Alpha Protocol/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


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 being watched by another secret agency so secret, it's not even named!
  • Government Conspiracy: Specifically to allow the U.S. government to deny the existence of such agencies.
  • Oddly Small Organization: They have an 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 Mike allows himself to be captured so his handler can tail him back to the facility to assault it.

Michael Thorton

The protagonist and newest recruit for Alpha Protocol. Forced to go rogue when the agency betrays him under Halbech's orders.

  • 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 he gets betrayed at the end of his first mission.
  • 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.
  • Experienced Protagonist: Four of the five default background choices for Mike Thorton have him with achievements and experience whether in the military, government service or as a globetrotting Freelancer that have drawn the attention of the eponymous agency. This experience is reflected in having higher base skill points right from chargen. The sole exception is "Recruit", but completing a run with that selected unlocks the Veteran background that takes this Up to Eleven with Mike being a member of a similar organization that sought Alpha Protocol out by himself. Accordingly, a Veteran Mike has even more starting points and some unique dialogue reflecting this greater experience.
  • 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 the Thorton, Inc. ending, in which everyone up to and including Leland fall victim to his manipulations.
  • 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 under which he is wanted by the U.S. government).
  • 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.
  • Rogue Agent: Officially declared one after Saudi Arabia, courtesy of Mina Tang.
  • 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: In the Thorton, Inc. ending, he takes down Alpha Protocol for Leland, then turns around and stabs Leland in the back, taking over Halbech and gaining effective control of the U.S. government.
  • Take Over the World: If you choose the Thorton, Inc. ending by working with Leland and betraying him at the end.
  • 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 you don't collect Surkov's data in the embassy that leads Mike to the fact that Surkov was the actual weapons dealer, and he was sending Mike to kill Brakyo to eliminate competition. 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 selling out to Halbech... and possibly betraying them for his own ends.

Mina Tang

Tactical specialist and handler for Alpha Protocol, who helps Mike for the majority of the game, especially after he is forced to go rogue. 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 the final mission. Since this is Alpha Protocol, Mike can rescue her... or he can leave her to die or even kill her himself.
  • Double Agent: She's working for someone functioning as monitors and power checks on 'unaccountable' agencies like Alpha Protocol. Her dossier's secret fact implies it's the NSA.
  • The Handler: She's responsible for getting Mike the intel he needs.
  • 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 tied to a chair in a room full of bombs at the time, it's not an academic discussion).
  • Mission Control: She serves as this for most of the game.
  • The Mole: She's actually an agent tasked with infiltrating Alpha Protocol and monitoring them for another agency so secret it remains unnamed. She says that for every "accountability-free" organization, there's someone like her to act as the actual watchdog of the group in case their underhanded dealings get too underhanded, which they have.
    • In addition, Mina was the one who enacted Alpha Protocol status on Mike. She admits as much to Mike at the endgame, explaining that she needed him to go against Alpha Protocol and Halbech to expose them. As a result, Mina alone was responsible for Mike being "forced" to go rogue.
    • To be fair, Parker makes it clear that Mike was intended to have been killed in the missile attack (which they orchestrated) and would have been "contained" had he returned. Mina probably saved Mike's life by declaring him rogue.
  • 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. Unlocking her full dossier and Secret Fact reveals she's still loyal to the NSA and implies heavily that the NSA either is or is in cahoots with whoever is monitoring 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: She almost never leaves the Greybox. Mike actually instinctively checks his earpiece when she meets up with him in person.

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: He's in charge of Alpha Protocol and he won't tolerate any bullshit on Mike's part.
  • Ironic Hell: If Mike arrests him, the epilogue mentions that he is facing years of courtroom trials. Westridge joined Alpha Protocol so he could protect his country without being held accountable for using questionable methods.
  • 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 when you arrest him.
  • Mission Control: Serves as this early in the game.
  • 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 setting Mike up as a patsy and later trying to kill him.
  • Rush Boss: He packs a lot of fire power, but he doesn't have much damage resistance.
  • The Spymaster: All of Alpha Protocol's agents report to him.
  • True Final Boss: You only fight him if you're taking down Alpha Protocol for Leland or Shaheed.
  • Unwitting Pawn: Since he was conditioned to never question his orders, he failed to realize that Leland was manipulating Alpha Protocol and the U.S. government.
  • Voice with an Internet Connection: Mike meets him in person once at the end of the prologue and may meet him again as the Final Boss 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 U.S. 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.
  • Boss Arena Idiocy: He leaves a sniper rifle in a guard tower with a good line of sight to his location. Justified, however, as its perfectly in character for him to overlook that in his eagerness to kill Mike.
  • Casanova Wannabe: Hits on Mina nonstop. It is definitely not reciprocated.
  • Dirty Coward: If Mike fights him at the climax, Darcy talks about how badass he is before hiding in a guard tower and throwing grenades at the player, while sending waves of goons to fight and die to keep Mike busy.
  • Jerkass: Sleazy and pushy towards Mina? Check. Serious inferiority complex towards Mike? Check. Yeah, this guy's a doozy.
  • Kick the Dog: Beating up Mina in the final mission.
  • Mission Control: Briefly.
  • The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: If Darcy hates Mike, he'll send Mike an email after going rogue that essentially boils down to "I'm going to find you and kill you."
  • 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.
  • Worthy Opponent: If he respects Mike, Darcy sends him an email that offers him a chance to surrender and be taken in alive and unharmed.

