JC Denton

JC Denton is the protagonist of Deus Ex and a major character in Deus Ex: Invisible War. JC, along with his sibling Alex Denton, is a clone of his brother Paul Denton.

In Deus Ex, JC is initially working for UNATCO, where his main job is to combat and stop terrorist organizations such as the NSF. He and his brother, Paul, start off as nano-augmented UNATCO agents. JC then switches allegiance to the NSF, stops Bob Page's conspiracy, and causes the Collapse. In Deus Ex: Invisible War, JC is a key figure of ApostleCorp, one of the major factions in the game.

Early Life
In 2027, Paul Denton's mother, who is unable to have any more children but wants another, was approached by Majestic 12 operatives posing as fertility experts. She was told that she would be paid handsomely in exchange for participating in experimental surgery that will allow her to become pregnant. Mrs. "Denton" had been poor her entire life, but now she could have another child and have enough money to raise her family in comfort. The "fertility experts" assured her that the surgery would be minor and the risk minimal. After the parents of Paul agreed, the mother was implanted with a cloned embryo of Paul. Their lives have already been carefully monitored by MJ12 for many years.

Nine months later, on March 17, 2029, JC Denton was born. In 2035, Majestic 12, displeased with Paul's progress, decided that his parents should not be allowed to raise JC. Paul and JC's parents were killed and JC was sent to Majestic 12's Swiss school, where he spent the next 12 years of his life. During this time, Majestic 12 attempted to instill in JC an unquestioning loyalty to superiors and a willingness to obey orders. Nonetheless, JC still developed a hidden rebellious attitude. In 2047, JC graduated from the Swiss school. In 2052, JC was nano-augmented and became a UNATCO agent. His cloning and augmentations cost around 50 billion dollars.

Taking down Majestic 12
In 2051, JC is a new anti-terrorist agent working for the United Nations Anti-Terrorist Coalition (UNATCO), based on Liberty Island. His first mission is to investigate an NSF terrorist attack on the island itself, and find the leader in the Statue of Liberty. Afterwards, he is sent to follow the terrorists' trail to recover stolen Ambrosia, a cure for the Gray Death virus that is plaguing the planet. Once he has found the final stolen barrel of Ambrosia, he is tasked with killing the terrorist leader, Juan Lebedev. JC returns to UNATCO headquarters and is sent on a mission to Hong Kong. Before leaving, he defects from UNATCO but is captured and imprisoned in an MJ12 base beneath the UNATCO headquarters. With the help of the Daedalus, an AI working against Majestic 12, JC escapes to Hong Kong.

After uncovering a conspiracy in Hong Kong and uniting the warring Triads, JC goes to the Brooklyn Naval Shipyards to investigate ties that the Illuminati may have to the global conspiracy. There, JC destroys a freighter carrying the Gray Death virus. Stanton Dowd, former owner of the freighter and a high-ranking Illuminatus, sends JC to Paris to meet the leader of the Illuminati, Morgan Everett, because Everett is the only one who can create a true cure for the Gray Death. Everett sends JC to Vandenberg to help a group of scientists called X-51 who can manufacture a cure for the virus. At Vandenberg, JC's actions inadvertently cause Daedalus to merge with Icarus, an AI aligned with Majestic 12, resulting in the creation of a new AI entity called Helios.

JC eventually arrives at Area 51 to confront Bob Page, leader of Majestic 12. There, Morgan Everett urges JC to kill Page so that the Illuminati can return to power. However, JC is also offered the alternative of merging with Helios to help Helios govern the world, or destroying Area 51 and its telecommunications infrastructure to plunge the world into a new dark age.

After merging with Helios
At Area 51, JC destroyed the telecommunications infrastructure, merged with Helios, and intended to coordinate with the Illuminati to rebuild society. However, the merger didn’t go as planned. 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.

