Jacob Arthur Danik

Jacob Danik
Biographical information
Date of death	2514
Physical information
Gender	Male
Equipment	Submachine gun
Hair	Brown
Eyes	Grey/Blue
Chronological and political information
Affiliation	The Inner Circle, Church of Unitology

Jacob Arthur Danik was the leader of the militant Unitologist group known as the Circle. During the events of Dead Space 3, Danik and his followers pursue Isaac Clarke and his allies to Tau Volantis, with the intent of discovering the origins of the Markers and initiating humanity's ascension.

History

Danik is an active proponent in the Unitologist movement to overthrow the Earth Government, working alongside his brethren to compromise and attack their strongholds. Using the expendable funds accumulated by the Church, his "Circle" sect believes they are liberating humanity by "freeing" the Markers stationed on various colonized planets from the test labs set up by Earth Government.

In the face of his followers' uncertainty and hesitation when experiencing the horrors of the Necromorphs, Danik remains steadfast in the belief that their mission is in the right.

Events of Dead Space: Liberation

Danik stages an attack on the planet Uxor in a move to destroy the Marker Shroud 4 test site. His operatives go unseen by the likes of John Carver or the Earth Government units on the planet. They are to sabotage a scanner and set up a long-sight laser marker to guide their missiles to the exact location of the Marker site.

The missile destroys the Marker's shroud and releases an EMP that knocks out all power in the area. After Residential is demolished by a falling ship, Danik and his men enter the Science Block in Sector 6 in search of the Sovereign Colonies Marker research discovered by Damara Carver. They capture Carver who stumbles onto them accidentally; Danik's men interrogates him for information. Danik, set on killing Carver, learns he is married to the woman he's searching for.

Though he escapes, Danik is able to reach Damara and her son, Dylan, first and kills them. Afterward, he listens in on Carver's RIG communication with Ellie Langford. Danik sets up a trap for him near the cargo dock. Carver uses Ellie as bait and springs Danik's trap, allowing them to escape on the USM Eudora. Despite the group's efforts to hide their trail, Danik follows them to Keyhole Station and orders an attack on the Eudora. Danik's efforts to gain the information and coordinates for Tau Volantis are foiled when Robert Norton destroys the ShockRing Ellie uses to reach the planet. His ship is heavily damaged by the combined bombardment from Keyhole Station and the Eudora and seemingly drifts through space.

At an unspecified time, after crash landing on Tau Volantis, Norton makes a deal with Danik. Excluding Clarke, in exchange for the safety of the rest of the crew, Danik would give him a ship and allow them to leave Tau Volantis unharmed. Norton presumably gives Danik the coordinates to the ice planet before locating Clarke on Luna.

Events of Dead Space 3

Danik spreads an automated speech via zeppelin over top of Luna's New Horizons Lunar Colony preaching about how the end of mankind has come. That the time of humanity's glorious rebirth is imminent. During this speech, he was preparing to launch an assault on the colony in hopes of finding Clarke and killing him. The primary purpose of the attack is to unite Unitologists against EarthGov as he believed their tampering with the Markers was heresy.

During the genocidal attack on the sector, Danik first meets Clarke as he is attempting to reach Norton's ship, the USM Eudora. He forces Clarke to watch as his men activate the Marker in the heart of the city. He ignores Clarke's warnings about the deaths that will follow the Marker's activation. Danik reassures him that death is just the beginning and the destruction of the human race is necessary. Clarke cannot be allowed to interfere with Convergence. Before Danik can kill him, Clarke deflects his weapon and free falls into a garbage dump full of EarthGov corpses. During the Necromorph outbreak spreading on the planet, Danik's attempts to cut Clarke off from the Eudora are foiled by the Eudora crew's combined efforts.

Later on, Danik and his followers reach Tau Volantis, to the bafflement of Clarke's group. During Isaac and the crew's experimentation with the Nexus, Isaac catches Norton secretly communicating with Danik, but when questioned, Norton says it was nothing important. After Jennifer Santos gains the information necessary for the group to locate the machine that works in conjunction with the Codex, he apprehends Clarke, Norton and Carver. He reneges on his deal with Norton and reveals his intention to kill them all. They fight back and are able to chase Danik off during a firefight with his men.

Danik and his men appear some time later, combing the research labs to find Clarke, Ellie and Carver. Instead of actively searching for them, Danik finds a communications station where he broadcasts Unitologist propaganda in an attempt to wear down Clarke's morale.

Danik manages to corner them after the assembly of the alien remains in the Rosetta Facility. Clarke unknowingly reveals the true intention of the alien machine to him. The moon above the planet was a massive Necromorph and the machine was keeping the creature from completing its original task that started with the alien race two million of years ago.

