Armin Metrac was a Helghast General and the main antagonist of Killzone: Liberation. Autarch Scolar Visari personally entrusted Metrac with the task of capturing Southern Vekta. Known and feared for his sadistic interrogation techniques and brutal tactics against Vektan civilians and soldiers. He slowly but surely set about conquering the south. His charismatic appearance and tall, athletic build clearly reveal that he is no ordinary Helghast. Cruel, sadistic,
battle torn, and full of hatred, General Metrac was determined to conquer Vekta. He was killed by Jan Templar after fighting him in Metrac's secret mountain base.
Biography
Early career
Metrac was born in the 24th century on Helghan during the time of the great depression. He was a very different kind of Helghan, and was born with distinctive human-like features. He joined the military and proved to be a good soldier. After being made Lieutenant General, he took special interest in a case where a soldier named Tendon Cobar was on death row for shooting his senior officer for being weak and stopping a training exercise because a soldier had been wounded. Metrac looked into the case and it was true, so Metrac had the case called off. This left a message to the rest of the Helghast army, there is no room for weakness. He invited Cobar to join a group he had formed called the Colonial Guard. He was a follower of Visari, who was quickly rising to power. Visari had changed the military, and made it very powerful. Metrac gained favor with Visari (despite his human qualities which Visari would have hated) and became a General. He was also an adviser to Visari, along with General Joseph Lente, Colonel Mael Radec, and Metrac's good friend, Colonel Cobar.
Metrac was not heavily involved with the invasion plans of Vekta. He was second in command of the army, just below General Lente, who would lead the invasion. Metrac was in contact with the two ISA traitors, General Stuart Adams and General Dwight Stratson. The invasion began in early August, 2357, and Metrac was on Helghan at the time, until the Helghast forces were defeated.
Killzone: Liberation
After the death of General Lente, Visari personally entrusted Metrac in September, with the task of conquering the south of Vekta, where the remaining Helghast troops were holding out, and he was given full command of the Third Helghan army. He brought with him a fleet of another army the Eighth and the Ninth Helghan army, that contained three millions each. He advanced from their location in the Adlez Mountains, and pushed forward in all directions. He eventually took over the eastern part of the continent with the help of his trusty right hand man, Colonel Cobar. Over the course of the month, Metrac became infamous among the ISA forces, as he brutally pushed through their defenses. He set up a hidden base in the mountains of the Redavni Plains, and staged further attacks that pushed the ISA back to Rayhoven.
In early October, Minister of Defence, Heff Milcher, General Dwight Stratson (who was secretly aligned with the Helghast), and scientist Evelyn Batton, meet at the Rayhoven base to discuss the possibility of using nuclear weapons against the Helghast. Metrac attacks the base to gain information from them and the ISA are forced to evacuate. Metrac secretly has the shuttle carrying the ISA VIP's from the meeting, shot down in the Reag Swamplands, south of Rayhoven. Metrac arrives at a base in a refinery in the Magus Harbour with Cobar, who he sends to find the VIP's and take them as hostages. Metrac is then attacked by a team of ISA soldiers, led by Sergeant Rico Velasquez, but manages to kill most of the team aside for Rico.
Metrac leaves and offers a truce to ISA command to buy time for Cobar to find the hostages. He asks that the ISA abandon the south and there will be no more fighting. Metrac heads for the swamps to take the Evelyn Batton to his base for interrogation. He is followed by Rico who is later captured. Metrac leaves to his hidden base, with Evelyn and Rico as hostages (Milcher was dead, and Stratson had escaped after killing Cobar), and threatens the ISA to surrender or he will fire the nuclear weapons that were recently given to him by Stratson. Metrac tortures Evelyn for the launch codes but, she gives him the wrong codes, while he fruitlessly tries to turn Rico over to their side. Instead he plans to have Rico brought to Stratson in Sedah City to frame him for the betrayal.
He soon learns that the ISA have discovered the location of his base and will soon bomb the area. Metrac prepares to leave with Rico to began an attack on Sedah city, when Captain Jan Templar confronts him. Metrac orders the Helghast to leave without him so that he can deal with the famous Templar. After a long fight, Templar wounds Metrac, who asks for a warrior's death. Templar' asks for Rico's whereabouts as the bombing begins (creating a large gap in the platform they are on). Metrac leaps across to Templar with a knife. Templar quickly shoots at Metrac, who then falls to his death.
Characteristics
Metrac is an evolved form of Helghast, and has the appearance of a human. However he retains the dark characteristics of a Helghast. Even his traits make him no ordinary Helghast. He is sadistic and cruel, and is known for his unconventional tactics and his brutalities against human civilians and soldiers alike. He uses sadistic interrogation techniques, with the help of Cobar most likely. He is a very well known and feared Commander in the Helghast army. He has been the most successful commander against the ISA so far, as he managed to conquer most of Southern Vekta, and thanks to his leadership skills, his armies managed to continue doing somewhat well even after his death. He is second in command of the army before the death of Lente, although he appears to be quite skilled in battle and possess better tactical and strategic skills. He is almost a mix of Lente's leadership skills, and Radec's combat skills. He is the only known Helghast to not fear Colonel Cobar and Cobar respects him out of friendship.
Description
Metrac is a very tall, man who appears to be in his early 40's. He has more human-like appearances, and barely resembles a Helghast. It was believed by some fans that he was actually a human that had gained favor with Visari, but it was later confirmed that he is an evolved Helghast, who can breathe Vekta's air. He has a strong, athletic build, has human-like, white skin, and somewhat sharp facial features. He also has a very sadistic grin when he succeeds. He wears a very decorative, cuirass, a fine silver armor plate on his left shoulder, and a dark-red cape, similar to the Helghast banner. He would usually possess a pistol and knife, as an officer, although he uses a heavy machine gun/grenade launcher when battling Templar. He has a very snobby, and charismatic voice.
Trivia
- Metrac is voiced by Chris Fairbank.
- Metrac can be seen in a painting in Visari Palace in Killzone 2. He is seen with Visari and the other Helghast villains of the series. Such a painting can be seen in a museum in Killzone 3 too.
- Metrac made a brief cameo in Killzone: Mercenary at the beginning.
- There were other evolved Helghast besides Metrac(originally thought of as a Human mercenary). Jorhan Stahl, Admiral Orlock, the Senate of Helghan and even Scolar Visari and his daughter are the best examples of that fact *(This may be in dispute, because the mutations are because of elements in the air they breathe, and it is shown that "upper-class" Helgans have access to pure sources of oxygen (shown in Killzone 3) which resulted in them not showing all of the changes that Helghans go throught: the of loss of hair, larger than normal size compared to humans, pale skin, and youthful physicality despite age (as seen by Templar fighting with a visibly older Radec and Orloc fighting a Helghan Soldier). The upper-class Helghans have a mix of changes to their physiology. The palace of Visari was the original building of the Helghan corporation. The Palace is in a high place, which is a factor in the concentration of the element(s) they breathe. The ruling class of Helgans also descended from the original executives of the Helghan corporation, which would make the combination of access to oxygen, minimal exposure to the Helghan mutagenic element(s), and generational presence in the palace have an overall delaying effect to the changes of the upper-class Helghans. It is also canon that Metrac is the only mutant of his kind).
- Metrac was the cover character of the Killzone: Liberation marketing campaign. The official trailer shows Metrac on a tank with Cobar as his forces destroy a city. A voice on the end of the trailer says ''death has a thousand faces ..... evil has only one.
- Metrac appears in the opening CGI cutscene of Killzone: Liberation which is the same as the official trailer, except for the voice-over at the end.
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