The Mass Effect universe introduced the legendary Commander Shepard, a hero of the Systems Alliance Navy and the first-ever human Spectre. Shepard went on to command the SSV Normandy and later, the Normandy SR-2, and the latter ship came courtesy of the Illusive Man. He’s the boss of the Cerberus organization, and Shepard only reluctantly worked with him in 2185.
The Illusive Man is shrouded in mystery, and he works hard to keep it that way. He’s determined to defend humanity from all known and unknown threats alike, but his spiral into madness and villainy soon turned him into Shepard’s biggest rival. What else should players know about the Illusive Man?
10 The Illusive Man Juggles Cerberus’ Projects Alone
Cerberus is a private organization, and its members practically take pride from Cerberus’ relative lack of bureaucracy (contrasting with the Alliance). Instead, the Illusive Man personally manages all of the projects that Cerberus is involved in, making him a rather hands-on boss.
The Illusive Man is clearly a master of multitasking, a feat that not just anyone could pull off. But even he has his limits when juggling all these projects, so the Illusive Man makes sure to not run too many projects at once. He can’t afford to stretch himself (or Cerberus) too thin.
9 The Fans Call Him Tim
Many video game characters may get nicknames from each other, or they may get nicknames from the fandom either out of love or sheer convenience. It’s a bit of a hassle to keep typing or saying “The Illusive Man”, so the Mass Effect fans turned it into an acronym: TIM.
This really does sound like an ordinary man’s name, so it’s not too unusual to say “Tim” when referring to the Illusive Man. It helps that Mass Effect doesn’t already have a major character by the name Tim, so there’s no confusion when using it.
8 The Illusive Man Is An Expert Liar
Honesty is a virtue in Commander Shepard’s eyes, and squadmates such as Tali’Zorah or Garrus Vakarian become greatly upset anytime they are deceived or lied to. The Illusive Man, meanwhile, is a skilled liar, and he’s not afraid to trick people. He might even enjoy it sometimes.
In one of the Mass Effect novels, the Illusive Man negotiated with Aria T’Loak, the Asari kingpin of Omega, and actually lied to her. Ordinarily, Aria can easily spot a liar by noting the liar’s facial expressions, but the Illusive Man was an exception. Aria was impressed, and vaguely concerned, that this human was capable of beating her lie-detecting skill like that.
7 The Illusive Man Visited Palaven, The Turian Capital
The Turian people hail from the warm world of Palaven, and few humans (or any non-Turians) have ever visited. For one thing, there’s the concern of that world’s intense solar radiation, and the Turians aren’t the type to invite many guests anyway. But the Illusive Man once stepped foot on its surface.
During the First Contact War, the Illusive Man (going by Jack Harper) and a few friends were brought to Palaven as POWs, and the Illusive Man got to see the homeworld of his hated enemies in person, a fascinating but terrifying experience. He also watched some Turians became mutant cyborg monsters when exposed to a strange artifact, something that had never happened before on Palaven.
6 The Illusive Man Values Authenticity
Strangely, even though the Illusive Man is all about lies and manipulation, he does enjoy authenticity in some matters. He likes to drink whiskey and smoke cigarettes from Earth, which gives him a timeless, old-school villain aesthetic. He also values the authenticity of Commander Shepard’s mind.
When Shepard was rebuilt, Miranda Lawson wanted to place a mind-control chip in Shepard’s brain as a contingency plan, but the Illusive Man objected. He wanted Shepard, the war hero, to be 100% authentic and independent when revived. He needed the real Shepard for the Collector mission, and to him, bringing back an altered Commander Shepard would ruin the whole point.
5 He Would Have Become A Husk
The terrifying Reapers can capture any organism and convert it into a monstrous cyborg husk, and during the invasion, many species ended up as husks, from humans (baseline husks) to Batarian husks and even Krogan husks. The Illusive Man didn’t become a husk, but he could have.
Early concepts for Mass Effect 3 involved the Illusive Man becoming a monstrous husk, like a boss battle, to fully symbolize his Reaper allegiance. But that would be an off-theme way to wrap up the Illusive Man’s story arc, since he’s about brainpower and control, not being a brute-force fighter.
4 He Will Sacrifice Anything
Every leader, whether in the military or the business world or anything else, knows that risks must be taken and sacrifices must be made, all in the name of progress. But it’s possible to take this idea too far, and the Illusive Man does exactly that.
The Illusive Man traded in his humanity, and that of his followers, to obtain Reaper power, and he also sacrificed everyone’s freedom and autonomy along the way. The Illusive Man also manipulated Councilor Udina but saw him as expendable, writing him off as yet another sacrifice for the Cerberus/Reaper cause. As Shepard smartly told him later, “You’ve sacrificed too much.”
3 He’s Like The X-Files Smoking Man
The Illusive Man may remind players of another old-school sci-fi villain: the enigmatic Smoking Man, from the X-Files TV show. The Smoking Man wasn’t known by his real name, and as per his nickname, he was often smoking cigarettes. He was an older gentleman who dressed well, giving him a sophisticated look.
The same is true of the Illusive Man, from the upscale wardrobe to the chain-smoking to the mysteries and manipulations of Cerberus. Good sci-fi material can inspire all kinds of new characters and stories, and the same is true here. Mass Effect pays loving tribute to what came before.
2 The Illusive Man Doesn’t Humanize Machines
In some works of hard sci-fi, a fascinating debate comes up: should sufficiently intelligent robots and AIs be considered proper beings, like humans, and should they have citizenry and be allowed to vote? And do they have feelings? Over time, the pilot Joker decided that “yes” is the answer to all those questions, while the Illusive Man feels differently.
The Illusive Man saw EDI as a mere tool, and refused to call EDI “she” and “her” even when everyone else did. The Illusive Man doubted that EDI truly had a sense of humor, and he created EDI’s successor to be a mere tool that was totally in his control at all times. Lieutenant-Commander Data would not appreciate the Illusive Man’s views, that’s for sure.
1 The Illusive Man Was Like An Anti-Hero All Along
Is the Illusive Man a 100% pure villain? He might not be. It’s easy to see that he made some morally questionable decisions and took the wrong side in the Reaper war, but there is actually a glimmer of heroism in him, too. He is like a faulty Commander Shepard.
The Illusive Man had an excessive thirst for power, but his desire to protect and advocate humanity was genuine, and that’s not a totally bad thing in itself. Also, the Illusive Man was right to recognize the Reapers’ power and see the need to counteract it, and he was correct that the Reapers could be controlled and put to use. The problem was that the Reapers had indoctrinated him first, beating him at his own game. Commander Shepard, who values truth, justice and peace, was the one who achieved true control over the Reapers, not the scheming Illusive Man.
