Haven City



Haven City is a huge dystopia city-state featured in the fictional Jak and Daxter universe.

History
Founded by the Hero Mar some 300 years prior Jak II, Haven City served two purposes. It served to protect the human-elf inhabitants from the Metal Heads, and also to keep the Metal Heads from getting the Precursor Stone. By the time of Jak II, when it was introduced, Haven City was one of a very small handful of cities left on the entire planet, and was ruled by the tyrant Baron Praxis. Haven City was divided into several districts, namely the slums, water slums, industrial zone, port, farm area, bazaar, main town, Mar Memorial Stadium, and the Fortress, but the most important feature was Haven Palace, standing high up, visible from any place in the city, and most places outside of it. The palace is held up by six support cables. Each cable tower has one elevator each. For those who are brave, they are able to access the palace rooftop via the cables. In Jak 3, the palace is attacked by Metal Heads and the base of the palace is blown up. The palace falls on its side, bringing the towers down with it. The palace crashed main town, the northen farm area and Mar Memorial Stadium. The palace also blocked most access to the west part of the city, where Metal Heads took over.The Eastern Bazaar and the Palace Section could have possibly survived the crash, but were inaccesessible because the support towers blocked the entrance. As of Jak 3, the pumping station and strip mine are not accessible. The Palace was actually built atop a series of Precursor catacombs, which lead to the planetary defense system. Some fans believe the Palace was a conductor for the energy beam.

Also in the game Daxter, which is set in Haven City, a few places not mentioned in the other games are revealed such as the cannery, distillery, hotel, and an underground train system. Haven City also had quite a few projects outside the city such as the strip mine, drill platform, water pumping station, lumber mill, and weapons factory.

The streets of Haven City were under constant patrol by the Krimzon Guard, and later by the Freedom League, who where prepared to open fire on anybody who disobeying the Baron's orders. Also dotting the city were machines repeating propaganda messages over a public announcement system recorded by the Baron himself. The city's main methods of transportation were either walking or flying over the crowds in hover vehicles called Zoomers, which have obviously advanced since Keira's invention of the device in the previous game.

Haven City's sewers, connect beneath the city to a number of locations, most notably a rout to the Wasteland, which Jak took to return to Haven City. The player must return to the sewers several times in Jak II, in contrast the player must go through only three times in Jak 3.

Society
The political atmosphere of Haven City is always bad. The City is inhabited by humans, lurkers and hybrids (which are generally pets or food). The human population is divided to rich people, who live in the Main Town and the Palace surrounding areas and poor people, who live in the Slum Areas.The lurkers are treated as slaves and are a part of "The Forced Labour Trade". Some humans seem to have a lurker as a servant. And if "his or her lurker is acting up" the people are instructed to call the friendly officers of the Krimzon Animal Control, who will deal with their furry slave with all the love and care it deserves. And to make their life more easier they should give all their eco to the Baron Eco Found or it will be taken from them. The upper class of the city are given priviledges and titles of nobility, like Count Veger. Eco is seems to be used as currency and energy, as there are eco bills and the Stadium Championship prize is a months supply of eco. In Jak 3 the lurkers and the hybrids seem to have vanished or died. The City has an even greater shortage of eco as nearly all of it seems to have been used by the KG and Metal Heads. There are much less trafic in the streets and less civilians than soldiers.

Government
Haven City is somewhat of a monarchy though the ruling post is simply referred to as the "leader of Haven City". Prior the reign of Praxis the members of the House of Mar seemed to have a birthright to the throne until Damas was banished to the Wasteland. In Jak II Baron Praxis ruled the city with an iron fist, making it a totalitarian city-state during the game. When Ashelin took her fathers place as the leader of the city, she became a governor, not a queen. This would make Haven City a republic in Jak 3. This is futherproven in Jak 3 as Ashelin's protest against Jak's banisment was overruled by the Grand Council, which was obviuosly made up off civilians. Also in Jak 3 the Grand Council took control of the city until Ashelin dissolves it upon Jak's return to New Haven.

Learders of Haven City
Mar - some time in the 18th century

Damas - 19??-2000/2001 (If young Jak is 3 years old in Jak II he can't have been taken by Veger before year 2000 and he was taken before Damas was banished to the Wasteland).