As a result of the destruction of Area 51's telecommunications infrastructure, the world entered a period known as the Great Collapse. Depression and wars ravaged the landscape, but JC and Paul were powerless to protect governments from warlords and from the damage already done by the Majestic 12 shadow government. Nonetheless, JC and Paul had a vision for humanity. They want to use biotech enhancement to raise everyone to near-perfect levels of health, productivity, and mental acuity. The result would be a society of superior equals. To this end, they created an underground group called ApostleCorp, which has developed the enabling technology at secret facilities around the world.

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."

JC intends for Helios to communicate, not to assimilate, unlike the Omar cyborg collective. However, because Helios would know each and every human thought, many of JC's enemies (such as the Illuminati and Knights Templar) fear that the "Great Advance" would bring about universal slavery rather than universal democracy: The Illuminati believe that perfect slavery and perfect democracy are exactly the same thing, as the constant access by Helios would equal complete loss of privacy. Alex D can actually interrogate JC on the topic:Alex D: "Tell me more about this "posthuman civilization."" JC Denton: "Before the... disruptions, Helios and I had many months of productive thought. Up to now, all free societies have started with one premise: human nature is cruel, unjust -- a force to be controlled." Alex D: "I follow you so far." JC Denton: "The separation of powers -- from Aristotle to Montesquieu -- is designed purely to thwart the ambitions of individuals. How comical, the West's pride in its vast tangle of agencies, jurisdictions, arcane procedures..." Alex D: "What's the alternative?" JC Denton: "Address the flaws in human nature. Make all beings truly equal in both body and mind.  If you start with minds that are lucid, knowledgable, and emotionally sound, the needs of government change dramatically." Alex D: "How do you control human emotions?  Antidepressants?  Is that freedom?" JC Denton: "Is it freedom when one child is born to poverty, a chance combination of organic materials, while the wealthy child is shaped every day of his life, enhanced genetically, trained, educated, often augmented nanotechnologically?" Alex D: "Why not get rid of nanotech and genetic engineering, the technologies that make people different from each other?" JC Denton: "Then you go down the path of intolerance, as your friend Billie did. Is human nature perfect?  No.  Therefore, improvements are to be welcomed, not annihilated in Templar pogroms.  As enhanced beings, we can establish a pure democracy that runs on instantaneous input from the electorate." Alex D: "What would this "pure democracy" look like?" JC Denton: "The Helios AI has the processing power to handle all governmental functions worldwide, legislative, executive, and judicial. Once every mind has been enhanced and can merge with the AI, attitudes toward major legislation can be processed on a daily or even more frequent basis." Alex D: "You want everyone to be like the Omar and meld themselves together into one huge AI construct?" JC Denton: "Helios will communicate, not assimilate. Life will go on as usual." Alex D: "Helios is starting to sound like an enlightened despot." JC Denton: "All governments have power. The benefit of giving this power to a synthetic intellect is that human affairs would no longer need to be ruled by generalities.  Helios will have a deep understanding of every person's life and opinions." Alex D: "What if I don't want someone peeking into my mind?" JC Denton: "Upon consideration, you'll see that this arrangement is for the best. "General ideas are no proof of the strength, but rather of the insufficiency of the human intellect."  The words of Alexis de Tocqueville, an observer of the birth of modern democracy.  Though general ideas allow human minds to make judgments quickly, they are necessarily incomplete." Alex D: "So?" JC Denton: "So de Tocqueville noted that an all-knowing mind -- the mind of God, as he conceived it -- would have no need for general ideas. It would understand every individual in detail and at a glance.  Incomplete applications of law or justice would be impossible for such a mind."

"Up to now, all free societies have started with one premise: human nature is cruel, unjust -- a force to be controlled. (...) The separation of powers -- from Aristotle to Montesquieu -- is designed purely to thwart the ambitions of individuals. How comical, the West's pride in its vast tangle of agencies, jurisdictions, arcane procedures...

What's the alternative?

