Kenny, being escorted by an Earth Defense Force convoy to the Vatican Library in Rome, where they will rendzevous with Father Mikhail, a renowned Russian priest who believes he knows the location of the Holy Grail. The EDF believe that this relic is an artifact that can help turn the tides in the war against Mental. Suddenly, the EDF heir convoy comes under attack by Octanian Raiders, but Carter and the rest of the team survive the ambush. He is later seen on a bus being driven by Hellfire. She extracts the rest of the team out of the city and she drives back to base.[3]
Carter suggests using the seismic capabilties of the HAARP to force Mount Vesuvius to erupt.
Carter appears in the briefing room with the rest of the Triple-A team. Professor Gottlieb Kiesel states that as long
He suggests using the seismic capabilties of the experimental HAARP weapon to force Mount Vesuvius to erupt, effectively grounding the Octanian Raider fleet dominating the airspace and potentially allow safe passage back into Rome.[4] Despite Professor Kiesel's objections, General Brand approves of the idea, so the rest of the team head to Pompeii to set up 8 beacons to activate the satellite's targeting system.
While Sam and the team plant the beacons, Carter and Delta Team escort Father Mikhail to the Vatican Library to gather more information on the Holy Grail. After Sam and his team make it back to base, Quinn informs Sam and General Brand that they lost contact with Carter and Father Mikhail at around 1300 hours.[5] Sam asks what could've caused this, but she is unsure, stating that Carter and Father MIkhail were in the catacombs when they lost comms. She iniitialy believes the culprit to be equipment failure, but given the sesmic acitivty in the area following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, this may be the reason as to why.[5] Quinn informs Sam and Brand that Carter and Fathe Mikhail's last known location was near the Colossuem. Brand orders Sam him to go back into Rome with Rodriguez to find and rescue them.
Carter is eventually found by the two, and the latter stays behind with Rodriguez and Father Mikhail while Sam goes to the Vatican Library to find the crucial information that they looking for. Mikhail states that they are look for a text that describes the Ark of the Covenant, which could lead them further into finding the Grail's location. Sam succeeds in finding the text (although he destroys the Vatican Library in the process), and the team board a plane to Carcassonne, which is where the team believes the Holy Grail and the Ark are located. Carter informs the team that the town was captured by Mental's forces a while back, so they can expect heavy enemy activity on the ground.[6] General Brand informs his team that their contact there is called Michelle, the leader of the French Resistance cell in Carcassonne, who will help them on their mission to find the Grail.
Once the Triple-A team make it over France, the team's plane comes under attack by Octanian Raiders, forcing them to ditch the plane and parachute down into the French countryside.[6] Carter loses contact with the rest of his team upon landing south of Carcassonne, but he, along with Hellfire, Rodriguez, and Father Mikhail, are able to make it into the town before Sam does.[7]
Carter is not seen again until Sam makes to the castle. He can be heard on Sam's radio, but Sam can't respond due to interference with communications. Later on, Sam tells Carter and the to team to "follow the gunfire", which will pinpoint them to his location.[8]
Carter and Mikhail later show up after a big fight involving Sam and more of Mental's forces. They team up and, eventually, they find Hellfire and Rodriguez.[9] The team fight their way to the basilica, when Lord Achriman suddenly shows up to confront them. The team are forced to fight Achriman, and Sam kills him to avenge Kenny, whom the latter had killed earlier.[10] Carter and the rest of his friends enter the church and discover the Ark to be in there. Sam retrieves the Grail from the Ark, but suddenly, Brand shows up with some of his men, their guns pointed at the Triple-A team. Carter tells Brand that he and the team have succeeded, and confirms to him that the strange scepter within the Ark of the Covenant is indeed the artifact they have been looking for.
Rodriguez demands to know what's going on; Brand reveals his true colors, and intends to join "the winning side", as he believes that humanity is a lesser species and should have joined Mental's Horde instead of fighting. Brand grabs the 'Grail' and allows the snake figure to bite him, injecting him with some kind of chemical that induces an almost instantaneous, mutagenic reaction inside his body. This results in Brand turning into a monster. All Carter can do is watch while he witnesses Brand impaling Father Mikhail with the Grail, killing him. Sam attempts to stop Brand, but he, Carter and the rest of the team are knocked unconscious from the shockwave Brand sends their way using the powers of the artifact.[10]
Sam meets up with Carter and Mikhail in Carcassonne.
