Mass Effect 2/Characters/Antagonists and NPCs: Difference between revisions

=== The Illusive Man, AKAa.k.a. {{spoiler|Jack Harper}} ===

The enigmatic leader of Cerberus. He seeks to protect humanity, regardless of the cost. He gets Shepard to investigate the disappearance of human colonies. He is the protagonist of the tie-in comic ''Mass Effect: Evolution'' {{spoiler|where it's revealed that his real name is Jack Harper, and he got his start by fighting the turians on Shanxi, and his eyes were damaged when he encountered a Reaper artifact on the planet during the struggle.}}.

In ''Mass Effect 3'', he makes his most ambitious move yet -: attempting to gain control of the Reapers and their technology rather than defeating them conventionally.

* [[Anti-Villain]]: {{spoiler|When he first shows up, at least.}}.

* [[Appropriated Appellation]]: His anti-alien manifesto was derided by Alliance command after first contact as "survivalist rhetoric written by an illusive man"." He kinda rolled with it.

* [[Batman Gambit]]: His plan to revive Shepard as-is through the Lazarus project is one of these, and it is even [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] at the beginning of the game by Miranda. {{spoiler|His gambit pays off big in the Renegade ending, but he winds up [[Hoist by His Own Petard|hoisted by his own petard]] in the Paragon ending and undergoes a [[Villainous Breakdown]].}}.

** {{spoiler|Attempts an enormous one against the Reapers in ''Mass Effect 3'', in order to take control of them to subdue other species and put humanity on top. However, his plan fails because he doesn't fully anticipate just how out of his league his own (very strong, but only human) mind is in the face of an [[Eldritch Abomination]] and ends up being indoctrinated.}}.

* [[Benevolent Boss]]: He will do everything in his power to help out his subordinates... so long as they remain loyal and useful.

** [[Bad Boss]]: Just don't betray him. Just ask {{spoiler|Paul Grayson, who gets Reaper technology implanted into him.}}. In the third game, {{spoiler|he uses Reaper technology to create an army of slaves, among other atrocities.}}.

* [[Big Bad Ensemble]]: He's the second most recurring antagonist throughout the ''Mass Effect'' series, including the comics.

** {{spoiler|[[Big Bad Duumvirate]]: Subverted, despite what the characters believe. While Harbinger and Cerberus largely ignore a direct confrontation throughout most of ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'', the Illusive Man took great steps to control the Reapers in the meantime -: he ordered Henry Lawson to study indoctrination, buffed Cerberus to [[NGO Superpower]] status and modified himself with Reaper tech so he could use the Crucible. Once Harbinger finds out, the Reapers storm Sanctuary in a brief moment of [[Evil Versus Evil]]. However, that research ultimately led to the Illusive Man himself becoming indoctrinated (or strengthening it, since his eyes ''are'' Reaper tech). By the final confrontation, it's made clear that TIM was little more than [[The Starscream]]. }}.

* [[Body Horror]]: {{spoiler|His cybernetic implants during the final confrontation.}}.

* [[Call Back]]: {{spoiler|TIM's suicide is Saren redux.}}.

* [[The Casanova]]: His dossier in the ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' [[Downloadable Content|DLC]] reveals this.

[[Boldly Coming|Matriarch Trellani]] (twice) }}

** We see even more of this in ''[[Mass Effect 3]]''. He tries to ensure Shepard will be at ease working with Cerberus by recruiting [[Ace Pilot|Joker]] and [[Team Mom|Dr. Chakwas.]]. He also specifically uses [[Ethical Slut|Kelly Chambers]], [[Violent Glaswegian|Ken Donnelly]] and [[Wrench Wench|Gabby Daniels]]

* [[Cunning Linguist]]: Apparently can speak the asari and turian dialects unaided by universal translator, although this is apparently because of {{spoiler|the Reaper tech he was implanted with.}}.

* {{spoiler|[[Cutscene Boss]]}}: {{spoiler|At the end of the third game, you will either be able to [[Talking the Monster to Death|convince him to kill himself]], [[Call Back|like with Saren in the first game]], or you'll have to take him out using one of two [[Quick Time Event|Renegade interrupts]]. Not taking either of them results in a [[Nonstandard Game Over]].}}.

