Piers Nivans

"I'm right there with you Captain, but your personal vendetta isn't going to get us anywhere!"

- Piers, to Chris.

Piers Nivans was a member of the North American Branch of the BSAA, assigned to the SOU (Special Operations Unit). Nivans served under Chris Redfield during the investigation into the incident at the Marhawa School; the 2012 Edonian Civil War and the 2013 campaign in China.

Early life
According to his file, Piers' family has a history in the military dating back to his great-grandfather. Piers personally wanted to follow this tradition for as long as he could remember. He graduated at the top of his class from an elite military academy and soon joined the U.S. Army's Special Forces.

At some point in his tenure within the Special Forces, Piers began to want a greater calling to make use of all of his training. In 2010, he met Chris Redfield, who was so impressed with Piers' skills as a sniper that he asked him to join the BSAA. Piers' eventually became a member of Alpha Team as Chris' second-in-command.

At some point during his tenure in BSAA, Piers had a chance to meet Claire Redfield, Chris' sister and a member of the Terra Save organization. He once sent an e-mail to Claire, asking if she has a photo of a young Chris Redfield. An email from Piers thanking Claire for the meeting.

Edonia, 2012
In December 2012, the BSAA took part in crushing the Edonian Liberation Army after they began using the C-Virus during their war; Piers served in the North American Alpha Team alongside Captain Chris Redfield; Ben Airhart; Carl Alfonso; Finn Macauley and Andy Walker. At one point, the team came across uninfected ELA mercenary Jake Muller and a Federal agent called Sherry Birkin, during a battle against infected liberation soldiers and two Ogroman. Despite protests to Chris, Jake was allowed to leave on a helicopter. Reaching their mission objective, the city hall, Alpha Team came into contact with a woman calling herself Ada Wong. The woman later lured the team into a trap and used a special "needle bomb" to explode C-Virus syringes across the room. Ben; Carl; Finn and Andy were caught in the blast and were infected, leaving Piers and Chris as the sole survivors. The Four Napad that resulted in the mutated BSAA agents attacked Chris and Piers and knocked Chris out, also causing him to suffer from amnesia. Miraculously, Piers was able to survive against these Napad while dragging an unconscious Chris.

Lanshiang, 2013
"What happened to the legendary Chris Redfield, huh?! What happened to you?!"

- Piers confronting Chris about his change in personality.

Six months after the tragedy, Piers finds Chris - habitually smoking and drinking - in a bar in Edonia. At first Chris does not remember anything of bio terrorism, the BSAA, or Piers and his dead comrades. However, Piers brings the memories to surface by forcing him to face the truth and convinces him to return to the BSAA and help with a mission in Lanshiang.

During their mission in Lanshiang, Chris and Piers headed to the rendezvous point at a tenement house, dubbed the "Ace of Spades". There, they were to rescue United Nations diplomats who had been held hostage by J'avo. After the diplomats were rescued, the building was bombed by the UN to take out any remaining J'avo. After seeing the chrysalis bodies, Chris finally remembered everything. Almost immediately after regrouping with Alpha Team outside, one of the men was attacked and dragged away by the Iluzija.

Following the giant snake's trail, Alpha Team was led unawares into its lair. Searching for the beast in the hopes of finding the missing man alive, the snake attacked and killed soldier after soldier until only Piers, Chris, Marco and Jeff were left. On their way down to the presumed location of the Iluzija, the snake grabbed Jeff from behind and killed him. The remaining three succeeded in defeating the snake after much effort. Realizing that Chris would stop at nothing to kill Carla, Piers confronted his Captain with regards to the deviation from the mission. Unfortunately, Carla had chosen that time to attack, infecting Marco with the C-Virus before escaping.

As the only survivors of Alpha Team, Piers and Chris received intel from headquarters that Carla was headed for the dockyards. Pursuing her in a high-speed chase across the city, headquarters quickly deduced that Carla was going to escape using an aircraft carrier just off the river.

Searching through the J'avo-held carrier, the two finally found Carla and crossed paths with agents Leon Kennedy and Helena Harper. After Leon convinced the two to bring her into custody over killing her, they cornered Carla outside the carrier. She was later shot by an unidentified man fired on a passing helicopter and fell to her death. Examining Carla's briefcase, Piers discovered a modified strain of the C-Virus which was kept for the purposes of vaccine research.

Chris and Piers commandeered a VTOL aircraft awaiting deployment at the other end of the ship. In the air, Chris and Piers attacked a second J'avo-controlled carrier that housed the missile. After the two took out the anti-aircraft batteries, Piers was dropped off onto the deck, and he started toward the missile in the hope to de-activate it manually. Unfortunately, the sudden emergence of an Ogroman from its Chrysalid prevented Piers from reaching the target. The defeat of the Ogroman restarted the launch process; Chris fired a missile at the silo, trying to destroy it and the carrier. The plan failed, and the missile was launched on the Tatchi district. After a communication between Chris and Leon, the Alpha Team was sent over to a far-off oil rig in search of the abducted Sherry Birkin and Jake Muller.

