Revised entry #2: Meet David Sarif

Deus Ex: Human Revolution has a great many secondary non-player characters (NPCs) that the player can and must interact with throughout the course of the game. Some of these secondary characters are minor, only appearing in one place in the game to perform one specific role in the narrative. Other characters have much more impact, appearing at several times in the game and driving the narrative to a large degree.

 

David Sarif is one of these major secondary characters. Sarif is the head of Sarif Industries, a major biotech firm, and Adam Jensen (the game’s main character, who the player controls) works for him. One of the central questions posed by the game is whether cybernetic augmentation of humans is the next step in human evolution, or whether it strips away essential humanity, and Sarif is the game’s strongest voice for the former point of view. Sarif Industries has several military contracts, but a large portion of the company’s work is focused elsewhere, and Sarif believes that his work is improving the lives of everyday people.

Many things serve to further Sarif’s narrative role as advocate for augmentation technology, including his physical appearance. As can be seen in the image, Sarif has a cybernetic arm. The look of the arm—sleek and lifelike—is in contrast to some of the “clunkier” augmentations that other NPCs in the game possess. Also, the décor in his office has elements of the Renaissance; this is an aesthetic choice on the part of the game developers. People who support augmentation (such as Sarif) believe that a kind of “cyber-renaissance” is happening, and this can often be seen in their homes and offices, and even their dress.

There are two conversations in particular that illuminate Sarif’s view of human augmentation. The first takes place about a third of the way into the game, when Sarif and Adam are discussing an attack on Sarif Industries by an unknown group of mercenaries. The relevant portion is quoted below:

SARIF: Look, Adam. There’s a reason this company’s under attack. You think it has to do with the Typhoon, or with some other top-secret military project I haven’t told you about.

ADAM: The thought had crossed my mind.

SARIF: Yeah well, it doesn’t. The work Megan’s team was doing before they were killed—it was redefining what it means to be human. This company, Sarif industries, was about to lead mankind to its next stage in development—self-controlled evolution! Can’t you see how scary that can be to some people?

ADAM: Sure. I also see how lucrative it can be for some others.

SARIF: It’s never been about money for me, Adam. But you’re right—there are people out there who don’t exactly feel the same.

This conversation portrays Sarif as someone who genuinely believes that augmentation is humanity’s future and believes he is taking a moral position by supporting it and trying to make it available to everyone. In particular, he believes that humanity is facing a watershed moment, and his company is at the center of it. He fights against the people attacking his company not only out of self-preservation, but also so that he can help humanity usher in a new era.

Sarif also specifically disavows two suspicions that Adam (and quite possibly the player) might have had before that point in the game. The first is that Sarif Industries is being targeted because they do work for military contractors. Rather, Sarif claims that they are being targeted because people are afraid of the progress that they are making toward self-controlled human evolution. This also works to portray Sarif as a moral individual. Someone whose primary concern is making military weapons may well be seen as immoral or unethical by some people; however, someone who genuinely believes that he is working to better humanity is much less likely to be perceived this way.

And second, he also denies that profit is his primary motivation. The moral and ethical implications here should be obvious; someone who is motivated by profit is much less likely to be trusted by many people. By denying this, Sarif addresses a concern that the player might have had about him. Depending on whether the player believes his denial, this could lead them to trust Sarif more and thus, be more open to being influenced by his point of view on human augmentation.

However, a second conversation at the end of the game reveals that Sarif is much more morally grey. This conversation takes place after faulty biochips (intentionally distributed to the world by the Illuminati, a group of conspirators) have malfunctioned and are causing people with augmentations to become insane and violent. Adam and Sarif are discussing what to do, and the relevant portion of the conversation is again quoted below:

SARIF: We’ve got to fix this, Adam. If people realize what’s happened—if they believe augmentation technology created this chaos—they’ll ban human enhancement research forever!

ADAM: And that would be a bad thing.

SARIF: Yes, it would! Don’t you see what’s at stake here? Ever since man first crawled out of that ocean, we have been striving to be more than we are! Augmentation technology is just the latest, greatest step on a very long road—but we’ve barely scratched the surface of its potential. We can’t let fear stop us from continuing!

ADAM: That’s your belief, Sarif. Not everyone shares it.

SARIF: But you do, Adam. I know it! And if we work together, we can really make a difference. We can improve the lives of everyone! But only if we fix this.

ADAM: Go on....

SARIF: We have to get a message out . . . Tell the world... tell them that Humanity Front (ed. note—Humanity Front is an anti-augmentation organization in the game) did this. That their doctors created a virus that only affects augmented people.

ADAM: You mean, lie.

SARIF: It will give us time, son. Time to figure out how to destroy the Illuminati’s biochips, and move on.

ADAM: And what about the people who’ve been hurt by this? Don’t they deserve the truth?

SARIF: Ah, Adam... If we want the freedom to become more than we are, we can’t be blinded by a misguided morality. Some people will be left behind—it’s reality. It’s evolution, son.

This conversation presents the player with an ethical choice to make. While it may seem clear-cut at first glance (lying about what really happened would obviously be unethical), in large part the ethics of this choice depend upon how persuasive Sarif has been to the player over the course of the game. If the player believes that augmentation technology can truly better humanity, then taking action to ensure that this technology will continue to be pursued could be seen as ethical, even if it involves lying. Sarif’s influence over the player may impact the ethical choice they make, and this in turn may impact their attitude toward augmentation technology in the real world (as Simkins and Steinkuehler argue that these choices can).

However, since Sarif asks the player to lie in this conversation, this may negatively impact their opinion of him. Again, this will depend in large part on how influential Sarif was on the player prior to this conversation, but it is certainly possible that someone who trusted Sarif before this conversation happened would choose not to trust him afterward. Since Sarif is arguing for something unethical (deception), this could impact the player’s overall perception of his ethicality. Also, the player might come to the conclusion that if people who believe in human augmentation need to lie in order to keep a favorable public perception of augmentation, this means that augmentation may not be a positive force for humanity after all. There is a lot riding on this conversation with respect to how the game may influence its players on the subject of augmentation, and the outcome is tightly linked to Sarif’s character.

Sarif is, in large part, the game’s voice for the pro-augmentation side of the argument, and through their interactions with him, the player is given the opportunity to shape Adam Jensen’s position in that argument, and also, possibly, their own as well. Sarif plays a key role in the game’s narrative, and since he serves as the voice for a technology that is seeing increasing use in the real world, his words have the potential to carry real-world weight as well.