* [[Devil in Plain Sight]]: Doesn't matter whether Shepard is Paragon or Renegade;, you always get dialogue options about whether or not the Illusive Man is trustworthy, and whether he knows more than he lets on at the end of several missions (in both cases, often to his face). Granted, a lot of this is to do with Cerberus's reputation and the player's experience of them in the previous game, but even so, itsit's clear that Shepard and other characters are wary of him and his organization, especially as the game goes on, and it becomes more and more obvious that they are still up to no good.

* [[Did Not Do the Research]]: Or, perhaps, too much ego. {{spoiler|Obviously, he thought he could outwit indoctrination and not end up like Saren. He couldn't.}}.

* {{spoiler|[[Driven to Suicide]]}}: {{spoiler|If Shepard can make him realize that he's being indoctrinated during their last conversation, he will choose to shoot himself.}}.

* [[Empathic Environment]]: His office. {{spoiler|If Shepard is a Paragon, the star will turn blue. Otherwise (i.e., Renegade), it will turn red.}}.

*** {{spoiler|[[Jumping Off the Slippery Slope]]}}: {{spoiler|Whatever his research ethics were like before, it becomes clear in the third game that he's thrown off any remaining restraints, to the point of attempting to institute a ''second'' Project Overlord, which disgusts even the head of the original project.}}.

* [[Evil Is Not a Toy]]: {{spoiler|As [[Magnificent Bastard|magnificent]] as he was, he was still way out of his league attempting to take control of the Reapers.}}.

* [[Expy]]: The Illusive Man's development in ''Mass Effect 3'' is rather parallel to Saren's from the first game: they both are [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|Well Intentioned Extremists]] who crosses the [[Moral Event Horizon]] to deal with the reaper threat. {{spoiler|While Saren feels that he can work with the reapers to save all organic, TIM decides to try to find a way to control them. They both even justify their actions with the '''exact same''' argument; "the reapers never truly wiped out all of organics. Both of their paths leads to them getting reaper implants, making them easier to be indoctrinated. In the end, they both can also die in the same exact way, committing suicide if Shepard manages to convince them that the reapers are controlling them.}}.

* [[Fatal Flaw]]: His [[Pride]]. He's so convinced that the ends justify the means, {{spoiler|it leads to himself and the entirety of Cerberus getting indoctrinated by the Reapers}}.

** {{spoiler|Un-shackled EDI explains that Cerberus owns the companies that built the first ''Normandy''. They likely still have the resources and technology involved.}}.

* [[Gameplay and Story Segregation]]: {{spoiler|Even if you've finished the game depriving him of Reaper tech, he'll still go out of his way to get Kasumi in your team even though they've already finished their mission. The same goes for the Overlord mission, begging the question of why he'd request your aid in stopping his project after you blew up the Collector Base. In addition, you still get Cerberus funding when completing missions.}}.

* [[Good Smoking, Evil Smoking]]: We ''never'' see him without a cigarette. Made fun of in the ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' DLC: Hehe smokes at least four a day and has seven drinks a day.

* {{spoiler|[[Heel Realization]]: Like Saren before him, can be talked into having one, both into realizing that he's indoctrinated and how much his actions have hurt humanity.}}.

* {{spoiler|[[He Who Fights Monsters]]: How did he raise such a huge army in ''[[Mass Effect 3]]''? Indoctrination. Unfortunately, indoctrination based on Reaper tech. He wasn't just playing with fire, he was playing with randomly spontaneously combusting thermite. And naturally, he succumbed himself.}}.

* [[Hidden Agenda Villain]]: He's trying to make humanity dominant in the galaxy. Beyond that, not even Miranda, his most loyal agent, has any idea what he wants. {{spoiler|The third game reveals that he's looking for a way to control the Reapers.}}.

* [[Jerkass Has a Point]]: Despite everything he's done wrong, and the truth behind his actions and motivations in the third game, one of the three endings reveals that {{spoiler|the Illusive Man's plan had a large bit of truth all along. Players who don't wish to destroy all synthetic life or watch the Citadel burst into flames (with all those people who are still stuck on it) will have no choice but to appreciate what he has been working so hard to do.}}.

* [[Manipulative Bastard]]: Although he is not as manipulative as he wants to think, what with trying (and failing) to persuade Paragon Shepard to {{spoiler|save the Collector base.}}.

