Gears Of War 4

As we've written before in our coverage, Gears Of War 4 is looking to change things up in the series a bit. One of the biggest changes is that this will be the first Gears game where you're not playing as at least one of Delta squad's lovable meatheads. Instead, a new generation of Gears is rising up to the task. We've got some more information on our new leads (as well as art of them in their COG armor) and two new characters to talk about.

JD Fenix
If you couldn't guess it from his name, JD is the son of Marcus Fenix, the protagonist of the original Gears Of War trilogy. The Coalition described JD to us as "an idealist who wants to live his life with purpose." He ran away from home when he was young and joined up with the new COG (Coalition of Ordered Governments). He did well enough to reach the rank of lieutenant. By the time Gears of War 4 starts, he's gone AWOL with his squadmate and best friend, Del after an "incident" and is living among a village of Outsiders on Sera. JD's a bit goofy and in the demos we saw he had a lighter disposition than his father. We asked The Coalition about his relationship with his father and the identity of JD's mother, but they kept their lips sealed. He has blond hair though, Gears fans, so feel free to speculate.

JD is voiced by Liam McIntyre, who played the lead role in the later seasons of Spartacus and Weather Wizard on The Flash.

Kait Diaz
Unlike JD and Del, Kait did not run away from home. She's been an Outsider all her life and has extensive knowledge about how to live off the land. She's a headstrong survivalist who has a strong connection to JD in spite of her mother Reyna's disapproval. During Gears of War 4, Reyna and the rest of Kait's village is abducted by the Swarm, leaving Kait, JD, and Del to pursue them. During a co-op campaign, Kait will be a selectable character for the second player.

Kait is voiced by Laura Bailey, who has brought to life a large number of characters in video games and animated shows over the years. These roles include Spartan Olympia Vale in Halo 5: Guardians, The Boss in Saints Row III and Saints Row IV,  Fiona in Tales From The Borderlands, and Jaina Proudmoore in World of Warcraft.

Delmont "Del" Walker
Del is JD's best friend and became a Gear alongside him, also going AWOL after the unspecified incident that caused JD to leave. During our demos, Del and JD would share amusing banter as they blasted enemies to bloody pieces. During a co-op campaign, Del will be a selectable character for Player 2.

Del is played by Eugene Byrd, who's appeared on Bones and Arrow and voiced Marcus "Boomer" Boone in Battlefield Hardline.

Oscar Diaz
Oscar Diaz is Kait's uncle and Reyna's brother-in-law. He's a boisterous, opinionated warrior who loves wine and women and resents both JD and Del for their smugness and the fact that they abandoned the COG. He often calls them "runaways" for walking away from their duty as Gears. Our three heroes recruit Oscar to help them find the villagers the Swarm has taken, but he's kidnapped shortly after by a mysterious creature, leaving JD, Del, and Kait to fend for themselves.

The Coalition did not reveal Oscar's voice actor.

Reyna Diaz
Reyna is Kait's mother and the leader of the Outsider village. She's a fierce warrior who took over her husband's role as leader after he died, and she relies on Oscar to train and protect the villagers. She allowed JD and Del to stay on at the village after they warned her of a COG retaliation to the Outsider's raids on COG bases. Along with the majority of villagers, she's kidnapped by the Swarm early on in the game, and it's up to our heroes to find her.

The Coalition did not reveal Reyna's voice actor.

Be sure to return to our Gears Of War 4 hub throughout the month for the history of The Coalition and a roundtable with the game’s voice actors. You can access the hub by clicking on the banner below.