From Far Cry video game to Rite Initiatique comics

How to bring together in one story a video game saga as sparse as Far Cry? In Rite Initiatique, screenwriter Bryan Edward Hill finds the solution by telling the origins of the great iconic villains of the series around the main character of the last volume.

The experience of a son

This complete story opens with the son of the main character of Far Cry 6, Antón Castillo who celebrates his thirteen years. The only son of El Presidente, he lives like a king. A stack of gifts awaits him in his luxurious room. Two rows of servants wish him his birthday and he has dozens of cars at his disposal. But his father is a king of drug trafficking. The Castillos are more of an army than a family: the staff and the son wear the same uniform inspired by the camouflage outfits of the Cuban revolutionaries but in white with red epaulettes. Diego admires his father but is ashamed that he is a criminal.

His father offers his son a unique gift: an initiatory rite to discover what power is and accept his destiny. This volume follows the rails of an initiation story of the son because, living in the city, Diego leaves the palace and discovers the jungle. Gentle, he must become cruel to control his chaos and anger. Without revealing the mystery, he passes a test to become aware of the necessities of evil. Even if it is never explicit, we find in these different stages the anthropological interpretation of initiation. First of all, the child goes beyond the usual framework to live an experience outside the norm. This experience is also a test that the child must pass to return to his new place as an adult and accept the norm. On the other hand, the initiate is most often alone or with individuals of the same age. In Far Cry, he is with his father.

The Father's Lesson

Far Cry – Rite of Initiation doesn't just focus on Diego Castillo. Indeed, his father tells him the fate of several traffickers. They are not chosen at random by screenwriter Bryan Edward Hill who finds an original way to present the most famous criminals of the Far Cry saga: the pirate Vaas Montenegro of Far Cry 3, the dictator Pagan Min of the 4th^part, the pastor Joseph Seed of the 5th. The neophyte just laughs at the story without being embarrassed to ignore the video game references. The fan of the games is delighted to find them and discover the past of the godfathers of Far Cry. We find the tone of the game: living in the mafia is a violent struggle where ambitious people want everything and end badly. Unfortunately, stereotypes are also present. Life on the imaginary Rook Islands resembles the myth of the Good Savage: the natives lived peacefully before the arrival of strangers bringing the drugs. The Castillos represent a caricature of South America: a country of dictators living in luxury thanks to trafficking.

More than a story, these stories are fables that Antón teaches his son in a structure very close to classical Greco-Roman literature. One can think of the Lives of Illustrious Men by the Roman Plutarch. Antón Castillo uses parables through examples of past lives. However, unlike Plutarch, they are counterexamples not to be reproduced. A child started by using pills given by a stranger. He feels stronger and falls into petty crime. His sister wanted to warn him. But, as he grows up, he pursues his bad choices and ends very badly. Each story ends with a moral. Selfish, the former did not think of his people but fled their inner conflict. Another clan leader listened neither to his father's advice nor to the traditional rules of common sense because he was consumed by ambition and friendship. The third example is stranger: faith is weakness and folly.

These chapters are illustrated by Geraldo Borges. If the shapes are sometimes clumsy, he deftly transcribes the faces of the characters of Far Cry. The shooting scenes are well executed. In boxes, he even reproduces images from games like Pagan Min on his throne.

Rite Initiatique is certainly not revolutionary but it accurately transcribes the characters and the spirit of Far Cry. The fans will be delighted. Each chapter details the complex rise to power and the difficulties of the family legacy, but Father Antón Castillo wants to break this cycle by creating a rite of passage. Will the child know how to follow this lesson? It's up to you to discover it in this title published by Black River

Find other chronicles from the same publishing house with the adaptation of Assassin's Creed and Magic! The Gathering.