You play as Bravo Squad: Marcus Fenix, Dom Santiago, Mags Carter and Lucas Reyes, assigned by Captain Akila Grey in Act 1. Around them are Charlie Squad of the Kalona Heavy Infantry (Sgt. Bryce Valen, Siv Strickland, Sal Harkniss), the Butcherbird King Raven crew (Lt. Gill Gettner and Daan Riggs), quartermaster Hank Rustin, Colonel Elias Trench and Mayor Isabel Shaw. The 8th KSG is not a squad you fight with — it is Mags's former unit.
The squads at a glance
| Group | Members | Role in the story |
|---|---|---|
| Bravo Squad (playable) | Marcus Fenix, Dom Santiago, Mags Carter, Lucas Reyes | The four campaign leads; up to four co-op players |
| Charlie Squad, Kalona Heavy Infantry | Sgt. Bryce Valen, Pvt. Siv Strickland, Pvt. Sal Harkniss, Gale Lowen | Local Kalona unit fighting alongside Bravo |
| KR-Eight Zero, “Butcherbird” squadron | Lt. Gill Gettner (pilot), Spc. Daan Riggs (door gunner, crew chief) | Air support and transport |
| Command and city | Capt. Akila Grey, Col. Elias Trench, Mayor Isabel Shaw | Orders, politics and the defence of Kalona |
| Point Fairlight and D-Flotilla | Cmdr. Zander “Zee” Carmine, Capt. Quentin Michaelson | Base command and COG Navy special forces |
| Locust | The Vraahk, Blight Commander of the Scorched Legion | Main antagonist |
Ranks and unit names come from the in-game character profiles as reproduced by Game8 and TechWiser, cross-checked against the Metacritic credits. Voice actors for every name here are on our cast and voice actor page.
Bravo Squad: the four you play
- Marcus Fenix — a young Pendulum Wars veteran, back in Kalona for an armistice memorial and still blaming himself for the death of his best friend, Carlos Santiago.
- Dominic “Dom” Santiago — a Private and COG commando, father of two, and Carlos's younger brother. Carlos's death strains his friendship with Marcus.
- Mags Carter — a Specialist who led demolition teams for 15 years before an explosive malfunction killed her squad and she was discharged. She now works at the Timgad Prime Imulsion refinery. Full profile: who is Mags Carter?
- Lucas Reyes — a Cadet First Class moved from infantry into Communications Officer training because of his aptitude scores. E-Day is his first real combat.
In co-op, each player controls one of the four. The campaign structure that frames their story — five Acts and an Epilogue — is laid out on the chapter list.
What is the 8th KSG?
8th KSG is Mags Carter's former unit, named in her introduction scene. Character profiles expand it as the 8th Kalona Siege Grenadiers, the demolition outfit she served in before her discharge. It is not another name for Bravo Squad, and you do not fight alongside an 8th KSG squad in the campaign.
The abbreviation is confirmed in-game; the expanded name comes from character profiles we could not trace to an official Coalition document. The evidence is set out on our Mags Carter page.
Charlie Squad: Bryce Valen, Siv Strickland and Sal Harkniss
Charlie Squad is a Kalona Heavy Infantry squad made up of local soldiers. Sergeant Bryce Valen leads it and is described as always first into the fight. Private Siv Strickland (voiced by Leah Gibson) and Private Sal Harkniss (Michael Antonakos) serve under him, with Gale Lowen completing the squad.
Searches for “Siv Strickland” usually come from players who met her in the early Acts and want to know what happens to her. That answer is in the spoiler section below.
Command, crew and civilians
| Character | Rank / role | Who they are |
|---|---|---|
| Akila Grey | Captain, fireteam leader | From a Tsanoan military family; distrusts COG leadership after seeing its corruption. Forms Bravo Squad. |
| Elias Trench | Colonel | A win-at-any-cost tactician who considers decommissioning Kalona's regiment beneath him. |
| Hank “Russ” Rustin | Sergeant Major, quartermaster | Former sapper and DRA weapons designer who helped Adam Fenix redesign the Gnasher; now runs the Kalona Heavy Infantry armory. |
| Gill Gettner | Lieutenant, King Raven pilot | Flies KR-Eight Zero in the Butcherbird squadron. |
| Daan Riggs | Specialist, door gunner and crew chief | Gettner's crewmate; jokes a lot but is strict about safety aboard his Raven. Often misspelled “Dan Riggs”. |
| Isabel Shaw | Mayor of Kalona | The city's civilian leader, voiced by Natasha Burnett. |
| Emery Brown | Credited as “Emery Brown / Control” | Shares a credit with the radio voice of Control (Yvonne Senat Jones). The profiles we checked do not describe a larger story role. |
| Zander “Zee” Carmine | Commander, Point Fairlight | Former NCOG Marine, reluctant base commander and mentor to recruits. |
| Quentin Michaelson | Captain, COG Navy | Commands D-Flotilla; series fans know him from Gears of War 3. |
| Shin Morida | Specialist, combat medic | Battle-weary medic now training recruits. |
| Manu and Mako Kemara | Privates, Pahanu Bayonets | Twins from the South Islands: Manu is a scout sniper, Mako a heavy-weapons gunner. |
| Tai Kaliso | Private | Recruited by Marcus after UIR forces destroyed his village; returns from Gears of War 2. |
Several of these characters also unlock as multiplayer skins through campaign progress. For the Locust side, see our Vraahk guide, which covers who the Blight Commander is and how the boss fight works.
Spoilers: who survives Emergence Day?
This section contains campaign spoilers. Skip to the quick answers if you have not finished the story.
- Siv Strickland is reported to be killed off camera during Charlie Squad's fighting; players find her body shortly afterwards.
- Carlos Santiago died before the game begins. His death is backstory, not a campaign event.
- Mags Carter is alive in the closing scenes. Talk of her later death comes from fan readings of her lung condition, not from anything shown on screen.
- Marcus, Dom and Tai must survive for the original trilogy to happen, and they do.
- The Vraahk is the final boss in The Fall of Kalona. What happens to him, and how the Epilogue sets up later games, is on our ending explained page.
We have not listed fates for characters where launch guides disagree or where we could not confirm the scene. If you are tracking a specific character, check the chapter in the walkthrough.
Quick answers
- Who are the playable characters? Marcus, Dom, Mags and Reyes — Bravo Squad.
- Is Tai playable in the campaign? No. He appears as a supporting character in the campaign.
- What does 8th KSG stand for? The 8th Kalona Siege Grenadiers, Mags's former demolition unit.
- Who is Siv Strickland? A Private in Charlie Squad, Kalona Heavy Infantry, voiced by Leah Gibson.
- Who is Emery Brown? A name credited together with Control, voiced by Yvonne Senat Jones.
- Who is Hank Rustin? The Kalona Heavy Infantry quartermaster who co-designed the Gnasher with Adam Fenix.
- Is it Dan or Daan Riggs? Daan Riggs, the Butcherbird door gunner.
Sources
References used for this page. Last editorial update: October 18, 2026. Dated snapshots are labelled in the text.
