History Characters / TheOuterWorldsCorporationsTheBoard

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[[caption-width-right:660:some caption text]]

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* KickTheDog: [[spoiler:If Adelaide is in control of Edgewater, Akande will order you to wipe the town out since she sees it as a potential hub for dissidence. Even pointing out that the town is self-sufficient won't dissuade her, as the problem is not their drain on resources, but the dangerously Board-free ideas they could spread.]]

* SkippableBoss: [[spoiler:She can be talked down which lets you bypass the FinalBoss, but doing so requires maxing out several different non-combat skills.]]

* FashionDesigner: All those nice hats and suits with "Jolicoeur" listed as their manufacturer? ''This'' is that Jolicoeur.

* ContraltoOfDanger: Has a low, dark, and quite soothing voice for someone as callous and cold-blooded as she is.

* IllBoy: The public perception of him given that he's quarantined in his home and has been reported to have fallen ill 37 times in the past 52 cycles from 10 different ailments. All this seems like an obvious cover [[spoiler:and it is, with Chairman Rockwell using it as an excuse for his absence while Clarke is held prisoner in his own home.]]

* GreenEyedMonster: Is afraid the Lottery winners in "Early Retirement" have a better life than she's leading.

* KillThePoor: Thinks it's a great idea. [[spoiler:Literally, if you tell her the Early Retirement District is really just a ruse to commit mass murder against the poor, she'll be ecstatic.]]

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: She's got a pretty high opinion of herself and is quite pretentious. But when Parvati, a grease-stained mechanic whose traveling companions probably look no better, comes in asking about getting nice clothes for a date, Celeste has nothing but kind, sincere words and drops everything to help.

* TheConspiracy: Contrary to Lilya's theories, she is not an alien collaborator. The actual conspiracy the Board are trying to cover up is the fact that humans are not adapted to the food on their system and Chartrand and her team have been desperately trying to correct that.

* DwindlingParty: She and her team were so desperate to find a way to save Halcyon, they started experimenting on themselves. All the others are now in suspension, with Chartrand desperately seeking to complete their work and cure them in the process.
* EveryoneHasStandards: She refuses to use the poor/unemployed for her scientific experiments.

* KickTheDog: [[spoiler:If Adelaide is in control of Edgewater, Akande will order you to wipe the town out since she sees it as a potential hub for dissidence. Even pointing out that the town is self-sufficient won't dissuade her]].

* EvilCounterpart: To Phineas. They are both ruthless scientists trying to prevent Halycon's destruction, but while Phineas [[spoiler:feels guilty over his horrific experiments and seeks to revive the ''Hope'' colonists to create a Halycon that can support everyone, Sophia feels no remorse for her misdeeds and wants to force most of the colony to enter stasis while the Board's scientists solve the food crisis.]]

* HypercompetentSidekick: To the Board at large. She's clearly the only one who seems to care about actually doing anything about the Halcyon System's problems, but given that she's dealing with [[IncompetenceInc The Board]], it shouldn't be too surprising that she didn't get much done without the Unplanned Variable's involvement.

* JustTheFirstCitizen: She's the Adjutant, normally an administrative rank, assigned to assist a command officer, but she's actually in charge of security for the whole colony and answers only to the Chairman -- and even he realizes full well that the Board cannot survive without her. In practice she's the power behind the throne for the whole colony, and the only thing keeping her from assuming further influence is a lack of interest in her part. Her ambitions are control and stability, not personal wealth or glory.

* JerkassHasAPoint: [[spoiler:If the player sides with Welles and reveals their plan to him, he'll exasperatedly remind them that Halcyon is a few years away from starvation and introducing hundreds of thousands of new colonists will just make that worse. Depending on the player's choices, he can be proven right on this.]]

* RealityEnsues: Even in endings where the Board loses, the corporations still exist, and are just robbed of much of their collective executive and political powers.
* TheRemnant: The Hope was a colony ship loaded the best and brightest that humanity had to offer for the Halcyon mission. Its sister vessel, the Groundbreaker, was filled with everyone else, and the Board's been scraping by with said so-so population.

* HateSink: Has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. [[spoiler:owever, she's not involved in the "Early Retirement" scheme. She approves, though.]]

* NotWhatItLookLike: The [[spoiler:house arrest he forces Minister Clarke into]] looks like a barely disguised power grab, but it is in fact motivated by a more desperate and insidious desire to [[spoiler:hide the fact that Halcyon has lost contact with Earth.]]

!!Leadership

->''"Work fortifies the spirit."''

