| “ | He's not the most intelligent agent in UNATCO, but he's cunning, strong and steadfast. Gunther has given his loyalty to UNATCO and those he considers to have proven themselves worthy of respect. That does not apply, by the way, to any wet-behind-the-ears kid with a cool sense of fashion and no scars — i.e., you. Gunther recognizes that the world is divided into the strong and the weak. The strong make the rules; the strong enforce them. He is not concerned overmuch with right and wrong, and in fact considers the concept unrealistic. He's given his allegiance irrevocably to UNATCO in return for power: both having his personal strength augmented and being a member of a world-changing organization. His loyalty to Anna Navarre borders on the dog-like. He holds no regard for death, either his own or others. The only thing he truly fears is that his augmentations may become outdated, rendering him weak and unable to perform his duties. | „ |
| ~ Description of Gunther. |
Gunther Hermann is a major antagonist in the popular video game Deus Ex. Although allied with the player at the beginning, he becomes an implacable enemy of JC as the game progresses.
Biography[]
Gunther appears in Deus Ex: The Icarus Effect, a prequel novel to the game series.
The player's first real encounter with Gunther - apart from the training course, where he acts as the weapons and demolitions instructor - is optionally rescuing him from the NSF terrorists at the base of the Statue of Liberty in the first mission. Whether the player does this (and whether the player arms Gunther, or makes him run back to base unarmed) sets the stage for how Gunther feels about the player throughout the game.
The player next meets Gunther at the end of the Hell's Kitchen mission, where Gunther takes over for JC. Gunther is next seen at the LaGuardia Airport, overseeing the UNATCO peacekeeping occupation. Afterwards, he can be found near the entrance to the Battery Park subway station, if JC gets that far after UNATCO raids the 'Ton.
Later in the game, Gunther is sent to kill JC Denton, whom he engages in a French cathedral, linked to the Knights Templar, in Paris. The player is given the choice between calling out Gunther's killphrase or attempting to reason with him. If he is killed, Walton Simons tells JC that he only sent Gunther because he was tired of him complaining about wanting to avenge Anna Navarre and wanting a tune-up. It is possible to avoid fighting Gunther Hermann several ways. Gunther is supposed to be killed here, and, like Anna, while it's hypothetically possible to go around him, the game treats him as dead after Paris.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Hermann is apparently paranoid; an overheard conversation between Gunther and Anna Navarre reveals that his large fingers may also hinder his ability to operate soda machines, although he insists that the "maintenance man" switched the cans of orange soda in the machine with lemon-lime, as "he knows I like orange." When the player returns to the ruined UNATCO base in the sequel to Deus Ex, Invisible War, a conversation with an NPC confirms that Gunther was indeed a victim of conspiracy by the maintenance men.
- Gunther makes several mentions during the game of his wish for a head-mounted gun, or "skul-gun," that would allow him to kill without using his arms. When exploring the UNATCO HQ ruins in the second game, it can be learned that a skull-gun shipment was received by UNATCO a little while after Hermann's demise. In Deus Ex: Human Revolution, an email can be found discussing the practicality of skull-guns for mech augs.
- (According to dialogue from Anna Navarre, Gunther has killed close to a thousand people during his service with UNATCO; in fact the two seem to have a running competition of enemy kills. Taking into account his career before UNATCO, his kill-count must be well over a thousand.
- Gunther seems to be inspired by the character Batou from Ghost in the Shell.