Far Cry 6has introduced players to the series' newest villain Anton Castillo. The franchise has featured many iconic antagonists over its lifespan, with many players still fondly remembering their fights against Vaas inFar Cry 3or even Dr. Krieger in the originalFar Cry. One of the villains that has left quite the lasting impact on theFar Crycommunity isFar Cry 4’s Pagan Min, and now thatFar Cry 6has been fully released, players have started noticing some pretty interesting similarities and differences between Anton and Pagan.
Interestingly,Pagan Min is included inFar Cry 6’s DLCs, which feature previous villains of the series like Vaas and Joseph Seed to try and show them from a different perspective. This will be particularly fun for fans, as players will be able to step into their shoes for the very first time and explore their psyches further. The DLCs look as though they will be a lot of fun, but they also should help players see how Anton stacks up to his predecessors. From what can be seen in the main game, Pagan and Anton’s big similarities are outweighed by the significant differences, which makes interacting with them in their respective games completely unique experiences.
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Their Similar Positions of Power
The most glaring similarity between the two characters is their nearly identical positions of power over their respective countries. Min is the self-declared King of Kyrat, a title that he seized control of through his cartel that quickly became an autocratic military. On the other hand, Castillo is technically the president of Yara, but his term quickly degraded into an autocratic dictatorship after he took office. Ever since, he has led the country with an iron fist that very few dare to question. The comparison also extends to the actual countries that the two leaders run, as both of themFar Crysettings largely resemble tropical climateswith mountains and dense jungles to explore and hunt in.
Their nearly identical positions of power also puts the player in a very similar position when fighting back against them. In both titles, the player isn’t just a lone warrior fighting against an insane pirate like inFar Cry 3. Instead, they are part of a greater movement that is spreading across an entire country in an effort to overthrow an oppressive government and seize the nation for the people. This requires players to work together with that movement while also having to contend with a military that is better equipped, organized, and more than happy to kill them.Far Cry 6introduced campsfor players to build up and upgrade over the course of the game, but players effectively did something narratively similar inFar Cry 4by bolstering the Golden Path and helping inspire the people of Kyrat.
Their Differences in Personality
As for the personalities of the two villains, it is hard to think how they could be more opposite.Anton Castillo stands out from mostFar Cryvillainsthanks to how cold and calculated his approach to leadership is. He does not let emotions get in the way of his decisions, and he tries to keep calm at all times. His decisions are motivated by the belief that only he and his son can lead Yara to reach its full potential, and he is patriotic enough to do whatever he sees as necessary towards that end. To do this, he tries to control the people that speak out against him while grooming his son Diego to take his place.
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Min is opposite in nearly every way, as he is flamboyant, chaotic, and impulsive. He does hide his emotions as Castillo does, but still often expresses his annoyance with things not going his way or at the actions of the player. Still, he does have a strange fatherly attitude towards the player character Ajay that often comes out when the two interact. He also uses messaging that is similar to Anton Castillo in that he claims his end goal is the betterment of Kyrat, hoping to bring it to a more glorious state. However, the player eventually sees throughoutFar Cry 4thatPagan’s actions primarily only serve his own interests, while Anton does seem to genuinely believe that he is serving his country and trying to lead it in the way that it needs.
How Their Stories End Differently
How their respective games handle the end of Anton and Pagan differently is also quite interesting, especially when looking at what it says about their personalities and motifs. In the case of Anton Castillo, his palace is stormed by rebels andhe slits his own throat after shooting his son Diegoand killing him. It is a dark ending that sends a clear message about how heinous and terrible Anton’s actions were. The player has no options to redeem him or let him go free, assumedly because the developers thought that he was too villainous for anyone to want to do so. It also points out how much a man like Anton can damage those around him, even his own son that he loved and sought to protect.
In the case of Pagan Min, the player does have a choice, but is given multiple opportunities to kill him. After he is overthrown, the player has an option to either kill Pagan or let him escape into China. If the player lets Pagan go free, they are given another opportunity later to shoot down his escape helicopter and kill him in the crash just in case they regretted their decision. The option of letting Pagan go free inFar Cry 4’s endingis an interesting one, especially as he does just as many terrible things as Anton, if not more. It does seem likely, however, that the developers expected some players to like Pagan not only because he is a bit wackier, but as a result of how much players loved Vaas. His backstory and the reveal that the Golden Path was also flawed can make him more sympathetic as well.
It is always interesting to see howFar Cry’s newest villains stack up to those throughout the series. There are rumors thatFar Cry 7will be drastically different from previous titles, and hopefully, that will also have some interesting consequences for its main villain. If this is the case, it can be something truly special that stands out from the series' legacy of strong antagonists.
Far Cry 6is available now on Luna, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
