Jake Higgins

Jake Higgins is the protagonist of the 2018 video game Green Hell. He is an anthropologist that was studying the Amazonian tribe, the Yabahuaca. Alongside his interpreter/wife, Mia, they earned the trust of the tribe and document their findings. After a month, Jake receives a distress call from Mia asking for help. Jake ventures to the village to find Mia, but he is seemingly attacked by some hostile tribesmen. Jake flees from the village and falls from a cliff into a river and receives amnesia. With a walkie-talkie as his only connection to Mia, Jake sets out to survive the Amazon Jungle, rediscover his past, and find his wife. However, the truth may be harder to swallow than he realizes.
He is voiced by Brandon Fague.
==Personality==
Jake is initially presented a well-intentioned scientist and a caring husband for his wife Mia. His relationship is strained when Mia was diagnosed with cancer and later the virus. Jake was determined to find a cure for her, but his goal would devolved into obsession. His desperation to save her life would alienate him from his coworkers and even Mia herself. Against Mia's wishes to comfort her, Jake refused to let her die and left her alone to find a cure. 
With Mia's illness and the deaths of millions on his conscience, Jake would develop amnesia to cope with his trauma. Even despite his amnesia and psychosis, Jake maintained his goal to rescue Mia. Jake would endure the hostile conditions of the Amazon Jungle and fight his way towards rescue. As the story unfolds and Jake's trauma is reawakened, he relives the guilt on his conscience from unintentionally causing an epidemic and abandoning Mia.
==Biography==
After awakening from his fall, Jake begins his exploration through the jungle in search of help or Mia. Jake eventually stumbles upon an abandoned Yabahuaca ritual site and learns how to make ayahuasca. Jake prepares an ayahuasca ceremony and drinks it to remember his past. Jake begins hallucinating and hears Mia's voice. Jake then begins reliving his memories when he and Mia first met the tribe. With some of his memory regained, Jake plans to find more ritual sites and learn more of his past. Jake also hears Mia's voice on the radio and she guides him through the jungle. Jake scavenges abandoned cartel camps for supplies and notes the cartel were experimenting on the tribesmen. The reason remaining a mystery (later revealed to be finding a cure to the virus). After finding a second ritual site, Jake completes another ritual to remember his past.
===First contact===
Jake and Mia documented the tribe's lifestyle, culture, and religion. Upon returning home, Jake publishes a book called "The Spirits of Amazonia," which details their research about the tribe, especially the tribe's good physical health. However, the book was poorly received. Many readers denounced Jake, stating his findings were theories rather than conclusive facts, or that he is drawing unwarranted attention to the tribe.
Things only grew worse for the couple, as Mia was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. With no way to afford her expensive treatments, Jake grows hopeless. However, his book caught the attention of the Brazilian pharmaceutical corporation known as Omolu Corp. Omolu Corp was intrigued by the tribe's supposed immunity to diseases and offer to fund his return to the Amazon and continue studying them. With little options, Jake and Mia agree to return to the Amazon to discover the tribe's immunity and possibly find a cure for Mia's cancer.
In the present, Jake is devastated with this discovery and questions Mia's voice why she didn't remind him of her cancer sooner. Mia states that she wanted Jake to prioritize his own escape from the Jungle over curing her, and tells him to keep moving. As Jake continues searching for help, he finds an abandoned airstrip and attempts to radio for help. The man on the radio claims he will send help, but Jake isn't convinced. Jake tells Mia of his escape attempt and that he will find her so they both can leave. Mia orders Jake to not find her, and tells Jake to wait at the airstrip and leave without her. Mia then stops answering Jake's radio calls from then on. Jake ignores the warnings to stay at the airstrip and continues his search for Mia. Jake discovers a third ritual site off the coast and drinks more ayahuasca.
