text: nathan drake ( character ) nathan " nate " drake ( born nathan morgan ) is the protagonist of the uncharted video game series , developed by naughty dog . he appears in all five games : uncharted : drake 's fortune , uncharted 2 : among thieves , uncharted 3 : drake 's deception , uncharted : golden abyss , and uncharted 4 : a thief 's end . he also appears in the motion comic prequel series uncharted : eye of indra . he is played by actor nolan north , who influenced drake 's personality by ad - libbing segments of the character 's dialogue . naughty dog based drake 's appearance and personality on daredevil johnny knoxville , actor harrison ford , and the heroes of pulp magazines , novels and films . to make him relatable , the character was dressed in jeans and a t - shirt , and given an everyman persona ; he is strong - willed , and often jokes and quips . the designers focused on giving him realistic reactions to his environment ; for example , he stumbles while running , barely clears objects during leaps , and recognizes the absurdity of the situations in which he finds himself . the design and personality of drake have drawn comparisons to other video game and film characters , such as lara croft and indiana jones . many reviewers have called drake a likable and believable character , and have noted that he is a rare example of a physically attractive character who is not over - sexualized . character design illustrator and designer kory heinzen worked on pre - visualization , concept and character design on the video game uncharted : drake 's fortune , developed by naughty dog . heinzen 's initial concept differed from the finished character . the production staff drew inspiration from the pulp adventure genre when creating the video games in the uncharted series , and based drake on the stereotypical characters of adventure films and novels , giving him wit , resourcefulness , and strong principles . naughty dog wanted to highlight drake 's personality through his interactions with the environment during gameplay . to do this , they developed a wide range of animations for drake , allowing him to display reactions and his snarky disposition in context . these animations were designed to be fluid and believable ; they removed any animation that did not promote this fluidity or took a large amount of time to execute . the blended animation system in the game , with more than 30 animations comprising one movement , was implemented to make drake a more relatable character . the naughty dog staff looked to several sources in creating drake . his appearance and charisma were based on actor and daredevil johnny knoxville . lead game designer richard lemarchand wanted drake to reflect the " coolness and goodness " he saw in knoxville . series writer amy hennig described drake as a gritty , charming mixture of actors harrison ford and bruce willis , with additional influence coming from romantic action - adventure heroes , including cary grant : ... we even went back to the earliest movie serials , movies from the ' 30s and the ' 50s , and the more recent revivals of the action - adventure genre in the ' 80s , and even recently with movies like national treasure . there are certain traits that a lot of those characters have in common – that irreverent , roguish sense of humor , that charm . lemarchand listed comic characters doc savage and tintin , as well as die hard protagonist john mcclane , as inspirations for the character . drake 's physical prowess was modeled on that of savage , and his personality inspired by the vibrant color and identity of tintin . naughty dog wanted drake to embody the everyman archetype . e. daniel arey , former naughty dog creative director , stated that " there is a fine line between jerk and lovable rogue " , and that they developed drake to be more human and accessible . " if a hero constantly shows their human side , " said arey , " we relate and forgive any seeming overconfidence because we ’ ve all been there . " neil druckmann , lead designer of uncharted 2 : among thieves , explained that drake was meant to react to situations in the manner that the average player might . hennig commented : ... when we set out to do uncharted , we decided we wanted to tackle one of these beloved action - adventure games in the spirit of this whole tradition . we knew that in order to pull it off , we had to have a hero who was completely relatable , just a regular guy . so when people saw him and said " why do i want to play a guy in t - shirt and jeans " that was a deliberate move on our part , to say look , he 's just a guy . he 's just like you and me . josh scherr , leader of the drake 's fortune story sequence team , said that they created drake as an " ordinary guy " with no special powers . instead , drake became visibly nervous at times , barely cleared objects while jumping , and stumbled while running . the characterizations were meant to show drake as a frail character . he is not a master of hand - to - hand combat , and throws punches without style or skill . sam thompson , producer of among thieves , described drake 's martial