As most of you know by now, I have a huge nerd boner for the Condemned series. The first game is one of my favorite 360 titles, and I have high hopes for its sequel. Today, Monolith released a few detailed character bios that give a little bit more background information on some old favorites and some newcomers to the Condemned world. Beware! Thar be spoilers in this here copy pasta! Copy pasta to save you the trouble of following the link to IGN follows:

Ethan Thomas
Ethan Thomas was at summer camp when his parents where killed. He never received the full story of what happened. He was just told a car accident had taken their lives. Thomas was bounced from foster home to foster home until he entered college. His grades were average until college when studying criminal psychology and law enforcement really sparked his interest. He quickly found himself on a fast track to becoming a criminal profiler within the FBI. Thomas possessed an uncanny ability to visualize a crime scene and decipher important information regarding the perpetrator.

He was transferred to the Serial Crimes Unit (SCU) and began a very successful career under Deputy Director, Ike Farrell. Farrell personally recommended Thomas to the SCU and kept a close eye on his development as an agent. After a series of bizarre and unfortunate events, Thomas found himself drifting further and further from SCU, his former life and to some degree, his sanity. He became a suspect in a double homicide involving two Metro Police Officers. His boss, Ike Farrell, attempted to bring him in from the cold but Thomas refused—he trusted no one. He had questions about himself and about the mysterious dark influence over man that no one could answer. In addition, he commonly experienced horrific hallucinations that were getting worse each passing day. Wanting to numb his internal plight, Ethan hits rock bottom by choosing a life of isolation and self-medication to help silence his inner demons.



Deputy Director Ike Farrell and Special Agent Dorland
Farrell and Dorland are both acting members of a secret organization. Farrell holds a high position in the agency, doing his part to influence and guide mankind according to the grand scheme. Dorland is Farrell's right hand man and loose-cannon who is anxious to reach the top, but tends to make rash decisions and often appears impatient. He respects Farrell, but would step right over him if he had the opportunity. Both Farrell and Dorland are racked with pain due to the artificial tuning hidden under their skin. Farrell, a much older member, and a sufferer of many surgical re-tunings, lives with pain that he can barely endure. In fact, he is addicted to numerous kinds of pain killers that he must take regularly just to give the outward appearance of acting normal.

When Ethan Thomas completed his medical examination while applying for the FBI, the results were intercepted and sent directly to Farrell. A chest x-ray revealed that Thomas had a cross-stringed vocal cord structure, prompting further investigation by Farrell that eventually led to the identity of Thomas' parents. He believed Thomas could be of great value and arranged to have him transferred to the SCU. However, after the strange events that took place during several mysterious investigations, Thomas left the agency and away from Farrell's protection.



Special Agent Rosa Angel and Special Agent LeRue
Rosa and LeRue are humans and their back stories are typical—smart and driven professionals who find themselves in the middle of something they don't understand or ever expected. Rosa was (and still is) a true friend of Thomas and will never purposely do anything that jeopardizes his well-being. LeRue is a new acquaintance of Thomas' and eventually becomes a trusted ally. The path will be rocky, but the struggle will shape their relationship.

Leland Vanhorn
Leland was a sickly child. He suffered from a disease that made his body thin and his bones brittle. Doctors were not able to diagnose the disease and unable to help young Leland. As he grew older, he was never able to fit in and often exhibited cruel and violent tendencies that pushed other kids away. Being a resourceful loner, he managed to live on the street and as he grew older, he naturally drifted towards a life a crime and eventually became fascinated by serial killers. Instead of simply becoming another serial killer, he wanted to one up all of them by becoming a serial killer that killed serial killers.

Not able to hunt down serial killers on his own, he secretly followed the day to day career of Agent Ethan Thomas, one of SCU's top agents. Through Thomas' expertise and exceptional talent at finding the killers, Leland let him do the work for him. Unfortunately, his plan backfired and he ultimately paid the price after being shot in the face by a .45. He survived, but his jaw and throat areas were damaged beyond repair. He couldn't even talk, but he found a backroom surgeon willing to implant the vocal cords into his throat and the procedure went without a hitch. Soon after surgery, Leland immediately began making primitive metal rods and pins and pierced his body according to drawings and sketches found in his library. Without the true knowledge of the art of tuning, the procedures were not overly successful and he mostly managed to further butcher his already ravaged body, making himself even more revolting than before. Frustrated, he began to kidnap street people, addicts and vagrants, and experimented on them, creating a small faction of deranged sociopaths hideously disfigured.

End Copy Pasta

It should be noted that as of this posting, the Leland Vanhorn section has been removed from both the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the article. These bios are awesome, as they gives some clue as to what affected the biomechanical looking ninjas and the final boss, as well as a clue to what may have happened to Ethan at the end of the first game.

They also answer what happened to Leland Vanhorn at the end of the first game. Ethan shoots him (which coincidentally is what I did on my first play through), but he lived. I love that they address the redacted x-rays from the first game, and am loving the direction that they are taking this mythology. My only minor complaint is that I would like it if Greg Grunberg were still voicing the main character, as I enjoyed his performance in the original. But who knows, maybe the new guy will do a great job and I'll change my mind.