List of Left Behind characters: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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===Criticism===

Suhail Akbar's portrayal in the novels was criticized for being [[Islamophobia|anti Muslim]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TQI0wGtOl7gC&pg=PA210 |title=Exceptional State|isbn=978-0822338208|~~accessdate~~access-date=28 November 2014|last1=Dawson|first1=Ashley|last2=Schueller|first2=Malini Johar|date=29 June 2007}}</ref>

==Abdullah Smith ("Smitty")==

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Before the [[Rapture]], Bruce is the associate pastor at New Hope Village Church, serving with the then-senior pastor Vernon Billings. He has doubted the [[Bible]] for most of his life; though he has professed faith in [[Jesus Christ]], he has never truly believed in his heart. When the Rapture takes place and his wife and three children are taken to [[Heaven]], Bruce almost falls into depression and total disbelief. Despite his losses, however, he is determined to start anew. He goes to New Hope Village Church that night and meets a few other members who were also left behind. He finds a video of the pastor explaining the Rapture, from which he learns that it is not too late to be saved, and he commits his life to God.

Bruce befriends [[Rayford Steele]], whom he supplies with a copy of the video. The two of them are soon joined by Rayford's daughter, [[Chloe Steele|Chloe]], and [[Cameron "Buck" Williams]], and together they form an inner core group, the Tribulation Force. Their mission is to help the lost find Christ and prepare for [[ Divine Wrath|God's Judgement]] that is to follow the peace agreement between the [[Antichrist]] and [[Israel]]. Bruce acts as a spiritual mentor and adviser to the Tribulation Force, explaining the foretold prophecies of what is to come in the final days. Their study reveals that the peace covenant with Israel will mark the beginning of the seven years' war with the Antichrist, known as the [[Tribulation]].

Shortly after returning to the [[U.S.]] from a missions trip to [[India]], Bruce is killed when the hospital he was being treated at for an overseas bug gets bombed by the Global Community in order to decimate a nearby rebel compound. He is the first of many casualties the Tribulation Force suffers during the seven-year Tribulation. Even though Bruce is killed relatively early in the Tribulation, the Force he helped establish becomes a driving presence during the global war. It is hinted later in the series that Bruce was poisoned by [[Nicolae Carpathia]]'s agents and may have died prior to the actual hospital bombing. In the third film based on the books, ''[[Left Behind: World at War]]'', Bruce dies from being infected with a virus, and most of the Tribulation Force (all except for Buck) is at his bedside when he dies.

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As a young child, Carpathia shows remarkable intelligence and athletic ability, and also proves to be extraordinarily [[social influence|manipulative]], able to bend others to his [[will (philosophy)|will]] with relative ease. His handlers arrange for his mother to be eliminated, and Nicolae himself eventually demands the dispatch of his "father", a key to his rise to power. With his advisers and counselors, Carpathia forms a successful import-export business which quickly makes him a millionaire. After he becomes a millionaire, he is then taken by a demon to a desert, probably the [[Judaean Desert]], where he is forced to live without food and water for 40 days. In contrast to Jesus's temptation, Nicolae falls for all three temptations, thus fully confirming that he will soon be the Antichrist. After that, he is then returned to Romania. He quickly grows bored with business and finance and, guided by the "[[kingmaker]]" [[Leon Fortunato]], sets his sights on politics.

At the age of 24, Carpathia steps into the political scene as a member of the lower house of the [[Parliament of Romania]]. Falling victim to Fortunato's blackmail, the President of Romania resigns, allowing Carpathia to assume power with the unanimous support of the country's parliament.<ref>This event of the book series would not follow the actual [[constitution of Romania]]; the Romanian president is always directly elected, and when vacant, the presidency is assumed ad hoc by the President of the Senate until new elections are held.</ref> He also finances an attempted invasion of [[Israel]] which is thwarted by [[God in Abrahamic Religions|God]].

Shortly thereafter, in the chaos following the [[Rapture]], Carpathia is appointed [[United Nations]] [[United Nations Secretary-General|Secretary-General]]. From this office, he converts the U.N. into the Global Community, appointing himself as that government's Supreme Potentate.

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====Final 3½ years====

After his resurrection, Carpathia drops his peaceful facade and reveals himself to be a [[narcissistic]] and [[psychopathic]] tyrant. He has statues of himself built around the world, which all people are required to bow to. He then enforces the loyalty mark, the prophesied [[Number of the beast#Mark of the beast|Mark of the Beast]], which all are required to wear. Refusal to do either of these activities is made punishable by public execution. Carpathia has the Global Community motto written as "Hail Carpathia, our lord and risin king!". He then wages a genocidal purge against [[Christians]], [[Jews]], [[Muslims]], and [[secular]] rebels, going as far as telling an officer in [[ Desecration (novel)|''Desecration'']] to behead enemy bodies, even if already dead.