Sam is captured by Brand so he can take him to Mental as a gift, while Carter, Hellfire and Rodriguez and taken by Harvester Drones so they can become processed, but they manage to escape with assistance from Hellfire.[11] The latter later join up with Sam during the Battle of Tunguksa as EDF soldiers push Mental's armies back towards the portal.
With the sudden appearance of Ugh-Zan VI, who was summoned by Brand, Sam blows up the metal rods on Ugh-Zan's body to disable his regenerative abilities, and then uses a mech to finish him off. The team believe that Ugh-Zan has been defeated, though according to Professor Kiesel, the creature has only been temporarily stunned, and will rise again if not quickly taken out. Thinking of an idea, Sam grabs the Grail and asks Hellfire for help. She picks him up via helicopter, and Sam tosses the Grail into Ugh-Zan's mouth. An unstable reaction occurs, which results in a large explosion that causes Ugh-Zan's head to explode, killing the monster. With Ugh-Zan defeated, Carter and his friends capture Brand and strap him to an ICBM missile. Carter writes the words "From Earth with love" on the warhead, as a message to send to Mental from humanity. The missile is launched into the portal, with Brand in tow, destroying it. With the destruction of the portal and one of Mental's servants dead, the Tunguska Offensive is officially over.[11]
With their mission complete and the threat neutralized (for the time being, at least), Carter and the gang have a chat over a campfire, reminiscing about the events that took place. During their conversation, Carter continues to ramble on about theories, which annoys Hellfire. Sam asks the team how they managed to escape from the Octanian Harvester Leviathan. Carter claims that they tried to "probe" them, although it's not confirmed whether this is actually true or not. Carter explains that the Octanians went after him first because of his intel, but luckily, with help from Hellfire, they were able to hijack the Harvester Leviathan and head to Tunguska.[12]
Sam decides the team should have a toast to remember those whose lives were claimed by the war. Carter mentions Father Mikhail, and raises a toast to his lost friend as a sign of respect.
Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem[]
Carter does not appear in the expansion pack, although leaked photos of him can be found as a secret in a room with several Common Aludran Reptiloids plotting an evil plan.[1]
Relationships[]
Sam Stone[]
Like Rodriguez, Hellfire, Jones, and Kenny, Carter is one of Sam's friends, although their friendship doesn't appear as strong as his other comrades. This is likely due to Sam not being able to stand Carter, nor have the time for his conspiracy theories.
Mikhail Obruchev[]
Carter sharing some of his theories with Father Mikhail.
Carter and Mikhail liked and respected one another. When the two of them got trapped in the catacombs under the Colosseum, Carter began sharing his conspriacy theories with the priest, which sparked his curiosity and interest despite his religious beliefs.[13] When Carter began rambling on about his theories to Fatter Mikhail, he seemed to be the only one who took Carter's theories seriously, as everyone else in his team couldn't really stand him.[13]
When Father Mikhail was killed by General Brand, Carter was saddened over his death, which showed how close the two of them were. After the mission was over and the team decide to relax over a campfire, Carter wished that Father Mikhail was there with them. Hellfire described Carter's relationship with Father Mikhail as "torturing the poor man" with his theories, but Carter believed that he enjoyed their conversations.[12]
Dwayne Rodriguez[]
They have a sort of antagonistic relationship, though this way just to Carter's paranoid personality. Rodriguez gets annoyed listening to Carter droning on about his theories, with him even remarking to him at one time that talking to him "makes his brain hurt". At one point, Rodriguez got so frustrated with Carter that he jokingly referred to him as a "conspiracy terrorist".[9]
Fiona Starr aka "Hellfire"[]
She is one of Carter's friends and comrades who she fights alongside with in combat. Like Rodriguez, Hellfire gets frustrated with listening to Carter always going on about his theories.[12]
Howard Brand[]
Carter's high intellect and talents did not go unnoticed by the EDF, and Brand thought that his skills could be put to the test while serving in the Triple-A team. After Brand revealed himself to be traitor, he severed ties with his team, including Carter. Brand, seeing as he had no further use for Carter, ordered his soldiers to dispose of him, along with Hellfire and Rodriguez.[10]
Personality and skills[]
As evidently shown throughout the game, Carter is intelligent and extremely paranoid. These 2 values combine to make him a conspiracy theorist. This fact is further strengthened when he often hides his natural intelligence with insane theories, such as believing that the Moon landing was staged and world leaders are descendants of lizard-people from the planet Sirius. These theories were sometimes even proven true, such as the theory that the HAARP is an "earthquake machine" that was used to make the volcano of Eyjafjallajökull erupt in Iceland in 2010 to ground all the air traffic in Europe.
