Leo Gold

Leo Gold
Personal information
Height	187 cm (6'2")
Affiliation	NSF Special Operations
Rank	Colonel
Behind the scenes
Appearances	Deus Ex
Voice actor	Marcus M. Mauldin

	"We're just giving ordinary people the same chance to survive as the bureaucrats in Washington."

Colonel Leo Gold is a Special Operations officer for the National Secessionist Forces (NSF) in Deus Ex. Leo Gold was entrusted with the NSF's attack on Liberty Island. Although successfully accomplishing his mission, Gold and many of his men are unable to escape the island before forces blockade outgoing vessels and lay siege to its perimeter. JC Denton is tasked by UNATCO with Gold's capture.

Background

Listed under UNATCO file NSF1A3-ZB350, Colonel Gold is the head of the NSF elite Special Operations unit involved in the Liberty Island operation that aimed at liberating the Ambrosia shipment bound for UNATCO headquarters. The operation was carried out without major issues, as NSF attacked the Island the moment the barge transporting the shipment docked at the northern end of the Island, with Gold's troops overrunning security, moving the cargo to speedboats, and making a run for the City. A detachment of NSF troops with Gold himself remained behind as a diversion, to tie up UNATCO forces and give the NSF in the city a fighting chance. Between the troopers and the commercial security bot, Gold's troops managed to set up a perimeter and capture Gunther Hermann, an augmented agent, though their victory was brief: UNATCO pulled other troops back to the dock and headquarters, to let JC Denton handle the infiltration.

While he wears the usual NSF body armor, Gold is not actually much of a soldier and does not believe in last stands. Although his troops refuse to surrender to maintain the diversion, he is ready to lay down arms. For him, it's not about killing his enemies, so much as giving ordinary people the same chance of surviving the Gray Death as bureaucrats in Washington. He is also effective at obfuscation, usually by referring to his knowledge of history and apparent conspiracy theories, bolstered by his extensive knowledge of economics, sociology, and political sciences. Ordinary people do suffer by his actions, sometimes: One of the NSF sympathizers blames him for turning her neighborhood into a warzone and getting her brother killed, and wishes death on Gold.

Gold is Harley Filben's main contact at the NSF, allowing him to provide UNATCO with intelligence. As such, Filben is keen on keeping him alive and hopefully out in bail, in order to be able to continue his work.

Interactions

This character is involved in missions.

Deus Ex 1st Mission: Liberty Island

Missions

• Deus Ex 1st Mission: Liberty Island : JC encounters Gold at the top of the ruined Statue of Liberty. Gold does not try to kill JC, but surrenders. Depending on JC's attitude, Gold will debate the morals of UNATCO's actions, or he will become angered and pull his sidearm if threatened by JC. If captured alive, Gold is arrested by UNATCO.
  • The player can kill Gold, to the approval of generic UNATCO trooper and annoyance of Joseph Manderley and Harley Filben. The former will dock the pay for the mission by 200 credits, the latter will be angry at JC for executing Gold without trial. If the player promised not to hurt Gold, but killed him anyways, Filben will double the cost of the mole people tunnel password to 500 credits.

Notes

• Despite having hair in his picture, he is listed as having no hair. This is due to his old model being bald and the text not being updated. His old model looks very similar, if not the same as Toby Atanwe. In the final game, Leo Gold's face is shared with Bartender characters.

Gallery

Leo Gold's picture, given to JC by Harley Filben.

Leo Gold's beta image, source of Hair: None

Quotes

Consolidation

• Leo Gold: "Don't believe me? It's all in the numbers. For a hundred years, there's been a conspiracy of plutocrats against ordinary people."
• JC Denton: "Do you have a single fact to back that up?"
• Leo Gold: "Number one: In 1945 corporations paid 50 percent of federal taxes. Now they pay about 5 percent. Number two: In 1900 90 percent of Americans were self-employed; now it's about two percent."
• JC Denton: "So?"
• Leo Gold: "It's called consolidation. Strengthen governments and corporations, weaken individuals. With taxes, this can be done imperceptibly over time. "

Trilateral commission

• JC Denton: "I guarantee you that the interrogation staff at UNATCO will not be as forbearing as I am."
• Leo Gold: "The entire executive branch is hand-picked. Nineteen of the last twenty-three U.S. presidents have been members of the Trilateral Commission. The Trilateral Commission is financed by the Rockefellers and the Rothschilds. Don't tell me --"
• JC Denton: "That's a think-tank. Anyone can become a member."
• Leo Gold: "But not everyone does. That's why they call it the "secret government.""

Random barks

• Leo Gold: "UNATCO teaches teenagers to fight when it still seems like a game, and -- look at you! -- you're a killing machine!"
• Leo Gold: "Who's the scary one, huh? Me or you?"
• Leo Gold: "Do you ever ask what it's for? The surveillance, the police, the shoot-on-sight laws? Is that freedom?"
• Leo Gold: "You can't fight ideas with bullets."
• Leo Gold: "The more of us you kill, the more that seccessionism lives in the hearts of the people."
• Leo Gold: "Ever wonder why big car companies pay two percent tax while the guys on the assembly line pay forty?"

Behind the scenes

• It's not clear where the writers sourced the figure for 90% of Americans being self-employed in 1900, as several studies, like this one, show that the actual figure was around 38% (consistent with the predomination of wage laborers and the strong labor movement of the 19th century). It is possible it's a slip of the tongue due to standing face-to-face with a UNATCO killing machine.
• However, the note about the tax rate is correct: In the 1950s and 1960s the tax rate for corporations was over 50%, which then steadily declined to 35% by 2000 (when Deus Ex was published), and in 2021 reached 21%, together with ballooning corporate profits.
• The remark about personal income tax rates is unclear which bracket it refers to, but if workers fell into the lowest income tax bracket, the 40% increase is a hefty increase, as the lowest bracket was 15% in 2000, reduced to 10% in the 21st century. The 40% rate is for the highest income bracket, which is still far cry from the heights of 1950s-1960s, when it was taxed at a 82-91% rate.
• The decline is a fact, as ILO estimates placed the number of self-employed in the US at around 6.6% in 2021. It might also vary depending on the definition of self-employment, which might be different.
• The Trilateral Commission was formed in 1973, during Richard Nixon's Presidency. Since bylaws preclude sitting officials from being members, the earliest member of the Commission would be the 38th President (after Nixon). As Leo Gold notes 23 presidents in the context of the Trilateral Commission, this suggests that Philip Riley Mead would be the 60th President. With 78 years elapsing between the end of Nixon's presidency and DX, this only leaves space for 19.5 terms, suggesting retirements, resignations, or non-traditional removals from power.