Carlos Mendoza

Carlos Mendoza was a mercenary in the employ of General Raveshaw during the First Tiberium War.

Biography
Carlos Mendoza had a psychotic personality and sadistic tendencies, but excelled in combat. Thus, after the extremists he was working for (the Sword of Chagall, a Colombian separatist movement) decided his methods were too extreme even for them, he was hired by the Black Hand. His bloodthirsty attitude soon earned him the antipathy of most regular Brotherhood members, who viewed him as a savage betraying the ways of Nod.

He was the personal bodyguard of General Raveshaw as well as one of the most effective Black Hand operatives. He specialised in heavy weapons, flamethrowers in particular, which he used without any protective suit (although he did use one whenever he was forced to). When project ReGenesis was exposed to GDI and captain Parker became a significant threat to the research effort by almost intercepting the jet plane they were evacuated with, Mendoza was sent to kill the GDI commando (seconds earlier Parker nearly killed him with a sniper rifle).

He failed however, and developed an obsession about Captain Parker and proceeded to stalk him throughout the burning village near the Black Hand base of operations. He failed again, and returned to general Raveshaw in the castle the Black Hand occupied. Eventually, the stronghold was infiltrated by captain Parker in search for the missing scientists and during a tense standoff, Mendoza triggered a self-destruct sequence when he destroyed the research lab.

When Captain Parker and Dr. Sydney Mobius reached the helicopter pad in an effort to rescue the rest of the science staff (they were separated during the explosion), Mendoza stayed behind to fight Captain Parker there. Despite his proficiency in martial arts, captain Parker managed to gun him down as the mercenary attempted to kill Sydney Mobius. His flame tanks ruptured and burned him down, killing him.

In-game
Mendoza is first introduced in the introductory cinematic to Armored Assault, where he was recorded by a GDI security camera as he escorted the captured scientists. His first appearance in-game is at the end of the mission, where he serves as a "boss" of sorts. It's only necessary to bring him down to half health, after which he will escape. However, you can avoid the fight by simply moving forward after the cutscene. To enter the Fight, Exit the Hand of Nod through the main entrance and advance to the airfield.

He later ambushes the player in Deadly Reunion, where he camps the Nod helicopter crash site and for a second time, when he ambushes the player on his way to the town's cathedral. In both instances, all the player has to do is bring his health down, after which he will escape.

His last appearance is at the end of the Grip of the Black Hand mission, where he once again serves as a boss, covering Raveshaw's escape. He is unarmed, and engages the player in hand-to-hand combat, or so he thinks, since usually by this time, players have quite an arsenal at their disposal. When brought to near-death, he decides to kill Sydney, at which point it's rather easy to gun him down.

His death scene is bugged, as rather than triggering a cutscene, the camera circles the burning carcass with the entire UI visible.

Multiplayer
Mendoza is a playable character in Multiplayer. Apart from the standard issue (Timed C4 and a pistol), he carries the powerful Volt auto rifle, which fires a purple beam. He has also an alternate outfit available for him, which is a red fire retardant suit (basically, a retextured flamethrower infantry suit) with goggles (which does nothing!).

Cut content/development
Originally, Mendoza was supposed to be a scarred, Latino mercenary. However, somewhere along the road, as the decision was made to change Raveshaw's looks, the original Raveshaw model was altered and became Mendoza, while Mendoza's original design was scrapped. Notably, this design bears a resemblance to Ajay, a Nod field commander in the Third Tiberium War.

Mendoza was played by Gregg Berger.