Ghost Recon Breakpoint Antagonist “Isn’t a Trope Character, Even Though He’s the Bad Guy”

The recently announced Ghost Recon Breakpoint is going to act as a follow-up to 2017’s Wildlands, and will feature the character of former Ghost Cole D. Walker as the antagonist, who was also recently featured in Wildlands’ latest update. What’s notable about this character is that he’s played by The Walking Dead and The Punisher star Jon Bernthal- and it certainly looks like Ubisoft are going to try and utilize his incredible acting chops to the fullest.

Speaking with DualShockers, the game’s creative director, Eric Couzian, spoke about why they went with Walker as the primary villain, what makes him tick, and why they chose to have Jon Bernthal as the man playing the role. Couzian spoke about the character of Walker having a level of complexity that helps him avoid being a typical villain trope, while also mentioning that Bernthal’s history with military roles helped them make several decisions with the direction of the character.

“When we started the project and said we wanted a deeper storyline that we used to have, the first statement we had was, ‘What is stronger than the Ghosts?'” said Couzian. “Since we always say they’re the best of the best, it was hard to find someone stronger. If you faced the Ghosts you’d have to face the worst enemy you can meet. That’s the reason we designed the Wolves since you are the leader of the Ghosts, we needed someone to embody the leader of the Wolves.”

“Because of the TV show we saw with Jon, his background with military universes, his personality,” he continued. “He’s not a trope character, even though he’s the bad guy. You will understand his motivation and it’s interesting to see how he used to view the Ghosts and drifted slowly. You feel that there’s a conflict deep within him.”

Ghost Recon Breakpoint is out on October 4 for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Following its launch, Ubisoft will be supporting it with expansions and raids. On PC, the game will be exclusively available via Uplay and the Epic Games Store.