IS NADINE ROSS A GOLD DIGGER?
Merriam-webster: [gold digger is] a person whose romantic pursuit of, relationship with, or marriage to a wealthy person is primarily or solely motivated by a desire for money.
First of all, the gold digger calculates the profit and loss balance. They set a specific goal - that is, a man in the potential range, with specific financial resources - and gets to work. Gold digger is also a person who can put on various masks: they can take care of the victim so that when it ceases to be beneficial for them, turn on heel and disappear or show their true nature - icy and ruthless. If a victim has no money, the gold digger will disappear. If a victim shows that is impossible to manipulate them, the gold digger will disappear too. If a victim is too unpredictable and the gold digger can’t predict what victim will do, GD will disappear too. The risk of exposure is too great.
They also often change the place of stay, place of residence, and can disappear very quickly. Gold diggers also often have two different types of personalities: privately they can be nice, loving, sweet, while towards others they can openly show contempt or dislike for people with lower social or employee status (e.g. towards their colleagues or subordinates or less wealthy people in general). They also value people who are higher on the social ladder and openly devaluate less wealthy people, who have nothing to offer for them.
GD often quickly perceive and treat their victims as a “partner”, even if they started dating only a few weeks or months ago or their victim is not their partner yet (but they want to be seen by others like that). Everything quickly becomes common - not “yours” but “ours”. “You” means “we”, even if GD and victim date only for a short time.
A GD opens emotional wounds and evokes a bit of emotional pain, criticise (sometimes harshly). Often refers to the victim’s dreams, desires and purpose. They often controls the behavior of others through appropriate manipulation. They are also looking for a person who is easy to influence.
It is the best if the victim is not very close to the family or is detached from them or is not associated with anyone in any particular way - in this way no one will tell the victim that the’re being manipulated and something bad is happening. A person who is surrounded by e.g. soldiers or other subordinates - people who take orders without getting into emotional relationships - are a very comfortable target.
If someone is not very prone to manipulation, they become uncomfortable, so gold digger must quickly disappear before the victim understands the whole situation and decides to take action.
The mentality is also important: for gold digger, it is the opportunity to quickly raise funds. They are able to manipulate their victim just to get money. Very often, they try to live lavishly beyond their means, or are unable to manage getting money.
Either way, they often lack the money they need.
What are Nadine’s character traits?
CALCULATING NATURE. Nadine often calculates the ‘profit and loss’ balance. What pays off for her? Whose side should she be on? Is this safe? Although she is a mercenary and has a mercenary mentality, what matters to her is how much she can manipulate someone and how much money she can get off this way.
SHE OFTEN LACKS MONEY. In Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End it is emphasized that her army lost a few civil wars, and in Lost Legacy it is emphasized that she didn’t have money at all, which means that she often lacks money - not only in these two specific parts of the game, but in most cases of her life in general.
DOUBLE NATURE (two sides of the coin). Nadine has a double nature: towards people above her or people whose social and financial status she does not yet know, she is kind, polite and even submissive (Rafe, Sully), while towards people who are lower on the social ladder or have nothing to offer, it is a direct and rather rude attitude (Sam, Orca, Chloe).
CAUSES EMOTIONAL PAIN FOR VICTIMS. “If you don’t [do something], you will lose me or my trust”. “If you do something that I don’t like or can’t predict, I’ll disappear and you won’t see me again”. “I think you need him”. Nadine pointed out to Rafe that he needs Samuel to achieve his goal (because Rafe cannot achieve it alone). In this way, she pointed out his lack of knowledge, lack of skills, lack of a proper way of thinking, while at the same time binding Rafe more to herself. She did not criticize him openly or directly, but for a man like Rafe it was quite a painful pin, given his confidence and approach to such matters. At the same time, Nadine shows herself in the position of a person who will always understand the situation - despite the fact that she has made matters worse not informing Rafe about the ways of Shoreline acting, destroying potential monuments and things important for the adventure etc. But it was never “her” fault, only Rafe’s or Nate’s or Samuel’s.
PARTNERS. But also Nadine is quickly considered to be someone’s “partner” if it is convenient for her - for example, in the case of Rafe or Asav or Chloe (when eventually it turned out that Chloe is able to get Tusk). Importantly, she doesn’t treat Samuel Drake it that way. This shows that Nadine sees people through double standards, judging who is better, who is more profitable to be with.
DO ALL JOB FOR ME. Nadine in Lost Legacy admits that her main strategy is to manipulate other people to do what is beneficial to her. Another strategy Nadine uses is “do all job and at the end and I’ll take the prize”. Someone will do all the work for her, she will come to take everything. This is how she described her possible strategy to take Tusk of Ganesh.
DISAPPEARING. Nadine can disappear very quickly, when it’s convenient for her: it is especially visible in the scenes in Uncharted 4, when Rafe refuses to give up her adventure, reveals that he bribed her subordinates and forces her to continue the expedition. Then Nadine begins to understand that Rafe had never let her manipulate him. Similarly, in Lost Legacy - furious Nadine tries to leave the place after an argument with Chloe. This shows that she is once again trying to escape in a situation where nothing goes her way and is in line with her expectations.
ONLY WEALTHY MEN WITHOUT FAMILY OR FRIENDS. Asav, a doctor (probably a military doc), a talented adventurer and an equally talented trader. Rafe, multimillionaire from his youngest days. An unnamed man from trust fund. And trust fund men usually are a wealthy men who inherit a family fortune from generation to generation. Both Asav and Rafe had no friends, only subordinates and were not emotionally connected with anyone. Does something more need to be added?
