Jensen was created by Human Revolution's lead writer Mary DeMarle as a protagonist with a defined personality, needing to balance this with the game's choice-based narrative.

Adam Jensen is introduced in Deus Ex: Human Revolution (2011)−set in the year 2027−as the Chief of Security for Detroit-based Sarif Industries, a corporation leading development on controversial artificial organs dubbed "augmentations".

A former SWAT team member, Adam resigned after disobeying an order to kill a young augmented boy classified as a threat and being subsequently used as a scapegoat after the ensuing riots.

Optional backstory elements reveal Adam to be the only surviving subject of genetic experiments by a secret group dubbing themselves the Illuminati, having been spirited away by sympathetic scientists as a child.

In the Human Revolution downloadable content (DLC) expansion The Missing Link, Adam is captured by private military company Belltower en route to finding Megan, ending up investigating a project related to the game's later events.

Further adventures are detailed in the Mankind Divided DLC series "Jensen's Stories"; Adam delves into the bombing in Desperate Measures,[3] becomes involved in a bank heist in System Rift,[4] and tells Auzenne about his first TF29 assignment undercover in an augmented prison in A Criminal Past.

[5] Adam is the lead in a 2011 limited comic series released prior to Human Revolution, showing his investigation into the kidnapping of Sarif's niece and the criminals' ties to his former SWAT commander.

[6][7] He features in two tie-ins for Mankind Divided; the comic series Children's Crusade depicting a TF29 mission against a pro-augmentation group,[8][9] and the novel Black Light showing the events after he is rescued from Panchaea.

[12] Square Enix, publisher of Human Revolution, created a figure of Adam for their Play Arts Kai figurine line in Japan.

[13] Clothing sets inspired by Adam's appearance in Human Revolution was released as DLC for the 2012 video games Hitman: Absolution and Sleeping Dogs, both published by Square Enix.

[21] He was also made a security chief for Sarif Industries to show the outsized power of corporations in the game's world and offer an easy view into the augmentation issue, contrasting him against Deus Ex protagonist JC Denton who works for a military group.

[26] For the sequel Mankind Divided, the staff wanted Adam to return, with producer Olivier Proulx attributing the popularity to the character's "badass" persona.

[31][32] Contrasting against his reactive actions in Human Revolution, DeMarle wanted Jensen to be proactive, though the team needed to work around the character's role as a TF29 agent and the game's mission-based structure.

[19][24] DeMarle described Adam as being driven by forms of love and loyalty to his colleagues and friends, with his main drive in Human Revolution being making up for his mistakes rather than revenge.

[35] The game's director Jean-François Dugas describe Adam's hostile manner as "not mad or really angry", but unhappy at having augmentations forced on him, working to make sure he is not denied choice again.

[20] DeMarle recalled that a journalist classified Jensen as a potential sociopath based on context clues and available in-game actions in Human Revolution, something she never intended.

[38] Adam's distinctive voice is close to Toufexis's own,[39][38] using a lower monotone style to both allow easy player identification and as a homage to Deus Ex protagonist JC Denton.

[39] He recalled that using his own voice for Adam was partially responsible for him losing the role of Far Cry 3 protagonist Jason Brody after Human Revolution was released.

[41] While he had limited contact with staff during Human Revolution,[39] for Mankind Divided he was able to be more involved across the production team so he could refine Jensen's character and movements.

In his review of Human Revolution, Game Informer's Andrew Reiner commented that Adam "radiates boredom", negatively comparing his personality to Neo from The Matrix franchise, and criticised the voice acting for a lack of emotion in average conversation.

[45] Reviewing the later Director's Cut version, Danielle Riendeau of Polygon said that "Jensen's guarded persona comes across more wooden than wounded", causing the game to lack a strong protagonist.

Issy van der Velde of NME, writing in 2021, hailed Adam as one of the best-realised cyborg characters in recent fiction due to the game's focus on his opening disempowerment and struggles with unwilling augmentation.

[47] In his review of Mankind Divided, Sam Watcher of RPGamer said that he "became smitten" with Adam and his mission during the events of Human Revolution, and praised Toufexis's continued performance.

[50] Philip Matthew Trad, writing for the 2015 book Apocalyptic Projections: A Study of Past Predictions, Current Trends and Future Intimations as Related to Film and Literature, analysed the game's themes surrounding Jensen's mission and interactions.