Address the flaws in human nature. Make all beings truly equal in both body and mind. If you start with minds that are lucid, knowledgable, and emotionally sound, the needs of government change dramatically.

How do you control human emotions? Antidepressants? Is that freedom?

Is it freedom when one child is born to poverty, a chance combination of organic materials, while the wealthy child is shaped every day of his life, enhanced genetically, trained, educated, often augmented nanotechnologically?

Why not get rid of nanotech and genetic engineering, the technologies that make people different from each other?

Then you go down the path of intolerance, as your friend Billie did. Is human nature perfect? No. Therefore, improvements are to be welcomed, not annihilated in Templar pogroms. As enhanced beings, we can establish a pure democracy that runs on instantaneous input from the electorate.

What would this "pure democracy" look like?

The Helios AI has the processing power to handle all governmental functions worldwide, legislative, executive, and judicial. Once every mind has been enhanced and can merge with the AI, attitudes toward major legislation can be processed on a daily or even more frequent basis.

You want everyone to be like the Omar and meld themselves together into one huge AI construct?

Helios will communicate, not assimilate. Life will go on as usual.

Helios is starting to sound like an enlightened despot.

All governments have power. The benefit of giving this power to a synthetic intellect is that human affairs would no longer need to be ruled by generalities. Helios will have a deep understanding of every person's life and opinions.

What if I don't want someone peeking into my mind?

Upon consideration, you'll see that this arrangement is for the best. "General ideas are no proof of the strength, but rather of the insufficiency of the human intellect." The words of Alexis de Tocqueville, an observer of the birth of modern democracy. Though general ideas allow human minds to make judgments quickly, they are necessarily incomplete. (...) De Tocqueville noted that an all-knowing mind -- the mind of God, as he conceived it -- would have no need for general ideas. It would understand every individual in detail and at a glance. Incomplete applications of law or justice would be impossible for such a mind."

Revival from stasis
Eventually, JC is revived from stasis with the help of Alex Denton. Alex had traveled to JC's sanctuary in Antarctica and was able to revive JC by repairing Helio's processing modules with an infusion of Alex's biomod architecture. Upon awakening from stasis, JC explains his plan of connecting all of humanity to Helios using Alex's biomods, paving the way for an ideal democracy. JC wishes to enlist Alex to achieve his goals, although Alex's allegiance is also sought by the Illuminati and Templars.

Deus Ex
JC Denton is the player character, completely controlled by the player.

Mission details
JC Denton becomes central to the plot of Deus Ex: Invisible War, despite making an appearance only towards the end of the game. In the finale of Invisible War, Alex Denton must choose between supporting or opposing JC and his faction, ApostleCorp.


 * 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. right before destruction revives 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".

Personality
In Deus Ex, JC Denton is revealed to be sharp, intelligent and perceptive, yet cold, stoic and a bit of a loner. This is in contrast to his brother Paul, who is passionate and empathetic. 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, dependent on the player's choices, as the game gives the ability to carry out whatever action the player desires.

Origin of the name "JC Denton"
According to Deus Ex executive producer Warren Spector, the surname "Denton" was a reference to Warren Spector's friend, sci-fi author Bradley Denton, while "JC" originated from the exclamation "Jesus Christ." In a 2017 Game Developers Conference, Spector revealed that JC got his name from an anecdote where his friend, Bradley Denton, was too helpful, so Spector would jokingly respond "Jesus Christ, Denton, don't be so helpful." When he decided to use his friend's last name, he decided to also borrow from this saying, confirming that JC "stands for Jesus Christ."

Later, in a 2019 interview, Spector similarly stated that "JC Denton was kind of an in-joke" based on his friend Bradly and the "Jesus Christ" exclamation. However, in the same interview, Spector also mentioned that there were "a variety of reasons why he's called JC Denton" and that the rest of the development team also had their reasons as well. While not addressed in the interview, earlier commentary revealed that the name JC was deemed to be suitable as a unisex name, which was needed for the original design that there would be both male and female options for the character.

