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"A guy once said, 'The price of success is hardwork and dedication.'"
― Sam Fisher, sharing words of wisdom with Ghost Leader Anthony "Nomad" Perryman during Operation Watchman.

Samuel Leo "Sam" Fisher is the main protagonist and player character of the Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell series of video games, novels and comic books developed and published by Ubisoft and endorsed by Tom Clancy. Fisher was created by writer JT Petty[11] and designed by character artist Martin Caya.[12] He was initially voiced by veteran actor Michael Ironside in all the Splinter Cell games from the first to Conviction. In Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Eric Johnson provided the voice acting and motion capture for Sam. Michael Ironside later returned as the definitive voice of Sam (as well as providing motion capture performance) in the crossover Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands (Year 2 Season Pass DLC), appearing in "Operation Watchman" in the La Cruz province in Bolivia and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Breakpoint (Year 1 Season Pass DLC: Episode 2 "Deep State") appearing in "Operation Checkmate" in Aurora. Sam later joins Team Rainbow in 2020 where he becomes an official member of the team to combat wordwide threats.

A retired, highly decorated Navy SEAL and former CIA paramilitary ops/clandestine officer, Fisher was once a member of Third Echelon, a top-secret initiative within the National Security Agency (NSA), where he successfully carried out black bag operations as the very first field operative of the initiative's "Splinter Cell" program. In Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Fisher became the commander of a covert unit called Fourth Echelon after he briefly carried out missions for Paladin Nine Security, a PMC headed by his old friend Victor Coste.

Biography

Early Life

Sam-Sarah

Sam Fisher and his daughter, Sarah, in her room.

Samuel Leo Fisher was born in the affluent Baltimore[1][2][4][8][9] suburb of Towson, Maryland, on August, 8, 1957. [1][2][4][8][9] Though the CIA and Third Echelon have classified the majority of Sam's childhood, it is known that he lost both of his parents when he was a child and was raised by his paternal grandmother, Sarah.[9] She enrolled Sam into a military boarding school where he learned to focus his energy, hone his skills, and to either follow orders or be sure to hide the evidence.[9]

From school, Sam enrolled directly into the United States Naval Academy[9] where he majored in Political Science.[8][9] During the mid-1980s, Sam worked for the CIA, under the cover of being deployed as a diplomatic aide in Eastern Europe[13] where he later met an NSA crypt-analyst named Regan Burns in the then-Soviet Socialist Republic of Georgia. They had a "stormy" affair and Regan became pregnant with Sam's child. After learning of the pregnancy, they had a small, quiet wedding ceremony at a U.S. military base in Frankfurt, Germany, where their daughter, Sarah, who they named after Sam's grandmother, was born on May 31, 1985.[14]

Despite a distant, difficult marriage, Sam and Regan did love each other, but their professional careers interfered with their relationship. They divorced after three years of marriage.[15] Regan went back to the United States and took Sarah with her, reclaiming her maiden name and changing Sarah's. Sam became distanced from Regan and Sarah as he dedicated himself, operating extensively in "Afghanistan (during and after the Soviet invasion), East Germany, and the Soviet satellites in the years leading up to the collapse of the USSR." Regan later died of ovarian cancer when Sarah was fifteen.[16] After Sam gained guardianship of Sarah, he moved back to the U.S. and took a bureaucratic job with the CIA, where he studied experimental weaponry and information warfare, in order to spend more time with her and focus on her upbringing.[17]

Career

Military Service

Sam Fisher Navy SEAL

Sam Fisher serving as a Navy SEAL in the 1990s.

Acknowledged as one of the finest and well respected sailors in the U.S. military, Sam Fisher was a highly-decorated commissioned officer of the United States Navy, where he attained the rank of Lieutenant Commander (O-4).[8] At some point, Fisher found his calling and quickly opted for a career in Naval Special Warfare, in which he joined the elite U.S. Navy SEALs, where he was awarded the coveted SEAL Trident after passing their grueling selection process and training program.

While serving as a SEAL officer, Fisher honed his field skills during multiple combat deployments to various hotspots around the world, locales such as the Middle East, Bolivia, Colombia, Senegal and Kosovo. He participated in numerous armed conflicts, such as Operation Just Cause in Panama, and Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf, where he led platoons and fire-teams that conducted special combat missions in then-occupied Kuwait. Fisher was renowned for his skills, focus and dedication to missions, willing to complete them regardless, and no matter of personal cost. While thriving on the battlefield, Fisher's calm temperament as well as his dedication to duty ensured that he kept a clear head under pressure and was always prepared, regardless of circumstances.

Fisher spent nearly three years (2 years, 11 months) working as an intelligence analyst while stationed at Naval Station Great Lakes in Illinois, [8] and, at some point, was awarded a Defense Distinguished Service Medal.[8][9] He later spent time as an instructor at Naval Amphibious Base in Little Creek, Virginia.[9] After years of exemplary service during his Navy career, Fisher received a honorable discharge in 1996.[18]

1989–90: Operation Just Cause

Fisher took part in Operation Just Cause (1989–1990), when he was part of a CIA raiding team that went into a bank in Panama searching for Manuel Noriega's drug money. He later spent most of the rest of the year "sleeping in a ditch on the road between Baghdad and Kuwait."[19]

1990–91: Persian Gulf War (Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm)

Sam-Fisher-Victor-Coste-1991-1

Sam Fisher as a Navy SEAL serving in Iraq during the Gulf War.

Fisher is a veteran of the Gulf War (1990-1991), during which he saw action in the Middle East, specifically the Persian Gulf. He served in all three active theaters in and around the Gulf (Kuwait, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia) during Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, during which he received decorations for heroism that include the Silver Star as well as received awards for valor and bravery under fire.

Operation Desert Storm

During Operation Desert Storm, Fisher was rescued from hostage interrogation by fellow SEAL teammate Victor Coste (callsign "Husky") after being captured by Iraqi Republican Guard soldiers while on a mission during the Liberation of Kuwait campaign.

Fisher was the squad leader of a four-man SEAL team (which included Coste) that he led on a patrol through the Highway of Death when an enemy ambush resulted in Fisher and his team being knocked unconscious, and the deaths of two other SEALs (one was killed by the detonation of an IED, the other was shot to death). Fisher was captured alive by Republican Guard soldiers and taken away for interrogation while Coste was left for dead. Fisher was later rescued by Coste, who regained consciousness and picked up an AK-47 and embarked on a one-man search and rescue mission for Fisher while defying orders from Wofford Base after being told to hold position.

Splinter 6--article image

Sam Fisher rescued by SEAL teammate Victor Coste in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm.

Umm Qasr, Iraq

On March 4, 1991, Sam Fisher had his first contact with Douglas Shetland, then a U.S. Marine, in Umm Qasr, Iraq.

Operation SCARAB TOOTH

On March 12, 1991, Sam Fisher had his second contact with Douglas Shetland in Kuwait during Operation SCARAB TOOTH.

1992: Operation Selva Verde

Main article: Operation Selva Verde

On 2–3 May, 1992, Sam Fisher, then a DEVGRU operator, had his third contact with Douglas Shetland, at the time a SEAL liaison on loan to the Colombian Army, during Operation Selve Verde in Norte de Santander, Colombia.

Fisher embarked alone on a hostage retrieval mission and single-handedly rescued Shetland, who was captured after his unit was ambushed by FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) guerrilla forces. Though Sam was caught in the process, he and Shetland were able to extract from the bunker.

Government Service

Recruitment Into Third Echelon

"Congratulations, Fisher, you have demonstrated that you are the right man to spearhead the NSA's Third Echelon initiative. The onus will be on you to prove the worth of deploying solo covert operatives by gathering intelligence in the field and taking deliberate action based on that intelligence...welcome to the NSA."
Irving Lambert informs Sam Fisher about 3E's mandate after congratulating him for passing NSA orientation.
Version 1 (Xbox/PC/PS3)
10

Fisher, meeting with Wilkes and Lambert, is inducted into the NSA.

On August 7, then-recently retired Sam Fisher underwent training at "The Farm" in Camp Peary, Virginia. This training was to demonstrate to Irving Lambert and his superiors, that he had the adequate skills to successfully perform in the field as a member of the newly-created "Splinter Cell" program for the NSA's Third Echelon initiative.

The training course at The Farm tested individuals with navigating through obstacles, stealth (i.e. slient movement, evasive manuevers, hiding in plain sight and stashing bodies), lock-picking, interrogation, excessive & non-lethal force and bypassing surveillance cameras.

Surprised by his skills and completion of training, Lambert personally welcomed Fisher into the NSA/Third Echelon. Sam was then introduced to his new team thereafter, including field runner, Vernon Wilkes, Jr. and later, technical expert, Anna Grímsdóttir.

Version 2 (PS2/GameCube)

On October 7, newly-recruited Splinter Cell Sam Fisher underwent training at "The Farm" in Camp Peary, Virginia.

Sometime after he completed training, Sam took some R&R and went deep-sea diving with his daughter, Sarah, somewhere in the Pacific. While there, a ship came alongside his fishing boat, he then meets Vernon Wilkes, Jr. who puts him into contact with Colonel Irving Lambert, who informs Sam via cochlear implant that his mission is to bring back two missing CIA agents (Alice Madison and Robert Blaustein) who disappeared during their mission in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia.

2004: Georgian Information Crisis

SFisher

Sam Fisher, in the MK V Tac Suit, as a newly recruited member of Third Echelon.

In October 2004, the CIA contacted NSA officials regarding the loss of contact with Agent Madison, a CIA operative monitoring widespread communication shortages plaguing the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, A second operative, Agent Blaustein, was inserted into the Georgian capital of T'Bilisi to locate Agent Madison, only to drop from contact four days later. Fearing for the lives of the American agents compromised at the hands of a suspected terrorist effort, Third Echelon activated Fisher for his first official mission as its first Splinter Cell field operative to locate the missing agents and evaluate the situation.

On October 16, Fisher was inserted into the city of T'Bilisi and ordered to find CIA contact and NSA liaison Thomas Gurgenidze, a booking clerk working in the T'Bilisi fourth police precinct. He had to enter a nearby building, which had been set on fire by Nikoladze's men. Fisher found the contact and is informed that Blaustein hid a black box in his apartment which contained evidence against the Georgian government that would lead to war. After that, he sets out to find Gurgenidze's dead drop in Morevi Square. From there, Fisher entered the fourth precinct through the back entrance to find the bodies of Agents Madison and Blaustein in the precinct's morgue with their subdermal implants removed. He then accessed the precinct's security surveillance room to find out who took the agents' sub-dermal implants. Fisher then ex-filtrated from the precinct.

