Ben Carville (sometimes referred to as Thorn) is an Allied general from Texas, who aided the Allied Forces in the Second World War, the Third World War and the Psychic Dominator Disaster.
Background
A large, strong man, Carville has a very cowboy-like attitude and enjoys the finer things of life - alcohol, cigars and victories over communists. He has a very laid back personality, but becomes dead serious when military affairs are concerned, though he is not one to shy away from making a joke or a playful poke at one of his coworkers, like Agent Tanya.
He has two silver-plated Colt M1911s he carries as his sidearms.
Character development
Second World War
Carville during the Second World War
At the time of the Second World War, Carville was a Brigadier-General. During the war he disapproved of Nikos Stavros' stubbornness and penchant to embark on dangerous field missions. At some point in the conflict against the Soviets, he became aware of the enemy employing Sarin gas as a weapon against Allied forces. To combat this threat, he briefed a well-regarded field officer who was tasked with eliminating the shipment of Sarin gas in the convoy as well as evacuating any civilians in the region. After the mission was accomplished, Carville was pleased and gave a field promotion to the Allied Commander (apparently only a junior NCO at this time; an extremely unusual case) who was given the rank of Sergeant for his work.
Later, his forces became aware of the Soviets attempting to develop atomic capabilities. To find the location of the atomic processing facilities, General Stavros went to meet a Siberian informant of his but the Soviets learned of this secret meeting and sent a large force to intercept. Carville assigned the Allied Commander to save Stavros as well as end the threat posed by the Soviet atomic program.
He later assigned a new mission to the Allied Commander which involved attacking a Soviet sea base where they were developing sea-to-ground missiles. Now a Major, the Allied Commander was tasked with eliminating this threat as it meant that the Allies naval superiority over the Soviets was in danger. Thus, the Commander was assigned with destroying the sub pens, research facilities and anything else that was necessary to prevent the missiles from being deployed. For his success as well as the rescue of captured civilians in the research facility, the General gave the Allied Commander a Medal of Honor and offered to buy him a drink in the officers club.
With his promotion to a Colonel, the Allied Commander was briefed by Carville on the latest developments in the war against the USSR. This included a situation developing in Poland where the Soviets had developed their new Super tanks, had Nuclear weapons pointed at London and a mission to extract Doctor Demitri who was defecting to the Allies. Once the mission was completed, General Carville informed the Commander that he had been praising him to the British Prime Minister.
The Giant Ant missions may not be considered canon.
At some point, General Carville received the latest report from England where a field officer informed him that their southern position came under threat from giant ants. A shocked and confused Carville told them to call for their exterminators until he heard of the large size of the monsters. An angry Carville told the officer that they were not going to lose the war due to some ants; no matter their size and dispatched the Commander to settle the crisis.
By the end of the campaign, a drunken Carville told the newly promoted Commander who held the rank of General now to go home now as they were all heroes after their victory. At the time, he was playing golf on his office's desk.
Third World War
Carville alerting the President about the Soviet invasion.
| “ | Soviet invasion confirmed! - Carville to the President. |
” |
When the Soviets invaded the United States, President Dugan ordered Carville to launch a retaliatory missile strike. When this failed due to Yuri's psychic manipulation, the General returns to a familiar role: directing field commanders.
Carville and Tanya.
Throughout the campaign, he briefed the unnamed commander of all Soviet activity in the U.S. and abroad, and directed him to eliminate the threat they posed.
When Washington, D.C. was captured by the Soviets through the Psychic beacon, Carville was brainwashed along with the President, but was rescued by the Commander and relocated to Canada with the rest of the government until the city was cleared. He was later geared up to take on the Soviets head on, after Operation: Dark Night.
Carville at the moment of assassination
Carville was killed by a Crazy Ivan before departing to Berlin, where the final Allied attack on the Soviet Union was supposed to be planned. He was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors, with President Dugan attending the funeral. Carville's command was then passed on to the Commander who attacked Moscow.
Psychic Dominator Disaster
| “ | Holy cow! Commander, we got some kind of UFO on the scope! Either it's an alien invasion or Yuri's been watching too many TV! (sic) - Carville, seeing the Floating disc in London |
” |
Carville briefing a group of Allied generals about Yuri's cloning operations in Australia
The end of the Third World War was followed by the Psychic Dominator Disaster. The Allies used Einstein's time machine to travel back to the beginning of the Third World War and avert Yuri's plan for world domination.
In the process, Carville's death was also averted. Carville served with distinction in the fight against Yuri, but exhibited frustration at the complexity of time travel's effects on the two timelines. When the timelines merged, Carville remained alive and well, much to the surprise of the President.
