In 1979, Francis Ford Coppola released his magnum opus Apocalypse Now, a scathing commentary on the Vietnam War inspired by Joseph Conrad's 1899 novel Heart of Darkness. This intense dive into the irrational violence brought out by a possibly unwinnable war has become famous many reasons. It features gripping characters, a surreal yet straightforward approach to its themes, and multiple classic lines. It's also famous for behind-the-scenes production issues, including uncooperative performers, monsoons, a civil war, at least one heart attack, and attempted suicides. The fact that Coppola even managed to finish the movie is an impressive feat.
Apocalypse Now would become extremely influential. It has become a prominent influence on later war films, many of which have imitated its stylistic choices. Two of its most iconic characters —Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando) and Lt. Colonel Kilgore (Robert Duvall) — have been imitated so much they've become archetypes in themselves. Naturally, the film has also has also made an impact on video games, to the point where Coppola even tried to make an Apocalypse Now video game. Quite a few characters from different games also owe something to Coppola's masterwork.
6 General Barkov – Call of Duty Modern Warfare
The 2018 reboot of Call of Duty Modern Warfare introduced some new antagonists. One of the biggest players was the Russian general Roman Barkov, a character for whom the developers explicitly cited Marlon Brando's portrayal of Colonel Walter E. Kurtz as an inspiration. In Apocalypse Now, Kurtz was a former U.S. special forces soldier who had grown frustrated with his military's inability to face the Viet Cong and started taking matters into his own hands. Barkov follows a similar path. The most obvious similarity is that he is clearly unhinged, having been slowly broken down by the stress of waging an endless war with Urzikstan. He also has a habit of committing war crimes in the name of "counter-terrorism" and a belief that he is doing what is necessary to win.
Even Barkov's backstory shares some notable parallels to Kurtz. They share the theme of trying to take matters into one's own hands against a perceived threat, and going rogue to the point where his own government wants him dead. This is even reinforced in the game's aesthetic during the level "Captive." Th game is clearly influenced by the scene where Captain Willard finally meets Kurtz, right down to the heavy shadows.
5 General Shepherd – Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2
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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 threw its players a curveball when its antagonist turned out not to be who they expected. Although the big twist has become well-known today, the reveal that the real (or at least more immediate) danger was the player's own commanding officer shook a lot of the game's initial audiences. Part of that impact may have been the infamous sequence in which Shepherd murders the player character as a "loose end." Eventually it comes out that Shepherd is not only working against orders. He has been meticulously working to start World War III to the point of allowing a false flag operation that killed thousands of civilians. He even set up one of his own people to die just so America could be blamed for it.
Call of Duty is no stranger to referencing classic war films. The previous Modern Warfare had a level titled "Charlie Don't Surf" as a reference to the film. But Shepherd could be described as a fusion of two of the film's most iconic characters. He takes the gung-ho attitude of Lt. Colonel Kilgore and mixes it with Kurtz's need to win at any cost. The idea of him secretly working against his own army quickly calls to mind Kurtz's story, but his vision of what he wants to do with the army is much closer to Kilgore.
3 John Konrad – Spec Ops: The Line
The entire plot of Yager Devlopment's Spec Ops: The Line is heavily influenced by Apocalypse Now. Its concerted effort to dive into the madness of war, and how it forces the protagonists to commit atrocities while barely understanding what is happening around them, certainly call to mind Coppola's film. Confusion and irrationality are a big part of the story, resembling several of the film's key moments. Even the basic plot is similar, with the player being tasked with locating a general who disobeyed orders.
But perhaps the clearest influence is the main antagonist, John Konrad, a man whose role is obviously inspired by Colonel Kurtz. He follows a similar story of disobeying orders and being driven mad when things go wrong. The circumstances of his rogue status and madness (a failed evacuation) might seem like a change until one remembers Kurtz's story about how the VC reacted to his unit's attempts at inoculating Vietnamese children. He even has a quirky radio operator reminiscent of Dennis Hopper's photojournalist.
2 Vaas Montenegro – Far Cry 3
After stumbling with Far Cry 2, the series finally found its footing with Far Cry 3. The game told a tale of madness and irrational violence set against the backdrop of a tropical island inhabited by a variety of strange characters. The most iconic of these characters is Vaas Montenegro. Vaas was a man who talked a lot about insanity. It became a recurring mantra of his character: he would repeatedly say to protagonist Jason Brody, "Have I ever told you the definition of insanity?" And each time, he would give a different answer. There are some obvious Apocalypse Now influences, from the tropical setting to the protagonist's slow breaking from social order. There is even a helicopter sequence where "Ride of the Valkyries" is played.
But Vaas seems to embody that insanity more than anyone else. He lives in a world of madness and has learned to embrace it, even enjoy it. There are certainly comparisons that could be made to a few characters in the film: Colonel Kurtz, Lt. Colonel Kilgore, even a bit of Captain Willard. He does not run a cult like Kurtz (that would be his sister, Citra) but he does have a willingness to embrace his primal instincts. He shows no restraint against his enemies, mixed with a habit of treating violence like a party.
1 Captain Conrad – World of Warcraft
A high fantasy MMORPG is not the type of place where one might expect to find references to classic war films, but Blizzard's iconic World of Warcraft had its own Apocalypse Now inspired questline: TWICE. One of these quests featured a character named Colonel Kurzan (an obvious reference to Colonel Kurtz), while the other centered around Captain Conrad. Conrad follows a noticeably similar storyline to Kurtz. The player is told that she was an ambassador sent to befriend a neighboring tribe, only to end up setting herself up as a god and turning them into a cult under her sway. Conrad's questlines involve tracking her and eventually terminating her command.
World of Warcraft is not particularly subtle about the inspiration from Apocalypse Now in this storyline. Not only does the character obviously reference Colonel Kurtz, with the player taking on a role loosely reminiscent of Captain Willard, it even references the original source material for the film. There's a mission called "Heart of Darkness," and the name "Captain Conrad" comes from Joseph Conrad, who wrote the original book.