Ajay Ghale (you)
A bewildered stranger in a strange land at the start of the game, you just want to fulfill your mother’s dying wish to take her ashes “back to Lakshmana”, somewhere in her home country of Kyrat. But before your feet even touch the soil, you become the centerpiece of the Kyrati Civil War. Turns out, it’s your birthright. Your dad, Mohan, founded the revolution, also known as the Golden Path, before his death. And mom? She was in even deeper, until she took her young son and fled to the United States. But we’ll let you explore that little tidbit for yourself.
Amita
Amita was the first female soldier in the Golden Path, and it’s easy to see why. A strong, independent woman with a fierce sense of purpose, she’s the physical and intellectual equal of any freedom fighter in Kyrat. As co-leader of the Golden Path, Amita takes a progressive view. She’s willing to preserve Min’s drug empire if it provides the Golden Path with the income they so desperately need to fund the war and rebuild Kyrat. She also has little love for Kyrati tradition, particularly its treatment of women, which puts her in conflict with Sabal.
Sabal
A staunch follower of the old ways and devoted disciple of your late father, Sabal is co-leader of the Golden Path and Amita’s complete opposite. He pines for the Kyrat of old, when people relied upon tradition and religion to guide them through life. He feels Min’s rule has eroded Kyrati culture and transformed the country to a drug state, but everything will be fine if they can just return to their traditional way of life. His resistance to change and love of the past creates tension between him and Amita.
One Coin, Two Sides
As the Golden Path’s lead trigger man, you will often find yourself forced to choose between following Amita’s orders or Sabal’s. There is no right or wrong answer, but your choices will reverberate across the game, turning a few missions on or off and tweaking bits of other missions, as well as the ending.
Bhadra
According to the Kyrati religion, the Tarun Matara is the melding of the human with the divine, the physical representation of a goddess come to Earth, sent to act as the spiritual leader for the people. And according to Sabal, Bhadra is absolutely annointed by the goddess to become the new Tarun Matara. Amita finds the idea old-fashioned and feels it would rob Bhadra of the chance to live a normal, more liberated life.
What does Bhadra think? It’s tough to say. Nobody ever seems to ask.
The Golden Path
Kyrat’s rebel army calls itself the Golden Path, and a more rag-tag group of fighters you’ve never seen. Under-armed, under-equipped, and probably under-trained, they nonetheless fight with desperate ferocity and absolute conviction. A sign, perhaps, of just how much damage Min has done to their lives and families.
Darpan
A wizened revolutionary who has served the Golden Path since the days of your father. Darpan is your guide through Kyrat. At least, that’s the plan. Once Min shows up…well, plans change.
Longinus
An arms dealer with a strange tendency to quote all the goriest passages from the Bible, Longinus walks the line between “enlightened” and “off his nut” with remarkable reliability. But the man has artillery, so just be thankful he’s on our side.
Hurk and the Guns for Hire
A butter-brained doof with a heart of gold and a strange bro-thusiasm for battle, Hurk describes himself as the cavalry, riding to the rescue whenever you need him. As usual, he’s half right. Hurk himself only shows up when you’re playing co-op with a buddy, but you can summon one of his Golden Path partners to be your wingman in single-player games by spending Guns for Hire tokens.
Willis Huntley
If you thought the last two entries stretched the definition of “friend” and “ally”, wait ‘til you meet Willis. A shady, shifty CIA agent, he delights in giving you missions, but not straight answers. You can’t free Kyrat or uncover the secrets of your parents’ past without him—the question is, can you do it with him?
Reggie and Yogi
Every encounter with these friendly-but-not-remotely-trustworthy puff daddies seems to end with Ajay waking up with no memory of the last few hours. Still, they’re harmless enough on their own, and they do help you out with the whole “reaching a higher level of consciousness and meeting a friendly tiger-god” thing. We’ll call it a wash.
Kalinag
A noble warrior from both Kyrat’s past and another plane of existence, Kalinag is not always what he appears to be. Or whom.
Mr Chiffon
All you need to know about Mr Chiffon is that he’s a fashion designer. In a war-torn drug state. Whose leader wears pink suits and has J-pop hair. If that seems weird, be warned it’ll seem even weirder once you’ve met Chiffon in person.
Sharma Salsa
Though it seems likely Madame Salsa had a different profession in her younger years, she is now the absolute epicenter of cinematic entertainment in Kyrat, the driving force behind every movie made in the entire country. Which is to say, she’s the only person in Kyrat with a handheld video camera.
DJ Rabi “Ray” Rana
The voice of Radio Free Kyrat, this pirate radio jock is a veritable fountain of random chatter. But he definitely understands the workings of Min’s propaganda machine, and that can come in handy.
The Tiger
The immortal—but far from invincible—protector of Shangri-La. You’ll meet this divine beast on your first visit, and he will accompany you on each subsequent trip through his realm. Which is not to say he can keep you safe there. Not even close.