Vladko Tyran is the Helghast leader of the Black Hand and the secondary antagonist of Killzone Shadow Fall. A violent and nationalistic fanatic, Tyran sought to reignite the war between the Vektans and Helghast by bringing chaos and destruction on Vekta which earned him the enmity of the Vektan Security Agency and the New Helghan government.

Biography

Vladko Tyran was born in the immediate aftermath of the Terracide. His mother died from giving birth inside a ruined building and was adopted by Kris Howl, a survivor who lost his entire family.^[1] Tyran's birth was noticed by Helghast state media in which they hailed him as a "miracle child", and fabricating a story that he was the sole survivor of a hospital collapse.^[2] He was brought to Vekta as a refugee and raised in New Helghan. During his early post secondary education, Tyran embraced the teachings of Scolar Visari and was subsequently radicalized. Tyran soon dropped out of school to support the growing potential wing of neo-Helghasts.^[3]

Tyran formed the Black Hand to conduct terrorism and violence on Vektans in revenge for the Terracide. The Black Hand's extremist views came at odds with the New Helghan government and was banned from politics in 2388.^[4] Tyran became a wanted man by the government. However, Tyran and his organization had been secretly supported by rogue elements of the Helghast government and military in which he was able to take control of New Helghan's slums such as Containment City and unifying the various militias and warlords under his rule.^[5][6] Among his secret benefactors was Jorhan Stahl.

On June 29, 2390, Tyran personally led an attack on Vekta City in which the Black Hand bombed VSA Headquarters and multiple locations throughout the city, causing hundreds of deaths and over a thousand people injured. Tyran attempted to cause further deaths and destruction by hijacking and weaponizing the trains of the city's FlyRail system. However, his plan was thwarted by the VSA. Tyran was tracked down and pursued by the Shadow Marshal Lucas Kellan. Tyran later ambushed Kellan and stabbed his leg with a knife (in which Tyran mockingly told Lucas to keep it), and ran towards a stolen ISA Dropship. Lucas followed suit and dangled from a rope connected to the transport. Tyran soon kicked Kellan off the Dropship as he was about to board and successfully escaped back to New Helghan.^[7]

Tyran's attack on Vekta City escalated hostility between New Helghan and Vekta in which Chancellor Hera Visari denounced the Black Hand and denied her government's involvement in the attack. The attack was also disapproved by Stahl, who personally admonished Tyran's reckless action as it jeopardizes Stahl's carefully planned invasion of Vekta. Despite Tyran's behavior, Stahl still considered him useful in his plans in which he tasked him to deliver Dr. Hillary Massar's bio-tech weapon. During a teleconference with Stahl, Tyran was discovered by Kellan and the two engage in a knife fight until the container they were inside was hit by explosives, in which Kellan was pushed out and Tyran was presumed dead when the container exploded.^[8] In reality, however, Tyran had survived.

Tyran relocated to Stahl's base on planet Helghan to carry out his task. Kellan and Echo learned of his survival while seeking to claim Massar's weapon, and pursued him there after overcoming many of Stahl's soldiers. Tyran engaged in a final confrontation with the two while equipped with a unique type of shield drone technology developed and provided by Stahl. Despite his advanced equipment, he was defeated. Echo demanded Tyran to tell her how to deactivate Massar's weapon, but he refused to divulge anything except his contempt for New Helghan's compromises with the Vektan people, claiming that "the fantasy is about to end... for all of you." He was then shot in the head by Echo.^[9]

Characteristics

Highly vengeful and fanatical to the point of insanity, Tyran was hellbent on exacting revenge against Vektans for what they did to Helghan. By leading the Black Hand he hoped to destroy the fragile peace between the two factions and turn it into all-out war. He would stop at nothing "until the streets run red with Vektan blood".

Conversations

Chapter 5: The Helghast

Show: Tyran and Stahl

Tyran: "If only you could have seen it. The suffering..." Stahl: "Enough! You were supposed to wait." Tyran: "We have waited twenty years. We are sick of waiting. Besides, I have given them a taste of what is to come." Stahl: "And without me you would not have that opportunity. What awaits them here on Helghan is my doing. Remember that." Tyran: "Maybe I should try counting to ten next time." Stahl: "Don't worry, your use outweighs your recklessness. When the time comes, you'll be needed to deliver the weapon." Tyran: "I am honored. And when will it be ready?" Stahl: "Soon. The Little Mouse is here, hard at work. That's right, Vektan. Massar's talents aren't going to waste. Only now she's focused on eliminating a different race. Yours. That's better. See, this is what happens when you blow things up. People come snooping around for answers." Tyran: "Do what you came to do, assassin. Make your country proud."

