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| “ | God will not let you take me! | „ |
| ~ Joseph Seed |
Joseph Seed (also known as "The Father") is the main antagonist of Far Cry 5 and the leader of the Project at Eden's Gate - a militaristic doomsday cult that has overtaken rural Hope County in Montana. Believing the end of days is upon the world, Seed believes that he has been chosen by God to save the souls of Hope County (whether they like it or not) and uses torture, kidnapping, intimidation, drugs and violence to achieve his goals.
Joseph Seed once again appears as an anti-hero in the sequel Far Cry: New Dawn as the leader of a successor group called New Eden, who unlike their predecessors, choose to live in peace and live off the beauty of post-war Hope County. Despite their neutrality, Joseph's New Eden remains locked in a war with the Highwaymen.
He was portrayed by Greg Bryk.
Biography
Background
| “ | Did you know that I had a wife? So beautiful, isn't she? We were pregnant with our first child. And we were just babies ourselves really. And I was terrified. On becoming a father. Mostly about money. She wasn't worried. She had faith that things were going to work out. She always had faith… | „ |
| ~ Joseph Seed |
Joseph was the second-oldest brother of the Seed family with Jacob being the oldest and John the youngest. According to him, their family was broken apart by reasons unknown which led his parents to abuse John and Jacob to defend the two of them.
At some point in his life, Joseph was married to an unnamed woman who was pregnant with his daughter. After a car accident that ended with her death, Joseph was handed a pink bundle of tubes that was his daughter, presumably supplying oxygen based on his description of her reaction. Claiming this was his test from God, Joseph removed the tubes and killed his own daughter.
Increasing in power and followers through his own religious organization - the Project at Eden's Gate ( the members pejoratively referred to as "Peggies" by locals), Seed claimed dominance of a rural Montana town called Hope County which is run by him and his Heralds - his siblings. Seed's iron-fisted rule sparked the attention of the authorities, none of whom could do anything to stop him as he had informants in the law enforcement and National Guard which made it impossible to arrest him or help the locals. Nevertheless, Hope County sparked a Resistance with the goal of eliminating the Peggies
Any new members of the cult are broken by John whom forces them to confess and atone their sins through torture, then are trained and brainwashed further by Jacob. Resistance is further destroyed by Faith who supplies the inhabitants with "Bliss", a euphoric drug that keeps the user zombie-like and obedient.
Events of Far Cry 5
| “ | Joseph Seed - he's not a man to be fucked with | „ |
| ~ Sheriff Whitehorse to Marshal Burke about Jospeh Seed. |
The Junior Deputy, Hudson, Pratt, Sheriff Whitehorse and Marshal Burke all enter Hope County with a warrant for Joseph Seed's arrest. Upon landing they are met with hundreds of well-armed cultists.
They enter a church where a shirtless Seed is in the middle of a passionate sermon where he forewarns his followers of the oncoming "Collapse". He stops, however, when he realises the police with the intent to arrest him. Despite the hostility of his followers who also realise this, Seed calmly sends them outside with the exception of his siblings and awaits his arrest, confident that God will not allow his "savior" to be taken. When he is handcuffed and marched to the helicopter, the Peggies become much more aggressive - one desperately clings onto the leg of the chopper and even allowed himself to be sucked into the spinning blades to stop the Father being arrested. In this chaos, Seed remains calm and continues his hymn.
The Deputy awakens upside-down whilst still strapped into the helicopter, in front of him is a serene Seed who calmly repeats what he told them in the church - that God wouldn't let them take him. He contacts dispatch, who is a follower and she tells the authorities the situation is under control, making it clear to the deputies that no-one will come to save them. Exiting the helicopter, Seed is greeted with his followers and uses the attempt to arrest him as a sign of the Collapse is coming true and "begins the reaping". As the helicopter burns, Seed claims it's their punishment from God, though Burke and the Deputy escape.
As the Deputy and Whitehorse escape and join the Resistance, Hudson is kidnapped and tortured by John, Pratt is mentally enslaved by Jacob and Burke is held hostage by Faith using an overdose of Bliss.
