Far Cry 3 is recognized as one of the best video games of the last decade. As a massive Far Cry fan, I can’t help but to look back at the game that changed the Far Cry franchise for the better as it nears its ten-year anniversary.
Set in the tropical Rook Islands, the main antagonist of Far Cry 3 is the eccentric, short-tempered and drug-fueled psychopath that is Vaas Montenegro. Vaas is the venomous spider that weaves a deviously tangled web for the unlikely protagonist, Jason Brody. While completely out of his mind, Vaas does not believe that he is crazy, which is what makes him such an intriguing character.
Vaas seems to uphold to the ‘God Complex’, or the sense that he himself is in complete control of things, including the main character, Jason.
At many points in the game, you get the feeling that Vaas almost wants to keep Jason alive, as sort of a pet that he can torment over and over to his liking. Vaas is always one step ahead of Jason, baiting him along as Jason’s thirst for blood awakens and only grows stronger.
In a way, Jason obtains a part of Vaas as the story moves forward, unravelling his mind and giving him a newfound sense for violence, along with a need to pull away from his friends and family and live a life of his own.
This is the same path that Vaas chose when he left behind his sister, Citra, to serve as a puppet to the game’s final boss, the drug lord and slaver named Hoyt.
It’s unclear whether or not Vaas is truly dead at the end of Far Cry 3, but with last year’s release of Far Cry 6, Vaas Montenegro made his due return.
In the DLC for Far Cry 6, Vaas takes on a major role. We get to see sides of him we hadn’t before, along with reprising his famed psychopathic tendencies. Fire, blood, screaming, and knives will give you flashbacks to the Rook Islands circa 2012.
The return of Vaas has been long awaited by Far Cry fans for nearly a decade, and last year we got to have our cake and eat it, too. Vaas’ appearance was Far Cry’s near joy in 2021. However, many agree that there is still so much more to uncover about Vaas Montenegro.
Hell, I wouldn’t even be the first to say that an origin story film is due for Vaas. This has the potential to be one of the rare video game-to-film adaptations that are actually widely successful, and we already know that the cult following for Vaas is very much here and still relevant today.
The story certainly isn’t over for me, and if I have to, I will write the screenplay myself. There are several plot points already that could definitely be built upon.
The questions that come to my mind are:
1. Why did Vaas leave his family behind to work for Hoyt in the first place? Wasn’t he the heir to the Rakyat?
2. How did he get those scars, and did that push him to want to leave his people behind?
3. It’s no secret that growing up in an abusive environment can lead to substance abuse and drug addiction. So what really happened to Vaas to make him this way?
4. Is there a possibility that Citra isn’t the great leader that we thought she was? Could she have been be a driving force for Vaas’ split from the family?
5. What makes a psychopath a psychopath, and is Vaas a character that can be redeemed at all?
There is so much more to discover about this iconic villain, and we want mas Vaas!
If you want to see more Vaas, share this article around with the hashtag #MasVaas
Above all of these questions, there is just one that echoes across my mind time and time again…
…Have I ever told you the definition of insanity? |THIS ENT
[By Sydney Walters]
