[Comprehensive Character Information]

[endoftheuniverse]

Character

Name: Liam Ferohn-Gau
Canon: Gods Will Be Watching: Commitment, Regret, Temptation and Sacrifice
Species: Human (Cyborg)
Age: ~25 in the base game, ~45 in the sequel. I play him as 25-26; and 46, respectively.
Gender: Male
Hair colour: Gold
Eye colour: Blue

Canon

Canon Point: Immediately after shooting Abraham in the head in the "Everdusk" timeline in the DLC.

Background:Liam is the antagonist of Part 1 of Gods Will Be Watching, a point-and-click cyberpunk adventure game. He is the protagonist of Part 2 (DLC), Commitment, Regret, Temptation and Sacrifice.

In the world of Gods Will Be Watching, humans have destroyed earth to the point where all earth history is lost. Humans now colonize many planets across the galaxy, and have killed and enslaved many alien races to do so. The universe is split into four factions:

The two most powerful factions are:
-The Hollistic Empire, a dictatorial meritocracy made of both humans and aliens that has poor regard for human and alien rights.
-The Constellar Federation, a human-centric faction that enslaves aliens as slave-labour for their colonies; otherwise the closest faction to earth ways of life.

There are also two independent factions:
-Xenolifer, a wandering militia that opposes all forms of oppression.
-The Everdusk Company for Universal Knowledge (known as ECUK or Everdusk), a neutral faction that specializes in espionage.

Part 1: Gods Will Be Watching

Not much is known about Liam's early life other than he came from "the bottom" of a "techno-hive" human colony that was tremendously filthy and overcrowded. He was the eldest of "too many" brothers.

Random dialogue may indicate that Liam was a sort of nobility; the prologue comic suggests that he was once extremely wealthy, and had a position of great power at a young age where he acted as an arbiter for the people. He confesses to a female friend who daydreamed of being royalty that he is glad she couldn't achieve her dream because "being a princess is totally overrated." (Whether this dialogue is meant to casually indicate that Liam is transgender is ambiguous, but since the development team is comprised of LGBT creators endeavoring to add more LGBT characters into gaming, even making statements that their characters shouldn't be assumed to be cis or straight by default, I wouldn't discount it outright. I will assume that this is the case - it doesn't make a difference to his character either way, but given the writer's statements, I'd prefer to give the benefit of the doubt, here.)

In his adolesence, Liam rebelled against the authority he was born into and rallied a gang of young punks into terrorizing big corporations. He seems to have acted as some sort of robin hood-like figure, amassing great amounts of wealth and using it where the people needed.

At some point in his youth, Liam met Shaman, a man about 20 years his senior who would later become his best friend and right-hand-man. We do not know how they met, but we do know that Shaman has known Liam for most of Liam's life. In Shaman's culture, revealing a "true name" is only done among extremely close friends and family - Shaman has told Liam his true name, Darevan, under the condition that Liam only uses it in private. In Liam's internal monologue, he refers to Shaman as Darevan. Shaman also gave Liam his (new?) last name, Ferohn-Gau, which means "The one who brings freedom" & "hero".

Liam's earliest chronological appearance (in which he is a young adult) shows Liam getting extremely drunk at a bar where he is berating Shaman for being too shy in expressing his dislike for alien slavery - Shaman drags Liam out of the bar before he gets arrested. Liam confesses that he feels unfulfilled with his life, and is eager to do something to improve the state of the universe. Shaman warns him that if they want to do something, he needs to stop running his mouth off and direct his energy to something useful. Liam offers to use his money to buy weapons and start a revolution.

