Alpha Protocol/Characters

Alpha Protocol
Top secret government agency designed specifically to allow the United States government to carry out ultra-secret operations and deny their existence. the organization is deliberately designed from the ground up to avoid accountability and provide deniability.


 * Government Agency of Fiction: Which is
 * Government Conspiracy: Specifically to allow the US government to deny the existence of such agencies.
 * Oddly Small Organization: They have a Mook Army in the form of their guards, but the operatives themselves seem to consist of a director, an analyst, a communications officer, and two field agents.
 * We Are Everywhere: With our safehouses, money supplies, and contacts.
 * Where The Hell Is Alpha Protocol?: No one except the higher-ups know exactly where AP is based. All personnel going into or out of the main facility are drugged unconscious for two days while being transported, and presumably change hands multiple times in transit. This becomes a key plot point at the climax, when

Michael Thorton
The protagonist and newest recruit for Alpha Protocol.


 * Action Hero: The Commando background, especially if you keep building on the combat skills, use aggressive responses and ignore stealth and subtlety.
 * Action Survivor: Recruit Mike is basically a guy fresh out of Langley and CIA training, and has to learn as he goes. Doesn't help that.
 * Anti-Hero: Mike's default personality seems to be a Type III, although you can move him up and down the scale with dialogue choices.
 * The Atoner: If you let Madison die, Mike will be this. Also if you kill Sis and manage to make G22 your ally, although it will only be hinted at.
 * Badass: All of the backgrounds, and the subsequent events of the game, make it clear that Mike is not a man to be trifled with.
 * Badass Beard: You can pick any number of beards for Mike, including a giant mountain-man beard.
 * Badass Bookworm: In particular if you took the Tech Specialist background.
 * Casanova: If you choose. There's even an achievement for being a Ladies' Man and screwing all four available girls.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Appears to be Mike's default personality when he isn't manipulating people.
 * Genius Bruiser: Made clear with just about all of the backgrounds, and particularly depending on your specialisations. Thorton is fluent in several languages, an excellent shot and martial artist, and very technically-savvy.
 * Guile Hero: The field agent background, especially if you keep playing to the background's starting skills like stealth, doing operations with as little fuss as possible, reading dossiers and using conversation properly.
 * Guns Akimbo: When using submachineguns.
 * Hair-Trigger Temper: Can be emulated fairly effectively by consistently choosing the 'Aggressive' stance, unsurprisingly. With a good mixture of just plain jerk to go with it.
 * Jerkass: Even when played as a good guy or a professional killer, Mike still snark to his heart's content during conversations where the player can't choose the tone. And if you decide to play him as a bastard, well, there is a reason why his most popular nickname is Dick Mike. For example, he can antagonise a normally sweet-natured and ordinary secretary so much, she'll bean him over the head with a statue and tase him before running off.
 * Magnificent Bastard: Play your cards right and Thorton ends up as this in two endings in-universe.
 * Manipulative Bastard: One of the reasons Mike was recruited by Alpha Protocol is his ability to manipulate people through conversation. Taken to its logical conclusion in
 * Naive Newcomer: The recruit background, for a certain level of 'naive'. Most of Alpha Protocol (barring Parker) rewards you for picking 'recruit' stances.
 * Omnicidal Neutral: Potentially.
 * Only Known by Their Nickname: It's hinted in the beginning that the name Michael Thorton is just an alias given to him by Alpha Protocol.
 * Overt Operative: He identifies himself as "Mike Thorton" to everyone he meets. (Although it's implied that that may not be his real name, it's still the name .)
 * Polyglot: According to a background check Alpha Protocol did, Mike speaks fluent Farsi, Arabic, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Mandarin (Chinese) and Japanese in addition to English. If you have the Tech Specialist background, Mike will also have a PhD in linguistics. About half of these languages will turn out to be highly useful.
 * Sadist Show: Can have one, big time. For instance, if he gives Sergei to Brayko, one of the options is to enjoy watching Brayko slice Sergei up with a knife.
 * Scary Shiny Glasses: The glasses the player can equip him with have a tendency to shine so much that they're opaque (except in Graybox and Moscow, where you need Sinister Shades to achieve this look).
 * Science Hero: The tech specialist background, especially if you keep playing the role by picking the 'technical' skills and using lots of grenades.
 * Spanner in the Works
 * The Starscream:
 * : If you choose the
 * Technical Pacifist: Emphasis on the fist. Mike can potentially go through the entire game without killing anybody, but his nonlethal attacks, gadgets, and takedowns are quite brutal and painful. It is also difficult but possible to "ghost" through most of the game save for boss battles by avoiding combat and stealthing past everyone.
 * Underestimating Badassery: If the player picks any background except Recruit, the antagonists are definitely guilty of this. An experienced Mike is a decorated Special Forces soldier, an experienced CIA field agent, a Genius Bruiser Gadgeteer Genius, or a Renaissance Man who has been everything from a mercenary to a patented inventor, and yet, people who know these things insist on trying to use him as an Unwitting Pawn.
 * Unwitting Pawn: Potentially as well, especially if Leland makes an attempt to make Mike feel as if he's an unwitting pawn of Halbech's plan, though it generally falls flat.
 * Villain Protagonist: You can play him this way if you like, killing defenseless people, egging on Heck's insanity, committing blackmail, facilitating arms deals with terrorists and joking about it, and, eventually, even.
 * Villain Protagonist: You can play him this way if you like, killing defenseless people, egging on Heck's insanity, committing blackmail, facilitating arms deals with terrorists and joking about it, and, eventually, even.

