Gabe Logan and Girdeux meet each other in Washington Freedom Memorial.
”Look around, Logan! This hall contains a mosaic depicting the entire history of your country's wars and aggressions. We are about to make an addition to it!
—Anton Girdeux, Syphon Filter
Anton Girdeux is an enemy character in Syphon Filter. He is a member of the Black Baton, acting as the Munitions Expert for their leader Erich Rhoemer. Girdeux is one of the main antagonists in the game, featured as a leader to the Washington D.C. Attack and specifically leads the Park Operation where 4 Viral Bombs are placed within Washington Park while he himself places the Main Bomb inside the Freedom Memorial. Jorge Marcos acts as his Triggerman for the bombs, provided CBDC managed to disarm the timers on them.
He is the first technical boss you have to fight in Syphon Filter and considered widely amongst fans as one of the most popular. Though appearing less than twice in the first game, he made a minor reappearance in the main game of Syphon Filter 2 and returned along with other Black Baton members in the Multiplayer for the second and third games. There is even a reference to him in fighting a similar boss during Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror named Red Jack, along with a generic, unnamed goon who has a flamethrower and bulletproof armour, while The Omega Strain features heavily armoured enemies that resemble him.
His French accent along with his quotes are well-known amongst the hardcore fans, many speaking in his tongue as he says "Look around Logan. This hall contains a mosaic depicting the entire history of your country's wars and aggressions. We are about to make an addition to it!"
Biography
Background
Munitions Expert Working for Rhoemer
Mercenary for hire, 1992-current.
Machinist, 1988-1992. Girdeaux has no official records linking him to any significant criminal activity. Believed to have been recruited into the Black Baton ranks by Mara Aramov.[2]
Appearance
Girdeux is a Caucasian male with blue eyes and blonde hair, however his face is never clearly shown given that he is almost always wearing protective head gear. His attire is that of an unique Kevlar armor impervious to all standard firearms. He has a dark, green camouflage jacket with brown pants and black combat boots, as well as black protective gloves to hold his flamethrower. On his back he's equipped with a fuel tank, which provides him the flame gel to fire out of his flamethrower. His face mask is silver, with an orange visor.
Description
A high-ranking officer of the Eastern European Black Baton terrorist organization, Anton Girdeux was a mercenary with an extensive history of soldiership across Europe, and occasionally in the Americas. It is unknown whether he was a permanent lieutenant of the defunct Black Batons, or whether Girdeux accepted the job temporarily for its substantial monetary compensation.
Girdeux was instrumental in several Black Baton operations, particularly ones with Agency commandos on scene. At the PharCom plantation where Syphon Filter was grown and taken from the botanical phase to viral infancy, he incinerated every shred of evidence, plant or human, and fled with Rhoemer and others. Agency Director Gabriel Logan, at the time a Field Officer, was able to rescue some of these workers, who provided valuable intel.
The next phase was the viral attacks on the nation's capital. Girdeux, with the help of fellow mercenary Jorge Marcos, was directly in charge of the D.C. Park raid, viral bomb placement, and defense of these bombs. Tipped off by a mole in the form of Deputy Director Edward Benton, who answered to authorities above his superior Thomas Markinson and provided the French with leaked logistical intel, Girdeux was able to ambush CBDC Commander Jenkins's team. The entire team was eliminated.
After leading the skirmish with Jenkins' CBDC team, Girdeux was encamped within the walls of the War Memorial to provide security for the main bomb, using radio communication on jammed frequencies to communicate with Marcos and his men. It is here that Field Officer Logan, after managing to tag the viral explosives with GPS locaters and escort CBDC defusal squads to and from the bomb sites, confronted Girdeux.
Girdeux tended to wear a metal suit that resembled a primitive form of the prototype Agency heavy armour. Investigation of a possible connection here is pending, but Girdeux's standing by Rhoemer after his attack on American soil suggests loyalty outside the Agency, be it to the Black Baton payroll or whomever Deputy Director Benton answered to. These facts aside, his metal suit was also equipped with a flamethrower pack and bulletproof welder's mask. Despite the odds against him, Field Officer Gabriel Logan was able to use Girdeux's backpack against himself, igniting the flammable materials inside and burning Girdeux alive. The DPE in question was sent down from Director Markinson's office.
