There are plenty of interesting characters in Starfield, but none more so than The Hunter and The Emissary. The former first comes across as some cold-hearted killer, while the latter is portrayed as someone who wants to protect the mysteries of the universe from those who are unworthy of unearthing them. However, the more time that Starfield players spend in their company, the more it becomes clear that there is a lot more to the pair than first meets the eye.
Of the two characters, most will probably find The Emissary to be the most intriguing, as their views and motivations are a lot less black and white. As The Hunter rightly points out, though at first it may seem as though the two are polar opposites, they're actually just two sides of the same coin, with the only difference being that The Hunter is honest about why he covets the Artifacts and the power of the Unity.
Warning: This guide contains major story spoilers for Starfield.
The Emissary can be male or female depending on certain choices made by the player. As such, they will be given they/them pronouns for the purposes of this guide. Anybody who gets triggered by pronouns in video games should probably stop reading now.
Who is The Emissary in Starfield?
During the In Their Footsteps main story mission, players will learn that The Emissary is actually their dead companion from the High Price to Pay quest. Well, technically, they're a version of them from another universe in which it was the player who was killed by The Hunter during his attack on the Lodge. This means that in their universe, The Emissary and the player were once close friends.
Players can potentially exploit this fact later on, as depending on which of the Starborn they choose to side with, they may get a chance to persuade the Emissary to hand over their Artifacts without putting up a fight. Should this happen, players can manipulate them by reminding them of this past relationship, and how their dead friend would not have wanted the pair to trade blows.
What Does the Emissary Want?
The Emissary claims that they want to protect the secrets of the Unity from those who are not worthy. However, their methods for doing so are not too dissimilar from those of The Hunter, with both characters using threats and violence to get what they want. This not only makes the Emissary a bit of a hypocrite, but also calls into question whether they are really in any kind of position to decide who is worthy of the Unity's power and who is not.
Starfield is available now for PC and Xbox Series X|S.