Chinese General Feirong

Fisher forces General Feirong to unlock his computer for evidence.

Sometime later during the operation, Fisher uncovers a covert invasion of Azerbaijan by an invading Georgian military, led by President Kombayn Nikoladze. Following NATO intervention, Nikoladze goes underground and declares war on America. Using sophisticated computer algorithms, Nikoladze dismantles America's electronic infrastructure and is able to smuggle a nuclear device onto American soil (codenamed: The Ark) in the ensuing chaos. During the war against Georgia, American soldiers were captured on the front. Fisher was deployed to locate and save the captured soldiers. While conducting recon at an embassy in China, Fisher gathered intelligence of a potential link between President Nikoladze and a Chinese General. This lead to potential speculation that the Chinese were providing aid to Georgia in their war campaign against the United States. A Chinese ambassador imprisoned with the American soldiers denies China's involvement, however, and informs Fisher that the general in question is an extremist fanatic, and commands a splinter faction of the Chinese military, acting outside of China's interests. Based on this intel, Fisher is ordered to return to the embassy and find evidence proving the ambassador's claim. The General was targeted and captured by Fisher, and after a short tirade of non-compliance, the General surrendered the information to Fisher shortly before dying from self-inflicted alcohol poisoning. Following a mission to neutralize Nikoladze, Fisher learns "The Ark" is a powerful nuclear suitcase bomb already in place on American soil but puts the crisis to an end by assassinating the only person capable of activating the device.

After eliminating Nikoladze, the NSA and government officials in the United States determined that Philip Masse, knowing too much about the American infrastructure and still capable of manufacturing weaponized computer algorithms, was too dangerous to be left alive. In January of 2005, while infiltrating the Severomorsk region in Russia, Fisher assassinated Masse and exfiltrated.

2006: Indonesian Crisis/LAX Incident

Sam Indonesia

Sam during the Indonesian Crisis.

The U.S. installs a temporary military base on East Timor to train the developing defense force of the "world's youngest democracy." Resistance to the U.S. military presence in Southeast Asia is widespread and passionate, but the threat the Indonesian militias pose to Timorese democracy was deemed as sufficient justification. At the same time, the U.S. doesn't mind having an excuse to install active military personnel within easy reach of both North Korea and the largest Muslim population in Asia. Anti-U.S. resentment comes to a head under the leadership of guerrilla militia leader Suhadi Sadono (former CIA-trained combatant of Communist ideology in the region), acting with the unofficial support of major corrupt factions within the Indonesian government. Sadono's men attack and occupy the U.S. Embassy in Dili, taking hostage dozens of civilian and military personnel. Splinter Cell Sam Fisher was sent in to destroy a top-secret document held in the embassy before Sadono's men could access it.

59

Terrorist leader Suhadi Sadono is captured in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Sadono then smuggles numerous ND133 bombs containing the smallpox virus (codenamed: Pox Box) onto U.S. soil that is designed to detonate if Sadono is ever killed or captured. In an effort to combat the nationwide menace of the ND133 bombs, the Third Echelon establishes a sub-branch within the organization named Shadownet to hunt down and disable the weapons, under the watchful protection of a PMC called Armed Guardian Services (ARGUS). With the ND133 devices disabled, Fisher is sent to capture Sadono alive. Later, Third Echelon learns that rogue CIA agent Norman Soth has smuggled a final ND133 device into LAX International Airport in Los Angeles, California, and dispatches Fisher. He successfully eliminates Soth and the LAPD bomb squad disables the "Pox Box" before it's deployed.

NSA Mole and Stolen Weapons Cache

In August 2006, shortly after the incident at LAX, Sam Fisher is sent on a mission to discover the NSA mole and anyone who was behind the plot to steal an NSA weapon cache and sell it to foreign terrorists. He infiltrated a steel factory in Warsaw, Indiana, eavesdropped on Ernest (then knocked him out), and captured Agent Frasier for later interrogation. He successfully located the weapon cache.

2007

NYC Cyber Attacks/East Asian Crisis

Main article: East Asian Crisis

After the controversial decision to establish its own Information Self-Defense Force (I-SDF) headed by Admiral Toshiro Otomo, Japan's shipping routes in the Yellow Sea are blocked by naval vessels from the Chinese and North Korean fleet; forcing the United States to intervene. Fisher is dispatched to Peru to investigate reports of a computer hacker's attempt to re-engineer the devastating computer algorithms developed by Philip Masse, now considered to be the super-weapon of the 21st century. The war between North Korea, South Korea, and the United States sparks when a North Korean "Super" Silkworm missile destroys the USS Clarence E. Walsh (CG-80), an advanced U.S. information warship, on the Fourth of July. Following claims the missile launch was unintentional, Sam investigates and discovers a PMC named Displace International, headed by Fisher's old friend and comrade Douglas Shetland, had been recruited by Japan's I-SDF to utilize the "Masse Kernels" and orchestrate the attack on U.S. forces in order to re-militarize Japan and ignite World War III.

57

Third Echelon captures Admiral Otomo, preventing World War Three.

Fisher learns that Otomo is forcing the Japanese SDF to repeal the post-war constitution with the threat of using a North Korean missile against a major Japanese city. Given the "Fifth Freedom," with everyone but Otomo, Fisher is tasked with capturing Otomo, who commits seppuku to avoid capture. U.S. officials want to interrogate Otomo and ask Fisher to save the Admiral from his own hand. Fisher complied and was successful in capturing Otomo alive and preventing World War III, ending the Crisis in East Asia.

Hallucinogenic Testing

In the fall of 2007, Sam Fisher had been somehow "kidnapped and detained in an old German bunker in Normandy, France." Since CIA agent Hisham Hamza of the Defense Department's Interdepartmental Operative program and Third Echelon had managed to "track Fisher's position" and contact him via his sub-dermal implant, they monitored Sam while he was on an unknown hallucinogenic drug for one week. During that time, he barely escaped his captors and saw Hamza. In reality, Sam was still at Third Echelon Headquarters in Fort Meade undergoing hallucinogenic drug resistance testing after he had signed himself up a few days before, even though Lambert had tried to persuade him not to take part in the experimental exercise. Sam claimed that he had no memories about that but hoped that his memory would come back.

Sarah's Kidnapping

Sam Fisher learned that Sarah and two of her friends were kidnapped coming home from a club in Washington, D.C. They were stashed in a van, and taken aboard a cargo ship, thus prompting Sam to take the initiative to go after Sarah's kidnappers. He managed to sneak aboard the ship before being contacted by Lambert, who asked why he's going on his own. Fisher explained himself and Lambert compiled to help his friend. After Fisher retrieved his daughter and her friends alive and in security, he discovered that arms dealer Raheem Kadir was the one who ordered the kidnapping and the target was actually the daughter of a high ranking diplomat. Fisher managed to take down the kidnappers and escape the boat before police arrival.

2008: JBA Deep-Cover Operation

Main article: Red Mercury Plot
Sam Fisher mugshot

Sam operating undercover during the JBA operation.

In September 2007 (Version 1)/January 2008 (Version 2), Sam Fisher is sent on a mission to Iceland. After obtaining a list of the launch of a warhead, and stop a missile from launching (Version 1)/a list of buyers for Red Mercury (Version 2), Fisher is quickly pulled out only to find out from Lambert that his daughter, Sarah, was killed by a drunk driver. After her funeral, Fisher disappeared from sight.

40

Fisher performs recon on a terrorist meeting.

Unable to cope with his mounting personal losses, Fisher is relieved of duty as a Splinter Cell. Later, Lambert reassigns him to a high-risk, deep-cover operation to infiltrate the ranks of John Brown's Army (JBA), a domestic terrorist organization founded and led by Emile Dufraisne. After agreeing to take on "the most dangerous mission of his career," Sam's first step was to win the group's trust by freeing one of their members, Jamie Washington, from Ellsworth Federal Penitentiary in Kansas. He went undercover as a convicted felon and prison inmate in order to befriend Jamie and help him break him out of Ellsworth. After proving himself, Sam was introduced to Dufraine's organization and offered membership. He accepted, becoming a double agent within the JBA.

During the course of his assignment, Sam discovered that the JBA and their allied terrorist groups had obtained Red Mercury, a substance capable of nuclear weapon-caliber damage planned to launch attacks against three major cities, two of them being Los Angeles and New York City.

Endings

Version 1 (Xbox 360/PC/PS3)

In New York City, Emile offers Sam a gun and the chance to prove his loyalty once and for all by shooting Lambert, who had been captured inside the JBA compound and beaten. Sam reluctantly complies, taking the gun and shooting Lambert, maintaining his cover. However, Lambert is still alive and gives Sam his last orders to stop the bomb before falling unconscious. Dufraisne and his second-in-command Carson Moss are both killed by Sam before either is able to detonate a Red Mercury device on U.S. soil. Fisher also kills Jamie and Stanley Dayton. Lambert dies of his wound.

Version 2 (Xbox/PS2/GameCube/Wii)

In New York City, after leaving the headquarters in New Orleans for the final time, Emile discovers that Sam is a traitor and orders all JBA members to kill him on sight. Sam has to work his way through every single one of them, including the high-ranking members, and disarm all three Red Mercury bombs within New York City. After Emile dies and the last bomb is disabled, Enrica is shot and killed by a Splinter Cell sent by Assistant Director Lawrence Williams. Sam, who had grown close to Enrica, kills the Splinter Cell out of rage. Williams swears that the NSA will find him and that he can't hide from them, to which Sam replies, "Watch me."

2009: After JBA operation/Last Goodbye

In January 2009, Sam Fisher visits his daughter's gravesite at Elysian Fields Cemetery in Washington, D.C. before being captured and interrogated. He was suspected of helping Emile Dufraisne with several terrorist attacks, and the NSA wanted to find out if that was true. Sam was forced to explain himself over several key points during his career before and during his time in the Splinter Cell Program which didn't seem to match up with Third Echelon's records. One of the arresting agents, who believed he was innocent, tells of Sam's rescue of Douglas Shetland during Operation Selva Verde in May 1992.

