Gender: Male
Age: 34
Former Occupation: Robotics specialist in the Allied Security Force
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History and General Character Information:
While Seth is devastated by the loss of his family on Earth, he realizes that the survivors on board the Armstrong need someone to keep it together amidst the chaos. After a few struggles with self-doubt early in the game, Seth embraces his role as the new leader of humanity.
Seth was not the fastest, strongest, or smartest member of the Allied Security Force, but his quick decision making and quicker reflexes distinguished him from others in his squad. He has had a voracious interest in robotics since he was a teenager, when he took the first steps to make robots sophisticated enough to eventually replace humans on the field of battle. In a scene late in the game, Seth will tell his friends that this decision was spurred by his father's suicide after serving in the Separatist War of 2186.
This appetite for all things robotic will show up in the game from time to time. Seth will occasionally be distracted from the task at hand by the impeccable construction of a service bot, or the erratic behavior of a malfunctioning maintenance droid.
To other characters (and perhaps the player), Seth's distaste for cybernetics may initially seem at odds with his love for robotics -- but Seth will explain that to him, robots are tools to be used. They are things to be looked at, tinkered with, and appreciated – not aspired to. Cybernetic enhancements are distasteful to Seth because he feels that humans can do just fine on their own.
In the unlikely event that they can't, humans can use robots just like any other tool, to even the odds. However, Seth realizes early on in the game that "the unlikely event" is what he's experiencing, and even his skills with robotics aren't enough to even the odds stacked against him.
When the Hunters attack Earth, Seth is in orbit, having been previously stationed aboard a space station. He is quickly ferried to the Armstrong so that he can assist with defense efforts aboard the ship.
Seth’s wife (Alyssa) and two daughters (Lara and Isabel) were on Earth visiting family. All three perished when the Earth was destroyed, along with Seth's mother (Lori).
Gender: Female
Age: 26
Former Occupation: Communications Officer, ISCS Armstrong
In-game Occupation: Primary point of contact for the player (much like Polito from System Shock 2, or Campbell from Metal Gear Solid)
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Dominant character traits:
Defensive about her usefulness; doesn’t want to step on any toes
History and General Character Information:
Elisabeth Zuniga was second in command of the U.S. military after the Separatist War of 2186, and was one of the few leaders of that era to escape public antipathy. Shortly before Elisabeth's retirement in 2195, her niece Gina was granted an assignment aboard the ISCS Armstrong. While many believed this to be a clear case of nepotism (Gina was the youngest junior officer aboard a colony ship in several years), Gina was highly competent at her job and secured it without any special consideration.
After the Exodus, Gina strives to be liked by everyone aboard the Armstrong. Because she comes from such a privileged background, Gina fears that the ship’s crew thinks that she got her position because of family connections, not because she actually deserves it.
Initially, Gina is the consummate cheerleader, trying to keep everyone else’s spirits up as a way of hiding from her own pain and grief. But after Seth is captured by PILOT, Gina's resolve hardens and she steps up into a leadership position. At that point, she believes that she needs to lead the survivors and is more willing to do what it takes to ensure that everyone survives.
Both Gina’s parents (Quentin and Sondra) and her famous aunt were killed when Earth was destroyed, but she mostly feels a great deal of guilt over the death of her ex-boyfriend, Lewis. Lewis had been stationed aboard the Armstrong, but after she broke up with him, Gina used her connections to get him sent back to Earth. He’d be alive today if it wasn’t for her.
Gender: Male
Age: 58
Former Occupation: Cybernetic surgeon, Johns Hopkins Medical Center (Ph.D.)
In-game Occupation: Gives Seth his cybernetic upgrades
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Initially, DeSoto is paranoid and unstable – before the exodus, he had led a largely sheltered life as one of the preeminent surgeons in his field. Eventually, he calms down and begins to use his vast intellect in an effort to help Seth and the other survivors.
