| “ | You are nothing but a gnat compared to my power. | „ |
| ~ Irenicus |
| “ | There was no malice, no hatred. No mention of an old score. Only a quick capture, and the promise of grim deeds to come. | „ |
| ~ Baldur's Gate 2 narrator regarding Irenicus. |
Joneleth Irenicus, commonly referred to as Jon Irenicus or simply Irenicus, is a 29 level wizard and the main antagonist in Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, a role-playing game set in Amn.
He was voiced by the late David Warner, who also voiced Ra's al Ghul in Batman: The Animated Series, Alpha in Men in Black: The Series and The Lobe in Freakazoid.
Personality[]
When he was a young mage of Suldanessellar, Joneleth had great confidence in himself and was beloved by the people of his city. Over time his confidence grew to hubris, and self-destructive hunger for power. He was smug and wholly entitled, believing the power of the gods to be rightfully his for the taking.
Following his exile, Irenicus became a cold blooded and embittered sociopath. He became overcome with obsession, resentment, and ultimately could focus on nothing but revenge. Irenicus was incapable of experiencing empathy and in fact, became entirely emotionless and developed an affinity for cruel experiments.
Biography[]
At first, Irenicus appears to be a simple villain with a keen interest in torturing the protagonist with powerful magic at the very beginning of Shadows of Amn. However, minutes into the game, he reveals that his apparent motive for said torture is to unlock his victim's latent power, thereby benefiting from them in the long run.
His obsession with a woman he'd previously maintained a relationship with reveals a much more human (or elven) side to him. It becomes apparent later in the game that Irenicus's embarking on his dark path came about partly from love.
His overly possessive nature eventually became too much for his partner to bear, and unable to let go, Irenicus turned to pursuit of power and revenge, which in turn led to him becoming utterly evil. However, not only love was responsible for his downfall.
Irenicus has captured Gorion's Ward, the protagonist, and their party at the beginning of the game, killing Khalid and Dynaheir and torturing the rest. Jon's motives at this point in the game are unknown. He is later apprehended by the Cowled Wizards together with Imoen for their illegal use of magic and imprisoned at Spellhold. From then on, Gorion's ward is left to identify and pursue his captor.
Throuhought the game, Gorion's Ward has several dreams where Irenicus tries to convince him/her to unleash his/her hidden powers and embrace the legacy of Bhaal.
Irenicus eventually breaks free of his jail and easily slaughters the Cowled Wizards guarding Spellhold before making the magic prison his new base of operations and threatening to subject Imoen to more experiments.
Later Gorion's Ward confronts him in Spellhold in Chapter 4, but Irenicus prevails and steals the protagonist's soul.
The final showdown takes place near the Tree of Life and then in Hell (or Baator) in Chapter 7, where he is finally defeated for good by the protagonist and his companions. He is last seen imprisoned in Hell where he is cornered by a pack of vicious devils. Irenicus finds out the hard way that his spells don't work anymore and he's quickly overwhelmed by the devils, as they tore him apart.
Quotes[]
| “ | Ahhh, the child of Bhaal has awoken. It is time for more experiments. The pain will only be passing; you should survive the process. | „ |
| “ | Torture? Silly girl, you just don't understand what I'm doing, do you?. | „ |
| “ | I cannot be caged. I cannot be controlled. Understand this as you die, ever pathetic, ever fools! | „ |
| “ | Life is strength. | „ |
| “ | No, you'll warrant no villain's exposition from me. | „ |
| “ | Silence dog, you have no purpose but to die by my hand. | „ |
| “ | To end....LIKE THIS!? | „ |
Gallery[]
External links[]
- Jon Irenicus on the Pure Evil Wiki.
- Jon Irenicus on the Forgotten Realms Wiki.
- Jon Irenicus on the Baldur's Gate Wiki.
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 Villains
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Recruitable Party Members Gods Demons Devils The Iron Throne The Shinning Crusade Bhaalists & Bhaalspawns Dark Alliance Cult of the Absolute The Sharrans Shadow Druids Vampires Others | ||