Soon, Liam procures the "Matriarch", a mothership with immense firepower. He spends the next 7 years of his life building Xenolifer, collecting humans sympathetic to his cause to live aboard the Matriarch and fight for Alien rights. Four years into Xenolifer's rule, Everdusk takes notice of Liam's activities, and tasks two of their agents, Sergeant Abraham Burden (the protagonist of Part 1) and Corporal Jack Maslow, to feign sympathy to Xenolifer's cause and assume deep cover inside of it until further notice. Abraham's task is to get close to Liam and gain his trust; Jack's task is to send any and all information to Everdusk while Abraham has Liam distracted. Initially, Everdusk's plan was to keep an eye on Liam through their agents and eventually use him as a tool to help destroy or significantly change the Hollistic Empire and the Constellar Federation.

Abraham approaches Liam and offers to help guide his methods. Abraham was an accomplished Sergeant with the Constellar Federation before he turned rogue after Federation used him as a professional assasin; he confesses to Liam that while he hates killing, sometimes there is no peaceful way of changing the world and sacrifices must be made. Liam takes Abraham's advice to heart, and decides to keep Abraham close at hand. Abraham and Liam become very close, with Abraham even protecting Liam from live fire during combat: while Abraham was only supposed to fake a relationship with Liam as part of his mission, Abraham truly falls in love with him. It is ambiguous as to whether Liam returned his feelings (Liam says Abraham had been like a brother to him, but they regularly flirt with eachother; Liam sometimes initiating it).

As Xenolifer matures, their methods become increasingly violent; they frequently lash out against humans who support alien slavery, and have no qualms with bombing enemy starships. Liam primarily tasks Xenolifer with assasinating policitians who support Alien slavery, but becomes frustrated when this leads to very little progress.

Three years after Abraham assumes deep cover, Liam and Abraham carry out a special mission to raid a weapons depot. Inside the depot, they find evidence of a pathogen known as the Medusea virus; a virus that only affects mammals, and not oviparous aliens. Liam takes interest in the virus, and eventually discovers that the Hollistic Empire had engineered it into a weapon of mass destruction with a 100% mortality rate that can kill within 24 to 72 hours.

Liam plans to steal information about the virus and cultivate a super-weapon of his own to use against humans who are not sympathetic to Xenolifer. Abraham reports this back to Everdusk, who are not pleased with Liam's plans - they immediately order Abraham to assasinate Liam. Abraham refuses, begging them for more time to let him try to talk Liam down.

Abraham is unsuccessful at convincing Liam to not steal the data. The game opens with Abraham and Jack taking Hollistic Empire scientists hostage as Liam hacks their database via his neural implants and uploads the research into his brain. Abraham loses control of the hostage situation and is apprehended by the Hollistic Empire military just as Liam finishes uploading the data. Liam escapes; Abraham and Jack do not. Liam swears to Abraham that he'll come back for him just before Abraham is knocked unconscious.

At great risk to his life, Liam eventually finds him in a lunar prison run by the Hollistic Empire. Abraham and Jack are being severely tortured by two agents of the Empire, who are trying to extract the name of the person who stole their research. Liam comes to them at night after their torturers leave and promises them that he'll help them escape, but as the prison is extremely well guarded, it will take 20 days to organize a jailbreak. He orders them to hang on that long, and offers to bring them medicine, painkillers, and information at night to help them survive.

10 days into their torture, Everdusk comes to extract Jack and Abraham, exploding a bomb on their cell wall as Liam is tending to them. Jack and Abraham are knocked unconscious and Liam is badly injured in the explosion; the Everdusk agents, unable to verify Liam's identity, leaves Liam for dead in the cell. Liam overhears the Everdusk agents refer to Abraham as one of them just before he falls unconscious.

We do not know how Liam escapes the prison, how he recovers from his injuries, or if he is tortured. Upon his return to Xenolifer, Liam is enraged by Abraham's betrayal, believing Abraham's relationship with him was a lie. One year later, he finds Abraham working on an ice planet named Sineicos, the native planet of the Medusea virus, and hatches a plan to get even.