On the topic of the name "JC" also being a biblical reference, Spector stated, "the fact that it's possible for JC to make big sacrifices at the end, you know, for the sake of mankind. There's an obvious reference there." According to Harvey Smith, an idea was considered during development that JC Denton would be a descendant of Jesus Christ.

"JC Denton" as code name and real name
Originally, "JC Denton" was intended to be a code name only, and not the character's real name. Over time, however, the distinction between real name and code name was seemingly dropped from the series, and "JC Denton" was adopted as the character's real name.

The original concept of "JC Denton" being only a code name is documented in design document v13.12. This document states: "During the game, the player character will be referred to in all speech as 'J.C. Denton.' But this is an assigned alias, not the character’s 'real' name." According to design document v13.12, the player's real name was supposed to be a secret former identity, and would only be known to certain specific characters. Thus, the limited use of the player's real name during the game would have enabled the game to imply situations in which the "sender is in on the identity change."

The concept that JC has a real name different from his code name was partially subverted in Deus Ex. When starting a new game in Deus Ex, players can customize JC's real name to their preference (by contrast, the "code name" field is fixed at "JC Denton" and is not customizable). However, even though the "real name" field is customizable, it is set to "JC Denton" by default. Customizing JC's real name will affect some in-game media. In particular, the membership list for the Luminous Path will list the player's customized real name.

In Deus Ex: Invisible War, the same Luminous Path membership list that previously appeared in Deus Ex will always display "JC Denton" in the list of members, indicating that by the time Invisible War was completed, Ion Storm intended to use JC's default real name as the canonical real name. Furthermore, official media after Deus Ex do not make a distinction between JC's code name and real name.

Early character designs
The general concept of JC being an augmented agent dates back to early precursors of Deus Ex, including the 1997 Shooter precursor. An early document for Shooter describes JC as an augmented with "enhanced senses, increased intelligence, biomechanically supercharged muscles and fantastic weaponry."

A more detailed description of JC Denton appears in design document v5.3e for Shooter: Majestic Revelations, the successor concept to Shooter. This document states that JC is nicknamed "shooter" due to his prowess with firearms. It also describes JC as having "numerous physical augmentations," including eye implants that glow faintly red, and that some of the augmentations he could receive later in the game would be outlandish, including a "skull gun." The "skull gun" concept would later be turned into a joke associated with Gunther Hermann instead.

Design document v5.3e also states that JC was intended to be selectable by the player to be either male or female. This original plan to allow the player to choose the gender of the character was also mentioned in a 2009 Warren Spector interview, in which Spector also stated that the ambiguity of "JC" has a "nice, unisex name" to flow with "Denton." Although the gender selection feature was not implemented, the name "JC" was left unchanged. The ability to choose the protagonist's gender was later implemented into Deus Ex: Invisible War.

Early designs of JC output, as seen in design document v5.3e and the Deus Ex Bible, do not depict JC wearing a trench coat. In design document v5.3e, JC is described as "always wearing his duster, gloves, unusual sunglasses, even at night..." By the time of E3 1999, JC is depicted as wearing a trench coat, as he is depicted in the final game.

Early plot concepts
Design documents for Majestic Revelations reveal a plot that resembles that of Deus Ex to some degree, but with numerous major differences. The story was originally intended to be much larger, and was to include visits many locations that were cut during the course of the game's development. However, one major story concept in Majestic Revelations that was ultimately retained in Deus Ex was the endgame option of merging with an AI entity.

In Majestic Revelations, the ultimate antagonist was to be Adam, an AI entity with a goal of governing humanity in a hyper-paternalistic manner. The endgame would have featured a confrontation between JC and Adam onboard a space station, in which JC could either merge with Adam or destroy the entire space station, eliminating both parties. Over the course of development, Adam would be replaced by Daedalus, Icarus, and Helios, along with many other changes to the plot of the game, but the concept of an AI merger endgame was kept. For other details of early plot concepts, please see the main article for Majestic Revelations, as well as the articles on the cut missions at Mount Weather and the White House, and the cut space station and moon base missions.

