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A Look At Ubisoft's Controversial Villain (Far Cry 4's Pagan Min)

This seems to be the first real breakdown from UBI that we've seen about this guy

“We wanted someone who was a new generation of criminal who would piss off his father and had a bit of punk-rock mentality,” says Far Cry 4 narrative director Mark Thompson. “But we couldn’t latch onto the visuals. We had these Gaddafi-style concepts of a guy in ridiculous military garb who had given himself fake ribbons as prizes. It looked cool, but it wasn’t original.”

Ubisoft Montreal eventually honed in on characters like Beat Takeshi from Brother and Ichi from a Japanese movie called Ichi the Killer. Both of the characters from those films wore vibrant suits that helped them stand out from the crowd
. This inspired Ubisoft Montreal’s concept artists to render Pagan in a bright pink suit.

The redrafted story became about a young man named Pagan Min. However, Pagan’s birth name is actually Gang Min. Born the son of a mid-level drug boss in Hong Kong, the Min family was well off, but not without its conflicts. Pagan’s mother was a British expatriate, and Pagan’s mixed heritage caused his father a great deal of shame among the criminal elite.

As Pagan grew up, he started to work for his father, but his father was always a small fish in a big pond and Pagan had bigger ambitions. Pagan saw his father – and his contemporaries – as relics of the past. They were dinosaurs, and it was time for a change.

“Pagan was a bit of an outsider to his father,” says Thompson. “He’s always been a bit of a peacock; slightly more flamboyant than his father was comfortable with. So after his father was killed, Pagan took the name Pagan Min – naming himself after the Burmese King who killed his father. That was Pagan’s message, he didn’t want to say that he killed his father, but he named himself after the man who did.”

Looking for sanctuary, Pagan sought refuge in a small failed state in the midst of a civil war. This country was Kyrat, and Pagan believed he could become the country’s savior. In 1987, as an arrogant 21-year-old, Pagan entered Kyrat and began a bloody siege that ended only after Pagan was firmly seated on the throne.

The young overlord’s new Royal Army corrupted existing business and infrastructure, and many of the profits from the heroin trade boosted Pagan’s coffers. Kyrat’s new monarch even planted his face on the money, and his official department of communications started blasting propaganda from radio towers scattered across the country. Kyrat became a fractured reflection of its narcissistic ruler.

In order to realistically portray such a sadistic yet colorful character, Ubisoft knew that they’d need a strong, charismatic actor. Ubisoft landed on veteran voice actor Troy Baker, who’s roles as Booker DeWitt in Bioshock Infinite, Joel in The Last of Us, and Delsin Rowe in Infamous: Second Son (as well as dozen’s of other characters) have made Baker a familiar voice in the industry.

“There was something arresting about his performance,” says Thompson. “We saw probably 100 to 200 video auditions beforehand, and up until that point we hadn’t seen anyone who had the confidence that Pagan Min needed. This is a man who wears a pink suit, takes over a country, installs himself as king, and says, ‘You’re all my subjects, you love me,’ The actors we saw up until that point didn’t have that. Troy Baker, right now, knows that he’s hot s---. He has an air of confidence. The room was silent when he auditioned.”

Pagan may be powerful, but his power isn’t unchallenged. Early into Pagan’s leadership, a resistance movement led by a man named Mohan Ghale frustrated Pagan’s supremacy with tactful guerilla skirmishes. However, Mohan and Pagan weren’t just fighting for a country; they were fighting for the love of a woman named Ishwari. When this awkward love triangle ended with Mohan’s death, Ishwari fled the country, and Pagan retreated into his palace, leaving Kyrat to his lunatic governors.

This is where players enter into the story. As Mohan’s son – a man named Ajay Ghale – players return to Kyrat for the first time since they were a child in order to scatter their mother’s ashes across the top of Kyrat’s tallest mountain.

This is the opponent players will have to face down as soon as they cross Kyrat’s borders. Pagan is a psychopathic mess who is terrified of dying alone without a legacy, so how will he treat the son of his one true love and his most hated rival? Players will have to wait until Far Cry 4 releases this fall to find out.

http://www.gameinformer.com/games/f...-look-at-far-cry-4-controversial-villain.aspx
 

GQman2121

Banned
He's not controversial....

It's a shame though because the game looks strong enough to stand on its own as a quality product. But you know Ubi's PR is just loving that billing. It's making their job 100 x's easier leading up to the games release.
 

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
What's so controversial about him?

He looks to be a great villain, I actually am more interested in the game after seeing the trailer because of him, but controversial? Come on.
 
... That description has me intrigued. Controversial he may be (for whatever reason), but he's shaping up to be awesomely evil.

