The Illusive man has to be the best villain of the decade, right?

[Deleted member 47654]

His dialogue, acting, mannerisms, everything about him was superb, in ME3 his actions and dialogue made less sense, but still, just a few villains can touch what Bioware accomplished with The Illusive Man.
I wish y'all could see him like i do... he is perfect.
Do not forget that he was voiced by freaking Martin Sheen, thats one of the reasons he ates the screen everytime he is in it.

PD: I think this would be a good place (for Mass Effect fans) to discuss the Mission in Horizon at the end of ME3, that showed us that TIM was still fighting and he wasnt that bad until that point. Blame Mac Walters and Casey Hudson for what came later.
PD2: I forgot to add a poll goddam.

 

[Prophet Five]

One of my favorite villains ever.

 

[Saucycarpdog]

Handsome Jack was better imo

 

[CarlSagan94]

He was, until he got screwed by the end of Mass Effect 3 where he just becomes another indoctrinated puppet like the others. He was amazing in ME2 and I was so excited to see where they would take him in the sequel but they completely dropped the ball.

His theme is still legendary though, so much gravitas and awe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agfzSFzbiD4

 

[Kamaros]

i don't know about THE best but he's very very effective, yes.

Martin Sheen's dub was among last gen's best.

 

[Deleted member 47654]

He was, until he got screwed by the end of Mass Effect 3 where he just becomes another indoctrinated puppet like the others. He was amazing in ME2 and I was so excited to see where they would take him in the sequel but they completely dropped the ball.

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yup, i remember playing the mission in Horizon and saying "Holy shit, so TIM isnt that stupid, he always had a plan!!"
And then, you know, the ending, i liked the original ending after the space kid come up, everything before that left me disappointed, the final battle, the farewell to my companions, IM and Anderson's redemption, everything.

 

[chandoog]

Yep, Martin Sheen gave probably one of the best celebrity-video-game voice acting performance ever.

 

[Dougieflesh]

Mass Effect 3 didn't do him any favors in my eyes. While still a good villain, I like Ardyn from FFXV more than Illusive Man.

 

[Minty Freshness]

I second the notion that he was effective and intriguing in ME2 and completely botched in ME3.

Martin Sheen's performance elevates it but ultimately he acts like a stupid asshole in 3 to the extent that the game became insanely frustrating in its repetition of "I know what's up, Shepard!" "NO U" every. Single. Time. You talk to him.

They wanted so badly to match Saren in those final moments but it just came off as hammy and nonsensical to me. Like seriously, it's been almost 8 years and I still have no idea what the fuck was up with his sudden superpowers in the final confrontation. Ugh.

 

[Garlador]

Yep, Martin Sheen gave probably one of the best celebrity-video-game voice acting performance ever.

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Agreed. Mass Effect had a lot of celebrity talent, but Sheen clearly stole every scene was in... arguably even next to Keith David. Both of them could read the phone book and make it sound fascinating.

 

[Nome]

He was subtle and charming and charismatic. Really capped the fantastic character showcase that was ME2, and a great contrast to the cheese that was Saren.

 

[Van Bur3n]

I really liked him. Shame they kind of ruined him in the third game.

 

[formasymphonic]

I still think "morally ambiguous Cerberus" of ME2 was much more interesting narratively than "we need an additional enemy faction for gameplay reasons" in Mass Effect 3. Martin Sheen's "charismatic, but never 100% know if you can trust him because he seems to be playing all the odds" was a big part of that.

Spoiler

also Cerberus Normandy >>>>>> Alliance Normandy

...god I love ME2

 

[TheZynster]

Mass Effect 3 didn't do him any favors in my eyes. While still a good villain, I like Ardyn from FFXV more than Illusive Man.

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Yes, Ardyn is probably in my top tier list............only problem was the pacing in which you dealt with him because of how big the open world was and how much time you could spend doing side quests before even going to the next chapter.

But Ardyn was evil as hell............that throne room scene.....chills

Illusive Man is still insanely good though, one of the best performances by a celeb easily in a video game

 

[TheMrPliskin]

He's not the best, though he's certainly a standout.

Or he was in Mass Effect 2. Unfortunately he's one of the worst parts of Mass Effect 3.

 

[SunBroDave]

Him or Dutch, yea

 

[Deleted member 58846]

No. He's good, but nowhere close to the best.

 

[Z-Beat]

Handsome Jack is pretty damn good, yeah.

 

[efr]

remaster/re-release ea? Cmon!

 

[Dougieflesh]

Yes, Ardyn is probably in my top tier list............only problem was the pacing in which you dealt with him because of how big the open world was and how much time you could spend doing side quests before even going to the next chapter.

But Ardyn was evil as hell............that throne room scene.....chills

Illusive Man is still insanely good though, one of the best performances by a celeb easily in a video game

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The Episode Ardyn DLC really cemented him as top tier for me.

 

[LiK]

He was great until the the very last few moments.

 

[Nano-Nandy]

Yep. Martin Sheen was amazing. Though despite liking ME3, wasn't a big fan of what they did to him in it.

 

[thisismadness]

 

[Javier23]

Since we're on the topic of console western AAA RPGs, Gaunter O'Dimm would like to have a word with you.

 

[Deleted member 47654]

I second the notion that he was effective and intriguing in ME2 and completely botched in ME3.