* [[Necessarily Evil]]: His stance on some of his actions in ''Mass Effect 2'' and just about everything he does in ''Mass Effect 3''.

* [[Not So Different]]: ''Mass Effect 3'' starts to show that he and {{spoiler|Saren}} are frighteningly similar.

* [[Psychotic Smirk]]: {{spoiler|Give him the Collector base at the end of the game, and he'll have a rather creepy one of these.}}.

* [[Shut UP, Hannibal]]: {{spoiler|What Paragon Shepard does to him after destroying the Collector base. Bonus points for Miranda doing it too, when asked to convince him/her not to do it. Extra bonus points for "Shut up" being the actual dialogue option that shows up on screen.}}.

** {{spoiler|The whole of the final confrontation with him in the third game is consists of this combined with a healthy dose of [[Kirk Summation]] and [["The Reason You Suck" Speech]].}}.

* [[Smug Snake]]: {{spoiler|If you refuse to give him the Collector's base at the end, his unflappable demeanor... flaps a bit.}}.

* [[The Social Darwinist]]: Develops shades of this in ''Mass Effect 3'' (an attitude Kai Leng embraces wholeheartedly). In this case, "evolution" = {{spoiler|becoming Reaper-tech transhumans.}}.

* [[Spanner in the Works]]: Part of how Cerberus operates in ''Mass Effect 3''. {{spoiler|Attacking Sur'Kesh to kill the fertile females, and attempting to set off a Turian bomb on Tuchanka in order to prevent races from uniting.}}.

* [[Start of Darkness]]: ''Mass Effect: Evolution''.

* [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]]: To {{spoiler|Saren}} in ''Mass Effect 3''. {{spoiler|Both seek to use the Reapers as a means to secure the dominance of their race, and end up indoctrinated and implanted with Reaper tech for their efforts. Shepard can even talk the Illusive Man into suicide in an almost exact replication of Saren. According to a Prothean VI, every cycle has groups like these that emerge.}}.

* {{spoiler|[[Talking the Monster to Death]]}}: {{spoiler|You can convince him to kill himself at the end of ''Mass Effect 3''. However, unlike with the encounter with Saren in the first game, which just requires a bunch of points in the Charm or Intimidate skills, the dialogue option to do this with the Illusive Man is ''very'' [[Guide Dang It|difficult to unlock]]; you have to have near-max EMS, a completely full Reputation bar, ''and'' have to have taken all of the Persuade options in ''every conversation you have with him during the game''.}}.

* [[Tragic Hero]] / [[Tragic Villain]]: He needs quite a bit of whitewashing to be considered a 'hero', but the fact remains that he had the power, knowledge (his information network nearly rivals the Shadow Broker's), and charisma to stand a significant chance of defeating the Reapers. {{spoiler|Too bad his [[Pride]] led to him getting too close to Reaper tech and becoming one of their biggest assets against Shepard. It's hard to argue that, had the Illusive Man sided with Shepard when they encountered one another on Mars, the fight could have been won much sooner and more easily.}}.

* {{spoiler|[[The Unfought]]: In ''Mass Effect 3''. This is slightly justified since he is a [[Non-Action Big Bad]]. A battle with him was originally intended, but they decided that going [[One-Winged Angel]] and turning into an unrecognizable monster didn't fit someone whose weapon had always been his mind / ideals. Or because it was "too videogamey".}}.

* [[Ungrateful Bastard]]: Cerberus will oppose Shepard in ''Mass Effect 3'' regardless of whether s/he {{spoiler|decided to destroy the Collector base or not}}, {{spoiler|though it later becomes clear that this largely due to indoctrination.}}.

** In ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'', he has a pretty epic one when {{spoiler|confronting Shepard and Anderson at the endgame, especially if Shepard keeps pointing out that his plan to control the Reapers is failing because he himself is indoctrinated and playing into their hands}}. It ends with him either {{spoiler|ranting violently at Shepard and trying to shoot him/her and Anderson, or fighting off his indoctrination and committing suicide.}}.

* [[What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?]]: In the third game, {{spoiler|his reaction to seeing Shepard after s/he storms his base}}:

* [[Commanding Coolness]]: Gets promoted to this by the time you meet him in ''Mass Effect 3''.