arts abilities as " fallible . " sony entertainment of america line producer sam thompson mused that naughty dog had created iconic characters before , including crash bandicoot . with nathan drake , however , the company wanted to produce a more average character , one who did not possess the same amount of confidence and who was more realistic and humble . nolan north , the voice actor who played drake , had a large role in defining the character 's physical and vocal reactions . he speaks in a accent . in the uncharted series , the actors were used for motion capture , and acted as if performing in a movie . motion capture was done on a soundstage , and the dialog recorded during this process was used in the game . north was allowed to ad - lib dialog and insert aspects of his own personality into the character . in naming the character , the development team considered many different choices , including ethan , samuel , and john . matthew drake was seriously contemplated , but received a poor reaction from those it was presented to . eventually , naughty dog settled on the name nathan for its ability to be shortened to nate , and the perception that it sounded historical . drake 's character design changed little between drake 's fortune and among thieves . attributes personality drake has a distinct personality , as the creators did not want him to appear as a caricature or " cardboard cutout " . hennig constantly elaborated drake 's personality through in - game dialogue and interactions with other characters , rather than exclusively through cutaway scenes . drake reacts to events in a human - like way , often commenting and complaining on the absurdity or difficulty of his situation . while traveling through chapters , drake frequently makes sarcastic quips and taunts . self - educated in history and various languages , drake is also highly intelligent . matt casamassina of ign commented on the character 's interactions during gameplay that reveal drake 's nature : " it 's lighthearted and amusing , but it also demonstrates that nate is aware of how absurd his predicaments sometimes are . it 's a small , unimportant communication , but it makes sense that the two would behave exactly as they do . " drake says what he is thinking aloud , a feature designed to correlate with the likely thoughts and reactions of the player . amy hennig called drake a " die hard guy that gets in there and just takes care of the situation ; ' the fly in the ointment ' . " drake 's voice actor north was instructed to imbue his own personality into the character . outward appearance drake 's outward appearance is fairly generic , consisting of a simple white shirt and blue jeans and a gun holster on his back in the first game , and a brown henley in the second . he was deliberately costumed in a simple shirt and jeans to provide a " blank slate " on which the everyman persona could be imposed . the programmers designed a layered - animation system to make drake 's motions realistic by blending multiple poses and reactions together . this allowed a complex facial and wrinkle mapping system , which provided drake more human emotional reactions . drake 's physique is fairly fit , but not overly muscular . drake 's appearance underwent minor changes in uncharted 2 : among thieves . hennig stated that drake was skinnier than intended in the first game , and thus the designers bulked him up for the second . drake 's shirt is always tucked into his pants on only one side , an attribute which commentators have labeled the " half - tuck " . the term , first coined by video game designer tim schafer , led to naughty dog altering drake 's appearance to have his shirt almost tucked in from the front , and half tucked in at the back , an inside joke naughty dog co - president evan wells labeled a " three - quarters - tuck . " the half - tuck was part of a larger effort to ensure drake 's design was asymmetrical . tim schafer commented " it was all super next - gen , but the most next - gen thing about it to me was drake 's shirt . check it out : somehow it 's tucked in , and yet not tucked in , at the very same time . of all the technical marvels contained in uncharted , this was the one that really mystified me . " appearances main series uncharted : drake 's fortune in the 2007 video game uncharted : drake 's fortune , drake tracks a treasure located on a remote tropical island . as the game opens , drake , accompanied by reporter elena fisher , recovers the coffin of his ( then assumed ) ancestor sir francis drake , which he located from coordinates inscribed on a family heirloom : a ring drake wears around his neck . the coffin contains sir francis drake 's diary , which gives the location of el dorado . pirates attack and destroy drake 's boat , but drake 's friend victor sullivan rescues the two . when sully and drake follow the diary to the indicated spot , they learn that el dorado is a large golden idol that the spanish had tried to remove from the island centuries ago . after finding a u - boat , mercenaries led by gabriel roman intercept drake , fisher and sully . sully is shot but