Mutation and death
"I'm sorry... Captain... I did it for the BSAA... For the future!"

- Piers apologizing to Chris for injecting himself with the C-Virus.

The two landed on the rig and made their way down the elevator which descended down even into the ocean. Arriving at an underwater research complex, Chris and Piers began their search for the missing persons. Once they found Jake and Sherry, the four discovered that Carla had been developing a powerful, deadly B.O.W. named Haos, a giant aquatic beast resembling a squid and a human. Separated from Jake and Sherry, Chris and Piers made their way to the top of the complex while evading Haos' attacks, where they intended to use the escape pods.

The creature's surprise attack in a later chamber left Piers in such a state that his right arm was practically destroyed, crushed by debris. Moving over to the C-Virus vial - almost dismembering his arm in the process - Piers infected himself with the virus. After injecting the virus into the wound, Piers develops a trident-like appendage, and the capability of releasing massive quantities of bio-electricity through the prongs.

Beyond that, Piers' physical mutation was no different from Derek C. Simmons' human form. After the duo defeated Haos, the two rushed to the escape pods. However, Piers refused to follow Chris into the sphere; throwing him inside, Piers sealed the door and launched the pod. Piers chose to end his life while he was still capable of thinking for himself, despite Chris' protest. As the facility's water pressure built up further, the structure began to come apart in more and more places. The escape pod finally ejects Chris out of the facility, leaving Piers behind.

Before Piers died, Haos attacked Chris' escape pod. Immediately afterward, the creature was hit by an electrical discharge identical to one Piers created, suggesting that he saved Chris' life. In the end, Chris honored Piers' memory by remaining in the BSAA as Piers wanted instead of retiring.

Personality and Relationships
Piers Nivans, the young ace of the BSAA, was a naturally gifted marksman, much like his squad leader, Captain Chris Redfield. Due to his extreme sharpness and concentration, he was known as "the man who never misses a target".

He is characterized as an individual with a strong sense of responsibility and an astute discernment, being able to influence his teammates into the correct course in the battlefield. It's because of these qualities that make Piers a trusted and valuable comrade of Chris, who regards him as a future leader in the BSAA.

Piers' sense of responsibility drives him to act as a moral compass for Chris, most notable in Lanshiang (in Edonia Chris and Piers show no signs of internal conflict, due to Chris not having any psychological trauma). Dedicated and focused, Piers' moniker of being the man who never misses a target could very well apply to his personal interactions as well. When tasked with bringing Chris back to the BSAA six months after the tragedy in Edonia, Piers maintained a calm and collected attitude, and never faltered in retrieving the legendary BSAA operative.

Piers has a strong sense of justice. His morals guided him to the BSAA, in order to combat Bio-Terrorism. Piers greatly admires and respects his commanding officer Chris Redfield. Piers refers to him as "Captain" respectfully at all times but a few rare instances; Piers calls Chris by name in the bar when Piers is retrieving Chris, in Edonia after the B.O.W. turned Finn attacks and throws Chris, and in China when Piers confronts Chris about the change in his personality.

Piers is shown to be a good soldier, often covering other people with his trademark Anti-Materiel Rifle and notable marksman skills. Piers also tried to maintain the condition of the other men under his and Chris' command. When the squad fights the giant snake, he commands Marco to wait for the rest of the squad to regroup before attacking. Piers is aware of the chain of command, and even follows orders he does not agree with. A noteworthy instance of this is in Lanshiang, when Chris tells Piers to "fall in line, soldier". Piers realises that his actions were bordering insubordination and falls silent, however he appears visible shaken afterwards (despite holding his gaze with Chris). He also shows a rough equivalent of compassion in Edonia when he tells Finn to "suck it up", in an attempt to help Finn suppress the grief over his comrade's death.

Piers is less emotionally invested compared to Chris, seeing as he was able to accept the fact that his team had died back in Edonia, however, when it comes to Chris, Piers will do everything in his power in order to protect him. This is seen all throughout the game whenever he pushes Chris out of the way in expense of his own life. He evidently respects Chris enough to try and convince him to return to the BSAA when he left after the events of Edonia.

Skills and Abilities
Piers is a skilled marksman and is the B.S.A.A's top-ranking sniper according to the files in-game. Further evidence of his abilities as a marksman is shown when Piers dismembers a J'avo's arm with a single shot from his MP-AF.

Piers seems to have an understanding of hacking software as he was able open a locked door in the prototype testing room. He may also have a certain understanding in mechanics as he is able to re-activate a missile to blow up the bulkhead. Piers also has a certain knowledge in pyrotechnics as he can be seen destroying metal containers blocking his way with explosives.

Following his infection via the C-Virus, Piers' body is able to discharge massive amounts of bio-electric energy. This energy can be concentrated into small, bullet-like bolts or can be held for a short amount of time to produce multiple, arching bolts of lightning.