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Mass Effecthas one of the best settings of any video game series probably ever, but what really makes it stand out is the cast of incredible characters it sports. The focus is often on the squadmates, almost all of whom are amazing, but one other character gets talked about almost as much.
The Illusive Man, who first appears in Mass Effect 2, was an instant hit with fans. He’s important to the plot, has an air of mystery, and does everything with a distinct sense of composure. That’s not even mentioning his amazing celebrity portrayal. Whether you’re new to the series or just looking for a refresher, this article is here to do one thing and answer the question; just who is the Illusive Man?
Who Is The Illusive Man?
The Illusive Man is the leader of a faction in Mass Effect known as Cerberus, a human-supremacist shadow organization. Cerberus stands for the principle that any means are justified if it advances the human race’s place in the galaxy.
As the leader of Cerberus, the Illusive Man oversees their operations, although he delegates rather than trying to handle everything himself. He is mostly hands off,giving his operatives considerable freedom in how they achieve their goals.
Visually striking with cybernetic eyes and a penchant for smoking cigarettes in a setting where they would be seen as archaic, the Illusive Man instantly stood out to Mass Effect 2 players andbecame a defining character of the series.
Obviously, the voice actor for the Illusive Man wasn’t smoking cigarettes in an enclosed sound booth during recording. Instead,the sound you hear when he smokes his cigarette is the voice actor sucking on a pen.
Who Voices The Illusive Man?
If you’ve been listening to the Illusive Man speak and trying to figure out if you know that voice, the chances are pretty good that you do. The Illusive Man isvoiced to great effect by none other than actor Martin Sheen.
Martin Sheen has acted in over 200 projects, so he’s very prolific. You could know him from any of his films and series, butsome of his best known work include Apocalypse Now, The Departed, Wall Street, and The West Wing.
Speaking on the Mass Effect 2 Documentary DVD,Martin Sheen said that he wouldn’t trust the Illusive Manand thinks he’s a “horrible man”.
Who Was He Before Cerberus?
The Mass Effect: Evolution comic series,written by Bioware lead writer Mac Walters, offers a slight variation on the canon for The Illusive Man and his history from the one the games provide.
The comics put forward thathe was a mercenary named Jack Harper involved in the First Contact War with the Turians. The games don’t give him a name, so there’s no conflict there, but they do say he was a regular civilian.
Whichever canon is correct, not long after the Battle of Shanxi,an e-mail began appearing across the extranet stating that humanity had to take its rightful placeand establish itself as a powerful force to the newly encountered aliens of the galaxy.
The name for his organization, Cerberus, came from that very e-mail. The e-mail said thathumanity needed a Cerberus to guard it from the aliens beyond the Charon Relay. Charon is the ferryman of the dead in Greek mythology, while Cerberus guards the gates of Hades.
No one, not even intelligence officers, could determine who originally sent the e-mail or wrote the message it contained.They referred to them as the “illusive man” in a press releaseand he would be known by that title from then on.
From there he would find Cerberus anduse any means necessary to advance what he saw as the dominance of humanity. He arranged assassinations, and even disasters designed to make humans more likely to become biotics.
Cerberus operates in cells independent of each other, with one cell not knowing what another one is up to. This means thatmost Cerberus operatives have no idea of some of the atrocities the group they’re a part of has committed.
What Does The Illusive Man Do In Mass Effect 2?
The Illusive Man doesn’t make an appearance directly in the first game, although Cerberus does. When he finally enters the story, however, it’s for a good reason: he’s overseeing the resurrection of the protagonist, Commander Shepard.
The Illusive Man was planned for an appearance in the first game, as part of a major piece of DLC. Unfortunately, it was cut during development, pushing his debut back to Mass Effect 2.
After Commander Shepard is killed by the Collectors,the Illusive Man determines that humanity needs Shepard to have a chance of surviving against the Reapers. He invests an astronomical amount of money and resources over two years to have Shepard revived.
After Commander Shepard is brought back to life, the Illusive Man lays out for them thatno one is taking the threat of the Reapers seriously, while the Collectors are abducting humans while no one does anything about it.
The Illusive Man is typically seen in Mass Effect 2 in low lighting, smoking a cigarette. Many fans speculate that this is a reference to the Cigarette Smoking Man from The X-Files, but the director of the trilogy Casey Hudson has saidhe was inspired by Graem Bauer from 24.
