Faux

Faux is one of the Big 3 of New Amsterdam. He was particularly famous among writers for never getting caught by the police. Unfortunately, at one point he did in fact get caught, though luckily he was able to break out thanks to Tryce. This leads to Faux have a huge impact on the story of the game.
== Role in the Story ==
We first see Faux in the game at the police bureau, where he has been locked up in a cell. Berlage and a group of officers pass by his cell while discussing how to handle an ongoing situation at the bureau. An explosion of some sort rocks the building, causing Faux to look up at the door to his cell.
Tryce ends up passing by his cell, and Faux asks for help to get out. Tryce questions why Faux is locked up in the first place, commenting on how Faux doesn’t look like “the criminal type” to him. He even calls Faux “pretty boy” to emphasize that.
Regardless, Tryce picks the lock to Faux’s cell, and the two of them go through the rest of the bureau to find someway to escape. Along the way, the two of them introduce themselves to each other, with Tryce being shocked to learn Faux’s name.
Towards the end of their time at the bureau, Tryce is trying to picklock a door leading to the roof of the bureau, but then Rietveld arrives at the scene to apprehend them. Faux fights her off, and shortly afterwards Tryce finishes picking the door’s lock.
Faux mentions how he feels he can trust Tryce, and they might as well be crewmates at this rate. Tryce responds that if Faux were part of his crew, they could go All City together. Thus, Faux offers to do just that, as long as Tryce can get both of them out of the bureau alive. Tryce accepts, and both writers head up to the roof.
There, they pass by DJ Cyber, who has already fought off several police officers. Faux glances at him as they continue running by, while the DJ drops a police officer he was holding by the head. As they reach the edge of the roof, Tryce and Faux jump off. At that moment, DJ Cyber throws a larger vinyl record at Faux, decapitating him. What’s left of Faux and Tryce end up falling into a canal down below.
Despite the setback, Tryce at least managed to recover Faux’s body, though not his head. Thus, he goes to the Flesh Prince for help, who sets up Faux’s body with its own cyberhead, resulting in Red. Later on at the hideout, Tryce explains to Red that his “previous head” was Faux, a writer with amazing skills to the point of being part of the Big 3 of New Amsterdam.
Tryce still wants to keep his end of the deal with Faux in order to have the legendary writer be part of the Bomb Rush Crew. Part of that is to try and get Faux’s head back. At this point, Tryce assumes his head was stolen by DJ Cyber, and thus he, Bel, and Red work together to confront the DJ and get Faux’s head back.
At certain points of the game, Red goes through dream stages in his own mind, which are meant to help Red recover forgotten memories. At the end of the first dream stage after BRC beat the Franks, Faux appears, seemingly pushing Red off of a building.
Sometime after that, back at the hideout, Tryce explains that Faux, DJ Cyber, and another legendary writer named Felix were all part of the Big 3 of the city’s graffiti scene. They worked together but also competed against each other to go All City, with Felix winning out in the end. However, eventually Felix was killed, and Tryce suspects that both Faux and DJ Cyber know more about what actually happened to Felix.
Red ends up determined to go All City in order to get Faux’s head back from DJ Cyber. Red mentions wanting to know more about his roots, meaning who he was as Faux. While Red attempts to go off on his own, Tryce stops him, emphasizing that they’re going to go All City as a crew and save Faux together.
Meanwhile, at the police bureau, Berlage and Rietveld go over Faux’s files, with him being referred to with his full legal name, “Teun Vogelaar”. An officer states that Faux is the best candidate for their program, based on his knowledge of the city’s graffiti scene and his apparent hostility towards other writers. Berlage also mentions how Faux’s father was an officer on the force. While Rietveld advises against using Faux for the project, Berlage simply responds that Reitveld’s objection has been noted.
In the next two dream stages of the game, there is a growing implication that the memories Red is trying to recover do not actually belong to Faux himself. At the end of the stage after beating Eclipse, Red meets a man with a wing tattoo on his face. However, once Faux appears again, the other man disappears, and Red is again seemingly pushed off a building by Faux.
During a cutscene between Escher and Berlage at the bureau, they go to the Project Algo control room. It is assumed that by this point, Faux has already become a major part of the project, though he is not named directly in this particular cutscene. Escher is instructed to interface with “the subject”, i.e. Faux. Unfortunately, during this process, Escher’s eyes turn red, implying that he has been taken over by Faux. Further scenes later in the game, particularly one at Millennium Mall, also hint at Faux doing the same to most of the other officers on the force, if not otherwise misdirecting them himself.
