Faridah Malik

Faridah Malik is the chief pilot for Sarif Industries in Deus Ex: Human Revolution and the Deus Ex: Human Revolution comics. She is the protagonist of the novel Deus Ex: Fallen Angel.

Background
Faridah Malik flew V-22 Osprey cargo haulers for ArcAir; a Chinese, Triad-affiliated aviation company. She enjoyed the company of her co-pilot and best friend; Evelyn Carmichael. One day the two were assigned to what turned out to be a smuggling operation supervised by Belltower commander Narhari Kahn. After picking up cargo from an off-shore XNG Shipping freighter; the Bel Canto, they were hit by a storm. In the turmoil, Malik discovered that the cargo were stasis pods with live humans, and witnessed Kahn executing one of the victims; a kidnapped Isolay employee who refused to submit to his new "employers". Parting with Evelyn, Malik fled - only to be shot down by Belltower drones on Kahn's orders. Malik survived, found a Sarif Industries business card in her wing-suit and arranged to leave her old life behind.

As Sarif Industries' chief pilot, Faridah is able to fly anything from a helicopter to a VTOL, though she's only seen piloting the VTOL in-game. She is in charge of transport and delivery of Sarif Industries VIPs for any trips that require air transport. She is noted as a dedicated employee and pilot with sometimes overzealous flight tendencies that have proven her to be among the best in the skies. She has a few discreet cranial implants that enable her to be a better pilot.

According to Sarif Industries Human Resources, it has been noted that a small altercation occurred between Faridah Malik and Franklin Phillips. The report notes only that Franklin was overseeing Faridah on maintenance for the company's VTOL. A verbal altercation erupted over the choppers balance levels for VTOL lift when Faridah struck Franklin. No charges were filed against Faridah and she was issued a verbal warning from Human Resources.

Faridah will spend most of her time simply flying Jensen between places and providing him with intel through Adam's infolink. During the first visit to Hengsha, Malik will need Jensen's help to prove Lee Hong's involvement in the murder of her friend, Evelyn Carmichael, thus starting the Shanghai Justice quest.

Upon returning to Hengsha, Malik will be redirected to another landing zone, and shot down by a Belltower operative with a rocket launcher. She will be forced to perform an emergency landing, with Jensen barely making it out of the vehicle in time. 5-6 medium Belltower soldiers, 2 heavy soldiers, 2 snipers and even an 80-X Boxguard will surround her VTOL and open fire. If Jensen does not kill or disable them in time, the VTOL will sustain too much damage and explode, killing Malik. If Jensen manages to reach the helipad's elevator before the VTOL explodes, the Belltower soldiers will drag Malik out of the aircraft, and she'll be subsequently executed by Narhari Kahn. If Jensen manages to defeat the attackers, she will be able to repair the VTOL and escape safely. The player is rewarded with the Good Soul achievement. See Find Vasili Sevchenko's GPL Device for tactical considerations.

Behind the scenes

 * Faridah means "unique" or "precious", while Malik means "owner" or "proprietor" in Arabic. Therefore it is probable that she is of Arabic descent, especially given that in real life her birthplace has one of the highest concentration of Arabs in the US. One of the directors in the commentary of the Director's Cut confirms she is of Arab descent.
 * Faridah Malik was also a name of an actress, who played only one role in her acting career as one of the victim girls in 1975 film 'Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom', based on the book '120 Days of Sodom', by the Marquis de Sade. Coincidence?
 * On her face, she seems to have a birth mark, which is actually a monroe piercing.