"When asked how it all started, I always tell that it began that day when we went to the Botanical Gardens. We - meaning yours truly and two of my friends. Whose idea was it to visit the abandoned station? Who persuaded the others to go? I always tell them that I don’t remember. I always lie. It is a safe lie, for there’s no way to ascertain the truth. Both Vitali and Eugene are dead now.

The massive airlock doors shrugged and opened with a grinding sound, opening a road to hell for us and a road into the Metro for the demons. But, in fact, it all started that day when Mother said we should take a walk in the Botanical Gardens… and go there by the Metro! I remember how we took a short escalator to the surface, how we exited a spacious glass pavilion and saw a street buried in green. I remember the small clouds moving across the limitless sky, and soft, cool wind on my face. Mother bought me an ice cream… That was the last time I tasted it. That day, humanity was executed.

The righteous and the sinful were called to be rendered according to their deeds. And we hid from God’s sight in the Metro. And we were saved from His wrath. And He apparently decided that flushing us out wasn’t worth the trouble. Then He went about his business or, perhaps, died. While we stayed on this used up and discarded Earth and continued just going with it… Going nowhere.

I remember so many random, unnecessary things… Yet I don’t remember the most important one: my Mother’s face. She died very soon after the war started… How I wish I could recall her face! The way she looked at me. The way she whispered that I have nothing to fear. I’d sell my soul just to recall that. I’d do that any day, any time. And I did." -Artyom's opening dialogue in Metro Last Light.

Artyom (Russian: Артём), called Artyom Dark in the Spartan Order and Artyom Alekseyevich Chyornyj on his passport, is a Ranger and the protagonist of the video games Metro 2033, Metro: Last Light, and Metro Exodus as well as the main character in the novel version of Metro 2033 and Metro 2035. He doesn't appear in Metro 2034, which features a different man with the same first name.

After Miller's death in the games, he succeeds him and becomes the new leader of the Spartan Order, provided he survives.

Artyom, born shortly before the nuclear bombing occurred, was raised underground in Timiryazevskaya station until it was overrun by a massive horde of rats. Since then, he lives with his adoptive father Sukhoi in VDNKh. When he was younger, Artyom, with his friends Eugine and Vitali, opened the hermetic door of a station north of VDNKh named Botanicheskiy sad. The opened gate allowed the Dark Ones to get inside a few years later, and because of the events taking place at this time, he would be branded as their "chosen one" to help the two species reunite. Many years later, when Hunter is investigating the Dark Ones and their potential threat to VDNKh Station as well as the rest of the metro system, he gives Artyom the responsibility of traveling to the centre of the Metro. Once there, he will warn the remaining inhabitants about the danger these mutants represent.

Hey everyone, just like I told you, here's Artyom! He's another one of my favorite characters; he has a really well-developed story. I really enjoyed the Metro games, "I highly recommend them!" By the way, sorry for the delay. I had so many problems with the files, but it's all fixed now. I've also been playing other games like Super Smash Bros, Garry's Mod, etc.

P.S.: I originally wanted to upload Chuck Greene from Dead Rising 2, but when I saw him, I thought, "Oh no! Someone beat me to it!" Well, then I'll upload my favorite character instead—Artyom, since I haven't seen him anywhere else. Enjoy! And fight against the darkness in San Andreas!