Mina Tang
Tactical specialist and handler for Alpha Protocol, who helps Mike for the majority of the game, Potential romance interest for Mike. Mina is mostly receptive to professional approaches, and dislikes overt, violent, or aggressive approaches, especially lethal ones.


 * Damsel in Distress: In . Since this is Alpha Protocol, Mike can rescue her...or he can.
 * The Handler
 * Honor Before Reason: If Mike is sufficiently ruthless to make her hate him, she'll tell him that she'd rather die than accept his help in the final mission. (And since she's at the time, it's not an academic discussion.)
 * Mission Control
 * In addition, She admits as much to Mike at the endgame, explaining that
 * To be fair,
 * Never Hurt an Innocent: Well, hurting is all right, but killing civilians or other American agents is an easy way to drive her opinion of Mike into negative territory in a hurry.
 * NSA: Mina used to work for them before being recruited by Alpha Protocol.
 * Token Good Teammate: Mina is the most idealistic member of Alpha Protocol and hates it when you kill civilians or other American agents. Most of the other wet-workers are ambivalent at best about collateral damage (except for Heck, who loves it).
 * UST: While Mike has multiple romance interests throughout the game, Mina is the one most consistently present; she's also rather flirty. Lampshaded in one of Thornton's responses to her email.
 * Voice with an Internet Connection
 * UST: While Mike has multiple romance interests throughout the game, Mina is the one most consistently present; she's also rather flirty. Lampshaded in one of Thornton's responses to her email.
 * Voice with an Internet Connection

Yancy Westridge
Director of Alpha Protocol. A by-the-book leader who favors people who act professionally and follow orders, although he hates suck-ups, smartasses, and agents who won't get to the point. Aggressive approaches work best on him.


 * Da Chief
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: Uncle Ruckus, is that you!?
 * Ironic Hell:
 * Jerkass: Although it may be a facade that he uses to make Mike more prone to aggressive actions.
 * Just Following Orders: He uses these words
 * Mission Control
 * Nothing Personal: If you manage to max out Mike's reputation with him, he will be a bit more complimentary in the endgame, but it won't stop him from.
 * The Spymaster
 * Voice with an Internet Connection: Mike meets him in person once at the end of the prologue and may meet him again in the endgame. Otherwise, they communicate entirely by radio and video conference.
 * Voice with an Internet Connection: Mike meets him in person once at the end of the prologue and may meet him again in the endgame. Otherwise, they communicate entirely by radio and video conference.
 * Voice with an Internet Connection: Mike meets him in person once at the end of the prologue and may meet him again in the endgame. Otherwise, they communicate entirely by radio and video conference.
 * Voice with an Internet Connection: Mike meets him in person once at the end of the prologue and may meet him again in the endgame. Otherwise, they communicate entirely by radio and video conference.

Sean Darcy
Technical specialist, field agent, and analyst for Alpha Protocol. Son of a wealthy US Senator. Has an adversarial relationship with Mike (that can develop into either hatred or professional rivalry) and a crush on Mina. Darcy hates aggressive and veteran approaches and is ambivalent at best to the professional approach, being a laid-back agent, and prefers smart-talking, banter, and recruits who obviously are no threat to his position.