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 all the subsequent operations Mike struggles against were meticulously planned by Parker. Ironically, if Mike proves his calculations were wrong and spares Shaheed, spares and earns the friendship of Omen Deng, and secures Surkov as an ally, 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. Unfortunately for Marburg, he presses it in Rome.
  • The Evil Genius: He made the calculations for Leland's plans.
  • Heel Face Turn: Mike can convince him to keep the Alpha Protocol data and walk away by keeping Shaheed alive (and thus messing up his calculations), by logically deducing how his calculations are flawed and how they can stick it all onto Halbech and set up shop again under a new name, or by naming Marburg as Madison's kidnapper/killer. In the latter case, it becomes a case of Redemption Equals Death, as Marburg will kill him.
  • Jerkass: He openly admits to viewing other people as expendable tools.
  • Michael Bell
  • No Social Skills: At all. And he disapproves of those who exhibit them in his presence.
  • Non-Action Guy
  • Papa Wolf: He is Madison's father. If Marburg killed Madison, and Mike provides proof to Parker, he'll shoot Marburg at the endgame.
  • 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. Pointing out all the flaws in his grand scheme is one way to turn him.
  • The Stoic
  • Worthy Opponent: Very subtly. He respects the hell out of Mike, in his own understated way, if the latter is also The Chessmaster.

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 bad guys 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: Interestingly, however, the fact that he's an oil sheikh isn't very important to the plot; it's his missiles that are a problem and thus kick off the first act, not his oil.
  • Catch Phrase: "I am a man of my word."
  • Defeat Means Friendship: Will join forces with Mike if he spares his life.
  • Face Death with Dignity: If he is executed during the endgame.
  • I Gave My Word: See Catch Phrase above.
  • 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 Parker.
  • Unexplained Recovery: If you try to arrest Shaheed at the end of Operation Desert Spear, he will die in the missile strike sent to kill you. Apparently, Mike either didn't check his corpse well enough or the game is bugged at that point because the ending will treat him as still alive.

Halbech Inc.

A major weapons and technology contractor for the U.S. 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: They are one of the largest weapons manufacturers in the United States.
  • 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.[1] If he favors Mike at the end-game, he'll offer Mike a chance to work for Halbech.

  • Big Bad:
    • Non-Action Big Bad: Being a corporate executive in his fifties, he's not much of a physical challenge if you decide to fight him.
  • Corrupt Corporate Executive: He has no problem with causing the deaths of thousands just to make a profit.
  • Cruel Mercy: If Mike chooses to spare him in the normal ending, it's only so he can watch his beloved Halbech collapse from the scandal.
  • 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. If Mike sides with him at the end and doesn't betray him, then he give Mike a cigar to signify Mike's Face Heel Turn.
  • Rush Boss: He goes down after a single punch if you can bypass the lock of the room that he is holed up in, but if he hits you with his rocket launcher...
  • Screw the Rules, I Have Money: Believes that Halbech and its contracts are too important for the U.S. 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. Deus Vult was also a former iteration of Alpha Protocol, and Marburg was an agent of the organization. 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.

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.

  • Affably Evil: He's very cordial for a ruthless murderer.
  • 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: He is always seen wearing a fancy suit.
  • Berserk Button: He hates people who are "all talk". Naturally, a Suave Thorton is someone he despises absolutely. This is the key to convincing him to stay and fight so you can finish him off.
  • Clasp Your Hands If You Deceive: With the fingertips.
  • Consummate Professional: He follows his orders to the letter and respects Mike if he does the same.
  • Corporate Samurai: He's long since replaced his loyalty to the United States with his loyalty to Halbech.
  • 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. It was Parker. 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: He used to be a member of Deus Vult, one of Alpha Protocol's previous incarnations, but the agency was compromised, and he was unjustly declared a rogue agent. 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.