At the end of the dream stage after beating DOT EXE, both Red and the tattooed man from before are at the top of their respective ladders, doing graffiti. Red points out Faux at the foot of their ladders, saying they can trust him to keep them steady. However, the dream soon ends after that, with Faux looking up at Red, followed by a shot of one of the ladders falling to the ground.
A bit after Red wakes up and the rest of BRC leave the mall, Rietveld is at the scene of the murder of the DOT EXE leader. She questions if “that guy”, i.e. Faux, had anything to do with this. She also mentions how she always knew he was “bad news” ever since he tried to escape. She has a flashback to the night of that escape, showing that Faux’s head was recovered shortly after he and Tryce tried to escape the bureau.
As the flashback continues, we learn that Berlage insisted on using Faux for Project Algo, making the writer a core part of it. The project itself was made to predict crime, in this case using Faux’s knowledge of writer activities in particular to track them down. While Rietveld continues to protest against using Faux for the project, deeming it too risky, Berlage insists that he’ll be able to keep an eye on Faux and have the project continue as planned.
During the dream stage after beating both Devil Theory and DJ Cyber, there is a flashback to a conversation between Vinyl and Felix concerning Faux. Vinyl warns him that she has a bad feeling about Faux. Felix says that “even a guy like Faux can change”, emphasized by a mention of how he hasn’t even seen Faux since he went All City by himself. He also explains how he’ll only be meeting with Faux for just a one night session anyways, thinking nothing bad will happen.
The scene shifts to Felix doing graffiti at the top of a ladder, with Faux at the bottom, holding onto the ladder to help keep it steady. Faux asks why Felix doesn’t use a boostpack like other writers, such as Faux himself and DJ Cyber, but the dream quickly ends before Felix can give an answer.
Back in the real world shortly after this, it is revealed that Red is indeed Felix himself, but also that DJ Cyber does not have Faux’s head. The DJ explains that Faux’s head ended up in police custody, and from there they hooked him up to their Project Algo system.
Faux told them everything he knew about the graffiti scene of the city, gaining their trust as a result. Then, he started feeding them misinformation, in order to manipulate the police into taking out other writers for him. DJ Cyber mentions how the death of the DOT EXE leader was Faux’s doing, and even that was just the beginning of what Faux is trying to do.
Apparently Felix knew of some sort of weakness of Faux’s, though Red (or rather, Red Felix at this point) still can’t remember what that weakness is. Thus, BRC continue with their plan to go All City, in order to get the rest of Red Felix’s memories back and stop Faux once and for all.
Sometime afterwards, Rietveld is shown breaking into the Project Algo control room along with her fellow officers in order to confront Faux. They find Berlage dead on the floor, and Rietveld questions Faux about whether he saw what happened to the chief inspector. Instead of answering her, he instead responds that he sees “the end of the writers” in New Amsterdam. He proclaims that he will be the only one left, making him All City King. He then uses Project Algo to take over the other officers in the room, forcing them to turn on Rietveld.
Later in Mataan, after BRC have defeated FUTURISM, Red Felix goes into the final dream stage. By the end of that, what exactly happened between Felix and Faux is revealed. They were both on a rooftop for their graffiti session, with Felix at the top spraying graffiti and Faux at the bottom holding onto the ladder. Faux looks over his shoulder for a few seconds, before looking back up at Faux. He asks why Felix doesn’t use a boostpack. Felix responds it’s because he only needs “one wing”, and points to the wing tattoo on his face.
Faux assumes that this is Felix’s way of saying he doesn’t need any extra help to do what he does. Faux also mentions how this must be why Felix went solo for All City in the end. Felix responds that he works best solo, but he still hopes there’s no hard feelings about the whole thing between him and Faux.
Faux questions how Felix’s single wing will “carry” him, as he proceeds to kick down the ladder. This causes Felix to fall off the rooftop and into a ventilation fan on a lower building, decapitating him. Shortly after this incident, Faux was captured by police, resulting in him meeting Tryce and trying to escape the bureau at the beginning of the game.
Unbeknownst to Faux, there was a key witness as the crime scene, namely Solace, who saw what happened. Despite that, DJ Cyber and Tryce were arrested in connection to Felix’s death. DJ Cyber had also discovered Felix’s head and body after it fell through the fan, which lead to the DJ trying to end Faux himself at the bureau as well.
Once the dream ends, Red Felix and DJ Cyber explain that Faux has complete control over the police by now, with the DJ in particular phrasing it as Faux being Project Algo itself at this point. He again emphasizes Faux’s plan to systematically kill all writers in the city. Red Felix says Faux is still a person with his own impulses and emotions, and now Red Felix knows what to do to stop him.
