Irenicus & Sarevok

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I think these two buggers are really good. Very unlike the trashy pop villains one gets in trash pop games like Final Fantasy, Diablo and their ilk.

The first thing they've got going is their voices. Man, the voice acting is just very good. Take Sarevok's "Face me. Face the new Lord of Murder!"

And who can forget Jon Irenicus' heretical sermons? The ones were he condemns humans as weak and asks you to "accept the gifts presented to you", when the time comes? Turns out it wasn't really him, it was you all along!

The second thing they've got going for them is their psychology and personality. You can see the duality of Sarevok when he impersonates as Koveras, looking very different from when he wears the demon armour. While as Koveras he was also quite suave and had force of personaility, if very condescending.

Irenicus on the other hand is arguably not as good a villain as Sarevok is. You foiled Sarevok's plans only at the ending after a very tense buildup. Jon Irenicus has no such luck. Instead his portrayal is at first of an exceedingly powerful mage, and yet as more is known we begin to see his weaknesses and failings as a mere mortal.

Great villains.

As soon as I finish BG2 I'll continue on Irenicus. Then I'll finish Planescape: Torment and write something up on that too.

(If you can't tell it has been a long time since I had the chance to write "creatively"! )

 

Amen brother. These 2 guys was what made me REALLY enjoy the games. Bodhi is also quite interesting because she is utterly inhuman and doesn't have any feelings. The best example of this is probably when she hunts you. "Here mousy mousy..." The best thing 'bout Sarevok was probably when he died. When a villain laughs and yells "I am INVINCIBLE!" we know he's dead meat. But Sarevok was different. No villains laugh AS they die.
You really got a feeling that it was far from over, and that Sarevoks soul would make Bhaal much stronger. I jumped up from my chair and cheered when Sarevok reapeared in spelhold as Bhaals avatar.

 

Sarevok's soul would make Bhaal much stronger, Divine Shadow ?

How would that be possible ? The Lord of Murder is dead, you know.

But you're right Rakanishu, two great villains, worthy challengers for our rightful legacy indeed

 

I agree that Bodhi is worth mentioning. Although Irenicus was indeed a worthy foe, he always seemed too bored with the main character's entire existence to be really intimidating. Bodhi brought a much needed creepy element to the story in BG2 (imho).

 

Iranicus didn't really hook me as a baddy in the same way as Saverok did. I think there are a number of reasons. Firstly, as already mentioned, he is just too bored with the whole thing to ever get really intemidating (annoying yes but not threatening). Secondly, you know pretty much all you need to know about him right from the start so there isn't the ominous build up like there was with Saverok. Thirdly, you pretty much foget about him for half of the game (Chapter 2 and 3 - Iranicus who?). In BG1 there was always this hidden but slowly revealed menace. As an example of what I mean - I read all of the letters, notes, diaries etc in BG1 trying to piece together clues and information to find out what was happening. All you get for Iranicus is a few unitersting journals at the end of spellhold.

However, it could be argueed that those are plot failings rather than character inadequacies. I suppose what it really boils down to was Saverok's opening video at the start of BG1. This makes you think 'ohh my gooodd' and so throughout the game you are dreading meeting him. When you get attacked with Garion, at the start, and he tells you to run, even given the choice, would you have stayed to fight? Iranicus in comparison just turns up and introduces himself as a bored irratating lab technician. This feeling is reinforced in the showdown battles. It took me umpteen attempts to beat Saverok and I had to use all sorts of wands and potions. In contrast I took Iranicus down first time using just equipped weapons and abilities in the first two battles. I then defeated him at the second attempt in hell (and it was the demons that cased me real trouble).

I suppose there is one other point. In BG1 Saverok is almost definately the villain. In BG2 Iranicus is debateably only a major part player. The real villain in BG2 is your own concious and the temptation to give in to the power to Bhaal (StarWars anyone), Iranicus is just the person who allows the situation to develop.

Anyway, you might also like to see an earlier post I put up about BG1 v BG2 many of the replies talk about the merits of the two main villans.
http://www.sorcerers.net/ubb/Forum2/HTML/001760.html

 

Slappy does have a point, although my experience with Irenicus is quite different.

His presence did not seem to be there because I loitered around in Chapter 2 and 3, hearing advice from these boards and others that told me to. My natural instinct would have been to start the chase as soon as I could, but because I heard from others that there was no urgency by the time I went to spellhold it was a piece of cake. I'm sure most of you did this as well.

Even so, I did not find Irenicus easy to defeat. The good thing about it is that he doesn't bullshit you to death like Kangaxx or the Shadow Dragon. The balance of power was about equal, and even though I defeated Irenicus with little casualties compared to Firkraag, I know that the outcome could have gone either way. If I make one wrong move, the whole party would have been destroyed.

Thus to me, at the start Irenicus seemed nigh untouchable compared to my party's strengths, his powers unbelievable. Later as the story progresses we learn that Irenicus is not as invulnerable as we thought, and indeed his displays of frustration make it clear that he his just a lonely man.

The details and the suspense is there. Who is Hareishan? Who was Irenicus trying to clone? What is this Bodhi and why does she want to meet you? How did Irenicus draw Imoen and you to your dream?

When these things are made clear I really appreciate the story. Granted it could be better. There is a problem with the pacing.

 

I'm now in chapter 5 and Irenicus now seems much more interesting than first. At first you don't know who he is. Then you think you know...and then you find out it hasn't got anthing to do with it. He just doesn't seem scary. If you had felt it like Irenicus was constantly pulling strings he might have been a better villain. When Firkraag mentions him you think...WOW! Irenicus certainly controls more than I thought!
But then you find out it hasn't anything to do with it anyway. Like the underdark.
You are just looking for the stupid dragons eggs so you can resume your hunt. The chapters just seem like an endless wave of annoying hindrances that must be overcome to resume the story. In BG 1 it seemed like the story continued no matter where you were. Every area had links to the main plot. BG 1 was one plot. BG 2 is an awful lot of plots.

 

Actually, you don't have to find the dragon eggs to leave. You can just exit from the Kuo Toa dungeon, if that's what you want.