He Has No Rules, No Boundaries

About

He Has No Rules, No Boundaries is a monologue from the 2009 video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 uttered by the character General Shepherd to describe Vladimir Makarov, the primary antagonist of the game. Online, the catchphrase has been used as a copypasta and a soundbite in memes, often combined with videos of cute animals and harmless creatures for comedic effect.

Origin

On November 10th, 2009, the first-person shooter video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was released.^[1] In the intro to the fifth campaign mission, "No Russian," General Shepherd briefs the player by reading a dossier on Vladimir Makarov, the main antagonist. He describes Makarov as a man who "has no rules and no boundaries" and who "doesn't flinch at torture, human trafficking or genocide."

This man Makarov is fighting his own war and he has no rules, no boundaries, he doesn't flinch at torture, human trafficking, or genocide. He's not loyal to a flag or a country or any set of ideals. He trades blood for money. He's your new best friend.

Spread

On November 25th, 2021, TikToker^[2] @ihadnoiidea uploaded a clip from the intro, captioning it, "How the spoons staff describe you to the bouncer when you launch a pint at the emo." The post (shown below) gained over 1.1 million views and 101,000 likes in one year.

The soundbite did not see further spread until May 2022. On May 4th, 2022, TikToker^[3] @super_sami21 posted a video with the dialogue, captioned, "POV: You procrastinated signing up for classes and your reading the reviews for the only professor left:" The video (shown below, left) garnered over 2.6 million views and 580,000 likes in one year. Later on May 4th, TikToker^[4] @niceboynate posted another meme that used the soundbite. The video (shown below, right) received over 2.1 million views and 333,900 likes in one year.

Through May 2022, the soundbite maintained virality on TikTok,^[5][6] with multiple videos using it going viral on the app.

On June 1st, YouTuber^[7] Colonel Clev paired the soundbite with illustrations from the children's book No, David!, with the video gaining over 2.1 million views in eight months (shown below).

The monologue maintained moderate prevalence as a soundbite and a copypasta through the second half of 2022 and in early 2023.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References