To complete his quest for world domination, Carpathia creates the One World Unity Army, composed of all G.C. military presence on the planet. Their mission is to destroy the remnant stronghold of [[Petra]] and take over the city of Jerusalem as the world's new capital, following the supernatural destruction of [[New Babylon (Left Behind)|New Babylon]]. He also gathers the armies of the world at the valley of [[Armageddon]] for the battle with Jesus Christ and His army.

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The world catches a final glimpse of both Carpathia and Fortunato at the end of the [[Millennium Kingdom|Millennium World]], when Satan himself is thrown into the Lake of Fire. Fortunato is writhing in pain and shouting "Jesus is Lord!" The scene closes and Fortunato's suffering is resumed for all eternity.

===Critical Reception===

Leon Fortunato has been described as [[Nicolae Carpathia]]'s sidekick.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=The ''Left Behind'' Series as Sacred Text?|author=Malcolm Gold|journal=Reading Religion in Text and Context: Reflections of Faith and Practice in Religious Materials |editor=Elisabeth Arweck |editor2=Peter Jeffrey Collins|publisher=Ashgate Publishing|year=2006|isbn=0-7546-5482-6|page=38|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YXmINizmbkYC&pg=PA45 |~~accessdate~~access-date=26 June 2011}}</ref> Because he is an Italian American, he has been cited as an example of the cultural diversity of the novels' characters.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Prophecy, Politics, and the Popular: The ''Left Behind'' Series and Christian Evangelicalism's New World Order|author=Melani McAlister|journal=Palestine, Israel, and the Politics of Popular Culture |editor=Rebecca L. Stein |editor2=Ted Swedenburg|publisher=Duke University Press|year=2005|isbn=0-8223-3516-6|page=304|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f_xznHf9zFAC&pg=PA304 |~~accessdate~~access-date=26 June 2011}}</ref> In ''[[The Mark (novel)|The Mark]]'', Fortunato is revealed to be the ''[[Left Behind]]'' series' incarnation of [[The False Prophet(Revelation)|the False Prophet]] described in the [[Book of Revelation]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=''Left Behind'' Answered Verse by Verse|author=David Reed|publisher=Lulu.com|year=2008|isbn=978-1-4357-0873-0|page=123|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N1iDZOdhrWEC&pg=PA123 |~~accessdate~~access-date=26 June 2011}}</ref> One critic has condemned the silliness of Fortunato's titles as being [[Anti-Catholicism|anti-Catholic]] and [[Populism|populist]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Skipping Towards Armageddon: The Politics and Propaganda of the ''Left Behind'' Novels and the LaHaye Empire|author=Michael Standaert|publisher=Soft Skull Press|year=2006|isbn=1-932360-96-4|page=197|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bYdJXHpKsxQC&pg=PA197 |~~accessdate~~access-date=26 June 2011}}</ref> There have also been complaints about the farcical characterization of Leon Fortunato when he suffers from the pain of a [[hemorrhoid]] in [[Desecration (novel)|''Desecration'']].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Marks of the Beast: The ''Left Behind'' Novels and the Struggle for Evangelical Identity|author=Glenn W. Shuck|publisher=NYU Press|year=2005|isbn=0-8147-4005-7|pages=15–16|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lNoQVruqV1UC&pg=PA151 |~~accessdate~~access-date=26 June 2011}}</ref>

==David Hassid==

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Tsion Ben-Judah, pronounced '''"Zion"''', is a [[Jewish]] [[rabbinical]] scholar and former student of [[Chaim Rosenzweig]]. Ben-Judah was commissioned by the [[Israel]]i government three years before the [[Rapture]] to undertake a study as to how the Jews would recognize the [[Messiah]] when he comes. Ben-Judah was beginning to conclude that [[Jesus]] of [[Nazareth]] met the descriptions of prophecy, but had not committed himself when [[Christ]] raptured His church.

Two weeks later, when [[United Nations]] [[United Nations Secretary-General|secretary-general]] and [[Antichrist]] [[Nicolae Carpathia]] and a host of [[United States|American]] and [[Israelis|Israeli]] delegates arrived in [[Israel]] to sign a seven-year treaty of peace, and at the behest of [[Cameron "Buck" Williams|Buck Williams]], Ben-Judah guided Buck (Kirk Cameron) to the [[Western Wall]] so that he could speak with the two prophets, [[Elijah|Eli]] and [[ Moses|Moishe]], men resurrected from Biblical times to bear witness to [[Christ]] and begin converting [[144,000]] Jews to become witnesses for Him.

The meeting with the two witnesses had a profound effect on Ben-Judah, who spoke [[Nicodemus]]'s words to [[Jesus]], while the two witnesses took turns speaking Jesus' words. Ben-Judah went away from the meeting with much to think and pray about. The next day, Carpathia and the Israelis signed the peace treaty, and shortly after that, Ben-Judah made a one-hour broadcast on [[GNN International]] to present his findings. At the end of it, he proclaimed that [[Jesus]] was the [[Messiah]] and was coming again soon.

