This page is for the character. For the book, see Yassen (novel)
Yassen Gregorovich is a contract killer who appeared in both Stormbreaker and Eagle Strike as a secondary antagonist. He is also mentioned in Scorpia and Snakehead. Yassen is the hero and protagonist of the spinoff novel Russian Roulette.
Biography
Yassen (originally 'Yasha' Gregorovich) was born in the village of Estrov, in Russia. His father was a researcher of chemical properties and a competent biologist; engaged in research at the University of Moscow. There, he invented a deadlier version of anthrax which was highly contagious - the perfect biological weapon for military use; capable of eliminating enemy troops and even entire villages and cities within days. Despite being unwilling to utilize the properties of the virus for military used, he, along with his wife (Yasha's mother) were exiled to the remote village of Estrov and forced to create transferable quantities of the virus for the Russian military; under the facade of producing pesticide for farmers. An accident at the factory caused the outbreak of the virus which infected the whole village within minutes; yet Yasha's parents were able to reach their son in time and inject him with an antidote which they had created, thus saving his life. Yasha's father was, however, fatally shot in the process and died while Yasha watched. His mother forced him to pack basic rations and to leave Estrov and head for Moscow, moments before helicopters from the Russian military arrived to exterminate the village. It is believed that Yasha's mother, along with the rest of Estrov, died during the ensuing carnage.
After an intense and long escape and helicopter chase, Yasha managed to take a train to Moscow, where he stays with a crook called Dima, and his so-called 'gang'. Dima has stolen 70 rubles of his, but Yasha knows that the only way he can survive is to live with Dima. One of Dima's gang suggests they try burglary, and Yasha suggests to rob Sharkovsky's house. Sharkovsky comes into the house and kidnaps Yahsa. Yasha is forced to work for Sharkovsky for three years, with two attempts to escape. After four years, Zelin, the helicopter pilot, gets an 'engineer' to 'fix the helicopter'. He kills two people and shoots Sharkovsky, but in fact, he didn't die. Yasha escaped with two Scorpia agents, and they go to Venice.
He ended up being recruited by Scorpia, as he had no identity, making him perfect for the job. He was sent to train on an island called Malagosto, in Venice. Yasha became a star student at the academy, learning several survival skills, such as martial arts and marksmanship. His tutor was Oliver d'arc, who later became headmaster after Sefton Nye. After an unsuccessful mission in New York, he was then trained by John Rider, in fact an MI6 double-agent, and the two earned a rather mutual relationship with each other. On one occasion, John Rider saved Yassen's life during an assassination in the Amazon, with the only price being a thin, straight scar that could have been drawn with a ruler. This scar would stay with Yassen for the rest of his life.
Yassen finds out that John Rider worked for MI6, as he found a special Power Plus radio transmitter in his bag. Yassen somehow comes to the decision to kill Sharkovsky, and he travelled to the 'dacha'. He confronts the man in his study and reveals his heritage from Estrov, then plays a reversed game of Russian Roulette, first testing the gun on himself. When this attempt at suicide fails, he vengefully kills Sharkovsky for good, then kills Ivan too. Emotionlessly praising his revenge, and that he had killed for the first and second times in his life, he leaves Silver Forest.
He becomes a cold-blooded, ruthless, remorseless and extremely successful assassin for Scorpia, and kills many people, including Ian Rider. On one mission he finds Alex and decides to let him live, after what happened to Ian Rider.
Later, after several successful missions, Yassen and John Rider were sent to Malta for an assassination, which turned out to be an MI6 stakeout. In the ensuing gun battle, Yassen shot several agents and wounded Ash. But he failed to kill Ash in his escape. During this skirmish, Yassen displays that, after all these years, he had mastered the techniques that he had struggled with when he first arrived at Malagosto, including surprising stealth, proficiency of hand-to-hand combat, expert marksmanship and incredible self-control. He shows that he is an extremely skilled tactician and is cut out to be one of the world's greatest assassins.
