Howard Brand

This article contains spoilers. Read at your own risk!

Howard Brand
Biographical information
Homeworld	Washington D.C., USA, Earth
Age	57
Born	October 13th, 2055
Status	Deceased
Died	2112
Functions / Belongings
Rank / Occupation	Founder of the Alien Artifact Acquisition General Earth Defense Force member
Attacks / weapons	RAPTOR Sniper Rifle SOP38 Pistol
Equipment	Shades
Abilities	Enhanced strength (mutated form) Massive size (mutated form)
Physical description
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Chronological and political information
Affiliation	Alien Artifact Acquisition (defected) Earth Defense Force (defected) Mental's Horde
Game information
Voiced by	Wally Wingert
Designed by	Admir Elezović

 

"I didn't even need to invent General Brand, you already believed in him. He's that tough old bastard who doesn't play by the rules. But if we trust him, he'll do what needs to be done."

―Brand revealing his true intentions.

 

Howard "War Dog" Brand was a member of the Earth Defense Force and the founder of the Alien Artifact Acquisition, ranking as General. He is a major character and a minor antagonist featured in Serious Sam 4.

Biography

Brand was born to a military family in Washington D.C. with a history of service dating back to the American Civil War. In his adulthood, he attended the United States Aerospace Academy in Titusville, Florida and quickly rose through the ranks to become one of the most respected men in his field, becoming General in the Earth Defense Force. During his time in the field, he fought multiple engagements, such as the Battle of Beijing, the Second Battle of Munfordville, and the Battle of Gothenburg.

When Sam and the crew of the spaceship Surveyor accidently awakened Mental from his dormancy, they were accused of misconduct, but Brand strongly defended them. After the discovery of the first Sirian artifacts on Earth, he founded the Alien Artifact Acquisition team and hand-picked its members.

Appearances

Serious Sam 4

Brand in the briefing room with the rest of the Alien Artifact Acquisition team.

Brand is first seen on an Earth Defense Force base in Rome, demonstrating to a fellow soldier how to use a sniper rifle while killing a few Kleer Skeletons. He later appears along with the rest of the Alien Artifact Acquisition squad, where they discuss how to get into the Vatican Library. Carter suggests they use the HAARP, an experimental seismic weapon fired from a satellite, to fire on Mount Vesuvius. Brand agrees with Carter's idea, much to the dismay of professor Gottlieb Kiesel. He tells the team that the weapon hasn't been used in years, but he still has the access codes needed to operate it. Quinn informs Brand that the satellite's targeting system is down, so tracking beacons will have to be placed manually. So he has the rest of his team set up 8 beacons across Pompeii.

Once the beacons have been set up, Quinn tries to contact Sam, who tells her that they have cleared the perimeter, but they have not yet reached a minimum safe distance from the volcano. Due to radio interference, Quinn cannot understand everything he's saying. Brand believes they are ready to activate the satellite, but Quinn protests, stating they are not quite ready to leave the area. He orders his soldiers to activate it anyway, causing the volcano to erupt in a massive explosion. Later on, Brand meets up with an enraged Sam, who assaults him and demands to know what happened. The soldiers point their guns at Sam, but Brand gives them the order to stand down. He tells Sam that he's not going to reprimand him for his actions, but he's not going to forgive Sam for what he did. He goes on, saying that being a leader means "having to make tough calls, even if people hate you for it" and that's he accepted the loss of Jones, but also demands the respect that comes with it.

After Sam obtains a book from the Vatican, Brand and the team reassemble on a plane to France. While on the plane, Brand asks Father Mikhail if he thinks the Holy Grail is located in Carcassonne. He believes it's there, but he fears that the Grail is cursed and not to be rifled with, as men have died trying to hide it. Brand isn't interested in any of the supernatural stuff Mikhail is spouting, and insists that they need the Grail to win the war, no matter the cost. Mikhail warns him that it could cost the men their souls, to which Brand responds "I'll write them a check". With the conversation about the Grail over, Sam askes what the situation is on the ground. Brand informs them that they will rendezvous with a French resistance cell, and the contact, Michelle, will lead them to the castle. Before Brand can finish, the plane is shot down by Octanian raiders, forcing the team to jump out and parachute down to the ground.

