The Cephs

The Ceph, short for Cephalopods, also known as the Charybdis, are a group or species of technologically advanced aliens who arrived on Earth approximately 65 million years ago, and represent the primary antagonists of the Crysis series. They are hostile towards humanity and are waging what appears to be a war of extermination against them. Although there are several theories, it is speculated that they have been acting to prevent human degradation of the Earth's environment.

The Ceph on Earth originate from the Triangulum Galaxy, also known as the M33 galaxy, located in the constellation Triangulum, 4 million light years from Earth. Their most recent activity prior to the events of the series occurred some 2 million years ago, after which they went into a dormant state until 1919, when Jacob Hargreave set in motion events in Tunguska that led to the eventual awakening of all Ceph lithoships across the Earth, though this began with minor activities and technology testing in early 21st century until their complete awakening by the Korean People's Army on Ling Shan islands.

The cell Corporation

C.E.L.L. (Crynet Enforcement & Local Logistics) was the third faction and the second antagonistic faction

Logo of C.E.L.L.

throughout Crysis 2 and Crysis 3. They were a private military company under the control and part of CryNet Systems. In Crysis 2, most C.E.L.L. troops operating in New York City are under U.S. Government mandate and under the command of Commande

r Lockhart.

The Nanosuit

Nanosuits (also known as Nano-muscle suits) are powerful and extremely versatile sets of tactical-combat armor originally designed to counter the dormant Ceph threat and circumvent the technological margin between Mankind and the Ceph. Reverse-engineered from captured Ceph technology, the suits' CryFibril muscle fibers can be programmed for a variety of purposes (such as hardening, muscle augmentation or camouflage), leading to drastically enhanced combat and physical performance, allowing the operator to execute superhuman feats. This is permitted through the suits' ability to adapt and absorb energy in a myriad of forms ranging from heat, solar, radiation, static, kinetic, and even carbon.