NO-NO LESS WEALTHY OR LOWER CLASS MEN. Nadine is not interested in people with lower social status or co-workers: although she is known for her character and ways of acting, she usually tries to seduce only her wealthier employers (Rafe, unsuccesful) or wealthy colleagues (Asav, unsuccesful), or this unnamed trust fund men. Nothing is known about her other partners, but it’s visible how she treats Samuel Drake: with disdain at every opportunity (apart from the fact that she should treat him as a partner in Lost Legacy, even though he saved her life). Sam Drake himself has nothing to offer her, unlike Chloe Frazer.
ASAV
Nadine had an affair with Asav, possibly knowing that he was married and probably had children. At the same time, Asav was probably a military doctor at the time (judging by his melee skills and military management, and by the fact that he would not work with Nadine under other circumstances). So he was wealthy during those days.
He probably looked for treasures for all those years (especially since his older soldiers remembered both him and Nadine). This means that he was already able to find treasures, he knew how to trade them. He knew where to get them, hide and sell them. This means that Asav was able to get BIG money QUICKLY. In addition, he probably did not have friends and was not emotionally involved with anyone, so probably no one had full insight into the state of his “relationship” with Nadine. The soldiers were only talking with each other that “I heard him talk about her… his wife wouldn’t like it.”. This means that no one could rather make Asav know what situation he was in.
Despite that Nadine probably knew that he was married, that didn’t stop her from trying to achieve her goal. As she said, she has been manipulating Asav as long as it was comfortable for her. Over time, however, she found out that Asav was a “psycho”. Manipulating Asav was no longer comfortable.
Did Asav require a clear declaration from Nadine? Had he expected more from her than an innocent flirt? Or has he shown her his true nature? Or did he rather realize that he was simply manipulated and stood up to her?
As Lost Legacy shows us, Asav is a person who is in charge and position to decide about most things. He is also unpredictable, his mind cannot be changed so easily, he must have control over everything. He is also a person who rationally calculates risk and profits. Nadine herself admits that Asav is dangerous - unpredictable and very cunning.
That means Asav probably realized that he was being manipulated and did not allow Nadine do it any longer. After this Nadine suddenly disappeared, but Asav’s feelings had not gone away despite the passage of time. At the end of the Lost Legacy Asav asks himself “what did I saw in you? Together we could achieve so much!”. But looking at the scenes in the game where he and Nadine interact with each other, however, Asav is aware of how Nadine treated him and this time he tries to keep his emotional distance, showing his character, which despite his desires is still adamant.
RAFE
Asav’s example perfectly illustrates Nadine’s way of acting: seduction is her favorite method of getting what she wants - unconditional submission and obedience. The problem with Rafe was - Rafe did not respond to her attempts at flirting and seduction in any way. He did not respond to her sensual gestures, ignoring them (this is especially seen in the scene in Scotland). Nadine’s efforts in this regard can be considered unsuccessful, given the fact what the game’s final scenes are.
Rafe, being a multimillionaire from an early age, was probably always a tasty bite for other girls: young, handsome, hardworking and possessing good finances. Perfect for gold digger, isn’t he? From the very beginning he had a lot of money and there was no problem for him to spend it. It was perfect for Nadine, who could invest - as part of her mercenary company - in new equipment (boats, transporters, weapons, dynamite, etc.), even if Rafe didn’t react to her actions.
Importantly, Rafe’s character traits can also be easily identified: first of all, he acts like a businessman. He acts like a businesmann and thinks like a businessman. Rafe is able to assess when to hide his true nature and show himself from the positive side. This is probably how he deceived Nadine - making her believe that he was a kind, rather open-minded man who would obey her decisions and principles. However, this means that, contrary to Nadine’s appearances and words, they have never “been partners”. Rafe decided it was more profitable to bribe her subordinates - he was aware, that when the situation becomes very bad, Nadine will disappear.
Because men like Rafe very often meet gold diggers. This means that they know their way of thinking, how they act, they know what to expect from them. Rafe’s tactic at the end also suggests that he was aware of what Nadine might be and what she really was hoping for. So, men like Rafe, know how to react to gold digger’s manipulations. So, in fact, Rafe was indifferent to let Nadine do exactly what he wanted.
Over time, however, Nadine began to understand that he did exactly the same as she did with him. The final scenes have proved her that Rafe never really let her manipulate him, he only pretended to cooperate with her. Then Nadine decided to leave - she said that “the expedition was too dangerous”.
This begs the question: If she wanted safety so much (which she explained her refusal to board Avery’s ship), why didn’t she leave earlier, and just now?
She probably had hoped earlier that Rafe would succumb to her once again, that she would be manipulative again. However, she did not foresee only his determination. At the same time, Rafe stepped on her ambition - after all, she had been played, not him, like she wanted things to be. Nadine was unmasked.
He turned out to be too unpredictable like Asav, so the profit and loss of balance ceased to pay. Nadine realized that most likely, since nothing has happened during the expedition, nothing would happen after the expedition. No affair with Rafe after that, no more of Rafe’s money. And what is important - it is very likely that Rafe would claim his money for a job that Nadine did not complete. He was a businessman, after all.
So Nadine decided to disappear when she calculated the profits and losses. Unable to control Rafe any longer, she found it unprofitable.
UNNAMED MAN FROM TRUST FUND
Later, in Lost Legacy, Nadine herself tells Chloe that she was dating a trust fund guy. Unfortunately, it is difficult to determine what caused the romance itself to fail (or went good, but something happened that Nadine did not predict). However, this means that Nadine was again running out of money to survive (and that was one of the reasons Chloe decided to work with her). It seems that Nadine doesn’t cope with finances, unless she has rich partners or employers who allow her to use their funds.
Considering all those examples, it’s hard not to think that Nadine’s only goal is looking only for rich partners to finance her company and her future.
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