* [[A Day in the Limelight]]: ''Mass Effect: Inquisition'', where it's revealed that {{spoiler|Bailey ended up killing Pallin while investigating him under Udina's orders. Of course, he believes that Pallin's innocent of whatever he was accused of despite evidence to the contrary.}}.

* [[Hidden Heart of Gold]]: Willing to engage in dirty business to keep the peace, but he's anything but a thug -: see below.

* [[Noble Bigot]]: Subverted. Although this trope often goes hand in hand with [[Old-Fashioned Copper]], Bailey is one of the few NPC's in the series to avoid this. During Thane's quest, he shows empathy towards the alien population's fear of humans, observing that many of them have lived on the station since before humanity discovered space travel. All the more impressive given that many of the C-Sec officers throughout the game are very openly speciesist, including (at first) Garrus.

* [[Retcon]]: An accidental one regarding his name. A background news report in the second game refers to him as Owen Bailey, but the ''[[Downloadable Content|Lair of the Shadow Broker]]'' archives refer to him as Armando Bailey. A later Cerberus Daily News report patched up the mistake by giving him the rather unwieldy first name "Armando-Owen.".

* {{spoiler|[[You Kill It, You Bought It]]}}: {{spoiler|Basically how he got his job, though unintentionally.}}.

"The Alliance does not condone assassination. We would never give that order. Killing Darius was your decision alone - and because you're a Spectre, we couldn't reprimand you if we wanted to." }}

* [[Ink Suit Actor]]: Preview pics for the ''The Arrival'' DLC indicate [[BioWare]] decided to model Hackett's face off Lance Henriksen's.

* [[Ironic Echo]] / [[Meaningful Echo]]: "You've done a hell of a thing." <ref>What Hackett tells Shepard in the first game if s/he manages to save everyone in the Paragon-exclusive mission. Also what he says after Shepard [[Shoot the Dog|buys the galaxy some time]] in ''Arrival''.</ref>

** In ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'', {{spoiler|his dossier reveals that [[Genre Savvy|he denied an Alliance desk jockey's request to have Shepard detained and interrogated for a few months due to his/her ties to Cerberus, and with style.]]}}.

** Later in the same DLC, Liara {{spoiler|reveals that Hackett was the one who gave her Shepard's dogtags, and confirmed that Shepard was still alive before they actually met, wishing Shepard well.}}.

** After Shepard is forced to {{spoiler|kill 300,000 batarians, Hackett notes that he will do what he can to protect Shepard and delay any fallout that s/he will have to face as long as possible saying that s/he did what s/he did for the right reasons. He even tells him/her to keep his report because he doesn't need it to know that s/he did the right thing.}}.

* [[Rousing Speech]]: {{spoiler|He gives one during the endgame of ''Mass Effect 3''.}}.

{{quote|{{spoiler|"Never before have so many come together - from all quarters of the galaxy. But never before have we faced an enemy such as this. The Reapers will show us no mercy. We must give them no quarter. They will terrorize our populations. We must stand fast in the face of that terror. They will advance until our last city falls, but we will not fall. We will prevail. Each and every one of us will be defined by our actions in the coming battle. Stand fast. Stand strong. Stand together. Hackett out.}}.}}

* [[The Voice]]: Until ''The Arrival''.

{{quote|''"You're free to go, Justicar. It's been an honor having you in my station... and it's nice you didn't kill me, too."''}}

Anaya is a cop on [[Crap Saccharine World|Illium]] that Shepard meets when looking for Samara. She is quite helpful, as Shepard's cause might draw Samara away from Illium—andIllium... and therefore keep Anaya from having to arrest and be subsequently killed by the justicar.

'''Anaya:''' Yeah, that. }}

* [[Hero Worshipper]]: Like most Asari, is in total awe of a Justicar like Samara, even if that Justicar will [[Lawful Stupid|probably end up eventually killing her.]].

* [[Shout-Out]]: After the mission, she sends you an e-mail titled [[Portal (series)|Still Alive]].

An Asari Matriarch working in the Eternity bar on Illium because she had the ''blue laughed off her ass'' when suggesting her people build more mass relays. Bothered, but not too worried, about being confronted by [[Butt Monkey|Conrad Verner]], and implies she would have dealt with him a lot more violently than Shepard. {{spoiler|She is actually Liara's father. She took the bartending job in Eternity and later the Apollo cafe both to keep an eye on Liara for the other matriarchs and to keep the less sympathetic ones from trying something.}}.

