Infamous (video game series)/Characters

Cole MacGrath


The protagonist of In Famous.

Cole in general
""Did you really think I was the Demon? The Demon of Empire City?""
 * Badass
 * Badass Abnormal
 * Took a Level In Badass
 * Brief Accent Imitation: In the second game, he briefly mimics Bertrand's broad southern accent during their final showdown.


 * The Chosen One:
 * Civvie Spandex
 * Color Coded for Your Convenience: Good Cole's lightning is blue, Evil Cole's lightning is red.
 * Courier
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Doesn't Like Guns: Not for any philosophical reason, mind you - his electricity powers will cause the ammunition to explode, and Cole would rather his fingers stayed attached to his hands. Of course, he can also use this to disable turrets.
 * Elemental Powers
 * Shock and Awe
 * Lightning Can Do Anything
 * Blow You Away
 * Fire, Ice, Lightning
 * Fingerless Gloves
 * Good Is Not Nice
 * Guttural Growler: Voices don't get any grittier than Cole's.
 * Though all of the smoke from the Ray Sphere explosion probably helped that along a bit.
 * Heel Face Revolving Door
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: Hey, you Kurdish Brat, check out my new electric powers!
 * Hey, did ever tell ya about this one time, my Buddy Keith, I mean Zeke...
 * I Just Want to Be Normal
 * Knight in Sour Armor
 * Improbable Weapon User: Cole gets a two-pronged Amplifier as his weapon in the sequel.
 * Meaningful Name: Cole = coal.
 * Power Incontinence: He can't use guns because the ammunition will explode if he touches them, and he can't drive because his powers ignite fossil fuels.
 * Private Eye Monologue
 * Standard FPS Guns: Oddly enough, most of Cole's fantastic electrical powers mimic standard conventional firearms:
 * Melee: The "Knife".
 * Gigawatt Blades: The "Chainsaw".
 * Lightning Bolt: The Pistol.
 * Precision: The Sniper Rifle.
 * Shockwave: The Shotgun
 * Overload Burst: The OTHER Sniper Rifle (albeit with splash damage)
 * Arc Lightning: The Automatic Weapon (Lightning Gun variation, naturally)
 * Shock Grenades: Grenades (obviously).
 * Megawatt Hammer: The Rocket Launcher
 * Lightning Storm: BFG Kill Sat.
 * Super Drowning Skills: Justified. Cole's powers causes him to short circuit if he is even partly submerged.
 * The Ego: To Kuo's Superego and Nix's Id. Somewhere along the way in the sequel, he makes himself the peace maker and riot shield between his female counterparts, if only to move things along.
 * Walking Techbane: Subverted in that he works very well with electronics - the first application of his powers is charging the generators on Zeke's roof. It's gunpowder and fossil fuels that he finds hard to work with.
 * Walking Techbane: Subverted in that he works very well with electronics - the first application of his powers is charging the generators on Zeke's roof. It's gunpowder and fossil fuels that he finds hard to work with.

Good Cole



 * Being Good Sucks: Choosing the good road means you have to take hits for the team. A lot of hard hits for the team.
 * Catharsis Factor: In-Universe.
 * : Accepts this in the end.
 * Hero with Bad Publicity: Only initially, however.
 * Hurting Hero
 * Taking the Bullet: Quite a few times.
 * Hero with Bad Publicity: Only initially, however.
 * Hurting Hero
 * Taking the Bullet: Quite a few times.
 * Taking the Bullet: Quite a few times.