Girdeux's body was later recovered by Agency officers in an apparent cover-up. Logan saw the charred corpse in the New York bio-labs in cold storage and reminisced over his intense duel with the Frenchman.
Plot
Syphon Filter
First introduced in the opening FMV as a flashback in Costa Rica, he along with Erich Rhoemer and Mara Aramov are burning a plantation harvesting a certain plant. While he uses his flamethrower to destroy all the evidence, Mara eliminates Ellis. They all leave the area before Gabe and Lian arrive. He is then later introduced by Lian Xing to their superiors while observing security footage in the Washington D.C. Subway: it is made apparent that he is a well-known terrorist at this point (as well as having been recognized by Gabe and Lian, due to a not-so-direct previous encounter in Costa Rica). Observed as a high-ranking member in Erich Rhoemer's terrorist group, he is their Munitions Expert and serves as a deputy when Rhoemer is absent.
After the events in the subway, Gabriel Logan learns that Girdeux as well as his triggerman, Jorge Marcos, along with all their underlings, have eliminated Jenkin's team and have set up 4 viral bombs within the Lincoln Memorial Park. As Gabe proceeds and manages to disarm all the bombs, he locates a communications device which pinpoints another viral bomb within the Lincoln Memorial and figures that Girdeux is in there as well. After eliminating henchmen as well as Jorge Marcos himself, Gabe proceeds into the Lincoln Memorial to confront Girdeux.
As the two meet, it is clear that this won't be a friendly meeting as Gabe opens the conversation by asking if Girdeux is being "paid enough to die for his boss", Rhoemer. Anton remarks with a chuckle, complimenting Gabe on his optimism that he might succeed in defeating him and comments on the history of the very monument they are standing in. In his most memorable quote, he remarks on how they are about to "make an addition to the wars depicted on the walls of the memorial". Gabe then proclaims his victory and the fight begins.
In a mission briefing Gabe learns that he can't use explosive weapons to defeat Girdeux as the resulting explosion would ignite the viral bomb, thus killing the two of them as well as causing significant damage (possibly endangering civilians in the area as well). So instead Gabe uses conventional weapons on Girdeux.
Girdeux Death
Finding that Anton is almost impervious to bullets and that damaging him proves nigh impossible due to his heavy armor, Gabe discovers a weakspot in the fuel pack on Girdeux's back. Whilst avoiding flame bursts and ducking behind columns, he keeps on firing at the pack until finally it explodes into a flaming inferno. The fires scorch Girdeux from inside of his armor and despite his agonizing screams, Gabe walks away without looking back... calling in a CBDC to deal with getting the bomb out, as well as now extinguishing the fire. Eventually the agents transfer Girdeux to a morgue.
Syphon Filter 2
Though not having any involvement in the story itself, he is discovered in the Bio-Labs Morgue by Gabriel Logan after he climbs through an air duct. He appeared to have died in agony, as is seen when Gabe walks away after their fight in the first game.
He is also available as a playable character in the multi-player mode. This model does not have the flamethrower pack and has all the same attributes as any other playable character. However you must unlock him by completing the C-130 Crash Site level in under three minutes. Along with Girdeux, you will also unlock Jonathan Phagan, Vladimir Gabrek, Marcos, Erich Rhoemer, and the Evil Scientist.
Syphon Filter 3
Though not shown in person, he is technically seen behind Erich Rhoemer during the scene where Mara shoots Ellis, walking by and torching the plantation.
Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain
There is a reference to his armour and weapons in the mission Minsk, Belarus: International University, when heavily armoured enemies battle the player during the latter's escape from Jandran's labs. As with Anton, they can only be killed by shooting their backpacks.
Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror
Only mentioned by Gabe during a mission briefing after fighting the Red Section terrorist, Red Jack. He remarks on their similarity by their use of flame throwers and how they both ended up dying in the same manner. Later on, Logan encounters a similar enemy and kills him in the same way.
