What is Project Janus in Black Ops 6 Zombies?

The mystery of Project Janus in Black Ops 6 Zombies is expected to be uncovered since it was mentioned in Black Ops Cold War — The mystery of Project Janus in Black Ops 6 Zombies is expected to be uncovered since it was first mentioned in Black Ops Cold War. (Image via Activision)

Project Janus in Black Ops 6 Zombies will be the biggest mystery to get uncovered when the game comes out this fall. For nearly four years, since the events of Black Ops Cold War Zombies teased Project Janus, it has kept hardcore fans curious as they are still not aware of what's the actual objective behind Project Janus. Now it's front and center in Treyarch's ongoing promotional campaign for Black Ops 6 Zombies.

While we still don't know full details on Project Janus in Black Ops 6 Zombies, there are some clues mentioned in Black Ops Cold War that present a possible explanation of how it can play a major role in the ongoing Dark Aether saga. The latter will continue in the upcoming installment following the events of Cold War Zombies.

NOTE: Parts of this article are subjective and reflect the writer's opinion.

A brief overview of Project Janus in Black Ops 6 Zombies coming from Black Ops Cold War

In Black Ops Cold War, Treyarch's last installment with the Zombies mode, Project Janus was briefly mentioned at the end of the story where Doctor Edward "Eddie" Richtofen was seen shutting down the Office of Requiem, following the events of Operation First Domino.

This was the final message sent by Edward Richtofen who was the Director of Requiem:

"Entity acquired. All breaches sealed. Maxis locked within the Dark Aether. She is no longer a problem for PROJECT JANUS. Divert Strike Team to BLACKSITE 13 for indefinite containment. I will shut down Requiem. Our agents can move on Weaver and the rest."

The Project Janus logo as seen in the recent Black Ops 6 Zombies teaser (Image via Activision)

For those unaware, the character of Samantha Maxis was involved in Operation First Domino. She eventually sacrificed herself in order to stop The Forsaken through her powers and deliberately sealed herself inside the Dark Aether. She was helping the Strike Team led by Grigori Weaver in this operation.

After the operation, Director Richtofen decided to shut down Requiem and had all its main members, namely Grigori Weaver, Dr. Elizabeth Grey, Mackenzie Carver, and Dr. Oskar Strauss sent for an indefinite containment.

Edward Richtofen is the mastermind behind Project Janus (Image via Activision)

Basically, all four characters were sent to an underground prison named Blacksite 13, which was ultimately confirmed to be Terminus Island, a few months ago, during the Black Ops 6 reveal event. Terminus Island will be one of the two round-based Zombies maps in Black Ops 6.

With no one, including Samantha Maxis, to stop him now from proceeding further, Edward Richtofen is expected to move ahead with his mysterious plan of Project Janus. It's been revealed as something big in CoD 2024 Black Ops 6 Zombies, thanks to recent teasers from Call of Duty.

Edward Richtofen's real motive behind Project Janus in Black Ops 6 Zombies

Based on some unspecified, yet convincing theories online and from what happened in Black Ops Cold War, it seems that Edward Richtofen had undisclosed motives behind the formation of Requiem in the first place before shutting it down, eventually.

Project Janus logo teased on Black Ops 6 physical steelbook. (Image via Activision/GameStop)

Some speculations suggest that he wants to bring his son, Samuel, back from the dead. It's for this purpose that Edward Richtofen wants to open a portal between the real world and the Dark Aether using Project Janus which will be seen playing a massive role in Black Ops 6 Zombies.

While nothing on Project Janus' origins is confirmed, the word Janus itself is derived from Roman mythology in which Janus is the God of beginnings, gates, doorways, passages, and endings. Taking this key detail into consideration, one can assume that Richtofen will utilize Project Janus to open a gateway to Dark Aether in order to get his son back, who was killed after Richtofen's house was set on fire during an unexpected event.

The developers are yet to disclose all exact details on Project Janus and it looks like Black Ops 6 Zombies will finally reveal everything players want to know about it for so long since the events of Black Ops Cold War.

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Edited by Jito Tenson