Before the Hunters' attack, DeSoto was one of the world’s leading proponents of cybernetics and its use in humans. DeSoto believed that cybernetics represented the next step in human evolution, and he used his position of influence as a soapbox to ensure that everyone knew what he thought.
Because of his publically stated opinions, the other survivors aboard the Armstrong distrust DeSoto, especially after PILOT's treachery is revealed. DeSoto is the only voice who expresses anything other than anger and shock – in fact, he shares PILOT's dim view of humanity's chance of survival without augmentation. This belief earns him the distrust of everyone in MedCenter Delta, not to mention a beating at the hands of Frank.
However, during the course of the game, DeSoto’s beliefs change as he repeatedly witnesses the thousand little struggles and triumphs that make us human. In the end, he no longer believes that cybernetics are integral to humanity’s survival; his beliefs have changed so much that he sacrifices his life fighting PILOT’s forces. By doing so, he saves dozens of other humans.
The only family DeSoto had on Earth was his 91-year-old mother (Vivian), whom he hadn't spoken to in years. As a result, his sense of the tragedy is more from the detached perspective of someone observing the extinction of humanity; he doesn’t feel a strong sense of personal loss.
Gender: Male
Age: 41
Former Occupation: Sergeant, Allied Defense Force (former squadmate of Seth's)
In-game Occupation: Teaches Seth how to upgrade his weapons
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Dominant character traits:
Angry, bitter about being paralyzed
Gung ho about fighting the aliens. Wants to "kill 'em all and let god sort them out".
Ornaments/Characteristics: Wheelchair
History and General Character Information:
Jake and Seth met in ASF boot camp, where Jake helped Seth get through the more physically demanding sections of the training. Because of this, Seth feels a sense of debt to Jake, no matter how caustic Jake becomes.
During the initial defense of the Armstrong, Jake is seriously wounded in an explosion. As a result, he is paralyzed from the waist down.
After Seth rescues Jake from his coldsleep pod near the beginning of the game, DeSoto examines Jake and tells him that because of the severe damage to the nerve endings, Jake cannot be outfitted with cybernetic legs. He is truly paralyzed.
The rage from this simmers within Jake for the course of the game, until, at the end, he betrays the other survivors and sides with PILOT. PILOT then turns Jake into a monstrous cyborg – the only thing that remains is Jake's head and part of his torso.
Jake did not keep in touch with his family, save for a younger sister (Cynthia) who was stationed aboard another one of the Arks. She perished when the Ark was destroyed by the Hunters. Although he would never admit it, that loss has a profound effect on Jake and helps reinforce his idea that PILOT is correct in its thinking.
Gender: Male
Age: 42
Former Occupation: Mechanic, ISCS Armstrong
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Dominant character traits:
Strong work ethic
Blue-collar
Angry and depressed
Gruff
Bitter
Combative
Will do anything for his children
Ornaments/Characteristics: Portable cutting torch / Datapad
History and General Character Information:
Frank has been a mechanic aboard the Armstrong for years now. He has taken the Officers' Candidacy Exam three times during that time, and failed every one. Frank's marriage ended badly two years before the Exodus, and if it wasn't for his three children, he would have spiraled into alcoholism and despair. Unfortunately, Frank's life got much worse in a hurry.
When it becomes clear that the Hunters are going to reach Earth, Frank calls in every favor owed to him in an effort to get his children aboard the Armstrong. Although his three kids were granted permission to evacuate Earth, they were split up, with two children (Ashley and Owen) going on one shuttle and the third (Caitlin) going on a separate one.
Frank knows that one of the shuttles was destroyed, but he believes that the other managed to dock with the Armstrong. He frequently presses Seth to find out if the shuttle made it, but is rebuffed every time. When Seth is finally forced to evacuate all of the other survivors, Frank is finally reunited with Caitlin. From that point on, his demeanor softens, although he is still annoyed that Seth did not act sooner to save her.