After the A.A.A. team regroup an get to the church in Carcassonne, Father Mikhail performs a ritual which reveals the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail. Inside the Ark is a rod with a snake's head on it. Father Mikhail warns Sam not to touch it when Brand suddenly appears with a squad of his soldiers, guns drawn. Brand orders Sam to stand down and Rodriguez questions his motives, to which Brand shows his true colors and mocks them for being so gullible for putting their trust in him. He rants on to his former team, believing that humanity was losing the fight with Mental and he should be on the "winning" side. To betray his team even further, he says that the humans should have joined up with Mental just like the Khnums and older races did when they had the chance, and to prove he's right, he will offer the Holy Grail as a tribute to Mental.

Brand takes the Grail and allows the snake to bite him, turning him into a monster. He quickly grows mad, boasting himself as "the Beast of the Apocalypse, the Lord of Despair, and the last human". Mikhail tries to intervene, but Brand grabs the rod and impales him with it, killing him. Sam taunts Brand, which he responds by sending a large blast across the room, knocking him along with the rest of his team. Brand orders the soldiers to leave Sam alive, while have the rest of the team killed by drones.

Brand presenting Sam and the Holy Grail to Ugh-Zan VI.

When Sam recovers from his tranquilzer trip, he grabs a parachute and is about to disembark from the plane. Brand catches him in the act and further manipulates him to join his side as Mental's "pet". He declines and jumps out, landing in an oil rig in the Arctic Circle. Sam learns that Brand is heading to Tunguska, which is the location of the portal that Mental's forces have set up. Sam later joins his friends and leads a massive force of EDF soldiers to combat the alien forces. Sam is knocked down and sees Brand, now even larger than before, and knocks him out again. He takes Sam as a prisoner and summons Ugh-Zan VI, the great warlock and one of Mental's servants, through the portal and presents to him both Sam and the Grail. He hopes to form an alliance and bring about the end of history.

Ugh-Zan, disinterested, flicks Brand off, leaving Sam and the EDF to deal with the monster. They are successful in killing him, and are able to find and capture Brand, who has now reverted back to his human form. They strap him to an ICBM missile and ignore his desperate pleas and warnings, ranting on how Mental will destroy the Earth and such. Rodriguez adds one final touch (a C-4 explosive) just in case and the missile is launched, sending Brand into the portal and destroying it.

Personality and skills

Brand initially appeared to be a well-meaning General who was forced to make pragmatic choices in order to ensure humanity's safety in the war against Mental. In actuality, he was a backstabbing sociopath who later betrays humanity and joined forces with Mental and would rather choose his own path as "the last human".

Relationships

Hellfire

He was admired by Hellfire's skill with firearms, especially with her signature minigun. These feelings were later revoked when he saw Hellfire as nothing more than fodder to be disposed of while he considered Sam to be of higher importance.

Quinn

Quinn was a respected member of the Earth Defense Force and proved useful to Brand during certain situations. He would sometimes ignore her advice though when she pointed out the risks involved with something, such as when he wanted to have the HAARP activated, despite Sam having problems with communications.

Sam Stone

Brand was close to Stone and respected him during his time in the EDF, even when Sam was accused of misconduct. He selected him to be part of his own squad, the Alien Artifact Acquisition. When Sam and the team uncovered the Holy Grail in the church, however, Brand betrayed Sam and his team. He knew that Sam had superior fighting skills than his comrades, so he decided to have him kept alive and be delivered to Mental as a gift while the rest of his team were disposable.

When Sam attempted to jump out of Brand's plane, he convinced Sam that the war was over and he is all alone. He taunted him further, saying that his life would be a lot more fun as Mental's pet than staying on Earth.

Gallery

General Brand.png

Model.

Concept art.

Concept art of Brand's mutated forms.

List of appearances

• Serious Sam 4 (First appearance)