Jon Irenicus

Jon Irenicus is a fictional character in Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, a Dungeons & Dragons computer role-playing game set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. Irenicus is voiced by David Warner.

Character
Irenicus at first appears to be a simple villain with a keen interest in torture. He is seen torturing the player character with powerful magics at the very beginning of Shadows of Amn. However, minutes into the game he reveals that his apparant motive for said torture is to unlock his victim's latent power, thereby benefitting them in the long run. His lair seems to confirm the view of him being a strange character, on one hand, grossly harmed creatures that lie deformed in containers emphasize the evil in him. On the other, his obsession with a woman he'd previously maintained a relationship with reveals a much more human side to him. Indeed, it becomes apparant later in the game that Irenicus's embarking on his dark path came about partly from love. His overly possessive nature eventually became too much for his partner to bear, and unable to let go, Irenicus turned to pursuit of power and revenge, which in turn led to him becoming utterly evil in nature, a true villain.

At the start of the game, Irenicus appears to be a human, although later dialogue reveals that both he and his sister, Bodhi, are exiled elves. The elves of Suldanelessar refer to him as 'the Exile', and when it turns out his lost love is the elven Queen Ellesime. He is a highly arrogant, and incredibly powerful wizard. He does, for example, cause a huge explosion within the city of Athkatla, and eliminate several Cowled Wizards that were sent to arrest him thereafter, before eventually surrendering by choice rather than continue his violent actions.

Role in Baldur's Gate II
At the start of Baldur's Gate II, Irenicus serves as the main character's captor. He claims to use torturous experiments to eventually benefit the player character and his sister Imoen by "unlocking their power." However this proves to be a foil for his real intentions: attaining for himself a great deal of power from them by confiscating their souls, to replace the ones he and his vampire sister Bodhi lost. Upon exiting his dungeon (by blowing up a large section of Waukeen's Promenade, a marketplace within Athkatla), Irenicus surrenders to the Cowled Wizards on one condition: that Imoen (the player character's sister in the game) accompanies him. The Cowled Wizards agree to this, as Imoen has used magic openly against Irenicus; this too is a violation of Athkatla's law. The player's party resolves to track down Irenicus and save Imoen from Irenicus' clutches. Irenicus is teleported to a prison named Spellhold, but quickly proceeds to overrun the entire place, killing all of the wizards with ease and taking control of the premises. Irenicus' true, evil intentions are revealed once the player reaches Spellhold. Irenicus finishes his torturing of the protagonist, and in doing so steals the main characters soul, effectively swapping fates. His accomplice, a vampire by the name of Bodhi, accomplishes the same feat, taking Imoen's soul, as both are soulless, and as a result dying. Effectively, Imoen and the protagonist have swapped fates with Irenicus and Bodhi.

Trapped in the lower halls of Spellhold, the Protagonist suffers delusions, until s/he is able to turn into the Slayer - an avatar of the dead god Bhaal. The party escape Spellhold, and following Irenicus to the Underdark, and eventually to the Elven city of Suldanesselar. Irenicus' scheme is finally revealed - he planned to seek revenge upon the Elves of Suldanesselar by inciting a war between the Drow and the Elves. During this, he would drain the energy from the Tree of Life, and attain Godlike power. The protagonist and his/her party must stop the assault on Suldanesselar, and face Irenicus atop the sprawling tree, and slay him.

However, upon dying, the soul of the protagonist drags the entire party down into the depths of Hell. Only after participating in the Hell Trials (All but one were managed by demons, whilst one other was managed by Sarevok, the half-brother of the protagonist) would a final showdown between Irenicus and a horde of demons, against the main character and his/her party commence. If the main character wins, s/he eventually reclaims his/her lost soul, and returns to the world of the living, whilst Irenicus suffers a fate worse than death at the hands of many chittering demons.

Irenicus is an enigmatic, yet charismatic antagonist of the game, whose motives are left up in the air right until the closing moments of the game. As the game progresses, Irenicus and his past are laid bare little by little. It is not until the final Chapters when one can finally deduce and interpret his actions and goals. Irenicus's main goals are fairly common of the main villain - Revenge and Power.