”We knew that whoever was behind The Agency would be watching us closely. I faked my death so that I could investigate without interference.
—Teresa Lipan, Syphon Filter 3
Teresa Lipan is a special operations field agent, former member of the Agency and a partner and close friend of Gabriel Logan. Lipan was one of the few people who assisted Logan in escaping from the clutches of the Agency and set up a small communications base in the Nevada Desert.
She is a supporting character in Syphon Filter 2, 3, The Omega Strain, Dark Mirror and Logan's Shadow. Furthermore, she is also a playable character in Syphon Filter 3 and Logan's Shadow.
Early Career
Teresa was born in Seattle, USA, in 1974. She was initially a member of the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) assigned in Western Montana to locate a downed DOD (Department of Defense) satellite. She ran into a pair of suspicious looking men pinned down by local survivalists. At first she assisted those men, who claimed to be FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) fighting the survivalists and preventing Oakton from getting his hands on the satellite. However, she is later caught by a few men who attempt to kill her, only for a rogue agent to suddenly murder her would-be executors. This agent, later revealed to be Gabe Logan, exposes the truth: the men are in fact corrupt NSA (National Security Agency) personnel ordered to retrieve the satellite data and indiscriminately slaughter anyone who tries to get in the way. It is presumable that they would have killed the interfering parties whether they were government authorities (including law enforcement or even the various branches of the armed units), the survivalists or anybody else who got involved. Teresa eventually ended up helping the survivalists and the Oakton family escape an onslaught, retrieving the satellite data in the process.
Description
The Agency's Deputy Chief of Operations, Teresa Lipan entered law enforcement as an agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (commonly shortened simply to "ATF"). One of her earliest field missions involved a raid on Montana militia groups headed under the organization F.I.S.T., which was the Foundation to Inhibit State Treason. Lipan uncovered a conspiracy of NSA (National Security Agency) personnel masquerading as the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation). The corrupt agents were told to murder all militia members for stealing data off a government satellite. One could assume that not only would they target the militia personnel, but government agents and even innocent bystanders would be fair game to their stance of "kill first and ask questions later", as handed down by their commanding officer Silvers, who was in turn given the assignment by Mara Aramov, It was possible that the Russian assassin had been told by Mihai Niculescu to execute all involved in the operation, but whatever the case, Agency operative Gabriel Logan prevented Lipan's execution by the NSA, and allowed her to escape with the family of militia leader Earl Oakton.
Logan recruited her into the Agency and she encountered Lawrence Mujari on a mission to South Africa. He gave her samples of the virus recovered from the Pugari Gold Mine, and Lipan turned against an Agency order to assassinate Mujari, opting to hide him in the United States. The former ATF member uncovered additional evidence of Agency corruption and its connection to an international arms consortium. She resigned to start a freelance operation based in a Native American reservation.
Logan and Lian Xing contacted Lipan following their expulsion from the Agency. She allowed a transport carrying the agents and CBDC personnel to land in the desert, and coordinated activities from her trailer once the Agency pursued them in Colorado.
Lipan was one of the few allies who aided Logan in fighting the Agency and defeating commander Dillon Morgan. In New York City, Lipan would backup Logan on a mission to recover the vaccine for Lian Xing, but after the events, Agency operative Jason Chance shot her on the rooftop of a parking garage. Lawrence Mujari kept Lipan alive, and she faked her death to pursue Mara Aramov, which uncovered U.S. Secretary of State Vincent Hadden's role in the Syphon Filter operation.
Although initally declining to join the reorganised Agency under Logan, Lipan reconsidered and became one of its top officials. She continued her role as a mission coordinator and communications expert throughout the Omega Strain, Dark Mirror, and X-Z-2 incidents. Lipan's status is unconfirmed after receiving unspecified wounds from Chinese Secret Service member Trinidad.
Personality and characteristics
”Teresa died the way she lived, doing what she believed in.
In any case, you could hardly have stopped her. No one could.
She gave her life for mine...
