What makes the Illusive Man evil?

[Iwana Humpalot]

1) Our own US government has done anything to make us rule over other nations; in particular those with resources (like oil) we can use
2) Our own US government has ordered attacks on countries that have made no aggressive moves towards us.
3) Our own US government has done much to make sure US dominance will be guaranteed
4) Our own US government experimented on blacks (The Tuskegee syphilis experiment) in order to advance medical technology
5) Our own US government has tortured and detained people in Guantanamo for years

Is the US government then evil? And we're talking other humans here, not just aliens. If you're not from the US look to the atrocities your own government has participated in; most countries in the world don't exactly have saintly track records.

Can i anwser? YES IT ISSSS! ..atleast in my opinion, u people are okay though, i just h8 ur goverment.
OT: Yeah, i played the ME2 before i played ME1, you need to play the first one to see him in the full light. He doesn't come across as a big baddie in ME2.

 

[PrinceofPersia]

Humanity's best interest at the expense of all the other species.

If you take the ending choice that favours him (avoiding spoilers) Shepard calls him on it and he outright states that the tech will be used for humans not anyone else.

He's not strictly racist it's more that he is upsetting galactic harmony and humanity's integration with the galaxy as a whole.

Looking out for your own best interests is fine but you don't have to be up in everyone's face about it.

He's not racist he is a speciesist. Like Terry Pratchett said: Racism was not a problem on the Discworld, because -- what with trolls and dwarfs and so on -- speciesism was more interesting. Black and white lived in perfect harmony and ganged up on green.

 

[Shock and Awe]

Because he is not "evil", just a total dick. That meaning that he will sacrifice everything so Humans can be the masters of the galaxy. He can't even settle for being the first among equals, which is the situation of Mass Effect 2.

 

[Kathinka]

the eyes! it's the goddamned eyes!

i mean for fucks sake, look at him! someone get this man a cat!

 

[Grigori361]

Really? He's evil because:
- he will do anything to make humanity rule over the alien races
- ordered the attack on the Migrant Fleet
- wanted the Collector Base to be kept so that human dominance would be gauranteed
- implanted Paul Grayson with Reaper technology
- conducted experiments on children
- Akuze
- had Corpral Toombs tourtured and experimented on for several years
- is the head of Cerberus

and on and on and on.
//masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Illusive_Man

1) Our own US government has done anything to make us rule over other nations; in particular those with resources (like oil) we can use
2) Our own US government has ordered attacks on countries that have made no aggressive moves towards us.
3) Our own US government has done much to make sure US dominance will be guaranteed
4) Our own US government experimented on blacks (The Tuskegee syphilis experiment) in order to advance medical technology
5) Our own US government has tortured and detained people in Guantanamo for years

Is the US government then evil? And we're talking other humans here, not just aliens. If you're not from the US look to the atrocities your own government has participated in; most countries in the world don't exactly have saintly track records.

Yes, I think the US Government is. I'm from Canada.

Edit: that's not to say I think the US citizenry is evil, or even the majority of the US Governments activities are evil, there's alot of good there, too. But The USA Government has all the qualities of evil, that's for sure. You don't even need to look outside south america for that, there's a reason people like chavez are being elected down there. Look it up, or just read some noam chompsky.

 

[CharrHearted]

He's american! NO just kidding yeah, he's ruthless. Also why does he remind me of bush?

 

[teebeeohh]

he does not think krogan are awesome, that makes him evil.
and if i remeber correctly humans only have highly developed biotics because Cerberus blow up a ezo freighter over a colony/space station just to produce biotics, crippling and killing thousands.
and i still am not sure if he wouldn't strike a deal with the reapers to have mankind survive if he offered the rest of the galaxy on a silver plate.

 

[IBlackKiteI]

He's not. He's a Bioware character, and Bioware knows better than to sort their characters into simple good and evil pigeonholes.

You do realise that the game is practically screaming 'this guy is evil!' constantly right?
Along with many other characters. They along with the various organisations are all pretty much grouped into the good or bad category.

Take the prison warden on the ship that holds Jack for instance.
He thinks (and probably is) doing his job for the good of the galaxy, yet the game barely even gives him a brief mention of what his real intentions and ideals are, instead just directing you to yet another enemy with a bigger gun and extra shields.

