How Dark and Twisted is Far Cry 5’s Joseph Seed? As it Turns Out, Pretty Damn Dark

We’ve shown off a few of the goofier aspects of Far Cry 5 recently, from the alien microwave gun that vaporizes enemies to the Blood Dragon mission that has players helping a director shoot a low-budget Blood Dragon film. Our review talked about the imbalance of these goofier moments with the very dark themes it tries to explore. Many of the game’s characters are one-dimensional caricatures, existing as little more than obnoxious stereotypes. Its villains, however, are another story entirely.

The Far Cry series has always had a particular talent with villains though. They’ve made them ruthlessly psychotic, like Vaas in Far Cry 3. They’ve blurred the lines between right and wrong, good and bad, such as Pagan Min in Far Cry 4. And then we have Joseph Seed, Far Cry 5’s religious zealot paragon who believes wholly and completely in his god and the revelations he believes he’s been given. How deep does his belief run? Well, there are some minor spoilers for the a portion of Jacob Seed’s region of the game below that show just what kinds of things The Father is capable of.

Minor Far Cry 5 Story and Character Spoilers Below

We already know that he’s capable of inciting mass murder, manipulation, and other atrocities to huge groups of strangers, but what about his own flesh and blood. During one of the times when you are captured by Jacob Seed, the player gets a visit from The Father himself. He leans in close, as Far Cry villains love to do, and tells us that God is testing all of us. And then we get to learn about his test.

Apparently Joseph Seed had a pregnant wife. He admits to being terrified of being a father and failing his child. Then his wife ended up in an accident. She died, but the doctors were able to save Seed’s child. His arms held the innocent infant girl, and as he looked upon her, he realized he was being tested by God. You know where this is going. You can watch the video above to hear Seed relay the entire story without a shred of remorse or regret, fully believing that he walks the right path.

While it’s not entirely clear if this moment is Seed’s origin story as The Father, the psychological details do line up. Remember that we aren’t necessarily being told facts about Joseph Seed’s past. We’re being told a story as he wants us to hear it. Initially he admits to being scared to be a father. When faced with raising his daughter alone, he commits the unspeakable. Seed claims it was in response to a test from God, but it’s more likely that’s his justification. After not being able to live with himself, he took up the entire mantle of his excuse. He became entranced with spreading the test of God, and takes on others as his children to fill the void for the daughter he murdered. He became The Father the moment he ended his daughters life.

Sadly, these dark and heavy moments are sandwiched between things like the Testicle Festival, alien conspiracies, and other safe but highly goofy caricatures of rural American life. There are a number of times when it feels like the Far Cry 5 story had something meaningful to say on the subject of religious fanaticism and extreme belief in ideals, but as soon as it does make these powerful statements, it undermines them with another silly moment.

Do you think that the Far Cry 5 villains are the darkest in the series yet? What would you like to see Far Cry do next? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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