Samuel Drake

Samuel "Sam" Drake is one of the main characters from the Uncharted games.

Sam is a professional thief and treasure hunter, as well as the older brother of Nathan Drake. Initially thought to have died during a prison break, fifteen years prior to the events of the game and even before the events of the other games in the series, he returns in order to seek Nate's help in finding the lost treasure of Henry Avery.

Appearance
Much like his brother Nate, Sam is a white male with brown hair. However, unlike Nate, his hairline is receding. He has a prison tattoo on the left side of his neck of several birds in flight, which may be symbolic of freedom. He is tall with a muscular frame. He also has a second tattoo on his left shoulder depicting a hand of playing cards, which can be seen in the mid credits scene of Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. He has three scars on the left side of his stomach (and presumably three on his back as well) from where he had been previously shot.

Sam wears blue jeans, a light blue short sleeve button up shirt, and a brown t-shirt underneath. He is also seen wearing a blue sherpa denim jacket with a dark shirt underneath. He is later seen wearing a white tank top and a blue Hawaiian shirt, while working with Chloe. He removed the shirt after they return to the village for some pizza. He also briefly wore a pair of black sunglasses, but ditched them when they broke.

Personality
Sam shares his brother's penchant for sarcasm, and his sense of humor. When they search for their mother'sjournals in Evelyn's presumed empty home, he says he's "always been the funny one" after cracking a joke. He is more reckless than Nate, however, and slightly jealous of his brother's achievements, in Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is a more calm person, clueless and with little interest in the adventure of the game, it will be that finding the treasure of Avery has overcome part of his greed towards History. He even has a high interest in women, as he is seen flirting with Nadine and Chloe several times and even with a waitress at the auction in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End.

He also seems to be playfully amorous, as he flirted with a waitress during Chapter 6. In Nate's journal, under "useful Italian phrases", the sentence "do you have a boyfriend?" is written in a different hand than Nate's, and is presumably Sam's. This is further evidenced by Nate's handwriting right below it which says "my brother is an idiot." At the end of Chapter 22, when Sam and Sully discuss a partnership, Sully asks how Sam's Portuguese is. Fluently, he says "how long before your husband gets home?"

Sam's most defining characteristic is his love for his younger brother. When they were younger, Sam worked to support them both and even tracked down their mother's old journals to try and help Nate deal with his grief over her death. He has shown on two occasions that he is more than willing to take a bullet for him, such as standing between Nathan and a gun when confronted by Evelyn in her home when they were younger, and Rafe when he attempted to kill his brother, getting grazed by the bullet in the process. Unlike his brother, however, he is more willing to murder in cold blood, shown when he has Nadine Ross at his mercy and nearly kills her (despite the loud protestations of his brother) before Nate stops him. .

Sam seems to be a heavy smoker, as numerous times throughout the campaign he is seen lighting a cigarette. In Chapter 12, Sam says his hands are shaking, though he was unsure if it was out of anticipation for finding the treasure or nicotine withdrawals. A letter from him and Sully in the Epilogue reports they've both quit cold turkey, and haven't smoked once in twelve months.

In a Game Informer interview, Troy Baker describes Sam as "incredibly charming" with a good heart, but does battle with jealousy issues towards Nathan.

"There's something that happens when you see that younger brother that's just a little bit more charming than you, a little bit more better looking than you, a little bit more talented than you, can run faster, jump higher — better than you. That's Nate. I think before Nate, Sam was the golden child. In reality, anything Sam can do, Nate can do better, but I don't think Sam would ever acknowledge that."

Abilities
Much like Nate, he is a competent marksman, climber, and brawler. Due to spending most of his imprisoned life exercising, he is in excellent physical condition.

He is a talented thief; Nate refers to Sam as the best pickpocket out of both himself and Sully.

Sam is at least as intelligent as his brother, as he has a vast knowledge of pirate history, can read Latin, and is multilingual.

He is an adept motorcyclist.

Trivia

 * Senior character artist Colin Thomas has said: "I was tasked with creating Samuel Drake, both the young and older versions of him throughout the production of Uncharted 4, as well as numerous other assets. It was an honor to be a part of this project and to be tasked with creating Sam as he plays an important role in the narrative as Nathan Drake's brother.
 * We went through numerous changes and revisions as our Creative Director, Neil Druckmann, had a specific vision of what this character should look like. Down to his attire and what it says about him, to the influence his brief prison stint had on his personality.
 * Sam was a culmination of the feedback and guidance I received from the entire team. From Lead Character Artist Frank Tzeng and Concept Artist Ashley Swidowsky who designed him, to the other Character Artists who would occasionally pass by my desk and suggest changes that in some small way has improved him."