Zoran Lazarević was a Serbian intelligence officer, paramilitary commander and ruthless war criminal long thought by the public and NATO to be deceased. He is a fortune seeker heavily obsessed with finding the lost city of Shambhala and the Cintamani Stone.
Lazarević serves as the main antagonist of Among Thieves, competing against protagonist Nathan Drake to reach Shambhala. Under his employ is a private army of highly trained soldiers, including his right-hand man Draza, and treasure hunter Harry Flynn.
Lazarević has also appeared in the multiplayer mode of Among Thieves. He subsequently returned as a skin for the multiplayer modes of Drake's Deception and A Thief's End. He also serves as the primary antagonist of the non-canon Co-op Adventure mode of Drake's Deception.
In all of his appearances, Lazarević is voiced by Graham Mctavish, who has also voiced Charlie Cutter.
History[]
Background and early life[]
Zoran Lazarević was born in Yugoslavia in 1960. Lazarević graduated from the Military Academy of the University of Defense in Belgrade, Serbia and participated in the Yugoslav wars from 1991 to 2001 as a Serbian intelligence officer where he developed a reputation for cruelty and ruthlessness against combatants as well as civilians. Following the war, Lazarević was hunted by NATO for the war crimes he committed. Lazarević survived NATO's assassination attempt via bombing, although the incident left him with permanent scars on his face and body.
At some point later, Lazarević began to search for Shambhala, upon hearing legends about a special substance there would make one invincible. , Spending millions of dollars in his search, Lazarević recruited his personal mercenary army to achieve his goal. Even with his best efforts, he could not locate the lost city, the closest clue he got was some ambiguous notes left by Marco Polo.
Among Thieves[]
Merciless obsessive and power hungry - that is Zoran Lazarevic. A rogue paramilitary leader and fugitive war criminal notorious for committing unspeakable massacres and atrocities. His name strikes terror into the hearts of mercenaries and petty warlords around the world.
Official Uncharted 2: Among Thieves bio.
Early involvement[]
Lazarević hires British treasure hunter Harry Flynn, and his associate Chloe Frazer, to help him in finding the Cintamani Stone and Shambhala, beginning with a break-in into the Istanbul Palace Museum to get a Mongolian oil lamp.
Flynn tracks down his friend Nathan "Nate" Drake, as Drake was the only man ever to escape the museum alive. Meeting him at the Beach Bar, Flynn explains the break-in plan, as well as introducing Chloe to Drake, unaware the two were a couple once. The trio decide to 'dick over' Lazarević, after understanding that Lazarević is after Marco Polo's 'lost fleet' and take the treasure for themselves.
The three breaks into the museum through the sewer system and make their way until they reach the tower in which the lamp is held. After breaking the lamp and finding a map that shows them the location of Polo's lost fleet in Borneo, Flynn betrays Nate by activating the alarm with a pistol shot, leading to Nate's arrest.
Flynn brings the information to Lazarević, and the two set a camp in Borneo, searching for the fleet's remains for the next three months.
Search in Borneo[]
Nathan Drake is released from the Turkish jail by Victor Sullivan and Chloe and is soon informed about Lazarević and Flynn's search in Borneo. At Sullivan's place, the three plan to find Polo's lost fleet before Lazarević, with setting up a distraction along the edge of Lazarević's camp with C4 charges.
At the camp, an angry Lazarević berates Flynn for not finding anything in three months. Informed by a soldier, Lazarević then executes one of his men with a knife for stealing a coin from a site, ranting that he is surrounded by traitors and fools.
Watching the scene, Sully and Nate activate the charges, causing Lazarević, Flynn, Chloe, and a few soldiers to go investigate the explosion. Meanwhile, Nate checks Lazarević's camp, finding out that Lazarević intends to pick up Marco Polo's trail up to Shambhala.
Eventually, Nate, Sully and Chloe find the lost fleet of Marco Polo, as well as finding two key items: the Phurba, and a map of the Valley of Temples. Flynn captures Nate and Sully (while Chloe pretends to be on Lazarević's side), takes the map, and orders Chloe to take the two to Lazarević. Chloe let the two to escape.
