
Jack Carver
Context
Jack Carver is the protagonist of 2004 action/adventure/shooting video game Far Cry. This profile is based on the PC game, not the Xbox releases such as Far Cry Instincts.
Far Cry was well-received and sold well, giving rise to a series of Far Cry video games. There isn’t a continuity between those, though, and Jack Carver never appeared again.
This profile includes full S P O I L E R S about this old game. On the other hand FC’s strength were the visuals and gameplay, clearly not the plot or characterisation.
Advertisement
Background
- Real Name: Jack Carver.
- Marital Status: Single.
- Known Relatives: None.
- Group Affiliation: None, formerly US Navy.
- Base Of Operations: Micronesia.
- Height: 6’2” Weight: 230 lbs.
- Eyes: Blue Hair: Brown
Powers and Abilities
Jack Carver discovered his natural talents for firearms and smuggling while serving as a military policeman in the US Navy. He is skilled with both ground and naval vehicles. While he is apparently not trained as a pilot, he can fly hang gliders quite capably.
According to Valerie Cortez’s background check, Carver received Special Forces training. Though the extent and type of said training was not specified, many of his combat skills became obvious over the course of the game.
After being busted out of the service, Jack continued to improve his knowledge of illicit shipping operations, working for the New York mob and then as a smuggler in Micronesia. Like most successful career criminals in often-violent circumstances, he has well-developed instincts for when to fight and when to run. He will not hesitate to do either if the situation calls for it.
See the Game Stats section for a discussion of Carver’s equipment.
Advertisement
History
(The first four sections draw from the press release of the game.)
Growing up in Brooklyn, Jack wasn’t any kind of criminal prodigy. But then he was too busy keeping his head down during the weekly domestics that rocked the household and put him on a first name basis with the NYPD.
Jack saw the Navy as an ironclad Way Out. He found out within a week of reporting for Basic at Great Lakes that his issues with authority were baked in deep. For Jack the blow-hard instructors with their love of punitive duty assignments were no better than his Old Man. The harder they pushed the worse his attitude got.
Still, his CO must have seen some potential – maybe Carver’s flair for “social engineering”, or his innate skill with firearms. Jack was recommended for a Military Police assignment in Coronado.
(Coronado, California, is the location of Naval Base Coronado , the home port for two carriers and the training base for the Navy SEALs at the time of this writeup.)
MP… and swift downfall
Pretty soon Jack was one of the authorities he had always had issues with before. Not surprisingly, he was also completely bent. Contraband, bribery, procurement, you name it. Jack only got sloppy once, but that’s all it took. Three court-martial hearings and a commuted sentence later, he was on his way back to New York – unrepentant and unhirable.
Even guys who’d have cheerfully tossed Jack Carver down the nearest elevator shaft had to admit, the man knew his guns and his merchandise was top of the line. Too much so. After the death of Alfonso Carla in what might have generously been called a contract dispute, the Five Families started cracking down on the third-parties supplying their competition.
Unfortunately for Jack, his client list included the same Coney Island Organization that put Frank Carla’s favorite nephew in the ground. Jack did the smart thing and didn’t stop to water the plants before buying a bus ticket to Anywhere but Here.
Always on the run
He was only in Seattle for eight weeks before the dull-eyed men found him and he knew he’d run out of continent. There was a buddy from his Navy days — a guy none of the NYC crew would have known about — who made a living running German businessmen around Manila.
This guy knew falsified passports the way Jack knew guns. Carver offered him three bills, but his friend insisted on doing it for “karma’s sake.
Since his sudden arrival in Micronesia, Jack Carver’s become a familiar figure in the cantinas and bhang-stands around Kolonia Bay: The expatriate boat captain who lives off the grid, drinking himself to sleep most nights and wrecking homes from Pompeii to Yap.
But Jack’s not just another Lost American with too many secrets. The locals know him for his undeniable survival instincts and an enviable nose for new business opportunities.
Video interlude
Micronesia is a magical place
When an almost-new dive boat, the Medusa, abruptly appeared on the government auction block after her previous owner was eaten by sharks, Jack was in the front row, smirk on face, duffel bag full of cash in hand.