 * Bash Brothers: If he and Mike get along.
 * Casanova Wannabe: Hits on Mina nonstop. It is definitely not reciprocated.
 * Dirty Coward:
 * Jerkass: Sleazy and pushy towards Mina? Check. Serious inferiority complex towards Mike? Check. Yeah, this guy's a doozy.
 * Kick the Dog:
 * Mission Control: Briefly.
 * The Rival: If he and Mike hate each other. Mike even gets a handler-specific perk called "Who's the Better Agent?" in this case.
 * : If Darcy hates Mike, he'll send Mike an email that essentially boils down to
 * : If he respects Mike, Darcy sends him an email that
 * : If Darcy hates Mike, he'll send Mike an email that essentially boils down to
 * : If he respects Mike, Darcy sends him an email that

Alan Parker
Data analyst for Alpha Protocol, who specializes in collating data and predicting trends. Also responsible for shutting down the agency if it ever becomes exposed. Very cold, calculating, and professional, and utterly hates smart-talking or overt, unsubtle aggression.


 * The Chessmaster: All of the events leading up to Mike going rogue and were meticulously planned by Parker. Ironically, if Mike proves his calculations were wrong and, Parker will approve of Mike having outfoxed him.
 * Cleanup Crew: This is his other job at Alpha Protocol. He even likens himself to a janitor if you pick the right dialogue options.
 * Clock King: He's obsessed with precision; pointing out that he actually has made quite a lot of mistakes is one way to bring him around.
 * Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He has precisely one Berserk Button: his family.
 * Jerkass
 * Michael Bell
 * No Social Skills: At all. And he disapproves of those who exhibit them in his presence.
 * Non-Action Guy
 * Skippable Boss: There are three different ways to skip his boss battle, as outlined above.
 * Smug Snake: He's smart, but not nearly as smart as he thinks he is.
 * The Stoic
 * : Very subtly.
 * Smug Snake: He's smart, but not nearly as smart as he thinks he is.
 * The Stoic
 * : Very subtly.

Al-Samad
An extremist Islamic terrorist faction that is responsible for the missile strike on the airliner that sets the entire plot in motion. What Al-Samad lacks in training they make up for with sophisticated technology and Shiekh Ali Shaheed's leadership and connections.


 * Cannon Fodder: Most of the Al-Samad infantry are poorly-trained civilians armed with Cold War weapons.
 * Elite Mooks: Shaheed's personal guards, however, are special-forces-trained elites armed with advanced weapons and armor, obvious by their bright red shemags.
 * Expy: Though they don't follow the same organizational doctrine as Al-Qaeda (the latter organization serves more as a facilitator for other militants) Al-Samad fills a similar role as the general extremist Islamic terrorist threat.
 * Starter Villain: Al-Samad are mostly only fought in the first area of the game, though they can be encountered later on in Rome. They are nowhere near as dangerous as later badguys like the VCI, CSP, or Deus Vult.

Sheikh Ali Shaheed
Leader of the Al-Samad terrorist organization. A wealthy oil sheik who uses the stolen Halbech missiles to shoot down an American airliner, setting up the initial plot of the game. Shaheed respects loyalty and duty, and dislikes mercenaries or "lapdogs."


 * Arab Oil Sheikh
 * Catch Phrase: "I am a man of my word."
 * Defeat Means Friendship: Will join forces with Mike if he spares his life.
 * I Gave My Word: See Catch Phrase.
 * La Résistance
 * Noble Demon: He's a terrorist who is quite happy to murder civilians with antiaircraft missiles. He's also a man of his word, and if you give him a fair hearing, will do everything in his power to help you bring down the guy manipulating both of you, even if it means his own death.
 * Spanner in the Works: He can become one to.
 * Spanner in the Works: He can become one to.

Halbech Inc.
A major weapons and technology contractor for the US government. Halbech is responsible for a number of shady deals, and their CTO, Henry Leland, serves as the game's Big Bad. The missiles that Al-Samaad used on the airliner were Halbech technology, and they are eager to recover the evidence of what happened with their weapons.


