I guess my options are pretty limited...

Scar

Scar (Ukrainian: Шрам) is the protagonist of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky. He returns in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl as the leader of Spark.

Background

Scar is a proficient veteran mercenary who most likely went to the Zone for self-interest. Scar is initially unaffiliated with any faction and works for whichever faction is the most lucrative to him. As a freelancer, his actions are tied to his employer's wallet rather than their ideals. Scar's callsign seemingly comes from the scar across his face, that can be seen in-game with the third-person camera.^[6]

As revealed in Heart of Chornobyl, Scar was naturally gifted with Class 5 psi-protection, allowing Scar to survive emissions without cover or operate the eight pod by himself without the need of additional psi protection or the Heart of Chornobyl, unlike Skif & Strelok and Korshunov. According to Clear Sky's Professor Kalancha, the emissions energize Scar's abilities, giving him extraordinary reflexes and strength, but will, if not stopped, eventually burn his nervous system and kill him or turn him into one of the zombified stalkers. This revelation drives Scar to hunt down Strelok, whose reaching the center of the Zone is hypothesized by Clear Sky's Lebedev to be the reason for the emissions.

Prior to Heart of Chornobyl, he never vocally spoke and thus, it was hard to determine his personality. What was known about Scar at the time is that he dislikes the State Security Service and outright refused to give in to temptation from Khaletskiy's offer to help him. He also would not hesitate to "kick Mitay's ass" for his rude behavior but only does not do so because the rest of Duty would retaliate. Scar also seemed to have a dry sense of humor, as Lebedev points out during their interaction at the beginning of the game.

Scar was born in 1979, making him 32-33 in Clear Sky and 43-44 in Heart of Chornobyl. (see Gallery).

Appearances

Clear Sky

Scar is first seen escorting a group of ecologists in the Great Swamps during the introductory cutscene of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky. The ecologists and Scar are caught in the second blowout emission, which wipes out the ecologists and leaves Scar barely alive. Lebedev later informs Scar that he was almost torn to shreds by a pack of pseudodogs after surviving the emission, having been narrowly rescued by a Clear Sky patrol squad. In S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl it is revealed in a note that can be found that Scar was saved by Nimble.^[7]

After being picked up by Clear Sky, Scar is taken to the faction's base to recover. This is where the player assumes control over Scar, first meeting Lebedev, then helping Clear Sky regain control over the Swamps and capture the southern exit to the Cordon from the Renegades, and then venturing further into the Zone. Scar is constantly updated by Lebedev concerning issues about Strelok and is ultimately led to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in his quest to stop Strelok from reaching the center of the Zone.

Scar's motives for chasing down Strelok are not very clear, as even after leaving the Swamps (and therefore being relatively safe from Clear Sky, as they are isolated to the Swamps for the most part) he still keeps contact with Clear Sky and follows their orders, even if the player does not officially join Clear Sky again after leaving the Swamps. It's possible he still fears for his safety, as they threat with "silencing him" if Scar does not follow Strelok and stop him. He might also believe Lebedev's claim Strelok is going to cause more emissions, that will eventually kill him by causing his nervous system to breaking down. It could also be because he doesn't want another huge emission to occur, possibly changing the Zone even further or killing him. Either way, it seems his own interests guide his actions, much like they did prior to the great emission.

During his mission, Scar manages to pick up the trail of Strelok's group. He first obtains information from Sidorovich in the Cordon after solving a conflict between the Loners and the Bandits, after which he heads for the Garbage to recover information from the diggers. Afterwards, Scar makes contact with the Freedom faction and, after dealing with a mercenary problem beforehand, discovers that the group headed towards the Agroprom Underground. After obtaining information from Sakharov in the area of Yantar, Scar nearly catches up Strelok in the Red Forest, but fails to do so. This forces him to help the Clear Sky faction push through the war-torn streets of Limansk and the Limansk Hospital, which gives access to the Power Plant, their objective.

At the CNPP, after Scar incapacitates Strelok, the ThirdEmission is unleashed that wipes out most of the Clear Sky strike force in the area. Scar is implied to be dead due to his nervous system's susceptibility to another emission, or converted to a Monolith soldier, evidenced by the ending cutscene showing a first-person perspective of the brainwashing process, where Strelok is seen lying on the opposite side of the hall.