Origin story concepts and revisions
The final game contains only fragments of JC Denton's backstory. However, known design documents indicate that an extensive backstory was written, and also revised, during the course of the game's development before it was heavily trimmed from the final game. A semi-curated collection of design document content was released in the Deus Ex Bible in 2002.

In the Deus Ex Bible, JC's backstory states that he was born from an embryo, cloned from Paul, that was implanted into Paul's mother. The backstory also states that JC was raised by Paul's parents until they were killed by Majestic 12 when JC was around 7 years old. JC would later undergo schooling controlled by Majestic 12, before becoming a UNATCO agent.

Design document v13.12, however, includes fragments of a different backstory concept, one in which JC was not born from Paul's mother's womb and raised as a child, but was instead created in Area 51's cloning facility and was still being developed in the facility six months prior to the events of the game. In particular, one part of the design document describes the planned opening of the game, in which JC Denton would be shown to the player in an Area 51 vat tube following the conversation between Walton Simons and Bob Page.

The design document also mentions that the player would be able to see evidence of JC's creation when they visit Area 51: "Also located on this level [Area 51] is a small cloning facility where the player can find evidence of J.C.'s birth (in the form of several clone versions of “Paul Denton,” each with a different name imprinted on a datacube, as well as an empty clone tank marked with the player-created “real name”)." However, as indicated by a note in the design document, the developers realized the problem with showing JC in the intro before the character creation screen, which is that it would be inconsistent with the player's ability to customize JC's character model.

The Deus Ex Bible, which includes the raised-as-a-child origin story but does not include the Area 51 origin story, suggests that the latter was dropped over time in favor of the former. Nonetheless, elements of the cloning facility origin still remained in the released game. When the player visits the Area 51 cloning bay, Bob Page will state, "What's the rush? Take a look around. This facility is where you were born." The Area 51 cloning bay includes an empty vat chamber with a datacube bearing the player's selected real name (in the manner described in design document v13.12), as well as the descriptions "INCEPT DATE: 3/17/54" and "ASSIGNED BIRTH DATE: 3/17/29." These dates suggest that in the Area 51 origin story, JC would only have been purportedly born in the late 2020s, and not actually born at that time.

The story inconsistency implied by the final game's presentation of the Area 51 cloning bay was later retconned in the Shadows of the Machine story that appears in Prima's Official Guide for Deus Ex: Invisible War. In this story, the empty vat chamber seen in Deus Ex 's Area 51 mission was actually the chamber of Alex Denton, rather than JC Denton. The story also states that Alex Denton was removed from Area 51 shortly before the events of Deus Ex at the age of 5. Therefore, the remnants of JC's Area 51 origin story were retconned in a way that imparts them to Alex Denton's origin story instead.

Post-Invisible War concepts
Ion Storm design documents for Invisible War 's sequel concepts indicate that a continuation of the Helios ending was at one time considered. In this plot concept, dated late 2003, JC (who is also referred to as "JC-Helios" in the document) has established a "mind-net," but various factions are working to break free in order to retain individuality. This concept was never put into practice, and was only one among many proposed sequel concepts before Ion Storm was shut down in 2005.

Trivia

 * JC Denton bears a resemblance to Neo from the Matrix movies. The game's cover art suggests that he may have been modeled after the film's protagonist. Additionally, promotional poster art depicts JC Denton and other Deus Ex characters in the manner of the movie poster for The Matrix.
 * JC Denton's outfit resembles the titular character's outfit in Blade (1998).
 * JC Denton appears as a CPU-controlled opponent in the mobile game Lara Croft's Poker Party, along with several other characters from games published by SCi/Eidos.