Cole MacGrath

"I have become the Beast."

- Cole in the evil ending of inFAMOUS 2

Cole MacGrath is the main protagonist/anti-hero/anti-villain of inFAMOUS, inFAMOUS 2, and inFAMOUS: Festival of Blood. However, because of the Karma system that is entirely based on what choices you make in the games (with the exception of Festival of Blood), Cole can be recognized as a Hero or Villain. So, in this case, this is the form of Cole, shall the player make Cole follow the ways of his Evil Karma, and make him do evil actions (terrorizing pedestrians with his powers, taking the evil action of a mission), resulting in him using his powers to care only for himself, and not for others.

The three evil Coles are in fact from three seperate timelines, they are referred to seperately as: He is voiced by Jason Cottle in inFAMOUS, and Eric Ladin in inFAMOUS 2 and in other games that include Cole (Street Fighter x Tekken and PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale).
 * Evil Cole (inFAMOUS)
 * Beast Cole (inFAMOUS 2)
 * Vampire Cole (inFAMOUS: Festival of Blood).

Personality

 * "In a place with no law, the strong take what they want, and the weak are their slaves, their play things... And no one is stronger than me."
 * — Cole, once he has conquered Empire City.

In his Evil Karma state, Cole is ruthless and egotistic, caring only about himself and how his powers will benefit him instead of the civilians of Empire City and New Marais. He shows very little concern for anyone except himself, and mostly destroys everything around him. As he performs more evil deeds, the civilians get more and more fearful and irritated by Cole, often shouting insults and threats at him. Eventually, Cole will have rocks thrown at him and be physically attacked by the civilians due to their immense hatred of him, and several of Cole's posters will be crossed out and vandalized. His friend, Zeke, notices some of the changes that happen to Cole, like he sees a "crazy look in his eyes", implying that his mentality has been severely affected. In InFamous, he is shown to have developed a sadistic personality, enjoying the mayhem and destruction he can wreak on the city.

Evil Cole (inFamous)
Cole is a bike courier in Empire City living a normal life. One day, he is instructed to bring a package to a mysterious person named Kessler. When he opened it, the package is The Ray Sphere and it causes an explosion.

He wakes up in the middle of the wreckage. While successfully making his way out of the mess, he faints after reaching safety. Cole is nursed to health by his best friend, Zeke, and his ex-girlfriend, Trish. He discovers his electric powers while recovering.

Throughout the game, Cole decides that his powers only are beneficial to him, not to others, and it makes a drastic change in his personality, both of the way he behaves towards others, and also, his appearance. Examples include scaring off the people with his powers to take the dropped off food for him and his friends in a government food drop, choosing a poster that shows off a visual of him holding a destroyed Empire City in his hands, and other evil actions. Other examples are in missions and Karma moments, where Cole does things such as kill people for his own benefit, show indifference to the dangers of others, and choose options that otherwise selfishly benefit him (or simply have no purpose other than destruction) to the detriment of civilians and Empire City.

Also, his relationship with his girlfriend, Trish Dailey, deteriorates drastically. In the beginning of the game, after zapping a few pedestrians to get the food from the food drop, Trish berates Cole for not sharing the food with the people who haven't seen food in days. He tries to reason that he did it for him, her, and Zeke, but she states that she doesn't get him sometimes. Then, Zeke points out and tells Cole that he is on the big screen. The "Voice of Survival" calls out Cole as "the terrorist" and the cause of the Blast. Trish then immediately lost faith in Cole, believing him to be responsible for her sister's death, walking away and ending their relationship.

He later met her again when the Reapers poisoned the Water Supply in the Neon District. Cole came to her aid multiple times in an attempt to regain her trust. Though she was originally dismissive, she allowed Cole to help her. After Cole destroyed a truck filled with the poisonous tar, the Reapers focused on infecting the water systems with their tar. Trish blamed Cole for this, but later came to her senses and asked Cole to help her guard a crate with medical supplies until she could pick it up.

After defeating her in the Neon District, in certain Karma-specific missions, Cole shows he maintains a telepathic link with Sasha, the insane and mind-controlling leader of the Reapers that he emcounters, and in said missions does things such as aid her in getting people under her control through her special "black tar", a substance that poisons the minds of those it touches to bring them under her control.

In the mission "Anything for Trish," Trish asked for Cole's assistance in escorting her armored bus to Bayview Hospital because the Reapers believed her to be allied with the Dust Men. When they arrived at the hospital, however, Alden Tate was waiting for them. Using his telekinesis, Alden lifted the bus with Trish still inside, and threw it onto the roof of the hospital. Cole battled through dozens of Dust men as he raced to the top of the building to rescue her. Immediately after saving her, Trish berates Cole for his evil and selfish actions, killing civilians and undoing all the good she had tried to do. She then sternly tells him to stay away from him.