With the help of Anna Grímsdóttir, Sam learns that his records had been tampered with by Lawrence Williams, Third Echelon's acting Director of Operations, in order to frame him as being a rogue agent, with each of those events rewritten to make Sam appear as if he had completely disobeyed orders or was involved in committing treason and/or acts of terrorism against the United States. Anna Grímsdóttir and William Redding explain what really happened during the events. Williams discovers that his hacks to the record had been discovered, and stole the CD containing the evidence from Grímsdóttir. Sam escaped his captors and infiltrated the NSA Headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland. After sneaking into Williams' office and recovering the evidence, he confronts Williams, explaining he would expose him. Sam then escaped, taking the evidence with him.

2011: Third Echelon Conspiracy

Nexegen Technologies/RDEI Incident

Three years after the incident that took place in New York, Sam Fisher, now retired from Third Echelon, is under attack from an unidentified infiltration team. Three days prior to this pursuit, Sam arrives in Vancouver to meet with former Voron agent Ruslan Lupul. Lupul requires Sam’s help for a freelance job concerning stealing some DVR technology from a Korean electronics firm called Nexegen Technologies. In return, Lupul agrees to provide Sam with a file he has concerning the death of Sam’s daughter, Sarah.

During the infiltration of the company headquarters, Sam becomes suspicious, and Lupul admits that Nexegen is actually a front company for the North Korean RDEI (Research Department for External Intelligence). After completing the data transfer Sam is double-crossed by Lupul but manages to evade security and escape the premises. Sam then confronts Lupul at his mansion and forces him to provide the file on Sarah. Before Lupul is able to provide Sam with the name of his source, he is killed by a sniper bullet. Back to the pursuit, Sam manages to escape the mansion unharmed after killing several Korean squad members.

Twenty-four hours later, Sam is in Valetta, Malta, having a phone conversation with an unidentified source in order to learn more about his daughter’s death in exchange for some Voron intel Sam procured from Lupul’s home.

Man of Conviction

Version 1 (Xbox 360/PC)
Welcome Home

Sam infiltrates Third Echelon Headquarters during the Third Echelon Conspiracy.

After learning that Sarah's death was plotted, Sam decides to investigate who murdered his daughter and why. While at a cafe in Malta, Sam receives word from Grim that a local gang was hired to kill him. Shortly after eliminating the hitmen, he brutally interrogates Dmitri Gramkos, the gang's leader who gave the order, and finds out that an arms dealer and drug trafficker named Andriy Kobin was the man who drove the car that killed Sarah. Fisher then sneaks into Kobin's mansion, eliminating several of Kobin's men as he does so. Sam reaches Kobin and interrogates him. Right before Kobin is about to talk, Splinter Cells storm in and surround Fisher, during which he is convinced by Grímsdóttir to go with the agents who take him away.

Later on, Sam obtains equipment such as a portable EMP generator, Sonar Goggles, grenades, and sticky cameras (which are now thrown by hand), all courtesy of Sam's old friend, Victor Coste, and a Third Echelon employee named Charlie Fryman. During his investigation, he discovers that his daughter is alive. He learned from Grim that her "death" was orchestrated by Lambert to lead him to uncover a huge mole in the NSA, Tom Reed, who was soon appointed as Third Echelon's new Director. At the White House, Grim pretends to capture Sam and takes him to the Oval Office, where Reed has captured President Patricia Caldwell. Grim and Sam proceed to eliminate Reed's Third Echelon bodyguards and rescue the President, whom Reed was about to kill and blame Sam for her death. Sam grabs Reed and interrogates him about the whole conspiracy. Sam chooses to spare Reed, which prompts Grim to kill Reed thus ending the conspiracy.[20] Sam then tells Grim how he has chosen to "walk" away.

In the end, the game implies that Sam was in the middle of freeing Victor Coste from captivity by Black Arrow.

This is shown to be true; during the credits of Splinter Cell: Conviction, a conversation between Sam and Victor at a restaurant plays. They speak of a time when the two of them were serving overseas and Sam was offered to buy an elephant, to which he replied, "Sorry, I already have one."

Version 2 (iOS/Android)

Sam Fisher is contacted by Grímsdóttir at the marina and has to work his way up to the marketplace, where she has hidden an earpiece for him under a telescope. After he found the earpiece several men enter the marketplace to capture him. One of them shoots an RPG at the fountain at the center of the marketplace destroying it. Sam goes further into the marketplace, where an SUV drives up with more men. After dispatching them Sam enters a dockside building and is chased to a boat where he escapes.

Sam enters another part of Malta, where Grímsdóttir sends him to a lighthouse to turn off the reflector. After disabling the reflector. A helicopter finds him at the top of the lighthouse and asks for orders. Reed orders the pilot to fire on Fisher. A missile is sent into the top of the tower, and Sam barely escapes by diving into the sea below. Climbing back onto to shore, he works his way along the beach and works his way to the market hall. Sam stealthily takes out several more men and then interrogates the "Sentinel." Sam convinces the Sentinel to send a message that the place is all clear. However, Gramkos sends reinforcements anyways. A boat dock on a nearby pier and several men, including Gramkos step out. Gramkos orders them to take out Sam Fisher. Sam defeats them and interrogates him, he tells him about Kobin and sends him to a museum on George Street. Avoiding the police, he makes it to the museum. Seeing that the way was heavily guarded, he created a diversion by dropping a banner on top them, and then made his way into the garden. Grímsdóttir overloaded the power grid, to turn off the lights so that he could sneak through. The path to the museum was long, and Kobin had men on every street, and a sniper set up in a position to ambush Fisher. After taking out the sniper, Sam made his way into the museum and interrogated Kobin. Other Splinter Cells repelled into the room and took Kobin away. Grim explained that she was a mole inside of Third Echelon working for President Caldwell.

Heading to Washington, D.C., Sam met up with Victor Coste, who gave him "[his] favorite pistol" and a portable EMP generator from DARPA. He helped Sam infiltrate White Box, MCN Headquarters, where secret Third Echelon Headquarters was also located. Sam first knocked out the power to the surrounding compound. He made his way into the security booth, to disable the security in the building, and took out the satellite antenna on top of the roof. He then disabled the satellite dish on the roof and made it inside the building via an elevator into the building. Inside he tracked down where Kobin was being held. Sam saves a scientist from some Black Arrow mercenaries, and who tells him about Robertson. After witnessing some more Black Arrow mercenaries murder a scientist, Sam interrogates a Splinter Cell for a keycard into Third Echelon Headquarters and saved some scientists that were being held, hostage. Grímsdóttir contacted Sam and had him help her hack into the computer systems. Sam discovered Kobin inside Third Echelon Headquarters, eavesdropping on him contacting Reed. Sam interrogated Kobin, learning more about the EMPs, and more about his daughter. He then contacted Grim to learn more from her.

Sam made his way to the rooftops of the complex, where Coste contacted him to let him know he was inbound in a helicopter. But Reed had sent another helicopter to intercept him. Reed had the chopper fire a missile at Sam, destroying the doorway behind him. Sam made his way across the roof avoiding the helicopter. Finally reaching some RPGs, he fired them at the chopper and then sniped the pilot (causing it to crash into the roof). Sam then made his way back into the building to regroup with Coste.

With the crash, Third Echelon Headquarters was in flames, with splinter cells and Black Arrow mercenaries trapped inside, and security system going haywire. Sam made his way through the building to find an exit, meeting Coste halfway. They make their way to the exit before the buildings explode. Coste gives Sam data leading to the location of the EMPs before they separate.

Both Sam and Coste head to hidden missile base on the shores of the Potomac River in order to disarm the EMP missile being prepped there. As they make their way to the base by boat, they are chased and fired upon by Black Arrow and splinter cells in boats and humvees on the shore. Clearing the way Sam lets Victor off, while he makes by boat to shut down generators powering the searchlights of the base. Switching off the generator alerts the base. Sam is chased back to Victor, who takes out the boats with an RPG. They make their way and disable the last few generators. At the last one, Sam interrogates a Black Arrow mercenary who tell him about Prentiss, and the EMP. Sam and Coste then make their way to the missile silo. Sam cleared the forces around the silo and attempted to disarm the EMP. But the missile was fired.

Sam and Coste quickly fly their helicopter to the White House just as the EMP exploded causing them to crash. Black Arrow and splinter cells were already inside the White House trying to capture and kill the president. Sam made his way inside. Inside, Grim contacted him letting him know that they were almost closing in on the president in the Oval Office. Coste also contacted him to tell him that he was inbound with his daughter. Sam ran into Grim, who shot him, to get him closer to the president. Splinter cells enter the room and then escorted him to Reed. After a long speech, Sam got his chance, grabbing Reed, and killing the five splinter cells guarding him. Sam interrogated him, and Grim killed him. His daughter walked into the Oval Office and they were finally reunited. Both walked away from Grímsdóttir.

Post-Third Echelon Conspiracy

Bored with civilian life, Fisher allows himself to be recruited into Coste's PMC, Paladin Nine Security. He and Coste then only take contracts which they believe in. During the first Blacklist attack in Guam, Coste is critically wounded protecting him from a grenade.[21]

2013: Fourth Echelon and The Blacklist

Scb 3

Sam and Grímsdóttir aboard Fourth Echelon's mobile base, the Paladin.

Two years after the events in D.C., Sam worked in Paladin Nine Security with Victor Coste and Charlie Cole until an attack on a U.S. military base in Guam leaves Victor wounded by a fragmentation grenade. Sam is later appointed by President Caldwell as the acting commander of a special operations and counter-terrorism unit called Fourth Echelon, with Grímsdóttir as the unit's technical operations officer, Briggs as a new operative and Charlie serving as the tech specialist at Sam's request. The unit was mandated to prevent a series of escalating terrorist attacks against U.S. interests known as "The Blacklist."

Fourth Echelon sent Sam into Benghazi, Libya to pick up a man who had walked into the CIA safe house: Andriy Kobin. Sam goes to Libya to extract Kobin, as he has information about the attack on Guam. Fisher frees and interrogates him, then imprisons him on the Paladin. Following the buyers for Kobin's weapon, 4E goes to a terrorist training camp in Mirawa, eastern Iraq. Fisher infiltrates and discovers that the man is Jadid Haidos, an ex-MI6 agent. Fisher then discovers a kill room with a soldier's corpse, and a message from a man they identify as Majid Sadiq, the leader of the Engineers and another former MI6 agent.