* BadBoss: Human life means nothing to its members. [[spoiler: As best seen with their "Early Retirement" plan and callous plan to freeze most of the population after killing the colonists inside the Hope.]]
* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler: If the player decides to side with them, the Board crushes Phineas's riots and you later have him killed, with all the opposition removed. The Board (or rather Akande and you) then proceed to enact the Lifetime Employment Program to freeze most of the population outside Byzantium as the Board scientists work to bring a change to the status quo]].
* BlatantLies: Their PropagandaMachine is not very good, like the fact they claim the Hope is actually a bunch of debris and a trick of the light [[spoiler: when it skip jumps above Terra-2.]]

* EvilPlan: [[spoiler: They plan to empty out the Hope's cryogenic freezing chambers to safely store the Halcyon colonists, except for the citizens of Byzantium, and live off the resources thereof. This will kill all of the Hope colonists and they don't have a way to revive frozen people past ten years yet.]]

* FinalSolution: [[spoiler: Their current plan is to freeze almost the entirety of the colony and hope they can solve TheFamine in the meantime. They also have been luring extra citizens to Byzantium with the promise of a Lottery that is actually an excuse for killing the masses.]]

** In fact, the only time the Board is truly competent and actually closer to solving the problem is when [[spoiler: ''you'' take over the Board, either with Akande or her dead.]]

* PuppetKing: The Earth Minister is completely in their pocket. [[spoiler: He's actually their prisoner.]]

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Many people think of them with extreme fondness and UndyingLoyalty. [[spoiler: If you take over the Board, the 'villain' part is stated to go down slightly.]]

* SmugSnake: Treats you and your companions with derision when you confront him. This despite the fact that you're right next to him and he only has two Sentry-bot guards. [[spoiler: It also doesn't take much to convince him to fold like a deck of cards.]]
* StylisticSuck: He's terrible at his job of BreakingBadNewsGently.
* SuicidalOverconfidence: Acts completely in control of the room when you confront him face-to-face. [[spoiler: Pointing this out results in him deciding to side with you.]]

* CardCarryingVillain: If you call her a "cold-blooded psychopath" for [[spoiler: ordering the execution of everyone in Edgewater]] she'll tell you [[InsultBackfire she appreciates the flattery]]. She sees everything she does as NecessarilyEvil.

* JerkassHasAPoint: She warns the player that Welles is hiding information from them and is just using them to accomplish his goals. [[spoiler: While his plan to revive all the Hope colonists is genuine, it is motivated more by his own guilt over his past actions than pure altruism, which along with the reveal that Halcyon has completely lost contact with Earth, he will only reveal after the player has thrown their lot in with Welles too far to change their mind.]]

* TheManBehindTheMan: It's implied Chairman Rockwell's plans and many of the Board's evil deeds are her doing. If you side with the Board, [[spoiler: you either work with her on equal footing, or 'take over' the Board.]]

* UndyingLoyalty: To the Board and the Halcyon System. It can be broken if you point out it's not reciprocated. [[spoiler: It can be strengthened if you and Akande rule over the Board.]]
* VillainousBreakdown: It's possible to have her go through this be it by talking her down or by getting past RAM and killing her outright.

* AntagonisticGovernor: As Minister, Clarke has to actively sign off on everything the Board does, making him complicit in all of their schemes. [[spoiler: Subverted. He's been under house arrest for years and Rockwell has been forging his signature.]]
* AuthorityInNameOnly: [[spoiler: Clarke is supposed to be the colony's governor, but Rockwell holds all the actual power.]]
* BigBadDuumvirate: He and Rockwell are the two most important officials in Halcyon making them both responsible for everything wrong with the colony. They're even placed side-by-side on posters, implying an equal partnership. [[spoiler: Subverted. Clarke is a prisoner and Rockwell is running the colony completely on his own.]]

* PuppetKing: [[spoiler: He has no actual power to stop the Board from doing anything.]]
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: [[spoiler: Once you're able to actually speak to him, it becomes clear that he really does have the best interests of Halcyon in mind, but is powerless to actually do anything. If he's still alive in the Phineas ending, his slide will state that after being released from house arrest he begins to take a more active role in helping the colony.]]

* WalkingSpoiler: It's difficult to say much about him without bringing up the fact that [[spoiler: he isn't actually working with Rockwell.]]

! Bureaucrats

[[folder: Udom Bedford]]

! Byzantium

* ConspicuousConsumption: The people of Byzantium spend vast sums of money on things like real marble from Earth, floors, and fashion when the rest of the colony [[spoiler: including them]] are starving.

* KillThePoor: [[spoiler: They are carrying this out with a Lottery to reduce the surplus population.]]

[[folder: Hortense Ingalsbee]]

* DeathByIrony: [[spoiler: If you tell her that the Early Retirement District is the paradise the Board advertises it as, she insists on breaking in herself, meeting the same cruel fate she thinks is perfect for the poor.]]

* HateSink: Has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. [[spoiler: However, she's not involved in the "Early Retirement" scheme. She approves, though.]]

[[folder: Celeste Jolicoeur]]
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[[folder: Dr. Eva Chartrand]]