Liam, Shaman, and a small team of gunmen infiltrate the Sineicos lab where Abraham and Jack are working with a science team to find a cure to the Medusea virus. Liam confronts Abraham at gunpoint and taunts him, eventually refusing to call Abraham by his first name, referring to him only as "Burden." When Jack tries to shoot Liam, Abraham intervenes - Abraham tries to tell Liam what happened, but Liam refuses to listen. He traps Abraham and his team in the lab, flooding it with live Medusea virus. He tells Abraham that he has 24 hours to find a cure to the virus or else he and his team will die.

Abraham leads his team to victory. He also discovers he is apparently the only "human" immune to Medusea virus - and that he may not be human at all.

After curing themselves of the infection, the team escapes the lab with the formula for the cure, which Liam takes for himself. Once again, Jack moves to kill Liam, but Abraham stops him. Liam repays his kindness by explaining that he can't risk being followed - blowing up Abraham's ship, stranding him and his team before escaping with the cure. Abraham correctly guesses that Liam has no interest in murder, but is doing what is necessary to accomplish his goals.

40 days later, Abraham is able to call for rescue, and manages to get his team off the planet. Everdusk is extremely disappointed in Abraham's actions, and admonishes him for failing to kill Liam for the third time. They then inform him that 2 days before their rescue, Liam released Medusea virus on one of the most powerful human colonies, Gactus VII, which he intends to turn into a planet that is inhospitable for humans. Liam has decided to commit genocide against the human race, wiping out entire planets that refuse to grant equal rights to their alien slaves. When Abraham tells Everdusk that he knows the formula for the cure, Everdusk tells Abraham that Xenolifer engineered a strain of Meduseavirus, Xeno-Medusea, which renders their cure useless; only Liam has the formula. With only 24 hours left until all humans on Gactus VII are dead, Everdusk tasks Abraham with one final mission:

Destroy the Matriarch, get Xenolifer's serum, release the serum into the atmosphere of Gactus VII, and defeat Liam.

Abraham finally agrees. He sets off towards the Matriarch, where he begins to remember something strange: he is an instrument of the Gods who has been living in a 7-year time loop, trying to find the most "ideal" universe in which as few people die as possible, but is never successful. He feels pain and can be killed (which restarts the loop), but does not need to eat, drink, sleep, or even breathe, and cannot die a natural death. He never remembers his divine purpose until he begins his last mission to defeat Liam.

Abraham uses the memories from his infinite past lives and remembers that no matter how much he begs, Liam never agrees to save Gactus VII. After finding the cure, Abraham confronts Liam one last time, briefly explaining that he never meant to teach Liam to commit genocide; knowing they cannot change the other's mind, the two engage in a fight to the death. While Liam has used his wealth and resources to make himself a battlesuit that is near-invincible, Abraham uses his knowledge from "one million timelines" to eventually overpower him.

Abraham does not strike the killing blow, and while Liam is incapacitated, talks to him one last time and explains his divine purpose. However, living the same 7 years of utter torture one million times has jaded Abraham, and while he still loves Liam, he no longer cares about staying with him - or even about the fate of humanity. Abraham explains to Liam that while his entire existence revolves around stopping him from exterminating humans, he has not once made a choice for himself, and he hates the Gods for it.

Liam, finally calmed down, calls Abraham by his first name again, and urges him to choose for himself where his allegiance truly lies: with him or with Everdusk. The player can choose who Abraham decides to side with, either releasing or returning the cure based on their choice.

Regardless of his choice, Liam reaches to grab Abraham's hand. Abraham refuses, bids Liam goodbye and tells him that he wasn't lying when he said he believed in him, and jumps into the vacuum of space - where he believes he cannot die or be killed, and will simply exist for all eternity, finally out of the time loop. Liam's story ends with him mourning for Abraham.

Part 2: Commitment, Regret, Temptation and Sacrifice

64% of players chose to side with Everdusk, making the universe where the cure is distributed the "canon" ending. 20 year after Abraham spaced himself, Liam has become a fugitive and is obsessed with finding Abraham. He has spent his life on the run seeking out evidence of time travel-related phenomena, and has learned that there are beings known as "anomalies" who return to the start of an infinite time loop upon their death, one of whom is Abraham.

