Far Cry 3 was the first in the series to start the roster of iconic villains. Vass Montenegro was a warrior protégé of the natives of Rook Islands turned psychopathic pirate who was insane. He is regarded as one of the most iconic video game villains of all time due to how well-written he is and the amazing performance of the actor: Michael Mando. This is the lore behind Vaas Montenegro.
Before Far Cry 3
The manipulation of an innocent boy
Vaas Montenegro wasn’t always the psychopathic pirate who murders for fun. He was once an innocent boy with his aspirations with his fellow natives. He and his sister, Citra Talugmai, were destined since birth to lead their people into the modern age. They had a close bond as kids, practically never leaving each other’s side. Citra was a master manipulator, even as a young child, she would lead Vaas to do things that were morally wrong/evil or something that often got them into trouble. Despite Vaas’s innocent nature in his early days, he was still exposed to violence committed by the pirates, which helped influence his mentality into the man he would become. These two would stick together from childhood into adulthood, following traditions and destroying those who get in their way. Vaas did everything for his sister’s name, even when he killed someone for the first time, it was for Citra’s sake. They grew so close that these two formed a borderline incest relationship, though it was never confirmed if they were blood-related or not.
Hoyt’s influence
One day, a dangerous man named Hoyt set up a base of operations on the Rook Islands. Hoyt was a smuggler for drugs and guns, he was also a human trafficker with a unique tactic of taking advantage of putting their foreign captives up for ransom, then selling them off anyway to slavery after being paid for their release. He also had his mercenary group of soldiers carry out the dirty work. Vaas eventually crossed paths with Hoyt, and instead of killing Vaas and the natives, Hoyt offered Vaas a role in his organization, Vaas gladly accepted and thus began the downfall of Vaas’s sanity. Because of Hoyt’s influence, Vaas Montenegro transformed from a naive young man to a blood-thirsty psychopathic pirate who preys on the weak and does whatever he wants. Citra didn’t like Vaas’s new direction and tried to manipulate him from going down this path to no avail. Vaas instead becomes more hostile, psychotic, rageful, hateful, and insane. He became obsessed with the definition of Insanity, using a particular speech to describe his actions:
“Did I ever tell you what the definition of insanity is? Insanity is doing the exact same fucking thing, over and over again, expecting shit to change. That is crazy. But the first time somebody told me that, I don’t know, I thought there were bullshiting me so, boom, I shot him. The thing is, okay… he was right. And then I started to see it everywhere I looked. Everywhere I looked all these fucking pricks. Everywhere I looked, doing the exact same fucking thing over and over and over and over and over again. Thinking ‘This time it’s gonna be different. No, no, no please! This time it’s gonna be different.'” – Vaas Montenegro
As revealed in the Vaas DLC in Far Cry 6, the very man that Vaas referred to, who told him this, was none other than Joseph Seed during one of his preaches that was broadcasted. Albeit slightly exaggerated and not word-for-word. But, he abides by this rule too closely which only damages his already fragile mental state even further. Citra tried everything to get Vaas to return to his senses to no avail. She even tried to kill him several times, failing each time, and angering Vaas even more which further drifted them apart. Eventually, they cut ties with each other, Vaas going on to lead the pirates into human trafficking and drug running, and Citra going on to lead her people alone. It went on like this for quite some time.
Far Cry 3
The downfall of Vaas Montenegro
One day, Vaas was contacted by his scouts for potential victims about a group of friends who happened to be American. Vaas gave the okay and the scout led them to a seemingly innocent day of skydiving. Vaas found two of the group, one of which was Jason Brody, he took Jason and his brother Grant, as hostages for their ransom. They manage to break free and just as they escape the compound, Grant is shot and killed by Vaas. Jason attempts to save him to no avail, Vaas admires Jason’s love for his brother and gives him a headstart to escape. Vaas encounters Jason again when Jason is captured trying to rescue his girlfriend, and attempts to kill him by burning him to death. Jason survives and after rescuing more of his friends, Jason is captured by Vaas again, which is where Vaas gives his speech about Insanity. Vaas tries to kill Jason by drowning him while he is tied to a cinderblock. Jason survives again and encounters Vaas again when Jason tries to sabotage a base of operations of his and tries to escape via helicopter. They shoot the helicopter down and Vaas delivers the finishing blow by shooting Jason in the chest.
Jason miraculously survives with the lighter that Vaas placed in Jason’s shirt pocket when Vaas tries to kill him with fire. The last time they encounter each other, was when Jason infiltrated Vaas’s main safehouse to kill him on orders by Citra. Jason and Vaas have a close battle but Jason emerges victorious, he stabs Vaas to death with the sacred dagger that was retrieved by Jason to free another one of his friends. Vaas is thought to be dead, however, in the Vaas DLC for Far Cry 6, Vaas is teased to be alive, much older but still as insane as ever. Will we see a return to Vaas in the Far Cry Series? Only time will tell.
Departing Thoughts
Far Cry 3 remains one of the most iconic and influential video games of all time. From its open-world design to its unique take on player progression and intriguing story, at least until Vaas dies. Vaas Montenegro has struck a cord and set a new standard for video game villain. His unique personality still strikes audiences even to this day. Despite his psychotic surface-level appearance, there is more to this man than meets the eye, it seems like he is the only one who can truly define Insanity.
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