Haven City

Haven City is the home of Jak, Daxter, Keira, Samos the Sage, Torn, Tess, Ashelin, Onin, Pecker, Vin and a few others. It was built right over the land of the first game, and since the second game, it has been the main home for the main characters. It is a secluded metropolitan state resting at the bottom of ice-capped mountains in the middle of a wasteland, protected by an all-encompassing wall, founded post-Metal Head incursion amid the Metal Head Wars by Precurian-era legend Mar. The city played a central role in Daxter and Jak II, and was a returning major hub in Jak 3. It staged Jak and Daxter's debut into the future (the "Haven era") and was the central cause of the series' time-rift thematic. The city's existence was prompted by the safeguarding and preservation of the area's assets, such as the innocent people there (hence the name "Haven" City), as well as the Catacombs entrance, the Life Seed, the last Precursor Stone, and the Rift Gate — all of which were, to some extent, central elements of the plot.

Early years
At some point early in the Metal Head Wars, Mar founded Haven City as a fortification from the Metal Head forces in order to protect the inhabitants there, the Sacred Site, and the last Precursor Stone. He is credited with the construction of the Shield Wall and eco grid, powered by the ancient eco mines which he quarried as the foundation of energy for the city. After building Haven City, Mar devised a scheme to destroy the Metal Heads by constructing a massive weapon stationed at the Metal Head Nest, which would channel the energy of the last Precursor Stone to penetrate their defenses. However, the founder vanished before he was able to use it, and the last Precursor Stone was buried deep within his fabled tomb. The tomb was built beneath the streets of Haven City and was rigged only to reveal its general location in the city by the activation of the Light Tower. It was also constructed to only open to the "true heir" of Mar's legacy — inside of which the "chosen one" would have to circumvent "cunning tests" to prove himself worthy of receiving the Precursor Stone, collectively referred to as the "Trials of Manhood."

At some point after the city's founding, the House of Mar was established, in which Mar's descendants would rule over Haven City in the continuing war against the Metal Heads. Later down the bloodline, a descendant of Mar known as Damas came to throne, and had a son whom he named Mar, after the patriarchal founder of Haven City. However, by this time the dynasty had evidently grown weak, for a new ruler known as Baron Praxis was able to overthrow Damas and banish him to the Wasteland, likely in cooperation with High Council chairman Count Veger. The act was a treacherous one according to Damas (who would later rule the Wasteland city of Spargus, an outcast village self-identified as "Haven City's refuse.").

Baron Praxis' placement as ruler was considered a desperate act-of-recourse during hard times in the war, but his occupancy was largely acknowledged as unjust, for Damas' son Mar was looked at by many to be the true heir to the throne. Damas lost his son during his banishment, rendering him an orphan. However, identified with his Seal of Mar amulet, he was eventually secured by the rebel Underground movement, dedicated to dethroning Baron Praxis and re-establishing the House of Mar as the ruling dynasty of Haven City.

Dystopian Haven City
Baron Praxis was an oppressive dictator who ruled with a relentless hand and, among other wrongs, denied the rights of his people and used lurkers as the city's low-class labor through the Krimzon Animal Control agency; effectively enslaving them. He instituted a corrupt police force known as the Krimzon Guard, the units of which would patrol the streets of Haven City near-unopposed, enforcing the Baron's tyrannical martial law. At this time, Haven City had conclusively become a dystopian state, with the civilians feeling imprisoned inside the city walls. The feeling of depression and imprisonment was further subsisted by the Ministry of Extreme Labor, reporting civilian productivity and forced labor.

Despite it being a dystopia, however, it appeared to be more or less developmentally well-off, with some districts being fully advanced (such as Main Town) and some sectors being energy-efficient or otherwise beneficial to the municipality (such as the Industrial Section and the Port, or the Gardens). Albeit yet, there were also the "condemned city sections" such as the Slums and Water Slums, known to quarter the city's lower-class populace.