 * Arms Dealer
 * Corrupt Corporate Executive: Many of their higher-ups are quite corrupt. You can uncover a number of incriminating emails discussing all manner of embarrassing or scandalous actions, such as rigging elections, war profiteering, faked piracy (lampshaded by Mike), tax fraud, accounting fraud, and coverups regarding industrial accidents.
 * Mega Corp: Although they are primarily a defense contractor, they have myriad other businesses, ranger from construction to database management (and all of which are hopelessly corrupt).
 * War for Fun and Profit

Henry Leland
Chief Technology Officer for Halbech, inc. A straightforward but extremely unethical businessman, who is pushing the world toward a new Cold War in order to boost weapons sales for his company. Leland favors someone who is stubborn, committed, and takes necessary actions for the greater good, while disliking smart-ass commentary and allowing emotions or anger to cloud one's judgment.


 * Big Bad
 * Non-Action Big Bad
 * Corrupt Corporate Executive
 * Fashion Victim Villain: Mike gets several chances to accuse Leland of being one.
 * Faux Affably Evil: It just adds to his smugness.
 * Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: He is almost always carrying a lit cigar.
 * Screw the Rules, I Have Money: Believes that Halbech and its contracts are too important for the US to be allowed to fail, hence why he sets the entire plot in motion.
 * Smug Snake: He thinks he's a devious mastermind, but he's really an idiot. His plan to generate business by increasing global tensions is putting the world on the fast track to Armageddon, he exposes his own ignorance of Mike's resources and allies with his gloating, and you can play him like a trombone if you want to.
 * Screw the Rules, I Have Money: Believes that Halbech and its contracts are too important for the US to be allowed to fail, hence why he sets the entire plot in motion.
 * Smug Snake: He thinks he's a devious mastermind, but he's really an idiot. His plan to generate business by increasing global tensions is putting the world on the fast track to Armageddon, he exposes his own ignorance of Mike's resources and allies with his gloating, and you can play him like a trombone if you want to.

Veterans' Combat Initiative/Deus Vult
The VCI is a private military firm made up of former soldiers with emphasis on recruiting troops either dishonorably discharged or otherwise unable to return to civilian life. The VCI handles a number of dirty jobs at the behest of Halbech.

Deus Vult, on the other hand, consists entirely of military personnel and agents specifically loyal to Conrad Marburg, serving as his own personal agents and enforcers. Though the VCI and Deus Vult are not the same organization, they tend to share resources, draw from the same pool of recruits, and both are under Marburg's control.


 * Axe Crazy: The VCI.
 * Dangerously Genre Savvy: Deus Vult is actually banking on the Italian government thoroughly investigating to determine who was behind it.
 * False-Flag Operation: Deus Vult is deliberately framing Al-Samaad for
 * The Men in Black: Deus Vult rocks this look.
 * Praetorian Guard: Deus Vult are the employees of VCI selected to serve as Marburg's personal guards and enforcers.
 * The Remnant:.
 * Sociopathic Soldier: The VCI deliberately recruits these.

Conrad Marburg
Former head of security for Halbech and the head of the Veterans Combat Initiative. Cold, professional, and utterly ruthless. Has a strong preference for professional approaches - subtlety, loyalty, use of limited force, and carefully gathering intelligence are things he greatly respects, while overt destruction, aggression, losing of one's cool, smart-talking, and letting emotions drive one's actions piss him off to no end. He also has an adversarial relationship with SIE because of this.

"Mike: Poor Agent Marburg, believed dead, maybe wishing he was dead. Boo fucking hoo. And what has your life been since then? Setting bombs for Halbech, killing bystanders in a museum? How fucked up and empty do you have to be to lower yourself to that level? You don't even know what trust and loyalty are. Or does the fact that I didn't go that same route when I was abandoned really get under your skin, Conrad? Marburg: ...I will end you, Thorton."
 * Affably Evil
 * Ambiguously Gay: If Madison serves as Mike's handler on the infiltration of his villa, Mike will take note of the myriad nude male statues about and Madison will remark that she never saw Marburg entertain any female visitors.
 * Badass Grandpa: Sixty-five years old. Runs miles everyday, followed by an intense martial-arts regimen, and one of the toughest boss fights in the game.
 * Badass in a Nice Suit
 * Berserk Button: He hates people who are "all talk." Naturally, a Suave Thorton is someone he despises absolutely.
 * Clasp Your Hands If You Deceive: With the fingertips.
 * Consummate Professional
 * Corporate Samurai
 * The Dog Bites Back: By ruthlessly chasing down a certain type of dossier, you are able to find out who cut him loose and betrayed him during his Deus Vult days. . You then have the option to tell him who it was during the endgame. The results are not pretty.
 * The Dragon: To Leland
 * Evil Counterpart: Can be directly referenced by Mike, if he has the dossier info revealing this and uses Suave responses to deliver "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Marburg in Rome.

