A Deep Dive into Gaming’s Most Underrated Antagonist

Kessler has always been such a strange but iconic staple of InFamous 1. It’s kinda crazy he isn’t talked about more in the gaming landscape.

I really liked Kessler as a villain, he is a tragic yet selfish character. He is a man who refused to take action in his own time and when it destroyed his life he decided to go back and fix his mistake. The big issue with him is that instead of finding a way to give Cole his powers without destroying a city and training him and working together to face the beast he decided that Cole needed to be like him, Cole needed to know the pain of lose and despair so that he would be strong enough mentally to face the Beast, to force him to grow up and take action. Kessler had so many more options, he could have raised a whole group of conduits to face the beast together but instead he believed only he could defeat the Beast, only his past self would have the strength to do so. I think Kessler wanted cole to be the one to face the beast because maybe it would somehow undo the sins of kesslers pass, maybe redeem his failure in some way, a selfish desire that only caused needless suffering to both himself and the world

"So he invited Cole to a final confrontation. To join him at the location where Cole's world was forever changed" . . . . ad break plays At Honda

I can't see how anyone would play the InFamous series and NOT start with the first game. It's an incredibly compelling story with a phenomenal twist and the series wouldn't feel complete without it.

The bald three: Kessler, Sasha and Alden Tate

Kessler seems like a prime example of what an Anti Villain is. Like Thanos in the MCU. Having overall good intentions, but means that are awful if not worse than if they didn't act at all. The saying goes "the ends don't always justify the means" is a great way to describe Kessler. A man wanting to save the world, but in doing so caused harm to thousands of lives.

I remember in one of my playthroughs I used the raysphere for black lightning and sacrificed Trish for the doctors. Kessler actually praised me as being exactly what he was hoping for.

"Yes, You probably will. In fact, I hope you do. I've been at this for a long time now, and I'm tired. Worn out." Genuinely one of his best lines

I am now going to replay this game wish we had a remastered version

Also note that Kessler always kept Zeke somewhat safe, because Cole and Zeke might be selfish to a certain extent, Cole wouldnt have any moral point or anyone to rely on if it wasnt for Zeke. Even when pushing him away, he doesnt kill him Since the good ending in canon, I think Kessler knew that if the time came, Zeke would push Cole to do/be better, considering that Zeke starts fixing his mistakes nearly immediately which is a trait that Kessler wants, and Cole ignores that if Zeke stayed with Alden, he wouldve died, but Zeke doesnt blame Cole at any point for lashing out on him and admits his mistake, even though it mightve lead to his own death. Kessler was smart as he knew who needed to be filtered from Cole's life to keep him straight and focused on his goal

Never got over this series despite being an Xbox and now Pc player. Infamous and Prototype are both series I want remakes, or remasters or just anything more to know both series have any chance of a new game. I have only played Infamous 1 twice at a cousins house years ago and the experience never left me since, want to replay the game at some stage.

It's not that infamous 1 is bad. It's that Infamous 2 took that foundation and made it 10x better. Gameplay wise. Story wise, both are great, but 2 really added a buncha fun stuff to the combat that make it feel way funner, but none of that would have been possible had this game not set such a great foundation.

It's worth pointing out that, based on Kessler's own memories, he did legitimately believe that he could have won if he fought the Beast the first time. With this, and with him fighting Cole as the final test to make sure Cole was ready, you could argue that even now, altering time to set up Cole, he was still running from the responsibility of fighting the Beast directly by shoving it onto another version of himself.

I believe Kessler knew the very year the beast would appear. The infamous 2 guidebook implies that Kessler gave the year to everyone he told about the beast. Which would explain everyone’s shocked reaction to the beast showing up. It would also be in everyone’s best interest for Kessler to warn them years in advance to give them time to prepare That being said i think you’re absolutely right saying Kessler chose to punish Cole as I had always believed that myself. It also fits exactly in inFamous’s black and white morality system as being the most grey method of stopping the beast. Kessler is cole if neutral karma existed in the game and Kessler’s plan is both selfish and selfless at the same time i can’t think of a more neutral response.

My hope is that with this infamous content rolling, Sucker Punch will take notice and they finally announce a sequel or remaster! Keep up the great work y’all!

I always liked the pairing with kessler and evil cole for both games. Kessler wanted cole strong and ready. Evil offers you more power and easier gameplay in infamous 1. To me its making cole choose not out of good of evil but out of which option will save the world. Or simply put, doing whatever it takes by any means necessary. In infamous 2 after cole learns the truth and in the tie in comic You learn coles hatred for kessler and what hes done. low and behold kesslers attempt to sacrifice cole with the rfi failed. Cole finds his own path to forge instead of being forged for him. Cole becomes the beast, out of spite for kessler, fear from dying and finding a better way to save the world. Kessler created his own monster, and made a self fulfilling prophecy. It’s tragic and dark, and that may appear bad. But i think it works perfectly for a story like infamous.

Still remember the day I beat Kessler. The plot twist was INSANELY good for me. I played the game again (to do the evil route) and every dialogue, every scene, every tiny detail was very well crafted and plan out. The foreshadowing was insane. I miss villains like Kessler and I really want Infamous to return in some way. I don't nessasary mean infamous 3 the return of Cole or something like that but a spin off or a cameo like a Playstation all stars 2 maybe? Something. I just love these games. They need/dereve more love!!!!

how do I keep finding good unfortunately underrated YouTubers to watch

Rest in peace Sam Mowry, your voice acting work as Kessler will be forever immortalized as one of gaming's greatest antagonists.

Love that you're helping keep Infamous alive!