JC Denton

JC Denton (fictionally born 17 March 2029) is the player character and protagonist of the first-person role-playing computer game Deus Ex. He is voiced by Jay Anthony Franke in both Deus Ex and its sequel, Deus Ex: Invisible War.

Appearance
While there are several choices of appearance for JC, the image to the right is considered the canonical version, as it is also used in the Playstation 2 version of the game, and in Deus Ex: Invisible War. The other appearances are ginger hair, brown skin, black skin and albinism.

Character
JC Denton, age: 23 years old. No residence, no ancestry, no relatives, no employer.
 * - Morpheus

JC is a clone of his older brother Paul Denton (thus, he is referred to as the "Secondary Unit" by Bob Page and Walton Simons and why Morpheus makes no mention of Paul as a relative) and a prototype created by shadowy organization Majestic 12 to test their nano-augmentation program. As a result of screening, Paul was found to have the right combination of biological and genetic factors to make him a good candidate for the nano-augmentation program. To create more compatible test subjects, Majestic 12 produced clones of Paul, but most failed to accept the augmentations. His parents, however, were infertile after Paul's birth. They approached MJ12 looking for a method to have a new baby. MJ12 offered one, in the form of the implantation of an embryo. This procedure produced a clone of Paul, which would later become JC Denton. Paul and JC are, thus, identical twins born eleven years apart.

Later, as Paul reached adolescence, he became more independent and MJ12 decided to have him and his parents killed, while JC was sent to a Swiss school where he could be more closely supervised. Paul escaped this attack, and JC grew up unaware of his early childhood with Majestic 12. After graduation, JC joined UNATCO, a United Nations anti-terrorism organization.

JC Denton is revealed to be sharp, intelligent and perceptive, yet cold and stolid and a bit of a loner. This is in contrast to his brother, who is passionate and empathic. In an early conversation with his brother, he states that he is "used to being on [his] own" after Paul fondly remembers his UNATCO initiation ceremony. Paul then wryly remarks that "one can be TOO self-sufficient". However, JC is also highly idealistic and believes his work in UNATCO to be heroic and for the greater good. JC's personality is, however, largely down to the player, as the game gives the ability to carry out whatever action he or she desires, whether it be morally reprehensible or admirable, or anywhere in between.

JC has solid, bright blue eyes as a result of nano-augmentation to enhance his night-vision, which he obscures by wearing sunglasses, his hair and skin color can be chosen by the player at the start of the game from a pre-generated set; changes made to JC's appearance affect those of Paul as well.

Origins
JC's origins are muddled in the game. In Area 51, a datacube reveals JC's date of inception as March 17, 2054, with an "assigned birth date" of March 17, 2029. Since Deus Ex takes place in 2052 this would mean JC is physically 23 years old (this is supported by the fact Morpheus mentions JC is 23), and he was growth accelerated to his biological age. This would be assuming that the inception date was incorrect. This leaves no room for most of his original backstory, unless the acceleration was somehow irregular or his memories are in fact false (which raises serious questions about his relationship with Paul). Another datacube contains an email about "creating genetically viable candidates for nano-augmentation through cloning", speculating that "in the future, this process could be streamlined through the application of accelerated growth and memory implantation", which lends some credence to this theory.

This leaves open the possibilities that JC and/or Paul are the result of such a process (and that all references to their past and their parents are forged) or that the datacube with JC's age (and the appearance of fully-grown clones in tubes) is simply an inconsistency introduced by development. Given the complexity of the plot of Deus Ex and its numerous twists, neither can be discounted.

Invisible War
JC Denton becomes central to the plot of Deus Ex: Invisible War despite making an appearance only towards the end of the game. Invisible War assumes that JC chose to merge with the AI Helios, with the goal of creating the world's first true benevolent dictator. Unfortunately, defects in JC's nanite architecture resulted in an imperfect merge. JC would be forced into stasis to wait for a cure, lest he die from the merge - and triggered the Great Collapse.

JC's goal was to bring about the world's first "post-human civilization". By giving all humans the mental and physical advantages of biomodification, JC hoped to eliminate the stratification of humanity encouraged by the Illuminati. Additionally, biomodification would allow all human minds to communicate with the Helios A.I., which has the processing power to gauge the desires of each individual human. It would instantly respond to these desires, and thus bring about an "instantaneous democracy". Unlike the Omar cyborg collective, JC intended for Helios to communicate, not to assimilate. However, because Helios would know each and every human thought, many of JC's enemies (such as the Illuminati and Templars) feared the "Great Advance" would bring about universal slavery rather than universal democracy (the Illuminati believe that perfect slavery and perfect democracy are the exact same thing). Also, many feared the complete loss of privacy the "Great Advance" would bring about.

The merge with Helios gave JC total control over nanotechnology, transforming him into a walking universal constructor. He receives the power to control the weather, to alter matter on an atomic level, and to shape objects and buildings from the material he walks on.

In the finale of Invisible War, JC behaves the same as every other human in combat, should the player choose to oppose him. He is tougher than any other character in the game, making him harder to kill.

If Alex decides to follow JC, the closing cinematic of the game shows all of humanity uplinking with Helios, who instructs them to break down the boundaries between themselves.

If Alex kills JC, and sides with either the Templar or the Omar, the Helios A.I. will sacrifice itself to revive JC. In one final attempt to prevent what JC and Helios perceive as the end of the world, JC will engage Alex and say "You want to plunge the world into chaos? Come and take it from me".