Martin Sheen's performance elevates it but ultimately he acts like a stupid asshole in 3 to the extent that the game became insanely frustrating in its repetition of "I know what's up, Shepard!" "NO U" every. Single. Time. You talk to him.

They wanted so badly to match Saren in those final moments but it just came off as hammy and nonsensical to me. Like seriously, it's been almost 8 years and I still have no idea what the fuck was up with his sudden superpowers in the final confrontation. Ugh.

Click to shrink...

I like to believe that he was killed in a spaceship fighting far away from the citadel, and that everything happens inside Shepard's head.

 

[Weiss]

He spends the entire third game brainwashed and actively undermining his own goals.

TIM is a visual representation of Mass Effect's downfall.

 

[HaremKing]

I didn't particularly care about the Illusive Man. Vaas from FC3 would be my choice. Sure, there have been many clones of what he brought to the table, but when he was on the scene in FC3 the dude demanded the screen. And once he died, well, FC3 was a shell of its former self.

 

[Deleted member 47654]

remaster/re-release ea? Cmon!

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ME3 Remake
Preorder to get Kepral Syndrome cure

 

[edo_kid]

No lol not even close.

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O'Dim is Top 3 for sure, so good.

 

[TheZynster]

The Episode Ardyn DLC really cemented him as top tier for me.

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i still have yet to play it. Been thinking about just grabbing it for PC since i own it on all platforms and doing his DLC in 60fps would probably be glorious

 

[Kalentan]

Illusive Man is for sure up there. Emet-Selch from FFXIV: Shadowbringers is fantastic and really memorable. Granted much more recent but he single handly made the Ascians, the evil guys since 1.0 of FFXIV, actually really interesting after being very boring and one-note. Personally one of my favorite villains of this decade.

 

[Kiekura]

Dim or Butch

 

[take_marsh]

He definitely had a cool-as-fuck musical theme.

 

[BhetjaXIV]

Illusive Man is for sure up there. Emet-Selch from FFXIV: Shadowbringers as fantastic and really memorable. Granted much more recent but he single handly made the Ascians, the evil guys since 1.0 of FFXIV, actually really interesting after being very boring and one-note.

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Yep !! Hands down my favorite Final Fantasy villain too.

 

[vestan]

Nah it's Handsome Jack or Vaas

 

[Minty Freshness]

I like to believe that he was killed in a spaceship fighting far away from the citadel, and that everything happens inside Shepard's head.

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I'm weak, this is still a somewhat comforting idea to me.

He spends the entire third game brainwashed and actively undermining his own goals.

TIM is a visual representation of Mass Effect's downfall.

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And to add, the whole game you're fighting him and his insane proposal of "control the eldritch horrors for our own gain" only for the option at the end to choose to do exactly that, proving him right in a way he could have never seen coming.

I love this series, but those moments still make me sad.

 

[Clefargle]

Best Sheen

 

[shinobi602]

Probably near the top for me. Martin Sheen killed that role.

 

[R.T Straker]

That's not how you spell Gaunter O' Dimm.

 

[Linus815]

he was good in ME2, but ME3...

 

[BossAttack]

Yep, he's certainly up there. At least until ME3 ruined him with that awful ending. Complex character. Amazing voice performance by Sheen. And, a bombass theme.

 

[Dust]

Nope.

 

[Phellps]

Definitely among the best. For a character that hardly ever leaves his room throughout the whole plot, you could still feel and see his influence everywhere in the game. It was that good.
Mass Effect 2 as a whole was the peak of BioWare's character writing.

 

[Dog]

Higgs from Death Stranding for me.

 

[BossAttack]

He spends the entire third game brainwashed and actively undermining his own goals.

TIM is a visual representation of Mass Effect's downfall.

Click to shrink...

What I hate about ME3 is that because he's indoctrinated you cant join him. Every single line with him in ME3 I was like, "okay, I'm on board with your plan. Let's do it." But, you can't. Then at the very end you can even basically say to him, "okay, go ahead and open the relays and control the Reapers. Do it so we can end this." And he's like, "I...can't. I need to make you understand." Because his dumbass was indoctrinated from the start ruining the complexity of his character.

 

[Team_Feisar]

Almost ;)

 

[Naga]

He was great until...

He was, until he got screwed by the end of Mass Effect 3 where he just becomes another indoctrinated puppet like the others. He was amazing in ME2 and I was so excited to see where they would take him in the sequel but they completely dropped the ball.

His theme is still legendary though, so much gravitas and awe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agfzSFzbiD4

Click to shrink...

This.
I wouldn't go as far as THE best of the decade though, but he's up there for sure.

 

[Anoxida]

Illusive man, Vaas and O'Dim would be my top 3 in no paticular order. None of them can hold a candle to a villain like Luca Blight though.

 

[Fiery Phoenix]

FYI, he's a lot more intimidating in the books.

 

[Dr. Ludwig]

Fantastic performance, god-awful writing. Such as everything that has to do with the rest of Cerberus in the ME universe.

 

[Weiss]

He wasn't even cool in ME2 either.

Well no, he was Cool. Studiously, perfected levels of Cool. A swaggering braggart who owned the narrative you, the player, were supposed to lead as he threw tennis balls in vague directions and telling you to go fetch. Because Mass Effect 2 was a game about Badasses Getting Things Done and not at all what Mass Effect 1 was setting up the universe up for.