Praxis' war efforts
As commander-in-chief during the war, Baron Praxis made many attempts to counter Metal Head affronts, many of which afflicted Haven City directly. These included imprisoning innocent civilians for experimentation, calling for the force-volunteering of male civilians for the Krimzon Guard, and soliciting "donations" of eco towards the Baron Eco Fund.

One such black operation was the Dark Warrior Program, involving the injection of innocent citizens using Dark Eco. The endgame was to create a legion of "dark warriors" which would be used to battle the Metal Heads. When Jak arrived into the future, on account of Onin's intel, he was apprehended as a prime prospect for the program. However, this venture would ultimately be deemed a failure due to the death of four subjects, and in Jak's case, "bio-readings" remaining "nominal and unchanged."

Despite Praxis' war efforts being at the cost of his citizens, liberal as they were, Praxis once made an attempt to battle the Metal Heads at his own expense, leading a guerrilla attack on the Metal Head Nest with some number of guards. The futile event resulted in the loss of the right side of his face (replaced by cybernetics), as well as lost resources, such as the number of ruined and overturned KG security tanks that can be found scattered around the fort. The anniversary of the battle was mentioned during Jak II in a propaganda station message.

Metal Bug invasion
In the middle of Praxis' ongoing war efforts and during the two years of Jak's imprisonment, a diminutive Metal Head race known as the Metal Bugs broke through the security walls, causing infestations in many of Haven's buildings or other areas. Led by Kaeden, Metal Kor's adjutant, the metal bugs were the cause of much distress for the civilians, and various extermination companies appeared to be in business before Kaeden, disguised as a human inspector, shut them down due to poor performance. One extermination shop, however, remained in business and was featured in the game Daxter.

The Kridder Ridder Extermination Company, owned by Osmo, employed Daxter to exterminate metal bugs in various missions throughout the game. Metal Kor told Kaeden to shut down the company, and to not allow Daxter to find his friend Jak with the help of his new allies. However, Kaeden failed, and Daxter was eventually able to eliminate the vast majority of metal bug infestations, as well as their leader, ending the metal bug invasion of Haven City. He also found Jak just before he was going to be executed and helped him escape the prison. After Kaeden's foundering, Kor decided to disguise himself as a human and meet Jak and Daxter at the exit of the prison, where he could then get closer to Jak and sabotage the Baron by aligning himself with the Underground.

Underground
At some point well before the events of Daxter, the Metal Heads advanced an attack on the Sacred Site's sector of Haven City. They broke through the city wall in an attempt to seize the Life Seed, and in the midst of the attack, Baron Praxis pulled back and relinquished that sector of the city, leaving everyone outside the new barrier to die. However, an individual named the "Shadow" stayed behind and managed to hold off the Metal Head affronts, but was only able to preserve the Sacred Site, with the rest of the sector thereafter referred to as "Dead Town."

Meanwhile, a captain in the Krimzon Guard known as Torn resigned from his position, after witnessing first-hand the doings of the Baron. Politically at odds with the new leadership, both Torn and the Shadow united to form the Underground, which only at first gained significant momentum when Jak joined the movement following his prison break.

The Underground was a major adversary to the Baron, having relationships with and influences on many assets in Haven. These included Krimzon Guard relations with Torn's former comrade Ashelin Praxis; resources and intel through ganglord and weapons contracter Krew; and Vin, described as one of the Underground's best informants, being the manager trusted to vital security and intelligence resources as manager of the Power Station. Jak's membership with the Underground also damaged the Baron's influential propaganda and campaign success, with Jak giving the citizens ardent alternative hope, and through civil hearsay, proving himself capable of destroying the Baron and protecting the city. After multiple successful attacks on the Baron's operations, carried out by Jak, the Baron had his guards on high alert and upped his patrols, which conclusively attracted the attention of the Shadow, the legendary leader of Haven's largely influential movement.

Metal Head invasion
In order to continue his placement on the throne, Baron Praxis negotiated a deal with Metal Head leader, Kor: So long as the Baron supplied Metal Head forces with regular supplies of Eco, the Metal Heads would only attack the city enough to create the illusion of wartime, justifying the terms of his rule. The Baron, recognizing that this deal was unsustainable, devised the "final plan" in which he would double-cross Metal Kor by using a Piercer Bomb to destroy the Metal Head Nest. However, Kor became aware of this while he was disguised as a human working for the Underground, so in turn he planned to have his forces penetrate Haven City's walls through the Underport in cooperation with Krew, who was the person contracted to build the Baron's Piercer Bomb.