An alliance between the two is formed, although how enthusiastic Shepard is about it is up to you as the player.The Illusive Man provides Shepard with intel and resources, provided Shepard acts to stop the Collectors and Reapers.
While the two might butt heads, more likely if your Shepard leans more Paragon than Renegade, the partnership is generally effective throughout the course of the game.The Illusive Man gets the effective agent of humanity he wanted, while Shepard finallyhas the backing to get results.
Whether their cooperation ends on a positive note in Mass Effect 2 or not is largelydependent on whether you choose to destroy the Collector base or preserve it for Cerberus to study. If you preserve it for Ceberus he’ll be appreciative, but if you blow it up he’ll be much less happy with you.
What Does The Illusive Man Do In Mass Effect 3?
The Illusive Man undergoes a subtle but significant shift by the time of Mass Effect 3.He isn’t focused on stopping the Reapers but instead on controlling them, ostensibly so that they can become tools of humanity.
He intends to use the Reaper’s technology to advance humanity, even jumpstart its evolution. The truth ishe has undergone a process called indoctrination, where exposure to Reaper technologybrings you under their control.
The Illusive Man isn’t being completely controlled through most of Mass Effect 3, instead he is being subtly influenced. He genuinely believes that he can find a way to control the Reapers, buthis efforts to do so only pit him against the forces of the galaxy actually fighting the Reapers.
He tries to interfere with the resistance efforts of Shepard and their crew several timesand no longer sticks to his tried and true methods of operating primarily behind the scenes, instead becoming much more overt in his actions.
His operatives attack Shepard at multiple points during key moments of the story, includingTuchanka, Sur’Kesh, and even on the Citadel. He also tries to make his case to Shepard on more than one occasion that controlling the Reapers is the correct course of action,which may influence the ending you choose.
The fact that The Illusive Man is so in favour of controlling the Reapers while he’s indoctrinated by them has led many to believe that the Control ending isn’t to be trusted. This is supported by thedebunked but very popular fan theory that Commander Shepard is also indoctrinated without knowing it.
What Happens To The Illusive Man In The End?
Towards the end of Mass Effect 3, during the race through the Citadel, Commander Shepard and David Anderson confront the Illusive Man. He revealshe has modified his body with Reaper technology, which allows him to control Shepard and Anderson’s motor functions.
As proof of his powers, he immobilizes them both, and thenforces Shepard to shoot Anderson in the stomach. Although Shepard tries to reason with the Illusive Man that the Reapers must be stopped, he’s too convinced that he can control the Reapers to listen.
Originally,the Illusive Man was planned to transform into a Reaper monster for a boss fight. Ultimately the developers decided that it was a better experience for players to be able to confront him as he was, a principled and intelligent human who had taken his beliefs too far.
There are two ways this scene can play out, although both ultimately end the same way. If your Shepard is able to convince the Illusive Man that he’s been indoctrinated and should resist,he’ll explain that he tried and then shoot himself in the head.
If instead, your Shepard tells the Illusive Man that his need for power is causing humanity to lose the war, he’ll become enraged and attempt to shoot Shepard, only for Shepard to shoot him instead. Either way,the Illusive Man dies while looking down at Earth.
Where Else Does The Illusive Man Appear?
As well as appearing in Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3,the Illusive Man also appears in several supplementary materials for the series. They’re all worth checking out if you want more Mass Effect than even the games can offer up.
Mass Effect: Evolution, a four-issue comic mini-series,explores his origins and therefore the origins of Cerberus, set during the First Contact War. He also features in Mass Effect: Foundation, another comic series, and the Mass Effect: Redemption, Mass Effect: Invasion, and Mass Effect: Homeworlds comics.
He also appears in Mass Effect: Ascension, an official novel set between the events of the first and second games. Hefurther features in two other novels, Mass Effect: Retribution and Mass Effect: Deception.
Mass Effect: Deception is known for being filled with errors and inconsistencies, so keep that in mind if you choose to read it. Technology functions differently than in other Mass Effect media, characters behave inconsistently and the timeline doesn’t add up. These issues have beenofficially acknowledged by both Bioware and the publisher.