The second Blacklist attack is set in Chicago, IL. The Engineers were trying to poison the city's water supply with weaponized syphilis, which Fisher managed to stop. Tracking down leads, Fisher goes to Paraguay to find Nouri, a source of Engineer soldiers. He breaks into his safe room and then extracts him under fire from a hit squad. Instead of imprisoning him, he turns him loose as an asset. Following intelligence gained from Nouri, Fisher goes to London to uncover what a sleeper cell is doing. Briggs provides sniper fire while Fisher infiltrates the mill. He sneaks into where they are deploying cargo and plants a tracker on the cargo: a variant of VX nerve gas. He gets infected but continues the mission. He is briefly captured by Sadiq, who is on-site, but Briggs rescues him and disobeys Sam's order to pursue Sadiq to save his life. Briggs is then taken off active duty.

Intelligence gathered in London points to Iran as the force behind the Blacklist. Facing a possible war against the country of Iran, Fourth Echelon decides to visit the reconverted American embassy in Tehran (now Quds Force HQ) to uncover the truth. Fisher then escapes the embassy with data on the truth and Briggs picks him up in a van, being subsequently returned to active duty. They are pursued, and Grim decides to use the drone to free a path. They escape, and President Caldwell says that there was a "drone malfunction." The mission gives proof that Iran is not behind the attacks.

The third Blacklist attack targets Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Engineers have held hostages on a metro train and also plan to bomb outside the subway terminals into the city streets, where Sam and Briggs cooperate and take out the Engineer driver with their own sniper rifles. Fourth Echelon is held up in thwarting the fourth Blacklist attack, American Fuel, by a virus implanted in the Paladin. With the combined efforts of Kobin and Fisher, the plane is kept from crashing at the last moment, but the attack goes through, and the continuity of government protocol is issued.

The American Fuel attack was against a Liquid Natural Gas Facility in Sabine Pass, Louisiana. The Engineers introduced a virus into its fire suppression systems, then rammed a tanker truck into the facility. Fourth Echelon deployed Fisher into the facility to activate a terminal so Charlie could reactivate the defenses. From the intelligence acquired on the ground from Navy SEALs, Fisher then chased after the High-Value on-site Engineer, interrogating him until he managed to get the fact that Sadiq was going to attack Site F directly. Sadiq raids the bunker of Site F, taking all the high government officials hostage. Sam surprises him and they engage in close combat. Sam manages to defeat him, but Sadiq claims that he'd already won, threatening Sam that if he kills him, all twelve nations that stand behind him will rise up in his defense. If he puts Sadiq on trial, he will spill every secret he knows about special operations, including Fourth Echelon. Leaving him with no choice, Sam employs the Fifth Freedom and unofficially imprisons him. Majid Sadiq was announced dead by President Caldwell, who relays it to the country without revealing the existence of Fourth Echelon or anyone's name on it. Sam than reunites with Victor Coste, who had recovered from his injuries and was in the process of interrogating an imprisoned Sadiq.

2019: Operation Watchman, Bolivia

Main article: Operation Watchman
Sam Fisher1

Sam debriefing Karen Bowman in Bolivia.

Some time during 2019, seven years after the Blacklist operation, Sam (callsign "Matchwood") is deployed to Bolivia in order to recover sensitive intelligence data from a rogue CIA officer. Knowing the mission to be a difficult task, Sam has Grim (callsign "Paladin") contact CIA case officer Karen Bowman in order to borrow a Ghost Recon fire team led by operative Nomad (callsign "Nomad"). Sam's deployment takes him to a Unidad base in La Cruz, where he infiltrates the base ahead of the Ghosts and assassinates the rogue agent prior to Nomad's arrival. Upon greeting Nomad, Sam hacks into the Unidad servers in order to erase all traces of the sensitive information while Nomad's team provides tactical support and security. While exfiltrating from the base, Sam discloses the nature of the intelligence to Nomad, revealing it to contain sensitive high-technology research and development that could "change the nature of warfare" and "put (the special operations community) out of business."

Upon having a brief reunion with Bowman, Sam learns that Grim has another emergency for him to take care of, hearing the words "Empty Quiver" (U.S. military code for the seizure, theft, or loss of a functioning nuclear weapon) from the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Fisher compliments Nomad's skills and takes a brief coffee break with Bowman before returning to the Paladin.

2020: Team Rainbow and Operation Shadow Legacy

Main article: Operation Shadow Legacy

In 2020, Sam was on the run from an unknown enemy. As a cover, he accepted Harry Pandey's offer to join Team Rainbow, adopting the codename of "Zero". He became the first member of the Rainbow Operation Staff division as an instructor for The Program. Sam was brutal in his training sessions at the Stadium, regularly taking down entire teams singlehandedly. To counteract the arthritis from his growing age, Fisher would self-administer the nanobots Lera "Finka" Melnikova used to treat her neuropathy.

2025: Operation Checkmate, Auroa

Main article: Project CLAW

In 2025, Sam is assigned by the U.S. government to hunt down a High Value Target called 'The Strategist', who had been kidnapping military specialists all over the globe. Given the fact that Auroa can't be entered, Fisher calls in the help of Victor Coste, who comes to Auroa on the pretext of revising Sentinel Corporation. While there, he meets up with Nomad, now promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, and the duo team up to rescue Nomad's teammate Midas while also taking down Project CLAW, a new drone swarm system that is being made by Skell Tech forcefully by Sentinel CEO Trey Stone. He and Nomad manage to capture 'The Strategist' and Sam assures Nomad before leaving with the HVT that he will present the HVT to the right people, so they can deploy the military cavalry into Auroa. Sam and Coste leave the island in the C-147B Paladin before the drone control program gets reactivated.

Expanded Universe

While certain information from the novels has later been confirmed by the games or concept artwork, their overall level of canonicity is unclear.

Author Raymond Benson (who wrote the first two Splinter Cell novels under the pseudonym "David Michaels") said in an interview with Splinter Cell fan-site The Fairer Sects that before he wrote the first novel, Ubisoft gave him a Splinter Cell "bible" that was written when they created the first game. This contained character sketches, info on Sam's tools and gadgets, and other useful information.[22]

According to Benson, the details in his first novel about Sam's past; his marriage to Regan, how she died, as well as specifics on Sarah, and his age in relation to Lambert, came from the Splinter Cell bible and Ubisoft.[23]

Early life (non-canon)

(The following information from Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Fallout was made non-canon when it was revealed in Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands that both of Sam Fisher's parents died when he was a child, and when Ubisoft published a biography of Sam's life for Rainbow Six: Siege that said he was raised by his paternal grandmother.[1][2] Splinter Cell: Fallout says that both of Sam Fisher's parents were still alive when he was 21 years old, and also when his adopted brother Peter turned 18 in 1986.)

Sam Fisher's father was a 25-year veteran case officer for the CIA[24] who worked as a specialist in agent handling and defection.[25] In 1968, at the height of the Cold War, a Soviet KGB major named Ivan Limonovich made contact with the CIA and offered to spy for the United States in exchange for having himself and his newborn son, Pyotr, smuggled out of Russia after two years (Pyotr's mother had died in childbirth). The CIA agreed, and Fisher's father was dispatched to be Ivan's primary controller.

In 1970, Fisher's father made arrangements to smuggle Ivan and his son from the country, only for the plan to go awry at the last minute. In a running gun battle at the Russian-Finnish border, Ivan Limonovich was killed, however Fisher's father managed to slip across the border with Pyotr.

Fisher's father brought Pyotr back to the States and the Fisher family adopted Pyotr as their son and raised him as Sam's brother. Pyotr was still young and had not learned any Russian or gained an accent, and did not have strong memories of his father.

Operational history

The following operations in which Sam Fisher had involvement take place in the Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell series of novels.

1980s

In the 1980s, Sam Fisher saw action during the Soviet War in Afghanistan, where he was forced to hide under dead bodies to avoid being killed in the middle of an operation.

1991: Mauritania-Senegal Border War

Sometime between April and July 1991, Sam Fisher led a squad of Navy SEALs on a capture-or-kill operation to hunt down a French black market arms dealer who had been arming both sides of a bush war between Mali and Mauritania in the African country of Senegal. Fisher and his SEAL team tracked down the arms dealer in Dakar where they eliminated him after weeks of searching through the jungles along the Senegal-Mali border.[26]

2003: Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Checkmate

While preparing to test a new DARPA product, code-named the Goshawk, Sam Fisher is called to intercept a cargo freighter speeding towards the eastern seaboard. The freighter named the Trego is loaded down with radioactive material. Fisher boards the ship and quickly reaches the bridge to find one Middle-Eastern crew member. Fisher attempts to disable the man and does so, but not before the man enters the command to speed the boat up further. Fisher proceeds to slow the ship by disabling her engines. Meanwhile, the residents of Slipstone, New Mexico begin showing the symptoms of and then dying from radiation poisoning.

2004–05: East Asia Assignment

In late 2004 – early 2005, Sam Fisher was on assignment in the Far East for three months. He was in Hong Kong preparing for the Macau job. He collected data from a casino's computer and killed several individuals, including Kim Wei Lo.

2005: Babylon Phoenix Crisis

In the spring of 2005, an Iranian terrorist group known as "The Shadows," led by Nasir Tarighian, planned to use a weapon of mass destruction codenamed "The Babylon Phoenix" against the city of Baghdad as revenge for the actions taken by Iraq against Iran during the 1980s. While there really isn't much benefit to the group today, Tarighian attempts to sell the scheme to his organization by claiming that it would also create further disorder in Iraq and in the Middle East, which would inevitably cause the people to turn against the "West," namely the United States since Iraq is currently under their watch. Tarighian, a former "great warrior" during the Iran-Iraq War and often proclaimed hero in Iran, hoped that by doing this the Iranian people would rejoice and urge the Iranian government to invade and conquer Iraq after the U.S. is forced out of the region. Most of the members of the Shadows disagree with the course of action, feeling that the result is extremely unlikely and that the scheme is nothing more than a 20-year-old vendetta by Tarighian to get back at Iraq for the death of his wife and children during the war. These members feel the same effect of destabilization in the region can be achieved by attacking either Tel Aviv or Jerusalem in Israel.

