Organizations in Deus Ex



The UNATCO (United Nations Anti-Terrorist Coalition) is a fictional United Nations organization devoted to counter-terrorism within the world of the futuristic cyberpunk computer game Deus Ex.

History
From what can be gleaned from the backstory of Deus Ex, UNATCO were formed in the early 21st century as an ad hoc response by UN member nations to the growing problem of international terrorism. The exact date of the genesis of UNATCO is unclear: several of the game's characters have worked for the organization for many years, including Sam Carter, Paul Denton, and Gunther Hermann. The game's protagonist, 23 years old in the game, mentions adolescent dreams of working for the organization. By the game year, 2052, UNATCO has become a standing counterterrorist police force based on Liberty Island in New York City. The motto of UNATCO is from the Sententiae of Publilius Syrus: "Nihil aliud scit necessitas quam vincere," loosely, "Necessity knows nothing other than to conquer."

UNATCO spent most of its not-inconsiderable UN appropriation on cybernetic research, resulting in a small core of specialists "augmented" by mechanical prosthesis and orthosis. Such "augmentations" are unsightly and the cause of great social stigma among the population at large. In the game setting, an entirely new generation of cybernetic soldiers indistinguishable from the non-"augmented" human beings begin to take over from the older "mech-augs," or mechanically "augmented" soldiers.

There is a long-standing relationship between INTERPOL and UNATCO: the relationship might well be analogized to that between a police force and its SWAT/SORT team, albeit on an international level.

When the terrorist group, Silhouette, bombed the Statue of Liberty the President asked UNATCO to permanently coordinate counterterrorist efforts in the United States. This established a permanent base on Liberty Island.

Background and game information
At the start of the game, it appears that UNATCO's intent is to defeat global terrorism perpetrated by groups like the Northwest Secessionist Forces or Silhouette. But as the story progresses the player discovers that the director, Joseph Manderley, is the pawn of a secret conspiracy that calls itself Majestic-12. As a consequence, UNATCO is just a single tool for global hegemony. By the end of the game the player works actively against the covert operations of UNATCO and Majestic-12.

UNATCO's American base is in the location of an underground bunker beneath Liberty Island. Deeper beneath the base are the Majestic-12 laboratories and prison. Several UNATCO agents have access to the MJ-12 facilities beneath the Liberty Island UNATCO base, including Manderley, Anna Navarre, and Gunther Hermann.

In the game's story this location could be seen by the general populace as symbolic given that the President of the United States supposedly chooses to keep the Statue of Liberty headless (as a result of the aforementioned terrorist attack) to remind U.S. citizens of the dangers of terrorism. The player and many more insightful organizations in the game see these actions as symbolic of world government's cutting off, metaphorically, of the head of Liberty itself.

The player uncovers the financial links that bind UNATCO to Walton Simons, head of the FEMA and a key leader of Majestic-12. UNATCO does much of MJ-12's dirty work, including the dispersal of biological warfare agents against the general population, and military suppression of any peaceful or military resistance to UNATCO member governments. UNATCO's establishment as a permanent military police in the United States in the year 2051 is the first open display of MJ-12's ambition for a world government. As Deus Ex begins, MJ-12 operates openly as a military occupier in certain urban sectors of France. The game does not make it clear whether Majestic-12's open operations there are due to government complicity or military takeover. It is also made clear that the persistence in France of the strongest remnants of the Bavarian Illuminati necessitates Majestic-12's open military displays - much of MJ-12's effort in Paris centers on the eradication the French Illuminati and their allies, Silhouette.

In 2072, during Deus Ex: Invisible War, UNATCO is in ruins, as seen in the very last level of the game, Liberty Island (the very first level in the original) - and it is important to the storyline in the sense that Alex Jacobson's old office contains the Aquinas Protocol- an important plot- device to decide the ending(s) of the game.

UNATCO Troopers
UNATCO Troopers are the backbone of the organization. They are the NPCs who carry out most of the antiterrorist operations in the game, either in their own small groups, or led by a special agent. Troopers usually carry Assault Rifles, but they are known to use pistols, mini-crossbows and combat knives as a backup melee weapon. Later in the game, UNATCO Troopers work in tandem with Majestic 12 Troopers, with their cause and aim being the same.

Mechanically Augmented Agents
In the game, the player meets only two mechanically augmented agents (often referred to as mechs) : Gunther Hermann and Anna Navarre. It is explained that they used to work together until JC Denton's arrival at UNATCO, and remain close friends. Being stronger and more able than UNATCO Troopers, their role is usually to go into terrorist situations alone and complete objectives, while Troopers usually follow behind and exterminate all enemies. Upon the player's arrival at UNATCO, both agents are very bitter as they feel that they have been made obsolete.

Nano-Augmented Agents
The game centres around JC Denton, a nano-augmented agent. The concept is not utterly fictional: the notion is that JC Denton's tissues are augmented with microscopic nanites that increase certain attributes of his performance related to intelligence and either stealth, speed, strength or combat abilities. JC Denton's brother, Paul Denton, is also a nano-augmented agent. The advantage of nano-augmentation over mechanical augmentation is that a nano-augmented agent is visually indistinguishable from any member of the public, unlike a mechanically augmented agent. 'Nano-Augs', as they are typically referred to, tend to be more physically able than their mechanical counterparts, who often encounter trouble with their augmentations, and are also able to upgrade their systems with augmentation canisters, encountered through the game. Nano-Augmented agents are the new generation of antiterrorist agents.

Trivia

 * When the game was released in 2000 Ion Storm created a website(www.unatco.org) for the fictional organization to promote the game. After the September 11th terrorist attacks however, the organization might have been a little too believable even if the website didn't look authentic. Ion Storm pulled the website shortly after the attacks.