John ‘Soap’ MacTavish

Born in Scotland in the United Kingdom, John MacTavish was a lifelong football fan often playing as a goalkeeper.

One day, MacTavish was invited by his cousin, a member of the 23 Regiment of the Special Air Service, to see how it was like to be in the British Army. Afterwards, MacTavish often visited his cousin on weekends. When he was 16, he tried several times to enroll in the SAS and while he lied about his age, he was caught every time.

After his 18th birthday, MacTavish officially joined selection for the 22 Regiment, an elite squadron specialized in covert reconnaissance, counter-terrorism, and hostage recues. In 2014, while training in Hereford, MacTavish's evaluator was Captain John Price. Recognizing his natural skills, exceptional proficiency and relentless dedication, Price became tough and strict with MacTavish to make him the best trainee. MacTavish was also trained as a sniper and demolitions expert. His remarkable speed and accuracy in room clearance and urban warfare earned him the nickname "Soap".

When selection came, MacTavish passed it with the highest possible marks on all 3 phases of the course, coming just a few seconds behind the record holder, Kyle "Gaz" Garrick. He became the youngest candidate to pass the SAS selection in the British Army history, earning him the reputation of a perpetual FNG.

For his first mission, Soap joined Price's Bravo Team, traveling to the Bering Strait to secure a cargo manifest for potential WMDs. While Soap retrieved the manifest, but the vessel was scuttled by Russian aircrafts forcing the team to leave. Being the last to exfil, Soap almost fell to his death if not for Price pulling him to safety. Soap felt indebted to Price ever since. After this mission, Soap continued to carry out covert and overt operations worldwide.

Soap later received a Gallantry Medal, the Victoria Cross, and the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross after an operation in Urzikstan during which his patrol was attacked by Al-Qatala. After the heavy machine gun malfunctioned, Soap stripped the weapon and reassembled it before firing 150 single shots, re-cocking the gun for every round. Soap claimed however that "any and all of his comrades would have done the same thing".

In 2016, Soap almost faced disciplinary action for punching a Military Police officer, knocking him out and locking him in his own vehicle. No charge were filed to avoid embarrassment for the officer.

Following the death of General Roman Barkov in November 2019, and under the oversight of US General Shepherd, Price established a new joint operations task force called Task Force 141 with the help of CIA Station Chief Kate Laswell. Soap was handpicked for this new task force by Price alongside Simon "Ghost" Riley and Kyle Garrick.

Following the fall of Armistice in Verdansk due to Victor Zakhaev's actions, Task Force 141 was charged to hunt the Ultranationalist who remained hidden in the Kastovian city. After having tracked his location, Price caught Zakhaev and neutralized him before he could launch an ICBM towards the United States. Although Soap wasn't directly involved with the death of Zakhaev, he was still in the region and contacted Price not long after as "things were heating up" outside the city.

At some point, Task Force 141 returned to Bunker 11 in Verdansk, where they found that Zakhaev's body was gone. Though he was declared dead, rumors began to circulate about his survival.

Several months after the events in Verdansk, in 2021, Zakhaev turned up at Urzikstan, where he unleashed a zombie incursion after breaking open a vial of Aetherium. Soap is called on to investigate the incursion, as part of Operation Deadbolt, working alongside Laswell, former Spetsnaz captain Sergei Ravenov and SSO Selma Greene.