Christmas for the Bad Guys Call of Duty 4’s Stake in Villainizing Chernobyl

This project describes how Activision’s Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Remastered displays the Chernobyl meltdown through fictional villainy. By using screenshots and dialogues from the video game, MWR creates an alternative story that exists post-Chernobyl, one that doesn’t honor the lives lost in Pripyat. Additionally, the virtual setting houses tropes that depict Russian culture as ‘evil’.

View the project in ArcGIS Storymaps

Gabby Cepeda ‘22 is a prospective Sociology & Anthropology major and Educational Studies minor.

RUSS043 Chernobyl: Nuclear Naratives and the Environment, Swarthmore College, Spring 2020

Suggested Reading

Chernobyl Radiation Remnant

The Chernobyl disaster inspired many variations on the fictional creature of radiation victims turned monsters.

Elephant’s Foot

When you look at this dimunitive approximation of the Elephant’s Foot, consider what you feel.