Aiden Pearce

*This article uses material from the “Aiden Pearce” article on the Watch Dogs Wiki at FANDOM is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License.*

**Aiden Pearce** is the protagonist of *Watch Dogs* game.

Aiden was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland on May 2, 1974 at the height of the Troubles. He is no stranger to violence and is more than willing to use it against his enemies. However, his actions have had an untoward effect on his family, and now he monitors them in secret in order to keep them safe.

In the TWA fics, Aiden debuted in the Twisted World Animania - Watch Dogs.

## **Appearance**

Aiden is an Irish man with green eyes, brown mid-length hair, and light facial hair. While having his mugshot taken, it is shown that he is 6' 2" (1.88 m) and appears to be of mesomorphic build. In the trailers, Aiden wears a grey, long-sleeve zip-neck sweater, usually un-tucked, though his clothes can be changed to several other jackets of similar style. On top of the sweater, Aiden wears a modern, brown, knee-length trench coat. Aiden wears dark grey trousers and brown boots. He also has a deep, gravelly voice.

Aiden also keeps a neckwarmer scarf tucked into the neck of his sweater, which he may pull up so that it covers his face up to the bridge of his nose. Aiden also wears a dark brown cap with a logo that can be debated to be either a stylized "Nexus" logo or a fox.

## **Personality**

Aiden grew up learning about computers. When he became an adult, he used the knowledge he had gathered growing up to commit clandestine scams. Pearce has a background as a criminal which has given him links to the underground of Chicago knowing the wrong people for all the wrong reasons.

Aiden is a protective person, wanting to keep the people he cares about close and safe. He is very protective of his family (as seen in the game, his sister and nephew), and will do anything to keep them safe. His compassion for his family is strong enough to become a vigilante and extradite revenge on those who have harmed them. Aiden is very calm under pressure, able to keep a clear mind and work through problems systematically and with composure. His approach is often light-hearted, especially in situations that can lead to his own death or that of others. He has also shown himself to be quite athletic, capable of performing parkour to escape the police and sprinting with speed and agility. His physical strength is also demonstrated when chasing down criminals and silencing them with his telescopic baton.

Although he has compassion for the people he is close to, Aiden doesn't hesitate in taking another life if he has to. Because of this, others often see him as cold-hearted and without conscience, but he does what he does to stop the corruption plaguing his city. The player can also finish the game and not kill anyone except the three main antagonists and three supporting characters of the game.

## **Abilities**

* **High Intelligence:** Aiden Pearce is an exceptional hacker and has incredible street smarts.
	+ **Criminology:** As the Vigilante and a former Fixer, Aiden Pearce has an exceptional insight into how illegal activities work, such as mercenary groups or how criminal and terrorist organizations.
	+ **Intimidation:** Aiden Pearce, as the Vigilante, is so infamous amount criminal and terrorist organizations, that it strikes fear into their hearts when they know he's coming for them.
	+ **Hacking Skills:** He is a master hacker with complete access to the CTOS network on his personal "Profiler", a versatile weapon allowing him to hack into almost any software-linked device or object and activate at will. After receiving an upgrade from Clara Lille, his Profiler gains more advanced capabilities including CTOS Scan, Jam Communications, Blackouts, and numerous other hacking skills which adds to his inventory.
		- **CtOS Manipulation:** He has access to all of the functions of ctOS, thus has the entire system bent his will.
		- **CtOS 2.0. Manipulation:** It appears that he is able to manipulate the functions and attributes of the new ctOS and bend them to his will.
		- **Drone Manipulation:** His hacking abilities are even able to take command of machines.
	+ **Escape Artist:** He is a highly skilled escape artist, due to years of him being a fixer. Even in the most extreme cases, he requires minimal interference to escape.
* **Combat Skills:** As a former thief and Fixer, Aiden has acquired a vast set of skills throughout his criminal career. He is adept at stealth which aids him in infiltrating enemy territory. In addition, he can utilize various corners and objects to evade his enemies. He is extraordinarily strong & agile, being able to overpower an enforcer & knock him out. His combat skills appear to be a variety of martial arts and street fighting techniques, and he can employ both lethal and non-lethal tactics to overcome his enemies. He is also proficient in gunplay as he is able to wield several different firearms ranging from handguns to sniper rifles with excellent accuracy.
	+ **Honed Focus:** Pearce also has "focus mode" which slows down time and allows him to get a better shot or see what to hack. This has been confirmed to be representative of his quick reflexes and strong senses.
* **Athletic Skills:** Additionally, he has proven to be a skilled freerunner, as with his speed and agility he can sprint far distances uninterrupted as well as performing various forms of parkour, allowing him to scale and vault over several obstacles with relative ease. Aiden can combine various combinations with his range of skills and arsenal of weaponry which ultimately make him an incredibly unpredictable and deadly threat, earning him the title of "The Vigilante".

