William Taggart

William "Bill" Taggart is the founder of the pro-humanist group Humanity Front. He appears as a main antagonist in Deus Ex: Icarus Effect and a major character in Deus Ex: Human Revolution. He is a highly successful psychiatrist and anti-augmentation activist and speaker, well known for his charisma and oratorical abilities.

Background
Bill formed the group Humanity Front in 2021, soon after Antoine Thisdale's famous court case regarding his right to amputate and augment himself to be able to compete with his augmented peers. In 2027 he is in Geneva, Switzerland, when the Tyrants plan to assassinate him, making him a martyr for his cause and push for a UN vote on augmentation regulation. Although Ben Saxon fails to kill him, Scott Hardesty shoots and kills his secretary, which still successfully ignites anti-augmentation regulation discussion among the government. At gun point with Saxon, Taggart asks him: "Did they send you?"

After returning from the Highland Park FEMA complex, Jensen will find Taggart in Sarif's penthouse, along with his bodyguards and personal aide, Isaias Sandoval. Taggart will confront Jensen directly, claiming he wishes to speak with him as well as condemning the violent actions of Purity First, and attempts to psychoanalyze him. Adam may either listen to his claims that augmentation is endangering the human race, or confront him about the Purity First incident, to which he will show contempt toward the player.

In the comic series, Taggart has another meeting with Sarif in London. Together with Zhao Yun Ru, he offers Sarif an opportunity to cooperate with them, strongly suggesting that Taggart truly is aware of the Illuminati. Sarif immediately dismiss the offer.

Jensen later finds out from Eliza Cassan that his aide, Sandoval was personally involved in the attack on Sarif Industries, having assisted the Tyrants by agreeing to surgically remove the GPL implants from the Sarif scientists so they can be kidnapped and hidden. Not knowing Sandoval's location, Jensen can choose to confront Taggart at the Detroit convention center, where he had recently given an inflammatory anti-augmentation speech that led to a riot. Taggart will attempt to redirect the topic to Jensen's supposed emotional traumas and the biotech industry's supposed covert super-soldier operations, but if Jensen is persuasive enough he can be convinced to give up Sandoval's location. It is also revealed in this conversation that Taggart's wife Marjorie, was murdered by a Neuropozyne addict.

It is never fully explained why the Tyrants turned to Sandoval for assistance. During Jensens friendly confrontation with him, Sandoval angrily states that "Taggart already knows the truth", slightly suggesting that Taggart was truly cooperating with the Tyrants during the attack on Sarif industries, providing them with Sandovals expertise as a physician.

Hugh Darrow then calls a world-wide meeting between influential people at Panchaea to discuss augmentations. Taggart, David Sarif and Hugh Darrow are the people that the Pancaea conference will centre around. Jensen will run into Taggart again at Panchaea, where he is barricaded in a server room along with some other survivors. Taggart feels that Darrow's activation of the universal signal has confirmed his anti-augmentation rhetoric all along and takes it as proof that augmentation technologies are too dangerous. Taggart then goes on to elaborate on how humanity will always need centralized control, and the Illuminati is ideally placed for this - and Jensen himself perhaps even more ideally placed, given his knowledge and accomplishments thus far. At this point in the game, Adam may murder Taggart with no repercussions.

Whether Jensen agrees with him or not, he can choose to deliver Taggart's message to the world at the end of the game, railing against the dangers of augmentation and turning public opinion towards greater control of augmentation technology, thus placing the Illuminati further into power.

Popular References

 * William Taggart's character may have been inspired by American psychologist B. F. Skinner, and his book "Beyond Freedom and Dignity" which is similar to Taggart's "No Better: The Myth of Human Augmentation". As Taggart holds that unregulated human augmentation and absolute individual liberty can pose a threat to society, Skinner is against an "autonomous man" and holds for societal progress by naturalist cultural evolution.