If a diving club from Okinawa turned up looking for untouched reefs or a new wreck, there was Jack. It’s Jack who always seemed to meet the planeload of Aussie trust-fund kids looking for transportation and a blind eye during Easter break. And the regulars smile knowingly when Jack excuses himself from the bar early because he’s delivering a crate of “fishing gear” to a local importer…
It took several years and fair few boat trips, but eventually Jack developed a taste for the simple life. Maybe this is why he didn’t smell the trouble when Val Cortez appeared on the dock with cameras and swimsuit and a day-pack full of cash.
And the smell became no stronger when she asked him for a ride to the Jacutan islands, a remote archipelago that is not known as a local picnic destination.
Sunk and adrift
Jack and Val arrived at the Jacutan Archipelago that evening as a storm was setting in. Jack anchored in away from shore, not wanting to risk his boat in unfamiliar rocks and shoals. Val observed the islands through binoculars, then insisted on going to shore on a jet-ski.
Jack climbed to the top of the Medusa’s mast to better observe her approach to the islands and instead witnessed a rocket slamming into his precious boat. Thanks to his precarious perch, Jack was far enough away from the point of impact to survive the explosion.
Tossed into the stormy seas, he swam for shore with bullets raining down through the water. There was a small army of mercenaries on the island and they apparently wanted no witnesses to their work.
He dived into the mouth of an underwater cave near the shore just as a grenade went off behind him, collapsing the entrance and sealing him in. Exhausted by his ordeal, Jack fell asleep inside his makeshift shelter.
Mysterious island
Some time later, after the sun had risen and the storm cleared, Jack awoke and made his way out of the cavern. It connected to a series of old tunnels in a complex that had been abandoned for decades. Judging by the kanji on the walls and the tattered uniforms on some of the skeletons, the facility had been a Japanese Imperial Navy base during World War II.
Carver came across a high-tech satellite phone and was promptly contacted by a man named Doyle. Doyle assisted Jack with suggested courses of action and limited intel about the mercenaries that were hunting him. Though his advice was useful, Doyle would not give any more information than necessary nor divulge his identity.
Jack worked his way across the archipelago trying to find Val with Doyle’s help. He avoided battle with the mercenaries when he could and inflicting devastating casualties when forced to confront them. He destroyed the mercs’ communication tower and several of their camps to hinder their hunt for him.
Ghastly genetics
During his journey, Jack discovered that Dr. Krieger, head of Krieger Corp, had selected the island as a base for genetic experimentation. The results were mutated primates called trigens. Some of the trigens had taken advantage of the mayhem Jack had been causing to escape their confinement and were now engaging the Krieger Corp Mercenaries on the island in pitched battle.
Though it took most of the day, Jack fought his way to the Bunker, the mercenaries’ headquarters. He managed to find Val just as the mercs were about to fly her away. Jumping onto the landing gear of the departing chopper, Jack distracted the guards on board long enough for Val to grab a gun and kill her captors, though the pilot was also shot in the fracas.
Val and Jack jumped away from the crashing helicopter, landing safely in the water and swimming to shore as the sun set.
The Company at work
As Jack took a breather on the moonlit shore, the other shoe dropped. “Val Cortez” was actually Valerie Constantine, a CIA agent seeking her missing contact. Said contact was Doyle.
Conferring briefly with Doyle over the satellite phone, Val and Jack made plans to get off the Jucatans. At Val’s orders, Jack sabotaged the main power regulator for the Krieger Corp facilities with the intent of hindering the mercs’ operations by releasing the remaining untrained trigens.
Meanwhile, Val infiltrated Krieger’s archival center to gather critical intel about his operation. She insisted on completing this mission before leaving the island much to Jack’s annoyance.
NBC
Jack’s sabotage of the power regulator caused more chaos than he had anticipated. Krieger’s trigen experiments included human beings who retained some of their sentience. When the caged trigens were released, the more intelligent human-based trigens armed themselves and led all of the trigens in a full-scale rebellion.
Jack found himself dodging Krieger’s mercenaries as well as the impromptu trigen militia forces as he went to meet Val at the archives.
In the process of gathering the needed information Jack and Val also engaged and defeated most of the Krieger mercenaries on the island, including the mercenary forces’ leader, a man named Crow. The remaining scattered groups of mercs were occupied fighting the trigens, making it easier for Jack and Val to finish their mission.