I really dislike that, the player isn't really able to make up their own mind on what's good and what's evil. It's seem like it's always all bad guys vs good guys in Bioware games with very few exceptions, or at least that's what the 'Paragon/Renegade' bars keep telling you.

Oh yeah, and the ending to salvage the collector base, which makes complete sense, is seen as evil too?

Really? He's evil because:
- he will do anything to make humanity rule over the alien races
- ordered the attack on the Migrant Fleet
- wanted the Collector Base to be kept so that human dominance would be gauranteed
- implanted Paul Grayson with Reaper technology
- conducted experiments on children
- Akuze
- had Corpral Toombs tourtured and experimented on for several years
- is the head of Cerberus

and on and on and on.
//masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Illusive_Man

Put it this way, practically every other militarised organisation or government thinkable or that has ever existed is like this in some way.

I'll bet the Citadel Council for example has more than a few skeletons in the closet. Take their Spectres, or the genophage for instance.
And those are just ones you know about.
Oh yeah, then theres the alien race which created an entire race of slaves and then attempted genocide when they became self aware.
However the people who they created as slaves and then tried to exterminate are supposed to be the bad guy?

This sort of grey and grey morality is there but is only really clear when you think on it for yourself. But it doesn't change the fact that Shepard still ends up being a prick if you side with the people and groups which the game tells you are supposed to be bad.

 

[mjc0961]

Aside from all the things Cerberus, his organization, tried to do in ME1, there's that new tidbit for ME3 where

Spoiler

the Illusive Man is now trying to kill Shepard for some as of yet unexplained reason.

Yep, I'm pretty sure he's evil alright.

 

[AlexLoxate]

I'm not gonna say he's salt the universe, he's not. But I played Mass Effect 2, he doesn't come across as evil or racist. He and Cerebus are pretty much what they flat out say they are, an organization for humanities best interest.

It doesn't seem like he wants to go out of his way to harm the other species, but he's not going to put anyone or anything else above his mission goal. He also seems fairly reasonable, no matter what choices Sheppard chooses he throws in his two cents but lets the decision stand.

So whats the clear indication that the Illusive Man is evil?

He's just misunderstood. I felt bad for him. He wanted that Collector ship so much, what else could I do? Destroy it? Nah, I let little Timmy, errr I mean the Illusive Man have it.

 

[Orcus The Ultimate]

He got MotherF'ing Robotic Eyes ! who knows if he's gaining $$$ from all the Chaos out there !

 

[JoeThree]

He's not evil, he just has his own agenda. Furthering the advancement of humanity is no worse than saying "Gay Pride" or "Black Power", it's just one of those things that for whatever reason rubs people the wrong way, like "Straight Pride" or "White Power". Something taken to mean something it doesn't because it's an assumed majority. Of course, I find the whole notion of race/gender/sexuality based pride/prejudice silly, but that's neither here nor there.

In the world Bioware has created, it's clear that humanity is looked at differently than the rest of the galaxy. We're hated by a lot of species, so I see no reason not to have a strong group looking out for out interests, much in the way certain civil rights activists have in American history. He's not actively harming other species, just investing his own resources into bettering his own, and in fact you could argue that that's downright noble.

Of course, that's all just based on his own claims regarding his orders to Cerberus. There's more than enough evidence to suggest he had a hand in the slaughter of aliens, and even human testing, not to mention countless other evil deeds. Still, without any solid evidence, I'd say as of now, he's neutral.

(In my first play through, I role-played a very righteous character who's also quite open minded and pro-alien, so she did not play well with him. On my second go, I was a more neutral character, and I got along fine with him)

 

[Marik Bentusi]

He's not. He's a Bioware character, and Bioware knows better than to sort their characters into simple good and evil pigeonholes.

How about Dragon Age's archdemon? Or pretty much any demon I recall actually. "It's their nature" doesn't count.

 

[Canid117]

The whole torturing children thing and the turning the autistic man into a supercomputer against his will bit wasn't evil enough for you?

Don't be fooled by Martin Sheen's soothing voice. The Illusive man is pretty bad.

 

[Rayne870]

Evil is a matter of perspective.