- "Project Valhalla had not been the only thing the Inner Circle had been involved in. There were rows of cabinets, full of files. The serpentine secret society went back a long way, always pulling strings from the shadows."
- ―Max Payne
The Inner Circle is a secret society that appears to hold significant influence over organized crime in New York City, as well as within the U.S. Federal Government. In 2001, the Inner Circle, represented by Alfred Woden, works with Max Payne to take down Nicole Horne and the Aesir Corporation. In 2003, due to Woden's cancer, power begins shifting within the Inner Circle which leads to bloody in-fighting and an attempted take-over by Vladimir Lem. Following the deaths of both Woden and Lem, it is unknown who leads the Inner Circle.
Description[]
Similar to many secret societies in popular culture, the Inner Circle is a group of influential figures that have ties to criminal, government, religious, commercial, and other institutions of power and wealth that come together privately to further their own agendas. They are also known to use proxies to complete their objectives, such as using Max Payne to kill Nicole Horne and dismantle the remnants of the Valkyr project.
The group, when seen in the first game, the Inner Circle are introduced as four shadowy business-types with access to classified government intel and represented by Alfred Woden, who appears to be their leader. Also, when the building they use as a meeting place, the Asgard Building, is attacked and most of the group is killed, Max discovers documents that reveal the long history of the group and the depth of their influence and affluence. This is proven in the wake of Horne's death wherein Max is pardoned and all charges levied against him regarding his vigilante killings and misconduct during the Valkyr episode are dropped.
In the second game, the Inner Circle continues to suffer targeted attacks (at least several members are killed during the Cleaners' assault on the Upper East Side apartments where many Inner Circle members reside). It is later revealed that Vladimir Lem, Woden's protege, had exploited tensions within the group to attempt a coup. He uses his gang and the Cleaners to assassinate his opponents within the Inner Circle, including ordering a hit on Vinnie Gognitti. Lem continues his purge until he is killed by Max. By then, it seems the Inner Circle has been virtually eliminated.
There is very little mention of the Inner Circle in the third game which takes place many years after the last game and is set in Brazil.
Known members of the Inner Circle[]
- Alfred Woden - The leader. Killed by Vladimir Lem.
- Nicole Horne - The new manager of the Valhalla project after it was discontinued by the government. Blackmailed Woden into silence. Ordered unofficial field testing of Valkyr-pumped test subjects who later murdered Michelle and Rose Payne. Killed by Max Payne.
- Vladimir Lem - The regional boss of the Russian Mafia. Was a mentee under Woden but later rebels and ignites a civil war within the Inner Circle. Killed by Max Payne.
- Corcoran - A paunchy senior who is assassinated before Max can get the information he needed out of him. Killed by the Squeaky Cleaning Company
- Senator Sebastian Gate - An affiliate of Lem. Killed by Mona Sax. Valerie Winterson of the New York Homicide branch is assigned to investigate his murder.
- Mike - A lieutenant under Lem. Killed by Max Payne.
- Kaufman - Another lieutenant under Lem and the leader of the Cleaners. Killed by Max Payne.
Associates of the Inner Circle[]
- Mona Sax - An assassin working for Nicole Horne who was hired to eliminate Angelo Punchinello and, later, during the civil war of the society, for Alfred Woden. Woden assigns her to kill Max Payne but she is overcome by her feelings for him. She is either killed by Vladimir Lem or manages to survive.*
- Max Payne - A fugitive wanted by the police to whom Woden and other members present an offer to eliminate Nicole Horne in exchange for their help in exonerating him.
- Valerie Winterson - A Homicide detective. Has a romantic relationship with Vladimir Lem and leaks any information of the NYPD to him. Later agrees to murder Payne and Sax for Lem but is killed by the former.
* Depending on the Max Payne 2 game difficulty.
Appearances[]
Quotes[]
- "Nothing mystical about them, even if they themselves would like to think so. Just one step up the ladder of organized crime."
- ―Vladimir Lem
Gallery[]