After retrieving and transmitting the information Doyle sought, he told Val and Jack that his superiors wanted Krieger’s facility destroyed by means of a tactical nuke. One such charge was kept there as a safety measure in case of biological agents escaping the compound.
Doyle also warned the two to vaccinate themselves with a serum in the labs, since the explosion could release mutagens into the nearby environment. Jack and Val armed the explosive in the facility, injected themselves with the vaccine, and escaped just as the bomb went off.
Krieger gains the upper hand
Stunned by their proximity to the blast, Jack and Val were easily captured by Krieger’s remaining men. Krieger was perversely delighted in seeing his creations rampage across the archipelago, calling the trigens the future and claiming that mankind was obsolete.
In tune with his philosophy of survival of the fittest, Krieger kicked Jack out of his helicopter as they flew back to his island headquarters. He left Jack with naught but an M4 carbine with a handful of rounds to defend himself. Thanks to patient stealth and no small measure of luck, Jack eluded the trigens and made the rest of the trip to Krieger’s headquarters on foot.
Krieger’s base was straight out of a James Bond movie, a high-tech facility located in the caldera of an active volcano. Fighting his way past trigens and mercenaries alike, Jack confronted Krieger and his elite guard.
The guards were a tough kill and Krieger tougher yet, for he had taken the mutagen himself. Nevertheless, Jack won out.
Krieger down
Confronting the mortally wounded Krieger, Jack learned that the mad scientist had incorporated his own DNA into the mutagen. This would have caused the trigens to instinctively respond to Krieger as a paternal figure as well as allowing him to take the mutagen without losing his original human intellect.
Jack realized to his dismay that he and Val had also been affected by the mutagen despite the vaccine. Their skin began to turn green as the first stage of the process set in.
Krieger was confused – the mutagen could only be administered subcutaneously, not in an aerosol form. But he was happy nevertheless, for he believed Jack would be a fine specimen and all that Krieger dreamt of. With that, the scientist expired.
Treason !
Doyle then appeared over the holoprojector in the room. He had betrayed Val and Jack as part of his plan to sell the mutagen on the black market. Doyle had used Val and Jack to destroy the lab so he would have the only remaining mutagen.
Furthermore, he had fooled them into injecting themselves with the mutagen rather than the vaccine so that even if they escaped the lab, they would mutate shortly thereafter and lose most of their intelligence. This would leave them unable to communicate what happened.
Realizing that Doyle’s samples would include an antidote, Jack desperately hunted him down through Krieger’s base. Finally cornered by Carver, Doyle claimed be working for more powerful men. Unconcerned with this revelation, Jack shot the traitor.
Retrieving the antidote, he cured himself and Val as they sailed away from the Jucatan Islands in a stolen Krieger Corp boat.
Ten years later
Jack Carver implicitly became The Jackal – a criminal weapons dealer operating thorough Africa. The Jackal is the antagonist of the Far Cry 2 video game.
That the Jackal was Carver could be deduced from the name of image assets. But it’s not explicit in the game, and that the Jackal was intended to be Carver was only clearly confirmed in 2021.
Description
Jack is a white male with well-toned muscles. His rough-and-tumble look is enhanced by his five-o’clock shadow, his wind-tossed medium length hair, and the black tribal-pattern band tattooed around his right upper arm. He has a 1.5” long vertical scar bisecting his left eyebrow.
In keeping with his active lifestyle, he usually wears combat boots, fatigue pants, loose button-up Hawaiian t-shirts (his red-with-white-tropical-print shirt became a bit of a distinguishing mark for the mercs hunting him on the Jacutan Islands), and two-tone leather work gloves (black with white on the palms and inner fingers).
Like many marksmen, he has taken the index fingers off of the gloves, leaving his trigger fingers bare for greater sensitivity while shooting.
His accessories include a high quality waterproof watch with a built-in compass and a leather necklace with a shark’s tooth hanging from it. The latter may be a private joke relating to the circumstances under which he acquired his boat.
The last illo is a shot of the Medusa, Jack’s home and business up until the Jacutan Islands incident.
Personality
Having resigned himself to a tumultuous lifestyle long ago, Jack accepts challenges as they come. He is not at all hesitant about voicing his displeasure when stuck with unpleasant tasks but does not balk at carrying them out when necessary — he has enough sense not to waste time trying to delay or avoid the inevitable.