During the side-missions "Terror Bus," she calls Cole, questioning about many people coming to the hospital with gunshot wounds. He reasons to her that the Dust Men have created artillery rigged armored busses, going on rampages through the streets in the Warren, and she proceeds to blame him for upsetting the Dust Men into doing this. Also, after the mission, "Alden In Chains," she calls Cole again regarding Zeke, of how he's in the hospital, in a very upset state, questioning of what did he do to him. He reasons that he didn't cause Zeke's distress, stating that he is the reason that Alden escaped, and all of the cops that were maintaining Alden in the cell were killed. She immediately doubts Cole's reasoning, but Cole assures her that believe it or not, it's the truth.

During the mission, "The Price," the 1st mission in the Historic District, Kessler calls Cole of how he's kidnapped Trish and that there are several bombs with innocent people around them he needs to defuse or else if 1 of them detonates, she dies. After Cole fights off the First Sons troops and defuses the bombs by draining the electricity out of them, Kessler presents Cole with his final challenge: at one end of the district is Trish, bound with a bag over her head, hanging alone from a tall building, at the center of the district are six doctors all in the same position as Trish. Cole must decide to either save the woman he loved or the doctors who could save thousands across the city. Both choices required Cole to climb the building and drain a final bomb.

He decides to save the woman he loved, Trish. As Cole reaches the top of the building he learns that Kessler had replaced Trish with another woman, and placed Trish in the group of doctors on the other building. Afterwards, the bomb detonates with the 5 doctors and Trish, and Trish and the doctors fall to their deaths. Cole then attempts to use Pulse Heal on Trish, and it doesn't work for a few seconds. Then, she springs to life for a few moments, and in her dying breath, says she was ashamed of what Cole had become, in which she said to him that God gave him these powers, and that he squandered them, hurting others, and only thinking of himself. She then finally dies, despising Cole. He then buried her in the park, alongside people who have died since the blast, and angrily states that he will find and kill Kessler, and make him pay.

As Cole works with John White to find the Ray Sphere, Zeke tries to get into contact with Cole, and during the mission "Hunt for the Ray Sphere," he tries to reconcile with him regarding his action with Kessler and the Ray Sphere, but Cole angrily responds to him that he's the reason Trish died, and how if he didn't take off with Kessler and the Ray Sphere, she would've been still alive, and they would've been out of the city. When Zeke tries to ask Cole of what he wants to say to him, Cole says that he has nothing say to him, angrily asking him to disappear, and that if he finds him, things will get ugly.

During the mission "End of the Line," after fighting his way through a large amount of First Sons soldiers and finding the Ray Sphere, he and John meet up at the end of pier, planning the fate of the Ray Sphere. John says that Cole should use his Lightning Storm power to destroy the Ray Sphere and blow it sky high. Cole states that if the Ray Sphere gave him powers before, and if he uses it again, it could make him twice as strong and that no one would dare challenge him. Cole then decides to activate the Ray Sphere. He picks up the Ray Sphere, instantly feeling it leeching off of him, and that it is humming, crackling, and growing in power. As he activates it, he thinks of Trish and how she died, and that he swears he will never let such a thing like that ever happen again. Then, John takes the Ray Sphere off of Cole's hands, attempting to stop him from activating it, but it's too late. The Ray Sphere cracks open, unleashing a vortex that sucks in and tears John apart, killing him. Cole quickly runs and escapes from the pier as the Ray Sphere explodes. Cole then states sincerely although that John and the Ray Sphere are gone, reduced to nothing but ashes, he then proudly states that he's got what he wanted.

Not only does it make him more evil, it makes him more powerful from activating it. Afterwards, Kessler calls him, to discuss their final showdown at Ground Zero. Kessler is impressed that Cole decided to activate the Ray Sphere again. He says that it's that kind of thinking that will help him face what's coming, stating that he wasn't a lost cause after all. Cole exclaims to him that he's always wanted to get out of this city, and that he has a true hatred for it. However, after staring at the Ray Sphere, he told Kessler that he found that there is no reason to leave the city. Cole states that he controls Empire City now, controlling every inch of it, and that no one is going is going to stand in his way.
 * "These powers are only good for one thing, letting me take what I want, when I want."
 * — Cole, after dealing with Kessler.

After dealing with Kessler, Cole has seen the product of the chaos he's created, with Empire City in ruins, destroyed beyond all repair, and the populace living under fear. As he takes pride on his accomplishment of destroying the city, Cole remarks that Kessler was an idiot to think Cole would use his powers for the greater good, as he remarked that his powers were only good for his self benefit. As he stands over what is left of Empire City, he remarks that only the strong can stand and survive, while the weak are their slaves/playthings, and that no one is stronger than him.

Beast Cole (inFAMOUS 2)
Because Cole needs to be stronger to defeat the Beast after he nearly was killed by it at the beginning of the game, he has to train and find Blast Cores in New Marais to gain him new powers.

