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Joseph Seed to The Junior Deputy |
The Junior Deputy, primarily referred to as The Deputy, is the protagonist in Far Cry 5. They are a newly recruited Sheriff's Deputy of the Hope County Sheriff's Department, who is sent to help serve a federal arrest warrant in Hope County, Montana.
Far Cry 5[]
"And I saw, and behold... a white horse!" Spoiler Warning Plot and/or ending details for Far Cry 5 follow! Read at your own risk! |
Prologue[]
Main article: The Warrant
The Deputy is sent with Marshal Burke, Sheriff Whitehorse, and fellow deputies Hudson and Pratt, to arrest Joseph Seed, a radical preacher who is the head of Eden's Gate. Though Joseph appears to go willingly when they make the arrest, the situation quickly escalates when the cult responds to the arrest with violence and crash the group's helicopter.
In the ensuing chaos, Deputy Hudson is captured, Deputy Pratt and Sheriff Whitehorse disappear, but Marshal Burke and the Deputy manage to escape the standoff, with Joseph calling for a manhunt to locate them. Following a botched escape attempt to leave the county on road, Marshal Burke is also captured by the cult, while the Deputy is taken away by Dutch, who promptly cuffs them to a bedpost until he decides whether or not to turn them over to the cult. He eventually decides to trust the Deputy, so he supplies them a new set of clothes in order to blend in better among the locals, and asks their assistance to liberate his island, thus providing the tutorial missions for the game.
Once the Deputy liberates Dutch's island, they are swept into an armed conflict between the Eden's Gate cult and the rest of the Hope County residents. These include Pastor Jerome Jeffries, a Gulf War veteran and local church leader who has seen his congregation taken by Eden's Gate; Mary May Fairgrave, a bartender whose father was driven to suicide by the cult; and Nick Rye, a pilot who aims to eliminate the influence of the cult in order to build a better future for his child. The Deputy uses their help, among others, to build a resistance to put an end to Eden's Gate.
Where It All Began[]
Main article: Where It All Began
After defeating John Seed, Jacob Seed and Faith Seed, and going back to where it all began, the Deputy raids Joseph’s compound with the members of the Resistance, but the Bliss is used to control the Resistance members, who then turn on the Sheriff and his deputies, capturing Pratt, Whitehorse and Hudson. Joseph gives the Deputy a choice to either walk away, to save their friends or fight him.
Resist[]
Main article: Resist
If the Deputy chooses to resist Joseph, they must fight everyone in the compound to free them from the Bliss by downing and reviving them. After freeing everyone, Joseph attacks and causes a final confrontation in the battle. Following his defeat, Joseph will prophetically quote Luke 23:34, followed by Revelation 16:1, as nuclear bombs detonate and destroy Hope County.
With many either dying from the initial blast or being burned alive in the subsequent inferno, the Deputy, Whitehorse, Pratt, Hudson, and Joseph attempt to drive to Dutch's nearby bunker. A distressed Pratt leaps into the passenger seat where Whitehorse is sitting, all while repeating "we're not gonna make it," distracting the Deputy and causing them to crash into a collapsing tree, killing all but Joseph and the Deputy. Joseph carries them into Dutch's bunker, in a scene that mirrors Dutch carrying them into the bunker at the very beginning of the game. Upon gaining full consciousness, the Deputy awakens chained to the bed, with Dutch's corpse lying beside them, presumably killed by Joseph. Joseph admits that while he should kill the Deputy for all they've done, he forgives them and shows 'mercy', saying that he can't kill them as they're the only person that he has left. He welcomes the Deputy to his family as his child.
Walk Away[]
Main article: Walk Away
If the Deputy chooses to Walk Away, Joseph will forgive them and their friends. Joseph, being a man of his word, frees Pratt, Whitehorse and Hudson and lets them go at the cost of the Resistance now being under his control. However, shooting is heard as Sheriff's Department leave the compound, leaving fate of the Resistance unknown. The Sheriff says he isn't going to abandon them and vows that they will come back with the National Guard to free Hope County by force. The Sheriff turns on the radio for the long trip, however "Only You" begins to play, which triggers the classical conditioning Jacob trained the Deputy with. They suddenly turn around, and the fate of everyone in the car - including the Deputy - is left unknown, however it can be assumed the Deputy killed or attempted to kill everyone in the car. When combined with the "Resist" ending, there is no way for the player to actually win.
Far Cry New Dawn[]
Main article: The Judge
In Far Cry New Dawn, the Junior Deputy has become a new character known as The Judge. It is revealed through notes found in the game that whilst spending time in the bunker with Joseph, they started to believe in him and began wanting to "cleanse" themselves of sin.
The Judge is referred to by several characters, such as Pastor Jerome, Hurk and Carmina Rye as "Deputy" or other terms. Hurk comments on the character as "still the silent type."
Trivia[]
- The Deputy is one of the survivors of the nuclear holocaust, and the only law enforcement officer in Hope County who survived it as well.
- Although the Junior Deputy is conditioned by Jacob Seed, they can still listen to the trigger song, "Only You", at liberated outposts' radio sets, or on car radios, without any ill-effects.
- The Junior Deputy is the first player character in the Far Cry series who is fully customizable.
- If the player chooses the Deputy's gender to be female, this would technically make the female version of the Junior Deputy the first playable female character in the Far Cry series, if the co-op missions in Far Cry 3 are not taken as canon.
- The Junior Deputy is the first mute Protagonist in the entire franchise.
- The closest the Deputy gets to speaking is through grunts or pain-induced noises. The only voice sample is the deputy being annoyed at failing a fish capture, muttering "shit..." under their breath.
- The Junior Deputy would be the second mute protagonist if one counts Far Cry 2. In that game, the nine playable characters only speak when they are NPCs but are silent when controlled by the player. The Captain from New Dawn is the second (or third, considering Far Cry 2).
- The Junior Deputy is often seen on wanted posters. However, the cult posters are generated based on your current appearance; if you change your outfit, the wanted posters are immediately updated, even if you are looking at one of them.
- The outfit worn by the Deputy during the prologue purposely obscures the player's appearance such as skin tone or body as the player has not yet customized their appearance.
- The Junior Deputy is the first protagonist who is a law enforcement agent.
- The Junior Deputy is the first player character in the Far Cry series not to use a knife or machete as their basic melee weapon; this is likely because they as a police officer (as opposed to a soldier or mercenary) and therefore would not be expected to carry such weapons during the scope of their job, or have knife fighting as part of their training. The only time the Junior Deputy uses a knife (other than throwing knives) is when cutting Deputy Pratt free from his chair in Jacob's Armory.
- There are different variants of the same outfits depending on the chosen gender. An example is that the "Badass" shirt is tied up just below the chest for the female, while the male has a tank-top variant of the same design.
- The Junior Deputy is the one of the two Far Cry protagonists who hold their gun at their hip rather than shoulder when standing. The other is The Security Captain.
- After completing the main story in the New Game+ mode on the Infamous difficulty the player will be rewarded with the "Rook" outfit as a Ubisoft Club reward.
- The Junior Deputy is the only protagonist of the Far Cry series to canonically "lose", as they failed to stop Joseph Seed, which consequently led to their capture/brainwashing by him, and their transformation into The Judge.
- Kim Rye notes that they are a skilled pilot who could compete with her husband Nick Rye.