The Lore of Strelok Explained

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home November 27, 2024 4 Views 7 Min Read
The Lore of Strelok Explained



The best open-world games are often home to a large cast of compelling characters, whether they’re the main protagonist, the primary antagonist, an AI companion, or just some simple NPC quest-givers. STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is one such game, being home to a sizable cast of surprisingly colorful heroes, villains, and people just trying to survive against all odds.




Set in the bleak Zone of Alienation that surrounds the destroyed Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant where mutants run rampant and death lurks around every corner, many would expect STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl to be filled with solemn characters. While that’s certainly true, there are also plenty of larger-than-life, charismatic figures, and the series’ original protagonist, Strelok, is one of the STALKER franchise’s most memorable.

STALKER 2 Ferris Wheel

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The Lore Behind STALKER 2’s Strelok Explained

Strelok’s First Mission Into The Chornobyl Power Plant

A few years after the (fictional) second Chornobyl Disaster in 2006, a band of scavengers entered the Zone surrounding the plant in an attempt to recover valuable, powerful artifacts and sell them for profit. These scavengers were quickly dubbed “S.T.A.L.K.E.R.s,” and Strelok was one of the very first. On one of Strelok’s many ventures into the Zone, he discovered a set of blueprints for an underground network that would lead straight to the Chornobyl Power Plant at the heart of the Zone.


Normally, humans were unable to get too close to the heart of the Zone due to the Monolith faction’s powerful Brain Scorcher device, which would mind-control anyone who came close and turn them into slaves for Monolith’s leader, the Common Consciousness, a group of seven scientists who linked their minds. With these underground plans, Strelok formed a group and set off to bypass the Brain Scorcher.

Along with fellow Stalkers Fang and Ghost, Strelok made his way to the Chornobyl Power Plant and was one of the few to actually make it there alive. However, the group’s adventure came to an abrupt end when they encountered a locked door with a passcode. The group escaped the plant, but the Common Consciousness released a powerful Emission to stop them.

Strelok was gravely wounded by the Emission, and his teammates barely managed to get him out of the plant. Eventually overwhelmed by Monolith’s forces, Strelok was put onto a Death Truck, a Monolith vehicle designed to cart mind-controlled warriors back into the Zone.


The events of
STALKER: Clear Sky
happen here, with Strelok acting as the prequel’s main antagonist.

Strelok Becomes The “Marked One” In Shadow of Chornobyl

The Death Truck carrying Strelok is caught in an Anomaly, and Strelok is rescued from the wreckage by a passing Stalker. Strelok wakes up with no memory of who he was or what he was doing, and all he has on him is a PDA that reads “Kill Strelok.” Believing that was his mission before the crash, Strelok (now dubbed the “Marked One” due to his S.T.A.L.K.E.R. tattoo) sets off into the Zone in search of Strelok.

Strelok eventually comes into contact with Doc, one of his old Stalker teammates, who confirms his identity and helps piece together the scattered pieces of his memory. Doc also tells Strelok about a decoder that can be used to get into the power plant’s locked door. With that information, Strelok sets off to get inside the Chornobyl power plant once more.


Strelok finds the decoder and fights his way through armies of brainwashed Monolith soldiers, eventually stumbling into the Chornobyl Reactor 4 Sarcophagus once more. Strelok is confronted by the C-Consciousness and refuses their offer to join them. After another intense firefight with Monolith forces, Strelok is teleported to the room in which the C-Consciousness’ seven scientists are kept in stasis chambers. Strelok decides to destroy these stasis chambers, presumably killing the C-Consciousness.

Strelok Helps The Military’s Evacuation of the Zone in Call of Pripyat

Strelok doesn’t have as much of a prominent role in STALKER: Call of Pripyat, but he does appear in the game’s latter half. After telling the military how they can safely bring in helicopters to the Zone, Strelok aids in the evacuation of Pripyat. In Call of Pripyat‘s ending, Strelok becomes an advisor to a group of Zone researchers.

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