Black Ops 6’s Campaign Connects to The Series

This article contains MINOR SPOILERS for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s campaign, and MAJOR SPOILERS for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.

The Call of Duty: Black Ops series is almost 14 years old, and unlike its slightly older sibling, it hasn’t been rebooted. That means that every Call of Duty: Black Ops story is currently considered canon and in the same continuity. As any long-time fan will know, Black Ops has some surprisingly deep lore that dabbles with mind control, false memories, and a healthy dose of non-linear storytelling, which can make the overarching series narrative a bit tricky to follow.

Thankfully, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 manages to remain newcomer-friendly by delivering a self-contained story that revolves around a mostly new cast of characters and a new threat. That said, there are plenty of references and callbacks to previous series entries in Black Ops 6, some of which hearken back to the original 2010 installment.

The Biggest Self-References in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s Campaign

Frank Woods, Adler, and What Happened in Panama

A few years before the events of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, and set during the flashback sequences of Black Ops 2, Frank Woods and his trusty squadmate Alex Mason head to Panama in search of Manuel Noriega, the right-hand man of notorious arms dealer Raul Menendez. Woods corners Noriega and convinces him to capture Menendez so that Woods can execute him. Menendez is brought before Woods with a bag over his head, and Woods takes the killing blow. But as the bag slips down, Woods realizes he’s been tricked into executing Mason.

Menendez then comes out from hiding, shooting Woods in both of his legs and crippling him for life. When Woods returns to the US, he’s told by the CIA that the Panama operation went south because of an inside tip from a mole inside the CIA, and a rumor starts spreading that Russell Adler is that mole. In Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Frank Woods dismisses that rumor, claiming that he doesn’t believe Adler would ever betray one of his own.

Vorkuta – A Prison of Memories

Towards the latter half of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6‘s campaign, Frank Woods and the rest of his team of rogue black ops agents discover that The Pantheon (the new big bad private military organization) is using the old remains of Vorkuta prison as a place to mass-produce the Cradle bioweapon. This is a direct reference to the very first Call of Duty: Black Ops, where players control Alex Mason as he participates in a mass prisoner uprising at Vorkuta alongside World At War character Viktor Reznov.

Sims Made It Through The Cold War

With Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 being a direct follow-up to 2020’s Black Ops Cold War, it’s only natural that a few familiar faces appear during the new campaign. While Frank Woods and Russell Adler play prominent roles in Black Ops 6‘s story, there’s another Cold War character whose appearance is much more brief.

Lawrence Sims is introduced in Black Ops Cold War as one of Adler’s closest allies, having fought with him during the Vietnam War. Sims helps Adler and the rest of his team hunt down the mysterious Perseus, but leaves the CIA a little while later due to their questionable methods. Sims joins the US Army and eventually receives a call from Adler, who requires his assistance to capture the Pantheon’s bioweapon expert Matvey Gusev.