During the Deputy's atonement, Joseph reprimanded his younger brother for using the ceremony to sadistically torture his enemy further, calmly and subtly threatening him about being locked out of Eden's Gate. Joseph looks at the Deputy and believes they are not above salvation, leaving them at the mercy of John.
Joseph appears to the Deputy in a Bliss-induced hallucination in the middle of a sermon with his cultists, one of which is Marshal Burke. Despite the individuals actions, Joseph greets them with the same serenity and kindness. He attempts to explain the goals of himself and his followers, claiming that he was chosen by God for this mission and did not ask for it. Elaborating further, Joseph shows the Deputy his vision of the Collapse by a massive explosion and the entire world bathed in fire - he ends this vision by explaining his goals of wanting to return to the pure ways in his new Eden with as many saved souls as possible.
After having Jacob kidnap the Deputy, Joseph explains his backstory about when he was poor and how he and his wife were expecting their first child. After an accident that killed his wife, Joseph rushed to the hospital and was handled a pink bundle of tubes that was his daughter. Realising that God was giving him a test to show his faith, Joseph "sacrificed" his own daughter by holding the tubes to her mouth until she stopped kicking and realised his calling in life. He uses this story to explain that the Deputy must now sacrifice and leaves them in Jacob's hands.
With Holland Valley, Whitetail Mountain and Henbane Valley all liberated and John, Jacob and Faith all dead, Joseph is deeply outraged at the deaths of his family and calls the Deputy for a final showdown to where it all began - the church the marshals where they first tried to arrest him. Waiting for the Deputy, The Father has many Bliss containers ready and their brainwashed allies have kidnapped Hudson, Pratt and Whitehorse at gunpoint. When the Deputy arrives, Joseph offers the Deputy a final chance to walk away with his friends unharmed if they leave him and Eden's Gate alone.
Alternate Endings
Resist Ending
| “ | Every slight. Every injustice. Every choice reveals our SIN! John was wrong. Your sin is not wrath. You would rather watch the world suffer and burn than swallow your pride. "And the Lamb broke the sixth seal and lo, there was a great earthquake… The sun became black and the moon turned to blood…" | „ |
| ~ Joseph Seed in the "Resist" ending. |
If the Deputy chooses to decline Joseph's offer, he furiously declares their sin, to not be "Wrath" as John believed but "Pride". As Joseph repeats a bible quote, the wind becomes much more violent and he turns over the Bliss containers causing the Deputy to hallucinate. In the vision they are trapped outside the church in the middle of a severe thunder and lightning storm and have to fight their Bliss-brainwashed Marshals, Gun For Hires and allies throughout Hope County before the combined manpower and effort are all able to defeat Seed. A neutralised Joseph continues his bible quote as an air raid siren can be heard and the birds begin fleeing - a massive nuclear bomb goes off in the distance, The Collapse that The Father predicted has come to pass and Joseph begins sing a hymn as the end of the world he foretold has come true. The Deputy, Whitehorse, Pratt and Hudson all attempt to escape the blast via truck with the captured Joseph and take shelter in Dutch's bunker as the sky becomes blood red, the birds all die and the trees catch fire. The car eventually crashes in front of a tree, which kills Whitehorse, Pratt and Hudson, but a freed Joseph and the unconscious Deputy both survive. When the Deputy awakens Joseph has commandeered Dutch's bunker, murdered Dutch and handcuffed them to the bed. Joseph is satisfied with the end of his world as he was correct though he does express a desire to kill the Deputy for murdering his family but instead chooses to make them a part of his "family" so they can reclaim and rebuild the world anew once The Collapse is over. It is possible that by considering him his "family," he intends to indoctrinate the Deputy.
