| “ | I will not be remembered as the man who lost this city to those vile creatures! | „ |
| ~ Baron Praxis |
| “ | Remember, the first rule of making a bomb is to always make two. | „ |
| ~ Baron Praxis' last words. |
Baron Praxis is an unjust ruler of Haven City and the secondary antagonist of Jak II. He is a corrupt and tyrannical monarch who proclaims himself "Grand Protector of Haven City". But there is more, Praxis made a deal with the leader of the Metal Heads in order to sustain his control over the city and to scare the citizens with the Metal Heads to give people something else to worry about other than to try to overthrow the Baron.
He was voiced by Clancy Brown, who also played Mr. Eugene H. Krabs in Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants, Dr. Neo Cortex and Uka Uka in the Crash Bandicoot videogame franchise, Lex Luthor in both Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League, Hades in the God of War videogame series, and Reverend J.D. Gospel in Little Evil.
History
Praxis seized the throne of Haven City by force during the height of the Metal Head Wars by betraying King Damas, who was the rightful monarch of the city as the descendant of Mar, the founder of Haven City. Damas was banished to the Wasteland. However, Damas' son (later revealed to be Jak before he was sent to the past) escaped. Ever since Praxis had been looking for the child as he knew the boy would become the next rightful heir to the throne.
The Baron has a daughter, Ashelin, who was born in the Haven Palace, suggesting he was of high-rank already before rising to power.
At some point before or after becoming the ruler of Haven City, the Baron led a failed assault on the Metal Head Nest which resulted in the loss of much of the right side of his face. After Praxis took the throne by force, Asheling secretly joined "The Underground", a resistance group dedicated to overthrow Praxis and restore the House of Mar as the rightful rulers of the city.
Deal with the Metal Heads
The Baron ruled Haven City with an iron fist, having the Krimzon Guard, enforcing unjust laws and killing anyone who resisted, such as the Underground. When the Metal Heads broke into the city and destroyed a part of the town that later came to be known as "Dead Town", Baron Praxis cut a desperate deal with the Metal Head Leader, Kor, so that the Metal Heads would attack the city just enough to give the people something else to think about other than overthrowing the Baron. The Baron then initiated a so-called policy called the Baron Eco Fund to gather more Eco desired by the Metal Heads to honor the deal with them and to keep himself in power. As time went by, Praxis started running low on Eco and the Metal Heads quickly ran low on patience, with their leader threatening to end their deal if Praxis cannot supply them with enough Eco.
The Dark Warrior Program
Praxis could not endlessly supply Metal Heads with Eco, so (likely under influence from Erol) he began to plot against them by experimenting with Dark Eco to create "Dark Warriors" to use against the Metal Heads. However, the subjects Praxis used in his experiments never survived being exposed to the Dark Eco (besides Jak). He somehow gained knowledge of Jak (probably from Kor so Jak would not release the precursor from the Precursor Stone if he was pure, who was to arrive in Haven City from the past. When Jak (along with Daxter, Samos and Keira) landed in Haven City, Praxis immediately ordered Erol to arrest him. He treated Jak as an experiment in the Dark Warrior Program for two years, but when the final experiment on Jak was put in place, he was deemed a failure. Miraculously, Jak did not die. Praxis ordered Erol to execute Jak just before Daxter broke into the Krimzon Guard Fortress and rescued Jak.
The Hunt for the Precursor Stone
With the Dark Warrior Program brought to an end, Praxis started on a new plan to use the lost heir of Mar to locate Mar's tomb, in which the fabled Precursor Stone was said to be hidden. While deceiving Metal Kor on a secret meeting in the Palace, Praxis noticed Jak and Daxter, now working for the Underground, eavesdropping on his plans. Praxis confronted and attacked Jak on the Palace roof with one of his attack mechs, but was defeated and escaped.
