Lian Xing

Lian Xing

Nicknames	Xing

Basic Information
Gender	Female
Age	29-31 (Syphon Filter 1-3)
Birthplace	Kashi, China
Nationality	Chinese
Height	5'7"
Weight	120 lbs.
Eye Color	Brown
Hair Color	Black
Personal Status
Status	Alive
Organization(s)
Affiliation(s)	IPCA 2001-Present The Agency 1995(6)-2000 Chinese MSS 1987(9)-1995
Career	Chief of Operations, IPCA 2001-Present Intelligence Communications Expert 1995(6)-2000 Chinese MSS Agent - 1987(9)-1995
Commendations	(The following is forged by Agency) Ph.D, Computer Science, Magna Cum Laude, Standford - 1996 M.S., Computer Science, Stanford - 1995 B.A., B.S. Languages and Computer Science, U.C. Berkeley - 1993
Misc. Information
Appears in	Syphon Filter Syphon Filter 2 Syphon Filter 3 Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow
Weapons	All
Voice actor(s)	Ava Fang (SF1) Zoe Galvez (SF2, SF3) Kim Mai Guest (SF:TOS, SF:DM, SF:LS)

Lian Xing is a special operations field agent who is the former second-in-command to Gabriel Logan in the IPCA and former operative working in the shadowy Agency under Edward Benton. Lian is Gabe's closest ally throughout the entire series, serving as either his combat teammate or tactical advisor via radio.

Early Career

Born in Kashi, China sometime in the 1970's, Lian served as an operative for the Chinese Secret Service (MSS) in soviet-occupied Afghanistan during the late 1980s, where she was assigned with gathering evidence of soviet commander Uri Gregorov's troop movements. Within the city, she ran straight into a Soviet ambush but was saved by Gabe. She had then agreed to assist Gabe in getting his truckload of arms to the rebels by making a distraction.

Chinese intel had supplied Lian with information that the soviets have developed a prototype weaponthat could penetrate solid objects. She eventually got her hands on that weapon and neutralized a key number of Soviet snipers in the area. Having photographed Gregorov's area charts and blown up the underground munitions depots, Lian was extracted by chopper out of Kabul. During the chase for Erich Rhoemer in Costa Rica, Lian infiltrated Rhoemer's Labs in the Aztec Ruins. She had found out that Rhoemer's group had kidnapped a number of world renowned scientists and medical technicians to work in his labs and was ordered by Benton to get the kidnapped personnel out of there alive, via a chopper at the Eastern Temple. She was also ordered to retrieve a number of plant materials the scientists were synthesizing, as well as a synthetic computer model of the virus itself.

Agency Service

Lian was Gabe's radio backup throughout the first several missions, but then Rhoemer's men kidnapped her in Kazakhstan and made her one of the test subjects for the virus. Gabe found her to learn that the vaccine he carried, supplied by Thomas Markinson, was ineffective, and Lian's analysis later showed it to be a chemical used in lethal injections.

The effects of the virus

The Agency tried to extract her plasma for the incubating virus, but she escaped and aided Logan's departure from Colorado. As the effects of Syphon Filter grew, she was unable to help and nearly died until Gabe returned with the vaccine from New York City. Lian would then support Gabe through the trials orchestrated by conspirator Vincent Hadden, and afterwards she became second in command of the newly reformed Agency.

The IPCA

She accompanied Logan on several searches related to the Omega Strain outbreaks, diverting to track other criminals that tried to obtain the virus. Agency personnel reported seeing visible concern of the behavior displayed by Logan as he became more determined to stop the Syphon Filter conspiracy. Lian continued to aid Gabe after an Agency suspension by Alex Birchim, and together they brought down the final threats.

Gone Missing

Lian would remain Logan's partner through the Dark Mirror and X-Z-2 assignments, often assisting him personally or via radio. She was instrumental in the recovery of his daughter, Blake, and the defeat of Red Section. Lian was forced to return to Shen when his X-Z-2 device was stolen by terrorists, but Shen eventually killed himself rather than risk her life and his own. With the mission complete, Lian learned that Gabe planned on retiring, but Trinidad appeared again and targeted her, only to die in a gunfight. Gabe was shot four times in the chest, and Lian is last seen trying to revive him.

Trivia

• The first Syphon Filter instruction manual lists a "fake background", as the information was "Agency-forged" following her recruitment. She is listed as being born in California and having obtained several degrees from U.S. Universities. This is impossible, due to the fact that she was still a Chinese MSS Agent until 1995(or 1996, see below point regarding conflicting dates).
  • This fact is confirmed in the Syphon Filter 2 manual in the following quotation - "Originally an agent for the Chinese MSS, she was recruited in 1996 by the Agency and given a new identity as an American citizen including fake biographical information".
• There are some conflicting dates in the instruction manuals regarding Lian's background. Excluding the first Syphon Filter's manual, Syphon Filter 2 and 3 list her as being in the Agency from 1995-2000 (though SF2 says "Present", as they were still Operatives at the time). However, both Backgrounds describe her as being recruited in 1996 rather than 1995.
  • In addition, both books list her as being in the Chinese MSS starting in 1989. However, she was already on a mission for the MSS as early as 1987 when she first met Gabe in Kabul, Afghanistan. The manual from Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror states that she obtained a Government job at the age of 17, which COULD be why she was in Kabul however she states in her Testimony to Vince Hadden that she was on an assignment FOR the MSS.
• Lian is the only lead protagonist with over three different voice actors. She is also one of several characters to have a different voice actor since the first game, with Mara Aramov holding the record of a different voice actor for each of her appearances in the series. The same could be said for Vince Hadden, whose voice changed in each title of the original trilogy.
• Unlike Gabe, whose hair often changes between titles, Lian has always had her hair parted in the center and cut mid-length down to her jaw. In the second game it appears however that some strands are divided along the center of her forehead.
• Lian's missions are mostly based around stealth, though can develop into action sequences depending on the level. Gabe on the other hand is given more action sequences, with only some stealth.
• Lian, with the exception of Teresa (as she was not present in the first title), is the only female character to live through all of the games.
• In SF3's multiplayer game, Lian tends to taunt her enemy with her sharp tone:
• " Get on your knees and beg! "
• " You don't want to make me angry. "
• " What do you aiming at? "
• " Are we having fun yet? "
• " Surrender youself! "
• " How dare you shoot a lady! "
• " How many times do I have to kill you? "
• " You're going down! "
• " Oh, I'm so scared! " (sarcasm)
• Lian is also the only lead protagonist out of the original four who is not potentially dead (where as the other three are left unknown, due to a cliffhanger ending in the most recent title).