Meanwhile, an arms dealing organization known as "The Shop" has taken the liberty of assassinating Splinter Cells whenever possible thus to increase their profit margin by keeping the shipment of arms from falling into unwanted hands. The Shop is one of the few organizations in the world that is aware of Third Echelon, who deploys Sam Fisher to the Middle East to uncover the truth about the murder of a Splinter Cell and track down the source of a shipment of arms seized by the Iraqi police. There he surveys and infiltrates numerous locations relating to both the Shop and the Shadows, all the while unaware that the Shop has targeted him and his daughter, Sarah.

2006: Operation Barracuda/MRUUV Incident

Taking place almost a year after the Babylon Phoenix Crisis, the plot picks up with Third Echelon attempting to search and bring to justice the members of The Shop, an international arms dealing ring that played a large part during the crisis. While Sam Fisher is working to collect information on The Shop in Ukraine and Russia, Third Echelon is continuing its investigation into how The Shop had previously managed to gain the identity of a number of Splinter Cells and assassinate them as well. However, when a German scientist named Jeinsen, who defected to the United States from East Germany long ago, goes missing and then reappears dead in Hong Kong, heads begin to turn. Jeinsen had developed a new submarine vehicle for the United States Navy, that could theoretically carry a nuclear weapon. Sam Fisher is sent to learn why the scientist was in Hong Kong and who killed him; it is suspected that a local group of Triads named "the Lucky Dragons" had involvement. What the Third Echelon does not yet realize is that Jeinsen, the Lucky Dragons, The Shop, and a traitor inside their own government are all part of a much larger picture involving a rogue Chinese general named Lan Tun, with ambitions to invade and conquer Taiwan. With Fisher not even aware that he is the world's only hope of stopping an international crisis, he has to balance his job and a new romantic relationship that he is hoping will finally bring happiness to his life. Ultimately, General Tun threatens to use the submarine vehicle to detonate a nuclear weapon off the coast of California, destroying L.A. with a massive tsunami, unless America abandons Taiwan when it is invaded by China. Fisher manages to foil the plot, and all the conspirators involved including the traitor, the general, and The Shop are killed.

2008: Operation Fallout

Soon after undergoing unfamiliar espionage techniques training in the streets of San Francisco in a joint exercise between the CIA and Third Echelon, Sam Fisher is summoned to Maryland by Irving Lambert. Turns out, Sam's estranged brother, Peter (birth name Pyotr Limonovich), has been found barely alive off the coast of Greenland. Sam is told that Peter has developed a strange disease and has few days to live. It is soon revealed that Sam's brother died of poisoning caused by plutonium hydride-19, or PuH-19. This deadly powder is 1,000x finer than flour and is capable of wiping out New York's entire population with just a cup's worth of the chemical.

Although driven by first solely by vengeance, Sam soon realizes that Peter's death should be the least of his worries as a network of Kyrgyz Islamic fundamentalists have toppled the moderate government of Kyrgyztan and, with the help of the North Korean government, have devised the ultimate antidote against the pervasive influence of the West and its technology: they will try to mutate a species of petroleum-eating Chytridiomycota fungus into a strain capable of making the whole world's oil supply disappear, a threat Fisher and Lambert continually refer to as Manas, in reference to the Kyrgyz epic poem. In order to do this, the terrorists snatch some of the world's leading scientists and force them to cooperate. Sam gets his final lead by tracking one of the abducted scientists in a search that will lead him to a place such as the streets of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, an isolated Kyrgyz community in Cape Breton Island, the Great Rift Valley in Kenya, Pyongyang, North Korea and a Kyrgyz complex hidden in the Tian Shan mountain range.

2008/09: Korfovka Mission

While in Korfovka, Sam saves Ben Hansen's life by sniping Hansen's field runner Sergei Luchenko.

2009/10: The Search for Sam Fisher/Doppelganger Factory Arms Conspiracy

Sam is on the run and becomes a freelance operative selling his abilities, and taking missions where he can, in order to make money to survive, while staying one step ahead of Third Echelon.

Sam secretly saves Ben Hansen's life by shooting a dart at a thug in the Russian territory of Korfovka, but leaves before Hansen figures out he is there. A few months later, he takes a mercenary mission in France but soon alerts Third Echelon to his whereabouts. A group of Splinter Cells led by Hansen begins pursuit, and Grim (who has become the director of Third Echelon) contacts Sam for help in exposing the corrupt NSA Director, Nicholas Andrew Kovac (a mole in the NSA). Sam ends up protecting Hansen's team, and joining them together, they help expose Kovac. In the end, Grimsdottir offers to allow Sam to return to Third Echelon but he'd turned her down, saying he wanted to finish his vacation at Zahn's villa before making a decision.

2015: Gordian Sword Incident

Two years after shutting down the Blacklist, Sarah is recruited into Fourth Echelon after passing the NSA selection program. Sarah's recruitment strained her relationship with Sam. However, a recent wave of cyber attacks force Sam and Sarah to work together and stop the deployment of the Gordian Sword threat.

Profile

Few people know Sam Fisher, and those who do, never speak of him willingly. But despite his existence being a secret, he's a legend in the intelligence world. For two decades, he has been involved in numerous armed conflicts throughout the world, many of them unconventional. Over the course of his extensive service career, he has served in hot spots all across the globe such as the Persian Gulf (Iraq and Kuwait), Iran, Colombia and Afghanistan as well as taking covert assignments in North Korea, South Korea, Russia, Panama, the former East Germany, Myanmar, China, Japan, and the former Soviet Republic of Georgia amongst several others. Fisher has spent the last 40 years not only survived but has also excelled in the field of covert operations through hard work, insatiable curiosity and brutal honesty. Combat, espionage and constant training have defined his adult life; his tactical experience has become part of his instinct. He is quiet, instinctive, and observant: somebody who watches from the outside. Even outside of work he is most comfortable on the fringes of society, keenly observant but still removed.

Sam's dossier

Sam's Third Echelon file and Five-seveN USG FDE.

Though fully aware and confident of his abilities, Fisher understands that his survival has often been a gift of chance. He knows he is human and fallible, and he does not want to die. Highly-trained, skilled and experienced, Fisher possesses a distinctly dark sense of humor, which he uses to control his fears and keep himself calm while in the field. Personality-wise, Fisher is abrasive and honest and has little patience for niceties and even less for lies, especially when the immediate problem presents itself. Unlike younger operatives, he is not a blind idealist.

But in order to achieve the discipline required for his work, Fisher has had to bury certain aspects of himself. His ability to detach himself emotionally from the immediate situation in order to better achieve his objectives is an exceptional attribute. Though, on rare occasions, his emotions have been known to surface. A man of few words, he is truly himself only when he is on the job – he has, in a sense, become what he does. He has acquired an admirable collection of scars, war experiences, and a place in military history. He has little left to prove to the world and he has no interest in glory. If he fights, it is because he believes he is capable of provoking positive change.

Fisher has been into the most sensitive areas around the world. Since his recruitment in August 2004 (the 1990s in the novels and Essentials[27]), Fisher proved himself to be one of the most valuable assets in Third Echelon's arsenal, from his first official mission in 2004 during the Georgian Information Crisis, to his last operation in 2008 when he went undercover as a convicted felon to infiltrate the domestic terrorist organization John Brown's Army.

Personality

Sam is a man that prefers to be alone, whether it is in the field or in his personal life. He doesn't have a lot of close friends except Irving Lambert, Frances Coen and William Redding, and enjoys the company of a few selected ones including his daughter, some old friends from his SEAL days (Vic "Husky" Coste, his former C.O. Arthur Partridge and ex-Marine Doug Shetland, the Displace CEO who Sam had killed on the rooftop of a bathhouse in Tokyo) and Grim from whom he has learned a great deal when it comes to technology and others. Thus this makes him an individualist; a self-dependent human being, a loner.

As a reserved man, Sam doesn't talk as much but he tends to be good and somewhat philosophical with the use of words when doing so, depicting the long years of experience through the things he says and in times the dark sense of humor he's known for. That doesn't mean that he has lost that certain childish and even innocent sense of humor to the point where it could be confused with his sarcasm. Sam tends to rely on the usual 'smart' comment when remembered of things that seem too obvious for him or when treated like either too old, or too young, although the sole mention of him being 'old' bothers him a lot. Few are the ones that manage to get away with those jokes towards him and bring a smile to his face.

Although the suave, sophisticated style isn't his, Fisher tends to be somewhat flirty with nearly every woman he sees, but he's able to hold himself back and knows his limits, always being respectful. Even if he is flirty, he fears relationships because of the many failed ones that usually ended with the other one dying or suffering. Call him selfish, and perhaps he is, but he is certainly afraid of being hurt again knowing that it will be extremely difficult for him to consciously hurt someone he would be so attached to - something that he learned the hard way through life - and knowing that if hurt, his wounds don't heal as fast. However, he grows attached really fast to the people he cares for and would go as far as to kill and/or die for them. Sam loves a good challenge, any kind of challenge whether it is risking his life as usual or trying to convince a lady for a date, or having a date that is a challenge for him whether in an intellectual point of view or even physical point of view. Sam usually takes a methodical approach to things - planning them first and acting on them later. However, sometimes his tactics make his strategy turn riskier than he planned. This had earned him a few injuries, but injuries that he rarely regrets. He's a street-smart man that relies a lot on 'experience over books'. However, even if he doesn't give the impression of being very smart, he is, and even if he might not look the part, Fisher is indeed a 'bookworm.' In fact, Sam is a man that learns and adapts quickly to either a technological advance or a change in world politics. An example of this is the highly advanced equipment he easily uses for the job that requires it. However, even if all this equipment could help him a lot, he tries not to rely too much on the technology in order to keep himself self-dependent.

Tom+Clancy's+Splinter+Cell-+Echoes+-+Digital+Exclusive+Edition+002-014

Flashback of Sam's deep depression during the JBA deep cover operation, shown in Echoes.

"Remember: Slow is smooth and smooth is fast."
― Sam Fisher, sharing words of wisdom with Anthony "Nomad" Perryman that patience is better than your emotions.