Baron Praxis - 2000/2001-2003 (He was killed by Metal Kor).

Ashelin Praxis - 2003 onwards

Count Veger (briefly) - 2004 (As the leader of the Grand Council, who took command after Jak's banishment, Veger gained briefly control of Haven City until Ashelin fired him.)

Military
During the Reign of Baron Praxis the streets of Haven City were under constant patrol by the Krimzon Guard, who had authority to open fire at anyone disobeying the Baron's orders. The Guards could also be found outside the city protecting for example the Weapons Factory. The Krimzon Guard were led by two commanders: at first Torn (until he resigned) and later Erol and Ashelin, however Erol seemed to be the main commander. In Jak 3 the Freedom League Guards are led by Torn and serve the will of Ashelin and the Grand Council. Their top priority is to prevent the KG and the Metal Head legions of penetrating New Haven and the Port.

City Transportation
Zoomers: Haven city's main hover vehicles used for transportation. They are usually small, light bike-sized and bike-shaped hover vehicles. They don't usually shine when it comes to defenses, for which destroyed quite easily by just being shot a number of times by any type of gun, and can be destroyed in one hit by an effective bomb. But, what they lack in defense and armor, they make up for in speed. They are the fastest transportation in Haven city and are often used for Zoomer races in the Mar Memorial Stadium and throughout the entire city.

Flyers: This vehicle has a 2-seats and are more durable and somewhat cumbersome and they are slower than the regular Zoomer. Ideal for elderly when shopping for groceries and/or for couples on dates.

Cruiser: This is the 3rd transportation vehicle in Haven city. This vehicle has 3 seats and even though it is the slowest of the 3 vehicles it is the toughest. It will take a full head-on collision with a Tanker or a Desert Metal Head Beast to take down the Cruiser.

During the games
In Daxter, the first game chronologically in the story to be set in Haven City, the Metal Heads, or Metal Bugs as they are called, are infesting Haven City as Metal Head agents have by force shut down all exterminator companies in the city except one in order to prevent further interference of the infestation. This is what allows Kor into the city disguised as an old man. Daxter ends up working for this last exterminator company before Metal Kor's agent, Kaeden, destroys it like the others. Daxter eventually defeats Kaeden and almost immediately afterward rescues Jak from the fortress.

In Jak II, Daxter has freed Jak who is understandably angry about being treated like a lab rat for two years and wants revenge on Baron Praxis, the leader of Haven City. Jak and Daxter join the Underground, a faction against the Baron's administration, and discover that Haven City is not merely a gloomy city to which they have no connection, but actually their beloved home years in the future. Unfortunately, Kor, disguised as on old man, tricks them into completing tasks which damage the Eco Shield protecting Haven City from Metal Head invasion. The Metal Heads break into the city and launch a full-scale assault before Jak kills Kor and supposedly ends the Metal Head siege of Haven City.

In the beginning of Jak 3, the Palace is destroyed by Count Veger during the civil war following the deaths of Praxis and the Metal Head Leader, Kor. In addition, the city's industrial zone is taken over by Krimzon Guard Death-Bots and all of the west side of the city that had not been crushed by the fallen palace is taken over and turned into a new nest by the Metal Heads. The rest of the city: the port, Slums, Fortress, and the new area called New Haven which stands where the water slums were in Jak II were still controlled by the Freedom Guard. Sadly, both the main town and the Mar Memorial Stadium were completely destroyed.

When Jak returns, the new skyline is dominated by the floating Krimzon Guard war factory hovering over the point at which the palace once stood and the Metal Head tower is standing somewhere in either the old farm area or western bazaar. Both of these are destroyed by Jak.

By Jak X Haven City has been completely rebuilt and bears a resemblance to its original appearance in Jak II, only much larger and most of the once uneven and dirty streets have now been cleaned and redesigned. Haven City's streets and sewers are used as race tracks for the tournament in which Jak and his friends must compete.

Locations

 * Bazaar (East): This market district was once located to the east of the Palace, and was unique in that zoomers and other hover transport were restricted to traveling on an elevated road, leaving the streets clear for pedestrians. The only real place of interest here was Onin's tent. The Bazaar may not have been destroyed by the Palace in Jak 3 as it's visible from the War Factory, but it's still not accesessible.