When Praxis found out about the Underground being close to finding the Precursor Stone, he threatened to kill his daughter Ashelin for spying unless Torn sold out the Underground members in the expedition into Mar's Tomb. After capturing Samos, Kor and the kid, he then ambushed Jak inside the tomb and stole the Precursor Stone. In doing so, Praxis unknowingly saved the city because otherwise Kor would've taken the Stone for himself.
The Final Plan
Praxis then struck a deal with Krew, who was building a Piercer Bomb to crack open the Stone and use the explosion to destroy the Metal Head Nest, without realizing that this would destroy the entire planet. With help from Ashelin, Jak destroyed the Piercer Bomb along with Krew in Praxis's weapons factory.
The late crime lord had, however, double-crossed Praxis and let the Metal Heads inside the city, ultimately driving Baron Praxis to attempt to destroy the Stone with a second Piercer Bomb hidden in the Construction Site. Jak and Daxter caught up with him, but Kor appeared and revealed his true form as the Metal Head Leader. Kor demanded the Precursor Stone from Praxis, but he refused and valiantly attacked Kor along with a squad of Krimzon Guards. Kor blasted Praxis and his guards away with his energy blast, causing much of the construction site to collapse over them and mortally wounding Praxis.
In his final moments, Praxis confessed that he always hoped Jak would be the ultimate weapon to save Haven City from the Metal Heads, which was the whole purpose of the "Dark Warrior" program. Praxis showed Jak a second Piercer Bomb where the Precursor Stone was hidden, and died. Daxter detached the Precursor Stone form the bomb and Jak used it to kill Metal Kor for good.
His daughter Ashelin soon became the new ruler of Haven City after her father Praxis died.
Appearance
Praxis is a strongly built middle-aged man with a brown beard with traces of white. Half of his face is mechanically replaced due to injuries he sustained during an attack on the Metal Head Nest. He wears a royal Krimzon Guard uniform and has a glowing green Eco sword.
Personality
Praxis seemed to be mentally unstable and austere. In the propaganda machines within Haven City, he often complained about how lazy the citizens are and how dirty Haven City is. Praxis was very power hungry and was determined to stay on the throne, even if it came down to making deals with the enemy. In fact, he was so obsessed with power, that he was even willing to sacrifice his own daughter to gain the mystical Precursor Stone. Torn, Jak and Daxter believed he would have followed up on this. He cared little about the feelings of others, treating Jak and Lurkers like lab rats and slaves. In the end he partly admitted his defeat, calling Jak a supreme weapon and left the task of destroying Kor to him. It was also shown here that despite his many personality flaws he does have some honor deep down. When the Metal Heads were attacking Haven City none of the Krimzon Guards attacked Jak and Daxter anymore, although it is unknown if it is because they were too busy fighting the Metal Heads or because Praxis called off the bounty.
Trivia
- Praxis shares his voice actor with Dr. Neo Cortex and Uka Uka, the main villains from Crash Bandicoot, Naughty Dog's previous franchise before Jak and Daxter.
- Praxis's name actually originates from the word "practice", meaning that he always was only preparing and never did something actual.
- Praxis in Old Greek (Praksis) literally means "crime", which holds with his personality and things he did during his leadership.
- Praxis's name also has "axis" which could be a pun on the Axis Powers.
- Praxis also has propaganda broadcasts throughout the city which uses recordings of his voice.
- Although dead, Baron Praxis appeared in the non-canon model viewer explaining hilarious things like his need to be neglected on set for being a bad-guy, his anger toward the producers for not using a stunt double for his death scene and his love for the script, plus not being resurrected in Jak 3. He is also mentioned by Damas before Jak protects the Spargus Gate. In Haven City, sometimes Freedom League Guards say "I miss the old Baron".
- Despite being a major antagonist throughout most of the game, Praxis unintentionally helped Jak save Haven City twice:
- His Dark Eco experiment gave Jak his "Dark Jak" form, which helped Jak survive Kor's initial attack during the final battle at the Metal Head Nest and reforms.
- By stealing the Precursor Stone from Mar's Tomb, Praxis prevented Kor from getting the Stone.