Lissette Hanley

Actress: Autumn Reeser

Name: Lissette Hanley*Nationality:* French*Affiliation:* Allied Forces / France*Role:* Field Commander*Previous role:* Hijacker for the Allied Special Forces*Specialities:* Intelligence, deception and advanced technologies*Preferred units:* Cryocopters, Mirage Tanks and cutting-edge technologies*Conflict:* Third World War*Game:* Red Alert 3
Status: Active following the Allied victory Lissette Hanley is a former French spy who became a Commander for the Allied Forces during the Third World War.

Before taking up her own command, she served in the Allied Special Forces as a spy. This experience gave her a particularly deep understanding of enemy strategies, as well as exceptional knowledge of the Alliance’s most advanced military technologies.

Lissette also stands out for having a personality very different from that of other Allied commanders. She is cheerful, seductive, cunning and particularly self-assured, which frequently leads her opponents to underestimate her.

A mistake she is only too happy to exploit.

Her methods are described as unconventional, but almost always effective. Behind her carefree demeanour, therefore, lies an experienced Commander capable of using deception and technology to gain the upper hand over forces that are sometimes far more powerful.

The Liberation of Heidelberg

In the Allied campaign of Red Alert 3, Lissette appears alongside the Allied Commander during the recapture of Western Europe.

Following the liberation of France, the Allies must drive out the last Soviet forces, who are firmly entrenched in Germany. Their main objective is Heidelberg, where the Red Army has a major headquarters.

Lissette is tasked with supporting the Allied Commander against the troops of the Soviet commander Oleg Vodnik.

She immediately warns her new partner not to be taken in by his appearance or behaviour: his previous opponents made that mistake and are no longer here to tell the tale.

The two Commanders launch their offensive against the Soviet positions.

Lissette manages to hold her own positions against Oleg’s forces whilst supporting the Allied Commander’s advance. Together, they destroy the Soviet infrastructure and ultimately wipe out the Red Army’s headquarters.

The fall of the base leads to the liberation of Heidelberg and forces the remaining Soviet forces to retreat.

This victory virtually completes the Allies’ reconquest of Western Europe and establishes Lissette as one of the most effective commanders on their general staff.

War against the Empire of the Rising Sun

The invasion of the Soviet Union by the Empire of the Rising Sun then completely transformed the conflict.

The Allies and the Soviets temporarily agreed to a ceasefire in order to confront their new common enemy. During this period, Lissette continued to fight the Imperial forces and racked up several victories against their Commanders.

Her knowledge of Allied technologies proved particularly useful against the Empire’s sophisticated machinery.

Lissette has a clear preference for High Technology units. She readily employs Cryocopters and Mirage Tanks, favouring mobility, deception and experimental weapons over purely head-on confrontations.

This philosophy fits perfectly with her past as a spy: Lissette seeks to outwit the enemy rather than simply overwhelm them with superior firepower.### The Assault on Tokyo

Lissette then plays a major role in the Allies’ final offensive against the Empire.

Having gradually pushed back the Japanese forces, the high command decides to strike Tokyo directly and overthrow the imperial government.

Lissette is chosen to accompany the Allied Commander during this decisive operation.

She establishes her base north of Tokyo, enabling the two commanders to coordinate their offensives against the imperial defences.

In particular, they must face the forces of Crown Prince Tatsu and Commander Shinzo Nagama, who command substantial forces to protect the capital.

Even when the situation becomes particularly difficult, Lissette remains confident and continues to support the offensive.

The two commanders eventually overwhelm the Japanese defences. Tatsu and the Empire’s senior military leaders are forced to surrender, bringing the Allied campaign against the Empire of the Rising Sun to an end.

Lissette’s performance in Heidelberg and then Tokyo earns her an excellent reputation within the Allied Forces. The source indicates that she is likely promoted after the war, although her new rank is not specified.

Soviet Campaign

Lissette’s role is different in the Soviet campaign.

This time, she appears as the player’s opponent during the Soviet attack on Geneva.

Lissette commands the Allied Forces tasked with defending the city and, in particular, uses the Chronosphere’s teleportation abilities to rapidly move her naval forces and take the Soviets by surprise.

She puts up enough resistance to force the Soviet Commander, Oleg Vodnik, and General Krukov to join forces.

Her base is eventually destroyed.

Lissette, however, manages to escape capture. Before disappearing, she even taunts the Soviet Commander by promising that their next encounter will take place without Krukov coming to his rescue.

She does not reappear in this campaign thereafter.

Her absence as the last Allied Forces withdraw to the United States leaves her fate uncertain. She may have continued the resistance independently of the high command, but this possibility must be treated as a hypothesis, not as an established fact.

Imperial Campaign

Lissette also appears in the campaign of the Empire of the Rising Sun.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Allies organise a counter-offensive against the Japanese. Several of their commanders have already been killed or are missing, which makes the surviving officers all the more important.

Lissette then takes part in a joint offensive by Allied Forces and Soviet forces against Yokohama.

She fought alongside General Nikolai Krukov against the forces of Commander Shinzo Nagama.

The two commanders initially seemed to be gaining the upper hand, but the Imperial forces gradually turned the tide.

Krukov is defeated, and Lissette’s positions are in turn overrun.

However, she refuses to surrender and manages to escape once again, promising the Japanese that she will return.

Her subsequent fate remains unknown in this branch of the story.

The sole surviving commander from Red Alert 3

This ability to survive is, in fact, an amusing quirk of Lissette’s.

Of the nine commanders in Red Alert 3, she is the only one who does not die in any of the three campaigns: she wins the war in the Allied campaign and manages to escape when defeated in the Soviet and Imperial campaigns.

However, she does not return in Red Alert 3: Uprising. Her role as French Commander is then taken over by Lydia Winters.

This does not necessarily mean that Lissette has left the army or that she has died: no canonical explanation is given for her absence.

Lissette Hanley thus represents a particular facet of the Allied Forces. Warren Fuller embodies American power and aggression, Giles Price British military experience, whilst Lissette represents French intelligence, cunning and the use of the Allies’ most sophisticated technologies. Her past as a spy perfectly explains her behaviour as a Commander: she prefers to surprise, manipulate and outwit her opponent rather than confront them on their own terms.