He has a habit of associating everything and everyone around him and believing themselves to be conspiracies, which would annoy his friends from time to time,[12] The only exception to this was Father mIkhail, who seemed to be the only one that took Carter seriously.
Powers and abilities[]
- High Intelligence: Despite Carter being obviously paranoid and the fact that he likes to ramble on about various conspiracy theories, he has proven to be very intelligent. His intelligence was noted by the EDF, which is how he came to become a member of the Triple-A team. He is also a usual strategist, which comes in useful to his friends as well as the rest of the EDF.
- Expert Hacker: Carter has demonstrated expert hacking skills, leaking classified government information (which got him barred from the government), and he was even able to hack into NETRICSA's database.
- Weapon Proficiency: Carter is shown to be quite proficient with firearms, such as the pump-action shotgun, which is his signature weapon in combat situations.
Trivia[]
- His middle name is a reference to Saint Jerome, a Latin priest, confessor, theologian, and historian.
- He knows how to play the pipe organ, as seen in the church cutscene.
- He wears a hat that reads "paranormal investigator".
- He can be chosen as a player model in the multiplayer settings in both Serious Sam 4 and Siberian Mayhem.
- He is absent from Serious Sam 3: BFE, and it is not known what happened to him after the events of Serious Sam 4. It's possible that he stayed back at headquarters with Hellfire and Quinn to do some research on the Time-Lock.
- Carter's cap can be found in The Talos Principle 2, another Croteam game, as an Easter egg in the Western Delta area, hanging on a tree branch.
- Carter is so paranoid that Rodriguez claims he once caught Carter checking his burrito for spyware.[14]
- Carter believes in the following conspiracies, the many of which are references to many real-life conspiracy theories:
- The bus Hellfire drove in was the exact same model used in the assassination attempt of the Italian prime minister's personal ufologist in the year 2052.
- The HAARP being used to trigger the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland in 2010 to ground all air traffic in Western Europe and stop the Illuminati from getting out of Belgium.
- Paul McCartney was replaced by Mental with a highly modified Aludran Reptiloid just before Sgt. Pepper, the eighth album released by the Beatles.
- Elvis Presley's death was covered up and he is in fact still "alive and kickin'".
- If someone analyzes the Book of Revelations using the Rohonc Codex cipher with reference to the Voynich manuscript, they get the lyrics to "Hound Dog".
- The Moon landing being a hoax.
- Black helicopters releasing chemtrails into the atmosphere, as Nostradamus had predicted.
- Stanley Kubrick was a lizard.
- The Illuminati sending "lizard" Stanley Kubrick into space to fake the second Moon landing.
- Dinosaurs being a hoax.
- The rulers of Earth are descendants of lizard people from the planet Sirius.
- Global warming is an inside job.
Gallery[]
Artwork[]
Retail[]
List of appearances[]
- Serious Sam 4 (First appearance)
- Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem (Mentioned and player model only)
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem level: "Crime And Punishment" (secret #12)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Art of Serious Sam 4, page 169
- ↑ Serious Sam 4 level: "Death from Below"
- ↑ Serious Sam 4 level: "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Serious Sam 4 level: "The Die Is Cast"
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Serious Sam 4 level: "A Breakfast in France"
- ↑ Serious Sam 4 level: "Vive la Résistance"
- ↑ Serious Sam 4 level: "In Carcassonne"
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Serious Sam 4 level "Anathema Unto God"
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Serious Sam 4 (basilica cutscene)
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Serious Sam 4 level: "From Earth With Love"
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Serious Sam 4 credits
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Serious Sam 4 level: "When in Rome"
- ↑ Serious Sam 4 loading screen quotes