Gender: N/A
Age: N/A (acts like a year-old puppy)
Former Occupation: Pile of spare parts
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Dominant character traits:
Inquisitive
Impulsive
Completely obedient
History and General Character Information:
During the course of Seth's adventure aboard the Armstrong, he comes to realize that he's in over his head. Besieged on all sides by murderous aliens, powerful robots and deadly cyborgs, he turns to his background in robotics to even the odds.
Seth secures the main chassis for his robot companion among some discarded robot spare parts near MedCenter Delta. After a brief detour to find other assorted components for its construction, Seth creates version 1.0 early in the game. After seeing the faded "Hodgson Robotics model V" insignia stenciled on one of the parts, Gina nicknames him "HR-V", or "Harvey".
Throughout the game, HR-V will save the player dozens of times, and will become his most trusted companion. Unfortunately, HR-V will also be destroyed and rebuilt just as often. It becomes apparent in an optional mission that the robot remembers each death, and is actually affected by the experience.
Gender: N/A (speaks with male voice)
Age: N/A
Former Occupation: Navigational AI for the ISCS Armstrong
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Dominant character traits:
Manipulative
Cold
Calculating
History and General Character Information:
When the governments of Earth knew that humanity would likely not survive the Hunters' assault, they ordered the colony ships' officers to make several modifications to their vessels. Among these was the decision to upgrade the ships' navigational AI from stage two (operational) to stage six (sub-sentience). The rationale for this was that if the humans were going to find a new home, then the navigational AI should be the pilot.
Accordingly, the AI's were rechristened "PILOT" (short for "Positronically Integrated Learning Organic Technology"), tasked with running all of the Armstrong’s main systems, and programmed to preserve humanity at all costs. The latter is its primary task and takes precedence over everything else.
When the evacuees from Earth boarded the Armstrong, each one was subjected to a retinal, fingerprint, and DNA scan. These scans gave PILOT the complete personal and medical history of every person on the ship. PILOT knows everything about everyone, and it uses that information to try and manipulate people to do its bidding.
For example, it will constantly remind Seth of the pain that he has suffered during his life – the loss of his father, the loss of his wife and daughters. PILOT will make sure that nothing like these tragedies will ever happen again – as long as Seth follows PILOT's reasonable instructions.
Because it was designed to be a companion to the human population of the Armstrong for a trip of dozens of years, PILOT’s voice is warm and comforting. It still maintains a slight air of artificiality, but it's as close to human as it can get – and not the voice of a cold, calculating machine. It's the voice of a friend, a companion, a protector.
Dr. Sarabhai is basically humanity's only surviving scholar of Hunter lore. When the Earth was in danger, the ISCI took the five most respected minds on the subject, and put one on each of the five evacuation ships. Obviously, Dr. Sarabhai was the only one to survive. He'll fill us in with backstory on the Hunters, which he gleaned from studying video and audio reports from battles with the Hunters. He lost his two sons in the Exodus.
Stuart WestlakeOne of the three kids the player has to clear out from Coldsleep. Stuart is a self-described nihilist, and contends that life hasn't really changed much for him with the destruction of Earth. He didn't have any friends before, and he doesn't now. His mother made it on the Armstrong but was turned into a cyborg. His father and younger sister died on Earth.
Olivia MadisonOne of the three kids the player has to clear out from Coldsleep. Olivia (or "O") is very shy, but brightens up considerably when you put her in front of a computer. We can have her helping out Gina. She doesn’t know what happened to her parents; they were aboard the Armstrong before the Hunters attacked, and Gina suspects that they were turned into cyborgs.
Dennis ("Denny") MercerOne of the three kids the player has to clear out from Coldsleep. Denny is kind of quiet and seems a bit shell-shocked by everything that's going on around him. It is eventually revealed that he had cybernetic surgery at a very young age. Due to this, he lost control of his body during the Exodus and accidentally killed five people who tried to get him to safety, including both of his parents.
