Scolar Visari (2307-2359?) was the founder of the Helghan Empire and the Autarch of Helghan. He was vicious and violent, uniting the Helghan Nation through his charismatic and compelling leadership to become a major power on the interstellar stage. He embodied the traits of Helghan ultranationalism, being extremely bitter, vengeful, and dedicated to his vision of a strong and proud Helghan capable of taking its revenge on the United Colonial Nations for the defeat of the First Extrasolar War. Visari was killed by Rico Velasquez in Visari Palace during the retaliatory ISA invasion of Helghan.
Scolar Visari's early life is unknown, although he was descended from a noble family with much influence among the people of Helghan, having a higher adaptation to the environment of the planet and not requiring breathing aid-technology. His family owned the Visari Corporation, the second largest corporate entity on Helghan in competition with Stahl Arms. Later on in his life, Visari ventured into the world of politics, soon gaining much attention due to his superior oratory skills and charisma.
As he rose to power, Visari professed his belief that the people of Helghan had gone beyond mere humans, into what he termed Helghast. He claimed that they had become far superior to the corrupt human race that forced them to live on such a hellish world and robbed them of their birthrights. He also said that the filtration masks the people of Helghan wore should not be symbols of shame, but symbols of the pride of emerging successfully from years of struggle and hardships. His beliefs catch on to all segments of Helghan society, both rich and poor.
Visari after giving a powerful speech to the Helghast.
Capitalizing off Helghan's economic crisis and the people's growing resentment towards the UCN, ISA, and even the Helghan Administration, Visari began to rally the masses around him. After staging an attempt on his own life in 2347 for the purpose of making it seem the 'elites' of the Helghan Administration wanted him dead, he launched a popular coup. The masses of Helghast successfully forced the Helghan Administration to give in to Visari's demands, including granting him the title of Autarch with unrestrained control over the entire government.
After taking full control over the Helghan government, he set out to restructure the society of Helghan. Pushing propaganda into overtime, he encouraged the oppressed Helghast to support his dictatorship, promising to remake their civilization into one capable of surviving any disaster and crushing any opposition. In order to make the Helghast people feel truly unique, he abolished the use of written Latin in 2349, replacing it with an entirely different alphabet. He even made an attempt to create an entirely new language, but the sheer scope and size of such a feat prevented him from doing so.
Helghan's economy began to pick up again once Visari created a black market route with the Independent Strategic Colonial Alliance. With the threat of mass starvation no longer a problem for his people, Visari began to concern himself with the quality of life for the ordinary citizen less and less, but rather the power of the military. Massive resources were poured into making the feeble Helghast security force into a fearsome army of conquest. Visari began to make plans to capture Vekta and, after a decade of rebuilding his homeworld and society, declared the creation of the Helghan Empire.
Visari's plans to capture Vekta were eagerly received by the masses and the High Command promised to recognize Visari as Emperor of their empire if his plan succeeded.
His plan consisted of capturing Vekta by utilizing two spies in the ISA's ranks and turning the planet's orbital defense system against the ISA and the eventual UCN reinforcements. With the immediate threat of invasion gone and the UCN on the back foot, Visari planned to reverse-engineer the destroyed UCN fleet and use the knowledge gained to construct an armada capable of fighting Earth's own forces on an equal footing. With the Alpha Centauri system under Helghast control and Earth cut off from colonial resources, the Helghast would hit Sol itself, destroying the UCN shipyards. Eventually, this would lead to a bold invasion of Earth and a blockade that would starve the planet's entire population, revenge for the suffering which had befallen the Helghans in the First Extrasolar War. The final phase of Visari's agenda was nothing less than the complete domination and conquest of every human colony; their subjugation and the destruction of the UCN would enable the Helghast completely control the known galaxy, and ensure that no threat could ever harm them again.
With Helghast nationalism at a fever pitch and their forces now capable to meet their ambitions, Visari's forces invade Vekta and start the Second Extrasolar War. Visari is confident in his victory, but the tide turns against him with the death of his prized general, Joseph Lente, and the failure of the Helghast and their ISA puppet General Stuart Adams to obliterate the UCN relief force with the Vektan Orbital Defense Network. However, his forces manage to secure a nuclear device codenamed Red Dust which gives him leverage against the ISA and UCN.
Autarch Visari, with Admiral Orlock and his daughter beside him, broadcasting his final address to the people of Helghan.