drake manages to escape to an island where sir francis drake 's diary claims the idol is located . on the way to the island , anti - aircraft fire forces elena and drake to bail out of the airplane and they are separated . drake heads toward an old spanish fort to find elena . though briefly captured , drake and elena reunite and flee to the old customs house on the island . there they find that sully has survived his gunshot wound . drake discovers that the idol is located near the custom house , and finds and rescues sully . drake realizes that the idol is cursed , and that it turned the spanish and kriegsmarine searching for it into zombified monsters . drake attempts to stop roman from removing the idol from the island , and arrives in time to see navarro , a man hired by roman , find the statue . navarro tricks roman into becoming cursed . drake then jumps onto the statue and rides it as it is airlifted onto a boat in the bay . there he defeats navarro and manages to sink the idol to the bottom of the ocean . sully arrives and elena and drake leave the island with several chests of treasure , after displaying affection towards each other . uncharted 2 : among thieves drake returns as the protagonist of uncharted 2 : among thieves in 2009 . a wealthy benefactor hires drake , harry flynn , and chloe frazer to steal a small lamp from a turkish museum . drake and chloe , having dated in the past , renew their romance behind flynn 's back . once in the museum , flynn betrays drake and drake is imprisoned . drake theorizes that the true goal of the theft was to discover the location of marco polo 's lost fleet . flynn brings the information obtained from resin found in the lamp to his employer , war criminal zoran lazarevic , who seeks the stone that the fleet was supposedly transporting . once chloe and sully secure drake 's release , drake follows lazarevic , and discovers that the fleet did not possess the stone , but had clues to the location of shambhala . drake travels to nepal to find the next clue , although lazarevic has initiated a civil war in the region in order to find the temple containing the clue . in the city , he finds elena and her cameraman jeff , the latter of which is executed by lazarevic . drake pursues lazarevic and then discovers the key to shambhala , but the train they are traveling on explodes , leaving drake stranded . drake loses consciousness after finding the key ( a ) and awakens in a tibetan village . here , he finds karl schäfer , an ss officer who had led an ahnenerbe expedition to shambhala , though he had killed them all to stop the nazis from obtaining the power in the city . tenzin , a man who speaks no english , leads drake through an ice cave , where they are attacked by giant horned monsters . lazaravic attacks the village , kidnapping schäfer . drake and elena track lazaravic to a monastery , where they find the entrance to shambhala . once inside , they discover that the monsters are guardians of the city . drake and elena are apprehended by lazaravic but escape him when the guardians attack . drake confronts lazaravic at the tree of life , the sap of which comprises the stone . drake wounds lazaravic , leaving the guardians to kill him , and returns to the village , where he and elena kiss and begin a relationship . uncharted 3 : drake 's deception 2011 's third installment of the franchise , uncharted 3 : drake 's deception , has drake searching for the lost city of iram of the pillars , located in the rub ' al khali desert . during the gap between the two games , drake and elena married , but then became estranged and are now separated . it is revealed in this game that drake 's past is more mysterious than the player is led to believe . it eventually transpires that drake is not his real last name ( his real last name , morgan , is not revealed until uncharted 4 ) and he was raised in a catholic orphanage from the age of five . his mother committed suicide and his father handed the child over to the state . he ran away from the orphanage and travelled to colombia , where , at the age of 14 , he acquired francis drake 's ring ( which he has referred to as a family heirloom in the first game ) by stealing it from a museum . this led to him teaming up with victor sullivan for the first time . with the assistance of sully , chloe , and charlie cutter , nate steals valuable historical clues from a mysterious organization led by katherine marlowe and her assistant talbot . they travel to france and syria where they find clues leading them to yemen , where drake reluctantly enlists the help of elena . they find a celestial map that shows the location of iram . however , sully is kidnapped by marlowe and talbot , prompting drake to save him by boarding one of marlowe 's cargo planes . the plane crashes in the rub ' al khali after a shoot - out ensues but drake survives . after wandering the desert for days , a group of horsemen , led by salim , rescue drake and take him back to their encampment . salim explains to drake they must stop marlowe and talbot from reaching the lost city so they will not get their hands on the hallucinogenic