In the 20 years since Xenolifer was defeated, the Constellar Federation has wiped out or enslaved all of the aliens within their reach, and have even started sentencing human prisoners and their desendants to slavery, creating a new caste of humans. Liam decides that he must find Abraham, tell him how things have turned out, and kill him to send him back to Liam's younger self so that they can release Xeno-Medusea into the Federation colonies and stop the future from coming true.

To find Abraham, Liam and Shaman assemble a team comprised of Abraham's old science lab buddies:
-Dr. Paul Zenesz, a bacteriologist and medical doctor
-Dr. Sarah Gaynor, an ex-psychiatrist turned soldier
-Donald Gaynor, a cowardly but brilliant engineer who only agreed to come because his ex-wife is here
-Jack Maslow, former double-agent for Everdusk and Abraham's best friend.

Shaman and Liam locate Abraham in a nebula sacred to a now-extinct alien race (which happened to raise Shaman from birth). Shaman tells Liam that the Nebula itself is a God: Mihral, the Scholar of Paths. When Liam tries to drive his ship into the nebula, he instantly blacks out. The entire team wakes up on the surface of a barren ice planet, their ship in flames.

Shaman, who has broken his leg in the accident, tells the team that Abraham is imprisoned somewhere at the highest point on the planet. The team has no choice but to climb a 15km high mountain to find him, dragging an immobile Shaman with them, as he is the only one with the ability to free Abraham. They soon realize that they will not survive a return trip, and are very likely to die on the way to the peak.

After Liam convinces the team to exchange their lives to save the universe, they climb the mountain to their certain deaths. The player has the option to have Liam leave behind his teammates when they begin to slow him down. If this is done, Liam will convince the others to continue without them with an inspiring speech.

Along the way, there are four shrines in which Liam and his team have to prove themselves worthy to the Gods:

The shrine of commitment:
Liam has to prove himself committed to his task by carrying a very heavy stone safely up a leg of the climb. If he completes this task, the Gods grant him increased hardiness in his climb.

The shrine of regret:
Donald is tempted with the option of manipulating time to undo his divorce with Sarah; if this is done, Sarah loses her ability as the best mountain climber and soldier of the team, and Liam must take over her duties.

If Donald and Sarah are dead, the Gods tell Liam that he has made a poor leader, and offer him the chance to start again from the base of the mountain with all of his teammates resurrected from the dead.

The shrine of temptation:
The Gods offer to take Shaman to the peak so that Liam no longer has to carry him, improving the group's chances of survival. If Liam accepts, he will not be able to read the last shrine and may accidentally kill a party member:

-The shrine of sacrifice
The Gods demand a human sacrifice. If this is done, Liam et al will be blessed with enough strength to survive the climb.

After the last shrine, regardless of whether Liam sacrificed one of his friends, Liam begins to succumb to the elements. Freezing, exhausted, and suffocating from a lack of oxygen, he suffers a psychological breakdown just before reaching the peak. He realizes that he, too, has become an instrument of the Gods, forced to do insane things for the sake of humanity. He loses all faith in himself, confessesing that his obsession with Abraham has caused him to lose sight of his own identity - but that the person he was before he met Abraham was not a person worthy of respect: a thrill-seeker who only did "good" things because he enjoyed the fun and attention he got from doing them. Then, believing that returning Abraham to the past will justify his life and redeem him, he forces himself to the top of the peak.

Liam, Jack and Shaman reach the peak and free Abraham from a cage crafted by the Gods. Abraham is weary after being held there for 20 years, and collapses; Liam catches him. Abraham expresses confusion, his last memory being his fight with Liam. Liam tells him that he has searched for him for 20 years to ask him to go back and change the past. Abraham refuses, furious - he already told Liam 20 years ago that he no longer cares about saving humanity. Liam curses Abraham, and tells him that he doesn't care whether Abraham wants to save the world or not - Liam will force him. Abraham laughs and expresses that it's refreshing not to have to make such a difficult decision for himself, and promises Liam that he'll go back to the past and prevent this future.

