General Joseph Lente is the Commander of the Helghast Third Army, and answers only to the direct authority of the Helghast leader, Scolar Visari. He is the secondary antagonist in Killzone. Lente personally led the First Assault Division of the Third Army during the invasion of Vekta, and stormed several beachheads, as well as command the overall Helghast invasion forces. Lente is extremely devoted to leading the Helghan Army into the right direction, and is a stance adherent to the fascist and anti-human beliefs of Visari's regime. When he is finally defeated and captured by the ISA squad led by Jan Templar, he tells Colonel Gregor Hakha of how he had his brother killed in retribution for Hakha's pro-human beliefs and betrayal of the Helghast cause. Upon hearing this, Hakha kills him, ending his villainy once and for all, as well as depriving the Helghast of one of their more effective commanders.
Biography
Early career
Joseph Lente was born some time in the early 24th century at the time of the great depression on Helghan. After the rise of Visari, Lente joined the military and due to his great leadership skills, became an important elite officer. He was a staunch supporter of Visari and his beliefs, and helped his rise to power through his own propaganda and fear. After Visari asked for a decade of power to rebuild the military, Lente became the General of the new Helghast army. He was an important advisor to Visari, along with other high ranking leaders. He shared his leader's beliefs of a great Helghan empire, and wanted to seize control of Vekta. He suffered a setback in his career when many members of his senior staff, including his chief of staff and friend, Colonel Gregor Hakha, deserted him in disgust of his radical beliefs. After Hakha joined the ISA, his family was disgusted with him, apart from his brother. Hakha's brother defended Hakha's beliefs that it was wrong to try and create an empire, and so Lente had him shot. Lente helped organise an invasion on Vekta and was largely responsible for mobilizing the invasion force and instigating the attack plans. In 2357, a plan was made. General Lente would lead the Third Helghan Army to invade Vekta. The ISA traitor, General Stuart Adams, would deactivate the SD Weapons platform over the planet, and the Helghast army would successfully invade the planet with ease.
Killzone
The invasion plan went off perfectly. Led by Lente from aboard his ship, the Helghast forces pushed through Vekta. Lente secretely went onboard the SD platform with a squad of soldiers to see General Bradley Vaughton get captured by General Adams and executed by one of Lente's men. Lente then continued to oversee the rest of the conflict from onboard the weapons platform, as it caused havok with its reactivated weapon now in Lente and Adam's hands. They then waited for the reinforcements from Earth to arrive so that they could be destroyed and the Helghast could sue for peace, with Vekta under their control.
Unfortunately, a team of soldiers, led by Captain Jan Templar, had discovered Adam's betrayal and were on their way to a shuttle to get to the platform and stop the Helghast. Adams failed to trap them and so Lente decided to go down to the planet and defeat them himself. He arrived at an abandoned base in the mountains with a team of soldiers to ambush Templar. Templar however, managed to fight back, and defeated Lente and his bodyguards.
A wounded Lente discovered that Hakha was a part of the team, and so he told him that he was a disgrace to the Helghast, and that he executed his brother for it. Upon hearing this, Hakha shot him dead, and the team took Lente's vehicle to get closer to the SD platform. Adams was very happy to hear that Lente had also failed. Shortly afterword, the initial Helghast invasion failed and Visari had lost his most prized commander.
Characteristics
Lente is fiercely loyal to Visari and will stop at nothing to ensure that the Helghast conquest of Vekta is successful. He is described as the black heart that beats within the Helghast, and a sane, cold, intelligent and notoriously proud fascist. He is tactically astute and shouldn't be underestimated, physically or mentally. He appears to be ruthless enough for a Helghast and is a man of enormous experience. He is also a man of infectious patriotism and is hugely respected by all corners of the Helghast military. Unlike most Helghast who are aggressive and violent, Lente is a calm and sophisticated general, which is the reason why he is the general of Helghan's most famous and highly decorated field army. Despite this, he cared greatly for his closest friend Gregor Hakha and was saddened and upset about his betrayal.
While most Helghast hate humans with a strong passion, Lente holds a less intense disdain for them but still considers them inferior to the Helghast race. He does not like having to work with General Adams, even if he is on their side. When Adams fails to kill Templar, Lente decides to do it himself, saying that it takes a Helghan to do a Helghan's job, and that he will inform Visari of Adams' ''efforts''.
Description
Like most Helghast, Lente is bald with pale skin and frail in appearance. He appears quite old and has somewhat oily skin. He is likely in his 50's. Lente wears a long dark-grey, cloak-like jacket like military uniform, which is also worn by the Helghast officers during the invasion. He has very thin, dark, striking eyebrows. Like most other Helghast leaders, Lente seems taller than most other soldiers. He is most likely an evolved Helghast as he dosen't wear a breathing mask like other Helghast. His voice is calm and a more upper class kind of accent. Although it could just be a shadow, his neck seems to be much darker and almost black. Although he never fights in battle anymore, Lente likely carries an officers pistol, and when he fights Templar's team, he is using a StA-52 Assault Rifle.
Trivia
- Lente is voiced by Steven Berkoff.
- Lente can be seen in a painting in Visari's Palace in Killzone 2. He is seen with Visari, along with General Armin Metrac, Colonel Tendon Cobar, and Colonel Mael Radec, the other antagonists of the series. There is a similar painting in a museum in Killzone 3, where he can be seen, too.
- Due to the fact he only answers to Visari, it may imply that he and Visari's Vice Autarch Admiral Orlock were rivals.
- When you encounter him at the missile base, it is difficult to tell you are fighting him because he greatly resembles his bodyguards. Some players may be confused on how he was mortally wounded in the cutscene because you don't realize he was among his bodyguards at the dropship.
- General Lente is about as durable as one of his own Bodyguards, requiring approximately 20 rounds of M82 Assault Rifle fire to bring down. He wields an StA-52 Assault Rifle in combat.
- In the Dutch language, his surname 'Lente' literally means spring.
- In Killzone 3, one of the cutscenes in the senate room, if one where to look VERY carefully nearing the end with Stahl appearing, what may appear to be a model of either Lente or Hahka can be seen (it is unknown if this either a carefully hidden easter egg, or a case of misidentification).
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