Even if Fisher seems like a man of a calmed and collected manner most of the time, some people have been able to know him by his anger. It's good to point out, that is rare to see Sam losing his determination or focus because of emotional distress but it's not something that hasn't been seen. When in extreme anger against his enemies, he's able to stay determined and focused on his goal although it's certain that his enemies do suffer the consequences. Sam tends to be a character with a certain burst of depression whether it is because of something that is currently happening, or because of the painful things that he had been gone through in his life or both. He 'stacks' every painful memory, so to speak, and most resorts on the self-destruct mechanism of blaming himself for the negative effect of something even when it wasn't his fault. It's true that only hard enough situations are the ones that usually work like the trigger of said mechanism. Fisher keeps himself away from alcohol of any sort when he can. This is mostly because of how alcohol plays a dangerous part when in deep depression, clouding his mind.

Fisher is quickly angered by the casual slaughter of civilians or unarmed military personnel by his enemies. Also, liars, cowards, and arrogant people tend to cut his patience short as well as people who overuse their power such as bureaucrats which were the main reason for him to leave the CIA. Sam approaches his enemies in a ruthless and no-nonsense manner and usually keeps a light conversation with his temporal hostages. He doesn't have too much patience when it comes to interrogating and resorts on his dark sense of humor and threats that are everything but idle. Do mind, he's not a sadistic man, but will do anything he needs to do to get the job done.

Fisher is a man that believes in respect, dignity, and compassion towards even the most unlikely individuals as proven during the first three years of his career with the NSA/Third Echelon, in which he had gone to the point of disobeying direct orders because of what he believes is right. Loyalty seems to be another one of his strong points to the point in which he has sacrificed himself various times despite the knowledge of a possible betrayal by the person/agency that he holds in high regards. Call him determined or stubborn, Sam is more than just a focused soldier and a patriot. He is a man that is driven by the roots of his moral fiber in doing what he believes is right. This pushes him through even the toughest circumstances like the death of loved ones.

Relationships

Sarah

Sarah Fisher, Sam's daughter and only child.

Sarah Fisher

Main article: Sarah Fisher

Sam is very loving to his daughter, Sarah, who is his only child and the only surviving member of his family. He felt sorry for having to leave at inconvenient times whenever he was supposed to be at home spending time with her, though he would later call her during mission briefings aboard the Osprey. Sarah was supposedly killed by a drunk driver before the JBA operation. Sam's reaction was a downward spiral into depression. After the JBA operation, Sam resigned from Third Echelon and left the country. He went to Valletta, Malta, to hunt for his daughter's killer after receiving word that the hit-and-run accident was plotted. He later discovered that she was still alive while stopping the conspiracy within Third Echelon and the U.S. government.

IrvLambertSCDA5

Director Irving Lambert, Sam's mentor, and best friend.

Irving Lambert

Main article: Irving Lambert

Referred to as "his [Sam's] best friend" by Victor Coste,[28] Irving Lambert had a great friendship with Sam. He met Sam during the Gulf War and years later personally recruited him into the NSA's Third Echelon initiative as its first Splinter Cell. They both shared a mutual respect for one another. Despite being friends, Lambert could at many times become angered at some of Fisher's actions during his missions and will scold Sam if his actions are seen as being very poor. Having been Sam's superior, Lambert understood that when a job needed to be done, sacrifices had to be made and sometimes could be morally questionable to Sam, such as calling in an airstrike that could kill two unconscious American pilots. During the JBA operation in 2008, Sam's relationship as a friend to Lambert was deeply strained during Sam's undercover work, despite covertly keeping contact with each other regarding the mission. Lambert's concern was pretty big, even going so far as to risk being caught to check in on his friend, which ultimately cost him his life.

When Lambert was captured by the JBA and placed into interrogation, JBA leader Emile Dufraisne forced Sam to shoot and kill his best friend, which Sam reluctantly complied to avoid blowing his cover. After Sam was forced to shoot him, Lambert still gave Sam his final objective to stop the JBA from detonating the Red Mercury bomb, telling him to stop the threat before it's too late. Even years after Lambert's death, Fisher struggled with the act of having to kill his best friend to protect his cover. When he went to Washington, D.C., to uncover the truth, he was met with thoughts of his actions during an elevator ride to the front desk of the Third Echelon Headquarters, in which Lambert left a recorded message (played by Grim, Lambert's confidante) prior to his death revealing the true reason for Sam's undercover assignment.

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Vic Coste, Sam's "brother" and SEAL teammate.

Victor Coste

Main article: Victor Coste

Victor "Vic" Coste is one of Fisher's closest friends, and the two share a brotherly bond ever since they served together in the Navy SEALs. Coste states that he never leaves his family behind, and it showed when he singlehandedly rescued Fisher despite being ordered by his superiors to stand down and hold his position. While being interrogated by Black Arrow, Fisher rescued Coste because he also doesn't leave family behind.

During the events in Washington, D.C., Coste gave Sam equipment and vital information about former Third Echelon director Tom Reed, as well as re-uniting Sam with his daughter.

Douglas Shetland

Main article: Douglas Shetland

Sam was good friends with former U.S. Marine Doug Shetland before the Cyber Attacks of 2007, which resulted in him having to eliminate Shetland. He met and served with Shetland during the Gulf War in 1991 when they were part of a Joint Spec Ops Task Force in Desert Storm. Sam also saved Shetland's life during a mission in Colombia in 1992.

Colleagues

Even though Sam is sarcastic, he is shown to be very caring for the people he worked with. Shortly before being sent to his first mission in the Georgian capital of T'Bilisi, Fisher met with Vernon Wilkes, Jr. Their relationship only lasted so far up until the extraction from the Kalinatek building in Virginia, during which Wilkes was killed during a firefight with Russian mercenaries. Even though Sam had only briefly known Wilkes, he showed compassion for the man. He was also good friends with co-workers Anna Grímsdóttir (see below) and Frances Coen, both of whom he shared good-humored banter with during missions, especially during the Cyber Attacks of 2007.

Fisher and Grimsdóttír

Fisher and Grimsdóttír (worked together for 3E in 2004-07) at Price Airfield during the 3E conspiracy in 2011.

Anna Grímsdóttir

Main article: Anna Grímsdóttir

Due to the events of the Third Echelon Conspiracy, Sam holds a great deal of animosity towards Grim for lying to him about his daughter being dead, though she herself was following orders from Lambert. In the "Man of Conviction" ending of Conviction, Sam infers that he no longer trusts her. Because of the Blacklist Zero attack that severely injured Victor Coste, Sam returns to duty with Grim, though their relationship is now a more confrontational one. Over the course of the story, they manage to reclaim some portion of trust and respect to one another, even to the point of Grim supporting Sam's plan on attacking Site F despite the objections raised by the U.S. President, Patricia Caldwell.

Romantic relationships

Katia Loenstern

Main article: Katia Loenstern

Katia was Sam's Krav Maga instructor whom he developed a romantic relationship with. She was later killed after being hit by a stray sniper bullet from Ivan Putnik intended for Sam during the MRUUV incident.

Agent-Sam-Fisher-muss-in-Tom-Clancy-s-Splinter-Cell-Double-Agent-gegen-745x559-44848f825819ea84

Sam and Enrica during a job for the JBA.

Enrica Villablanca

While undercover during the events in 2008, Sam developed a romantic relationship with Enrica Villablanca, a member of the JBA - a group he was infiltrating, only for it to end in Enrica's assassination (only in Version 2 of Double Agent).

Abilities

Athletic skills

Split Jump

The Split Jump, Sam's most famous maneuver.

Sam Fisher is extremely agile and athletic. He is capable of many different climbing and scaling abilities, such as step-jumping to climb raised walls, performing the infamous "Split Jump,", a split leg maneuver, to keep himself supported for a long period of time, as well as being able to hold on tightly to ceiling pipes or even the undercarriage of a moving train. He is also strong enough to lift the body of a full grown man onto his back and carry it around and can run somewhat faster than the average soldier.

Inverted Chokehold

Sam performs the "inverted neck break" maneuver.

Fisher uses unorthodox climbing techniques (e.g. split jumps, half split jumps, difficult techniques to climb pipes, and so on). In the novel Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Fisher's acrobatic maneuvers extend to using not only walls but also furniture and even human beings to push off from in order to escape. He also utilizes some aspects of parkour while surmounting obstacles, albeit in a slightly slower and stealthier way.

Stealth Tactics

Krav Maga stealth

Sam covertly incapacitates a North Korean soldier, using a non-lethal takedown.

"I've been a ghost my whole life. Time to see if a ghost can really disappear."
― Sam Fisher in the E3 trailer for Splinter Cell: Double Agent.

As the nature of Fisher's job relies on stealth and non-detection, he is highly adept at blending into shadows and moving silently. With an expertise in fieldcraft, he is able to sneak up on most opponents undetected and quickly subdue them using either lethal or non-lethal means. During the Third Echelon Conspiracy, Fisher relied on improvised techniques on top of the training he received during his time with Third Echelon. Biometrics data indicated that he's actually better at identifying targets while operating from concealment, which makes him a very dangerous threat to his opponents in dark environments.

Fisher is also skilled in marking and executing multiple targets simultaneously. His standard M.O. starts with a hand-to-hand takedown, after which he picks his targets and positions himself to eliminate them. He's also been known to mark explosives and environment-based traps this way. (In Blacklist, Sam is able to move while executing his targets and also will automatically take-down an enemy in close proximity during the execution in a new gameplay feature known as "Killing In Motion" -an upgraded version of M&E, used to help Sam get through tough situation quick and easy then did in Conviction, in which Sam was only able to tag foes and execute them from a stationary position.)

Even if the enemy thinks he's not targeting them directly, they may still be in the line of fire. Fisher can vanish, flank his enemies and leave them shooting at the spot where they thought he was, right up until the moment he eliminates them. Although enemies are aware of his actual position, Fisher always catches them off guard by making them rely on his last known, which gets them killed.

Close Combat

Kravmaga

Sam covertly kills a guard.

Sam Fisher is a seasoned combat veteran of exceptional skills. He is well-versed in the arts of warfare in close combat, particularly hand-to-hand combat. His style of choice being mainly Krav Maga, a combination of different forms of martial arts that Sam is extensively trained in. He also utilizes several different unarmed combat disciplines (see below). He is an exceptional knife fighter who carries up to 3 or 4 different types of edged weapons, preferring the combat knife he inherited and learned to fight with-in the Navy SEALs: the Fairbairn Sykes commando dagger, as well as an expert with a karambit, which he learned to fight with while "training abroad."