## **Trivia**

* Aiden Pearce's character first appeared in the E3 gameplay demo in 2012, where he was shown carrying out the murder of media mogul Joseph Demarco. Actor Noam Jenkins provided the voice for Aiden Pearce in the game, while Sébastien Rouleau provided the motion capture for Aiden's movement.

* Aiden Pearce has been compared to Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher turned methamphetamine kingpin, from the hit show *Breaking Bad* by *Watch Dogs*' creative director Jonathan Morin, and he even cited White as one of the main influences for Aiden's character. "When I think about it for a second, he’s the most self-centered motherfucker on the planet, right?" he said, speaking of Heisenberg (Walter White) in terms that could, it seems, easily be applied to Pearce as well. "And then I go back and I say, 'Oh my God, he’s awesome, he needs to win.' And what’s great about that is it’s true for all the characters in the series, right? It’s the same in our game."

* Although Aiden is right-handed, he can use both his Profiler and a one-handed weapon simultaneously.
* Aiden, as part of his hacking skills and need to monitor his family, is proficient in social engineering.
* The broken "Z" on his mask is based on the logo of the game's original developer studio title, *Nexus*. Furthermore, "Nexus" is the license plate (spelled "N3X U5") of Aiden's personal car, which he eventually gives to his sister and nephew to leave Chicago.
* Aiden means "Fire Walker" in Old Irish.
* Aiden shares similarities to Ezio Auditore from Ubisoft's *Assassin's Creed* series. Both lost a member of their family and they are highly skilled vigilantes, Aiden is also similar to Sam Fisher from the *Splinter Cell*series, both are highly skilled hackers and both are proficient in stealth tactics. He also seems to have some similarities with Marvel's Punisher, both lost a family member (Punisher, however, lost the entire family), both became a vigilante to avenge their deaths. Aiden even makes an indirect reference to the 2004 Punisher film at the end of the game by mentioning "punishment" in the credits narration. However, Aiden is far above Punisher since he mostly lets the petty thieves and criminals live, whereas Punisher kills them.
* Aiden has no legal job in the campaign and no CTOS record of a legal job. It is assumed he lives off money he and his partner stole as hackers before his niece died, and off the money he continues to steal through the course of the game.
* All of Aiden's outfits are virtually the same as his cover outfit, although varying shoes and boots, and different sizes and patterns on his clothes, as well as hoods and collars on some outfits.
* When profiling Aiden, it will show Error on all boards, due to him hacking the CTOS profiler to wipe himself off. There are a few exceptions, however:
	+ During "Big Brother", if you profile Aiden with the camera in Nicky's house:
		- Pearce, Aiden
		- NO RECORD
		- Age: 39
		- Occupation: NO RECORD
	+ When in prison during "Dressed in Peels":
		- Smith, Joe
		- Recent Assault Conviction
		- Age: 42
		- Occupation: Pool Cleaner
		- Income: $17,500
	+ When masquerading as Crispin during "Stare into the Abyss" and "A Risky Bid":
		- Crispin, Nicholas
		- VIP Auction Guest
		- Last visit to America: 12 years
		- Occupation: International Trade
		- Income: $3,050,000
	+ During "Hope is a Sad Thing":
		- Putters, Andy Lee
		- Homesteader
		- Age: 40
		- Occupation: Compost Specialist
		- Income: $46,400
	+ During "In Plain Sight" and "Sometimes You Still Lose":
		- Pearce, Aiden
		- WANTED CRIMINAL
		- Age: 39
		- Occupation: Unemployed
	+ When trying to find Defalt in "Dot ConneXion":
		- Bitch, Defalt's
		- CRY MOAR
		- Age: 39
		- Occupation: U MAD BRO
* At the end of the game, once the credits are rolling, the player can see a video of WKZ News, interviewing Doctor Mendez, Jackson's therapist. She comments on a book she's writing about Aiden, with the end of exploring his mind and personality.
	+ However, Doctor Mendez only met Aiden a few times in-game. It is not possible that she had more encounters with him between Lena's death and the beginning of the game's main story, as Aiden only learns of her existence at Jackson's party (Big Brother).
* Aiden is sometimes referred to by the citizens of Chicago as "The Fox" because of the stylized fox head on his hat, and the colors of his trench coat and sweater, which resemble that of a gray fox's coat.
* All characters that are targets for Aiden can be either knocked down or killed, except three of them: Iraq, Quinn, and Damien.
* Aiden's haircut might change if the player wears particular outfits (for example, the Cyberpunk Outfit gives Aiden a shorter haircut).
* It is possible to see Aiden without his regular Vigilante outfits three times in the storyline: in two flashbacks (one at the Pawnee tunnel where Lena died and the other at the cemetery), and during "Dressed in Peels".