- "Illinois was... always... different. He wasn't ambitious or competitive like the rest of us. He didn't fight for an A.I. or screw over his friends to get placed higher in the rankings. Instead, he was doing a job and dreaming up the life after. Of an island chain that stretched around an entire planet. A shack by the water, with a bar full of spiced rum, and a tiny red sailboat."
- —Carolina describing Illinois in Battlescars
Freelancer Agent Illinois was once an agent in the Special Operations program Project Freelancer.
Role in Plot
According to Washington, Illinois was the team's demolition expert. He wasn't among the best out of the team, but was proficient with a rifle. Following the fall of Project Freelancer, he retired and achieved his dream of living on a planet-wide island chain in a seaside shack with a bar filled with spiced rum and a red sailboat. At some point during his retirement, he was captured and killed by Temple of the Blues and Reds, and was then stored at the team's underwater lair with other fellow deceased Freelancers who all suffered a similar fate.
Personality
According to Carolina, Illinois was unlike his peers. He wasn't an ambitious or competitive individual, nor did he care about the AIs or the rankings. Instead, he dreamt of his life after his service as a Freelancer was finished, which was living on a planet-wide island chain, in a shack by the sea, with an entire bar worth of spiced rum and a red sailboat.
He was also a drinker, as Carolina mentioned he and York were drinking buddies.
Trivia
- His armor in Halo 5 consists of a Timmy helmet and Decimator body armor.
- Illinois appears to be a heavy drinker, as his dream was to be on a beach with a bar full of spiced rum, and all of his appearances include him carrying a bottle of spiced rum.
- During a Reddit AMA, Joe Nicolosi responded to a question if he could bring back one dead Freelancer to be in the show for any reasons, it would be Agent Illinois, stating he bets he told great stories like Tormund Giantsbane of Game of Thrones.[1]
- While the Illinois who appears in Season 15 is dubiously canonical, an actual Agent Illinois does exist as indicated by the number of Project Freelancer agents.