Boris

"Boris has arrived!"

- Boris

Boris (Russian: Борис) is the Soviet commando infantry unit in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 - Yuri's Revenge, replacing the Psi-Corps trooper.

Overview
Little is known about Boris' early history, other than that he was formidable enough on the battlefield to become a hero of the Soviet Union in unseen events prior to the first iteration of the Third World War. He became more prominent in the second iteration of the war in the non-canonical Soviet campaign of Yuri's Revenge, participating in capturing the Allied time machine in San Francisco and liberating Allied troops in London, destroying psychic dominators in both instances.

Boris is equipped with a specially designed AKM assault rifle, the successor to the AK-47 that Soviet rifle infantry wielded in the Second World War. Boris is very accurate and can dispatch most infantry with a single burst of fire from medium range. This weapon also dealt an appreciable amount of damage to vehicles despite its anti-infantry nature.

When ordered to attack buildings, Boris uses a laser pointer to call a MiG airstrike from a randomly chosen edge of the map. He will keep pointing at the structure until it is destroyed, or he is moved elsewhere or killed. In this state, he can not fire while maintaining the pointer. If he is moved or killed before the structure is destroyed, the MiGs turn back. If the MiGs are downed, another squadron will be called after a short delay. Finally, the number of MiGs varies depending on Boris' veterancy level: Boris can call 2 MiGs while non-veteran, 3 MiGs when veteran, and 4 MiGs when elite. This attack outranges all defensive structures except the Grand Cannon.

Like all commandos in Yuri's Revenge, he is resistant to mind control. He is also the only commando in the expansion who is not capable of traversing water without using transport units.

Continuity
If Boris is killed in the prehistoric era in the mission Time Shift, he re-emerges from the barracks after the second time jump, as he is native to that timeline.

After the merging of the timelines, the role of the Soviet commando was taken by Natasha Volkova during the Post-War Crisis and the third iteration of the war.

Changelog

 * Yuri's Revenge patch 1.001:
 * Boris will now correctly call MiGs in to attack occupied tank bunkers.
 * Boris' laser designator will no longer be interrupted if the enemy units garrison/un-garrison a building he is targeting.
 * If a commando (Tanya, Boris, Yuri Prime) is placed into a transport, and that transport is destroyed on water, the training slot for that commando unit is now properly freed.

When created

 * Boris has arrived!
 * It is I, Boris! (unused)
 * I have no fear. (unused)
 * Let the games begin! (unused)
 * You are no match for Boris! (unused)

When selected

 * Boris here.
 * Yes, comrade general?
 * Let's light them up.
 * I'll point out the target.
 * Don't mess with me.

When moving

 * Is nothing I cannot do![sic]
 * This will be easy.
 * Boris agrees.
 * I have an important mission.[sic]
 * Russia's fate is with me.

When ordered to attack

 * Hahahaha!
 * Die, traitorous dogs!
 * Eat lead!
 * Fools! You can't touch me!
 * Who is next?

When calling an airstrike

 * Bring on the MiGs!

When suppressed

 * They are attacking us!
 * Is very bad here, comrade![sic]
 * I am hit!
 * We must have reinforcements!

Cameos
In order: English/French/German, Korean, Chinese. Top row is standard, bottom row is veteran.

Trivia

 * In the Chinese version, Boris' name was not transliterated like Tanya's. Instead, he was given a new name, 菁英戰鬥兵 (elite combat trooper). If transliterated into Chinese, however, Boris would be called 鲍里斯 (Bàolĭsī), while Tanya would be called 譚雅 (Tányǎ).
 * Oddly, if Boris enters an IFV, the entire vehcile is still called "多功能步兵车-鲍里斯"(IFV-Boris). It is unnkown why he has two different name in Chinese version.
 * Unlike Tanya, Boris has little character development outside of his apparent performance on the battlefield in-game.
 * Boris's second name was never revealed.

Boris Борис