power of the djinn . drake and salim rescue sully from marlowe 's caravan and reach the city . drake and sully destroy the winch pulling the brass vessel containing the djinn from the waters causing the whole city to collapse . marlowe is killed in quicksand and drake shoots talbot before he can stab sully . drake and sully escape the sinking city and reunite with elena back at yemen . drake and elena appear to resolve their marriage and they fly back home on their new sea plane . uncharted 4 : a thief 's end the fourth and final entry in the uncharted series , uncharted 4 : a thief 's end , was showcased at e3 2014 , during sony 's press conference . a trailer features a wounded drake washing ashore an island . he rises , grabs his gun , and checks its ammo before walking into a jungle - like area , as the camera pans to show hanging cages with skeletons inside . the trailer also features a conversation between drake and sully , where drake asks for sully 's help , having seemingly just laid out a plan . sully warns nate against it , but nate responds that he has no choice , and asks if he can count on sully one last time , who confirms that he can . a thief 's end takes place three years after the events of drake 's deception . drake has retired from fortune hunting , and is seemingly still married to elena , as he still wears his ring in the trailer , but is dragged back into the profession by his estranged older brother , sam drake ( voiced by troy baker ) , after the latter discovers a lead to the semi - mythical anarchist colony of and with it , the possible location of the treasure stolen by the legendary pirate captain henry avery . other games drake stars in 2012 's uncharted : golden abyss , which is released on sony 's playstation vita . the game 's events take place sometime before those of drake 's fortune , though developers have stated that it is not a prequel to drake 's fortune but rather a separate original story . nathan drake was also on the shortlist for being a guest character in street fighter x tekken , however the idea was scrapped . drake is a playable character in playstation all - stars battle royale . nathan 's rival in the game is sly cooper , the reason being that drake found pages of sly 's book the and at the start of his storyline was on a desert island with sully similar to that found on uncharted 2 : among thieves . when drake reaches the boss arena , he starts to decipher the pages of the , then sly appears and explains he 's the rightful owner of the pages that nathan possesses . drake refuses and sly mocks his abilities in an attempt to intimidate him , as a result drake responds insultingly and the two battle . after defeating the boss in the game , nathan returns to the same island as before and using the all - star power he obtained from the boss , he greatly enhanced sully 's plane , as the screen turns to black , drake randomly says ' i punched a chicken ' . in other media uncharted : eye of indra is a 2009 prequel series of motion comics . their events occur before the first game , but the series was released after the second . in order to raise the money to find sir francis drake 's coffin , nathan drake works for an american turned indonesian crime boss named daniel pinkerton . drake seeks the fabled eye of indra in india , where he meets eddy raja – who appears in the first game – and drake becomes romantically involved with raja 's sister , rika raja . merchandise and promotion in 2007 , sony placed promotional material in empire stressing drake 's everyman personality and showcasing his similarity to adventure film characters . naughty dog released an airsoft replica of nathan drake 's gun , a beretta . shortly before the 2009 release of uncharted 2 : among thieves , four urban vinyl toys based on nathan drake were released . erick scarecrow , founder of esc toys , designed the dolls in a number of colors ; only 2500 were released worldwide . reviewers were not enthusiastic about the design , and luke plunkett of kotaku commented , " while none of them have names , it appears there 's drake , hellboy drake , berlin nightclub drake and radioactive drake . " in february 2016 , naughty dog announced the release of a 7 - inch nathan drake action with articulated joints and an arsenal of gear and accessories . this action figure is being made by the toy company national entertainment collectibles association , also known as neca . reception nathan drake has attracted mainly positive reviews , many focusing on his likability . tom cross of gamasutra called drake a " lovable jerk " who is " light , flippant , and just plain fun " , calling him a perfect caricature of a scoundrel . stephen totilo of kotaku remarked that : " the short take is that nathan drake has attitude without being a jerk , and he cheerfully but woefully gets in over his head . this helps make him charming rather than annoying . " comparing drake to a similar character , matt casamassina at ign claimed : " nathan drake , the hero in naughty dog 's uncharted 2 , is more realistic , funny , charming , likable and altogether human in 30 minutes than leon