Stormbreaker
After John Rider's death, Yassen grew up to be one of the world's most efficient and cold blooded assassins and earned a reputation for being an assassin who never fails. It is suggested that the number of his victims exceed a hundred. In Stormbreaker, he was hired by Herod Sayle to transport smallpox virus to Cornwall. He was dispatched by Sayle to murder Ian Rider. He did so after an exciting car chase, by hanging from a helicopter and shooting Ian Rider with two Grach Russian pistols.
Later, he is seen transporting the viruses by Alex, where he shoots one worksman for denting one of the containers, claiming his people do not like mistakes. He then shoots Herod Sayle after the operation for which Sayle had hired Yassen failed, keeping Scorpia's anonymity intact. He, for the first time, meets Alex Rider, and Alex vows to take his revenge. Yassen subsides this threat and demands that Alex go back to school, for he didn't belong to the same world as him.
Death
Yassen Gregorovich is killed when Damian Cray shoots him in Eagle Strike. Yassen tells Alex that he knew his father, and that he was working with him. His last words are, "Go to Venice. Find Scorpia. And you will find your destiny."
Hobbies
Yassen, to keep his conditions intact and to assist him in his upcoming missions, individually practices marksmanship, works out in the gym or goes for a run. He does this at night and only sleeps for at most four hours. He also practices various languages. Additionally, he is shown to have mastered various skills and talents such as expertise of martial arts, aviation, vehicular warfare, meditation and stealth.
Skills
Yassen's reputation throughout the series is one of a man who makes no mistakes. He is considered an active threat by MI6. It is suggested that his training included, as is demonstrated on a single occasion when he convinces Alex not to shoot him by describing what will happen when he pulls the trigger, basic psychological warfare. He was also an expert with conventional weaponry and terrorist technique, though both are demonstrated only once throughout the series.
He is, as shown when he confronts Ash, a crack shot with handguns and a master of martial arts. Yassen is expert in Ninjujutsu, the ancient Japanese branch of martial arts, and has excellent aim and reflexes. Yassen's proficiency with handguns and other firearms stereotype him as a modern assassin. He was fluent in nine languages and was learning Japanese at the time of his death. He is noted to be incredibly stealthy. Yassen is also skilled at aviation, especially with helicopters (His childhood dream). He has brilliant deduction skills and is adept at breaking into Silver Forest to kill Vladimir Sharkovsky, able to see every flaw in his target's security.
Appearance
Yassen is described as being attractive, with blond hair (although it is ginger colored in the movie Stormbreaker and graphic novels), pale blue eyes, pale skin, distinctly chiseled lips and "almost feminine eyelashes." He has a long straight and distinctive scar along his neck from the incident with the black widow spider, that could have been drawn with a ruler. He is in perfect physical condition, not stocky or well built but strong, fast and agile.
Personality
Yassen has the tendency to intimidate people with his sheer presence. Yassen is a calm person and difficult to read, having incredible self-control which is shown on occasions such as when John Rider held him at gunpoint and when a deadly poisonous spider crawled onto his neck whilst on a mission in the Amazon. He does not allow himself to be either intimidated or impressed by his employers, such as Herod Sayle and Damian Cray, and the only man he seems to have any sort of respect or affection for was John Rider, his mentor.
His only known moment where he is in danger of losing control is when, in Stormbreaker, one workman drops a crate of Stormbreaker virus and Yassen almost seems to lose his mind. After checking the box, confirming it's unharmed, the workman apologises, but Yassen agrees and shoots him. He claims, in the movie, that this is because his people do not like mistakes. This shows that he is able to brilliantly conceal his frustration or anger with sheer ruthlessness. This loss of control could be explained by the event that shaped his whole life: a biological spillage which killed his parents. As such, biological warfare could be the one thing that Yassen truly fears.
His high level of self-control is further evidenced in his ability to kill without showing any emotion or remorse for the life he is about to extinguish, though his declaration that he does not kill children as well as his expressed affection for both John and Alex Rider serve to indicate that he does indeed have a softer side. At first, though, he found it difficult to kill someone he has never met.
