Standing Tall in Shadows: Bringing Superhero Energy to Ghost Recon

Standing Tall in Shadows: Bringing Superhero Energy to Ghost Recon

by David Gallaher

When I first got asked to work on Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, I hesitated. I’ll be honest: I wasn’t sure it was a fit.

Having grown up with progressive values and a healthy skepticism toward authority, I wasn’t racing to dive headfirst into a franchise steeped in the aesthetics of military precision and American exceptionalism. These were complicated times. Policing and defense had become flashpoints in national discourse. And I didn’t want to be part of something that felt like propaganda. Serving one's country should be a source of pride, not sensationalism.

But then Lewis Manalo —an Army vet, a compassionate leader, and the man who hired me—offered a perspective that changed everything. He reminded me of the stories I did love growing up: G.I. Joe, Captain America, and he helped me reconnect with that reverence I had for my own father, Rick Gallaher , himself a Vietnam veteran, and the idea that these stories could be about adventure, not agenda.

That reframing was everything. And from that moment on, Ubisoft Paris Studio 's Breakpoint stopped being just another gig and became something personal.

Something heroic.


From the Precinct to the Sector: The NYPD, the GLC, and Me

My storytelling roots run deep—back to the New York City Police Department , to DC Comics ' Green Lantern Corps, and even further to the superheroes that raised me. Whether I was writing about beat cops in Brooklyn or alien peacekeepers in deep space, I was always drawn to the same idea: characters who show up in the worst of situations and make them better. Characters who stand tall when everything else is falling apart.

When I came to Ghost Recon, I brought that same energy. I brought the grit and discipline I admired in NYPD veterans, the heart and idealism I poured into the Lantern Corps, and a sense of stoic defiance drawn straight from the Steve Rogers/Logan playbook. The gamin's main character —Nomad, despite the tactical armor and military jargon, wasn’t just a soldier—he was a symbol. A man who carries a world of burdens and still chooses to fight for what’s right.


A Hook That Matters

In a previous column, I said that sometimes all it takes to fall in love with a project is finding the hook that makes it matter to you. That held true here too.

For me, that hook was heroism. Not the flashy, city-smashing kind—but the quiet, relentless kind. The loyalty. The perseverance. The strength to fight through murky moral terrain and still walk out with your soul intact.

And yeah—getting to write dialogue for Jon Bernthal didn’t hurt either. The man is a walking Punisher monologue. Writing his character, Cole D. Walker, let me explore the shades between heroism and villainy. It gave the story depth, tension, and heartbreak. In the middle of a tactical shooter, we found room for tragedy, brotherhood, betrayal, and grace.


Nomads and Sentinels

It’s funny. You spend your life writing comics and suddenly realize you’re in one—even if nobody else sees it. Nomad. Sentinel. These weren’t just codenames in the Ghost Recon universe; they were symbols.

To me, Nomad was Steve Rogers type—wandering, displaced, and deeply principled. Sentinel was the threat—a monolithic, unfeeling force that tramples what it doesn’t understand. Their conflict wasn’t just bullets and drones; it was ideology. It was heart versus hardware.

And in that conflict, I found room for something human. Something hopeful. Something heroic.


What I Learned

So what were the lessons I took from the Green Lantern Corps and the NYPD into the battlefields of Auroa?

  • Discipline matters. You don’t just wing it. Whether you're patrolling space or clearing a compound, you show up prepared.
  • Courage isn’t loud. Sometimes it’s a whisper in the dark, choosing not to give up even when no one sees you.
  • Stories are about people. Uniforms, weapons, powers—those are dressing. The soul of the story is in the characters, their choices, their code.
  • Stand tall. Especially when it’s hard. Especially when nobody else will.


Will I Come Back?

Will I ever work with the Tom Clancy franchise again?

Never say never.

But only if there’s a story worth telling—one with heroes who stand tall in the shadow of tyranny and choose to make things better. That’s what matters to me. That’s what I bring to the work.

Because when the world starts to fall apart, you don’t need another operator. You need someone who still believes it can be saved.

You need a superhero.

Even if your superpower is just showing up when it matters.


David Gallaher is the Harvey Award-winning writer behind titles like Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, The Only Living Boy, and Green Lantern Corp. He writes about heroism, humanity, and the spaces in between.

Evan Skolnick

Game Writer/Narrative Designer and Professor of Practice at the University of Silicon Valley

4mo

So glad to have inspired you, all those many years ago!

Christian Nommay

Creator of Titan Effect | Screenwriter | Transmedia storyteller

4mo

If you like tabletop RPGs, I think you should take a look at Titan Effect. I have a feeling you're gonna love it. By the way, I really enjoyed Ghost Recon Breakpoint.

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