Baron Praxis
	Primary locations Haven Palace Titles Grand Protector of Haven City Gender Male Family Ashelin Praxis (daughter) Weapons Baron squid mech Baron widow mech Sword

Baron Praxis is the secondary antagonist in Jak II. He was the tyrannical and corrupt ruler ("Grand Protector") of Haven City who antagonized Jak and Daxter in Jak II. He was the father of Ashelin, and was directly responsible for Jak's acquisition of Dark Eco powers.

HistoryEdit

Before Jak IIEdit

Praxis usurped the throne of Haven City during the Metal Head Wars by betraying King Damas, who was the rightful monarch of the city as the descendant of Mar. Damas was banished to the Wasteland. The Baron's daughter, Ashelin lived in Haven Palace as a little girl, implying her father was of high-rank already before rising to power. At some point before or after becoming the ruler of Haven City, the Baron led a failed assault on the Metal Head Nest which resulted in the loss of much of the right side of his face.

Deal with the Metal HeadsEdit

The Baron ruled Haven City with an iron fist, having the Krimzon Guard, enforcing unjust laws and killing anyone who resisted, such as the Underground. When the Metal Heads broke into the city and destroyed a part of the town that later came to be known as "Dead Town", Baron Praxis cut a desperate deal with the Metal Head Leader, Kor, so that the Metal Heads would attack the city just enough to give the people something else to think about other than overthrowing the Baron.

The Dark Warrior ProgramEdit

Praxis could not endlessly supply Metal Heads with Eco, so, likely under influence from Erol, he began to plot against them by experimenting with Dark Eco to create "Dark Warriors" to use against the Metal Heads. However, the subjects Praxis used in his experiments never survived being exposed to the Dark Eco (besides Jak). He somehow gained knowledge of Jak (either from Kor, so Jak wouldn't be able to release the precursor from the Precursor Stone, or from Onin, who might have been forced to tell, or because she knew Jak needed the Dark eco powers to face Kor.) When Jak (along with Daxter, Samos and Keira) landed in Haven City, Praxis immediately ordered Erol to arrest him. He treated Jak as an experiment in the Dark Warrior Program for two years, but when the final experiment on Jak was put in place, he was deemed a failure. Miraculously, Jak did not die. Praxis ordered Erol to execute Jak just before Daxter broke into the Krimzon Guard Fortress and rescued him.

The Hunt for the Precursor StoneEdit

With the Dark Warrior Program brought to an end, Praxis started on a new plan to use the lost heir of Mar to locate Mar's tomb, in which the fabled Precursor Stone was said to be hidden. While deceiving Metal Kor on a secret meeting in the Palace, Praxis noticed Jak and Daxter, now working for the Underground, eavesdropping on his plans. Praxis confronted and attacked Jak on the Palace roof with one of his attack mechs, but was defeated and escaped.

When Praxis found out about the Underground being close to finding the Precursor Stone, he threatened to kill his daughter Ashelin for spying unless Torn sold out the Underground members in the expedition into Mar's Tomb. After capturing Samos, Kor and the kid, he then ambushed Jak inside the tomb and stole the Precursor Stone.

The Final PlanEdit

Praxis then struck a deal with Krew, who was building a Piercer Bomb to crack open the Stone and use the explosion to destroy the Metal Head Nest, without realizing that this would destroy the entire planet. With help from Ashelin, Jak destroyed the Piercer Bomb along with Krew in Praxis's weapons factory.

The late crime lord had, however, double-crossed Praxis and let the Metal Heads inside the city, ultimately driving Baron Praxis to attempt to destroy the Stone with a second Piercer Bomb hidden in the Construction Site. Jak and Daxter caught up with him, but Kor appeared and revealed his true form as the Metal Head Leader. Kor demanded the Precursor Stone from Praxis, but he refused and valiantly attacked Kor along with a squad of Krimzon Guards. Kor blasted Praxis and his guards away, causing much of the construction site to collapse over them and mortally wounding Praxis. In his final moments, Praxis revealed the hiding place of the Precursor Stone to Jak, and died, but not before activating another bomb meant to destroy the Precursor Stone, which Daxter managed to disarm.

Jak 3Edit

Although dead, Baron Praxis appeared in the non-canon model viewer explaining hilarious things like his need to be neglected on set for being a bad-guy, his anger toward the producers for not using a stunt double for his death scene and his love for the script, plus not being resurrected in Jak 3. He is also mentioned by Damas before Jak protects the Spargus Gate. In Haven City, sometimes Freedom League Guards say "I miss the old Baron".

His daughter Ashelin became the new ruler of Haven City after Praxis died.

If you go into the Naughty Ottsel, you will find a picture of Baron Praxis near the broken mirror.

AppearanceEdit

Praxis is an extraordinarily tall, strongly built middle-aged man with a brown beard with traces of white. Half of his face is mechanized due to injuries he sustained during an attack on the Metal Head Nest. He wears a royal Krimzon Guard uniform and has a green-glowing sword.

PersonalityEdit

Praxis seemed to be mentally unstable and austere. In the propaganda machines in Haven City he often complained about how lazy the citizens are and how dirty Haven City is. Praxis was very power hungry and was determined to stay on the throne, even if it came down to making deals with the enemy. In fact, he was so obsessed with power, that he was even willing to sacrifice his own daughter to gain the Precursor Stone. Torn, Jak and Daxter believed he would have followed up on this. He cared little about the feelings of others, treating Jak and Lurkers like lab rats and slaves. In the end he partly admitted his defeat, calling Jak a supreme weapon and left the task of destroying Kor to him. It was also shown here that despite his many personality flaws he does have some honor deep down.

TriviaEdit

• Praxis comes from an Ancient Greek word (Praksis), which means deed, action, or practice of a given action (habit.) It is essentially the learning of a thing by putting it into practice, rather than the purely theoretical side of studying. It also has implications of practicality.
• Praxis has propaganda broadcasts throughout the city which uses recordings of his voice.
• His voice is done by Clancy Brown, who also voiced Doctor Neo Cortex in the Crash Bandicoot series, another franchise created by Naughty Dog.