Evil Cole



 * A God Am I
 * Anti-Hero: A Type V in the beginning, but ends up more like a Villain Protagonist near the end.
 * Evil Makes You Ugly: As Cole continues his trip down the Karma Meter, his clothes get dirtier and his skin becomes paler and covered in black smudges, and eventually, his eyes turn white. In the second game, this is played far subtler: though the pale, veiny skin remains, the main changes are in the colour of his clothes and the layout of his tattoos.
 * Evil Is Easy: The game is much easier if you don't care about collateral damage.
 * Jerkass: Mainly in the first game; in the second game, he seems generally unconcerned with the consequences of his actions rather than actively malicious.
 * Psycho Electro
 * The Social Darwinist: The evil ending of the first game gives him this position. Not quite so in the second.
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist: He's closer to this in the second game.
 * What the Hell, Hero?: Constantly.
 * With Great Power Comes Great Insanity
 * The Social Darwinist: The evil ending of the first game gives him this position. Not quite so in the second.
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist: He's closer to this in the second game.
 * What the Hell, Hero?: Constantly.
 * With Great Power Comes Great Insanity
 * With Great Power Comes Great Insanity

Sasha


The leader of the Reapers, and a Conduit with the power to exude mind-controlling tar from her body.

Tropes:
"Why, ? Why do you love her? I'll kill her, I swear it! I'll wear her skin like a robe!"
 * Bald of Evil
 * Bald Women
 * Brainwashed and Crazy: Most of the Reapers are this.
 * Large Ham
 * Lovecraftian Superpower: The... tar-emitting power.
 * Mind Rape: Excels at this.
 * Psycho Ex-Girlfriend: To Kessler.
 * Stalker with a Crush
 * Stripperiffic/Covered in Gunge: During her boss fight, Sasha is dressed only in a jacket and a layer of her own tar over the rest.
 * Veronica
 * Warmup Boss
 * Yandere: Switches between fantasizing about an imaginary dinner party herself and Cole are attending, and this:

Alden Tate
A powerful telekinetic and the leader of the Dustmen.

Tropes:

 * Badass Grandpa
 * Crazy Homeless People: For a pretty good reason, mind you.
 * From Nobody to Nightmare: Once a homeless man with just enough psychic powers to survive the streets of Empire City, now one of the top three gang-leaders in the area and capable of lifting a bus with his mind.
 * Humongous Mecha: Assembles one with his telekinetic powers to fight Cole.
 * Large Ham
 * No Indoor Voice
 * Mind Over Matter: Enough to fling cars and busses around at will and make gigantic suits of armour out of scrap metal.
 * Roaring Rampage of Revenge: He's planning one against Kessler.
 * Talking to Himself: Yes, Cole and Alden share the same VA.

Kessler


The main antagonist of In Famous and the leader of the First Sons. His powers resemble Cole's, but are much more powerful.

Tropes:

 * : Inverted in the worst way possible.
 * Badass Grandpa
 * Becoming the Mask
 * Big Bad
 * Blue Eyes: And they glow.
 * Cry for the Devil
 * Flash Step: To a ridiculous extent.
 * Conveniently enough, this also serves to preserve that particular twist for those who play the second game, but not the first.
 * In the Hood
 * Light Is Not Good: His powers are mostly made up of searing white light.
 * Manipulative Bastard
 * Teleport Spam
 * Took a Level In Badass
 * Teleport Spam
 * Took a Level In Badass

Trish Dailey


A doctor working hard to help the citizens of Empire City to recover from the catastrophe, and Cole's girlfriend. She leaves him early in the game, as she believes him to be responsible for the Blast, which cost the life of her sister, Amy.

Tropes:

 * Betty
 * Dead Little Sister: Amy
 * Hot Doctor
 * : Only in the good ending though.
 * The Medic
 * Morality Pet
 * Ungrateful Bitch: Can feel like this when playing Evil. Justified, given how most of your actions make things worse for her (particularly with the water towers), but the conclusion of "Trish Reaches Out" is just cold.

Zeke Dunbar


Cole's best friend.