Equipment
Special Full-Body Armor
- Girdeux's body-armor appears to be an early version of the ABS Armor later used by Jason Chance and various soldiers under Lyle Stevens. It is unknown if he is wearing the armor underneath his uniform (or if his armor is specifically made from that material). The armor covers his entire body below his head, completely impervious to conventional weapons. There is no weak spot on any portion of his body except for the fuel-pack on his back (which isn't attached within the side of the armor, but rather the explosive heat from shooting it burns through the armor at a rate that eventually gets inside the armor to burn him alive). That given, the only way to defeat Girdeux in this armor is to shoot that giant pack on his back (even though the back of his head is visible behind the torch-mask). As according to an intel report before fighting Girdaux, here is a quote on his armor.
"Spysat has completed a detailed analysis of Girdeux's body armor it is imperious to all conventional weapons. Our armor specialists are working on it, but your agent may have to improvise to find a weak point."
- Anton Girdeux's signature weapon is a Flamethrower, fueled by a gigantic pack on his back. There is a connecting hose from the pack to a fuel-canon held by two hands, in which Girdeux is able to accurately aim the weapon. It shoots flame-gel at an amazing speed and covers well over a football-field's distance. The gel, which appears like a flaming stream of fire, will stick to and cause immense fire from anything it's attached to. The weapon is even capable of killing Gabe in mere seconds if he stays under it for just an entire second (even with a flak jacket on!). The flame lasts on the granite architecture of the Freedom Memorial for about 1 minute before leaving a black singing area where the fire once was. The gel can be dodged, but it's difficult to do...the best option for Gabe was to hide behind columns or the Lincoln statue itself.
Famous Quotes
What makes Girdeux's cliched quotes so popular is not that they are any bit original (as they are not) but rather his French accent that completes them, making them better and unique to his character. While one person can say "You can't hurt me!" if Girdeux says it, it's so much more intimidating and worthwhile...not to mention entertaining.
- "There's nowhere to run!"
- "Where are you, Logan?"
- "You can't hide forever!"
- "Hahahaha!" (upon lighting Gabe on fire)
- "You can't run forever!"
- "You can't win, Logan!"
- "Is that the best you can do?!"
- "You're going to need a bigger gun!"
- "You'll have to do better than that!"
- "You can't hurt me, Logan!"
- "Hold still!"
- "Where did you go, Logan?"
- "There you are!" (only on Hard Difficulty)
- "Goodbye, Logan!"
- "You're going to burn!"
- "Can't stand the heat, Logan?"
- "Burn!"
- In fact, in SF3's multiplayer, he's also prone to taunting his enemies although Jason Cusson is not the voice actor in the game:
- "How do you want to be cooked? Flame-broiled?"
- "I don't like the way you smell!"
- "You're going down!"
- "It's an honor for me to kill you!"
- He also taunts his enemies in SF2's multiplayer:
- "Stand still, éspéce d'idiot!" (The insult means something akin to "you kind of idiot")
- "Having fun yet?!"
Personality
Girdeaux generally comes across as having a mocking attitude, as seen when he taunts Gabe about 'the entire history of your country's wars and aggression' being contained within Washington Memorial. He is also incredibly arrogant, reminding Logan repeatedly that he is essentially invulnerable due to his bulletproof armour, and neither can Gabe use explosives to avoid detonating the viral bomb. Ultimately, his arrogance itself led to his downfall. He was ironically defeated by being burnt from the inside out, when Gabe triggers the explosive tank on his backpack, causing him to become incinerated.
Weaponry
Unlike most flamethrowers, Girdeaux's utilized a type of liquid rocket fuel, presumed to be a mixture of unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine and dinitrogen tetroxide, that continued to burn long after it had been ignited. This would later be used by the boss The Fury in Metal Gear Solid 3.
Appearances
Syphon Filter
- Georgia Street (Intro and cutscene)
- Destroyed Subway (mentioned)
- Washington Park (mentioned)
- Freedom Memorial
Syphon Filter 2
- Agency Bio-Lab Escape (corpse)
Trivia
- The instruction manual lists Girdeux as "Anton Girdeaux", however the game itself labels him "Girdeux, as does the briefing for mission 3 in Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror. The manual later calls him "Girdeux" in the credits as well.
- His character is similar to Red Jack in Dark Mirror, both armed with flamethrowers and suits immune to normal attacks.
- He is the first character to wear the ABS armor (second character if the chronology is considered).
- Although Pavel Kravitch and Jorge Marcos are the first two main antagonist to be introduced in the game and killed by Gabriel Logan, Girdeux is considered to be officially the first boss character.