He works hard, plays hard, and if necessary fights hard.
He likes to keep things simple, a challenging task given his choice of occupation. Carver will avoid combat if he can, using stealth and subterfuge to elude his enemies, but if he cannot stay out of trouble he’ll embrace it instead, leaving nothing but bodies and burning wrecks in his wake.
Though he kept insisting that all he wanted to do was leave the islands, he would not even consider abandoning Val. This did not seem to be related to affection for Val in particular (though they got along well enough), but rather a more general unwillingness to leave a partner behind even if the partnership had not been initiated of Jack’s choosing.
If true, this suggests that while Carver’s primary motivation may be getting paid, he still has certain standards of conduct such as loyalty to friends and associates.
Quotes
“I’m not even getting paid for this crap !”
Val: “The CIA has an undercover contact on this island. We lost contact with him almost ten weeks ago.”
Doyle: (over the satellite phone) “Jack, are you there ?”
Val: “Doyle ?”
Jack (hands Val the phone): “Mission Accomplished.” (Dramatically claps his hands together as if knocking the dirt off of them)
Krieger: “Survival of the fittest ! Good luck !” (Kicks Jack out of the helicopter and into the waiting trigen hordes, tosses a near-empty rifle after him)
Jack: (Slowly gets on his feet, looks up at the departing helicopter) “Thanks.”
Doyle: “You can’t change the future.”
Jack: “No, but I can make sure you’re not a part of it !” (Shoots Doyle in the face) “Stupid bastard !”
DC Universe History
Carver is perfect for the campaign that finds itself needing a tropical smuggler captain with a very shady past. Jack should team up with Tommy Vercetti from GTA Vice City at some point for a tough-guys-in-tropical-shirts crossover massacre.
In the Batman Animated Series, a Dr. Emile Dorian conducted experiments on a jungle island in a manner very similar to Dr. Krieger. Carver could provide transportation to PCs looking to investigate Dorian’s work if the good doctor appeared in a campaign.
Any of the covert teams with lower-level supers and access to US intelligence databases (such as the Suicide Squad or Checkmate) who were operating in the Pacific might recruit Jack as a guide and or weapons supplier. This would also extend to single operatives like Eddie Fyers.
He might even have a personal acquaintance with Tommy Monaghan, perhaps initially meeting when they were both in the armed services. Monaghan was in the Marines instead of the Navy, but the two services interact enough for such a meeting to have easily occurred.
They would have continued a business relationship later while Carver was selling weapons.
Game Stats — DC Heroes RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Jack Carver
Dex: 05 | Str: 03 | Bod: 04 | Motivation: Mercenary |
Int: 04 | Wil: 05 | Min: 05 | Occupation: Boat Captain |
Inf: 04 | Aur: 03 | Spi: 04 | Resources {or Wealth}: 005 |
Init: 017 | HP: 040 |
Powers:
Danger Sense: 08, Directional Hearing: 08
Bonuses and Limitations:
- Danger Sense and Directional Hearing are Skilled Powers (+1FC each).
- Danger Sense only warns Jack if he is about to be spotted by an enemy (usually an OV/RV of 04/04) (-1FC).
- Directional Hearing only works on sharp loud noises such as gunfire, rocket launches, and explosions (-1FC).
Skills:
Acrobatics (Dodging)*: 05, Charisma (Persuasion): 05, Martial Artist*: 05, Military Science (Cartography, Demolitions)*: 04, Thief (Stealth): 06, Vehicles (Land, Sea, Hang Gliders)*: 05, Weaponry (Melee)*: 05, Weaponry (Firearms): 07
Advantages:
Area Knowledge (Micronesia), Expertise (Smuggling), Lightning Reflexes, Luck, Scholar (Firearms).
Connections:
Friends from his former naval service (Low), Kolonia Bay docks (Low).
Drawbacks:
Dark Secret (Wanted by the Five Families New York mob syndicate), Exile (Forced, United States — related to Dark Secret).
Equipment:
- WATCH [BODY 01, Bonus: Built-in compass (5 points)]. This is a standard water- and shock-proof sports watch with a built-in compass as a navigational aid.
- THE MEDUSA [BODY 08, STR 07, Swimming (surface only): 04, R#02]. The Medusa was Jack’s sailboat, now blown to toothpicks and scattered across the sea floor. Jack stole a somewhat larger boat as he left the Jacutans that would have likely had +1 AP to all stats.