* [[Disappeared Dad]]: Well... ''technically.''.

* [[Easter Egg]]: {{spoiler|If you order a "mystery drink" at the kiosk, then talk to her again, her character model is of a much younger and more attractive asari.}}.

* {{spoiler|[[If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...]]: She gives Shepard a barely-veiled threat along these lines if s/he's been romancing Liara in the third game.}}.

* [[Mrs. Robinson]]: She flirts with Shepard quite a bit. {{spoiler|The fact that she's Liara's dad plays it even closer.}}.

** {{spoiler|Also prompted Benezia's petname for Liara, "Little-wing".}}.

* {{spoiler|[[Papa Wolf]]: Technically falls under this rather than [[Mama Bear]] since she's the father in the situation. Either way, she has been making sure nobody messes with Liara.}}.

* [[Really Gets Around]]: "You find peace in whatever arms will hold you." Apart from {{spoiler|Benezia}}, the lovers she sees fit to mention are a turian, an elcor, and a hanar.

* [[The Reveal]]: {{spoiler|1=She has been confirmed to be Liara's father. Not that Liara didn't already figure it out. ([http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExcPXH3ThzA seen here].)}}.

{{spoiler|At the end, its revealed that his brother didn't volunteer at all for the last phases of the experiment, ''he forced his own brother, against his will, to take part in the experiment'', despite knowing full well how horrific and traumatizing it would be on him.}}.

* [[The Atoner]]: {{spoiler|He quit Cerberus after the events of ''Overlord'' and is more than willing to help Shepard to defeat the Reapers in ''Mass Effect 3.''}}.

* {{spoiler|[[Crocodile Tears]]: A variation. He makes a seemingly heartfelt plea for Shepard to let him become [[The Atoner]] and take care of David. If Shepard says no, it slips very quickly and he shouts "No! He's too valuable!" and tries to shoot Shepard.}}.

* {{spoiler|[[Driven to Suicide]]: If you fail to save David (or just keep quiet about it to make him squirm), he pulls out a pistol and walks away to "escape from this nightmare.". [[Sound-Only Death|You hear a shot a second later.]]}}.

* {{spoiler|[[Heel Face Turn]]: In ''Mass Effect 3.''}}.

* {{spoiler|[[I Did What I Had to Do]]: What he claims, but it doesn't come anywhere ''near'' justifying what he did.}}.

* {{spoiler|[[Karma Houdini]]: Even in the Paragon ending.}}.

** [[Heel Realization]]: That said, {{spoiler|he eventually realizes the awfulness of what he did;: when the Illusive Man asks him to do a second Project Overlord, Archer tells him that "if he wanted to find the devil, he need only look in the mirror." Subsequently, he quits Cerberus and is among the ex-Cerberus scientists that Jacob is protecting.}}.

* [[Kick the Son of a Bitch]]: {{spoiler|''Everyone'' agrees that him being pistol whipped by Paragon Shepard was well deserved.}}.

* {{spoiler|[[My God, What Have I Done?]]: A delayed one, but he eventually has this reaction to what he did with Project Overlord.}}.

* {{spoiler|[[Pistol-Whipping]]: Delivered to him by Paragon Shepard.}}.

* {{spoiler|[[Reformed but Rejected]]: If he shows up in the third game, Shepard's voice is just dripping hatred during the entire conversation with him.}}.

* {{spoiler|[[Shoot the Shaggy Dog]]: His project turns into this. Almost everyone associated with the project killed. Legion reveals the majority of the Geth have no interest in another war, and Legion himself is perfecly happy to communicate voluntarily with humans. So in the end, all the shit Archer put his brother through was pointless.}}. This is especially evident if you play the mission ''after'' recruiting {{spoiler|Legion}}.

* {{spoiler|[[Sympathy for the Devil]]: Averted. He fully understands why Paragon Shepard views him as [[Complete Monster]] and admits that even he knows that nothing he ever will do can make up for what he did to his brother.}}.

* {{spoiler|[[Utopia Justifies the Means]]: [[Moral Event Horizon|In this]] [[Shoot the Shaggy Dog|case]], [[Complete Monster|it doesn't]].}}.

* {{spoiler|[[Villainous Breakdown]]: Has a brief one in ''Overlord's''s Paragon ending.}}.