After the success ofFar Cry 3,the series developed a reputation for its compelling antagonists. The bad guys are often used as a key selling point for the games. The majority ofFar Crygames put the bad guy on the cover and make them the center of attention in marketing. The presence of a charismatic antagonist has become such a staple of the franchise thatFar Cry 6’s DLC made them playable. In fact, so much emphasis is placed on the villains that they often overshadow the actual hero of the game.Far Cry 3fans tend to remember Vaas more than Jason Brody.
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But for all its attention towards the bad guys, there are still heroes that have great stories to revisit. Many of them have possible room to grow and some great opportunities to return in a future game.
6Bhadra
Far Cry 4’s story seems at first to be about helping a resistance movement overthrow an eccentric dictator, but there is also an equally important conflict between the two resistance leaders - with Bhadra stuck in the middle. Bhadra was an innocent kid who, through no fault of her own, got used as a playing piece between Sabal and Amita.
Her ultimate fate is somewhat ambiguous in the game, but she does have to go through the experienceof growing up in aFar Crysetting. Re-introducing an older Bhadra might bring out an interesting angle as a result. It would mean exploring how she has been shaped by her experiences in the game, and how that affected her as an adult.
5Far Cry 2’s Buddies
Far Cry 2was a mess for a lot of reasons, but one of the biggest issues was its “buddy” system. It made sense on paper but had some issues with execution, like the way buddies who aren’t accidentally killed by the player would abruptly go “missing” with no explanation. To further rub salt in the wound, all the buddies were options for the player character except, inexplicably, the three women. And the whole thing was undermined by a weak twist at the end where, completely out of nowhere, they all turn on the player for no reason.
It is unfortunate since some of the buddies had the potential to be interesting characters, but their backgrounds and motivations are vague and poorly explained. Bringing them back would be an opportunity to revisit and better develop their stories. Their presence would be easy to justify, as the characters are supposed to be mercenaries and it is possible to get through the pointless double-cross without killing them. In particular, it would be great to see the three female characters: Michelle Dachss, Flora Guillen, and Nasreen Davar, get their proper due.
4Jess Black
Far Cry 5had some interesting characterspopulating Hope County, but the immediate fan favorite for many was Jess Black, a potty-mouthed archer who had an unhealthy obsession with killing Eden’s Gate members. Like many characters in the series, Jess has a lot of internal trauma and no clear way to process it, maybe even more so than others. Being forced to watch her parents murdered and then manipulated into eating their severed toes would mess anyone up. Many hoped to see her return whenFar Cry New Dawnwas announced, but this sadly turned out not to be the case.
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It is not hard to imagine Jess transferring her hatred of peggies to another opponent-especially after Eden’s Gate has been weakened. There are a few possible directions one could go with bringing her back. She could start traveling and aiding a new player character in a new setting, or Ubisoft could experiment with a DLC following her further adventures in Hope County. A more cynical approach might be to have her working with the main antagonist, having been so consumed by her fondness for killing that she lost sight of what she was fighting for.
3Jason Brody
Far Cry 3followed Jason Brody, a young man implied to be from a privileged background whose comfortable life is upended by Vaas. He goes fromdesperately trying to survive to embracing the madness of the Rook Islandsas a “mighty warrior,” a journey that takes a toll on him both physically and mentally. His surreal odyssey captivated many players and helpedFar Cryto find its footing as one of Ubisoft’s big franchises.
While Brody’s adventure in the Rook Islands may be over, there is still room to explore his character. Of course, this assumes the ending where Jason leaves is canon, as the alternative ends with him being murdered. The final scene has a voice-over monologue where Brody reflects on how the island has changed him. Bringing him back would be an opportunity to explore that trauma in more detail, as well as his struggle to keep some semblance of humanity. He would not even have to be the protagonist again. This type of story could come out through his interactions with a new player character.
2Dani Rojas
Far Cry 6introduced the first (canonically)female protagonistof the series, Dani Rojas, and gave her a lot of depth compared to her predecessors. While Jason Brody and Ajay Ghale were semi-blank slates with vague backgrounds, and the Junior Deputy was a silent protagonist, Dani Rojas had a fully developed characterization and backstory. Much like the previous games, she went from a regular person trying to survive in difficult circumstances to a battle-hardened warrior, in this case becoming a guerrilla and dedicated freedom fighter.
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But that did seem to change by the end. After overthrowing Castillo, Dani decided her part in Libertad was done. This leaves an obvious question: where does she go next? It does not look like she expects to return to a normal life, but the search for a new purpose does pose an interesting topic for a future game. There is a lot to unpack with Dani’s experiences. She would undoubtedly be struggling with the trauma of guerilla life, survivor’s guilt, and the big question of whether she accomplished anything. Even if she was not the protagonist again, it leaves a lot of interesting room to explore how exactly she moves on.
1Takkar
Far Cry Primaltook a weird direction for the series. It took the basic gameplay structure of3and4but decided to move back in time to the Stone Age. The story followed a caveman named Takkar and his quest to unite the scattered remnants of his tribe, the Wenja. As often happens inFar Cry, he goes from a simple hunter-gathererto a ruthless warrior chieftainwho fights back against the rival Udam and Izila tribes.
Takkar is a weird case in that not only is there room to bring him back, but there is also room to bring him backas an antagonist, thanks to his behavior in the game. It is easy to sympathize with Takkar and the Wenja at first, but their status as the “good guys” gets called into question when they start their own campaign of genocide against their former oppressors. Now that the Wenja are the dominant tribe, a follow-up could center around a member of the Izila or Udam, or a new smaller tribe that was ravaged by the Wenja. Essentially, Takkar would be taking a similar role to his enemies inPrimal, with the player having to unite a tribe against the one they created in the previous game.
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