Kessler - inFAMOUS Conduit Stories
"I've always been there, Cole. Every step of your life."
Kessler's original Timeline goes like this.
Cole MacGrath lived in a timeline where there was peace in Empire City. Best friends with Zeke Dunbar, he would later ask him to be his best man during his wedding with Trish Dailey. Afterwards, Cole became the father of two daughters and settled down comfortably at home. Kessler and his family watch The Beast. As a Conduit, he possessed the ability to manipulate electricity at will, and utilize it for anything possible. During that time, a Conduit of massive strength dubbed "The Beast" attacked and laid waste to Empire City, killing any known life forms. Though his powers would have been enough to deal with this foe, Cole fled with his family, leaving the others behind. As he and his family fled, the Beast continuously hunted him down, laying waste to anywhere he went through as he did. The calamity caused by the Beast left the world desolate of any life, with the environment barely fit for living. After a long time of fleeing, Trish and her daughters died, which left Cole all alone in his timeline. The grief too much to bear, Cole utilized his power to teleport himself back in time as an attempt to correct the mistakes he's made. He then adopted a new alias: Kessler.
Enter our timeline:
Kessler seized control of the First Sons and accelerated the Ray Sphere development... Decades spent plotting the blast, organizing the quarantine, finding his past self. He didn't even know if Cole was going to even survive the blast.
After 4 months of Kessler testing the ray sphere, Cole got a call to deliver a package somewhere to eventually realize it was a ray sphere.
Cole survives a blast and gains powers, but Kessler is unable to confront the Beast. He shows Cole the future through a telepathic vision and later, he extracts Sasha from her fight with Cole, causing the Reaper Compound to collapse. Cole calls Kessler a coward and later appears during Cole's fight with Alden Tate, the leader of the First Sons. Cole's best friend, Zeke Dunbar, has the Ray Sphere, but Kessler offers Zeke a chance for power. Cole is alarmed about Trish Dailey, who he kidnapped. Kessler presents Cole with a difficult dilemma, forcing him to choose between one life or six. Trish dies, leaving Cole emotionally scarred. Kessler continues to wreak havoc on Empire City, scattering gas (that he extracted from Sasha's tar) and defending another Ray Sphere (this is the one the birthed the Beast). Cole is instructed to meet up at Ground Zero, where the battle began.
After a long battle between him and his past self, Kessler falls down defeated. As Cole looked down on him, he heard Kessler muttering his love for Trish Dailey, and then asked her for forgiveness. Kessler then pounced on a confused Cole, and sent another surge of visions through telepathy. Kessler's death, in front of his past self. Showing his past self his own timeline, how he came to power, who he really was, and why he did what he did, Kessler gave Cole his only memento from his timeline; his wedding day picture with Trish and Zeke. Kessler then fell back, dead. With Cole now fully aware of the truth, he left Ground Zero, admitting his hate for his future self, and assured himself that he would be ready for the Beast's coming.
After the death of Kessler, his former associate Joseph Bertrand III, usurped all of the organization's funds and assets, which he utilized to further his cause. Right after Cole's confrontation, the Prime Conduit would be haunted by the image of Kessler, unable to eat or sleep properly. He was able to overcome these feelings after confiding with Zeke. Kessler's actions would also result in the early advent of The Beast, and Cole's retreat to New Marais, due to his inability to deal with The Beast. There, Cole was also able to learn more about Kessler through Sebastian Wolfe, and his messages. The true identity of Kessler was ONLY KNOWN to a certain few, Dr. Wolfe, Sasha, Alden, and Bertrand are implied while Cole and Zeke the only definite ones. Right after Kessler's death, Cole told Zeke about Kessler's true nature by showing him the picture that Kessler gave Cole. Zeke would then tell stories to Cole about what happened when he was with Kessler, how he was kept, and their last moment together. These events were what made what Cole said believable, according to Zeke. After his death, he would haunt Cole's dreams, showing his past self his daughters' graves, claiming they died because Cole chose to run instead of fighting the Beast.
Powers:
Electrokinesis
One-Way Time Travel, Phantasm, Flash Step, and Summoning (of 3 drones) are unique powers that our MacGrath was never shown using