Tropes:

 * Acrofatic
 * Character Development: Becomes a more righteous and helpful character in In Famous 2.
 * Conspiracy Theorist
 * Gadgeteer Genius: In In Famous 2, he becomes more skilled in engineering and inventing. He created Cole's new weapon, the amp.
 * I Just Want to Be Special
 * The Millstone
 * Plucky Comic Relief
 * Secretly Dying
 * Sunglasses At Night
 * What the Hell, Hero?:
 * The Millstone
 * Plucky Comic Relief
 * Secretly Dying
 * Sunglasses At Night
 * What the Hell, Hero?:

Dallas a.k.a. The Voice of Survival
A government critical DJ who regularly hacks the TV broadcast in order to give news updates and survival tips to the citizens of Empire City. He blames Cole for the disaster, and tries to make all his actions look like crimes.

Tropes:

 * Conspiracy Theorist
 * Cool Shades
 * Jerkass
 * Jerkass

Moya


A NSA agent whom Cole works for. .

Tropes:

 * Mission Control
 * Mission Control
 * Mission Control
 * Mission Control

John White


An undercover FBI agent within the First Sons and husband of Moya, who has recently gone silent. Cole is ordered by Moya to search for him. .

Tropes:

 * Mission Control
 * Properly Paranoid
 * Rogue Agent:
 * Mission Control
 * Properly Paranoid
 * Rogue Agent:

The Beast


The immensely powerful conduit whom Cole was told to prepare to fight against in the next game. .

Tropes:

 * Affably Evil: Makes it clear that he bears humanity no ill will, He even apologises for attacking Cole once he's coherent enough to speak.
 * Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: His "armored" form.
 * Bald of Evil
 * Bigger Bad
 * From a Single Cell:
 * Implacable Man
 * The Juggernaut
 * Magma Man: Invoked by his volcanic exterior.
 * Mind Over Matter
 * Nigh Invulnerable: He can easily rebuild himself.
 * Person of Mass Destruction
 * Physical God
 * Playing with Fire
 * Pulling Themselves Together: Most of the attempts at killing him result in these kind of moments.
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning: in both his armored and "human" form.
 * Super Empowering: Comes in three flavours: #1 He can awaken the powers of potential conduits just like the Ray Sphere does. #2 He can supercharge the already existing powers of conduits. #3
 * Playing with Fire
 * Pulling Themselves Together: Most of the attempts at killing him result in these kind of moments.
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning: in both his armored and "human" form.
 * Super Empowering: Comes in three flavours: #1 He can awaken the powers of potential conduits just like the Ray Sphere does. #2 He can supercharge the already existing powers of conduits. #3

Lucy Kuo


An NSA agent who assists Cole in preparation for stopping the Beast.

Tropes:

 * Adorkable
 * An Ice Person: Becomes an ice conduit.
 * Betty
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Flight: One of her secondary powers.
 * I Just Want to Be Normal: Choosing Nix over her in the results in a particularly venomous rant about this.
 * Last-Name Basis: Of every single character in the game, only Wolfe refers to her first name, and that's only in the Dead Drops, where he'd be more or less required to. No one ever says it to her face, even Wolfe; this gets especially ridiculous, as Kuo herself calls him a "father figure".
 * Realistic Diction Is Unrealistic: Averted. She has an awkward, clipped way of speaking.
 * The Spock: To Cole's Ego and Nix's Id. As stated in the trailer and the game itself, Kuo is the voice of order among the three and provides arguments to do good deeds..
 * The Stoic
 * Power Incontinence: Early on, Kuo had difficulty restraining her powers -- at one point accidentally freezing Cole's cheek with a touch.
 * Punny Name: Her last name is pronounced "quo", setting up jokes such as "status kuo" and the like.
 * The Stoic
 * Power Incontinence: Early on, Kuo had difficulty restraining her powers -- at one point accidentally freezing Cole's cheek with a touch.
 * Punny Name: Her last name is pronounced "quo", setting up jokes such as "status kuo" and the like.
 * Punny Name: Her last name is pronounced "quo", setting up jokes such as "status kuo" and the like.

