Char

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

"Whoa, so this is Char. Damn. And people still live here after the Hammer strikes?"
"Yup. They're in there, son. But they ain't the welcomin' kind."

—Jace Stratton and Dizzy Wallin upon Delta's arrival to the city

Char was a major city in Tyrus and home to Griffin Imulsion Corporation. Due to not being located on the Jacinto Plateau, Char was one of the many cities targeted and scorched with the Hammer of Dawn by the Coalition of Ordered Governments in order to deny the Locust Horde the spoils of war. Following the Hammer of Dawn Strikes, Char was left as a mass graveyard, filled with countless ashen remains and resentful Stranded. The city was then ruled by Aaron Griffin, the CEO of Griffin Imulsion, as he, Griffin Tower, and Griffin Imulsion Refinery survived the Hammer strikes. The Stranded operated within the city and continued to produce Imulsion for trade, but had an extreme hatred of the COG and Gears.

History

Pendulum Wars

Prior to the Locust War, Char was one of the largest cities on Sera, home to hundreds of thousands of COG citizens.^[1] It was also home to Aaron Griffin, the head of Griffin Imulsion Corporation, one of the largest Imulsion companies on Sera.

Locust War

"Bitch, you don't understand shit. You seen those ash remains? Those were my workforce. My employees. My family. I don't like their rest bein' disturbed by others, and especially no fucking COG!"

—Aaron Griffin to Anya Stroud after the latter asked for fuel, 17 A.E.

A year after Emergence Day, the COG realized that the Locust advance couldn't be stopped by conventional means. So, they turned to the Hammer of Dawn to enact a "Scorched Earth" policy, destroying key targets that they believed the Locust could take advantage of. This was done in the hope that, by denying the Locust use of critical facilities, their advance would be slowed or halted altogether.

Inhabitants of civilian centers were given advanced warning of the tactical Hammer of Dawn strikes. They were given approximately three days to evacuate to Jacinto Plateau and escape the incoming strikes. While some managed to leave and reach Jacinto in time, scores of people were left behind. Char was ground-zero for a Hammer strike, which scarred the land and covered the rest of the city in ash. Countless people were caught in the blast, and all of them remained frozen in ash, trapped forever in their last, desperate moments.^[2]

Eventually, the city, or what was left of it, came under the leadership of Aaron Griffin, who had managed to become a leader among the city's Stranded. He and his gang continued to harvest fuel, despite the condition the world was in.

Lambent Pandemic

"So welcome to the Griffin Tower, COG. It was here before you destroyed Char, and it's still standin' now. And so am I. You've got some nerve comin' around here askin' for favors, motherfuckers."

—Aaron Griffin "welcoming" Delta Squad to Char in the year 17 A.E.

Seventeen years after Emergence Day, Delta-One ventured to Char following a disastrous Mission to Mercy which resulted in Dominic Santiago's death, as the tanker had been filled with holes during a Locust ambush. Dizzy was left behind to guard the depot, while Marcus, Anya, Jace and Sam searched for the Stranded living in Char. They were greeted by numerous traps including propane carts, rigged Retro Lancers and polyp-infested cargo crates before arriving at Griffin Tower, where the Stranded ambushed them.

Delta immediately took cover and attempted to order the Stranded to stop, only for Lambent to immediately emerge. The two groups worked together to defeat the Lambent, and Ash Man immediately came down to greet them. Having attempted to kill them earlier, Marcus gave Ash Man one chance to explain his actions, which Ash Man successfully did. Believing they were special COG because they helped kill the Lambent, Ash Man managed to let them gain an audience with Griffin.

Griffin was visibly incensed upon presence of the COG and shrugged off all attempts at condolence. Griffin told Marcus that he was expecting a shipment of fuel from his other tower, but there was no communication with them. To ensure Delta would simply not run off with the fuel, Griffin snapped his fingers and two Stranded immediately brought Dizzy in, who they had captured while Delta was exploring. Griffin gave them one hour to return with the fuel, or they would kill Dizzy.

Delta made their way to Griffin's other tower, crossing Lambent territory. Once they arrived, they found the place deserted and attempted to activate the lifts to get to the upper level. Instead, they were greeted with numerous Formers, which explained the missing shipment and lack of communication. By the time Delta cleared the area of Lambent however, Myrrah had begun attacking Griffin Tower. Delta quickly returned to the tower with the lift and killed all of the Queen's Guard, rescuing Dizzy and Griffin. Griffin was enraged and went into a rant, only for Marcus to counter him. Griffin promised to settle the matter next time as he left for parts unknown.

Post-Locust War

Following Delta Squad's mission for fuel in Char, they were successful in reaching Azura and activating the Imulsion Countermeasure Weapon. One of the key places affected was Char as all Lambent and Imulsion were killed during the countermeasure. The Coalition later reformed and began to build Settlements, prefabricated cities that recycled rubble and materials from other ruined cities. During 42 A.E., Settlement 5 was being constructed by using materials that had removed from the ruins of Char as well as other destroyed cities.

Notable Locations

• Griffin Imulsion Refinery
• Griffin Tower

Gallery

Behind the Scenes

• Multiple sources reveal that Char was the actual name of the city before the Hammer Strikes and not nicknamed by the Stranded due to the city's incinerated surface.
  • A manifest found outside Settlement 5 in Gears of War 4 details rubble being taken from key cities in order to recycle materials to build settlements. One of the cities mentioned is Char.
  • Chairman Richard Prescott's watch found in Gears 5 displays Tyran cities with varying time-zones, Char's included.
  • In Gears of War: Ephyra Rising, Char had a Thrashball team called the Char Hellions.
• Char is featured in Gears of War 3 as the game's "snow" level.^[2] It was also the first location revealed and used for Gears of War 3's announcement trailer.
• The ash statues are based on the victims from Pompeii. The ash remains of the mother and child that Dominic Santiago was staring at was based on the Pietà by Michelangelo.^[2]

References