Joseph Seed

Joseph Seed (also known as "The Father") is the main antagonist of the Collapse Saga of the Far Cry video game series.
He serves as the main antagonist of Far Cry 5, the deuteragonist of Far Cry: New Dawn, and a cameo character in Far Cry 6, as the titular protagonist of the DLC, Joseph's Collapse.
He is the leader of the Project at Eden's Gate - a militaristic doomsday cult that overtook rural Hope County in Montana. Believing in the end of days is upon the world, Seed believes that he has been chosen by God to bless 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, as the opposite of their predecessors, decide to peacefully live 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===
Joseph was the second-oldest brother of the Seed family with Jacob being the oldest and John being 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. Following a car accident that resulted to her death, Joseph was handed a pink bundle of tubes that was his daughter, most likely supplying oxygen based on his description of her reaction. Claiming this was his test from God, Joseph removed the tubes and took the life of his own daughter.
Expanding 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 to dominate a rural Montana town called Hope County which is ran by him and his Heralds - his siblings, Seed's iron-fisted rule caught the attention of the authorities, all of whom could do nothing 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===
The members of the Hope County Sheriff's Department; The Junior Deputy, Joey Hudson, Staci Pratt, Sheriff Earl Whitehorse and Marshal Cameron Burke all enter Hope County with a warrant for Joseph Seed's arrest. Upon landing they are encountered 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". But he stops when he realizes the police intending to arrest him. Although his followers, who also realizes this, are hostile toward the Sheriff's Department, Seed calmly sends them outside, except his siblings, and awaits to be arrested, 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 helicopter and even allowed himself to be sucked into the spinning blades to stop the Father from arrest. In this chaos, Seed remains calm and continues his hymn.
The Deputy awakens upside-down whilst still trapped 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, clarifying it to the deputies that nobody shall come to save them. Getting out of 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 abducted and tortured by John, Pratt is psychologically enslaved by Jacob and Burke is held hostage by Faith using an overdose of Bliss.
While the Deputy is atoned, Joseph blames his younger brother for using the ceremony to sadistically torture his enemy further, calmly and subtly menacing 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 tries to explain the goals of himself and his followers, claiming God choosed him for the mission and did not ask for it. Elaborating further, Joseph shows the Deputy his vision by explaining his goals of wishing to return to the pure ways in his new Eden with as many blessed 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 awaiting their first child. After an accident that took the life of his wife, Joseph rushed to the hospital and handled a pink bundle of tubes that was his daughter's. Realizing that God was giving him a test to show his faith, Joseph "sacrificed" his own daughter by holding the tubes to her mouth before she stopped kicking and realized 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 greatly outraged at the deaths of his family and calls the Deputy for a final showdown to where it all started - the church the marshals where they first attempted 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====
If the Deputy chooses to reject Joseph's offer, he angrily 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-brainwashed Marshals, Gun For Hires and allies throughout Hope County before the merged manpower and effort are able to defeat Seed.
A neutralized 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 explosion via truck with the captured Joseph and take shelter in Dutch's bunker as the sky becomes blood red, and the birds all die and the trees catch fire. The car suddenly 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 glad with the end of his world as he was correct though he does express a wish to kill the Deputy for murdering his family but rather 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====
If the Deputy decides to walk away, Joseph thanks the player for their decision, and they leave with Sheriff Whitehorse, Hudson and Pratt whilst Joseph stays in Hope County with their brainwashed friends. Whilst Hudson is angered by this direction and nearly refuses to quit, 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 occurs to be tuned to a station playing "Only You" performed by The Platters. As the screen turns red, this proves that Jacob brainwashing the Junior Deputy using Classic Conditioning was a success. 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 five minutes waiting, Whitehorse, who opposes apprehending Joseph's head on knowing that they would be ambushed and possibly killed, lowers Joseph's hands and orders the group to go awa. 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.
New Eden's alliance with Hope County's Scavengers has turned the tide of war against the Highwaymen. Joseph believes the Security Captain is the one destined to lead the new world back to prosperity and would shepherd Eden when he is gone. Joseph is also aware that his son Ethan dreams of power and acclaim, and possibly wants the power of the sacred fruit. But he knows that Ethan's soul is not pure and has tried his best to keep Ethan from partaking of the fruit. Joseph, driven by the will of the Voice, believes it is his destiny to help the Security Captain and help them unlock the mystical powers hidden inside them; serving as a guide during their time together. Ethan betrays New Eden however and has induced the Twins Lou and Mickey to annihilate New Eden. After the Captain defeats the Twins at the ruins of New Eden, Joseph and the Captain found Ethan at the sacred apple tree. Ethan expressed his bitterness at being replaced by an outsider and in an act of defiance, Ethan ate an apple and was corrupted by it. This forced the Captain to put him down. Joseph mourns the death of his son, and stated that his only fault was that he was his. Joseph then burns down the mystical apple tree and finally acknowledged that he was not the messiah God had promised, but rather the true "shepherd" was the Captain. Joseph states his soul has become a cancer and knowing he doesn't deserve to live for the monstrous crimes he committed, he asks the Security Captain to kill him. If the Security Captain fails and refuses to kill him near the end, he completely loses what's left of his sanity and screams out to God to release him out of misery.
===Far Cry 6===
Joseph, along with Vaas Montenegro and Pagan Min, would appear as a playable character in the Season Pass of Far Cry 6.
==Personality==
Despite his charismatic and psychopatic actions, in conversations, Joseph Seed has shown to be a silent individual with a capacity for mercy. Though he shows no hesitance in inflicting violence on those who may challenge 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 made it his personal mission in life to protect them from "The Collapse". When they are murdered, Joseph's calmness completely erodes and he yells in grief and rage towards the Deputy. Nevertheless, there has shown to be some dominance in Joseph's interactions with his siblings. He subtly menaced 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 equivalent relationship due to him being the oldest brother.
Joseph really believes that he was chosen by God to save the world. It is ambiguous whether this was real or merely a Messiah Complex as result of his madness 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 satisfication 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 mankind to survive is to come back 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 righteous hand of God.
Seed talked calmly and silently when he talked yet often enunciated his words in sentences to convey a sense of malice to his foes.
==Quotes==
== Gallery ==
File:Joseph Seed Live Action.jpg|Joseph in the live-action short film.
File:Joseph Seed Weapon.jpg
File:Joseph Seed FC ND.png|Joseph holding an apple.
File:Joseph Seed's death.png|Joseph's death if the Captain kills him (determinate).
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