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Sebastiano Di Ravello | |
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Character in Just Cause 3 | |
First appearance | Welcome Home |
Faction | Medici Military |
Job | General in the Medici Military De facto head of state to Medici |
Last known status | Deceased |
Sebastiano Di Ravello is the generalissimo/dictator of Medici and the main antagonist of Just Cause 3.
Personal info[]
His background history from before his military career is unknown.
He is a fan of the annual feast at Ponere "that concludes with the townspeople shelling Vico Gamba with fireworks". Through this, it can be assumed that he has a dark sense of humor. He also has an intense hatred of Costa Del Porto stating that he wishes to "burn this town" one day even before The Rebellion existed. He eventually did during one mission, but that was foiled by The Rebellion.
Di Ravello can be unpredictable and has a ferocious temper. He can be calm and collected one moment but raging violently the next. As evidenced by the missions A Terrible Reaction, A Long and Dangerous Road, and Bavarium on a Plane, he has almost no tolerance for those who fail him, try his patience, or get in his way. He is also extremely egotistical, evidenced by all the images of himself (billboards, posters, propaganda vans, speakers, and statues) erected in his honor throughout many major cities and towns of Medici.
As proven by there being multiple crosses at his house in the aptly named Citate Di Ravello, he is a religious person.
As established during the mission Of Cows and Wine, he likes wine from the northern coast of Insula Fonte, which Mario describes as "high quality wine" and as "the Mario Frigo of alcoholic beverages".
In his free time, he is apparently the most skilled fisher in Medici. He has won the nation's oldest annual fishing contest, the Medici Sea Bass Classic at Vico Spigola, 22 times.
Career[]
He is a general in the Medici Military. His collectable audio diary reveals that he was originally considered to be too mentally unstable, or even insane, to join the military, but he threatened to kill his psychiatrist to obtain a clean bill of health regardless.
The tapes go on to explain that Di Ravello began his rise through the ranks as an army private. Shortly after admittance into boot camp, he exploited his drill sergeant's proclivity for alcohol to gain admittance into the officer training program, guaranteeing himself a position of power in the government as soon as he completed his training.
While in boot camp, Di Ravello "befriended" a fellow recruit named Bonnet. In reality, he had no interest in friends or allies and thus wanted to use Bonnet merely as a pawn until the latter's usefulness had run out. In an effort to boost his popularity throughout the platoon and get more people to trust him, Di Ravello somehow manipulated Bonnet into attacking Drill Sergeant Dushku. Di Ravello says he "poisoned his ear" but does not state exactly what he said to Bonnet to get him to attack. The vicious attack resulted in Dushku being rendered handicapped and Bonnet's death by Di Ravello's hand. Di Ravello was later commemorated for his "bravery" on boot camp graduation day and his popularity had never been higher.
Around 20 years prior to Just Cause 3, Di Ravello concocted a plan to seize power from Medici's democratic government headed by President Dante and replace it with a "military solution" based on fear and intimidation. His plan proved successful with the help of some newfound allies, The Agency, whom he made several deals with. They assisted him in the creation of an insurgency/rebellion led by two disgruntled ex-officers in the Medici Military, Dushku and De Luca, the former of which being the same man who previously oversaw Di Ravello's training in boot camp.
In the weeks and months that followed, Medici's political state quickly descended into chaos as Dushku and De Luca's rebels wreaked havoc upon innocent people and thrust the country into anarchy. Just as Di Raviello had planned, Dante became increasingly unpopular and desperately turned to the general for help in restoring order to the nation. At the same time, Dante's political rival, Rosa Manuela, became increasingly more popular among the people, drawing concern from Di Ravello because her views proved contrary to his own.
With a presidential election imminent and Rosa becoming more of a threat, Di Ravello set the last of his plans into motion by ensuring that Dushku and De Luca's rebels brutally murdered Dante in the town of Olivo Moro. The chaos that followed was enough for the general to justify declaring a state of emergency, cancel the election, impose martial law over the people, and ultimately become the nation's dictator. He also killed and arranged the deaths of "thousands of people" during the events leading up to his takeover.