 * Bazaar (West): Located to the west of the Palace, this section of the Bazaar was open to hover transport as well as pedestrians. Brutter the Lurker maintained a small fish stand here, but it was mostly empty. It was destroyed when the west of the city was taken over by the Metal Heads and became the Metal Head City.
 * Brutter's Stall: This is where Brutter made a living selling fish, while not at the city Cannery. It was also from here that he helped organize rescue missions to save Lurkers from slavery.


 * Construction Site: A small region of the city where a building of some kind is being constructed in Daxter and Jak II. While not a very significant area at first glance, many important events happen here, including the death of Baron Praxis and Kor revealing himself to be the Metal Head Leader.


 * Fortress: An army base for first the Krimzon Guard, and then later the Freedom League, the Fortress was where prisoners were detained. Jak was infused with Dark Eco here as part of the failed "Dark Warrior" program, and after Daxter helped him escape, he had to break into it again several times while running missions for the Underground. In Jak 3 the Fortress is blue in colour and it's entrance seems to be heavily damaged. It's inaccessible in the game.


 * Industrial Zone: A large district to the south-east of the city, the Industrial Zone is home to several businesses, as well as the city power station. At beginning of Jak 3 it was completely taken over the KG robots and was divided by their force barriers to keep the ones in the Port from reaching New Haven. It has shrunken a lot in Jak 3 and it's facilities are propably used to make more KG robots. It was the site of much battling between the Freedom League, the KG, and the Metal Heads during the time of Jak 3, but it has recovered by the time of Jak X: Combat Racing, where it is now part of the Haven City racing venue.
 * Kridder-Ridder Shop: The last exterminator business operating in Haven City, it was home to Osmo and Ximon and had served as an exterminator business for generations. Daxter also worked here for a while in Daxter, until the shop was destroyed by the Metal Head, Kaeden.
 * Power Station: The city's only power plant is where the eco power grid and the city shield are monitored by a complex system of computers and its operator, Vin. A teleporter gate here leads to several destinations, including the Strip Mine and the Drill Platform. The power station was raided by Metal Heads in Jak II, and Vin, being terrified of the creatures, dunked his brain into the eco grid and now monitors the system from the inside.
 * Transit System: A subway system with trains arriving at stations every few seconds presumably serves the entire city, or possibly the entire region, but only a small section of the system, underneath the Industrial Zone, is explored by Daxter while sorting out a Metal Bug infestation in Daxter.
 * Westside Hotel: A large hotel that had a Metal Bug infestation during Daxter, but the problem was soon sorted out by Daxter himself. According to the clerk, Krew was a frequent visitor to the establishment.


 * Main Town: Once the most beautiful area in the city due to it's modern buildings, canals and bustling streets. The eastern part of the area is less beautiful being more industrial-like. This could possibly have something to do with fact that the Slums are right beside it. During Jak II it did not have any place of interest except for the elevator that led to one of the Palace's support towers. The Main Town was completely destroyed by the falling ruins of the Palace in Jak 3 and the entrance to the area is blocked by a white shield barrier set up by Count Veger. Also in the game New Haven has taken it's place as the Main City.
 * There is a poster displaying Ratchet & Clank in this area, and can be seen while entering the area from the Northern Farm area.


 * Metal Head City: When the Metal Heads took over most the western side of the city, which once included the Bazaar (West)and the southern Farm Area, they rebuilt it to their liking and it was renamed the Metal Head City. A slimy green canal flowed through the region, leading from the Port in the south to the Metal Head Tower to the north. The Metal Head City was eventually restored to its original state after Jak 3.
 * Metal Head Tower: A vast structure where the Metal Heads coordinated their attacks, the Metal Head Tower also contained a teleporter gate that led to the Dark Maker Ship. The top of the tower was destroyed by Jak, and later the entire structure was torn down.