Suddenly, one of the Devil Theory members is thrown against the statue in Mataan’s plaza, and a walking tank climbs out of the depths of Mataan, standing in front of the plaza. In front of it are some of the other Devil Theory members, seemingly in pain from having to deal with the tank sometime earlier. They talk to it, saying they had a “deal” with it and will make it regret going after them.
It is then revealed that the tank is being piloted by Faux himself, having had his own head connected to the top of the tank. He insists he doesn’t regret anything, as he readies the tank’s guns to fire at the Devil Theory members standing before him.
Luckily for them, Solace rushes in, standing between them and Faux. Solace insists that he knows who Faux is, recognizing him as the person who pushed his friend off of a building. Faux asks Solace who this “friend” is, and while Tryce tries to warn him not to answer, Solace points out Red Felix, showing he’s still alive.
Faux is of course shocked to see Felix still alive. He calls Felix a thorn in his eye, being the one who “stole” Faux’s old body. He then insists that he will become All City, even with Felix trying to stop him and deny him of what he “deserves”.
Tryce tries to call out Faux as a murder for what happened to Felix, though Faux ignores him, instead saying writers like Tryce and the others try too hard to follow their own made up rules. Faux now sees the act of art being more like an act of war, possibly intending it to mean a war between him and other writers. He then insists that rules are “only for those who believe in them”. Without other writers as his competition, he can and will go All City.
Although Red Felix counters that graffiti is meant to be a fun competition without killing people, Faux decides to proceed with his plan to wipe out all other writers from the city. He comments on how Felix supposedly never wanted to be a crew with him and DJ Cyber, adding that Felix gained so much by dropping him. However, now Faux will drop all of them, leading into the boss fight between him and Red Felix.
Once he’s beaten in battle, Faux seems to lose control of the walking tank, with it walking backwards until it falls off the edge of the plaza. Unfortunately, Faux isn’t accepting defeat just yet, as he manages to come back onto the plaza in a larger serpent-like tank. The body of this tank seems to be made up of a mass of wires and tubes, with three pairs of its own tank arms plus a tank turret on its head.
He chases after Red Felix, grabbing him with one of the new tank’s many arms. He holds up Red Felix to the tank’s head, opening it to reveal Faux, plus the actual physical core of Project Algo that was seen in earlier cutscenes. He comments on Felix always being in his way, before using another of the tank’s hands to rip off Red Felix’s head. Seeing no need for his old body anymore, Felix literally throws his old body away, allowing it to fall into the depths of Mataan.
Faux then states he’ll just take a younger body instead, setting his sights on Solace. He thus kidnaps the younger writer, escaping into a deeper part of Mataan by climbing over the buildings. Although things seem bleak at this point, Rietveld arrives and gives Red Felix his old body back, allowing him and the rest of BRC to chase after Faux. This leads into the final boss battle of the game, between Red Felix and Faux in the giant serpent tank.
Once the battle is done, Red Felix tries to finish off Faux, though the latter blocks his attack by closing the head of the tank. While hanging onto the serpent tank’s head, Felix reveals the secret that he knew about Faux: other writers were framed and arrested for Faux’s graffiti, and this turned out to be because Faux’s own father was a corrupt cop who kept Faux out of trouble. This was the truth behind Faux’s reputation as a legendary writer who never got caught. Red Felix thus accuses Faux of wanting to be perfect, even if it meant letting other writers take the fall for him. Although Red Felix still trusted Faux, Faux himself tried to kill Felix because he found out about Faux’s dad.
In response, Faux laughs, knocking Red Felix off of the tank’s face as a result. Faux insists he was just making use of his own roots. When Red Felix calls Faux a coward for killing people instead of facing reality, Faux counters that Felix never knew what it was like to be in his position. He asserts that no one would have accepted him as a writer if they knew about his dad. Thus, he felt he had no choice but to do what he did, and expresses frustration at Red Felix not understanding him.
At this point, Red Felix tries to land another strike on Faux, who starts to close the serpent tank’s head to protect himself. Unfortunately for him, Tryce, Bel, Vinyl, and DJ Cyber swoop in, all of them working together to keep Faux exposed. With Red Felix closing in, Faux accuses his fellow writer of betraying him “first”. Red Felix responds by saying it’s not his problem, landing a headbutt on Faux in the process. This breaks apart the Red cyberhead, and causes both Faux and Felix to start falling into the depths of Mataan. Solace manages to save Felix, while Faux is left to continuing falling down.
The cutscene ends with a symbolic shot of Faux. He has his whole body, but is still falling. In fact, he’s falling into a ventilation fan, the same as what happened to Felix which started the whole game in the first place.