"Marburg: Reports place you as someone loyal to your country, and who believes in carrying out your orders. Mike: Is that so odd? Marburg: (+1 Approval) In this day and age... Yes. But not to me."
 * A Father to His Men: During his boss fight, if you kill his minions, he'll go berserk, lose his cool and charge straight at Mike to beat him down in melee.
 * On the other hand, Leland states that Marburg is downright rotten at inspiring loyalty in his subordinates (and Madison seems to reinforce it). He may be protective of the people under his command, but they don't seem to return the favour much.
 * I Gave My Word: Used very darkly at the end of the Rome mission.
 * Guide Dang It: It's extremely tough to provoke Marburg mid-game into attacking you so you can kill him.
 * Horrible Judge of Character: Is extremely easy to goad or get to like you by staying on one way of talking. Also trusts Leland and thinks Halbech is genuinely better than the government. His dossier even states that he's quite poor when it comes to choosing employees, assuming professionalism and loyalty but never tests for it.
 * It's Personal: If you kill his men.
 * Jim Cummings
 * Know When to Fold'Em: The main reason he's survived for so long is the fact that he never fights to the death and will retreat if he needs to..
 * Meaningful Name: Konrad von Marburg was a 13th century German inquisitor renown for his sadism and for more or less single-handedly making the Inquisition fall out of favour in Germany. The game's Marburg is similar in that he's willing to go extraordinary lengths for the causes he believes in, not to mention it implies his name is possibly a given alias, like Mike's.
 * My Country, Right or Wrong: Marburg approves of Mike having this attitude, even if it means the two of you are at odds because of it.
 * My Country, Right or Wrong: Marburg approves of Mike having this attitude, even if it means the two of you are at odds because of it.


 * Not So Different: He at one point refers to Mike as "me, twenty years ago". If you're a primarily Suave Mike, you can throw it right back in his face.
 * Out, Damned Spot!: He wears black gloves at all times. If Mike has accumulated enough of his dossier before meeting him, he can accuse him of wearing them in a feeble attempt to keep the blood off of his hands.
 * The Sadistic Choice:
 * Scare Chord: One plays every time he appears.
 * : He chooses to do this by
 * Skippable Boss: Not in Rome, but in the final mission. If you, he'll just walk away.
 * Invisible to Gaydar: Implied.
 * We Can Rule Together: If he likes Mike, he'll leave a recommendation with his superiors to hire you and tries to offer you a job himself (at that point, you won't accept no matter what). Leland's decision to give you the same offer in the endgame is completely unaffected by his opinion, giving you an indication of just how much Leland respects his opinion.
 * Wicked Cultured: Judging by the mission where you must infiltrate his villa, he is quite taken with both classical music and neoclassic art.
 * Worthy Opponent: While Mike doesn't reciprocate, he views Thorton as this if you get a high enough reputation with him. He even expresses admiration at points when fighting him, such as commenting on Thorton's resilience if you take a great deal of damage. The achievement for this is even called something along the lines of "Respected Adversary".

SIE
German-born mercenary working for the VCI and a potential ally of Mike's. Potential love interest for Mike...for a given definition of love. (The name is pronounced "zee," by the way) SIE loves aggression, violence, and destruction, and utterly detests smartasses, smooth-talkers, and cold professionals. Has an adversarial relationship with Marburg. She's also the only romanceable character which will not be waiting for you on the boat.


 * Action Girl
 * All Amazons Want Hercules: She really loves it when Mike acts all tough and domineering.
 * BFG
 * Boisterous Bruiser
 * Bonus Boss: There are two opportunities to fight her in the Leningradski Station mission. Beating her increases your rep with her.
 * Combat Sadomasochist: If you shoot her full of holes when you first meet her, she emails you to say how much she enjoys pressing the wounds you gave her.
 * Cool Shades
 * Fetish Fuel Station Attendant
 * Girl with Psycho Weapon: A really, really big honking gun.
 * Hired Guns
 * Hot Amazon
 * In Love with Your Carnage: She goes from being quite appreciative to being outright sexually aroused by Mike's violent rampages if he tends to kill many of his opponents.
 * Mary Elizabeth McGlynn
 * More Dakka: Her solution to most threats
 * Nice Hat: Wears a rather nifty beret.
 * The Not Love Interest: Sort of.
 * Sunglasses At Night
 * The Rival: Of Conrad Marburg. Despite both working for VCI there's no love lost between these two, with Marburg's cold professionalism clashing with SIE's more... enthusiastic approach.