War in Nepal[]
As the Valley of Temples is located in Nepal, Lazarević and Flynn arrive to a Nepalese city that was in a middle of a civil war. Lazarević's men search for the temple that contains the location of Shambhala, and in the progress killing members of the local Resistance, who attempted to stop Lazarević from destroying their city.
Nate and Chloe search for the temple as well, ultimately finding it and the location of Shambhala, after dealing with a helicopter and a few soldiers sent by Lazarević himself. Subsequently to these events, Elena Fisher, an American journalist, and her partner/cameraman Jeff, try to track down and find a proof that Lazarević is alive. Outside the temple, Lazarević's men find Elena and Jeff, wounding the latter at the lower part of the torso whilst Elena engages them in a shootout, with the two are saved only when Nate and Chloe show up.
Nate, Elena and Chloe try to save Jeff from Lazarević's men, ending up in a half-destroyed building. As Flynn arrives, Chloe is forced to turn on her group, in order to not blow her cover, and she is taken by Lazarević's men. As Flynn confronts Nate, Lazarević and his loyal right-hand man Draza show up. Lazarević takes the Phurba from Nate, giving it to Draza. He then approaches a dying Jeff, executing him before Nate and Elena's eyes, much to the latter's dismay.
Nate proposes to Lazarević to look for Shambhala and that leaves in peace to Elena, but he ignores and threatens Elena with a pistol, before Flynn takes Nate's map, giving it to Lazarević.
Seeing Drake and Elena as useless, Lazarević orders Flynn to execute the duo, whilst him and Draza leave the scene. Elena briefly knocks out Flynn, and she and Nate escape.
With the phurba and the map showing Shambhala's location at his hands, Lazarević sets a train whose destination is the Himalayas. He is seen by Drake giving orders to Draza. Nate, with Elena's help, manages to get on the train, eventually defeating Draza and taking back the phurba. Nate is then injured by Flynn, and, thanks to Chloe, manages to escape death by exploding a few Propane tanks, destroying half of the train.
Lazarević sends his men to the train wreck to find the phurba and, if he survived, kill Drake, but his soldiers fails in both tasks.
Attack on the village[]
Having survived the assault of Lazarević's men, Nate is taken to a Tibetan Village by its leader, Tenzin. Nate reunites with Elena and meets Karl Schäfer, who once was too searching the Cintamani Stone. Alongside Tenzin, Nate is tasked by Schäfer to find Schäfer's expedition, in order to understand what disaster, the stone can do.
Soon as they leave, however, Lazarević launches a large-scale attack on the village, killing many innocent Tibetan Villagers in the progress - all to find Schäfer and the phurba so he could unlock the entrance to Shambhala. Nate and Tenzin, with the help of a few villagers, fend off the soldiers, including a Tank. Nate and Elena manage to follow a convoy out the village, arriving into a Monastery, in which Lazarević based.
The Monastery & The Entrance to Shambhala[]
Are you a student of history, Mr. Drake? [...] Genghis Khan, Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot - they were ALL great men. But do you know why they prevailed? [...] Because they had the will to do what other men could not.
Lazarevic confronting Nate and Elena.
Lazarević and Flynn begin to search for the hidden entrance to Shambhala. At the monastery, Lazarević and his men take Schäfer to a tower, gaining more information after presumably beating him. Lazarević leaves a dying Schäfer to the care of his soldiers, who are killed by Nate and Elena. Schäfer himself dies a few moments later because of Lazarević's torture. Lazarević is also seen by Nate and Elena, giving orders to kill the duo.
Later, Lazarević, Flynn and Chloe find a room containing a puzzle. Flynn fails to solve the puzzle, angering Lazarević, who threatens Flynn with phurba, saying that he clearly hired the wrong man to help him. Lazarević then leaves the room, with Flynn comes after him in attempt to reason with him, leaving Chloe to solve the puzzle alone, as well as giving her the phurba.
Nate confronts Chloe, who gives him the phurba with one condition - to take down Lazarević. Nate solves the puzzle, ultimately finding the secret entrance with Elena. The two are soon surrounded by Lazarević and his soldiers, but not before taking one soldier as hostage, who is executed by Lazarević.