He later rallies the people of Helghan around him as the ISA prepares to stage a retaliatory invasion of the planet, ordering each of them to fiercely resist the invasion. The ISA fleet quickly blockades the planet and begins the massive planetary invasion, the bulk of their ground forces concentrating on the Helghast capital city of Pyhrrus. He coordinates a defense plan with Colonel Radec utilizing Arc Towers, holding back the invasion. The carriers hovering over the capital are ambushed and destroyed with a makeshift force of leechpods and dropships, the brainchild of Colonel Radec. Following the suicide crash of the New Sun on the Petrusite grid powering the city's defenses, he gave the order for the nuclear device to be detonated in Pyhrrus, wiping out the ISA invasion forces, along with many of his own soldiers, still in the city.
ISA Marines led by Captain Narville stormed Visari Palace following the detonation of the nuclear bomb. Alpha squad members Sergeant Rico Velasquez and Sergeant Thomas Sevchenko fight through Colonel Radec's troops, and ultimately killing Colonel Radec to get to Visari. Visari confronts the two in his chambers, giving them a speech about how the generals had sent all their comrades to die, only to capture him alive. He tells them both about how he gave the Helghast power, and how the ISA needed him as it was the only way to control his people. He also points out that if he was killed, he would only become a martyr. He continues tempting them until Rico shoots him repeatedly, leaving him to bleed to death on the ground. His last words were "The madness... begins", which Sev sees first hand when he saw a massive Helghast fleet coming to attack the remaining ISA forces.
Visari's appearance and ideals are clearly modeled after fascism, particularly the regimes of the Italian Fascist Party, Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan under Hirohito. His fiery rhetoric is most closely modeled after the fascist leaders Benito Mussolini (whom he also physically resembles) and Adolf Hitler. His emphasis on Helghast superiority and their need to reclaim their rightful place mainly lends itself to Mussolini's ideal of Ultranationalism.
It should also be noted that, in the Killzone intro, Visari mentions having asked the Helghan people for 10 years, in which he promised to consolidate the nation. This expression echoes one made by Adolf Hitler during his first speech as Chancellor of Germany, in which he asks the German people for 4 years, during which time he would make the country 'rise again'.
North Korean dictator Kim-Jong Il was also a likely influence. Much Helghan propaganda is in a similar stylized form as propaganda posters and bill boards used by the North Korean Communist Party. The Helghan alphabet bears a striking similarity to the stylized Hangul used by the North Korean regime in their media. Another example of North Korean influence is the Helghan Symbols the player has to destroy. They bear a striking similarity to badges used by North Korean Army officers. Visari's militaristic military-centered society, with Helghan's scarce resources being prioritized for the military is similar to the Songun "Military First" policy implemented by Kim-Jong Il after his ascension to power in the late 1990s which prioritizes food (which is scarce in North Korea, a country with poor agriculture) and resources to the military.
In the intro to Killzone 3, we are given a glimpse at Visari's inner circle, including Jorhan Stahl and Admiral Orlock. But more interestingly, we are given a chance to see Visari's daughter, who distinctly addresses Visari as "Father". From her appearance it is obvious that she bears a striking resemblance to her father, wears a lavish dress and a luxurious necklace in addition to an elaborate hairstyle. Though her name is never mentioned, the lady is the first representation of a Helghast woman in the Killzone universe. It would not be unreasonable to expect to see Visari's daughter performing in the capacity of a potential heir to her father's throne in the future.
One should take note the imagery presented in the intro to Killzone 3. During Visari's opening speech many statues and portraits are changed during the detonation of the Red Dust nuclear bomb. Although Visari speaks of his own self-proclaimed care for the people of Helghan, a statue of two Helghan women cradling their babies looking up towards two Helghast soldiers leading and protecting them is transformed. The two Helghast soldiers turn on the women in an oppressive manner as the statue is melted by the heat of the nuclear bomb, being seen to bludgeon the child-carrying women with the butt of their rifles as the statue melts. Likewise a picture of proud Helghast miners, being led by a wealthy Helghast pointing forward, transforms into another oppressive image of the miners cowering from a newly formed whip in the hand of the wealthy Helghast. But most importantly is a proud Napoleonic portrait of Visari surrounded by his most loyal subjects affected in the heat of the explosion. The subjects are transformed into monstrous demon-like creatures, while Visari himself is portrayed as an evil, almost devil-like figure. This imagery possibly represents the reality of life in Visari-controlled Helghan, as the facade of nationalistic propaganda is lifted up to reveal an oppressed people enslaved to the whims of a power-hungry dictator.