Madison Saint James
Marburg's personal assistant, who discovers Marburg's plans to eliminate Mike and tries to warn him. Potential love interest for Mike. Madison is ambivalent to professional approaches at first, but becomes receptive to Mike's suave stance later on. Being aggressive scares and angers her.


 * Colleen O'Shaughnessey
 * Damsel in Distress
 * Morality Pet: To
 * Nom De Mom: Saint James is her mother's maiden name. Otherwise she'd be.
 * Screw This, I'm Outta Here: If she hates or fears Mike, then she'll eventually before running away.

G22
A secretive organization that has been labelled a terrorist group by most government agencies, G22's precise goals and motivations are largely unknown. It is indicated that the organization seeks to guide and control various factors from behind the scenes, and has a vested interest in maintaining the status quo as this makes prediction of trends and control of change much easier. G22 is also implied to be.


 * The Conspiracy
 * Creepy Monotone: All G22 agents' voices are deliberately masked and turned into electronic monotones.
 * Faceless Goons
 * Glass Cannon: G22 troops pack a wallop but are not very durable.
 * Goggles Do Something Unusual: G22 agents' goggles allow them to see everything in extremely high resolution, making them the hardest troops to sneak past. However, flashbangs are very effective on them thanks to the sensitive nature of the goggles.
 * Highly-Conspicuous Uniform/Highly-Visible Ninja: Glowing blue goggles. Black helmets. Bright red jumpsuits with black armor.
 * The Remnant:.
 * Unknown Rival: As Mike's interrogation goes on, it becomes clear that Halbech has no idea that G22 even exists. (Naturally, Mike can turn this to his advantage if he makes the right calls.)
 * We Are Everywhere

Albatross
Agent of the shadowy organization known as G22. Practical and straightforward, and willing to help Mike in his mission against Halbech. Implied to be And like, Albatross prefers professionalism and subtlety. Overt destruction and massacres annoy him, and aggression and smart-talking are quick ways to piss him off. He's also touchy on the subject of Sis.


 * Badass in a Nice Suit
 * The Handler
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: Played by Robert Clotworthy, better known for uttering the now immortal catchphrase: "This is Jimmy!"
 * Papa Wolf: Let's just say that if Mike, he doesn't take it lightly..
 * Overprotective Dad: He really doesn't like Mike asking questions about Sis and her locket.
 * The Spook
 * The Spymaster
 * Status Quo Is God: His objective. Assisting Mike is one way to ensure that.
 * Stealth Expert: Having him as a handler gives Mike bonuses related to stealth.
 * The Stoic
 * Undying Loyalty: To Sis. As he puts it himself, if Mike spares her, "You've already repaid me in the only currency I value."
 * Voice with an Internet Connection: He and Mike meet in person once. Maybe. If you make the proper choice at the proper time.

Sis
Albatross' personal bodyguard, a young, mute, purple-haired girl who is incredibly lethal in a gunfight and steadfastly loyal to Albatross. The only major female character who Mike can't romance - much to the fandom's disapproval. Sis reacts well to Mike being nice to her, particularly in regards to her locket and her past, and is ambivalent otherwise.


 * Action Girl
 * Badass Adorable
 * Cute Mute
 * Silent Snarker: Combined with a glare that could strip paint and set off fire alarms.
 * Fetish Fuel Station Attendant
 * Guns Akimbo: Specifically with revolvers. The drawback is the fact that it takes her a while to reload.
 * Memento MacGuffin: Her locket.
 * Goth Ninja Bodyguard
 * Peek-a-Bangs
 * Undying Loyalty: To Albatross

Russian Mafia
The Russian Mafia in Moscow served as the buyers and primary transporters of the Halbech missiles used in the airliner attack, and come under Mike's investigation when he follows the money trail to Moscow.


 * The Mafiya
 * Zerg Rush: Mafia criminals aren't that great in terms of combat ability, but there's a lot of them in every mission where you fight them, and they're surprisingly decent hand-to-hand fighters.