In New Marais, Cole takes a cold-hearted and vicious approach to this task, terrorizing citizens, siding with Nix in missions (and even being openly flirtly with her in one mission), killing police officers, silencing street performers at the request of Zeke, stealing blast shards from citizens, dealing and killing protestors that hate him and favor Bertrand (the leader of the Militia), holding picket signs and shouting anti-Cole statements, and becoming more powerful throughout his quest to be stronger. However, since Cole's intentions are to kill the Beast, he is considered an anti-hero, in this case.




 * "I had been given powers to save the world from this change. But now, I stand at its center. I have become the Beast."
 * — Cole, after becoming the very thing he was supposed to destroy.

In the final mission of inFAMOUS 2 (if choosing the Evil path), Cole decides to side with Kuo and John and destroy humanity, his fate being different. Cole and John start a rampage of total destruction on New Marais, with Nix assulting Cole due to his choice of not going against the Beast. After murdering Nix, and even his best friend Zeke, he destroys the RFI with his Amp in a fit of rage. Then, John admits that he can no longer continue the plan, stating that he cannot fathom the killings any longer. John then decides to transfer his powers to Cole, believing he can carry out the plan. After giving his powers to Cole, the latter began to work immediately, causing a blast to New Marais, wiping out everybody without the Conduit gene. Cole then continued to walk the world, with his Conduit followers, creating new Conduits and raising them up as he passed through state by state. With no one equaling his powers, Cole continues his plan to speed up the inevitable jump from human to Conduit, as he comes to realize that he had become the very thing he swore to destroy.

PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale
Evil Cole also appears as a playable character in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, with his own story featuring him hunting for conduits. His rival is Fat Princess.

Vampire Cole (inFAMOUS: Festival of Blood)
The third evil Cole appears as a vampire in the DLC game, inFAMOUS: Festival of Blood, where he has been bitten by a vampiress named Bloody Mary. He has only 8 hours to kill Bloody Mary or else he will become permanently a vampire. Throughout the game, because of his vampire bite, he has obtained vampire-like powers/abilities, such as flying around New Marais in a swarm of bats, and biting people. Also, his Amp is lost in the beginning of the game, being replaced with a stake, which has the same functionality as the Amp, and is used to kill vampires (normally in packs) after they have been incapacitated. In order to kill Bloody Mary, he needs to obtain the Barbed Cross. Afterwards, he finally obtains the cross after various ordeals, and combines it with the stake, ready to take down Bloody Mary once and for all.

Cole can't make moral choices in his vampire state, as being a vampire, he is naturally evil. However, the citizens will cheer for him as if he were good.

If the player completes 15 UGC (user generated content) missions, a Vampire Skin for Cole to wear will be unlocked, and this skin signifies Cole if he didn't save himself and didn't kill Bloody Mary in time.

Ranks
These are the ranks Cole can obtain through the Evil Karma path in inFAMOUS and inFAMOUS 2:

Thug - The 1st rank of the Evil Karma State. Cole will hear mostly negative comments from the citizens around him.

Outlaw - The 2nd rank of the Evil Karma State. Cole will be approached and be pointed at by civilians, stating very negative side comments about his actions, stating that he should leave the city. In inFAMOUS, Cole's posters are also crossed out with red X's, implying the civilians' hatred towards him.

inFamous - The 3rd and final rank of the Evil Karma State. Cole will be able to unlock the most powerful powers at the pinnacle of Evil Karma. In this state,  Cole is a public enemy, and most civilians will attempt to throw stones at him, paired with insults and negative comments. Also, being at this rank drastically changes Cole's appearance. Cole's jacket will get a gray tone with traces of what appear to be blotches of Sasha's tar. Cole's skin tone will become pale and gray, with black markings on his neck. Cole maintains his white and red electricity. In inFAMOUS 2, his shirt appears red, torn and weared down, his trackpants are black and the "X" on it is pure red, his skin has veins that show on his face and arms, and he wears a belt similar to Nix's appearance. His electricity is a bright orange. His skin will become more sickly pale similar to the first game. The scar that he received from Kessler will also become worse, disfiguring his face slightly.

Trivia

 * As stated by the developers, Cole's evil doings are non-canon, and that they are only "what-if" scenarios'. Though they are now considered to be an alternate timeline.
 * Both Cole's good and evil forms appear in the cross-over fighting game, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. Also, Cole is a playable character in another cross-over fightnng game, Street Fighter x Tekken, where his character model can be customized to make him look like his evil form.
 * In inFAMOUS 2, Cole will be in a crooked/animalistic position when in inFamous Rank.
 * In the first inFAMOUS, If Cole activates the Ray Sphere during the mission of the same name, his electrical energy will become jet black, and the Karmic Meter will be locked on the rank of inFamous for the rest of the game, thus making Cole permanently evil. Also, if Cole was at InFamous rank before the mission, he would also gain 4 extra battery cores, thus increasing his longitivity in how much electricity he can discharge based on how much electricity his powers use up.