Threatening to kill both Elena and Chloe, Lazarević forces Nate to open the secret door. Seeing there is no visible to move through the entrance, Lazarević orders Flynn to find a way to pass the entrance, telling him to take Drake as a support. Successfully activating a bridge made of large rocks, Flynn and Nate are attacked by Shambhala Guardians. While the two manage to slow down the monstrous creatures, they are defeated by the guardians.
Lazarević then shows up, easily killing the guardians with his sawn-off shotgun. Lazarević reveals to the group that the guardians function as "scarecrows" to frighten trespassers. Flynn prepares to kill Nate, but he is stopped by Lazarević, saying he wants Nate to see the lost city, dying knowing that Lazarević took it from him. At Shambhala, before Lazarević is able to kill Nate and his allies, he and his men are attacked by the guardians, with Nate and his friends escape.
Finding Shambhala and Death[]
Leaving the fighting to his men, Lazarević finds the Cintamani Stone, but does not take it, as he knows that the real source to power comes from the resin, and the stone is nothing more but a large piece of frozen resin. As Flynn becomes wounded, Lazarević has no more use for him, giving him a grenade so he would kill Nate and his friends as a suicide trooper. Flynn activates the grenade, and dies in the process, but only manages to wound Elena.
In the meantime, Lazarević and his remaining men find a pool of resin behind the Tree of Life - the source of the resin - and Lazarević drinks the resin, which heals his scars and gives him superhuman strength. Nate arrives at the same moment and attempts to kill him by shooting at the highly explosive and flammable resin pool. The explosion kills his soldiers, but Lazarević himself survives with no injuries.
Lazarević takes out his shotgun and begins to chase Nate down. Remembering that the resin is explosive, Nate shoots the resin lumps which wound Lazarevic and gradually affect his body. After repeating the action a few times, Nate manages to defeat Lazarević. Near death, he shouts Drake's name in pain and rage.
A wounded Lazarević attempts to reach a resin pool, but collapses. Nate approaches aiming an M4 at the defeated. Confronted by Nate, Lazarević tells him that Nate is not different from him, as Nate too killed many people. Lazarević tells Nate to finish him off, but Nate refuses, leading Lazarević to say that Nate does not have the will.
Nate merely agrees, but says that the guardians do. Lazarević turns around, seeing a dozen guardians. He attempts to reach his shotgun, but the guardians tackles him down and beat him to death, while Nate escapes.
A Thief's End[]
You want to hear insane? 'Nathan Drake raced a madman and his entire army to the steps of Shambhala.'
Rafe Adler to Drake.
Lazarević and his soldiers are briefly mentioned by Rafe Adler during his final confrontation with Drake. Rafe refers to him as a "madman."
Multiplayer[]
Among Thieves[]
Zoran Lazarević is available as a multiplayer skin for the multiplayer mode of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves; he can be purchased for $250,000 once the player has reached level 40. Being the main antagonist of Uncharted 2, Lazarević is on the villains side.
A Doughnut version of Lazarević, called Doughnut Lazarević, was available twice, over the 2009 and 2010 Thanksgiving weekends. On both occasions, he was the mandatory villain skin for players. In 2009, he was available as part of the Thanksgiving double cash weekend, running from November 27 - November 30. In 2010, he was available as part of the Thanksgiving Lab playlist, running from November 24–29.
Drake's Deception[]
Zoran Lazarević is available as a villain multiplayer skin for Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception once the player has purchased the Classic Skin Pack #2, alongside Draza and three more soldiers. Doughnut Lazarević is too available as a multiplayer skin, by purchasing it from the PlayStation Store.
Lazarević has two different weapons named after him that are available for usage in several multiplayer modes after the player has completed Treasure Sets: KAL-7 and FAL-SS.
