Michael (Edmund)

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Evil-doer
Full Name	Michael (last name unknown)
Alias	Edmund (alter-ego) Mikey (by Edmund) Eddie
Origin	Edmund
Occupation	Soldier (formerly) Taxi driver
Powers / Skills	Military training Marksmanship Brute strength Speed
Hobby	Smoking. Beating and raping pretty women.
Goals	Get away with raping women and murdering innocent civilians during the Vietnam War (for Edmund; succeeded). Keep raping women after the war (for Edmund; dependent upon player's choice). Stop Eddie before he rapes Emily a second time (for Michael; dependent upon player's choice).
Crimes	Mass murder War crimes Kidnapping Rape
Type of Villain	Dissociative Rapist

“	Eddie... Eddie is my name...	„
	~ Michael while introducing himself as Eddie to his future rape victims.

Michael, also known by the name of his alter-ego as Edmund, is the titular main antagonist of the controversial indie game Edmund.

Biography

Michael

Detroit City, 1976. Michael, the taxi driver, is smoking outside his car, when suddenly a frantic man runs up to him, demanding his services. The strange man's name is Eddie and he doesn't seem to have a particular destination in mind, stating that he'll know when to stop, specifically if he sees "her". Assuming that he is out to meet a significant one, Michael gives Eddie a ride. After some time, they stop, Eddie comes out and allows Michael to keep the change. Eddie walks up to the bus stop, where only a sole person is present. He introduces himself to her in a rather disturbing manner, making the girl awkwardly utter her name, Emily, in response. Without any warning, Edmund comes up to Emily and hits her, knocking her off the bench. She sobs and tries to get away, but he punches her repeatedly and she loses consciousness. He takes advantage of Emily's body while she's out cold and quickly carries her away. Michael, who was silently witnessing the whole situation, is faced with dilemma, either to whip out his pistol and chase after the rapist or to ignore the incident and drive off into the night.

If he chooses to follow Edmund, Michael is forced to pursue him on his feet, avoiding flooded chasms and attempting to find the right house where Edmund has taken Emily to. When he locates the building, he enters it and shoots open several doors to get to the upper floor as fast as he can. Finally, he comes through the open door into someone's apartment and confronts Edmund, who is standing near Emily's incapacitated body. Michael threatens to shoot Edmund, however he's surprisingly calm about the encounter and seems to have expected it. Edmund starts talking to Michael as if they knew each other before, wanting to bring the "old times" back and urges Michael to rape the woman while he watches the apartment's entrance. Once again, Michael is faced with a choice of either doing as Edmund tells him or killing him.

If he decides to shoot him, something unexpected happens: both characters collapse to the floor almost simultaneously and Edmund's body vanishing into the thin air, leaving only dead Michael and a unconscious woman lying on the floor. 

If Michael decides to shoot in the direction of the woman's body, his gun vanishes and he fully succumbs to his evil side, becoming one with Edmund and rapes the woman a second time. 

Should the second option be carried out by the protagonist, we are shown a short epilogue in which a nameless woman shouts for a taxi driving towards her to stop. A window shield is rolled down and we see Edmund inside. He accepts her offer, while making his usual creepy remarks about the girl's beauty. It's implied that she becomes his next victim.

Edmund

Sometime during the Vietnam War. A chopper is flying over the fields and villages, with Edmund sitting inside, along with several other soldiers. He's operating a stationary machine gun, mercilessly gunning down every villager beneath. After some time in the air, Edmund decides to get off the chopper with the intention of destroying the villagers' crops to send them a "message", according to him. Armed with a rifle, he marches through the fields and carefully avoids mines hidden in the grass, among the villagers' corpses and disturbed houses. Upon successfully jumping over every land mine on his path, Edmund arrives at the small settlement of innocent villagers, where he's met with one of them ambushing him from behind the crates and attempts to shoot him. After ducking beneath the villager's bullets and eliminating the threat, a devastated girl, presumably the villager's daughter or wife, runs up to the corpse and starts sobbing. Edmund puts his rifle away, introduces himself in the same creepy and playful manner and starts hitting the girl, eventually beating her unconscious, then starts violating her body.

Later, a lonely soldier arrives at the same place where the unspeakable happened. With Edmund nowhere to be found, the entire village is littered with corpses. "They are... all dead.." concludes the soldier.

Personality

While Michael is presented as a rather neutral character with some honorable qualities in the beginning of the Detroit scene, it becomes apparent that Edmund is not a separate person, but a second personality of his, a vile, perverted, cold-blooded psychopath.

Ever since Michael's participation in the Vietnam War and his terrible deed, he's been suppressing the urge to repeat it again during the peaceful times. It seems that every time he's about to commit a sadistic rape of a woman, Michael faces the inner struggle, with his "good" side attempting to prevent it from happening and the "evil" side, Edmund, trying to convince his primary personality to perform the act. If Michael succumbs to the urge, he's taken over by Edmund, with what little remained of his humanity and kindness gone completely. Nonetheless, even with Michael's decision to do the right thing and stop the rape, he ends up killing himself, showing that Michael is so obsessed with sexual violence that the only way for him to stop himself from continuing it is to commit suicide. 

It's hinted that Michael might not have been aware of his alter-ego during the war. When Edmund runs up to Michael's taxi in the beginning, he doesn't recognize him at all and even remarks during the narration that "this is how he met Eddie". The same can be determined from the fact that in the Vietnam War scene, all the action is carried out by Edmund, with Michael's involvement is referenced only if the armed villager shoots the protagonist dead, since Edmund's appearance changes to Michael's while dying, confirming his split personality. It's also plausible that the existence of Edmund might have been the result of his participation in war, with his mind creating this ruthless and psychopathic personality to cope with the horrors of war and survive through it.

Even with this theory of Edmund's creation, he still shows an astonishing amount of cruelty and sadism to people, especially women. Fitting the description of a typical psychopath with violent sexual tendencies, he fakes politeness and affable attitude while approaching his targets. He always demonstrates his dominance and power over the women he's about to violate by beating them into submission with his bare hands and wanting them to be alive during the process, which was shown when he intentionally chose to put away the rifle and use his fists to incapacitate the Vietnamese girl. 

Gallery

Michael meeting Eddie in Detroit.

Eddie getting off the taxi after spotting a potential victim.

Edmund starting a conversation with Emily.

Edmund beating the girl while she's trying to crawl away.

Edmund raping Emily.

Michael making a decision.

Michael confronting his alter-ego in his own flat.

Edmund persuading Michael to rape Emily again.

Michael choosing between the girl and his own life.

Both men lying on the floor, only for Edmund's body to disappear a few moments later, revealing Michael's split personality.

Michael succumbing to his darkest desires and becoming a serial rapist.

Edmund during the Vietnam War, gunning down the innocent civilians.

Edmund deciding to send a message.

Edmund avoiding the mines.

Edmund killing the armed villager and then raping his relative.

The aftermath of Eddie's presence in the village.

If Edmund is shot by the armed villager, he's revealed to be Michael.