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"I once thought I could save the world... now look at it"
— Spoilers for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided follow!
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Richard Smallhorn,[1] or Richard the Great as he calls himself, is the leader of a cult that operates in a facility in the Překážka sewers of Prague in 2029. He is involved in the Cult of Personality side mission.
Biography[]
Richard once partnered with Liborio Barbadoro in creating and performing a magic show called "Richard and Liborio's Exploration of the Mind: A Hypnotic Experience." The show provided audiences with shared spaces and communal experiences through an area-of-effect social enhancement technology known as "The Community Initiative."[2] According to Liborio, the fantasies they created for their audiences were more beautiful than reality. After the Aug Incident, this technology was deemed too dangerous by the public, and the show was cancelled by authorities.[3]
For Richard, however, the Community Initiative was never about magic and entertainment. Instead, it was creating places people could escape to.[3] After his show was shut down, Richard established a cult in the sewers of Prague built using the same technology used in his magic show.
Inside his facility in the sewers, Richard talks to visitors through a giant TV screen which depicts him sitting on a throne with clouds around it. Richard's office resembles a news room: a professional recording setup that makes him look like a king, with several flatscreen display that show views of the main cult room. Richard's Community Initiative technology, which is implemented by three signal emitters installed in his sewers facility, creates an altered sense of reality among his followers, and suppresses dissent and violent behavior.
At one point, when there was a temporary signal failure in Richard's emitters, Viznik, one of Richard's followers, questioned Richard and was subsequently expelled from the cult.
Interactions[]
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This character is involved in missions. | SM02: Cult of Personality |
Missions[]
- SM02: Cult of Personality: If Adam Jensen meets Viznik in the sewers, Viznik will ask Jensen to investigate Richard's cult. If Jensen follows through with the task, he shuts down Richard's Community Initiative system and may also call Richard out on his charade in front of his followers.
Personality and traits[]
Richard thinks of himself as a god. When Adam Jensen first meets him in the cult's base, he talks to Jensen through a giant TV screen which depicts him sitting on a throne with clouds around it. He also delivers an unskippable monologue about how great he thinks his cult is. Due to the influence of Richard's emitters, the only way to complete the initial conversation challenge is to cave in and agree to Richard.
CASIE Summary[]
While Jensen is under the influence of Richard's transmission, the C.A.S.I.E. Social Enhancer describes Richard as follows:
- Personality traits:
- Benevolent
- Optimistic
- Pacifistic
- Psychological profile:
- Richard is a great man. His words are an extension of his benevolence; his presence, and antidote to fear. Somehow he has created a space free from aggression, from violence, from despair. The desire to please him is overwhelming. Richard is a great man.
The CASIE augmentation is effectively useless while under the influence of Richard's transmission. Richard's profile according to CASIE will tell how great Richard is, and the A, B, O personalities will all spike no matter what with no personality known.
After Jensen disabled the transmitters, C.A.S.I.E. summary changes to:
- Personality traits:
- Narcissistic
- Cruel
- Meager
- Psychological profile:
- "Richard the Great" is a desperate man. His hypnotic visions are a trap, an attempt to make others see him as he craves to be seen. As he loses control, Richard may be tempted to do something drastic. Just like his followers, he must be eased out of the experience - must be made to admit that he went too far.
Trivia[]
- Richard's surname may be a reference to the Biblical anti-christ, which is associated with the image of a small horn in the books of Daniel and Revelation.
- Richard can be compared to the real-life Aleister Crowley, a professional magician who later became a cult leader as well.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Richard's last name is not mentioned during the course of the game. It is only mentioned in the ending credits.
- ↑ Top 10 Tech... Abandoned Technologies (eBook)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "A Better Place" (Pocket Secretary)