Sergei Surkov
Russian businessman and crime boss who helps Mike track down the Halbech weapons being shipped through Moscow. Surkov prefers a professional, businesslike approach, and gets annoyed if Mike tries joking around or gets aggressive.


 * Arms Dealer: Surkov is willing to supply Mike with some very high-end weaponry if they reach an agreement, including the best assault armor in the game.
 * Corrupt Corporate Executive: What he aspires to become.
 * Just a Flesh Wound: Aggressive Mike can shoot him in the leg at the end of the Embassy mission, which will cause him to limp from then on (although he survives without bleeding out somehow—presumably emergency services got to the scene shortly after).
 * The Mafiya
 * Oh Crap:
 * Smug Snake: He'd be a much better liar if he could stop himself from smirking whenever he does.
 * Spanner in the Works: He can become one to.
 * Oh Crap:
 * Smug Snake: He'd be a much better liar if he could stop himself from smirking whenever he does.
 * Spanner in the Works: He can become one to.

Konstantine Brayko
Psychotic Russian crime boss with a penchant for torture, drugs, 80's American rock and roll, and bad haircuts. The professional approach pisses him off (accusing Mike of talking to him like a child) and he's unimpressed by an aggressive approach, but is less turned off by suave.

"Brayko: Who in the fuck are you? Where did you come from? And where the fuck are my guards?! Thorton: I told you guards to go home and go to bed. Your jacket was so loud they couldn't sleep. Brayko: What the fuck did you say!? Thorton: Oh, so you can't hear me over your jacket, either? No wonder it was so easy to sneak in here."
 * Ax Crazy
 * Big Fancy House: His "mansion" is actually a full-blown compound, with two mansions and a guesthouse.
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: Is apparently a relatively successful gangster in spite of (or perhaps as a result of) his mental instability.
 * Cluster F-Bomb
 * Cold-Blooded Torture: While infiltrating his mansion he'll capture Mike's handler and have himself a good time with his knife.
 * Disco Dan: Replace the disco with 80s hairband rock, and you've got a winner.
 * Faux Affably Evil
 * Guns Akimbo: Uses SMGs in his fight.
 * Impossibly Tacky Clothes: To quote Mike: "I wonder how many gay cheetahs had to die to make that jacket?"


 * Amusingly, this is the one stance out of three that doesn't reduce your reputation with him.
 * Knife Nut
 * Laughably Evil
 * Leitmotif: His Boss Battle features Autograph's "Turn Up the Radio" as background music. You're not likely to forget this music in a hurry.
 * What Could Have Been: Apparently, the original concept called for "The Final Countdown".
 * The Mafiya
 * Psychopathic Manchild: A Type C. Best demonstrated with the interior of his Big Fancy House, which looks like a teenager's idea of a cool place to live, complete with a personal video arcade and a spinning bed.
 * Super Serum: He hasn't had coke this good since grade school!

Scarlet Lake
Well-known photo-journalist who specializes in getting stores and exposes on government officials and large corporations, and famous for her willingness to go wherever it takes to get her stories. Becomes an ally of Mike's after  and a source of both help and information. Potential romance interest for Mike. Scarlet prefers both the professional and suave approaches, at least in the initial conversations, and dislikes aggression. She also loves it when Mike sends her dirt on Halbech.


 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Girl-On-Girl Is Hot: Invokes this in one of her emails. (There's no indication that she's actually interested in girls, however.)
 * Heroes Want Redheads
 * Intrepid Reporter: Her profession; she also enjoys a chance to get her hands on evidence of Halbech's dirty deeds.
 * Plucky Girl
 * Killed Mid-Sentence:
 * Walking Spoiler
 * Plucky Girl
 * Killed Mid-Sentence:
 * Walking Spoiler
 * Walking Spoiler
 * Walking Spoiler

Steven Heck
A (alleged) CIA agent operating in Taipei, who is well-connected within Taiwan and commands a small network of agents, as well as supplying weapons and illegal materials to those who can afford it. Mentally unstable, but no less effective for that. Heck prefers either aggression or smart-talking, though the latter more than the former, and likes to be "in the loop" during operations. Being a calm professional annoys him, telling him to limit casualties makes him very, very sad, and ignoring/leaving him out of the loop angers him.