===The Miracle Cure===
In 2016, Jake and Mia return to the Amazon Jungle and earn the trust of the tribe. After months of effort, eventually the tribe gifts them a remedy and they bring it back for study. As Omolu Corp develops a cure and Mia undergoes her cancer treatments, Jake is sent back to the Amazon to collect more ingredients for the cure. Jake eventually finds a mysterious green fungus in a cave and returns with more samples. Ignoring health guidelines to further develop the drug, Omolu Corp releases the drug and markets it as a "miracle cure." By May 2017, dozens of Omolu Corp's patients are cured of cancer, alongside Mia. Jake is regarded as hero while Omolu Corp begins mass producing the cure in June. They believe they could develop it further and cure other diseases like AIDS or Lupus. Omolu starts distributing the cure to the Brazilian public and negotiates distribution to the rest of the world.
A year later in June 2018, a new virus emerges in Brazil. The country begins quarantine efforts to slow the spread, but the virus continues spreading across the continent. By September, millions are infected with the virus and begin dying. The media deduces the miracle cure was the source of the virus and is outraged at Omolu for inadvertently causing an epidemic. As millions begin to die, Jake is called a murder for his discoveries.
Back in the jungle, Jake begins searching for more answers and finds camp Omega, an abandoned expedition camp. Jake learns he was part of a research team stationed there that attempted to find a cure for the virus. The group identified the green fungus as the cause of the virus and were attempting to create an antidote for it. Jake's team grew annoyed with his obsession for curing Mia and begin noting his increasing mental instability. With a lack of results, Omolu Corp issues an evacuation order to the team. Not wanting to give up on curing Mia, Jake ignores the evacuation order and wanders off from the group. Now aware of his situation, Jake finds the camp's laboratory and reads about making the cure. The research details the cure's formula involves infected blood and an unknown test sample.
===Confrontation===
Regardless of if he creates the cure, Jake continues his hunt for Mia and believes that she is still trapped in the jungle. Jake finally finds the abandoned Yabahuaca village he and Mia initially visited, but he sees no signs of Mia. Jake prepares his final ayahuasca ritual to see if he can find Mia. The hallucination of Mia reveals Mia's fate. Jake learns Mia was also infected with the virus and she wanted him to stay with her until she died, but Jake left her alone to find a cure. All the while, the cartel and other desperate scientists experimented on the Yabahuaca to find a cure, leading to their (presumed) extinction. After missing Omolu's evacuation, Jake worked alone for weeks to find a cure. He grew overwhelmed with his concern for Mia and his guilt of inadvertently killing millions. To cope, Jake repressed the last 5 years, causing his initial amnesia. Jake is then confronted by a memory of him inside a hospital. He visits a comatose Mia connected to life support. Her voice chastises him for abandoning her to die alone and asks him if it was worth it. 
====No====
If Jake failed to create the cure, Mia will tell him to come find her. Jake hallucinates the village with Mia in it. As he approaches her she disappears and dozens of tribesmen appear, staring at him. Mia and his insanity voice insult Jake that he failed to save anyone and he is responsible for killing millions. The voices tell him to give up, but Jake refuses and insists he'll find a cure. Jake flees the village while the voices chase him and order him to face his guilt. Jake falls off the cliff and falls into the river bleeding, presumably either dying or restarting his cycle of amnesia.
====Yes====
If Jake created the cure, Mia will tell him to leave this place. Jake leaves the village and returns to the airstrip. He radios for evacuation and that he has found the cure. The man is in disbelief and says he'll send help immediately. As Jake waits for the plane, he speaks to his hallucination of Mia one final time. Jake hopes that she's still alive and promises he will cure her when he gets back. With the plane circling above, Jake thanks her for guiding him and tells her goodbye as the hallucination fades into dust.
==Trivia==
*In order to create the cure, Jake must mix the infected blood sample with a live poison dart frog.
**The poison dart frog is heavily hinted throughout the story to be the correct test sample, with serval documents referencing how the Yabahuaca use the frog in their traditions.
Category:Video Game Heroes
Category:Doctors and Scientists
Category:Determinators
Category:Male
Category:The Hero
Category:In Love
Category:Spouses
Category:Cure-Bringers
Category:Obsessed
Category:Mentally Ill
Category:Spoilers
Category:Status Dependent upon Player Choice
Category:Selfless
Category:Chaotic Good