Yassen Gregorovitch was extremely resourceful, highly intelligent, exceedingly cunning and an enigmatic combatant when it came to logical battles. His sly and idealistic role as a stereotypical assassin in the Alex Rider series considers him a powerful individual in his right. He was extraordinarily stubborn, shown when he frequently refuses to kill children, this leading to his death. Yassen obtained something of a pitiless streak during his life as an assassin, and Ash comments that he had never seen anyone so calm during an act of murder.
In his youth, Yassen was enthusiastic, brave, sly, selfless and naive. He was ferociously loyal to John Rider and became something of a partner to him. He was very inquisitive in his young ages and was infrequently asking advice from his mentor and role model, John Rider. He was also selfless and retained a high degree of intelligence and deduction skills. Yassen is very idealistic about his later work as an assassin. He displays reluctance to be a killer, but in the end, he is left with no choice.
Despite all his flaws, Yassen was a very honourable man and an extremely brave individual. He had a keen sense of valour and independence and considered himself in debt to John Rider through protecting his son, Alex. Although Alex did not share this friendship and made no effort in concealing his contempt towards the Russian. After Yassen's death, Alex found that he owed the latter more than he knew and was inescapably indebted to the man.
As an assassin, Yassen was seen as an extremely ruthless, callous, pitiiless, backstabbing and cold-blooded nihilist with little qualms for the men he killed. He was rather shy and reclusive and utilised the advantage of hiding in plain sight and wielding counter-surveillance (Back-up). He was a very private man with, after John Rider's death, no friends and little consideration for allies. This was stemmed by his unending contempt for MI6, and had an analytical personality to use intelligence rather than brute strength to overpower his opponents. Yassen also has superb common sense, and knows what situations can get him killed. He retains a ruthless and remorseless streak, as he kills a man to set an example and shows no sorrow for killing people. Whether this is out of his magnificent self-control or because he was simply uncaring for this factor is unknown.
List of known victims
- Ian Rider (shot to death)
- Herod Sayle (shot to death)
- Guard from Sayle Enterprises (shot to death)
- Vladimir Sharkovsky (shot to death)
- Ivan Sharkovsky (shot to death)
Trivia
- Yassen's assassin code name was revealed to be Cossack during the prologue of Eagle Strike. In the book 'Russian Roulette' it is stated that the code name was chosen by Scorpia to imply a reference to the Russian Cossack warriors; to inspire Yassen. Ironically, when Yassen was a child, he and his friends would race through the streets, pretending to be chased by ghosts, zombies, vampires, wolves and Cossacks.
- Although being described in the books as having blond hair, in the film version of Stormbreaker he has ginger hair. He also shares a lot more scenes with Alex: their first meeting occurs in the laboratory where the stormbreakers are being created. Yassen apparently reconzies Alex and is forced to let him go when he threatens to make a vial of R5 fall to the ground (A deleted scene shows that, after Alex escapes, Yassen stops a guard from shooting at him). When Alex escapes, Yassen looks on as he clings to Mr. Grin's helicopter, smiling approvingly. Yassen kills Darius Sayle to save Alex and saves him from falling to his death. He later advises him to stop being a spy because he doesn't belong to the same world as him.
- The actor who plays him in the film, Damian Lewis, coincidentally shares his first name with the character who eventually kills Yassen, Damian Cray.
- The validity of Yassen’s repeated statement in the novels, “I do not kill children” could be questioned, as he works with Herod Sayle with the knowledge that Sayle's plan was to kill hundreds of thousands of school children (however, he does kill Sayle in the end, possibly only finding out Sayle's plan after it had been foiled, and took retribution after Sayle tricked him into breaking his "policy", though this is unlikely). Furthermore, when the bomb is placed in the house of Edward Pleasure, he knew there was the possibility of other people being killed as well. The only times he speaks of ‘not killing children’ take place when it is Alex’s life is at risk, perhaps suggesting that he either refuses to kill children in cold blood, or he just needed an excuse not to kill John Rider’s child.
- Yassen Gregorovich is the only antagonist who takes place as a main character in both appearances.
- The tenth book in the series, Russian Roulette, focuses on Gregorovich's early life and how he became an assassin.
- He is described in Stormbreaker as having the body of a dancer.
- He became known as Yassen instead of Yasha when an injury to his face made it sound like he was saying Yassen when introducing himself.