Artyom's Mother

Artyom's Mother is an important character in the Metro Series, despite never actually being seen. Artyom, being only small when she died, struggles in vain to remember her face, but cannot. He remembers her fondly though.

Overview
Not much is known about her life, either before or after the war. Artyom's father's name is not known either, nor is it known if he even stayed with her to look after Artyom. However, the only other thing known about her before the war was that on the day the missiles rained down on Moscow, she had taken a young Artyom to the Botanical Gardens for the day. She bought him an ice cream (the last time he ever tasted it). Likely, being so close to a Metro station, visiting the Botanical Gardens saved their lives.

Some time after the end of the world, Artyom and his mother had taken up residence in Timiryazevskaya station. They lived as best as they could with the other survivors, not knowing that their station was in the vicinity of a huge rats nest - one day, these huge rats invaded the station, devouring everything in their path. Outside the station's limits, the guards prepared a rail car on which to escape from the rats to Savyolov station, two stops down the line. However, just before they were forced to abandon the doomed people of Timiryazevskaya, Artyom's mother ran towards one and pleaded that he take little Artyom. The man couldn't refuse the woman, and took Artyom - it was here Artyom's mother died, with countless others amongst the rat horde. The rail car carried the small group to Savyolov station, where flamethrowers defeated the rats. Honoring the woman's last wish, the man devoted himself to looking after Artyom - this man was Sukhoi.

As a boy, Artyom grew to consider Sukhoi as his father, though he never forgot his mother. Although he could remember the Botanical Gardens, and their last moments together, it pained him that he could not remember her face - the most important thing. In fact, one of the reasons he visited the Botanical Gardens as a child, was to try to remember the day they spent together (though he was distracted by the Watchers).

As a man, particularly in Metro: Last Light, Artyom's memory of his mother pains him even more - he even stated he "would sell his soul to remember". When traveling to the River of Fate with Khan, a telephone mysteriously rings, despite phone lines having been severed during the war. Upon answering it, Artyom is horrified to hear his mother's voice asking for him. Artyom doesn't know whether it was a hallucination, contact with a parallel universe, or another of the many supernatural events that inhabit the metro, but he could now remember the voice of his beloved mother. If he doesn't pick up this call as Khan insists, a Moral Point is lost. Failing to do this also awards the achivement Nobody's Home. Later, upon rescuing the little Dark One from the train and coming into contact with it, he began to recall forgotten memories such as his first contact with the Dark Ones as a kid and when he was comforted by his mother before the war. By rescuing the little Dark One, he was able to remember his mother's face. Some time later, whilst in the last moments of his life (during the C'est La Vie ending), Artyom hears his mother calling to him, telling him to not be afraid - he dies as D6 detonates around him. His final thought is of his mother - he has been forgiven of his sin of killing the Dark Ones and given the chance to see his mother's face once again for one last time.

Trivia

 * In the Metro 2033 novel, whilst on the surface, Artyom finds a picture of a boy and his mother, entitled  "Little Artyom is 27 months."  He believes this to be his mother, finally giving him a picture of the face he longs to remember. However, Sukhoi cannot confirm this, as he did not see his mother's face clearly on the night of the rat attack. Furthermore, Artyom knows that his name is a very common one, so it could well be any child.
 * You can view the "true face" of Artyom's mother- without the blur effect - by configurating the visual system without other supporting effects, such as DirectX, and with the lowest solution. However, her lips won't move during her conversation with Artyom in his memory of her.
 * Another way to view her face is during the flashback cutscene in "Dead City" (in Metro: Last Light), where the Baby Dark One reveals the vision to be of a young Artyom, unlike the prior visions in the level assuming the memories of various ghosts from before the war. During said cutscene, Artyom's mother can be seen (without any blur) by looking up and to the right while in the subway train.
 * It's possible there are actually 2 phone calls from her to Artyom during the game. The first one is inside the phone booth in the station during the "Echoes" level, and the last one during "Khan".
 * The Baby Dark One states that Artyom's loneliness is similar to his. As Artyom's mother was presumed dead, the Baby Dark One's parent was instead killed by the guided missiles, along with the rest of his kin.
 * Another quote about this is heard during "Dead City" (in Metro: Last Light). After you've decided whether to kill or not to kill the Demon with its baby, follow the rooftop's downstair untill you find a room where another vision of a ghost apears. After observing the child crying for his mom, the Baby Dark One will talk about how his mother is killed by Artyom, again.

Мама Артёма