In the aftermath, the insurgency/rebellion was crushed and order was restored. Dushku and De Luca were arrested and Di Ravello later had them fight to the death. De Luca slayed Dushku before Di Ravello quickly put him down with a bullet from his revolver. Rosa Manuela anticipated the general's scheme and managed to escape to South America. She was able to find political asylum and went into exile, but Di Ravello would always consider her a threat. Lastly, Di Ravello's relationship with The Agency had been severely strained by his takeover. In an effort to make amends, the dictator personally orchestrated the deaths of the entire Rodriguez family, save for a young race car driver named Rico Rodriguez. The truth about Rico's parents' assassination was revealed in Just Cause 4. Oscar Espinosa had the Agency contact Di Ravello, due to the deployment of Black Hand forces in Medici and asked Di Ravello to command his soldiers to burn down the Rodriguez household and make sure no one escaped. The orphaned Rico was then saved by Tom Sheldon on orders of The Agency, which took Rico as their recruit.
At the start of the game, it is revealed that Di Ravello's military has harnessed the incredible power of a rare Earth element called Bavarium, found only in Medici, and the general plans on using this power to achieve world domination. This explains why his military has so many large bases and his plan is meant to be accomplished with the aid of Bavarium weapons and technology. The dictator has also enlisted the services of an international mercenary group called the Black Hand. These elite mercenaries serve as part of Di Ravello's personal bodyguards and help to provide additional security at several of his bases and installations.
There are statues of him in Medici, which can be demolished by the player. According to his propaganda posters and billboards, he stands for peace, rights, security and prosperity.
He knows of Rico's arrival after the mission Welcome Home as stated in his last audio diary "Icarus", but only after the latter liberates the province of Baia does he order his men to burn the town of Costa Del Porto in the mission A Terrible Reaction as revenge for the capture of Vis Electra. It was implied that Di Ravello may have also orchestrated Rico's return to test his new Bavarium weapons.
Di Ravello is not seen nor heard from again until the mission Missile Cowboy where he launches an invasion of the Insula Fonte region to crush The Rebellion. Later, he contacts Rico via radio while the latter is attempting to disable a Bavarium missile mid-flight aimed at the province of Baia. Proceeding to gloat and make a mockery of Rico, Di Ravello laughs at Rico's pitiful attempts to stop his plans. Rico ends up having the last laugh when he uses his grappler to alter the missile's trajectory and steer it right into the command center at Cima Leon: Centcom, destroying most of the base.
In the mission Connect the Dots, he sends troops to intercept and eliminate Dimah Ali Umar al-Masri and Mario Frigo as they're scouting the coastline of Insula Dracon for information about the FOW protecting Corda Dracon: Centcom. Rico foils the general's plans yet again after receiving a tip from his old colleague Tom Sheldon.
Di Ravello's opinion of Rico finally begins to change at the conclusion of the mission A Long and Dangerous Road. At his opulent palace in the Medician capital of Citate Di Ravello, the dictator summons his old contact from The Agency, Tom Sheldon, and berates the latter for being unable to hold up his end of the bargain the two of them made 20 years ago. Sheldon initially denies any involvement in the deal (claiming that it was made with "Uncle Sam") but Di Ravello quickly silences him with assurances of his awareness of Sheldon's recent "involvement" with Rico and The Rebellion. The dictator goes on to point out Rico's significance in their deal. Reminiscing about how he went to great lengths to "orphan" the boy and deliver Rico into Agency hands as a personal favor to Sheldon. This "favor" involving Rico would lead to Rico becoming one of The Agency's most prominent assets, and Sheldon's favorite protégé. Di Ravello is obviously very pissed, as by now, he sees Rico as more than just "A boy who rampages across the countryside, destroying everything in sight, making me look like a fool to my people!"
Now fuming over the realization that Sheldon's apparent betrayal could end up rendering his secret Bavarium weapons useless, Di Ravello burns Sheldon's hat and issues a stern warning to his former ally, claiming that "There is nothing that my flames cannot touch, Mister Sheldon." After this, he has two Black Hand members escort Sheldon off the premises, advising Sheldon to never come back.
Considering Rico a true threat to his plans, Di Ravello then sent a large army to Grotta Contrabandero in the mission Abandon Ship. His intent is to wipe out both Rico and The Rebellion in one fell swoop, but the assault is a failure thanks to Dimah's new and improved EMP device, which she developed with Rico's help.
Seeking to turn the tide of the war and force Di Ravello on the defensive, Rico and his allies prepare a trap for the dictator by leaking their intent to sabotage the Bavarium reactor housed beneath Corda Dracon: Centcom. In the mission Tangled Up In Blue, Di Ravello takes the bait and sends yet another large army into Insula Dracon to prevent such an outcome. While the rebels keep the general's forces preoccupied, Rico and Dimah work to destroy the subterranean power plant, inevitably obliterating most of Corda Dracon: Centcom.
