The Evil Genius characters. From left to right: Shen Yu, Maximilian, and Alexis.
The Evil Genius is the main protagonist villain of the game. The game provides a choice of one of three characters to play the part in the first game, and five in the second game (which includes Polar, a DLC character).
Overview[]
Evil Genius[]
The Evil Genius is one of three characters the player chooses as his avatar for the game. He or she is someone who has immense wealth and connections, and will use them to build a powerful and growing force under your control, referred to as "the evil organization" in the game, for the goal of achieving world domination.
Through the player, he or she will build a secret fortress lair on an uncharted island, with a massive army of minions, hired henchmen, well-placed traps, and freaks of nature for your protection and serve as your instruments of stealing, destruction, and conquest. He or she is responsible for keeping their minions trained, loyal, and inspired, otherwise they will defect and betray your organization.
Your Evil Genius does no work themselves, but controls worker minions who perform all of the menial tasks, like building rooms, purchasing and carrying items, and be used as cannon fodder. More specialized minions can be converted from workers into social minions who deceive and beguile your enemies, scientists that research new items, and military soldiers that fight enemies and guard your base. You also send minions out into the world to fuel your income by stealing money and plot acts of infamy to increase your notoriety. The latter also involves getting priceless treasures, kidnapping hostages, recruiting new henchmen, completing mission objectives, etc.
After you learn the basics of villainy, you will establish your position by becoming master of the criminal underworld, build a laboratory for research, and raise assets in money and loot to cement your organization as a true world power. Then, to conceive a master plan, you need to raise notoriety, pursue ideas for a doomsday device, and move your base headquarters to a bigger island.
After moving to your second island, to complete your plan for world conquest, you will steal and decipher the Codex of Knowledge to choose a doomsday device idea and build a rocket hangar for its construction. Your Evil Genius also installs puppet diplomats into the world alliances to make different agents turn on each other while infiltrating your island, making defending your base easier while you steal resources to build the rocket structure. Then, you will build its engine from stolen plans while fighting off their retrieval teams. After you test the engine, your Evil Genius will issue an ultimatum through a global communications network. In response, the nations of the world will send forces to try and stop you as the rocket is being assembled, but they will fail as you launch the device to achieve total control of the world.
You also have the option of collecting special loot objects to inspire your minion forces, reducing heat by cloning fake masterminds for enemy agents to kill, tricking the stock market to make extra money, and eliminating super agents by looking for each of their weaknesses.
Evil Genius 2[]
Similar to last game, the player will choose an Evil Genius to be his/her avatar for the game. There are four (five with the Oceans Campaign Pack) geniuses to choose from in the sequel. Each one has different skills, campaign, and their own doomsday device as their endgame.
Characters[]
Evil Genius[]
There are three Evil Geniuses to choose as your avatar in the first game, with each one having special abilities and influence on your operation.
- Maximilian: A wealthy industrialist who has the ambition to control the world through advanced scientific research and technological supremacy. He didn't have the happiest of childhoods because of his stockiness and squint. Fueled by a desire to prove himself to the world, Maximilian has founded an extremely lucrative empire, but not even his riches could keep his bought friends and women from spurning him. As a result, he became bent on revenge. If he could not make the world love him, then he will have it fear him instead. Starts with Jubei.
- Alexis: A beautiful heiress to a media empire with a beloved presence the world over, allowing her to command the utmost respect and loyalty from those who serve under her. Inheriting a multi-million dollar fortune and media empire from her late father, her hard work and piercing intelligence allows her business to prosper under her shrewd leadership. But years of being daddy's princess gave her a colossal ego and a constant need for adoration. Seeking a wider audience, she soon became America's darling, and eventually wanted more: more wealth, more adulation, more power. Alexis wanted the entire world. Starts with Eli Barracuda.
- Shen Yu: The clandestine super-criminal with a global network of conspirators that gives him hidden influence over the governments of the world. Shen Yu was once a humble pickpocket who joined a local Triad gang and was eventually arrested by A.N.V.I.L. agents, who have implanted a communication chip inside his brain to let them spy on Triad activity. But the Triad performed even more brain surgery to reverse the wiring in the chip to access A.N.V.I.L.'s operating system. Desperate to avoid more meddling with his grey matter, Shen Yu defected and used the knowledge the chip provided to build his own criminal empire. With advance knowledge on every move A.N.V.I.L. made, he was untouchable, and soon found himself in a position to bid for world domination. Starts with Lord Kane.
These characters are essential to the completion of their plan for world domination, and must be kept safe at all costs. If they get hurt, they can heal through the Inner Sanctum, but if they are killed, the game automatically ends. After which, you are shown a short, but interesting cutscene in which your Evil Genius is taken to a morgue, but is revealed to be a cleverly replaced robot double with a bomb set to explode in three seconds when the fake head opens, giving the player another chance to start over.
Evil Genius 2[]
There are five masterminds that player can choose in this game, each with his/her own campaign and doomsday device.
- Maximilian
- Red Ivan
- Emma
- Zalika
- Polar (DLC)
Skills[]
- Aura of Influence: All three Evil Geniuses radiate an aura from their person that restores the attention and loyalty of minions nearby. Alexis has the largest aura, but the slowest restoration rate. Shen Yu has the smallest aura, but the fastest restoration rate. Both Maximilian's aura size and regeneration rate are about average.
- Executions: They have the ability to execute their minions to rapidly restore all five stats to all minions who are nearby watching the execution. But, the amount by which the stats will be boosted depends on the Evil Genius you have chosen: Maximilian boosts minion stats by 5, Shen Yu boosts them by 7, and Alexis by 10.
- Taunting: Also, if you select your Evil Genius and select a cell with an agent inside, you will see a Ha Ha icon. Select this and your character will walk over and start gloating over the prisoner. If successful, notoriety will be increased by 1 (or 3 if it's a Super Agent). If unsuccessful, the agent (or Super Agent) will escape and no notoriety will be gain or lost.
- Interrogation: If your Evil Genius is standing nearby while an enemy agent is being tortured on any device, you will gain up to five notoriety points, depending on the agent being interrogated. If a Super Agent is being destroyed, your Evil Genius will make his/her way over to the interrogation scene automatically, and stand laughing uproariously while the Super Agent is gotten rid of once and for all.