Who could forget this particular gem? Or indeed, the iconic monologue that accompanied it? Michael Mando's purpose-built psycho-pirate wowed gaming audiences when he appeared in the Far Cry series' third entry, explaining Einstein's definition of insanity to a whole new generation of gamers and in turn propelling the character to newfound heights of popularity. Vaas was the clear highlight of Far Cry 3's drug-addled story mode, so it was a shame he was killed off so early on in the tale and replaced with an antagonist that was well...just not as interesting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xw_KMj2ZCig Any one scene involving the character could shift from calm tranquility to unfettered anger in a moment, which displayed just how much of a threat he could be. On top of this, Mando displays some truly remarkable range in the role, which just completely eclipses the other talents involved in the game's production. To make things even better the actor portrayed the role in a live-action web series, showing that behind and in front of the camera, Vaas is still a terrifying personality to witness. Mando's talent in the role has definitely been a contributing factor to Far Cry's rise as a triple-A franchise, and has spawned countless poor imitations of the character desperate to emulate the same sort of effect. There's nothing quite as good as the original role however, and that's why Vaas will remain as such an absorbing antagonist.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