 * New Haven: This is the name given to the rebuilt sections of the Water Slums and the Slums from Jak 3 onwards. Built around a system of canals with little fountains, trees and bushes dotting the walkaways, it has a very modern look and feel to it. In Jak 3 the area became under assault perminently by the desperate KG robots after Jak unlocked their War Factorys defenses. It is here that the Freedom League had their main headquarters.
 * Freedom League HQ: A tall tower where the Freedom League oversaw their movements in the war, as well as the day-to-day running of the city. It also contained a garage where Ashelin's special HellCat Cruiser was stored. It was once attacked by the KG, but it survived the war intact. In front of the HQ there is the Main Square with a large fountain that casts a light to the sky at night. On top of the fountain there is a Precursor Orb.


 * Palace: The home of Baron Praxis during his time as ruler of Haven City, the Palace rose high above the city streets, surrounded by five support towers. You could see the Palace from almost anywhere in the city; a terrifying reminder of the influence the Baron had over his people. The top of the Palace was a gothic castle-like structure with towers. Inside the Palace there was a library, a dining room (which could also be the meeting place for Praxis's administration) and lastly the Throne Room, with a glas roof. Strangely the environment seen behind the windows is moving. In Jak 3 the Palace became the HQ of the Freedom League, as Ashelin took on her father's role as the leader of Haven City. However, the palace was destroyed when Veger attacked it, but this was blamed on the Metal Heads. The crumbled remains of the Palace destroyed much of the Stadium Section, but it revealed an entrance to the Precursor catacombs beneath the Palace. It is not seen in Jak X, so it presumably wasn't rebuilt.


 * Palace Section: A small area in front of the Palace. Possibly serving as the city centre as most of the place was covered by a base with a statue of Baron Praxis on it. When Jak used the Light Tower in the Mountain Temple, the beam destroyed the statue revealing the entrance to Mar's Tomb. The Palace Section may not have been destroyed in Jak 3 as the area is visible from the war factory, though it is inaccesessible.
 * Mar's Tomb: Located beneath the statue of Baron Praxis, the legendary tomb of Mar was the hiding place of the fabled Precursor Stone. It has not been discovered until Jak II.


 * Port: A large harbor to the south of the city, which is where tankers and other vehicles drop off their cargo. It had shrunken little in Jak 3.
 * Gun Course: This is where citizens can try out their weapons against fake targets. In Jak 3, Tess worked here, developing weapons and special gun courses to test them.
 * Naughty Ottsel: A saloon once owned by Krew, when it was called the Hip Hog Heaven. While Krew owned the bar, both Tess and Sig worked here, and Jak and Daxter were frequent visitors. After Krew's death, it was taken over by Daxter and renamed the Naughty Ottsel. In Jak 3, Torn used the bar as a southern HQ for the Freedom League, mainly because the Ottsel's head is supposedly good shooting practice. After Jak and Daxter re-open the path to New Haven and the northern HQ, Daxter regained ownership of the bar.
 * Tanker: In Daxter, a large tanker was moored in the port, which Daxter had to travel to twice in order to clear it of Metal Bugs. While on his second visit into the ship, he unwittingly turned on a self-destruct feature, destroying the vessel.
 * Port changes: In Naughty Dog's Jak X, the layout of the port is changed to be racing. Naughty Dog has not said if this change is permanent or just temporary for game uses.


 * Slums: Located to the east of the city, the Slums were home to most of Haven's inhabitants. People living here got a poor quality of life, due to the terrible living conditions. However, the Underground movement had its main headquarters here, and the Slums were later the site of many battles between the KG, Freedom League and Metal Head forces.
 * Underground Hideout: A small bunker hidden beneath the city wall where Torn, Tess, Kor, and the rest of the Underground plotted their actions against the Baron. Despite the fact that the entrance is clearly marked by the symbol of the Underground, it was only ever attacked by the Krimzon Guard once, when they sent Blast Bots to destroy the hideout. It was presumably abandoned after the Underground was disbanded.
 * In the sequel spin-off game to Jak 3, Jak X, the slums has expanded into a larger city section, complete with outdoor restaurants, no burning garbage cans, and pipes that spew sewer waste into inter-city industrial ponds. It has not been said if this change is permanent, or just temporary for Jak X's Haven City venue.


 * Mar Memorial Stadium: This huge sports arena is one of Haven City's main landmarks. The Stadium can be quickly modified to accommodate different sporting events, such as JetBoard stunt arenas or NYFE Air Racer tracks. It was severely destroyed by the falling Palace in Jak 3, but it was soon rebuilt, and by the time of Jak X: Combat Racing it once again stands proud.