- Though he doesn’t normally carry these items, Jack quickly procured the following during his visit to the Jacutan Islands (see “Running and Gunning” further below for more information on using the firearm stats presented here):
- FLAK JACKET [BODY 06, Skin Armor: 02 (only against edged and piercing weapons), Partial (vest)].
- Machete [BODY 08, EV 04 (05 w/ STR, 06 w/ Martial Artist)].
- .357 Jungle Falcon [BODY 04, Projectile Weapons: 05, Ammo: 08, R#02]. This pistol looked and performed exactly like a .357 Desert Eagle, except for the magazine only holding 8 rounds instead of 9.
- H&K MP5SD Silenced Submachine Gun [BODY 04, Projectile Weapons: 05, Thief (Stealth, only to muffle gunshots): 03, Auto Ammo: 30, R#02]. Note: The MP5 has a selector that can switch between single shot and automatic. The single shot mode cannot use the MP5’s Auto Ammo and the EV of Projectile Weapons is reduced by 1 AP, while the burst mode operates normally but always uses 5 ammo per shot.
- FN-P90 Personal Defense Weapon [BODY 04, Projectile Weapons: 06, Ammo: 12, R#02, Advantage: Autofire]. Note: In the game, the P90 uses the same 9mm ammo as the MP5 and can only fire in full-automatic mode, but in real life the P90 is chambered for 5.7x28mm rounds and has a selector switch between semi-auto and full-auto firing, which would give it Auto Ammo: 50 instead of Ammo: 12 and Autofire.
- M4 Carbine [BODY 04, Projectile Weapons: 06, Auto Ammo: 30, R#02].
- Pancor Jackhammer Shotgun [BODY 04, Projectile Weapons: 06 (Diminishing), Limitation: Projectile weapons has No Range – use the Range given next instead, Range: 03, Auto Ammo: 10, R#03, Advantage : Scattershot.].
- G36 Assault Rifle [BODY 04, AV 04, Projectile Weapons: 07, Telescopic Vision: 02 Ammo: 08, R#02, Advantage : Autofire] w/ AG36 40mm underbarrel grenade launcher [BODY 04, Range: 04; Bonus: Indirect Fire, Ammo: 01, R#03] . In the game, the rifle and launcher weapon are referred to collectively as the AG36, though that designation technically refers only to the grenade launcher.
The grenade launcher in the game was loaded with unusually low-powered grenades [BODY 02, EV 05 (1 AP Area of Effect), Grenade drawback, R#02], though this may have been a deliberate design choice in order for them to serve as close-range anti-personnel rounds that would not endanger the firer. This grenade launcher fired its projectiles in a parabolic arc, allowing the user to target objects behind obstacles when necessary. - OICW Advanced Assault Rifle [BODY 04, AV 04, Projectile Weapons: 07, Telescopic Vision: 01, Ammo: 08, R#02, Advantage : Autofire] w/ 20mm underbarrel grenade launcher [BODY 04, Range: 05; Ammo: 03, R#03]. The XM29 OICW (Objective Individual Combat Weapon) was the name of a series of prototypes for next-generation personal weaponry. Though the development of this particular line of rifles has been stalled or halted entirely in real life as of this writing, in the game they have been placed into mass production and are used by some of the Krieger Corp mercenaries.
The Far Cry version fired 5.56 mm rounds and included an integrated grenade launcher and scope. The HE grenades loaded in this weapon were more powerful than those used in the G36 [BODY 02, EV 07 (2 AP Explosive Radius), Grenade drawback, R#02]. - Arctic Warfare AW50 Sniper Rifle [BODY 04, Projectile Weapons: 07, Range: 08, Telescopic Vision: 04, Ammo: 05, R#02. Limitation: Projectile weapons has No Range – use the Range given next instead]. Though the AW50 is chambered for the .50 BMG round, the rifle in the game did not seem to have as much power as one might expect from such a round. A more realistic version might have Projectile Weapons: 08 instead.
- M249 SAW Machine Gun [BODY 04, Projectile weapons: 08, Ammo: 20, R#02, Recommended STR: 04 (none when using a bipod), Advantage: Autofire, Drawback: Long reload time]. Note: The M249s used by the mercenaries were equipped with 100-round Beta C-mags.
