Michael Anders is a survivor featured in Dead Island 2. The PA of Emma Jaunt, he is first encountered by the Slayers during the plane crash at the beginning of the game.
Background[]
Before and during the Los Angeles zombie outbreak, Michael was an entourage of Emma. Michael's role was to watch over Emma's career as her personal assistant. He was described as an insecure man who sometimes contemplated his position over the other's integrity. As meek as he was, Michael was dedicated to his job of ensuring the success and survival of Emma.
During the outbreak, Michael, along with Emma and her husband Robert Steele, boarded the evacuation flight Soaring Pacific 71 Heavy in an attempt to leave the city, with Robert bribing the soldiers at the evacuation site in order to bypass the regular screening protocols. After Robert was revealed to be infected and started an outbreak on the plane, the military shot it down and it made a hard crash in the city. Michael and Emma survived the crash, along with a man called Ronnie Redford. As they try to get bearings on their situation, they encounter the Slayer by surprise. Trusting them, Emma gives them her address and heads out for safety ahead of the Slayer.
Michael and Emma make their way safely to Emma's mansion in Bel-Air and take shelter. The Slayer later makes their way to the mansion, and Michael lets them in. However, he notices the bite marks on their arm and recoils in fear. Andrea Salazar then enters and immediately contemplates killing them. Emma comes in to stop the commotion, but the Slayer passes out.
As Emma watches over the unconscious Slayer, Michael alerts everyone of zombies attacking the house. The Slayer is released by Emma and they successfully defend the mansion. Regrouping back inside, the trio have a surprise encounter with Sam B, Emma's estranged acquaintance. Discussing what to do next, the Slayer opts to head to the Halperin Hotel evacuation point to find help. Michael allows them to exit through the back door.
While the Slayer is absent, Michael leaves the mansion of his own accord without notifying the others and makes his way to Monarch Studios, where a monstrous zombie pursues him and he ends up trapped inside Emma’s trailer. The Slayer catches up to and saves Michael by killing it. Checking up on Michael, he states that he wanted to find Emma's lucky reward statue to support her during the hard times, but also points out the abundant amount of medical supplies present in the trailer. Reassuring the Slayer, Michael heads back safely to the mansion.
As soon as the Slayer returns to the mansion, it is revealed that Michael was bitten. Sam insists that he be killed, but Emma refuses to allow it. Giving up on reasoning with Emma, Sam hands the Slayer a gun to do the deed. Weak from the infection, Michael gives the reward statue to Emma before passing out. The Slayer contemplates killing Michael, but Emma repeatedly refuses to let them. While Emma is in hard denial, Michael succumbs to the infection and attacks, but the Slayer puts him down with a shot to the head in self-defense, much to Emma's shock. Distraught, Emma expels the Slayer from the mansion.
After the Slayer's departure, Michael's body is buried outside the mansion, marked with a wooden cross with a reward frame hanging on it.
Appearance[]
Michael is a middle-aged man of Jewish descent with short black hair and a clean shaven face. He wears a blue button up shirt with a dirty white necktie, black dress pants, and black dress shoes. He also has an ID pinned to his left pec.
Trivia[]
- His appearance and job was first revealed by the Dead Island twitter.
- Michael lived in Beverly Hills before the outbreak. His house is visited by the Slayers during the main quest O Michael, Where Art Thou?
- In his spare time, Michael taught classes on having a successful career in Hollywood as part of a course titled Hollywood Careers Undressed. He advertised these classes via flyers.
- Michael wore glasses, as seen on his ID. Since he is never seen wearing them during the game, it's likely he lost them during the plane crash.
- Since he never complains about vision issues, it's possible they were reading glasses or he got corrective surgery after the picture was taken.
- Michael was named the Moviemakers Alliance Mentor of the Year in 2018, being presented with a certificate to mark this achievement.
- The QR code on his badge returns the text "lorem ipsum" when scanned.
- Michael's character role is similar to the character Jin from the original Dead Island. Both wanted to help, both ran off on their own which got them hurt, then the slayers had to go help them and both died by a gunshot. However, Michael died early in the game while Jin died near the end of the game.
- If the player decides to keep visiting Michael's house, the Slayers will always repeat their special lines when looting.
- The Slayers do not say anything when visiting Michael's grave site.
- Michael's voice actor, Joseph May, also voiced Cliff Calo from Escape Dead Island.
- He is buried next to Emma's dead dog, Sam.
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