With the long anticipated return and re-emergence of "exiled populist leader," Rosa Manuela, in the mission Rico and the Rose, Di Ravello starts growing desperate when Rico kills the pilots sent to eliminate her. After his forces fail to stop Rico again and again in the missions The Great Escape and Bavarium on a Plane, the general finally loses his patience with them. After seemingly beating one of his own officers to death, the dictator turns to his Black Hand associates. He cannot help but wonder how they have been unable to deal with "a weak minded child with a rope and a squirrel suit." The Black Hand have prided themselves as being "the most elite private military force in the world", but Di Ravello is furious with them for not living up to their reputation.
Finally calming himself, the general gives new orders. The plan is to attack the rebels directly as a diversion to bust out Di Ravello's mole in The Rebellion, Dr. Zeno Antithikara, and escort him to safety. He then specifically emphasizes that the Black Hand are not to fail him again. Rico foils this plan too during the mission The Watcher on The Wall, and also kills Zeno.
When his grandest military base, Falco Maxime: Centcom, is captured and his forces (Medici Military, D.R.M., and Black Hand) are in obvious ruin, Di Ravello secretly boards an advanced helicopter in the mission The Shatterer of Worlds, and flees to the volcano island off Medici's western coast.
With Falco Maxime: Centcom in rebel hands and Citate Di Ravello under siege, Rico and his allies return their attention to the ex-dictator. Teo and Annika Svennson track Di Ravello to the island and Rico goes after him in the mission Son of Medici. The two adversaries face off in an epic showdown within the volcano's crater, and Rico ultimately prevails when he destroys the general's Bavarium-shielded helicopter.
Surviving the crash, Di Ravello crawls out of the helicopter toward his revolver, but Rico reaches it first, denying him the chance. After a few words, Rico is given a choice to either kill him immediately, or spare him.
If the player decides not to shoot him (gets shot in the chest), Di Ravello will suddenly regain control of his emotions and appear to be at peace with his inevitable demise. He fearlessly states that "If my reign began in flames, Rico Rodriguez, then it shall end in flames." He then walks backward and falls into lava to his death.
Not shooting him will result in him giving a short additional explanation on how, thanks to Rico, Medici will be thrown into chaos as the "military solution" was the only thing holding it all together. He concludes by admitting that he has "failed both his nation and himself", vaguely references his past alliance with The Agency, calling them "imperialist dogs" and "who he has allowed to hold sway over Medici for too long". He then admits that it was his failure and kills himself by walking backward into the lava.
Put simply, Rico either kills him with a bullet to the chest, or he commits suicide by walking backward and falling into lava. Either way, he and his regime are defeated, implied to be succeeded by rebel leader Rosa Manuela.
Other notes[]
The in-game map description for eDEN Extraction Site Bravo (featured in the Sky Fortress DLC) reveals that Di Ravello made some sort of mining agreement with the eDEN Corporation prior to the events of Just Cause 3. This would explain why he and his forces are "indifferent" about eDEN and allow it to get away with all its heinous acts against the people of Medici.
Di Ravello's name is mentioned in the last mission of the Mech Land Assault DLC, Storming the Hive. As Rico is making his way down the elevator shaft, Eden announces that the eDEN Corporation would like to take the time to thank its new neighbor and sponsor, General Sebastiano Di Ravello, and congratulate him on his promotion. Rico chuckles to himself and states that "Things have changed a little in the last 20 years." Whatever he meant by that could be interpreted in a number of different ways.
In the mission The Setup (JC3) for the Bavarium Sea Heist DLC, Looch tells Rico that he used to be employed by Di Ravello and was assigned to work at the same facility as Dimah Ali Umar al-Masri. He goes on to explain that this was how he and Dimah became fast friends and how the two of them, with Looch's plan, eventually managed to escape Di Ravello.
In her collectable audio diary the CEO of eDEN, Eden Callaghan, admits that she was very reluctant to make any sort of business arrangement with Di Ravello after the latter succeeded in taking control of Medici following President Dante's death. Nevertheless, after the unexpected disappearance of Stingray, the eDEN Corporation lost a considerable number of its sponsors and was in a state of financial depression. One of eDEN's remaining sponsors, The Agency, threatened to drop its support unless the corporation acknowledged Di Ravello's leadership and agreed to work with the dictator. For the sake of eDEN, Ms. Callaghan capitulated.
In the aftermath of the fiasco with eDEN's new fragmentation device (before eDEN went bust), Di Ravello officially became the corporation's only remaining sponsor after The Agency severed all ties. Ms. Callaghan loathed the relationship her company shared with the general, calling him a psychopath.