"Steven: Be with ya in a sec, buddy. Oh, and call me "Steve" again and I'll cut off your fingers with cigar clippers."
 * Axe Crazy
 * Berserk Button: Never call him Steve.


 * Beware the Silly Ones: Heck is extremely silly. He's also probably one of the most dangerous men alive.
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer
 * Chekhov's Gun: If you do Taipei before Rome, hacking into the CIA base produces a mail about your adventures in Taipei and mentions something about "the rogue" having been spotted there.
 * Cloudcuckoolander: In your first conversation with him, he'll cheerfully ramble away about everything except the questions you just asked unless you humour him, and it's always hard to tell just how serious he's being about anything.
 * Confusion Fu
 * Conspiracy Theorist: And he's right about most of them.
 * Crazy Prepared: That ? He built that years ago, just in case.
 * Heroic Comedic Sociopath: The game's parody character who's also a complete loony sociopath.
 * Improbable Weapon User: Supposedly. Although never seen using anything more outlandish than a minigun, he claims to have once decapitated someone with a soccer ball and his dossier credits him with having choked a Vatican intelligence agent to death with Communion wafers and killed a Triad gangster with a ten-speed bike (which was found lodged in the victim's abdomen).
 * Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: "Sounds like you need to tie this Omen guy to a chair and give him the bees."
 * In fact, in his very first appearance, he invokes a Jack Bauer Memetic Mutation by torturing Wen Shu to find his car keys.
 * Kill It with Fire: "And then, I set him on fire, just to make sure he got the point."
 * Laughably Evil
 * Motor Mouth: Especially in writing.
 * Nolan North: Very much against type.
 * One-Man Army: Particularly if he is your handler . The other potential handlers bring some backup: . Heck, inflicts the same damage by himself with only the helicopter crew as his backup.
 * Operation Blank: "I name all the operations that go down in Taipei, even the ones that aren't mine. Operation Latex Turtle, Operation Angry Bees, Operation YEEEEAAAAAHHHHHH! Heh. That was a good one."
 * Overt Operative: "Yeah, I work for a division of the CIA that doesn't officially exist - super secret. They just kind of turn me loose and let me go nuts."
 * Power Born of Madness: Being crazy makes him into the ultimate superspy.
 * Psycho for Hire: Amongst other services, Heck also functions as an assassin and offers backup in at least one mission.
 * Psychopathic Manchild
 * Reality Is Out to Lunch: He's the parody character, so his attachment to the plot can be less realistic than the other characters'.
 * The Spook: Is he really a super-spy, or just a gifted (and crazy) amateur? Even after collecting his entire dossier (plus the secret fact), you still can't be sure.
 * Three-Way Sex: "Mike, I have something very important to tell you. I just had sex. With two women. At the same time. Hells yeah."
 * One of Mike's possible responses is a Crowning Moment of Funny, telling him 300 pound women don't really count.
 * Wild Card: Of all the characters and factions, Heck is the most unpredictable of the game, chiefly because he's insane and has no explicable loyalties.
 * Wild Card: Of all the characters and factions, Heck is the most unpredictable of the game, chiefly because he's insane and has no explicable loyalties.

Omen Deng
Agent for the Chinese Secret Police, operating in Taipei during the plot to assassinate Ronald Sung. Deng reacts favorably to professionalism and discretion, and unfavorably to aggression and sarcasm.


 * Affably Evil:
 * Badass: Aside from being a hell of a boss (second only to a Brayko you're not optimized to screw over), see Badass Cape...and Shoot the Dog.
 * Badass Cape
 * The Coats Are Off: He dramatically throws off his cape before fighting you.
 * Commissar Cap
 * Cowardly Boss
 * Famous-Named Foreigner: If the name Deng sounds familiar...
 * Impossibly Cool Clothes: Dude, check out that awesome cape.
 * Meaningful Name: "Omen" (which is actually an assumed name) is a reference to the case that made his career. His real name means "Division Hand."
 * The Quiet One
 * Right Hand Versus Left Hand:
 * Shoot the Dog:
 * Spanner in the Works: He can become one to.
 * The Stoic: It is impossible to piss him off and the only ways to improve your reputation with him are to not resist when he first meets you and by
 * Worthy Opponent
 * The Stoic: It is impossible to piss him off and the only ways to improve your reputation with him are to not resist when he first meets you and by
 * Worthy Opponent