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Many Israelis and Jews worldwide were outraged at Ben-Judah, but he began to teach and meet with Jews all around the world, as more and more began to convert to Christ. Eighteen months later, his wife and teenage stepchildren were horribly slaughtered and Ben-Judah, the chief suspect, was forced into hiding. Buck was guided to him with hints from the two witnesses at the Wailing Wall, and secretly conducted Ben-Judah out of [[Israel]] by way of [[Egypt]], to be flown back to the [[United States]] for exile and sanctuary.

Just before this, the [[Chicago]]-based Tribulation Force's own leader and teacher, [[Bruce Barnes (Left Behind)|Bruce Barnes]], is killed by the Red Horse of the Apocalypse when World War III breaks. Bombs hit the hospital that he was admitted in for over-seas bug that stopped his worldwide encouragement of "Tribulation Saints". Ben-Judah essentially took his place to teach, now reaching out to a worldwide cyber-audience. Ben-Judah, believing himself to be protected by [[God in Abrahamic religions| God]]'s power, insisted on returning to Israel to meet with most of the 144,000 witnesses, in order to teach them. Only hours before the Antichrist's [[resurrection]], Tsion had an out-of-body experience, where he witnesses the hosts of [[Heaven]], and the [[archangel]] [[Michael (archangel)|Michael]] battling [[Lucifer]], in dragon form. The [[Dragon]] was cast down to Earth near the end of this experience.

He moves to [[Petra]] where [[Nicolae Carpathia]] drops two bombs and a missile just minutes after his arrival. There he resides until the [[Battle of Armageddon]], when he leaves to help defend [[Jerusalem|the Holy City]]. There, both he and Buck Williams are killed by Unity Army soldiers. He is resurrected at the [[Glorious Appearing]], after having reunited with his wife and children in Heaven. In ''[[Kingdom Come (Left Behind)|Kingdom Come]]'', he and former fellow Trib Force members lead a missionary trip to Egypt, which Tsion renames Osaze, meaning "loved by God" after turning ~~it's~~its inhabitants from [[Ptah]] worship. At the end of the Millennium, Tsion is welcomed into Heaven with the rest of the believers.

==Peter Mathews==

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==Walter Moon==

{{Infobox ~~Officeholder~~officeholder

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Walter Moon is a supporting [[antagonist]] in the ''[[Left Behind]]'' series. He was a prominent member of the [[Global Community]] who was promoted to the role of Supreme Commander after [[Leon Fortunato]]'s promotion to High Reverend Father of Carpathianism and Jim Hickman's death. Moon is given the title though it has no real meaning at this point in the story. Before that, he was [[executive director|Director]] of Security for the Global Community. After his death, the Supreme Commander position was dissolved.

Moon begged Carpathia to be the first to bear his mark and swore that he would bear it with endless pride. In ''[[Desecration (novel)|Desecration]]'', he got his wish when he received the [[Number of the beast#Mark of the beast|mark of the beast]] along with his fellow members of the Global Community cabinet – [[Suhail Akbar]] and Viv Ivins – at the [[Temple Mount]] a day before [[Nicolae Carpathia]] committed the abomination of desolation. He received a dark negative six on his forehead for his mark of loyalty. Carpathia expressed his disappointment with him when he expressed some misgivings to Carpathia's plans to attack the Christians and Jews who are assembled at the [[Mount of Olives]], [[Mizpe Ramon]], [[Masada]] and [[Petra]] by referring to Micah's threat that an attack would bring back the plague of the sores or turn the waters of the world into blood. The final straw for Carpathia was his failure to promptly terminate a hijacked broadcast of Tsion Ben-Judah delivering a message from Global Community's own television network. Angered by the appearance of Ben-Judah on television, a choleric Carpathia shot Moon to death when Moon's frantic pleas to the network failed to terminate the broadcast.

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He appears twice, albeit briefly, in the final novel ''[[Kingdom Come (LaHaye novel)|Kingdom Come]]'', when he gives Abdullah Smith advice on how to go about infiltrating The Other Light, and later when both he and his father are present at Mac McCullum's thousandth birthday party.

==Gerald Fitzhugh==

Gerald Fitzhugh is the [[President of the United States]] at the time of the Rapture. In the first novel, he is shown to be openly welcoming of Nicolae Carpathia, but gradually become more suspicious.

In [[Tribulation Force]], with his power and countries independence fading, Fitzhugh plans with the [[British Government| British]] and [[Egyptian Government| Egyptian]] governments to launch a worldwide offensive against Carpathia and the Global Community, with help from various [[militias]]. When a combined British and Egyptian attack on New Babylon backfires, the conflict escaltes into World War III. Cities around the world are destroyed in the war, and Fitzhugh himself is killed by a Global Community [[blitzkrieg]] on [[Washington D.C.]].

In the film [[Left Behind: World at War]], Fitzhugh is played by [[Louis Gossett Jr.]].