== Boss Fight ==
Faux is first fought right after BRC beats FUTURISM in their crew battle. He shows up to Mataan's main plaza in a walking tank, with his own head inside the head of the tank. This fight is the same as having to fight a regular walking tank, with the addition of snipers and other police officers around the plaza to back up Faux. You will need to deal with them while also trying to take down Faux's tank.
When Faux is defeated at this stage, he comes back in a much larger, multi-limbed, serpent-like tank. He rips off Red's head and kidnaps Solace, and thus the player has to pursue him deeper into Mataan.
Once the player has caught up to Faux, they fight in a different part of the city, with Faux and his serpent tank surrounded by rails, wires, and poles. The player has to use these to get onto the limbs of the tank and destroy them like a regular walking tank arm, spraying graffiti onto each arm's weak spot. You can either wait until Faux pauses to grabs the rails and release heat from his arms' weak points, or otherwise climb to the very top of the battle area and try to jump down onto the arms from there.
Faux will keep up the offensive while you're doing so, using his arms' guns as well as the overhead tank shells to shoot at you. Sometimes, when he grabs onto the rails, he will also release hostile chunks of his own tank that will move along said rails. You need to avoid these as much as possible, ideally by jumping onto different parts of the rails around Faux.
Once all six arms are destroyed, the head of Faux's mech will open up, leaving his own head vulnerable again. At that point, you need to climb back up to the top of the battle area to land the finishing blow on him.
== Gallery ==
Faux Gallery	
{|width="100%" class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"	
File:Faux Ref.png|Overall reference image
File:Faux Character Graffiti.png|Unused S Graffiti
File:Faux Spring Ref.png|Spring outfit
File:Faux Summer Ref.png|Summer outfit
File:Faux Autumn Ref.png|Autumn outfit
File:Faux Winter Ref.png|Winter outfit
File:FauxMugshot.png|thumb|right|Faux's mugshot from the game
File:Faux's hands extended.png
File:FauxCutscene1.jpg
File:FauxCutscene2.jpg
File:FauxCutscene3.jpg
File:FauxCutscene4.jpg
File:FauxCutscene5.jpg
File:FauxCutscene6.jpg
File:FauxCutscene7.jpg
File:FauxCutscene8.jpg
File:FauxCutscene9.jpg
File:FauxCutscene10.jpg
File:FauxSpringTexture.png|Texture file for Faux's Spring palette
File:FauxSummerTexture.png|Texture file for Faux's Summer palette
File:FauxAutumnTexture.png|Texture file for Faux's Autumn palette
File:FauxWinterTexture.png|Texture file for Faux's Winter palette	
== Trivia ==
* Faux shares the same voice actor as Solace.
* In the game's files, his textures and models are labeled as "headMan". He has three models associated with him: headMan (his full model with the boostpack), headManHeadless (of course his headless body), and headManNoJetpack (same as headMan just without the boostpack).
* His outfits correspond with the ones for Red, i.e. his summer outfit is the same shirt and pants that Red wears for his own summer outfit, and so on.
* According to Faux's mugshot, he is 180cm. He is the only character with an exact height specified in the game.
* Although unplayable in the base game, Faux has an unused small graffiti, as well as alternate outfits. Said outfits are the same as the ones Red has.
* No voice clips play for Faux when he does a boost trick, at least in the base game while he's playable during the police bureau.
* In French, the word "faux" means "fake", a possible hint at the true nature of Faux's background as a legendary writer (i.e., it was said he was never caught, but that was revealed to be because other writers were blamed for his graffiti instead). It is also pronounced the same as the word "foe", likely hinting at Faux being the true main antagonist of the game's story.
* It is not stated what exactly the "deal" between him and Devil Theory was supposed to be. One possible guess could be that it was the same deal that Faux made with Tryce at the beginning of the game, to go All City together in exchange for their help. Whether or not Faux was also planning to double-crossed Tryce on their own deal is unknown.
* Faux is one of the few characters given a full name, which is Teun Vogelaar.
**"Teun" is the Dutch short form of Antonious, which in turn is the original Latin form of the name Anthony. Antonious itself has no known meaning,BehindTheName page on the name Anthony (Archive Link) though it is often either translated as "priceless", "praiseworthy",Page mentioning proposed meanings for the name Anthony (Archive Link) or otherwise associated with anthos, a Greek word meaning "flower".
**Meanwhile, "Vogelaar" is a Dutch occupation surname which simply means "bird catcher".Wikipedia page on the surname Vogelaar (Archive Link)
**"Teun Vogelaar" can thus be translated together as "praiseworthy bird catcher". In addition, Teun Vogelaar could be Americanized as "Tony Bird", a possible reference to the American skater Tony Hawk.
Category:Bosses
Category:The Big 3