Heart of Chornobyl

"Get out of here stalker!"
This page contains spoilers to the game's final plot. It is advised you skip this section or page if you haven't completed the game yet!

Scar returns in Heart of Chernobyl as the leader of the Spark faction. His personality is markedly different - energetic and flamboyant. At the end of the game, it is revealed that "Scar" in is in fact a Stalker called "Marshall" whose memories/personality were transferred to Scar's body as he was made an Agent for the C-Consciousness after the events of Clear Sky.

Gallery

This is the only time Scar is referred to by his callsign instead of the generic "Merc"

Scar's C-Consciousness Agent Profile.

Trivia

• In Clear Sky, Scar has striking grey-white eyes, short, white stubble, and a long face.
• He is the only true silent protagonist in the STALKER games, likely a development choice made so that the players could project themselves into the role they're playing. While he does "talk" when conversing with other characters, Scar does not speak vocally unlike Strelok and Major Degtyarev.
• As seen in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky's introductory cutscene, Scar's preferred weapon before being hit by the Great Emission is most likely the Vintar BC. He is also seen wearing a trenchcoat in the same cutscene.
  • The same Vintar BC, which Scar loses upon being caught in the Great Emission, can be picked up by the player in the northernmost part of the Swamps by the anomaly on the railway tracks, near the Agroprom Research Institute entrance point. Its magazine is empty and its condition is completely depleted. Curiously, it's positioned in front of the aforementioned entrance in which Duty can provide the ammunition for it at the earliest part of the game.
  • It's also curious to note that Scar is not rescued with his trenchcoat, and the bodies of the ecologists cannot be found.
    • In Heart of Chornobyl the bodies of the ecologists Scar was escorting can be found in a train car on the western edge of the Swamp region, alongside a PDA detailing the expedition's relationship with Scar.^[8]
• When Scar wakes up in the Great Swamps, he already has an AKM-74/2 in his inventory. This constitutes a minor storyline discontinuity as he was not seen carrying it previously and was, according to his own testimony (in a dialogue with Docent Suslov), rendered "totally empty" of supplies by the Great Emission. Notably, the weapon was absent from Scar's starting inventory in versions of the game prior to 1.5.10.
• NPCs' evaluations of Scar's age vary dramatically: some stalkers (most notably bandits in the Garbage) call him an "old man". However, Sakharov and E. F. Kalancha both refer to him as a "young man", and he is called "boy" by one of the Duty and Bandits members. It is possible these lines were written before the physical appearance of Scar was created. During development, Scar was probably intended to be a younger man.
• The only stalker to address Scar directly by his call sign is Leshiy. Everyone else refers to him as "Merc."
• In one of Ghost's messages to Strelok in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, there is a reference to a Vintar BC-wielding man with a scar across his face. This is widely regarded as a reference to Scar in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. fan community. Scar is also indirectly referenced in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat in a note to Ghost written by Strelok.
• Despite purportedly being able to survive emissions, Scar will die if the player does not find shelter before being exposed to a non-scripted emission during gameplay.
• Scar's physical appearance was modelled after "Alexander Kaidanovsky" from the film "Stalker".

References

v · d · e Clear Sky
Locations	Swamps Cordon Garbage Dark Valley Agroprom Agroprom Underground Yantar Red Forest Military Warehouses Limansk Limansk Hospital Chernobyl NPP
Notable members	Cold E. F. Kalancha N. A. Lebedev Nimble Novikov V. I. Suslov Ivan Trodnik
Equipment	Armaments PMm Fora-12 Kora-919 Viper 5 Shotgun Hunting Rifle Chaser 13 AKM-74/2U AKM-74/2 IL 86 TRs 301 SGI-5k RPG-7u EM1 Rifle Armour Leather jacket Stalker suit CS-3a body armor CS-2 body armor (NPC only) CS-1 body armor Vintage CS-3a body armor

v · d · e Spark
Locations	Duga Garbage Malachite Prypiat Rostok Wild Island Yaniv Zaton
Notable members	Heart of Chornobyl Bagel Mute Scar Star Powerplug
Equipment	Armour PSZ-5I Hawk PSZ-9I Falcon SEVA-I Suit SSP-100I Survey