Nix


A hyperactive Fire/Napalm Conduit with a grudge against Bertrand and a crush on Cole.

Tropes:

 * Broken Bird
 * Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Whenever someone else suggests achieving a goal by trying to help people and get them to fight by your side willingly, Nix doesn't just scoff at it but acts like they're crazy for even thinking of it. From what she tells us of her childhood, she probably hasn't met too many nice people in her life.
 * Evil Is Burning Hot
 * Femme Fatalons
 * Flash Step
 * The Id: To Cole's Ego and Kuo's Superego. She's generally a twisted sadist, but it's justified given her past and lifestyle.
 * I Just Want To Stay Special: One of the reasons why she She fears that  her own powers won't be special anymore and she will just be a nobody again.
 * Playing with Fire
 * Teleport Spam
 * Veronica
 * Playing with Fire
 * Teleport Spam
 * Veronica

Joseph Bertrand III


The charismatic leader of The Militia and the self-appointed ruler of New Marais. He uses his army to hunt and kill Conduits, who he has labeled "deviants".

Tropes:

 * Be Careful What You Wish For: Really, really wanted to be . Wish granted.
 * Fantastic Racism: He wants to commit genocide on Conduits, considering them to be monsters.
 * Hollywood Exorcism: One mission towards the end of the game shows that he apparently has a habit of performing his own brand of exorcisms on Conduits. However,
 * Insane Troll Logic: Bertrand has a very well-concealed version of this; his stated reason for setting the Conduits up for genocide is that, as "creations of science," they don't fit into the divine plan. In reality, So, in his reasoning,
 * Knight Templar
 * Large Ham
 * Sinister Minister
 * Villainous Breakdown: During one of Wolf's dead drops, Bertrand has a full-blown temper-tantrum when he, complete with furious accusations, death threats, anguished pleas to God, broken glass, and a loud and angry shout of "I AM NOT HAPPY!"
 * Hollywood Exorcism: One mission towards the end of the game shows that he apparently has a habit of performing his own brand of exorcisms on Conduits. However,
 * Insane Troll Logic: Bertrand has a very well-concealed version of this; his stated reason for setting the Conduits up for genocide is that, as "creations of science," they don't fit into the divine plan. In reality, So, in his reasoning,
 * Knight Templar
 * Large Ham
 * Sinister Minister
 * Villainous Breakdown: During one of Wolf's dead drops, Bertrand has a full-blown temper-tantrum when he, complete with furious accusations, death threats, anguished pleas to God, broken glass, and a loud and angry shout of "I AM NOT HAPPY!"
 * Large Ham
 * Sinister Minister
 * Villainous Breakdown: During one of Wolf's dead drops, Bertrand has a full-blown temper-tantrum when he, complete with furious accusations, death threats, anguished pleas to God, broken glass, and a loud and angry shout of "I AM NOT HAPPY!"
 * Sinister Minister
 * Villainous Breakdown: During one of Wolf's dead drops, Bertrand has a full-blown temper-tantrum when he, complete with furious accusations, death threats, anguished pleas to God, broken glass, and a loud and angry shout of "I AM NOT HAPPY!"
 * Villainous Breakdown: During one of Wolf's dead drops, Bertrand has a full-blown temper-tantrum when he, complete with furious accusations, death threats, anguished pleas to God, broken glass, and a loud and angry shout of "I AM NOT HAPPY!"

Dr. Sebastian Wolf
A scientist who had worked with Kessler and the First Sons. Cole seeks him in New Marais for assistance in stopping the Beast.

Tropes:

 * The Atoner
 * Deadpan Snarker: Though straightforward most of the time, he gets notably sarcastic around Bertrand.
 * Reluctant Mad Scientist

Rosco Laroche
Leader of the rebellion movement against Bertrand's militia.