Walk Away Ending
| “ | "Judge not, and you will not be judged. Condemned not, and you will not be condemned. Forgive… and you will be forgiven." Take your friends my child and go. | „ |
| ~ Joseph Seed in the Walk Away ending. |
If the Deputy decides to walk away, Joseph thanks the player for their decision, and they leave with Sheriff Whitehorse and Hudson and Pratt whilst Joseph Seed stays in Hope County with their brainwashed friends. Whilst Hudson is angered by this directions and nearly refuses to leave, Pratt is happy to go and vows to never return to Hope County. Whitehorse accepts the Deputy's decision as he vows to return with the National Guard, save the civilians and destroy the cult and Joseph Seed. While in the car Sheriff Whitehorse turns on the radio which happens to be tuned to a station playing "Only You" performed by The Platters. As the screen turns red this proves that Jacob Seeds brainwashing of the Junior Deputy using Classical Conditioning was successful. The song, serving as the stimulus, leads to the reflexive response of the Junior Deputy assumedly killing all of his police comrades.
Secret Ending
In the prologue if the Deputy does not arrest The Father immediately and spends around 5 minutes waiting, Whitehorse, who was against apprehending Joseph head on knowing that they would be ambushed and possibly killed, lowers Joseph's hands and orders the group to leave. Despite Burke's objections to this and claiming that he will have the Sheriff and Deputy arrested, Whitehorse asserts that it is "better to leave well enough alone" and the group leaves the church (he also states this during the walk away ending).
Far Cry: New Dawn
Joseph has been confirmed to appear in the new Far Cry game New Dawn. The "Resist" ending and the nuclear holocaust have been confirmed as canon, with the game taking place in Hope County seventeen years after the nuclear war. Joseph appears in the trailer, expressing disappointment in the new world that has emerged after the Collapse.
Personality
| “ | You judge me. You judge us. The things that we have done… but people say… that I'm crazy, but when you wake up in the morning you look at the same news that I do. Do your eyes not fill with horror? This is the world?! This? This is the world we have built for our children? Communities being torn apart. Walls being erected. Because leaders are too impotent to act. Bullies are too addled to lead righteously. I did not ask for this. I was chosen. | „ |
| ~ Joseph Seed |
Despite his charismatic nature and psychopathic actions, in conversations Joseph Seed has shown to be a quiet individual with a capacity for mercy. Though he shows no hesitance in inflicting violence on those who might resist him, he has shown that he has a capacity for forgiveness and doesn't actively seek violence. Even after the Deputy had murdered his siblings, he was willing to allow them to leave Hope County with their friends unarmed to avoid any further bloodshed.
Joseph does display that he cared about his family and followers as he has made it his personal mission in life to protect them from "The Collapse". When they are murdered, Jospeh's calmness completely erodes and he screams in grief and rage towards the Deputy. Nevertheless, there has shown to be some dominance in Joseph's interactions with his siblings. He subtly threatened John to make sure the Deputy reaches Atonement or "the Gates of Eden shall be shut [to him]" and Faith seems in fear of whatever punishment Joseph might react to her failures. However, Joseph and Jacob show a more equal relationship due to him being the oldest brother.
Joseph truly believes that he was chosen by God to save the world. It is ambiguous whether this was true or simply a Messiah Complex as a result of his insanity but his premonition did actually come to pass if the Deputy chose to resist him. He had no doubt in the righteousness of his mission but even showed a degree of satisfaction that the world was ending, simply because it was proof he was right all along. His reactionary attitude is firmly placed in how corrupt the world has become believing that the only way for humanity to survive is to return to the days of Eden. Whilst he was aware that he was not a "perfect man", Joseph Seed's every action was ultimately what he believed himself to be the righteous hand of God.
Seed spoke calmly and quietly when he spoke but often enunciated his words in sentences to convey a sense of malice to his enemies.
Gallery
Trivia
- At the age of 44, Seed is the youngest main antagonist in the Far Cry series, beating Hoyt Volker of Far Cry 3, who was 45. At the same time, Seed will have the oldest confirmed age of any Far Cry villain in Far Cry: New Dawn, being at the age on 61 by the time of the game's events.
- Seed is the only Far Cry antagonist to survive the events of the game no matter which ending is taken.
- Despite Seed's role in the game, his voice actor Greg Bryk does not consider him a villain.