The Bloody Hook is an establishment in Jak X: Combat Racing. It is a bar of some cultural significance to Kras City, though it makes only a few appearances in the game as the setting of various cutscenes. One of its signature features is its aquarium window, filled with jungle fish, by which the bar can be spotted from the Kras City race track.
History[]
The game opens in the Bloody Hook, in the midst of Daxter's story to some mercenary patrons, Edje and Shiv, about his and Jak's first days in Kras. Near the "conclusion" of his story, the mercenary leader, Razer, pulled a knife, as unbeknownst to Daxter, a bounty had been put on the duo. Jak arrived just in time, crashing through the aquarium window of the bar with the Sand Shark.
The bar otherwise appeared in various other cutscenes with little to no relevance. It was inside the bar that the group witnessed Pecker's hiring to G.T. Blitz's TV show during a live broadcast,[1] as well as when Blitz let Jak know of side jobs he could do to earn prizes. Here Blitz also noted the establishment's capacity to induce local Kras color, indicating it is a cultural staple of the town.[2] It otherwise served as the setting for the scenes "Jak Confronts Razer", "Jak's Dark Secret", and "Blitz Bares All". Lastly, it was the backdrop to the group's celebration in the epilogue.
Establishment[]
The Bloody Hook's aquarium window and bar sign.
The Bloody Hook is located in the north east area of Kras City, in a tall building on the right side of the bridge just before the finish line of the race track. It can be spotted by its aquarium window and bar sign, featuring a hook with blood dripping off (pictured right). The exterior of the building has drainage tunnels out of which water is thrown back into the bay surrounding the building. It is also decorated with statues holding large torches in their hands.
The aforementioned aquarium window imparts blue-tinted ambient lighting to the interior, and contains two jungle fish and one small unspecified fish.[a] Although the fish tank was destroyed in the prologue, it was shortly thereafter repaired.[3]
Owing to the oceanbound state of Kras City and the seafaring nature of its inhabitants, the interior of the bar has a "high seas" branding and décor. It has planked wood flooring, tables with cask bases, and fishing nets strewn across the walls, which are also ornamented with life preservers, crossed oars and swords, and ship wheels. Also decorating the walls are televisions that constantly display static, picture frames of Kleiver in clown paint, a woman Spargus citizen, and other nondescript paintings. The bar itself is small and situated directly in front of the aquarium; there does not appear to be any barkeep, but various bottles and drinks can be seen placed out or lying around for the apparent taking.
Behind the scenes[]
Originally known as the "Rusty Hook" in development,[4] the establishment's patrons in fact consist of Spargus citizens from Jak 3.[b]
In Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, a game also developed by Naughty Dog, the brand of beer that Nathan Drake, Harry Flynn, and Chloe Frazer drink is named "Bloody Hook",[5] presumably a reference to the establishment.
Notes[]
- Annotations
- ↑ Curiously, these jungle fish possess illicium and esca (or a "headlamp"), similar to anglerfish, features not present in the jungle fish's original appearance in The Precursor Legacy.
- ↑ It is unknown whether these were simply used as generic NPCs, or if some connection to Spargus was meant to be implied. However, the latter case could be likely, as Shiv was born in Spargus, and pictures of Kleiver and a woman, each from Spargus, decorate the walls of the establishment.
- Citations
References[]
- Naughty Dog (2000; 2019). Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy Design Bible — Original Production Binder [Book]. Sony Interactive Entertainment. Limited Run Games.
- Naughty Dog (2005). Jak X: Combat Racing [Game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 2.
- Naughty Dog (2009). Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. sony. ps3.