 * Water Slums: A flooded area to the north of the city, where civilians lived in old shacks suspended above the waters. A mostly featureless area, it was only notable for containing the Oracle's hut and a pipe that led to the Pumping Station. Sometime between Jak II and Jak 3, it was completely rebuilt into New Haven.
 * Oracle's Hut: In this hut, the mysterious Precursor Oracle (Who seems to be the same one from the first game) could be found, willing to give guidance and wisdom, or even special powers, to those who proved themselves worthy by killing Metal Heads and bringing him their Skull Gems. He gave Jak his Dark Jak powers, but his hut is strangely absent in Jak 3 onwards.
 * Old houses: Some believe before the Water Slums became such, it was a dried up area that led down into a pit, mostly where poor residents lived in their houses. This area could've possibly been flooded from the pipe that leads to the Pumping Station.
 * KG War Factory: The place where the Krimzon Guard Death Bots are made, and also the place where Cyber-Errol hides out away from the enemy until Jak puts it out of action and what is left is presumably dismantled.


 * Farm Areas: The Farm Areas are where Haven City's civilians get their food. Divided to the northern and southern areas by the Western Bazaar, the Farm areas were habited by several Yakows (only in the south) and had several trees and plants which were watered by machines. The northern farm area was destroyed by the palace and the southern one along with the bazaar was turned into the Metal Head City. Still in Jak 3 there is no apparent lack of food in Haven City.

Haven City in Jak X
After the war Haven City has strangely been completely rebuild an extented all in less than a year.The walls no longer surround the whole city as open ocean can be seen from the coastal city sections. New Haven has mysteriously disappeared being rebuild into the Slum-like areas ironically as it soul purpose was to replace the terrible living conditions in the area. The Stadium is walled for some reason and there are no bazaars or farm areas anymore. Whether the Dead Town site has also been rebuild is unknown. Most of the city is a New Havenish/Main Townish area with roads, eco vents, modern buildings, archs and mini-rivers with large bridges extented over them. The city has also a new larger industrial area and a larger port with the Naughty Ottsel still operating in the area.

Minor places in the city

 * Cannery, Daxter
 * Distillery, Daxter
 * Bar / brewary, Daxter
 * Vin's city eco station, Jak II, Jak 3 and briefly in Jak X

Connection with Jak
Jak was born in Haven City to his father Damas, a former ruler who came to throne during the beginning of the Metal Head wars, and to an as of yet unidentified mother.

At around the age of three Jak was sent to the past and didn't arrive until two full years before his child self went back in time.

Immediately upon arriving back in the future in relation to where he spent most of his childhood, Jak was captured by the Krimzon Guard and locked in the fortress. For two years he was tortured with Dark Eco experiments until finally Daxter rescued him.

Jak's birth name is Mar, given to him by his father Damas as a sign of his lineage to the great house of Mar, the founder of Haven City.

Many fans believe Jak is the Mar that founded Haven City, however, in their eyes, this would make Jak his own forefather, something would be a sort of grandfather paradox. Some others believe that he is not the Mar, just a descendant that was sent back in time with Samos the Green Sage so that he could grow up, travel through time to the present and end the war in Haven City.

A third possibility is that when Jak travels to the past, at some point he or one of his descendants adopts a child who succeeds them as ruler of Haven, who eventually begins the bloodline Jak descends from in the first place, thus meaning the "adopted" child is technically one of the family, actually being Jak's ancestor rather than a descendant.

It could also be that Jak's own bloodline stopped ruling the House of Mar and a trusted friend or indirect relative took over, meaning Jak's direct descendant could be alive to this day unaware that his own ancestor currently resides in his own time.

Another theory is that further in the future, Jak (or Mar) travels back into the past to the age of Mar. This means that Jak does all the heroic things that Mar does because he is Mar. The one problem is that the Rift Gate was destroyed and Jak would have to find another one. But, when Kor came out from the Rift Gate, he stated that the "Last" Rift Gate was opened, so there may be more.

One final theory is that since Jak is named for the house of Mar, there was another Mar that has long since died. Damas did after all name him Mar for the house of Mar.