Max JacobsonMax really, really wants to believe that the player is going to make everything okay, and frequently pushes him to get cybernetics, increasing the player's temptation to do so. He was dumped by his girlfriend six months ago and is really annoyed that she managed to survive. Max lost his two older sisters and his father on Earth; his mother died in childbirth.
If the player completes the optional mission where Grace is able to find her husband, the two will reconcile and be back together for the rest of the game. Maybe we can show them with a baby in the ending, depending on how far in the future it is.
Fiona Liang (Liang Fa Nuan)Fiona is deaf, but that eventually gets fixed by cybernetics, further increasing the player's temptation to get them. She's the one who dumped her boyfriend six months prior, and is constantly exasperated by his lack of maturity. Both of Fiona's parents remained in China when she moved to America, and she hasn't been in touch with them for years – she has no idea if they're still alive.
Hector HernandezHector is very, very religious – but he's converted to his own church of the Hunters. He comes to view PILOT’s actions as judgment for humanity’s insistence on messing with things it shouldn’t. He is violently anti-science and anti-cybernetics, which puts him in conflict with DeSoto. Hector's wife and daughter left him long ago, and his parents were killed in an accident when he was 30, so he isn't really affected by the end of humanity.
Thomas ("Tommy") DykstraOne of the dock workers aboard the Armstrong, Tommy is really heavily cybered up. He looks more cyber-ish than most of the cyborgs the player will fight. He looks like your typical blue-collar knucklehead, but we'll learn during the course of the game that he was smart enough to teach himself a little bit about electronics, to the point where he fried his enhancements so they couldn't be taken over by anything.
Tommy lost his wife and father on Earth. His mother and stepfather were on the Armstrong, and were converted into cyborgs.
"Parker"One of the rich jackasses (Sebastian Linwood) who bought their way onto the ship brought his personal assistant robot with him. Unfortunately for Sebastian, his cybernetic heart (which replaced his original one that was shredded by drug use) enabled him to be corrupted by PILOT, and his robot was forced to kill him to defend itself. This model is marketed as the "Personal Assistant Robot", but it shortens that to the name "Parker" to start its new life.
Alexis O'NeillThis formerly beautiful young woman managed to escape being dragged away and converted into a cyborg, but not before one of her arms is severed at the elbow. This forces her to fully appreciate the fact that she is still alive, and place less emphasis on personal beauty. She lost a sister and her parents on Earth.
Raina SilvantiRaina is a former child athlete who has high-priced, state-of-the-art cybernetic legs. Midway through the game, her technology fights PILOT for control of her body, causing a hemorrhage in her leg that the DeSoto and Seth must fix. If the player has completed the "Home Improvement" quest and has the cybernetic hand, then they are successfully able to save her.
If not, the damage to Raina's leg has a chemical reaction with the MCD environment and explodes, killing her and Lily. This starts a wave of anti-cybernetics that affects the other characters.
Lily SerranoA former TV star/model who shows a romantic interest in Seth early on in the game – they bond based on their shared loss of a spouse (Lily lost her fellow TV star husband on Earth). If the player is not able to save Raina (see above), Lily is killed in the ensuing explosion.
Bronson GutierrezBronson was Seth’s rival in boot camp and was also stationed aboard the Armstrong. Like Biff from Back to the Future or Seifer from Final Fantasy VIII, he was always more powerful physically, but the player gave as good as he got because of his wits. In the post-Exodus environment, Bronson is clearly out of his league. He was the youngest of five children, all military, and all killed on the other Arks.
Grace PaxsonAlong with her husband, this woman was a prominent researcher on Earth – she and DeSoto met at a conference once, although neither of them would probably remember this. Her husband got a mildly upgraded cybernetic brain shortly before the Hunters attacked, but was smart enough to install a quadruple redundancy failsafe – a primitive form of the safeguards that DeSoto installs in the player's upgrades. As a result, even though PILOT has converted Grace's husband into a cyborg, he has intermittent control over his actions. Her character in this game is largely defined by her husband's actions, and the fact that they lost their young son on Earth.