... Come to think of it, I can see the person who killed his da being either A) A mentor figure for the main character, or B) The true villain.
 

x-Lundz-x

Member
Then only thing controversial about him are people looking to make something out of nothing. He sounds like he is going to be a great antagonist.

I just wonder if the protagonist is going to seem dull in comparison.
 

DedValve

Banned
Damn, this character went from visually appealing to massively interesting. I think I just might preorder far cry now.
 

harSon

Banned
What the hell is he talking about? Beat Takeshi wore a generic plain suit in Brother. He was the most plain looking motherfucker in the movie. And Ichi wasn't the person who was flamboyant.
 

Squire

Banned
Ubi didn't lie, but they definitely told a half-truth. He looks white because he is in part.

Interesting plot premise. Much better than FC3. Sets the stage for an interesting relationship.

So the twist is your really his son right?

Oh, goddamnit. That'll probably be the twist, but they'll keep it vague. Min won't be able to prove anything out in the wild.
 

Zomba13

Member
What's so controversial about him?

He looks to be a great villain, I actually am more interested in the game after seeing the trailer because of him, but controversial? Come on.

Some people assumed he was a flamboyant white gay stereotype villian when people saw the box art reveal. Says more about them than Ubi and Pagan though.
 

kasane

Member
people are making an issue out of a non issue.

i'm definitely interested in how they handle both him and the protag
 

BeesEight

Member
Ubi didn't lie, but they definitely told a half-truth. He looks white because he is in part.

That was my first thought when I read that. The racist claims were only half right. :p

While I felt the racism complaints were jumping the gun, the gay controversial looks like it rocketed over on water skis.
 

Gorillaz

Member
Not really holding my breath on a "good" story after how they fudged Farcry 3,

So the twist is your really his son right?

Hmmm.....yea probably
52kIF.png
 

mattiewheels

And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
The thing I really take away from that synopsis is that I'm glad you don't play another fratboy everydude who ridiculously ascends to power. At least here you're part of the struggle from birth.
 

CHC

Member
However, Mohan and Pagan weren’t just fighting for a country; they were fighting for the love of a woman named Ishwari.

Aaaaaaand all the controversy was, predictably, over nothing but assumptions.
 

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
Some people assumed he was a flamboyant white gay stereotype villian when people saw the box art reveal. Says more about them than Ubi and Pagan though.

Oh, that controverse? I thought we are way passed that. I guess it's an easy PR to piggyback on that.
 

so1337

Member
That was Troy? I had no idea. Pretty incredible. At the same time, I think this guy doesn't leave quite as much of a first impression as Vaas did.
 

Kuldar

Member
So the playable character isn't a white man becoming the savior for no logical reason? Cool.

Troy Baker is everywhere, it's crazy.
 

hohoXD123

Member
"However, Mohan and Pagan weren’t just fighting for a country; they were fighting for the love of a woman named Ishwari."

So you're telling me that a character with a colourful suit isn't automatically gay as some recent threads would suggest? Gasp.
 

aly

Member
I hope this teaches people a little bit about patience and stereotyping. Also the story is sounding much better than Far Cry 3.
 

Madness

Member
Nothing was controversial except for people jumping to conclusions yet again and creating controversy. It's really crazy how the knee jerk mentality has taken hold at times. Especially if nothing has been said, or nothing is known.
 
So wait, he wasn't confirmed as gay? So that huge thread complaing about him was formed based on him wearing a pink suit and acting weird?

I thought it was at least confirmed. Daamn, talk about jumping to conclusions. That says a lot more about the people that jumped to conclusions than anything else
 

BeesEight

Member
I hope this teaches people a little bit about patience and stereotyping. Also the story is sounding much better than Far Cry 3.

I'm curious if - given the setup they have - the story touches on some of the ongoing issues between Tibetans and Chinese in its themes. I find it a little funny that the original complaints about some dominating foreign force leering over a local upon broken religious imagery translates pretty well to that conflict with the reveal that the foreigner is Chinese and the man at his feet is a Himalayan.
 

hohoXD123

Member
Wish Ubisoft had released this info at the same time as the reveal or at least very close to it in order to nip these baseless knee-jerk reactions in the bud instead of drip-feeding info on whatever BS schedule they have in place.
 

Toa TAK

Banned
I hope this teaches people a little bit about patience and stereotyping.
Me, too.
I'm curious if - given the setup they have - the story touches on some of the ongoing issues between Tibet and China in its themes. I find it a little funny that the original complaints about some dominating foreign force leering over a local upon broken religious imagery translates pretty well to that conflict with the reveal that the foreigner is Chinese and the man at his feet is a Himalayan.

As incredibly interesting for this game to explore, I highly doubt it. Only because most of the audience wouldn't care. =\ My assumption, though I would like to be proven wrong.

I'd dig it, though.
 
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