Danik, convinced that the moon itself is the divine embodiment of the Markers' will, decides that the machine must be deactivated in order to free it and become whole. Before Danik's men can kill Clarke and the others, Clarke activates the room's decontamination protocol. Midst the confusion, Danik escapes with the Codex and a few of his men. He seals the chamber and assumes Clarke and the others would die in the fumes.

As Danik made his way to the machine, his men informed him that Clarke and Carver survived and were hot on his trail. He gathers his remaining troops to slow them down while he descended into the underground alien city where the machine resided. By the time he reached the bottom of the ventilation system he found most if not all of his ground forces were dead. Aggravated, Danik demands more drop ships be called in at once.

As Clarke and Carver pursue Danik through the caverns of the underground city, Clarke tries to convince Danik of the true nature of the moon. He disregards Clarke's warning as fear of the unknown. Clarke and Carver eventually catch up to him and struggle for the Codex. Danik loses the Codex to Clarke and Carver who fall down to the lower level of the city. Enraged, Danik sends his remaining men on a manhunt for the two.

As Clarke and Carver prepare to use the machine, Danik reveals his ace in the hole: Ellie is still alive and in his custody. If they want her back alive, they must let him turn off the machine. Carver, believing that there are other ways to do the right thing, gives Danik the Codex in order to save Ellie's life. Danik uses the Codex to shut the machine down. His actions trigger Convergence and frees the moon from its frozen prison. As Danik looks upon the monstrosity in awe, a massive shard of debris impales his body, killing him instantly.

Legacy

In the aftermath of his death, the Unitologist Cult borne from the survivors of the Circle continue to heed the message of Danik on the CMS Terra Nova, and used him as the saint for their cult.

 Personality

Danik is an insane fanatic, completely absorbed in the belief and teachings of Unitology. He will usually use these beliefs as the staple of inspiration when uniting his men against Earth Government, Clarke and his allies. Although Danik is a powerful individual, his faith in Unitology blinds him from the obvious truth of the Marker's capabilities and true real purpose. Even after his view is proven false when the Markers are revealed to be mere conduits for the Bretheren Moons, Danik is confident in his belief that Convergence is the best path for humanity.

Although clearly a religious zealot, Danik defends his beliefs by claiming to be a "man of science," and believes that Unitology's reverence of the Markers is grounded in fact, reason and logic. According to him, the Markers' ability to manipulate organic life, coupled with the fact that the Black Marker on Earth was present long before the appearance of humanity, is evidence that humanity's evolution and development occurred due to the guidance of the Black Marker and its powers. The implication, therefore, is that the entire existence of the human species is a result of the intervention of the Markers, and that humanity's sole destiny is to achieve Convergence. Danik uses this argument to dissuade Isaac Clarke from resisting him, claiming that Isaac is impeding the natural evolution of the universe.

Usually calm and boastful, a turning tide sends him into angry rants as well as short-tempered demands for Clarke and his company to accept their fates. In this respect, his attitude is not unlike Challus Mercer during the events of Dead Space. As such, Danik's amusement with Clarke's uncanny ability to survive and push on after all he has endured wears thin and he resorts to more direct acts of violence to stop him. Despite the claim his actions are driven by reason and logic rather than religious zealotry, he still uses religious accusations when angered, referring to Isaac as a "filthy heretic."

Quotes

"Brothers and sisters. The age of man is at an end. We have became too many, too little to go around. Corporations that we once trusted with our money have squandered it. The governments that we once trusted with our future have sabotaged it. To their eternal credit we are dying… Fear not, there is a future. As promised by the prophet Michael Altman The Black Marker has a plan, for all of you… It will lift us up from our miserable existence and we will become one; united in body and united in spirit. Our unity will be our salvation. We'll live on, not as man, as God. The Church of Unitology is waiting for you my friends. Throw off the chains of this life and join us as the new one begins. I'm Jacob Arthur Danik, and I am this message."

—Jacob Danik, Chapter 1: Rude Awakening

"I've done it. I've finally done it! The darkness is at an end! Let the evolution begin!"

—Jacob Danik's last words.

"Eyes forward Isaac, pay attention."

—Danik moments before unleashing the Marker on the Lunar colony.

Trivia

• Danik's likeness is modelled after his voice actor, Simon Templeman.
• Danik's health bar is always at 70-80% capacity. How he was injured and why did he never restore this lost portion of health is unknown.
• Danik is never seen without his sunglasses or white suit. In addition, despite his short hair, he has a visible ponytail mid-length down the back of his head.

Gallery

Let the evolution begin!

Jacob with Ellie at gunpoint.