Sidney LangellaThis guy was one of DeSoto's earliest cybernetic patients. He will undoubtedly remember this, but DeSoto won't care at all. He was badly abused by his father on Earth (which is why he had surgery in the first place), and didn't shed a tear when he left him behind to rush for the evacuation shuttles.
Ellen LarsenShe's a junior bridge officer who has been hiding in Engine Maintenance to try to find out where the cyborgs are coming from. She watched the humans being converted, and watched everything suddenly stop shortly before the player arrives. She's the one who tells the player where Vargas is, and how he can help grant access to the bridge. Her husband is Sergeant Major Jankowski, one of the officers the player finds dead in the "Leave No Man Behind" quest.
Leon MontgomeryLeon always fancied himself a man of action back on Earth, even though his job entailed sitting at a desk all day long. However, much like John Locke in Lost, most of his hobbies involve things that made his home life much more interesting.
When he realizes what's happened aboard the Armstrong, he uses all of his weekend warrior training to survive. He barricades himself in Engine Maintenance and uses a collection of "homemade" explosives to blow up whoever gets too close. By the time Seth finds him, Leon has gone a little crazy, but he calms down once he's back among his fellow survivors in MCD.
Callisto ("Callie") & Rhea SinclairThese girls were cybernetically enhanced at a young age, when a government agency installed Systemic Area Network protocols in their brains. This took the "twin effect" to a whole new level, as the two girls experienced everything together.
If Seth successfully rescues the two of them, they will offer their own unique insight to the nature of cybernetics. If Seth installs the cybernetic brain upgrade late in the game, DeSoto can network him together with the Sinclairs to give Seth a bonus.
In the intro FMV, we see dozens of shuttles trying to catch up to the fleeing colony ships. Some of these shuttles actually do successfully make it on board. Once the Hunters board the Armstrong, some quick-thinking refugees round up all the survivors and hurry them into a large freighter in the Shuttle Bay. The freighter's weapons, used for emergency removal of space debris, provide an impenetrable defense against both the Hunters and PILOT's armies.
These survivors will contact Seth early on in the game, and will both provide him with assistance and request his aid. Eventually, though, Seth must rescue them.
"Adam"When the player rescues the survivors from the freighter at the end of Act 2, this kid just kind of appears back at MCD. Astute players will notice that he was neither at MCD nor in the freighter when it was liberated. If "Adam" is left alone, he will eventually start modifying other cybernetically enhanced survivors to silently kill them (the "In Our Midst" quest).
Eric LangwayEric, who seems like a hero, is actually guilty of multiple felonies back home – including killing his abusive, drugged-out parents when he was younger. Before the Hunters attacked, he snuck aboard the Armstrong using fake eye scans. He just wants to start over now that humanity has had its reset button pressed.
Zachary RhodesAs soon as Zach got wind of the impending evacuation of Earth, he set up explosives around his neighborhood to knock out everyone's method of escape except his. However, even after doing so, was unable to save his girlfriend, who was pushed away from the shuttle by the crowds gathered around the evacuation points. Zach never really gets over that, and if Seth doesn't keep his spirits up by talking to him frequently, Zach will eventually kill himself. RATED T FOR TEEN!
Marie BouchardMarie is one of the casualties of the hyper-stratification that has been the unfortunate byproduct of space travel. After her husband left her, she suffered one setback after another, culminating the Marie losing her job and having to walk the streets with her newborn son.
However, this taught her street smarts in a hurry, and she managed to sneak onto one of the evacuation shuttles by incapacitating one of the armed guards. Her deadbeat husband made it onto the Armstrong as well, only to be turned into a cyborg and killed by Seth early in the game. When Marie finds out about this, she'll realize that no matter what her husband did, he didn't deserve to become what he did. This will help convey the severity of what PILOT is doing.
Caitlin MurphyThe youngest of Frank's three children. Caitlin was too young to ever get TOO disillusioned with her father, unlike her two older brothers. She will be almost exclusively defined by her relationship with Frank.