Harley Filben

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Harley Filben
Personal information
Nationality	American
Occupation	UNATCO Informant Aide to Stanton Dowd NSF member
Affiliation	National Secessionist Forces UNATCO Illuminati (Dowd)
Behind the scenes
Appearances	Deus Ex
Voice actor	Brent Anderson
Deus Ex NPC Data
Scripted entity class	HarleyFilben
Scripted entity base class	HumanCivilian
Displayed label	Bum (unfamiliar name) Harley Filben (familiar name) HarleyFilben (BindName)

Harley Filben is a street informant that JC Denton encounters periodically in New York in Deus Ex. During the NSF raid on Liberty Island, Harley Filben is brought to the north docks with the help of a drifter woman to serve as an informant for UNATCO on NSF activity on the island. Afterwards, Filben relocates to the subway station at Battery Park and then later to the Underworld Tavern in Hell's Kitchen.

Biography

A New Yorker to the bone, Filben is the son of a Liberty Island tour guide, and as a result he knows the Island, the Statue, and its history like the back of his hand. He still remembers the times before the bombing and UNATCO deployment, how the Island was jam-packed with tourists from around the world, speaking every tongue known to man. He's less enthusiastic about the job he once had picking up trash after them, however. Eventually, Filben took up a position as an informant, avoiding siding with any of the factions vying for power overtly. Much of his philosophy comes from his father, who used to say "If copper can get old and green and need repairs, the same with our liberty." That was before the UN gained a standing army.

By 2052, he's one of the best informed people in the city, though his unassuming, bum-like appearance might say otherwise. He hangs out with sick former soldiers, bums, prostitutes, NSF guards, and pieces together information to sell to the highest bidder. That means typically working for UNATCO, delivering intel on the National Secessionist Forces. Filben typically explains dealing with UN's private army, infamous for extrajudicial executions and occupying U.S. soil, as a result of his circumstances: He's broke and has a child to look after. He leverages his main contact at the NSF, Col. Leo Gold, using him to gather information, and pays off lower ranking members with credits.

He draws the line at information that might lead to mass executions of NSF fighters, believing that as long as UNATCO and NSF are at each other's throats they won't be able to harm ordinary people too much. He also freely discusses the possibility of the Statue bombing being a deliberate operation by the government, to slander the NSF as terrorists.

In reality, he's a triple agent, informing on the NSF for UNATCO, except he's actually working for the NSF in that capacity, and ultimately reporting to Stanton Dowd, one of the Illuminati. He's responsible for setting up the meetings with Dowd, who's notoriously averse to direct contact, and maintaining a degree of security, especially by rooting out spies for UNATCO and learning the reasons why they spy in the first place.

Interactions

	This character is involved in missions.	1st Mission - Liberty Island 3rd Mission - Battery Park 4th Mission - Hell's Kitchen 7th Mission - Hell's Kitchen
	This character is invincible.	Always invincible

Harley Filben can be encountered four times during the course of the game. However, only the fourth encounter is required: When JC returns to Hell's Kitchen from Hong Kong to find Stanton Dowd, JC learns that Filben is an aide to Dowd and might know how to contact Dowd.

Liberty Island (1st Mission)

• Filben is found on the north dock of Liberty Island and will pass information to JC regarding NSF activity on the island if given the password "Iron and Copper." Filben will also provide the key to enter the front doorway to the Statue complex, if JC promises that the NSF commander, Leo Gold, will be left alive.
• Meeting Filben is a secondary objective. Completing the primary objective before meeting him will result in a different set of dialogue when he is then encountered. He will then tell JC, "Why the hell'd I come here if no one needs my help?", to which JC will reply, "I found a back way into the Statue, but I'm sure UNATCO appreciates your dedication."
• Due to how his barks work, visiting him again after completing the mission will result in additional lines depending on JC's initial answer and Leo Gold's fate.

Second visit to Battery Park (3rd Mission)

• JC Denton can encounter Filben a second time in the Battery Park subway station. Here, if JC does not have the password needed to obtain the code to the phone booth, Filben will sell the password to JC for 500 credits (1000 if Leo Gold was killed).
• Filben will say that UNATCO is likely targeting Juan Lebedev, who owns a terminal at LaGuardia Airport. Filben will also tell JC that the NSF has "some of your buddies at UNATCO" on their payroll, but will not mention who specifically.

Second visit to Hell's Kitchen (4rd Mission)

• During the second visit to Hell's Kitchen, Filben can be found in the Underworld Tavern. He will say that UNATCO is about to raid the area.

Third visit to Hell's Kitchen (7th Mission)

• When JC is is tasked with finding Stanton Dowd, he is told that Filben is an aide to Dowd and might know how to contact him. Filben is once again found in the Underworld Tavern. He reveals that he was working with the NSF all along, and confirms that he also works for the Illuminati.
• Speaking to Filben is required for mission progression and will initiate the secondary goal of killing Joe Greene. If JC kills Greene and reports back to Filben, Filben will say, "Man, you really did change sides. Never would've thought it possible."
• If Filben was never previously encountered, the initial dialogue with Filben will be different. He will know who JC is and tell JC, "I'm an agent myself, a double-agent... I report to the NSF and the Illuminati."

Quotes

• "Don't take weapons into the Lady. That makes you as bad as UNATCO." (Filben recounting what he told to Leo Gold)
• "You're a man of your word. I like that."
• "How'm I supposed to get back to the city? Swim?"
• "Ah-ha-ha. You can't afford that one."

Behind the scenes

“

Everybody knows Harley, and Harley knows everybody. That's his job: knowing things. He's the man on the streets, the guy on the inside, the one who looks like he just crawled out of a sewer, but who's just as likely to have been in some general's office.

Don't get the wrong idea. Harley isn't someone who lives in a penthouse an goes slumming for info. He's the real thing. He knows the people who live in the tunnels because that's where he spends his time. He hangs with the ex-soldiers who have gray death, and he learns everything they know... and they know a lot. He chats up local hookers, bums smokes off the NSF guards, does odd jobs in the down-and-out bars, and in general, lives real life up to the grimy, crusty hilt. You can trust that his information will be accurate, for the right price.

— Deus Ex official strategy guide, "Harley Filben: Street Informant"

• Prerelease design document v13.12 includes the following description of Filben: "...he’s an Illuminati assassin, working for Stanton Dowd, pretending to be a UNATCO stoolie by pretending to be a drunken bum. Filben appears over and over again to provide information, assist the player and generally confound expectations." His general character concept of being an out-of-place informant was largely maintained in the final game. However, the aspect of being an assassin does not explicitly appear in the final game.
• Although Harley Filben is invincible throughout the game, game data associated with the cut character Thomas Dieter imply that he was originally designed to be killable, either offscreen or by the player directly. Design document v13.12 states that "if Denton rats on him, he will find Filben DOA on subsequent missions."

Gallery

JC meeting with Harley Filben during the third visit to Hell's Kitchen