Witty and sarcastic, Teresa demonstrated a strange sense of humour, cracking jokes at what seemed to be inopportune moments. Notable instances of this included her comment to Lian following Murukawa's demise[1] and a retort to Robert Cordell when the NIOC director obstructed Gabe Logan's request to contact Fifth Fleet. [2] Despite her weaknesses in this regard, she displayed unswerving loyalty, even willing to deflect bullets meant for Gabe Logan and risk her life when Jason Chance exposed his treachery.[3] Her loyalty is also seen in her disobedience to Markinson when she was asked to kill Mujari and destroy his records. Defying orders, she goes into hiding in Arizona and warns Mujari to flee.[4]Furthermore, she displayed determination to rescue civilians, even to the point of a willingness to take on trained combatants during the Paradise Ridge Incident, despite her ultimate failure to ensure the survival of a target person she hoped would survive.[5] Even when mortally wounded, her concern extended to fellow Agency personnel, as evidenced by her warning Lian Xing of Trinidad's presence following the CSS agent's assault on Tommy's Boxing Gym.[6]
Apparent deaths
- Shot in the stomach by Jason Chance, before said character reveals his true motives to Gabe Logan, on the top of the Sykes Parking Garage in New York
- Wounded in an unspecified manner by Trinidad, the latter attempting to ambush Gabe Logan and Lian Xing inside the IPCA secondary headquarters in Langley, Virginia.
Appearances
Syphon Filter 2
- Colorado Mountains (cutscene)
- McKenzie Airbase Interior (cutscene)
- I-70 Mountain Bridge (voice)
- McKenzie Airbase Exterior (voice)
- C-130 Wreck Site (cutscene)
- Pharcom Expo Center (mentioned)
- Morgan
- Moscow Club 32 (cutscene)
- Moscow Streets (voice)
- Gregorov (cutscene)
- Aljir Prison Break-In (cutscene)
- Aljir Prison Escape (cutscene)
- Agency Bio-Lab (cutscene)
- Agency Bio-Lab Escape (voice)
- New York Slums (voice)
- New York Sewer
- Finale
Syphon Filter 3
- Hotel Fukushima (mentioned)
- Paradise Ridge
- Militia Compound
- Underground Bunker
- Senate Building (voice)
- DC Subway (cutscene)
Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain
- Prologue
- Carthage, Michigan: Quarantine Zone (cutscene and voice)
- Carthage, Michigan: Warehouse District (cutscene and voice)
- Carthage, Michigan: Carthage Mall (cutscene and voice)
- Pescara, Italy: St Cetteo's Square (cutscene)
- Mazyr, Belarus: Krivorozhstal Mill (voice)
- Mazyr, Belarus: Belaya Vezha (cutscene and voice)
- Tash, Kumyr, Kyrgysztan: Saydahmat's Village (mentioned)
- Sana'a, Yemen: Arms Bazaar (cutscene and voice)
- Sana'a, Yemen: Taherir Palace (cutscene and voice)
- Minsk, Belarus: International University (cutscene)
- North Atlantic: Lorelei Salvage Rig (cutscene and voice)
- Tokyo, Japan: Murukawa Tower (voice)
- Taguang, Myanmar: Irawaddy Basin (cutscene and voice)
- Zurich, Switzerland: Niculescu Funds Tower (cutscene and voice)
- Kiev, Ukraine: Chechen Terrorist Base (cutscene)
- Epilogue
Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror
Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow
Goofs
- The main characters, Gabe and Lian, act as though they know Teresa in Syphon Filter 2, which is her first appearance in the series.
Trivia
- Teresa is the only character in the Syphon Filter series to have the same voice actor in the entire series. (The voice actor being Shannon Tilton)
- She has a sarcastic sense of humour, especially in The Omega Strain, where she seems to disagree that Stone is as fit as he was during his armed forces stint. This results in a retort between both as seen in Zeus Files.
- She is one of two female characters to stage her death, the other being Addison Hargrove.
- Teresa is the third main female character introduced in the Syphon Filter series, the first being Mara Aramov and second being Lian Xing.
- Her death being staged is repeated in Dark Mirror when Addison also pretends to die.
- In SF3's multiplayer game, Teresa is prone to taunting her enemies:
- Help! I'm being chased by a dweeb!
- Turn off the TV and read a book!
- Who's your daddy?!
- Stay still for just one second!
- I got you in my sights!
- You call that shooting?!
- What are you aiming at?!
- ↑ Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain - dialogue after entering Murukawa's office
- ↑ Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow - opening cutscene of 'Going Under'
- ↑ Syphon Filter 2 - opening cutscene of 'Sykes Parking Garage'
- ↑ Syphon Filter timeline - Nov 1997
- ↑ Syphon Filter timeline - Sep 1994
- ↑ Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow post-credits scene