Role in the Missions
Carville was helping the Allied Commander after finding one of the actors in Hollywood to destroy Yuri's major base and grinder operations there. After the mission was successful, he sent the Allied Commander to Seattle to prevent Yuri from using a missile silo, and to Egypt to rescue Einstein from Yuri's hands, where he was forced to enhance the Psychic dominator, but sabotaged it in truth.
In a meeting to the end of the war, Carville was briefing top Allied commanders about cloning facilities constructed in Australia and sent the Commander to Sydney. Carville took temporary control of Allied communications after Lieutenant Eva Lee was manipulated by Yuri to unveil the secret location of the London peace treaty between the Allies and Soviets. Finally, he stopped the lieutenant from resigning her post after she had recovered preceding the final attack on Antarctica.
Selected quotes
| “ | Ants? Is this some kind of a joke? If you've got ants in your pants call an exterminator, I'm on vacation! - Carville to a nameless soldier in the briefing for It Came From Red Alert! in Red Alert: Retaliation |
” |
| “ | I hope you're rested and ready commander, because as of 0800 hours you'll be in control of every satellite, base, tank, airplane, enlisted man, woman and child in the eastern United States. You answer to the president, and you answer to me. Your ops officer and your vital lifeline will be the Lieutenant. Your point man for this mission will be Special Agent Tanya. - Carville to Allied Commander at in the briefing for Operation: Lone Guardian |
” |
| “ | Mr. President, the Europeans will be asking for our help before too long. Yes, sir. I'll take care of it. *throws papers to the floor* It just ain't right. We shouldn't have had to beg for help from anyone. Premier Romanov's got the whole continent shaking in their boots. Romanov is sending in his bulldog General Vladimir in for our airbases. His forces are roaming through the country like an angry bull at a Texas rodeo. At 0500 this morning, we've detected a large force of Soviet tanks assembled near the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. - Carville to Allied Commander in the briefing for Operation: Eagle Dawn |
” |
| “ | Commander, get Tanya out of the hole she dug for herself and make her useful, would ya? I'm sure she'll appreciate it. - Carville to Allied Commander in the briefing for Operation: Eagle Dawn |
” |
| “ | Good morning, Commander! I've got good news and bad news. The good news is uh, it's great to be home again. The bad news is our U2s have picked up a fleet of Soviet ships entering the South Pacific. It appears that General Vladimir is aiming at our Pacific naval command center at Pearl Harbor, as if they can mount a successful attack against us, heh heh! What I want you to do is to prepare a genuine aloha for that little bulldog Vladimir. Oh, and uh, get yourself a cup of coffee, commander. You look deader than a Texas armadillo. - Carville to Allied Commander in the briefing for Operation: Deep Sea |
” |
| “ | No rest for the wicked, commander. We're both being shipped to Germany. I'm going to Berlin, where we're planning our final thrust. Romanov is no fool. He's hit us pretty hard over there. His main target is Einstein's Black Forest lab. I want you to hook up with the locals and keep him the sam hill away from that lab. Einstein is our ace in hole, we can't afford to lose him. Auf Wiedersehen... - Carville to Allied Commander before being killed by a Crazy Ivan |
” |
| “ | Well, Commander. From what I understand, the future ain't what it used to be. Now, our job is to set it right... According to executive order 9066 which, by the way, won't be written for a couple of months... You know, a man can blow a fuse by getting his mind around this time travel stuff... well anyway, the gist of this thing is, that we're involved to the bitter end. We have a job to do, son. The Lieutenant will fill ya in. - Carville to Allied Commander in the briefing for Operation: Hollywood and Vain |
” |
| “ | What the blazes is going on? We've got an unauthorized transmission. Cut the satellite link. Well, blow it to kingdom come if you have to! Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Since he can't clone the Allied leaders, he's bound to try a more direct approach. They're meeting in London right now to ratify a treaty with the Soviets. Get to London ASAP commander! - Carville to Allied Commander in the briefing for Operation: Trick or Treaty |
” |
Notes
- Skirmish maps in Yuri's Revenge and Red Alert 3 are named after him.
- In Red Alert 2, his uniform is highly inaccurate: his ribbons are ROTC ribbons and would not be worn by a commissioned officer. This was corrected in Yuri's Revenge.
- No explanation is given as to why he did not age between Retaliation, and Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge (1972).
- During the briefing in Mission 6 (Operation Liberty) when he talks about the Soviets occupying Washington D.C. that they have Tesla Coils, but he actually says "Prism Towers". The error was overdubbed.
Gallery
GET ME MY OFFICE BACK!
Carville calling President Dugan during the Soviet invasion
References
- ↑ Michael Dugan: "And I know Carville would've been proud to see you succeed him as Commander-General of the Allied Forces." Westwood Pacific, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2. Allied mission 12: "Operation: Chrono Storm".
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