Trivia[]
- Like Rico and Pandak Panay, Di Ravello resembles multiple people. Some of these below resemble him by their face, while others more by their uniforms.
- Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the Kurdish freedom fighter group PKK.
- He also resembles the former dictator of Iraq, Saddam Hussein. The Di Ravello statues also resemble a famous statue of Saddam.
- Muammar Gaddafi used to occasionally wear a similar uniform. More interestingly, his death mirrors that of Gaddafi's: shot by a rebel by with own engraved golden handgun.
- Alexander Lukashenko, the current president of Belarus, resembles him a little.
- Joseph Stalin had a similar mustache and used to wear a white uniform.
- Some say he looks like Augustus Pinochet, the former dictator of Chile.
- The leaders of San Esperito and Panau also had statues of themselves erected. For more details, see Giant statue of Salvador Mendoza and Pandak "Baby" Panay Statues respectively.
- In a similar vein, there are many Black Hand Statues around Solís, the difference being these are of a soldier instead of the country's leader.
- There is a comune (administrative unit) in Italy with a similar name: Comune di Ravello.
- There are collectable audio tapes in the game that are Di Ravello's diary telling how he rose from an army private to a general and how he accomplished his coup over Medici.
- Upon his death at the end of Just Cause 3, his personal weapon, "The Little General", will spawn near the wreck of his chopper.
- At the end of A Long and Dangerous Road, Di Ravello said to Tom Sheldon that he orphaned Rico Rodriguez 20 years ago at the request of the latter in return for an alliance with the United States. This is confirmed in "Day 1710" of the Di Ravello tapes where The Agency was furious at him for his choice of tactics (in some recent event) and to quell this anger of The Agency, Di Ravello had to send the then young Rico Rodriguez to escape with Tom Sheldon who was waiting in a boat. It's not known if this was a personal favor by Tom Sheldon though, or the deal with The Agency.
- Of all the antagonists in the Just Cause Game Series, Sebastiano Di Ravello has the most personal relationship with Rico Rodriguez because of their "shared" history. He's also the only main antagonist whom Rico holds a major vendetta against for the entirety of the game.
- It is known from the Di Ravello tapes that he ruled Medici when Rico was still a race car driver. However, this fact does not fit the Timeline of the Just Cause universe.
- This is the only character in Just Cause 3 seen eating. In this case, it would the cut-scene for A Terrible Reaction.
- During development, Di Ravello underwent many changes. He was originally supposed to wear a different type of suit, a different hat, wore gloves, and even wear sunglasses. Another version of Di Ravello was also planned and was close to the current version but without the hat, and sporting one gloved hand. This can be still seen in the official Just Cause 3 comic. His name might've been Di Revello according to the concept art of Stria Switzo Propaganda, but whether this is a spelling mistake or actual cut content remains unknown.
- Oddly, at the end of A Long and Dangerous Road, Di Ravello claims he has overlooked Rico Rodriguez, but Medici Military has tried to kill Rico before this.
- This could also imply that he didn't perceive Rico as a significant threat.
- Di Ravello is mentioned in the introduction of Just Cause 4 by Gabriela Morales, leader of the Black Hand. As she is briefing her employer, Oscar Espinosa, about the threat of Rico Rodriguez, Gabriela tells him that Di Ravello was one of the Black Hand's former employers as well as one of the many heads of state Rico deposed over the course of his career. She also goes a step further in explaining that Rico liberated Medici mostly for personal reasons with only limited involvement from The Agency.
- In Just Cause 4 if you shoot the Cow Gun at a cow, the cow will turn into Di Ravello.
- Di Ravello will always die at the end of the game. However, he could commit suicide if Rico does not shoot him. As such, he is the only main antagonist in the Just Cause Game Series whom Rico does not necessarily kill directly, as all other villainous heads of state are all directly killed by Rico.
- "Di", as part of the surname "Di Ravello" seems to be a word of the Medician language (possibly meaning "of"), so Di Ravello's name in English would be Sebastiano of Ravello. Ravello is a town in Italy, which implies that either Di Ravello or his family is from Ravello. This would be consistent with some other famous names in that region, like "Leonardo da Vinci", who did not have a known family name (or who didn't want to be associated with it), so he was called "of Vinci", because that's where he was from.
Appearances/Actors[]
- Just Cause 3 - Jon Avner
- Just Cause 4 - N/A (he appears as an Easter egg twice)