I've always been there, Cole. Every step of your life.
― Kessler, during his confrontation with Cole.
Cole MacGrath, known in an alternate timeline as Kessler, was the person responsible for causing the Blast in Empire City and leader of the First Sons.
Biography
Early life
Cole MacGrath lived in a world where there was peace in Empire City. He was friends with Zeke Dunbar, married to his beloved wife Trish Dailey, and later became the father of two daughters.
Kessler and his family watch The Beast.
However, a Conduit of impossible strength, known simply as "the Beast", attacked Empire City and then the rest of the world. Cole, who's own electrokinetic powers were developed naturally in this timeline and thus were stronger, would have been able to stop the Beast. But, fearing for the lives of his loved ones in the consequential crossfire, he fled the city with his family while the Beast destroyed everything in its path.
Going back in time
In that moment of failure and grief, he used his newest and most dangerous power, and went on a one-way trip back in time. Attempting to rewrite history.
― Cole, upon seeing Kessler's past.
Kessler's family, destroyed.
Unfortunately, after years of fleeing confrontation with the Beast, Cole found that there was nowhere left to run. His family ended up being killed by the Beast, who had then become so powerful that no force on Earth could stop it. Enraged and in despair, Cole utilized his newest and most dangerous power: an electromagnetic time-warp to take a one-way trip back into the past. He then adopted the name "Kessler", starting a chain of events that would ensure his own younger self would not make the same mistakes he had. Kessler became the leader of the First Sons, a secret society dedicated to unlocking special psychokinetic
Kessler travels back in time.
abilities in the common man's mind. Kessler took over in a coup that left Alden Tate, son of founder Richard Tate, living alone on the street. In this position he would then use his knowledge of the future to speed up the development of First Sons technology and research, using the resources of the First Sons to put the Cole of this timeline through a series of trials that he believed would enable his younger counterpart to stop the Beast from destroying the world. He oversaw the production of the Ray Sphere, and tested it on numerous subjects (most against their will). One of the subjects was David Warner, who was exposed to the Ray Sphere over thirty times, each time making him more powerful. Although Kessler initially promised that he would compensate him for his work, he never made true to that promise, which prompted David to seek revenge on Kessler after his wife commited suicide. However, since Kessler was dead by the time David caught up with him, he pursued Cole instead, since he was unable to distinguish the two.
Planning
Kessler seized control of the First Sons and accelerated the Ray Sphere development... Decades spent plotting the blast, organizing the quarantine, finding me.
― Cole explain how Kessler spent his time planing for what he is going to do.
Kessler grabbing hold of Cole's face.
First, he arranged the activation of the Ray Sphere, which caused Cole to attain his powers years earlier than Kessler did in the original timeline, which he had hoped would make his younger self more powerful and practiced by the time the Beast entered the world. Next, Kessler sought out his younger self while the latter was dealing with Sasha's mind-controlling tar that the Reapers had been polluting the water with, and in a display of superior speed, lunged at Cole and proceeded to grab his younger self's head, digging his fingers into Cole's skin and showing him a vision of Cole's future - his past, of the Beast and the destruction that the inhuman conduit would inevitably bring to the world. After the vision had passed, Kessler dropped Cole to his knees and looked down at him with a smirk before vanishing, part two of his plan successful; make his younger self aware of what will happen should he fail.
Standing over his younger self.
Then, Kessler felt that his emotions had tied him down; his fear of his family suffering injury prevented him from doing the right thing. So, for the good of the world, Kessler decided to force Cole into making a decision that would invariably kill Trish and thus prevent his future family from ever being. The choice Kessler presented to Cole was simple; to choose between saving the lives of either Trish, or six innocent doctors, emphasizing that the doctor's can save thousands of lives if they are spared, making it the "right choice". Ultimately, Cole's decision ended in Trish's death, for even with his power he was not strong enough to save her.
Death
Trish, I love you....Please forgive me....
― Kessler's words after being defeated by Cole.
Cole defeats Kessler.
After putting his past self through hell, Kessler met up with Cole at Ground Zero to settle things between them once and for all, Kessler's final test for Cole. During the final battle, Kessler demonstrated a wide variety of previously unseen superpowers and skills, easily dispatching both Cole and, when he interfered, Zeke. He constantly taunted Cole about his parents' shame over his disappointing slacker lifestyle and even further, Trish's death. Cole, enraged and motivated, managed to gain the upper hand in a pivotal point of their battle, finishing Kessler with a strike of lightning.
Kessler's final message to Cole.
As Kessler lay dying near the feet of his younger counterpart, he begged for Trish's forgiveness and used his last ounce of strength to grab Cole by his head and use his powers to explain his actions, his entire past, telepathically and reveal he was none other than Cole himself. Then, Kessler collapsed and succumbed to his mortal wounds, his final message to Cole burned into his younger counterpart's mind in the form of a picture of Kessler's wedding day.
Kessler's plan both worked and failed, as his younger self realized his destiny and was determined to face The Beast head-on but, due to Kessler's tampering with the timeline, caused The Beast to appear much earlier then expected. Cole, after facing The Beast earlier than expected and barely escaping with his life after facing it, fled to New Marais to enhance his powers.
Behavior & powers
Based on John White's audio recordings of Kessler during his research on the Ray Sphere, it would seem that
Kessler, with his cybernetic augumentations.