Chapter 9: The Destroyer

Show: Tyran's death

Echo: "How do we stop it?! TELL ME!" Tyran: "New Helghan is but a fantasy... dreamt up by cowards and traitors." Echo: "Focus! The weapon?!" Tyran: "The fantasy is about to end... for all of you. The invasion will cost you everything." Echo: "You will never know." Kellan: "(Over comms) Sir? Can you hear me? Over." Sinclair: "(Over comms) Yeah, I read you." Kellan: "(Over comms) Sir, we have to pull back. You can't win this." Echo: "We're too late." Sinclair: "(Over comms) Is she still with you? I take that as a yes. You may have lost sight of what matters soldier, but I have not." Kellan: "(Over comms) You're not listening. Stahl has the weapon. Now I can get to him and stop this. You're walking into a trap." Sinclair: "(Over comms) The die is cast." Kellan: "(Over comms) Sir?!" Echo: "You tried." Kellan: "We find Stahl. This ends." Echo: "Stahl's our only chance to stop this. Come on. We'll use one of their ships."

Quotes

Chapter 4: The Patriot

• "People of Vekta, today marks the beginning of your penance. 20 years ago, our homeworld was swept away in a tide of Vektan justice. Some of us refused to lay down and die. Some of us refused to let a foreign enemy dictate our incline. Some of us refused to accept your wall or prison. We are the Black Hand, forged in the fires of Helghan, and this is our day!"
• "I'm not as easy to kill."
• "Keep the knife. You'll need it."
• "You're persistent, I respect that. But it's in your nature. To lose!"

Chapter 5: The Helghast

• "People of Containment City. This is Tyran. You have a Shadow Marshal among you. I want him dead."
• "It's only a matter of time before my men find you, or my people report you..."
• "Kin of the Black Hand, hunt that Shadow Marshal down. Everyone else, clear the catwalks and stay out of our way."
• "Ekland check in? Ekland, what is your status? Everyone on this channel, Ekland and his partner are not responding. Go on high alert until I find out what is happening."
• "I have information for you Marshal. Or should I say Kellan? Yes, I know who you are. Thanks to the greed of your fellow Vektan, it was not difficult to come across your file. It explains a lot about you. A sorry little orphan. Raised by the institute you currently serve. How convenient for the VSA. To take a child and make him a slave to the system. A brainwashed shell of a man. Ignorantly doing anything he is ordered to do. But it is no surprise Kellan. Why should it be? Being witness to those horrors must have taken any innocence you may have possessed."
• "Crossing over the wall is no easy task. But I assume you took the cowardly route -- and came in with the traitors -- thrown out by your government. Very... audacious. I must be rather important to the VSA."
• "Brothers! Hunt down the Vektan and bring me his head."
• "Damn you Marshal!"
• "You are prolonging the inevitable Marshal."
• "There are more where he came from."
• "Run Kellan! Run! You can't kill us all!"
• "A small set back."
• "You see how we live here? Most call it suffering. A state of mind brought on by your people. Making us believe what we could have -- or what we do have -- is not good enough. That we need to be like you. Materialist consumers. Locusts. Consuming. Devouring. Your government talks of democracy? What will democracy bring my people? They want one simple thing. To make us believe we have choice."
• "They want us to trust them. To trust their apparent good will. The patriot who started The Black Hand believed in hope. In a balance. But he was betrayed. Betrayed by a coward seeking fortune on your side of The Wall. I would ask your opinion. But I know you have none. You are an asset. You are no more a person than the weapon you hold."
• "Yet, there is one clear difference between us. I make decisions. You are just a pawn -- an apparatus. You have no idea what making a truly hard decision is. I envy you."
• "It's a shame you were raised on the wrong side of the Wall. You would have been an invaluable asset to me. Perhaps you still can be."

Chapter 9: The Destroyer

• "HEY! CATCH!"
• "I hear you're taking the credit for killing me. I hope you make the most of it."
• "Shield's up."

Gallery

Concept Art

Trivia

• He is voiced and modeled after Crispian Belfrage.
• He dresses in a similar fashion as his men, albeit without a hood.
• In Shadow Fall multiplayer, there is a player icon of him, entitling him as "The Patriot".

References

Killzone Shadow Fall Enemies
New Helghan Army	Armadillo Trooper · Assault Trooper · Commando · Sniper
Helghast Security	Riot Trooper · Security Trooper
Black Hand	Black Hand Heavy · Black Hand Operative · Vladko Tyran
Vektan Security Agency	VSA Infantry Trooper · VSA Security Trooper
Machines	ATAC · Mobile Scan Unit · Spider Mine · Walking Attack Drone