- Lazarević's KAL-7
- Grey in color and, unlike other KAL's, has a stock. In order to unlock the weapon, the player has to complete the Supreme Wrath Legendary Treasure Set (which includes two treasures: Ruby Wrathful Deity Head and Emerald Wrathful Deity Head/Jade Chimera) in Plunder matches. It has two mods: Blindfire Accuracy, which increases the accuracy when the player does not aim the weapon, and Max Ammo, which increases the ammo carried by player for this weapon.
- Lazarević's FAL-SS
- Grey in color and shares the same stock as Lazarević's KAL-7. In order to unlock the weapon, the player has to complete the Jade Mothers Legendary Treasure Set (which contains three treasures: Jade Saraswait Statue, Jade Lotus Jar, and Jade Gilt Tara) in Team Deathmatches. It has two mods: Reload Speed, which de-increases the time needed to reload the weapon, and Blindfire Accuracy, which increases the accuracy when the player does not aim the weapon.
Co-Op Adventure[]
Lazarević appears in the Co-op Adventure of Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception as the primary antagonist of the mode. He is aided by Harry Flynn and Eddy Raja.
Chronology, Lazarević and his subordinates are first seen in Prelude - Fort, as the main playable characters, planning to take a piece of a Janos Head statue to bring Nate to them. The three arrive to the Fort on hidden island - the island from Drake's Fortune. They first fight a group of pirates, with Flynn becomes annoyed when Lazarević kills witnesses to the place's secrets. Lazarević also threatens Eddy for being loud.
The trio later find the statue being protected by Djinn, but they manage to defeat them and recover one of the statue's halves. After picking the statue's half, Lazarević says that now with it in their possession, Drake will come to them.
In Chapter 1 - Borneo, Lazarević sends Draza to find the different pieces of the Janos Head and put them in containers ready to airlift out of the swamp in Borneo. Nate, Sully, and Chloe arrive to the place, and take the statue pieces, defeating Draza in the progress. In the three following chapters, Nate and his friends fight against Lazarević's men in different areas such as London and Syria.
Lazarević reappears in Chapter 5 - Airport. Lazarević is first noticed by Nate, Sully and Charlie Cutter as Nate checks the airport with binoculars, and, much to his dismay, sees Lazarević working with Flynn and Eddy, calling it a twisted reunion. Noting that Lazarević and his associates have the second part of the Janos Head statue, Nate and his friends attack the airport, defeating as much as henchmen as possible.
During the shootouts around the airport, Lazarević briefly taunts the group. Nate, Sully and Cutter confront Flynn, Lazarević and Eddy, resulting a large gunfight between the two factions, with Lazarević using a SAS - 12. Eventually, Lazarević and his allies are defeated and killed. In his last moments, Lazarević admits Nate being the "better man, still little... but better", before falling to the ground, dead. Nate then states that he just has better friends.
Thief's End[]
A psychopathic, power-hungry warrior with dreams of world conquest, Zoran Lazarević has wreaked havoc throughout Eastern Europe and Nepal. His ruthlessness and casual cruelty are matched only by his lung capacity - seriously, he's shouting constantly - and his love for the writings of Nietzsche. You would do best not to disappoint him.
Official Uncharted 4: A Thief's End bio.
Zoran Lazarević is available as a playable villain in the multiplayer for A Thief's End. Lazarevic is referenced in A Thief's end chapter, where Rafe refers to him as a "Madman" who raced with Nate to the steps of Shambhala. Lazarevic is also seen as a target in the level "A Normal Life".
Character design[]
Personality and traits[]
In case you missed it that man is certifiable. He thinks he's fulfilling some sort of prophecy. That the stone will somehow make him invincible… immortal
Chloe Frazer
Lazarević has been described as a ruthless, feared and sadistic man. Power hungry and ambitious, Lazarević would stop at nothing to achieve his goals. Lazarević has a totalitarian philosophy based on the bloodiest dictators in history, viewing historical figures such as Genghis Khan, Hitler, Stalin, and Pol Pot as "great men" due to their lack of compassion and mercy, he has no value for life, having tortured and murdered hundreds of people, including killing his own men if they would betray or slow him down. In his views caring for human life is a shameful weakness and ruthlessly mowing down people is strength.