Tropes:

 * Dirty Old Man: As well as spending quite a bit of time apparently distracted by Kuo's ass, he also mentions his fondness for cat fights when Kuo and Nix start arguing.
 * Father to His Men: Despite his faults, he is loyal to his men.
 * Rebel Leader

Bloody Mary
The newly-resurrected leader of the New Marais vampires, Bloody Mary is the main villain of Festival of Blood and directly responsible for transforming Cole into a vampire. Taking advantage of Pyre Night to allow her coven to feed on the locals without repercussions, she's also hoping to mould Cole into her slave by the next sunrise...


 * Big Bad
 * Burn the Witch: After being captured by Father Ignatius during the backstory, she was burned at the stake.
 * Despair Event Horizon:
 * From Nobody to Nightmare:
 * Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
 * Evil Redhead
 * Fully-Embraced Fiend
 * Kick the Dog: Her teachings reveal that she's engaged in a lot of this over her long life.
 * Kill It with Fire: How she was killed off the first time.
 * Lady in Red
 * Naked on Revival
 * Roaring Rampage of Revenge:
 * We Can Rule Together: Around the time Cole becomes too powerful for her to easily stop, she begins making offers along these lines; given that Cole had to spend the previous eight hours listening to her gloat over how she was going to dress him up in a pea coat once she had control over his mind, he wisely declines.
 * Villain Teleportation

Father Ignatius
The priest responsible for killing Bloody Mary during her first rampage. Though he's only seen in flashbacks, he becomes vital to defeating the vampires, for the only weapon powerful enough to kill Bloody Mary once again is his legendary Barbed Cross.


 * Badass Grandpa
 * Badass Moustache: Even Zeke notices it.
 * Church Militant
 * Posthumous Character
 * Posthumous Character

The Reapers


Prior to the Ray Sphere detonation, the Reapers were a very loose collection of drug dealers and petty criminals; however, after the quarantine was declared in Empire City and Sasha became their leader, the gang quickly took over much of the Neon District.

Tropes:

 * Badass Longcoat: The Conduits among the gang wear this.
 * Brainwashed and Crazy: Thanks to Sasha's influence; captured citizens initiated into the gang are forcefed her mind-control tar until they are completely under her control.
 * From Nobody to Nightmare: The original members of the gang, at least.
 * Gang of Hats: All of them are dressed in red hoodies. Reaper Conduits, however, dress in white longcoats- with the traditional hoods, of course.
 * Gang-Bangers: Before the Blast.
 * In the Hood
 * Villain Teleportation: Reaper Conduits possess the ability to teleport.
 * Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Occasionally, the Reapers can be seen spitting or puking black fluid.
 * Water Source Tampering: One of the bigger plot points in the Neon District is that the Reapers are pumping Sasha's tar into the water supply.

The Dustmen


A gang largely comprised of homeless people, the Dustmen rule the Warren district in the wake of the disaster in Empire City. Working to serve the desires of their leader, Alden Tate, they have begun abducting engineers and construction workers to build a monument in his honour- and searching for the Ray Sphere.

Tropes:

 * Crazy Homeless People
 * Elite Mooks / Boss in Mook Clothing: The armour-clad "Golem Conduit"
 * Evil Tower of Ominousness
 * From Nobody to Nightmare
 * Gang of Hats: They've taken to wearing masks and coats out of garbage bags (hence their other nickname: "Trashbaggers").
 * Giant Spider / Scary Scorpions: Lower-tier Dustmen Conduits build telekinetically-animated spider/scorpion-mechs the size of dogs for use in combat.
 * Golem: Evoked, given that both in-game hints and characters refer to the armourclad Boss in Mooks Clothing as a "golem."
 * Instant Armour / Humongous Mecha: The signiature weapon of high-level Dustmen Conduits, made out of any trash or scrap metal in the area and quickly assembled around the Conduit's body.
 * Kidnapped Engineers And Construction Workers: Their workforce.
 * Malevolent Masked Men
 * Mind Over Matter: Much like Alden, the Conduits employed by the Dustmen specialize in telekinesis, using it to create monsters and suits of armour out of trash and scrap metal.
 * Trash of the Titans: Under Tate's rule, a lot of the Warren has degerated into this- even moreso than any other district in Empire City.
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Apparently, the professionals kidnapped to build the tower would be worked to death or executed when it was finished.