Fisher's knowledge in Krav Maga in the novels is extensive, however, in the video games, it was not until Conviction that it was demonstrated. The games prior to Conviction depicted Sam's hand-to-hand combat skills in a limited capacity. In the original Splinter Cell game, the only techniques demonstrated were elbow strikes to the face or head. In Pandora Tomorrow, more techniques were shown but still very limited. In Chaos Theory, Fisher knocked out enemies with a palm strike to the nose, punch to the neck or a knee in the head. Chaos Theory and Double Agent also demonstrated Sam's ability to kill enemies by breaking their back with his knee while restraining them in a stranglehold.

The fact that Sam Fisher uses Krav Maga was originally introduced in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (novel). He not only uses Krav Maga for unarmed combat but for split-second decisions as well. Meaning "Contact Combat," KM is a form of self-defense and physical training, first developed by the Israeli army in the 1940s, based on the use of reflexive responses to threatening situations. Israeli military personnel, especially its Special Forces, use them as a way of defense and offense. He has reached the advanced level of 3B under the tutelage of his instructor, Katia Loenstern[29] who later became his girlfriend and was killed.[30] This system is widely used by special operators, police, and similar personnel. It also bears mentioning that he had an excellent working relationship with Israeli security services, and he seemed intimately familiar with Israeli weapons (including brand new ones).

In Conviction, Sam's proficiency at Krav Maga is showcased for the first time with a large array of techniques including the use of punches and strikes to kill enemies, the ability to disarm enemies before taking them hostage in a stranglehold and incorporating attacks with firearms.

In Blacklist, Sam employs an even larger array of Krav Maga techniques with the ability to take enemies down without killing them, unlike Conviction.

Handedness

Although Sam is right-handed, as exclusively shown in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell and Pandora Tomorrow, he is ambidextrous (as shown in Chaos Theory, Double Agent. and Conviction) which allowed him to switch which hand he fired his weapon with in order to maintain cover without any apparent loss of accuracy. It is unknown whether he acquired and perfected this talent in the time between Pandora Tomorrow and Chaos Theory or he always had this ability (without it being included) in the mechanics of the first two games.

Weaponry

Equipment and gadgets

The following is a list of equipment and gadgets issued to Sam Fisher:

Training

SamMP5N

Sam is specially trained and expert in handguns and long guns. Shown with a H&K MP5-N, which is one of many weapons he is highly skilled in handling.

Due to his extensive military training, Sam is an expert in handling all types of weapons and firearms. Also, with his exceptional precision, speed and reaction, he can eliminate many targets simultaneously without wasting a shot. He proved perfectly capable of handling sub-machine guns, assault and sniper rifles, as has however preferably pistols, which he uses a custom USG model of the Five-seveN pistol as his preferred weapon. Sam could handle handguns with his unique ability, using both in the physical attacks and shots, he often quickly disarms his enemies, and use their weapon while using their body as a human shield. His accuracy is unmatched with weapons while shooting he always targets specific parts of the body.

An expert marksman, Sam is skilled in the use of nearly any conventional weapon and is almost on par with the world’s best sharpshooters in terms of accuracy. A formidable gunfighter, Fisher has an eye for marking and executing multiple targets simultaneously. Although rare, it is possible for him to miss a target. However, this isn't a superhuman characteristic but rather an ability that he acquired from his long years of training and practice same as his ability to aim and shoot with both hands even though he is predominantly right-handed.

Mqdefault (1)

Sam uses Krav Maga counter disarm on Kobin in Tom Reed's office.

Other than that, Sam is extremely skilled hand-to-hand combatant and proficient in the Israeli martial art of Krav Maga (see Close Combat above), which tends to go more towards self-defense while the offense tends to be quite lethal and usually includes broken joints and even the chance to induce paralysis on the enemy for a certain time with the certain hit(s) unto central nerves such as simply knocking out enemies or others, or even death. While employing the art in combat, Sam fights with tenacity, with his attacks based on accurate and fast strikes, or counterattacks. Generally, he neutralizes his opponent, breaking limbs like arms and wrists. Sam also has a tendency to use objects in the environment to his advantages, such as heights, desks, pianos, doors and windows and even the weapons of his enemies.

Years of experience in night operations have also led to Fisher gaining the ability to see even better from the dark spots than from lit ones. Although light doesn't damage his eyes, he has the ability to adjust quickly to darkness and when his vision isn't enough, he resorts to his other senses, especially hearing. Fisher is actually better at identifying targets while operating from concealment, which makes him a very dangerous threat to his opponents in dark environments.

Fisher is very flexible and athletic as it is, even though it's getting harder to stay flexible at his age, but he's still able to make full split jumps and hang with his legs from pipes or edges where he can aim, shoot or make a surprise attack on someone. So far though, Sam is known for being fast on his feet, fast in his line of work and on his infiltration style including using the French gymnastic art of Parkour as more than just a hobby and in times even a lethal weapon. Basically, think 'modern-day ninja.'

Sam is at the peak of physical condition for a man his age who engages in an intense exercise regimen, tough and as accomplished as a commando. He is muscular and an impressive physical specimen. Sam engages in daily exercises, including swimming, diving, climbing, running and shooting. Sam could run for long periods of time without tiring while doing Parkour movements. He is also a good swimmer, with more than a decade serving as a SEAL did most of the job on helping him gain a large lung capacity since he could stay underwater for a rather long amount of time. He swims as fast as he 'free runs' and can swim for long periods of time and sink himself pretty deep. Sam is able to accomplish silent assassinations from the water by swimming out of it and dragging an enemy down before stabbing them or breaking their necks quickly. Water is his home and has always been where he is most comfortable.

Relevant Expertise

Tom-clancy-s-splinte-4e2635c4a8edc

Artwork of Sam during a HALO insertion

  • Advanced Weapons Training
  • SEAL Qualified
    • SCUBA Training
    • SAO Qualification
    • SQT Training
  • "The Farm" (Camp Peary, Virginia)
  • HAHO and HALO Training
  • Krav Maga Training (Level 3B/Black-Belt)
  • Center Axis Relock Training

Skill Sets

Over the course of his entire career of more than 20 years of service, Sam has acquired a wide range of special skills as well as an extensive knowledge of numerous training techniques. The following is a list of skill sets Sam has applied which are portrayed in the video games, seen in the comic books and described in detail in the novels:

  • Tactical Swimming
  • Close Quarters Combat
  • Applied Explosive Technique
  • Rapid Assault
  • Dynamic Entry
  • Counter Surveillance
  • Evasive and Anti-Terrorist Driving Technique
  • Parkour (Free Running)
  • Covert Communication
  • Computer Hacking
  • Surreptitious Entry
  • Military Free-Fall Parachuting
  • Edged Weapons
  • Precise Application of Lethal Force
  • Urban Sniping
  • Unarmed Combat
  • Threat Elimination
  • Structure Penetration
  • Covert Influence Operations
  • Support and Recruitment of HUMINT assets
  • Interrogation
  • Interrogation Resistance
  • Reconnaissance
  • Extreme Environment Survival
  • Field Medicine

Shooting Technique

Sam-CAR-stance

Sam eliminates an adversary while using the Center Axis Relock Combat Ready stance.

In the games, from the first Splinter Cell until Double Agent, Fisher used a more traditional shooting stance, the Weaver stance. In Conviction and Blacklist, he uses a modern shooting stance optimized for gunfighting at close range called the Center Axis Relock (CAR) system.

The CAR system features a bladed stance (the shooter's weak-side shoulder facing the target), a close-to-body firearm hold, and sighted or non-sighted fire as the situation dictates. This differs from other shooting styles such as the Isosceles Stance which features a more squared stance (i.e. facing the target directly) with the pistol held far out in front of the face and some form of sighted fire.

The CAR system is primarily intended for semi-automatic pistol shooting, although it can also be used with shotguns, assault and sniper rifles, sub-machine guns, Tasers and OC sprays.

Quotes

Main article: Sam Fisher/Quotes

Developer commentary

Jackie Fiest: "#4 When you first started this series, did you have anyone in particular in mind when developing Sam as a character? Is his background based on anyone in particular?"
JT Petty: "I stole from all sorts of places for Sam. Took a lot of the Continental Op from Dashielle Hammet's [sic] stories. But there's nobody in particular who was the inspiration."
The Fairer Sects interview with JT Petty.[11]
Jackie Fiest: "#7 As the characters in most games are younger, you took a big chance in making Sam older. What was the reason for that?"
JT Petty: "I fought hard for as many idiosyncrasies and weaknesses in Fisher as I could, knowing I'd get pretty well reigned back by the producers. They bought the idea of an older soldier because we could make him a character with a history; I think it fits well into how Tom Clancy writes stories, it gave us an opportunity to flesh out Fisher's character, make him a little more ambiguous."
The Fairer Sects interview with JT Petty.[11]
Splinter Cell Headquarters: "What steps did you take in creating Sam?"
Martin Caya: "I first started reading JT's (Petty) script to get an idea of what the character was about. Who was Sam? What were his past experiences? What kind of training had he undergone? Once I had all of these details established, I needed to come up with a look that embodied stealth, since that was the whole premise behind Splinter Cell. My initial concept was just a silouhette wearing nightvision goggles, very much like the version found at the end of the game. Slight modifications were brought to the character during production, mainly the decision to display his face more often, which is an understandable choice when you're trying to establish a new game character. Then came the time to figure out what type of 'tools' Sam would use on a mission. Gameplay had a really big influence on that part since it required Sam to be versatile. We need a customizable weapons capable of firing different gadgets. We opted for the FN F2000 (or SC20K, changed for legal reasons)."
Splinter Cell Headquarters interview with Martin Caya.[12]
Splinter Cell Headquarters: "Did you base Sam's look on anyone? If so, who?"
Martin Caya: "Initial versions aside, Sam's final face was greatly inspired by a mix of celebrities: George Clooney, Hugh Jackman, Ed Harris... But after recently seeing the movie Tears of the Sun, I found that Johnny Messner's character embodied more my vision of Sam. If Ubi Soft ever sold the rights to Splinter Cell for a motion picture, Mr. Messner would definitely get my vote."
Splinter Cell Headquarters interview with Martin Caya.[12]