With one last goodbye, Liam shoots Abraham in the head, who returns to the past and warns Young Liam what will happen if they save Gactus VII. Young Liam is pleased to hear that he was right, and tells Abraham that the two of them can save the universe together. Abraham laughs - he tells Liam he never had any intention of helping him other than delivering the message. He tells Liam to take care of the universe on his behalf.

Liam reaches out to grab his hand, but once again, Abraham leaps into space to be imprisoned by the Gods.

20 years later, the Liam of this timeline has become an accomplished Galactic commander of a war fleet against humankind. However, he regrets exterminating Gactus VII, which led to a two-decade long stalemate that has cost hundreds of billions of lives. The game ends with Liam and Shaman finding the nebula where Abraham is imprisoned, and they set off to kill him to change the past again, creating an infinite time loop.

Personality:

Externally, the writer describes Liam as an energetic, wild, and indominable force. He is a charismatic speaker who exudes confidence, and is capable of finding and bringing out the best qualities in the men and women around him. He has a sharp sense of humour, and tends to literally laugh off difficult situations until they cannot be ignored. When things get serious, however, Liam becomes deathly so. He is easily upset by injustice and violence, and can't stand to witness it without acting to protect the person affected, often to the detriment of his own safety. His anger runs cold, manifesting as joking insults at best, and carefully calculated violence at worst.

Liam is extremely ambitious; from a young age, he has desired exponential power. As a result, he is very stubborn and bull-headed, refusing to back down from his goals. He is a thrillseeker and adrenaline junkie who puts himself in danger for the fun of it, and has no regard for his own personal safety. He has an obsessive personality that makes him hyperfocused on his goals and his relationships.

He is something of a narcissist, and loves being loved. He has delusions of great self-importance, desiring to die in such a fashion that he will be remembered. Interpersonally, Liam is viciously loyal, and deeply cares about the people in his circle - expecting the same level of devotion in return. This means that he interprets any slight against him as a fierce betrayal. Liam is somewhat flirty, even at inappropriate times, which may tie in to his narcissistic and obsessive nature; he needs the people around him to be close to him, and to love him.

Internally, Liam harbours a great deal of doubt and self-loathing. If Liam dies, the game-over screen shows a variety of nasty messages that seem to be in reference to Liam's internal struggles (compare to when Abraham dies, and the gameover screen plainly states what he did wrong, as though Abraham is calmly assessing the situation). For example, the screens state things like "Why do you keep trying? Are you having any fun?" (in regards to his goal of saving the universe at the cost of his own life) and "You've always been the main star!" (in regards to his narcisism) and "Life needs no answers. Not everything has to make sense" (in regards to his search for Abraham to give meaning to his life) and "Did you ever see them? The federation? The aliens?" (in reference to Liam being comfortable with killing people he's never met, and inserting himself into a conflict he has nothing to do with). He remarks that he is not a person worthy of respect. He is clinically depressed, having deeply repressed his trauma over killing millions of humans in his youth to the point of "not feeling anything." Because of this, he is worried he might be a psychopath; his psychiatrist assures him that he does care, but has repressed his grief until now to cope with the guilt. He is easily frustrated and discouraged; Abraham remarks that Liam was corrupted by his own inability to change the world quickly, which made him resort to drastic measures. In spite of his lofty goals, he often questions whether or not he is doing the right thing, and is frustrated by a lack of closure (ie anything short of a "good ending") in life.


