| “ | Kessler: And here we are, back where it all started. I was so worried that you weren't going to live through the blast. But you were fine. More than fine, actually. Cole: I remember your voice now. You were there after the bomb went off. Kessler: I've always been there, Cole. Every step of your life. |
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| ~ Kessler revealing the truth to Cole about the bomb's explosion during their final battle. |
Cole MacGrath, also known as Kessler, is the main antagonist of the 2009 video game inFamous and the posthumous overarching antagonist in the inFamous comic book series issued by DC Comics and of its 2011 sequel inFamous 2.
An alternate timeline version of the series' main protagonist Cole MacGrath from the not-too-distant future, Kessler wants to prepare Cole for the Beast when the latter comes to save all Conduits from the Ray Field Plague by wiping out humanity.
He was voiced by the late Sam A. Mowry.
What Makes Him Magnificent?[]
- He's a tragic anti-villain. Back in his own timeline, he was once a good man who deeply loved his best friend, wife and two daughters until they all died due to his inaction while the Beast destroyed the world. He now seeks to rewrite his mistake by teaching his past self not to let his attachments get in the way of society's wellbeing, all the while Kessler himself never takes pleasure in anything he does.
- Sam A. Mowry gives him a badass voice with several memorable quotes.
- Being Cole from the future and all, Kessler not only has cooler, more amped-up versions of Cole's electricity powers but also telepathy, telekinesis and teleportation.
- He has spent decades plotting events from behind the scenes, usurping the position of leadership in the First Sons while also giving Cole his powers, also orchestrating Empire City's quarantine in order to kickstart Cole's path to heroism.
- He shows Cole a brief glimpse of the future where the world was destroyed, tricking him into thinking Kessler was responsible for it in order to motivate Cole to stop him.
- He manipulates Zeke into giving him the second Ray Sphere by playing off his desires for superpowers, only to lock him up in a cell immediately afterwards.
- In the end, he puts up one hell of a fight against Cole for an old man, successfully provokes him into killing him, and then finally warns Cole of the Beast's incoming destruction before dying. His last words are "Trish, I love you. Please forgive me."
- He also succeeds posthumously getting Cole to save mankind in the second game's "Good Karma" ending (which is canon according to Second Son).
- Overall, while he has enough heinous crimes under his belt to be a Baddie, compared to Joseph Bertrand III and Shane, Kessler comes off as a lesser evil.
What Makes Him a Baddie?[]
- After usurping (and likely killing) Richard Tate as leader of the First Sons, Kessler kicked Richard's young son Alden out of his own home and into the streets, resulting in Alden becoming a vengeful supervillain as an adult.
- He used both animals and humans as test subjects for the Ray Sphere, resulting in countless deadly failures.
- He bombs 5-6 blocks of Empire City, killing thousands (including Trish's sister Amy) and thus resulting in several people going completely insane against one another before the city becomes quarantined because of it.
- He infects Empire City with Sasha's toxin (which Kessler tortured and milked her dry for), mind-raping countless people while making others sick.
- He forces Cole to choose between saving either his beloved girlfriend Trish, or six doctors. Trish dies either way.
- He sends his goons to kill the Voice of Survival once he outlived his usefulness.
- He tries to manipulate Cole into using the second Ray Sphere to enhance his powers, even though it would kill everyone in its blast radius if that happened. Kessler even exclaims disappointment if Cole destroys the Sphere instead.
- In general, being the leader of the First Sons makes Kessler responsible for their crimes throughout the numerous decades spread across the timeline of the games.
- It's also implied that Kessler somehow played a hand in the creation of the Ray Field Inhibitor, intending for Cole to use it to cure all humans from the Ray Field Plague but at the unfortunate cost of genocide towards all Conduits within its blast radius. Dead drops show Kessler knew John was the Beast but didn't just kill him when he had the chance, since the Beast is invincible and thus it wouldn't work anyway. Not to mention the whole reason Kessler killed Trish and wanted Cole to use the Ray Sphere was to make the latter strong and ruthless enough to defeat the Beast, a feat that's literally impossible without the RFI.
External Links[]
- Kessler on the Villains Wiki.
- Kessler on the InFamous Wiki.