After more than a decade, Ubisoft has officially confirmed a long-running fan theory about Far Cry 2's villain, the Jackal, and how the professed character is connected to the original game's protagonist. The Far Cry series is known for its villains and Ubisoft has never fallen short of creating detrimental fiends for their popular narrative-driven action series. Three major villains have so far impinged on protagonists, defining the franchise's narrative by testing players, and the next upcoming installment, Far Cry 6, is set to expand this with a tyrannical dictator.
Originally developed by Crytek, Far Cry was released in 2004 and followed Jack Carver, a former American special forces operative, as he searched for a journalist on a mysterious chain of islands after being attacked and stranded by mercenaries. Though featuring open-world dynamics that created Far Cry's original formula, the title lacked a distinctive villain and introduced an underdeveloped "mad scientist." After obtaining rights to the franchise, Ubisoft went on to develop and release a sequel to the original Far Cry in 2008. Far Cry 2 featured a new style of gameplay with a new setting, branch of characters, and a main villain. Far Cry 2 introduced a notorious yet mysterious arms dealer named the Jackel, which the main protagonist is assigned to locate and kill.
As seen in an interview during IGN's latest Insider Stories documentary, How Far Cry's Iconic Villains Were Created, Far Cry 2's Creative Director, Clint Hocking, has confirmed that the Jackal is indeed the main protagonist of the original Far Cry, Jack Carver. Although an ex-U.S. Army Special Forces operative, the director defines Carver as a "shifty, smuggler, gun runner kind of crook" with Far Cry 2 being set 10 years later to show he stepped up his game as a contrabandist and got involved in central Africa's civil war. "The idea was [the Jackal] is just him, 10 years later or something, after he's seen whatever he saw on this island [during the events of Far Cry]. Maybe it was drug-induced, maybe it's post-traumatic stress disorder, or maybe it's real. "said Hocking.
Fans have been theorizing that the Jackel is Jack Carver for over a decade, with a great deal of evidence suggesting that Carver would later become the most wanted face in the entire continent of Africa. To start, both the Jackal and Carver have similar backgrounds in the army and experience with smuggling weapons. The ending of Far Cry Instincts is also given as further evidence, showing Carver taking a box full of Blood diamonds, which turns out to be a major plot point in Far Cry 2's storyline. Additionally, more evidence can be found in Far Cry 2's game files, with the Jackal's textures being labeled as "jackcarver" even though the character is never appointed by his name in the game.
While one of Far Cry's biggest theories comes to a close, it is still unknown if Jack Carver is alive or dead, as he was never found following Far Cry 2's finale. Ubisoft is however continuing to expand the series with pivotal main villains set to reform the series' main formula and Carver could possibly make a return one day. Till then, however, players can prepare for the next main villain in the series, Antón Castillo, as players the role of a guerilla fighter, to put a stop to the dictator's regime in Far Cry 6, launching October 6th.
Far Cry 6 comes to Google Stadia, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S on October 7, 2021.
Source: IGN, IGN/YouTube