Appearances in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell media

Games

Mobile

Novels

Graphic novels

Appearances in other brand media

Trivia

Gallery Template An image gallery is available for
Sam Fisher
  • Splinter Cell lead character artist Martin Caya established in early interviews for Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell that during his career Fisher had served in Afghanistan (during the Soviet invasion), where he had an experience in which he was forced to hide under dead bodies in order to avoid being killed.
  • The end of the training mission in the Xbox/PC version of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, the first game of the series, established that Sam saw action in Kuwait while serving in the Gulf War (1990–1991) when Lambert tells him "I hope you don't mind I told him [Vernon Wilkes, Jr.] some of your stories from Kuwait." Wilkes makes a comment stating "I've heard crazy things about your work".
  • Splinter Cell: Essentials altered earlier details stating how long he had been working with the NSA and was one of the "first agents recruited into Third Echelon in the 1990's."[2]. Sam's Splinter Cell training was moved back to the 1990s and he had apparently met Grímsdóttir earlier. It shows in one such mission in 1999 where he was involved in the NATO bombings in Yugoslavia. However, dialogue between Sam and Lambert implies that Sam has been retired since the mid 90's. Ubisoft has not given an explanation for the anachronisms. Essentials may be following the history established in the novels which also places the founding of Third Echelon, Sam Fisher's membership, and his meeting with Grímsdóttir meeting several years before 2003.
  • An intermission cutscene in Conviction shows that Sam is still haunted by his decision to kill Lambert in Double Agent when he is in an elevator while at Third Echelon.
  • A picture of Sam during his Navy SEAL days shows posing with a FAMAS, a French assault rifle. This is odd, considering that the FAMAS is not a service weapon with the Navy SEALs (nor any other branch of the U.S. military). In the game, during the Gulf War flashback level, Sam is armed with the H&K MP5D-N sub-machine gun, at the time was the Navy SEALs' weapon of choice.
  • In Version 2 of Double Agent, Sam has a tattoo (i.e. Navy SEAL Trident a.k.a. Special Warfare Badge) on his right bicep.
  • His signature weapon is considered to be the Five-seveN, as he has used it in every Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell game and Victor Coste refers to it as, "your [Sam's] favorite pistol."
  • About five minutes into the end credits of Splinter Cell: Conviction, Victor Coste can be heard telling the story about the time a man tried to sell Sam an elephant and Sam told the man he already had one. This joke is mentioned during the end credits of Splinter Cell: Blacklist.
  • While walking towards Kobin's Mansion in Conviction, a civilian can be seen sitting and reading a newspaper with Sam's mugshot from Splinter Cell: Double Agent on it.
  • In Splinter Cell: Fallout, it is said that Sam and Lambert served together in the U.S. Special Forces (Green Berets) and later in Delta Force. This doesn't make sense considering that there is no mention nor visual evidence that they were both actually part of the unit. It is most likely that Sam (at the time at Navy SEAL) and Lambert were part of JSOC.
  • In the cutscene for the "Lighthouse" mission in Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, while aboard the USS Walsh, Arthur Partridge asks Sam Fisher "when was the last time he saw him" to which Sam replies by saying "I'm afraid I have no recollection of that, Senator," which is a reference to a line said in Clear and Present Danger.
  • In the book Splinter Cell: Blacklist Aftermath, that takes place after the events of the game, Sam Fisher uses a SIG Sauer P226 Mark 25 (the pistol used by Navy SEALs) in addition to his FN Five-seveN.
  • In the book Splinter Cell (chap. 5 p. 47), Sam Fisher owns a 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland 4x4 with 265hp and the V8 engine.
  • Sam's appearance with a full beard in the Ghost Recon Wildlands 2018 DLC mission, Operation Watchman, was modeled by Eddy Khaou, the game's Senior Character Artist.

References in popular culture

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 https://splintercell.fandom.com/wiki/File:Rainbow_Six_Siege_-_Zero_Bio.png
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Zero Overview - Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege website. Ubisoft (August 2020). Archived from the original on 17 August 2020.
  3. http://splintercell.fandom.com/wiki/File:Sam_fisher_passport.jpg
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 http://splintercell.fandom.com/wiki/File:Sam_fingerprints.jpg
  5. Michaels, David (2004). Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell. New York: Penguin Group, 34. ISBN 978-0-425-20168-8.
    “I had a lifetime's worth of espionage experience (I'm four years older than Lambert!), but I haven't left any fingerprints on the intelligence community.”
     
  6. 6.0 6.1 Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory manual (Xbox), p. 3.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory manual (PC), p. 3.
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 8.8 8.9 http://splintercell.fandom.com/wiki/File:Discharged.jpg
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 9.8 Zero Biography - Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege website. Ubisoft (August 2020). Archived from the original on 17 August 2020.
    “Though the CIA and Third Echelon have classified the majority of Fisher’s childhood it is known he was born in the Baltimore suburb of Towson, Maryland, where he was raised by his paternal grandmother, Sarah. He was enrolled in a Military Boarding School where he learned to focus his energy, hone his skills, and to either follow orders or be sure to hide the evidence.

    He was recruited to the CIA, where he [REDACTED].”
  10. 10.0 10.1 [1] meekeo.com (video game directory), Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Double Agent PC manual, page 4
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 https://web.archive.org/web/20130320150811/http://www.fisherists.com/tfs.php?p=int_jtpetty
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 http://web.archive.org/web/20030603174650/http://splintercellhq.com/view.php?page=_articles/05.22.03
  13. Michaels, David (2004). Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell. New York: Penguin Group, 45–46. ISBN 978-0-425-20168-8.
    “I was in the CIA at the time, working in Eastern Europe.”
     
  14. http://splintercell.fandom.com/wiki/File:Sarah_Fisher_obit.jpg
  15. Michaels, David (2004). Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell. New York: Penguin Group, 45–46. ISBN 978-0-425-20168-8.
    “I don't like to reflect on the three years Regan and I were together.”
     
  16. Michaels, David (2004). Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell. Penguin Group, 40. ISBN 978-0-425-20168-8.
    “I think Sarah was fifteen when Regan died.”
     
  17. Michaels, David (2004). Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell. Penguin Group, 39. ISBN 978-0-425-20168-8.  
  18. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (2004).
    Fisher: "Douglas. It's been a while."
    Shetland: "Fisher? My god, man you're getting old."
    Fisher: "You still in one piece?"
    Shetland: "Where are the rest of the SEALs?"
    Fisher: "I came alone, haven't been Navy for a decade."
  19. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (2005).
    Grímsdóttir: "Fisher, I just synched your OPSAT with intelligence on the bank that you and your team gathered back in '89."
    Fisher: "Ah the memories…"
    Grímsdóttir: "Yeah… judging from your report… sounds like it was quite a vacation…"
    Fisher: "It was actually, I spent most of the rest of that year sleeping in a ditch on the road between Baghdad and Kuwait."
    Grímsdóttir: "Oh. Well… if it's any consolation I had a bad year that year too."
    Fisher: "What? You weren't working for the government during the Gulf War?"
    Grímsdóttir: "No… I was in Tenth Grade."
  20. SMI database in Blacklist
  21. Character Bios
  22. The Fairer Sects - Interview with Raymond Benson. The Fairer Sects. Archived from the original on 16 June 2006.
    Interviewer: It is safe to say that your work with the 007 series has helped you in writing for Splinter Cell. But, what did you do to prepare specifically for this series?
    Raymond Benson: I got the gig because Tom Clancy's publisher is the same firm that published my Bond novels in America. I went to Los Angeles and talked with Clancy's agent and legal people, threw around ideas, and I got the job. It also helped that I was once a heavy game player; in fact, I was a computer game designer for nearly ten years... but since the mid-90s I had left the game industry behind me. It was a learning curve to look at the Splinter Cell game and try to play it! (The first one had been out a while, the second one wasn't out yet.) I struggled with it for a few days to get the hang of the Splinter Cell universe, Sam's character, and what the thing was all about. I also saw a video of a complete walk-thru of the entire game, like a movie. In addition, Ubisoft provided me with their "bible" that was written when they created the game. This contained character sketches of the principles, info on Sam's tools and gadgets, and other useful information. They also provided me with the storylines for the upcoming two games so I wouldn't do the same thing. After that, it was just a question of sitting down and coming up with a scenario that would fit in with the SC universe.”
  23. The Fairer Sects - Interview with Raymond Benson. The Fairer Sects. Archived from the original on 16 June 2006.
    Interviewer: Your book provided Splinter Cell fans with answers to alot of questions as it applies to Sams personal life, such as his marriage to Regan, how she died as well as the specifics on Sarah. Were you told ahead of time what those specifics were to be or did you create this mystery mans past on your own?
    Raymond Benson: All that came from the Ubisoft "bible." I was given free reign, however, to invent Sam's current personal life. I placed him in Towson, Maryland, to be close to D.C. I set out his daily schedule with Krav Maga classes and such. The games are fabulous in terms of challenging scenarios and action, but they don't give you much in terms of Sam as a human being. You won't see him very often in civilian clothes in the games. With a novel, you have to flesh out the character more. I couldn't just write a novel that was "mission after mission after mission." I had to show Sam living a real life-- eating, sleeping, traveling. But his past--with Regan, etc.--was from Ubisoft.”
  24. Michaels, David (2007). Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Fallout. New York: Penguin Group, 36. ISBN 978-0-425-21824-2.
    “Peter was the son of a man named Ivan, a major in the former Soviet Union's KGB, their equivalent to the United States's CIA; and Fisher's father, a career diplomat, was not a diplomat at all but a twenty-five-year veteran case officer in the CIA.”
     
  25. Michaels, David (2007). Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Fallout. New York: Penguin Group, 36. ISBN 978-0-425-21824-2.
    “A specialist in agent handling and defection, his father had been dispatched to Moscow.”
     
  26. Michaels, David. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Checkmate. Penguin Group, 161.  
  27. http://splintercellessentials.uk.ubi.com/indexFlash.php
  28. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction (2010)
    "And his agency killed him [Sam Fisher]. It set him up and turned him loose, and told him to pull the trigger on his best friend in a dirty New York city basement. Irving Lambert died by Sam's hand that day, and so did Sam."
    Victor Coste
  29. Michaels, David (2004). Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell. Penguin Group.  
  30. Michaels, David (2005). Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Operation Barracuda. Penguin Group.  
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