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Template:Character Infobox

"Home? We can’t go home. There’s a line men like us have to cross. If we’re lucky, we do what’s necessary, and then we die. No…all I really want, Captain, is peace."
— John Konrad

Lieutenant Colonel John Konrad is the main antagonist of Spec Ops: The Line and the former commander of the 33rd Infantry Battalion. Colonel Konrad and his 33rd Infantry men volunteered to help evacuate Dubai during the sandstorm crisis, but when ordered to leave by his military superiors, he refused, essentially damning the 33rd Infantry.

Konrad had intended to stay behind and evacuate survivors. He and his men established a new military government in Dubai to maintain order while the evacuation plan was set up. When he attempted his evacuation by road, it failed drastically, leaving 1,300 men, women, and children dead because of his ignorance.

At the end of the story, he is found at the top of the tower, painting a woman and child being stuck in a crowd dying from white phosphorous (reminding Walker of the events at the Gate), and Walker discovers that Konrad has been dead since before Delta arrived in Dubai. The real Colonel Konrad committed suicide after delivering the broadcast two weeks prior, out of guilt for the morally wrong decisions the 33rd ultimately made for the greater good. The Colonel Konrad that Walker has been in contact with for the latter half of the game is actually a traumatic hallucination, existing only within his subconsciousness (acting as the grief in Walker's mind).

According to one of the intel items, a CIA file on the psycho-analysis of John Konrad, the Colonel may have gone to Dubai trying to restore his reputation. He was a highly decorated leader, but his last combat mission in Afghanistan was a failure. According to the file, Konrad had been praised so much previously, that he had come to believe he was a hero, and that when faced with his first failure, he might go to extreme lengths to prove his hero status correct.

This explains why he knew what Walker was going through. Konrad had also tried to be a hero, which had dire consequences of the actions he made.

Quotes

"You must think that I'm a monster...that I've gone insane. I came to terms with what I am a long time ago, Captain. What about you?"
— Konrad to Walker.
"Survival Captain, plain and simple. "
— Konrad to Walker.
"You aren't the first man they sent to find me...I doubt you'll be the last."
— Konrad to Walker.
"This is Colonel John Konrad. The attempted evacuation of Dubai ended in...complete failure. Death toll: too many."
— Konrad's distress call.
"Everything is teetering on the edge of everything. But this you already know. The rest, you'll have to see for yourself."
— Konrad to Walker.
"Do you feel like a hero yet?"
— Konrad to Walker.

Trivia

  • Konrad saved Captain Walker's life during a combat mission in Kabul.
  • Colonel Konrad's surname is a reference to the author of Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad, a novel that the game is based on.
  • He has a son named Jeremy who he writes to in one of the intels scatterd around in singleplayer.
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