The First Sons


Not exactly a gang per se, the First Sons are actually a secret society of Conduits with a private army that's taken over Empire City's Historic District. With a history that can be traced all the way back to colonial Salem, branches all over America, and a heavy emphasis on the propagation and mastery of Conduit powers, they are also under Kessler's control, and directly responsible for the Blast.

Tropes:

 * Ancient Conspiracy
 * Attack Drone: Used alongside their troops in battle.
 * Gas Mask Mooks
 * Instant Armour / Energy Beings: Some of the First Sons Conduits can project giant energy-composed duplicates of themselves, both for attack and defence.
 * Invisibility: Some of their Conduits have mastered this.
 * Mutant Draft Board
 * Sliding Scale of Shiny Versus Gritty: In sharp comparison to the Reapers and the Dustmen, the First Sons wear clean uniforms and use highly-polished weaponry and tech.
 * Surveillance Drone: These are actually encountered outside the Historic District, being used by Kessler to spy on other parts of the city.

The Militia


Established and organised by Joseph Bertrand, the Militia has been in control of New Marais ever since the Corrupted began attacking the city. Ostensibly in place to restore and preserve order until government assistance can arrive, the Militia are extremely repressive towards the citizens- especially Conduits, who Bertrand has declared war on.

Tropes:

 * Elite Mooks: As they don't use Conduits, the Militia employ heavily-armoured men with miniguns as elite infantry.
 * Fantastic Racism
 * Malevolent Masked Men: Most of them wear hockey masks.
 * Right-Wing Militia Fanatic

The Corrupted


A race of monsters that emerged from the swamps following the hurricane, the Corrupted periodically attack the city in large packs.

Tropes:

 * Giant Space Flea From Nowhere: Subverted- their origins are gradually explained, although they do show up largely unannounced.
 * Hive Queen: The Behemoth- AKA.
 * Made of Explodium: Some Corrupted explode in close proximity to an enemy.

Vermaak 88


A world-famous unit of South African mercenaries. Hired by Bertrand, they were given ice-based superpowers -  - and put in stasis for later sale to dictators around the world; unfortunately they were accidentally released by Cole, resulting in them taking over the flooded areas of New Marais.

Tropes:

 * An Ice Person: All of them have ice powers to a certain extent: some of them can propel themselves across great distances by creating explosions of ice under them, while more advanced members tower over the battlefield on pillars of ice and freeze their enemies solid. The most powerful of the Vermaak protect themselves with giant suits of armour composed of solid ice- which eventually leads to them actually becoming ice.
 * Axe Crazy
 * Arc Words: "We Will Be Whole!"
 * Boss in Mook Clothing: The Crushers and the Titans.
 * Defector From Decadence: One shows up in Good missions to help Cole take out other members of Vermaak. He later shows up as a Titan.
 * Elite Mooks: The heavy infantry.
 * Private Military Contractors
 * Psycho for Hire: Averted- Wolf's dead-drops show that the Vermaak were perfectly stable prior to gaining superpowers; it took their transformation into Forced Conduits to bring them into the state of Blast Core-obsessed violence they're seen in.
 * Sanity Slippage: At least one of the mercenaries managed to retain his sanity, and even tried to aid Cole in stopping his former comrades. Sadly, as he grows more powerful, he also gets progressively more deranged, until he loses all control and has to be put down.
 * Vader Breath: At least one of the heavy infantry units spoke with this.
 * With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: As ordinary humans not physiologically equipped to handle Conduit powers, the Vermaak have been driven almost completely insane by their transformation into Forced Conduits.