After the special Grandi Saghe dedicated to Uncharted, it seemed right to reserve an appointment with Biographies for Nathan Drake (here the special Biographies on Niko Bellic from GTA IV), because after all it is a column aimed at exploring the facets of video game characters, and the good Mr. Drake, or Morgan to be precise, has many (speaking of Morgan, here the special Biographies on Arthur from Red Dead Redemption 2). Gun in the holster, comfortable clothes and a ring around the neck: let’s go!
“Scandal”, adventurer
“For example, you cannot desecrate an empty coffin.”
Filmed by the camera of the young and talented Elena Fisher, determined to collect material for her show, Nathan Drake exclaimed these words before opening the coffin of Sir Francis Drake, which inside – as claimed by his self-styled heir – contained only a diary and not the remains of the explorer. Fisher wanted to film everything but she could not do so, because a large group of not very friendly pirates came to kill them.
Struggles for life aside, when we met Nate in the first Uncharted we found ourselves in front of a “scoundrel”, who even with a bit of discontent did not hesitate to play dirty tricks on the gullible. A still young Elena Fisher was among them when, after having financed the expedition to find the first clues about El Dorado, she was left on an island by Nathan and his partner Victor Sullivan, another perfect gentleman. Let’s be clear, Nate has always been a good guy, but he grew up surrounded by scoundrels and cheats like Sully. Much tells us about this from the first meeting between the two, which took place in Colombia, when Nate was just a boy.
Determined to steal Sir Francis Drake’s ring, the protagonist noticed a gentleman who nonchalantly copied the key needed to open the case that contained it. He then managed to steal his wallet but did not know that he was dealing with a thief much more expert than him. Nate then returned the stolen goods, but not the key, and in the evening he returned to the museum to get the ring. However, he was reached by the man, namely Sully, and by the ruthless Katherine Marlowe, head of an ancient order, who would not hesitate for a moment to kill the boy to get the treasure.
Sully was no saint, but he wasn’t heartless either, which is why he decided to help Nate, making him understand that he was still a small fish in a dangerous world of sharks. In a seedy club, the collaboration between the two thieves began, which actually – as Victor claimed – led them to do great things.
With a penchant for history and its many mysteries, ready for action and a skilled improviser, Nathan has always been a born adventurer. Given his ambitions and the enormity of his discoveries, however, he has repeatedly encountered the aforementioned sharks, from the ferocious Roman and Navarro in the hunt for the golden idol, passing through the lost city of Shambala, object of the attentions of the mad Zoran Lazarevic, up to the treasures of the pirate captain Henry Avery, ardently desired by the unstable Rafe Adler. This obsession with adventures has made Drake and his team run great risks, yet it has allowed us to experience unforgettable journeys, which have remained etched in our memories.
Buffoon, tormented
Drake has always been a resolute guy with a quick wit, even in situations of real danger. This was evident from the first chapter of the saga, when he thought he had perfectly improvised a phrase in Indonesian to open a gate, and he was pleased, only to be reached by a wave of pissed off pirates armed to the teeth.
In Uncharted 2, after being betrayed by his partner Harry Flynn, Drake was thrown in prison. After three months of harsh confinement, however, he showed that he had not lost his spirit, staging Henry’s betrayal of him with the light projected on the wall, imitating him quite well, in fact. In Uncharted 3, after faking their deaths at the hands of Charlie Cutter, Nathan and Sullivan could finally stalk Marlowe’s organization to discover their hideout.
Walking through the streets of London with his buddies, Sully would say “just follow them into their hole”, and Nate would immediately point out how indecent and ambiguous that phrase was. We could go on until tomorrow with examples, but the point is now clear: the protagonist of Uncharted has always been able to laugh in the most inopportune moments, but as well told in the fourth chapter, he has never lacked internal torment. Nathan’s childhood was very difficult, between the death of his mother – the archaeologist and historian Cassandra Morgan – the total absence of his father, and the wild life led by his brother Samuel.
Nate never had good memories of his time in the orphanage, but that was just the beginning of his misfortunes. Having broken into the large mansion of a successful explorer with Sam, he managed to recover the diary of his mother, a friend of the landlady. After discovering them, the latter told them about the theories related to the existence of Drake’s heirs and was intent on stopping the police who had called, fearing the presence of thieves in her house.
A sudden heart attack, however, did not allow her to do so, and from here began the story of the Drake brothers, always on the run, always in danger, always obsessed with exciting and exhausting adventures at the same time. But luck cannot last forever: during the search for pirate treasures, Nate and Sam were imprisoned in a Panamanian prison but the situation worsened, with Samuel who was hit by some gunshots. Nathan searched for his brother for a long time, but found nothing and therefore believed him dead, experiencing an unbearable pain that pushed him to no longer speak to anyone about this story, not even to his beloved Elena.
When Sam knocked on his door, disrupting the quiet life that Nate had imposed on himself for the sake of his marriage, the protagonist’s old traumas resurfaced, pushing him to dive back into action to save his brother’s life and, deep down, to relive the thrill of searching for things lost in time.
Adopted son, out of the loop
When in the flashback of Uncharted 3 Victor bought Nathan dinner in a seedy bar, he did it for his own interests. He had seen the potential of that young man, he had understood that he was very good at finding treasures, and he hoped that all this would lead to him earning rivers of money. Over time, however, he inevitably grew fond of the “boy”, and it was the same for Nate, who in Sullivan found a ramshackle father figure, but one that he had never really had before. In the splendid finale of Uncharted 3, Sully spoke to Nathan about their relationship, admitting all his faults, but also the genuine feelings he had.
She then returned the engagement ring, which Nate thought he had lost, and pushed him to save his relationship with Elena, now very close to waning. Drake and Fisher’s was a tormented love, put at risk several times by the dangerous life chosen by the adventurer.
After their first estrangement, which led to a brief but intense love affair between Nate and Chloe Frazer, the two reunited, but a rift was created between them again, which was healed right at the end of Uncharted 3. Now married to Elena in the fourth chapter, Nathan put everything at risk again when he lied to his wife, telling her about a non-existent job to be done abroad and without telling her anything about the extremely dangerous research he had begun with his lost brother. Elena later discovered everything, but with great inner strength she withstood the blow, ending up helping the Drake brothers in danger.
In the thrilling conclusion of Uncharted 4, the pair set out on a journey of adventure that was not without its thrills, but legal at the same time. Nate has truly stepped out of the loop, motivated also by his new responsibilities as a father to little Cassie, who, as she grew up, discovered the wild but compelling past that ended up uniting her courageous parents.
Looking at modern Naughty Dog games, with their intense stories of men, it is easy not to think of Nathan Drake as one of the deepest characters ever conceived by the team. Yet, his adventures have made us know all his facets, from the lightest to the most human. This is why the character has managed to give us hearty smiles, why – at the end of his crazy run – he has made many of us shed a tear.