- Rocket Launcher [BODY 03, Telescopic Vision: 02, Ammo: 04, R#02] loaded w/ explosive rockets [BODY 02, Projectile Weapons: 09 (2 AP Explosive Radius), Flight: 09, R#02, Grenade drawback, Limitation : Projectile Weapons has No Range, Flight can only be sustained for five Phases (-2)]. This rocket launcher looks similar to the US M202A1 Rocket Launcher except for its sleeker, more polished look and built-in scope. The rockets can be reloaded individually or in 4-round “clips.”
- Frag Grenades [BODY 02, EV 07 (1 AP Area of Effect), Grenade drawback, R#02].
- Smoke Grenades [BODY 03, Fog: 06, Grenade drawback, R#03].
- Flashbang Grenades [BODY 03, EV 02 (1 AP Area of effect), Flash: 07 (2 AP Area of Effect), Sensory block (Hearing): 09 (2 AP Area of Effect), Note : all Powers are Combined, Grenade drawback, R#03]. Note: Jack could carry up to six of each of these grenades in the game simultaneously. GMs may want to reduce this number to a more sensible one such as six total in whatever combination is desired.
- Nightvision Goggles [BODY 01, Thermal Vision: 06]. The light-receptor of these goggles is designed to fit the eyepiece of standard scopes. This allows the goggles to be used in conjunction with the above weapons’ Telescopic Vision and with the binoculars listed below.
- Satellite Phone [BODY 02, Radio Communication (Scrambled): 12, Military Science (Cartography): 10, Bonuses & Limitations: Cartography only displays real-time info from Krieger Corp IFF tags including the tagged subjects’ distance and direction from the phone and their orientation (i.e. what direction they are facing).
- Binoculars [BODY 02, Extended Hearing: 05, Radio Communication: 07, Telescopic Vision: 05, Bonuses: Telescopic Vision includes a precise rangefinder (+1FC), Limitations: Extended Hearing only works on objects in Telescopic Vision’s field of focus (-2FC), Radio Comm only receives Krieger Corp IFF Tag signals within Telescopic Vision’s field of Focus and transmits said data to specially-equipped mapping devices (-3FC)].
This unusually advanced set of binoculars not only magnified the user’s vision but also had high-tech sound detection equipment and could detect the IFF (Identify Friend/Foe) tags used by Krieger Corp mercenaries and implanted in the trigen mutates. Both special abilities relied on sensors focused alongside the binoculars’ visual apparatus.
The tag detection not only highlighted IFF-equipped targets in the binoculars’ HUD, but also tagged their location on wi-fi linked map-display equipment such as the satellite phone described above. Once the signals were locked in in this manner, the map display would continue provide real-time updates of the mercenaries’ movements — including both location and the direction in which the mercenary was facing — whether the binoculars remained focused on the tagged subjects or not.
The IFF tags automatically shut down if the tagged subject is killed, causing them to disappear from the map display.
Design notes
Although Danger Sense and Directional Hearing were incorporated into the satellite phone’s mini-HUD in the game, I decided to make them skills of Jack’s rather than tie them to said device since he had both abilities before he acquired that gadget.
Note that the gun stats have been tweaked to specifically reflect their performance in the game and thus may not accurately reflect the same guns when used in other settings — see Equipment section and “Running and Gunning” below for details.
Running and Gunning
First, these stats use the usual WORG house rule that Projectile Weapons does not include AV. Second, to better reflect the differences in the performance of the above guns in Far Cry, two sets of automatic fire rules are used above.
The first uses the Auto Ammo rules as found in the BoH:SE rulebook and represents guns that can be switched between single shot and automatic firing modes. The second uses a combination of AV and Autofire as described in the Personal Weapons article on WORG and represents guns that always fire at full automatic. The two are distinct and should not be considered interchangeable.
Players making Multi-Attacks with these weapons should be required to expend one shot for each target in the Multi-Attack. For example, if the player makes a Multi-Attack on three mercs with the MP5, it should expend 3 ammo in single shot mode or 15 in burst mode (5 rounds per burst, 3 bursts per target).
Source of Character: Far Cry (PC game).
Helper(s): Sébastien Andrivet, Darci.