| J. Edgar Hoover | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Date of Birth: |
January 1, 1895 |
|
Birthplace: |
Washington, D.C. |
|
Date of Death: |
May 2, 1972 (aged 77) |
|
Deathplace: |
Washington, D.C. |
|
Nationality: |
American |
|
Occupation: |
1st Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation |
“I don’t like heroes, Mr. Walters.”
John Edgar Hoover is an FBI agent based on a real-life person of the same name and occupation. He is the person responsible for the “Raid of Innsmouth” and the destruction of the Marsh Refinery.
Role in the game[]
Hoover is first mentioned by Mackey, who will praise his competence but will also warn Jack to “not tell him any jokes”.
After Jack escapes Innsmouth, he will again be hospitalized in an Arkham Asylum, there he will speak with Hoover for the first time. From the start it is clear Hoover is an impatient person, wishing only to achieve his goals. Rather than to wait for Jack to wake up naturally he will order the Asylum doctor, Erick Hardstrom, to do it forcefully using drugs. He will then proceed to interrogate Jack using electroshocks, drugs and beating.
Despite his brutal and abusive means, it is soon clear that his goal is in fact noble. He wants to stop the Marsh family and discover what is really happening in Innsmouth. Hoping to find incriminating documents about the Marshes in order to launch a full-scale raid of the town, he decided to make a small (FBI led) raid of the Marsh Refinery.
Jack will accompany the agents, but the company soon encounters a strong resistance by the Innsmouth’s citizen and the refinery workers. Hoover and Jack soon get separated, during that time however Hoover gets captured by Jacob Marsh. Jacob will then try to kill Hoover by dropping the cage he is in into a molten gold below. Jack, however, saves Hoover and finds incriminating documents Hoover was looking for. Jack then runs after Marsh but gets captured by him and has to escape from the Shoggoth. During that time Hoover will be tracking Jacob down, eventually capturing him. After Jacob's capture he orders the demolition of the Refinery, thus he avoids seeing the Shoggoth who is still inside the lower levels of the Refinery.
After presenting the incriminating documents to the Government, he is given the Army support and the full-scale raid of the town is launched, after which he is not seen much, appearing only briefly in the last sequence along with Lucas Mackey in the Esoteric Order of Dagon.
Personality[]
Hoover during Jack's interrogation
"Did I ask for your damn opinion? Remember who funds this damn nut house."
-Hoover to Dr. Erick Hardstrom
Hoover is a controversial character; while his goal is noble, he uses harsh and brutal means to achieve those goals. He is outright arrogant and somewhat narcissistic. He will not hesitate to kill his own men, referring to the one he just killed: “He was just a field agent, he knew the risks”. He does seem to somewhat care for Mackey’s well-being, but it is possible his concerns come from the feel of personal responsibility or guilt. He doesn’t care about Jack and will often make sarcastic and mean comments about him. He will however thank him for saving his life and even praise his abilities.
Trivia[]
- In the game he is described as the head of the FBI, this is contradictory because the game takes place in 1922 and Hoover was put in office in 1924.