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.

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • I Gave My Word: Used very darkly at the end of the Rome mission. If you choose to go after the bomb, Marburg will appear with a still-live Madison, and kill her in front of your eyes. There is no apparent benefit or logic to it in the least since his plan has already failed, and a professional Mike will Lampshade this, and Marburg's reply is essentially that he said he'd kill her if you went for the bomb, and you did.
  • Invisible to Gaydar: Implied.
  • It's Personal: If you kill his men. Also if you out Parker as his former handler.
  • Jim Cummings
  • Karma Houdini/Easily Forgiven: Can be this depending on your choices.
  • 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. Of course, with enough taunting, he'll make an exception for Mike.
  • 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. Marburg is implied to have been the same way before Deus Vult threw him to the wolves, and has now merely switched his blind loyalty to Halbech and Leland.

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.

  • 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: Stop the bombing, or save Madison. Pick one, Mike.
  • Scare Chord: One plays every time he appears.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: If you don't out him to Parker and have his dossier and high reputation with him, Mike can make him do this in the endings. He chooses to do this by showing up as you're about to arrest Leland (who is gloating about how he still has an ace up his sleeve) before shaking his head and walking off.
  • Skippable Boss: Not in Rome, but in the final mission. If you persuade him that Halbech will screw him over eventually, he'll just walk away.
  • 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: Probably the most badass girl in the game.
  • All Amazons Want Hercules: She really loves it when Mike acts all tough and domineering.
  • BFG: She wields an M-60. It pumps out enough bullets that Mike assumes that SIE is actually an army when he first hears it.
  • Boisterous Bruiser: She loves fighting.
  • 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: She wears sunglasses all the time.
  • Girl with Psycho Weapon: A really, really big honking gun.
  • Hired Guns: She works for just about everyone who pays her. She also has no problems with betraying an employer the moment they stop paying her.
  • 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. You can romance her and even have a romance scene just before your last mission begins. But she's the only female character that can join you on the last mission that WON'T be waiting for Mike on the boat, no matter what you do.
  • 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.
  • Sunglasses at Night: She even wears sunglasses during the nighttime assault on Brayko's mansion.

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.

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 created from the remnants of another previous iteration of Alpha Protocol, known as G19.

  • The Conspiracy: They seem to be part of one.
  • Creepy Monotone: All G22 agents' voices are deliberately masked and turned into electronic monotones.
  • Faceless Goons: With the exception of SIS and Albatross, all of their members wear futuristic helmets.
  • 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: G22 is apparently descended from G19, a former iteration of Alpha Protocol.
  • 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 the analyst for the "G19" incarnation of Alpha Protocol, acting in a similar capacity to Parker for the current incarnation. And like Parker, 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: It's implied that he can kick ass when he needs to.
  • The Handler: He's Mike's liaison with G22.
  • Papa Wolf: Let's just say that if Mike kills Sis, he doesn't take it lightly. He'll assault Alpha Protocol in the endgame just to kill Mike.
    • Overprotective Dad: He really doesn't like Mike asking questions about Sis and her locket.
  • The Spook: Good luck learning anything about him.
  • The Spymaster: He has command of an entire cell of G22 agents.
  • 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: He never shows any overt emotion. The reputation change notifications are the only way the player can tell how he feels about Mike.
  • 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.

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: Goes without saying.
  • 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. Actually the supplier of the weapons for Halbech in the first place. 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.
  • Family-Unfriendly Death: If Mike gives him to Brayko. There's a Gory Discretion Shot, but according to the news reports, he clearly had one.
  • 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). If you follow Moscow to the end and don't take his deal or give him to Brayko in the last mission, Mike will shoot him in the other leg and use the fact he's bleeding out as leverage to get his evidence.
  • The Mafiya: He used to be a major crime lord.
  • The Man Behind the Curtain: Unlike Brayko, he doesn't directly fight Thorton, his dragon, Championchik, makes the mistake of thinking that Mike won't bring a gun to a boxing match, and he can be negotiated with after only dealing with a few of his Mooks. He'll also make the same mistake with Brayko and end up winning "Gold Medal in Dying".
  • Manipulative Bastard: You come to Moscow, more or less looking for him. He sends you to kill or be killed by his competition/former protégé.
  • Oh Crap: If Mike doesn't kill Brayko, instead bringing him out to deal with Surkov, he is shocked that neither of you are dead and the fact that Brayko now wants a "chat" between him and his knife...
  • 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 Parker.
  • The Starscream: If you trust him too much, he basically becomes a new Leland, according to the newscast that explains the consequences of your choices in the game.

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.