s. kennedy is through an entire career of resident evil games . " rush frushtick at ugo admitted that drake may appear to be " a dick " , but that he was " a likable dick " . gamesradar listed nathan as one of the 25 best new characters of the decade , contrasting him with characters like halo protagonist master chief and marcus fenix of the gears of war series in that unlike them , drake is never in control of the situation . empire also included drake on their list of the 50 greatest video game characters , ranking him as 22nd . nathan drake is also seen as a playstation mascot . commenting on drake 's " everyman " persona , tom hoggins of the daily telegraph called the character 's vulnerability " endearing " , while chad sapieha of the globe and mail labeled him " one of the most expressive video game characters ever created . " however , ben kuchera of ars technica criticized the " everyman " persona , stating that drake was like numerous other characters , and lacked individuality . develop 's owain further criticized drake 's blandness , doubting whether a player could adequately describe him as a character . dan hsu of bitmob wrote that , though other characters like master chief may stand out more , drake came across as an " old pal " . drake 's physical attractiveness has been another area of commentary , with at least one reviewer declaring a man crush for him . drake has been described as " dreamy " , and a " handsome , charismatic hero . " claudia black , voice of chloe frazer from uncharted 2 : among thieves , admitted having a crush on drake as well . drake has been cited as an example of a male character who , while attractive , is not over - masculine . one commentator pointed out : " very few of our protagonists ( nathan drake and alan wake to name a few exceptions ) depict men in what i would call a non - degrading manner . " steve mcgarvey of gamespy wrote that drake was : " hardly oozing with machismo compared to the likes of most gaming protagonists " . drake 's attractiveness drew criticism from meagan marie of game informer , who stated that he did not : " stand out much among the crowd of other ideally proportioned and intentionally unblemished gaming icons . " gamedaily named drake the third greatest gaming hunk . gamesradar named drake " mister 2007 " , stating that he was not picked just because they could " stare at his ass for hours on end " , but because he is heroic and has a " winning attitude " . in 2014 , la nueva españa included him the top ten sexiest video game characters of both genders . the good sales of the uncharted series and the growing identification of drake with the playstation 3 console have led some to claim he is now a de facto mascot for the playstation 3 . adam hartley at techradar uk claimed , that : " throaty - voiced protagonist nathan drake is the rightful heir to the ' playstation hero ' crown " , while now gamer claimed drake as the new playstation 3 poster boy . drake was nominated for the " most compelling character " award at the 2009 inside gaming awards . comparisons to other characters nathan drake has been compared to several other video game and film characters , most notably video game adventurer lara croft from the tomb raider franchise and film character indiana jones , due to the similarities between the characters and the narratives they appear in . johnny minkley of eurogamer and lee ferran of abc news called these associations " obvious " and " unavoidable " . in fact , drake has been called a mixture of the two characters . drake was hailed as the " new lara croft " after the uncharted series sold well , and his similarity to croft has earned him the moniker " " or " dude - raider " . michael owen - brown of the the advertiser remarked that drake distinguished himself from croft with his wit , while director of the uncharted series bruce straley claimed that drake had equaled croft in popularity . cbs drew a strict distinction between indiana jones and drake , pointing out that while jones acts altruistically , drake is in it for the profits . avi arad , producer of a planned uncharted film , drew a similar conclusion , remarking that while jones was always good , drake is not necessarily the good guy . designer neil druckmann stated that he believes drake stands apart from jones and croft . other reviewers have compared drake to different characters , including jack colton from the film romancing the stone . north , who plays drake , also voices the prince in the 2008 video game prince of persia , and comparisons have been made between the two characters . the prince has been described as a rougher , more abrasive form of nathan drake . comparisons to living people an article published by vice media , which told of the then upcoming release of uncharted 4 : a thief 's end , included a lengthy interview with dr. e. lee spence , who was described as " a pioneer in the field of underwater archaeology , a world - renowned treasure hunter , and just about as close to an actual living , breathing nathan drake as you 're ever going to find . " in its url billed spence as the " real nathan drake . "