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Vernon Wilkes, Jr. (1967 – November 9, 2004) was Sam Fisher's Third Echelon Field Runner who provided the "wings, wheels, and weapons" during Sam's missions in the first half of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell.

Biography[]

A long-time NSA employee, 'Junior' Wilkes was an experienced agent who was held in high regard by his superiors. His last major assignment was acting as Fisher's field runner during the Georgian Information Crisis in 2004. Wilkes was also a smoker (to Sam's chagrin).

2004: Georgian Information Crisis[]

On 16 October 2004, Wilkes was active in T'Bilisi, Georgia, when Fisher was tracking down the subdermals of Agent Blaustein and Agent Madison, two CIA agents who were killed investigating the illegal activities of Georgian President Kombayn Nikoladze. During Fisher's infiltration of the Georgian Defense Ministry, Wilkes covered Fisher's extraction by gunning down Georgian soldiers who attempted to ambush Wilkes' escape van. Wilkes later assisted in the capture of CIA computer technician Mitchell Dougherty, who had unwittingly leaked valuable intelligence to Nikoladze's forces.

Version 1 (Xbox/PC)[]

On 7 August 2004, at The Farm in Camp Peary, Virginia, 'Junior' Wilkes was introduced as Fisher's field runner just after he finished training as a Splinter Cell.

Version 2 (PS2/GameCube)[]

In October 2004, Wilkes is sent to Sam Fisher somewhere in the Pacific, so that Irving Lambert may speak to him (via his cochlar implant) about two CIA agents (William Robert Blaustein and Alice Madison) that went missing during a mission in the Republic of Georgia.

Death[]

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Wilkes at the The Farm.

On November 1, 2004, Wilkes was shot by a Russian mercenary on top of the Kalinatek building during Fisher's extraction (in the PlayStation 2 version, Wilkes was shot at the Nadhezda Nuclear Power Plant in the Kola Peninsula of Russia and dies in Russian Air Space). As he lay dying in Fisher's arms, his last words were, "I'm not going to make it." His death had a profound impact on Sam, who could not bring himself to so much as mention Wilkes' name, possibly feeling guilt for not having been able to save him in time. His death was greatly mourned by his fellow colleagues at the NSA. Wilkes was later replaced by Frances Coen.

Trivia[]

  • Wilks's sidearm was a suppressed Beretta 92FS, used during the Georgian Information Crisis
  • In Version 1 of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Sam meets and is introduced to Vernon Wilkes, Jr. for the first time at The Farm, in August 7 2004[2]
    • In Version 2, Sam meets Wilkes somewhere in the Pacific in October 2004, he rejoined Wilkes at The Farm shortly later that month, October 7, Lambert states, "you have already met with Agent Wilkes..."
  • Sam didn't like Wilkes smoking in his presence.
    • In Version 1, on the Osprey, while flying to the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, Sam tells Wilkes not to light the cigarette. Wilkes claims he is just saving the cigarette for after they land.
    • In Version 2, Sam Fisher takes the cigarette from Wilkes' mouth, stating "Don't light that", before they board the Osprey.
  • When Wilkes is shot at the end of the Kalinatek level, it is possible to look at his body using thermal goggles and see that his body heat has already dropped to dark blue levels. However, in the cutscene it shows that he was still alive for a small amount of time.
    • Wilkes' death in the Kalinatek level on the Xbox/PC version is actually a fill-in to the next cutscene. He was actually killed in the Power Plant mission only. Before you trigger the cutscene to Myanmar, the description was linked to the Nuclear Power Plant level. It became an exclusive to the PlayStation 2 version. The next cutscene evidence the word "Russian Airspace" that explains that Wilkes was actually killed after the Power Plant level. This means, the Power Plant was meant to be released on all platforms.
  • In Splinter Cell: Double Agent (Version 2), Lambert assumes Wilkes' name while operating undercover as an arms dealer for John Brown's Army.[3] This later backfires on him when a person known only as "Anonymous" (implied to be Lawrence Williams) sends Emile Dufraisne (Version 2) an e-mail telling him that Wilkes died several years ago.[4]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 [1]ubisoft.custhelp.com, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell PC manual, page 4
  2. Wilkes states, "that's gotta be him", Lambert: "Yep, Sam Fisher, let me introduce you to Vernon Wilkes, Jr...", Sam: "Hello", Wilkes:"I've heard crazy things about your work", Lambert: "I hope you don't mind I told him some of your stories from Kuwait"...
  3. JBA Headquarters - Part 1 (Version 2)/Data
  4. JBA Headquarters - Part 2 (Version 2)/Data
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