This goes to extreme, to the point when he was beaten down, near dead at the Tree of Life and at the mercy of Nathan Drake instead of begging for his life he tries to persuade Drake to kill him to make him the same ruthless, merciless killer Lazarević was but he ultimately proves to be better than the latter by choosing to spare his life. Having searched the lost city of Shambhala for years, Lazarević has became impatient, becoming angry and sometimes violent if things go slower than he thought they would be.
In relation to the previous section, Lazarević does not care to kill anyone who crosses his path, and would kill even innocent and injured people who had nothing to do with him; he mindlessly killed an injured Jeff, and attacked a Tibetan Village filled with innocent villagers just because they were in his way.
Lazarević has no respect or care to his associates and soldiers, seeing them just as another tool that would help him with his search for Shambhala. Because of his cruelty and charisma, Lazarević is both feared and respected by his soldiers, who are extremely loyal to him and would give their lives to help him.
Despite his brutish and violent attitude and appearance, Lazarević is a genius-level intelligent and cunning person, demonstrating wide knowledge on Shambhala, seeing through the guardians' suits and knowing their goal, and understanding that the Cintamani Stone is nothing but a large piece of resin. Before he commits suicide, Flynn even comments that Lazarević is much 'cleverer' than he looks.
As he continued to amass more power and soldiers over the years and learn more about Shambhala and the Cintamani Stone through the journals of Marco Polo, Lazarević became convinced that locating Shambhala and stealing the power of the Stone was his fate which is only fueled by his determination, ruthlessness and megalomaniacal delusions of locating the lost city. Chloe even remarks that Lazarević believed by using the resin from the Tree of Life that he was fulfilling a prophecy by making himself invincible and during his final fight with Drake he screams "you will not stand in the way of destiny".
Appearance[]
He's cleverer than he looks.
Harry Flynn
Lazarević is a tall and burly man with muscular body structure and pale skin tone. Lazarević is a large, bald individual with grey eyes. He has a square jaw. Most of his facial features have been burnt off during the bombing raid.
Lazarević wears a dark black and grey digital camouflage paramilitary-style uniform that resembles the uniforms worn by his soldiers. His sleeves are folded and he wears a large, light kevlar armor vest pockets, shotgun ammunition and two weapon holsters; one on the upper left part of his vest for his knife, and one on the lower left part, for his 92FS. There is also a radio on the upper right part of the vest. Lazarević keeps a sawed-off shotgun on his back, and has black military pants along with black boots. He also wears fingerless gloves.
Lazarević's most notable feature in his appearance is a large scar that passes over the right side of his body, primary on his right arm and side of his face. The scars were caused by NATO's assassination attempt at Lazarević with bombs. After drinking the resin produced by the Tree of Life, Lazarević's scars were healed. His sclera also becomes darker
Skills[]
Lazarević is a strongly built man with high physical strength. While he is an able fighter, Lazarević preferred to send his soldiers to defeat and kill his enemies.
Whilst he was rarely seen fighting, Lazarević was capable using a wide range of weapons, ranging from handguns to knives to grenades. His favorite weapon was his personal Sawed Off Shotgun. Lazarević was extremely experienced with his deadly shotgun, which could easily kill a few suited guardians with one shot, though this might have been due to Flynn and Nate weakening them for a while.
During his final fight with Nate, Lazarević, despite his size, was demonstrated to be an agile runner with at least basic free-running skills, such as climbing. Lazarević also showed great strength, albeit this strength was obtained following the consumption of a small dose of the resin, leaving speculation about Lazarević's own strength. With the resin in his body, Lazarević was able to pick Nate up with one arm, and throw him to a few meters. He also gained near-invulnerability by a regenerative healing factor, which regenerated his scars instantly.
Behind the Scenes[]
- In Chapter 24 of Uncharted 2, Lazarević states he idolizes Genghis Khan, Hitler, Stalin, and Pol Pot, for their "willpower". All these men are historical dictators notorious for mass murder. In the German version of the game, "Hitler" is replaced with "Saddam".
- In all of his appearances, Lazarević is voiced by Graham Mctavish, who also voiced Charlie Cutter.