| “ | I didn't join the First Sons for the betterment of mankind; I joined them because I want powers! God has a purpose for me, that I might better myself and use my gifts in His name. Besides, I'm tired of waiting. I've already assembled the prisoners, the Ray Sphere. It's already in motion. Tonight, I will become the sword of God. | „ |
| ~ Bertrand's final speech before becoming a Conduit. |
| “ | Cole: Ahh...I finally get it. Oh, you thought the Ray Sphere was gonna turn you into some sorta shiny superhuman, but instead it turned you into a fifty-foot maggot. Bertrand: Cole...don't press me. If I turn into that thing again...oh, there will be blood on both our hands. Cole: Blood? You're the one trying to trick humanity into killing anybody with a power. Bertrand: Conduits are not part of the divine plan! They are a product of science, fueled by...by Man's greed and the whispering of the Devil in our ears, Cole! Cole: See that's where you're wrong, Bertrand. Conduits aren't monsters. No, see powers don't kill people. Oh no. It's the person behind the powers, that kill people. Bertrand: That's right. |
„ |
| ~ Bertrand's last exchange with Cole MacGrath before his death. |
Joseph Bertrand III, also known as The Behemoth, is the secondary antagonist of the 2011 videogame inFAMOUS 2. He is the leader of the New Marais section of the First Sons, the Milita, the de facto leader of Vermaak 88, and the creator of the Corrupted. An insanely fanatical man, Bertrand's ultimate goal is to destroy all Conduits based on the fact that his ability is to turn into a monster.
He was voiced by Graham McTavish, who also played Loki in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Zoran Lazarević from Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Dromos from Lucifer.
What Makes Him Pure Evil?[]
- He rounded up Nix's family alongside several other prostitutes and swamp-dwellers who he thought wouldn't be missed, vaporizing them all with the Ray Sphere just to give himself powers. Even worse, Nix was only a child when she watched this happen from a nearby bush, and then grew up to become a literal pyromaniac.
- When Bertrand didn't get the godlike powers he had hoped for, he then used his self-loathing of his own hideous powers and his envy of Conduits with better powers as an excuse to usher an anti-Conduit campaign in New Marais.
- He had countless citizens of New Marais kidnapped to painfully transform them into the Corrupted; a race of mutant behemoth insectoids that eat people. He then sets them loose on the town, risking human casualties just to win the public's respect.
- Under his orders, the Militia in New Marais have a shoot-to-kill order towards anyone even suspected of being Conduits. Some people are even fed to the Corrupted simply to appease them, which nearly happens to Laroche's niece Sara.
- He has Dr. Wolfe killed in a car crash while escaping his custody.
- He has Kuo kidnapped and painfully experimented on, draining all of her blood and replacing it with an unknown substance that gives her ice powers to unlock her Conduit gene.
- He secretly experiments on a secret Conduit faction known as Vermaak 88, a group of conduits with ice powers of which he plans to sell worldwide. If he was successful doing this then it would result in World War III.
- After Cole shoots down his helicopter, Bertrand transforms into The Behemoth and he ravages through downtown New Marais and destroys anything in his way; including his own Militia soldiers that arrived to contain the damage.
- He plans to sell forced Conduits to rich warlords around the globe, thus kickstarting a genocide by scaring humanity into hating Conduits just as much as he does. Judging from the game's cutscene during the reveal, the results of this plan if successful would be absolutely chaotic and likely start World War III.
- When confronted by Cole on his plans of genocide, Bertrand justifies his actions before he transforms into The Behemoth and causes mass destruction through New Marais in an attempt to kill Cole and cover up his plans.
- Despite his claims of serving God by wiping out freaks and monsters like the Conduits, in reality he's a complete hypocritical narcissist since he himself is a Conduit as well. Furthermore, Cole even points out in-universe that he's mainly motivated by envy that he became a "fifty-foot maggot" instead of a shiny superhuman.
- He also outright states in audio logs that he only joined the First Sons for personal power rather than the betterment of mankind, and admits in his final conversation with Cole that his own pride turned him into a demonic monster with blood on his hands, thus proving that Bertrand has a clear moral agency despite his massive self-delusion.
- Furthermore, while he does admit to Cole that his pride turned him into a monster, he is not genuinely remorseful; as he immediately returns to a self-justifying rant about how "Conduits are not a part of the divine plan" and are "products of man's greed and the whispering of the Devil in our ears!"
- While he does offer Cole a chance to help defeat the Beast so they'll both be praised as heroes in the public's eye, this was clearly for pragmatic reasons only because: A) Bertrand says it himself that he isn't powerful enough to defeat the Beast alone, B) It's implied Bertrand wants to sponge off Cole's victory to win public support, and C) Cole predicts that Bertrand would just backstab him afterwards anyway.
- Overall, he's easily the most heinous and depraved character in the entire inFAMOUS series, with wholly no redeeming qualities to be found. At least Kessler, the Beast and even Brooke Augustine have noble intentions and/or tragic backstories.
Trivia[]
- Bertrand is one of the only two villains in the inFAMOUS franchise to be Pure Evil, alongside Shane.
External Links[]
- Joseph Bertrand III on the Villains Wiki
- Joseph Bertrand III on the Infamous Wiki