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The Uncharted series debuted in 2007 as one of the earliest first-party exclusives for Sony’s PlayStation 3 console. The cinematic, cover-based, third-person shooters were a departure at the time for developer Naughty Dog who had previously worked on cartoony platformers such as the Jak & Daxter and Crash Bandicoot series. The Uncharted franchise would go on to become a massive critical and commercial success with multiple award-winning games, and building up Naughty Dog’s reputation as one of the premier developers in the industry.
At the center of the Uncharted series is Nathan Drake, a wise-cracking fortune-hunter with a knack for finding himself in undesirable situations. Drake is more than just a charismatic lead, however, as there’s more to him than just escaping death and stealing treasure.
Spoiler Warning: This list contains plot spoilers for the Uncharted series.
10 Five Actors Have Played Nathan Drake So Far
There have been a total of five actors who have assumed the role of Nathan Drake over the years. While most know Nolan North as the voice and motion capture actor of Drake, the role hasn’t been exclusive to him. Billy Unger lends his voice to the teenage Drake in the flashback sequences of Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. Britain Dalton portrays a younger Drake in Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End’s flashback sequences.
On the live-action side of things, Tom Holland will portray Drake in the upcoming Uncharted movie. Nathan Fillion portrayed Drake in a live-action short film. Nolan North himself even portrayed a live-action Drake in a PlayStation 4 commercial.
9 Drake Was Based On Johnny Knoxville Among Others
Nathan Drake was designed to be an “everyman,” a guy who isn’t well trained nor well equipped for the extremes of this line of work, and often finds himself in over his head. Even his fighting form was originally animated to be less than optimal to show this. When designing the character, Naughty Dog drew much of their inspiration from Jackass star Johnny Knoxville, especially with Drake’s visual design.
Knoxville wasn’t the only inspiration for Drake, however, as other inspirations include leading films stars such as Cary Grant and Indiana Jones himself Harrison Ford.
8 Elena’s Television Series Was A Back-Up Plan
The Uncharted series kicks off with Drake uncovering the long-lost coffin of Sir Francis Drake. Through that, he hopes to get answers to Sir Francis Drake’s expeditions. Because such answers require financial assistance, he enlists the help of Elena Fisher, an investigative journalist, and host of the archeological television series Discovered.
Elena’s television series was not Drake’s first plan, however. As depicted in the motion comic Uncharted: Eye of Indra, Drake takes up a job from crime-lord and antique dealer Daniel Pinkerton and is tasked to find the final artifact of three Indra artifacts, the Eye of Indra. Naturally, Drake walks away without getting paid and the motion comic ends just before Drake meets Elena for the first time.
7 Drake Had Other Exploits Outside Of The Games
Beyond the games and Eye of Indra, Drake has had other exploits. Most notable of these come from the novel Uncharted: The Fourth Labyrinth. Written by Christopher Golden, the book Drake and his mentor Sully on a globe-trotting adventure to find out what discovery led to the death of one of Sully’s old friends.
Drake’s escapades would also be depicted through comics in Uncharted, a six-issue mini-series published by DC Comics. This comic tells a story set before the original game and depicts Drake on a journey to find the Amber Room, a Prussian chamber made of gold that went missing after World War II.
6 Elena Fisher Was Not His First Romance
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves debuts Chloe Frazer, a former ally in the treasure hunting community who has a romantic past with Drake that predates him meeting Elena. Drake also had a previous relationship with Marisa Chase, who only appeared in PlayStation Vita’s Uncharted: Golden Abyss. Drake and Chase do still keep in touch as there’s a box in Drake’s attic, as seen in A Thief’s End, with artifacts labeled to be sent to her.
The last known previous relationship in Drake’s life is Rika Raja, the sister of treasure hunting rival Eddy Raja, from Eye of Indra. However, this relationship would be brief as Rika would double-cross both Drake and her brother, and take the Eye of Indra for herself.
5 Drake Is Inexperienced With Video Games
In A Thief’s End, players have the opportunity to play an entire level from Naughty Dog’s original Crash Bandicoot. The game, and the PlayStation console it’s played on, belongs to Elena. During his initial retirement from the fortune-hunting lifestyle, Elena challenges him to beat her high score. Drake confidently takes on the challenges, but quickly finds out he doesn’t have a firm grip on the controls.
He struggles to complete the “Boulders” level of the game, and when he finishes— whether he actually completes the level or not— he learns it wasn’t good enough to beat Elena’s high score.
4 There’s A Reason Drake Didn’t Use The Grappling Hook Before Uncharted 4
When gameplay of A Thief’s End was first shown off, Drake would utilize a new tool, the grappling hook. Upon seeing the grappling hook in action, many questioned why Drake never used such a useful tool during his previous adventures. Naughty Dog did attempt to answer this question.
The grappling hook was a gift to Drake from his brother Sam and was used in Panama as the brothers followed a lead in their early search of pirate Henry Avery’s treasure. After things go awry, Drake believed his brother to be dead. Since the grappling hook reminded Drake too much of his brother, he elected to instead store it.
3 Drake Doesn’t Have A Health Meter In-Game
Drake could be described as both the luckiest and unluckiest character in the history of gaming. Drake would often find himself against overwhelming off and near-death experiences. However, he would always overcome these odds, survive, and always end up exactly where he needs to be.
This luck would also be used as a game mechanic in place of a traditional health meter. As Drake is getting shot at, the screen will desaturate. If he doesn’t get to safety, an enemy will kill him. This was designed to be a nod to both Drake’s luckiness and the series summer blockbuster inspiration.
2 Drake Has A Fear Of Clowns
For a character that has been faced with death, powerful foes, and the supernatural, it’s easy to believe Drake is a man without fear. What could possibly strike fear in the heart of someone such as Drake? At the end of Among Thieves, Elena asks Drake how scared he was, on a scale of one to ten, that she was going to die. Drake’s response? A four, leaving Elena in disbelief.
When asked what’s a ten, Drake responded with, “Clowns.” Drake has what is known as Coulrophobia, which is a fear of clowns. Drake and Elena end Among Thieves by bantering over the fact Drake fears clowns over Elena’s death.
1 Drake Is Not Sir Francis Drake’s Descendant
Throughout most of the Uncharted series, Drake would make the claim that he was a descendant of Sir Francis Drake even though Sir Francis Drake was said to not have any children. It is revealed in Drake’s Deception that he is in fact not. This was further explored in A Thief’s End where it is revealed that Drake’s real name is Nathan Morgan. His mother, Cassandra Morgan, was an archeologist who theorized that Sir Francis Drake did in fact have heirs.
After his mother’s death, his father gave up Drake and Sam to an orphanage in Boston. After escaping, they elected to change their names to which they went with the last name of “Drake” both in honor of their mother and to give them a story.
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