Relationships:

Abraham Burden - Liam's proclaimed "Beloved Arch-Enemy," he and Abraham have a very complicated relationship. While the two of them are very close and care deeply about eachother, their values are so discordant that their differences lead to toxicity. Abraham idolizes Liam to the point of ignoring his flaws; Liam refuses to compromise with Abraham in any way and does not allow room for even the smallest dissent. Liam believes that Abraham would have eventually killed him had he not returned to Everdusk, and is extremely bitter - he only learns that Abraham would never have hurt him well into the end of the series, having believed Abraham cared more about Everdusk than about him for 21 years. However, he still retains some fondness for Abraham, trying to take his hand at the end of the game in spite of everything.

Liam likely has some attraction to Abraham, as he flirts with him on several occasions. As a joke, Liam asks Abraham to marry him, who responds "shut up and kiss me." When Abraham offers to buy two tickets to go see a game with him, Liam accepts. Once when Liam leaves a room, he teases Abraham by saying "isn't a gentleman going to walk me to the door?" In the DLC, when Liam catches Abraham after he collapses, Abraham asks Liam why he is looking so tenderly at him. Finally, he acts very similarly to a jilted lover after Abraham's betrayal, constantly reminding Abraham how much he hurt him.

In the DLC, Liam admits he has become obsessed with him and built his adult indentity around him.

Darevan ("Shaman") - While Liam refers to Shaman as his best friend, Shaman and Liam's relationship is best described as familial, almost father-son-like. They are lifelong partners, always by each other's side. Shaman has mentored Liam throughout his life in history, technology, language, and combat. Liam knows Shaman's true name, and Shaman gave Liam his. It is likely that the two of them met when Liam was very young and have travelled together ever since.

Shaman has saved Liam from his own bad decisions numerous times, from stopping him from getting into a fight at a bar, (unsuccessfully) warning him not to break cover in a recon mission, to eventually helping Abraham stop him from killing all humans on Gactus VII. He advises him on how to handle each shrine while Liam climbs the mountain, and without him, Liam makes grave mistakes.

Jack Maslow - In Part 1 of Gods Will be Watching, Jack and Liam have an unbalanced relationship. Jack hates Liam, while Liam thinks of Jack as a close friend. If Jack dies, Liam has his only emotional breakdown in Part 1, blaming himself for Jack's death and telling Abraham he is devastated to have lost a friend. Jack, on the other hand, is only faking his devotion to Liam, divulging to Abraham that he couldn't give less of a shit about him. Even before Jack leaves Xenolifer, he does not appear to have been swayed by Liam's charisma. Further, Jack seems jealous of Abraham's affections towards Liam, and regularly expresses his frustration ("I'm getting sick of this dumb blonde's bullshit"). After Xenolifer, Jack hates Liam openly, and is disgusted at the mere mention of him. He is the first to draw arms against Liam whenever he appears. Liam does not seem to be particularly fond of Jack anymore, either.

In Part 2, Liam and Jack seem to have reconciled. If Jack dies climbing the mountain, Liam bids goodbye to him as a close friend, and gives him an emotional eulogy. Liam admires the quality of Jack's character, and expresses regret that he did not have a better relationship with Jack in his youth.

Sarah Gaynor - Liam and Sarah get along well in Part 2. Sarah sees the best in Liam in spite of his own self-doubt, and offers to treat him for depression, which Liam gladly accepts.

Donald Gaynor - Liam considers Donald a coward, and dislikes his selfish disposition. However, Liam admires Donald's intelligence and his ability to fight in spite of his fear.

Paul Zenesz - Paul was the first member Liam approached to join him in the DLC, recognizing the doctor's brilliance and determination. They seem to be on good terms, with Paul funding Liam's mission, and convincing the others that Liam has matured significantly since his Xenolifer days.

Abilities:

-Liam has a neuro-implant that allows him to interface with technology via a cable. He is able to hack quickly and efficiently, and is capable of uploading information directly into his brain. However, if the information is corrupted or has a firewall, he experiences severe pain and seizure. He has very limited awareness of the "real world" while he is interfaced with tech.

-Liam is an accomplished martial artist, having studied alien methods under Shaman for his entire adult life.