  • Ax Crazy: Brayko loves cutting people up and his dossier notes that he makes a point of personally getting his hands dirty.
  • 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: He uses at least two "fucks" a sentence.
  • 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 80's 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?"

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.

    • Amusingly, this is the one stance out of three that doesn't reduce your reputation with him.
  • Knife Nut: He's infamous for slowly killing his enemies with knives. After dealing with him, Mike will get his knife as a souvenir for his safehouse, noting that there's enough coke residue on the knife to still get really high.
  • 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.
  • The Mafiya: He's a major figure in Russian organized crime.
  • 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! Though Heck can poison it for you.

Other/Independent

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 he goes rogue 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.[2] She also loves it when Mike sends her dirt on Halbech.

  • Deadpan Snarker: She loves trading barbs with Mike.
  • Dragon Their Feet: If Mike tries to spare Leland in the ending and doesn't know her true profession, she shoots Mike. Fortunately, he either convinces her to kill Leland instead or Mina or Heck shoots her dead.
  • Friendly Sniper: Was the one who actually shot Sung.
  • 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
  • Hitman with a Heart: She goes to great lengths to avoid killing anyone she's not being paid to kill.
  • Intrepid Reporter: Her profession; she also enjoys a chance to get her hands on evidence of Halbech's dirty deeds. Subverted. She uses her reporter status as a cover for her... other career. And there's no indication that she ever runs an expose on anything Halbech does; she is, after all, on their payroll.
  • Killed Mid-Sentence: If you choose to execute her for the assassination (attempt) on Sung.
  • Plucky Girl: No matter how messed up things get, she still remains optimistic about her chances.
  • Professional Killer: She's a contract killer hired by Halbech as the actual Taipei assassin.
  • Punch Clock Villain: She hates Leland and Halbech and only works for them for the money.
  • 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.

  • Axe Crazy: He has a disturbing fondness for killing people in inventive ways.
  • Berserk Button: Never call him Steve.

Steven: Be with ya in a sec, buddy. Oh, and call me "Steve" again, and I'll cut off your fingers with cigar clippers.

  • Beware the Silly Ones: Heck is extremely silly. He's also probably one of the most dangerous men alive.
  • Bunny Ears Lawyer: You'd think something like being completely out of one's gourd would make a person less effective as a spy... until you met Heck. His help comes with the trouble of putting up with his, uh, quirks, but it's usually worthwhile in ways you could never have predicted. For instance! Say you need to obtain several pounds of high quality cocaine, spike it with rat poison, and ship it to a specific location in Russia on short notice with no questions asked. Heck's the man to get that done.
  • 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: He claims to have built his own "fighting style" based on swift and unpredictable strikes, but it seems more likely that what makes him effective is his lack of formal training, combined with his crazy and willingness to use anything and everything. If you have Heck as your handler, and you've got a positive reputation with him, you'll get the handler perk "Fighting Dirty", which provides a bonus to melee damage. If you piss him off instead, you'll get a reduction to enemy sight range.
  • Conspiracy Theorist: And he's right about most of them.
  • Crazy Prepared: That gatling gun mounted on a subway car? 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."
  • Kill It with Fire: "And then, I set him on fire, just to make sure he got the point."
  • Laughably Evil
  • The Mole: Evidence points very strongly to him being Halbech's enigmatic collaborator in Taipei, and the one responsible for orchestrating the assassination attempt. When questioned about it, Chris Avellone just said it does sound like the sort of thing Heck would do.
  • Motor Mouth: Especially in writing.
  • Nolan North: Very much against type.
  • One-Man Army: Particularly if he is your handler for the assault on Alpha Protocol. The other potential handlers bring some backup: SIE brings VCI troops, while Albatross sends in G22 and Sis. 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."
  • 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. And yet should you gain his trust, he'll never betray you: his lack of loyalties means he also has no hidden agenda and won't sell you out no matter what. He'll only backstab you if you antagonise him.

Omen Deng

Agent for the Chinese Secret Police, operating in Taipei during the plot to assassinate Ronald Sung. Actually a double agent of Sung's, who infiltrated the CSP, and believes Mike is the assassin sent after Sung. Deng reacts favorably to professionalism and discretion, and unfavorably to aggression and sarcasm.

  1. As a result, when being debriefed by him, one has to carefully choose the right responses. Aggressive or professional approaches labelled as 'cynical' or 'pragmatic' will get his approval, as will suave responses denying him when he's fishing for information.
  2. The first conversation with Scarlett is a bit of a minefield, as picking the wrong moment to be suave or professional can annoy her.
  3. "When Jack Bauer forgets where he left his keys, he tortures himself until he gives up their location."