The Saints (special forces)
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The Saints are a fictional multi-national special forces unit operated by the CIA. It appears in 2 of John O'Shea's novels: Saints and Sinners and All Saints' Day.
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[edit] The Saints
The novel Saints and Sinners describes The Saints as an international special forces operation hosted by the CIA.
The base of operations for The Saints is said to be located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA (home to the U.S. Navy SEALs), due to the USA being the most accessible country in the world. Most of the members in The Saints are American, however, the UK, Australia, South Korea, and Israel have one representative each.
Clancy describes the structure of Rainbow as having one Director, who oversees the entire operation, and one Deputy Director, who is second in command. Rainbow is portrayed as the "blackest of black" operations, and it works off CIA intelligence. In the book, when The Saints are deployed, their six field operatives are deployed together.
[edit] Members
The following is a list of all offical member of The Saints
- Director
Tony Zito (USA; ex-Military Intelligence, CIA)
- Deputy Director
Chris Palmer (USA; ex-USMC Force Recon, CIA)
- Field Team
- Lieutenant Colonel Sean Bulger (USA; ex-Delta, CIA) - Team Leader/Rifleman
- Captain Jimmy Price (UK; ex-SAS, MI6) - Deputy Team Leader/Rifleman
- Senior Airman Brandon Lang (USA; ex-USAF Combat Controllers, CIA) - Rifleman
- Sergeant Derek Riley (Australia; ex-Australian SAS, ASIS) - Support
- Staff Sergeant Roy Park (South Korea; ex-ROKMC, NSP) - Sniper
- Corporal Eli Shavik (Israel; ex-IDF Paratroopers, Mossad) - Demolitions
In The Bear and the Dragon, Rainbow makes a return. While their part in novel begins rather small, they become more involved as the novel progresses.
It is noted that since the events of Rainbow Six, the public has become more aware of the existence of Rainbow, and are often referred to as the "Men of Black", in regards to their uniforms.
It is also said that the teams' roster is constantly changing. Many of the original members of Rainbow have left the team, some later returned, and then some even left again, and new members are always added. Ettore Falcone from the Italian Carabinieri was added to Team One (still under Covington's command) just before the events of The Bear and the Dragon. Lieutenant Colonel Malloy has been promoted to full Colonel and appointed to command Marine One, piloting the President.
[edit] The novel
The novel, Rainbow Six, was written by Tom Clancy and published in 1998. It is part of the Jack Ryan series; however, the novel actually focuses on John Clark, Ding Chavez, and a fictional multinational counter-terrorist organization named Rainbow.
[edit] Computer and video games
The first game was developed by Red Storm Entertainment, while the novel was being written. The game later spawned a number of sequels and expansion packs. Red Storm was later acquired by Ubisoft, who currently develops and publishes the games.
Rainbow Six and its sequels defined the tactical shooter genre, forcing players to focus more time and effort on stealth, teamwork, and tactics rather than on sheer firepower. With some of the more recent releases, however, the game has taken on more of a "mainstream" first-person shooter approach in an attempt to appeal to a wider audience by moving away from the tactical planning aspect that made the game popular in the first place.
[edit] PC games
- Rainbow Six (1998)
- Rainbow Six: Eagle Watch (1999) (expansion pack)
- Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear (1999)
- Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear: Urban Operations (2000) (expansion pack)
- Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear: Black Thorn (2001) (stand-alone expansion pack)
- Rainbow Six: Covert Operations Essentials (2000) (stand-alone expansion pack)
- Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield (2003)
- Rainbow Six 3: Athena Sword (2004) (expansion pack)
- Rainbow Six 3: Iron Wrath (2005) (downloadable expansion pack)
- Rainbow Six: Lockdown (2005)
- Rainbow Six: Vegas (December 2006)
A Korean-only game called Rainbow Six: Takedown was created for the South Korean market. The game boasted South Korean RAINBOW operatives and weapons with different scenarios.
[edit] Console games
- Rainbow Six (Nintendo 64/PlayStation, 1999; Dreamcast, 2000)
- Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear (Dreamcast, 2000; PlayStation, 2001)
- Rainbow Six: Lone Wolf (PlayStation, 2002)
- Rainbow Six 3 (Xbox, 2003; PlayStation 2/GameCube, 2004)
- Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow (Xbox, 2004)
- Rainbow Six: Lockdown (PlayStation 2/Xbox/GameCube, 2005)
- Rainbow Six: Critical Hour (Playstation 2/Xbox, 2006)
- Rainbow Six: Vegas (Xbox 360, Playstation 3 2006)
[edit] Handheld
- Rainbow Six (Game Boy Color, 2000)
- Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear (Game Boy Advance, 2002)
- Rainbow Six: Vegas (Playstation Portable, 2006)
[edit] The film
A film adaptation of the novel and video game has been in the works for quite some time. At one point in 2004, John Woo had signed on to direct the film, but in 2005 had dropped out and had been replaced by Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead) who is also writing the screenplay. Previous writers attached to the film include John Enbom, Frank Capello, Michael Shiffer, Bill Wisher, and Art Monterastelli. The film is tentatively set to be released in 2008.
[edit] External links
- Rainbow Six (2008) at the Internet Movie Database
- Rainbow Six official website
- Rainbow Six Retreat
- Planet Rainbow Six
- ClancyFAQ.com
- Rainbow Six series at MobyGames
