what is it that you truly desire..?

Here is John Seed, the Baptist, as he appears in Far Cry 5 most of the time:

His coat is now decorated with planes, but it still has scales on the buttons. He has a two-tone blue shirt, a vest (it seems, heavily inspired by a piece from the D&G Spring/Summer 2010 menswear collection²⁷), dark grey jeans with a brown belt and an “EG” belt buckle, dark grey, laced, probably leather boots, a watch, an Eden’s Gate earring, blue sunglasses (on his head), his bunker key around his neck, a SLOTH scar on his chest, and a lot of tattoos²⁸:

Among them, in addition to the ones previously mentioned in Part 1 (the letters and symbols on his fingers, the goat, the snake, the flames, the scales, and the angelic figure with the dove in the wreath), we find:

On his right arm,

a nautical star (can represent guidance) and diamonds/jewels (can represent beauty and power)

the number seven in tally marks (also tattooed on his left little finger), probably for the seven deadly sins

a fly (can represent determination)

a sword/dagger (can represent protection or sacrifice)

an anchor (can represent God and groundedness) with another snake and pair of scales

a crescent moon (can represent purity or transition, a new beginning)

a peacock feather (the peacock is used to symbolize Pride)

the word SLOTH crossed out

a flaming horseshoe, possibly to symbolize the Horsemen (and fire) of the Apocalypse.

On his left arm,

a revolver, maybe the last vestige of the gun he was holding in the first promotional pictures and in Absolution

an eagle, which looks like it’s about to catch the snake, maybe to symbolize Eden’s Gate (the cult used to be represented by an eagle, as seen in the early piece of concept art of the Seed family¹), “killing” sins (here, Envy)

an ax (can represent strength and fearlessness)

the plane pattern that is now also on his coat

a religious cross

a chair and the words “SIT DOWN & WE TALK”, most likely a reference to the fact he’s the Project’s Confessor

a holy figure with a sickle attached to their hand and what looks like sprigs of wheat, the latter probably symbolizing the Reaping and the fact John is in charge of it

another cross with “EG” in the middle, as well as the Greek letters alpha (A) and omega (ω), “the beginning and the end” in the Book of Revelation in the Bible

a bird, maybe a swallow (can represent freedom and resilience).

Most of his tattoos seem to be religious symbols, but depending on who you ask, tattoos can have very different, sometimes deeply personal meanings, so it’s difficult to know exactly what they’re supposed to represent. Some of the significations I’ve just mentioned in the list are very generic and can be found on many websites.

The crossed-out word SLOTH is particularly interesting to me because John has a similar scar on his chest, and “Acedia” (Sloth) is missing from the list tattooed on his left hand. It seems he really hates this sin²⁹…

But funnily enough, in the game, John doesn’t always look like this.

In the bedroom of the Holmes Residence, on Joseph’s Island, there are pictures of the Seed family on the wall, and John appears in two of them³⁰:

In the first one, he’s wearing his sunglasses, and his coat appears to have EG logos on it instead of planes. In the other picture, his coat might also be the “old” one, but it’s hard to tell.

In the family portrait, also visible in the Holmes Residence³¹, it’s his early character model (no glasses, no tattoos, “EG” pattern on the coat), the one we see in the Prima Games guide, who is in the picture. His siblings look slightly different as well.

In Dutch’s bunker, there also are pictures (and short descriptions) of the Father and his Heralds. Once again, it’s John’s early model who seems to be in the photo³².

In the “Power of Yes” poster, he’s wearing his sunglasses³²:

On the “We love you and we will take you” billboards³², John’s picture is a mixture of several designs. His coat is the final one, with planes, but his face appears to belong to his early model because his sunglasses are nowhere to be found and I think his beard looks slightly longer. He has the SLOTH scar and bunker key, but the letters on his fingers are S, G, and G for Sloth and Gluttony/Greed. The tattoo on his hand is hard to see, but it doesn’t seem to be the nautical star and diamonds.

In the menu, more specifically in the Journal, where missions are listed, we can once again see John’s early model (no glasses, no tattoos), like in this image that illustrates the mission “The Confession”³³:

I’ve previously mentioned an early version of the “You have been Marked” broadcast (in IGN’s video²¹), but an even earlier version of it can be seen in Far Cry Arcade. If you add the “Counter Cafeteria” (Far Cry 5 > Objects > Residential > Kitchen) to your map in the Arcade Editor, you can see this³⁴:

The Eden’s Gate cross that appears at the beginning is also a very early design, the one featured in what could be the first artwork of the Seed family¹.

A picture of John’s old 3D model was also in the deleted in-game encyclopedia (still partially available in the files)³⁵. His sunglasses, key, scar, and tattoos are missing, and he has the EG coat.

In the loading screens for the Holland Valley region, although John looks a little more realistic than his in-game model, his design appears to be the same³⁶:

As for his in-game portrait and character icon, they feature his final design as well:

But there also exists a very early version of this portrait in the files. John appears to be the character on the left, once again wearing sunglasses³⁷:

But surprisingly, the release of Far Cry 5 didn’t mark the end of the changes regarding John’s appearance. After the game came out, his model was slightly altered one last time.

If you ever took a close look at his shoes in the first few months that followed the release of Far Cry 5, you may have noticed that there was blood on them. This blood stain is also visible in the “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” official artwork²³:

But when I looked at his shoes again in the Arcade Editor five months later, the blood was mysteriously gone…

I have no idea why it was removed, but I like that it was because John’s evolution, from the game’s earliest stages of development to its final version, was not just physical; his personality, methods, and morals were also modified. The blood disappearing from his shoes is a subtle and maybe meaningless change, but I think it perfectly illustrates how his violence was gradually toned down during the development of Far Cry 5.