One should also take note that before his rise, the Helghast were a broken and weak people, brutalized and oppressed by the UCN and the ISA. Suffering from starvation, a hellish homeworld with a crippled economy, no true independence and no hope for their future before Visari's rise, it is likely that the people of Helghan love their leader, and accept his rule even if by human standards it seems harsh/cruel.
Visari's last name is actually based from Joseph Stalin's real name - Iosif Visarionovich Dzhugashilivi.
Visari's eyes were green (same with his daughter) in the Killzone 2 intro. However, in the ending Visari's eyes were red, thus the red-eyed Visari that Rico killed may have been a double or that the monitor screen could have gave Visari's eyes a green tint. Visari's eyes were also red in the Killzone 3 intro and his daughter quickly took her hand away from him. She also didn't look too happy when she saw him.
In the novel Killzone: Ascendancy, Sev (when he was in school) thought Visari looked like 'a little demon kid' when he saw pictures of a young Visari in a textbook.
Scolar Visari never appeared in gameplay of the Killzone games, though he was present in the introductions to each game and cutscenes.
"Unleash the whirlwind of our wraith, our guns never tire, until we have beaten back the foe.... send them running!"
Killzone Intro Speech, Scolar Visari
"My people... Sons and Daughters of Helghan... For many years, we have been a broken nation: shunned, oppressed, and conquered by those we sought to escape. Ten years ago, I asked for time, and that time was granted by you. You: the strength in my arm, the holders of my dreams... Our forefathers embarked on the greatest exodus in the history of all mankind. An exodus for freedom, Helghan became that freedom. Our new world changed our bodies. At first, it weakened us, but in fact, we were growing... stronger. In the time you have given me, I have rebuilt our nation, I have rebuilt our strength, and I have rebuilt our pride! Our enemies at home have been re-educated; we have given them new insights into our cause. On this day, we stand united once more. On this day, those driven to divide us will hear our voice! On this day, we shall act as one, and we shall be ignored NO MORE! Defenders of the Helghast dream, NOW IS OUR TIME!"
Killzone 2 Intro Speech, Scolar Visari
"My people... Sons and Daughters of Helghan. This much I vow: The history of these days will be written in blood. By crushing the armies of our enemy, by seizing the weapons they thought to turn against us, we were fighting for our very existence. But if there are those who would deny us peace; refuse us our rightful place in the universe, then we will unleash such terrible vengeance that generations yet unborn will cry out in anguish![...]The enemy may shatter our bodies, but they cannot break our spirit. Even now they advance on our home world, to seize by force what they cannot claim by right. They cannot imagine what awaits them. WE WILL SMITE THE INVADERS FROM OUR SKIES! Though they sweep over our lands like the sands of winter, never again will we bow before them; never again endure their oppression; never again endure their tyranny. We will strike without warning and without mercy, fighting as one hand, one heart, one soul. We will shatter their dreams and haunt their nightmares, drenching our ancestors' graves with their blood. And as our last breath tears at their lungs; as we rise again from the ruins of our cities... they will know: Helghan belongs to the Helghast."
Killzone 2 Ending Movie Speech, Scolar Visari
"And who are you, soldier? [...] They send a sergeant to take Visari? Are your commanders really all so afraid? [...] Really sergeant. And who won? The cowards who commanded you and your comrades here to die? The Helghast have lost nothing. We fight for who we are. We wear our wounds like badges of honor. Helghan is ours, and we will die before we let it fall to plunderers. That is why your leaders dare not make a martyr of me. Your fleet burned, your friends butchered...And you become a hero for saving my life? Does that sound like a victory to you, Sergeant Sevchenko? [...] For giving my people pride, purpose!? We have built this great nation from nothing! Take me, and Helghan will dissolve into chaos. The ISA war machine, powerless against the sheer will of my people. We will choke the streets with our dead before we surrender. Your masters will beg me to restore order. You have not won! You will never!!... [...] 'Madness.'' [...]The madness...begins..."
Killzone 3 Intro Speech, Scolar Visari
My People, sons and daughters of Helghan. On this day, as our enemy's ships burn away in orbit, as their bodies lie broken in our streets, we are once again reminded of the depths of their depravity. 'For years we have suffered unbearable hardships. Banished by our enemies to die from disease, from famine. They scarred us. They weakened us. But that time has passed. 'For years we worked away on empty stomachs, slowly rebuilding our strength, our pride and our nation! But that time has passed. 'All these years I have been humbled by the honor to lead you. Ever, EVER onwards! From this day. Till the end of days!"
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