Kessler was a man with sophisticated background in science from his time, which explained his successful takeover of the First Sons' leadership and how he managed to advance their technology in a short span of time.
Based on the Dc Comics sereis, it seems that Kessler was not comfortable with the role he was playing, asking Cole to "forgive [him]" after checking on him at Ground Zero. From Zeke's account, Kessler would come and visit him while "Drunk off his ass", implying he drank regularly.
Physically, Kessler was very old and parts of his body had been augumented with cybernetic enhancements, his entire right arm visibly being the most non-biological. Kessler's base powers is based on two main attributes: Electrokinesis and Electromagnetism. Since he is the future version of Cole, they are both electrokinetic conduits, but unlike Cole, his powers were fully developed and thus much more powerful. He also has a wide array of different attacks, some of which Cole isn't able to perform.
- Lightning Bolt: Instead of a small and weak bolt of electricity, Kessler's Lightning Bolt was a very large and powerful array of many Lightning Bolt's, much more powerful than Cole's version. It shares a resemblance with Overload Burst. However, it required Kessler to charge up the attack and he was only able to fire them in short burst, unlike Cole who could fire however many bolts he wanted without tiring with a nearly instantaneous execution.
- Shockwave: Kessler was able to launch a Shockwave, knocking back his opponents similar to Cole's standard Shockwave. He can create a Shockwave so powerful that it blasted Zeke right out of the crater called Ground Zero.
- Thunder Drop: Unlike Cole, who had to drop from incredible heights, Kessler could unleash a Thunder Drop simply by punching the ground. His created a tremor that exceeded the shockwave of Cole's Thunder Drop. He could also use this at the same time as his Clones (see below), sometimes making it difficult to dodge both attacks at once. An effective way to dodge this is to jump and use Static Thrusters until you pass the shockwave.
- Electricity: During his fight with Cole, Kessler was able to use his abilities without ever needing to stop and recharge. This suggests that he has learned to generate an infinite amount of electricity (which Cole is able to do, albeit temporarily, do to Karmic Overload) or he uses his cybernetic body parts to recharge his electricity.
- Shock Grenades: Kessler was able to fire up to three Shock Grenades at once and his were much more condensed than Cole's, thus were able to create a much greater blast. They had properties similar to a time-bomb and appeared to be made of heat instead of electricity.
- Healing Factor: As an even further evolution of Cole's incredible electricity-based healing factor, Kessler was shown as nearly untouchable by conventional weaponry, not even flinching when shot by Zeke (this could be viewed as an evolution of Cole's Polarity Wall, though this has yet to be proven).
- Teleportation: Kessler also had powers Cole hasn't developed yet, like the ability to move at extremely high speeds. He teleported by making his body become electricity and strike from place to place like a lightning bolt (this could also be viewed as using the electricity in his body to increase his natural speed). This power was also used as an evasive tactic, making him extremely difficult to hit.
- Clones: Kessler was also capable of creating electrokinetic copies of himself, these doppelgängers being somewhat larger than his own form and made out of pure power. These doppelgängers resembled the Aura Conduit, but could be hit anywhere inside their outlines. If Cole made contact with any of them, however he would hallucinate a close up image of Kessler, followed by taking a considerable amount of damage (on Hard, it is an instant kill).
- Grenade Launching Drones: Kessler was able to use his electricity to create up to three First Sons Grenade Launching Drones. This could be viewed as a variation of his ability to Time Travel. Instead of travelling through time, he uses an electromagnetic field to bend space, teleporting the Grenade Launching Drones to him.
- Lightning Hook: Whenever Cole is close to getting out of the crater that is Ground Zero, Kessler would create an electric tether to throw Cole back to the centre of the crater.
- Psychic Memory: An evolution of Cole's Psychic Vision ability, Kessler was able to transfer his thoughts and memories directly into the minds of other people by physically touching them. This is a skill he used effectively twice on Cole throughout the events of the first game.
- Static Thrusters: During the cutscene explaining Kessler's past, he is seen carrying his family away at incredible speeds. This could be as an evolution of Cole's Static Thrusters, or a completely different power.
- Time Travel: Described as his "newest and most dangerous power", Kessler is able to create an electromagnetic field so powerful, that it sends him through time itself. It is unknown if Kessler can control which time he is sent to or if he can only go to the past. Since it is described as a "one way trip", it is suggested that he cannot go back to the time he came from after using it.
Trivia
- He is the first identified character heard in the game and, during the first appearance of Cole after the blast, Kessler's shadow can be seen briefly in one of the side buildings after tilting the right-stick on the controller upward to spot the helicopter, after which Kessler vanishes.
- Kessler is the only gang leader to die at Cole's hands (Sasha was captured by the First Sons and Alden managed to escape Cole by jumping off a bridge).He is also the only gang leader to not have a mission containing his name.thumb|right|250px|Kessler Skin Gameplay
- Kessler is the only boss with a health meter. This is based on the fact that with the other bosses, you can tell how much damage you have done to them over the course of the battles. Kessler shows no signs of weakening at any point in the battle.
- It has been revealed that there will be a Kessler skin in the upcoming Hero Edition and pre-order editions (from Best Buy) of inFamous 2 (As seen on the right).
Gallery