Krew had his henchman Sig unlock some ancient passages in the Underport by using the Ruby Key in a suicide mission that allowed waiting Metal Head forces to flood the streets of Haven City, starting the Metal Head invasion. During this, Vin was killed and the Shield Wall was compromised, and was never indicated to have returned to service.

In a final meeting between Kor and the Baron, Kor transformed from his human form into his metal head form, revealing himself to both the Baron and Jak. When Metal Kor stated his intentions, the Baron proceeded to charge him with his sword, only to be fatally wounded with a dark eco bolt. Kor then invaded the city himself in search of the Precursor Stone so he could use young Jak, who he kidnapped, to awaken the Stone. The Baron, on his deathbed, revealed to Jak the location of the Precursor Stone, citing that Jak was the "supreme weapon," suggesting his ability to defeat Kor.

Reformation
After re-acquiring the Precursor Stone, Jak and Daxter traveled to the Metal Head Nest while many of the metal heads were in Haven, rendering their defenses down and the nest vulnerable, which aided Jak in successfully defeating Kor. The death of Kor effectively ended the Metal Head invasion, and during Haven's brief period of peacetime, Baron Praxis' regime began its process of dissolution. The Baron's daughter, Ashelin Praxis, became the new governess of Haven City, discontinuing the Krimzon Guard and replacing it with a transitional military known as the New Krimzon Guard (NKG), with former Underground leader Torn as its commander and liberated lurker Brutter as its captain. The city also began reconstruction, most notably by the creation of the New Haven district, which replaced the northern Slums and Water Slums in location, and matched Main Town in stratum.

Fall of the Palace
Shortly after the city's initial reformation, battle again erupted in Haven City, opening with staggering attacks on the Industrial Section and Port. At some point during these events, the New Krimzon Guard quickly reformed into the Freedom League, declaring the War for Haven City. The first attacks were carried out by former Krimzon Robots, now re-organized as the KG Death Bots, mass-produced at the KG War Factory under leadership that was unknown at the time. Despite the Freedom League's efforts to hold off the KG death bots, the new enemy faction captured southern Haven City and began occupying all of the Industrial area, including the Port. Meanwhile, a surviving group of metal heads resurged and captured the west side of Haven City, terraforming the southern Gardens and western Bazaar into Metal Head City, headquartered at the Metal Head Tower.

At the onset of the war, the Palace was bombed with rocket-propelled artillery, resulting in its complete destruction and the revelation of the Catacombs lying beneath. This was assumed to have been done by the Metal Heads given their sudden advancements (though it was much later revealed to be Veger's doing). The Grand Council of Haven City went into an emergency session, in which Count Veger, not thought to be guilty at the time and with a majority influence, determined that Jak was guilty by association with the late crimelord Krew, who was responsible for letting metal heads into the city. Ashelin Praxis objected to the verdict as governor, but due to the council's power which existed during that point in the reformation period, her protest was overruled and Jak was banished to the Wasteland.

Jak's exile and return
With Jak gone, Veger began manipulating the Freedom League in his desire to find the Catacombs. The fall of the Palace devastated Haven City, changing its geography significantly by falling on and ruining entire districts, rendering some inaccessible. With poor leadership under Veger, Haven was losing its war. A Freedom League contingency was eventually sent by the Count on a suicide attack into the Port. The advance was successful in re-claiming the Port, but it divided the Freedom League as they were unable to reconnect to the northern HQ in New Haven due to barriers and other blockades by the KG Death Bots in the Industrial Section. The new southern HQ held fort at the Naughty Ottsel with Torn, while the New Haven HQ tried to maintain contact under Governor Praxis on the other side of the city.

After a considerable amount of time in exile at Spargus, becoming a citizen and official wastelander there, Jak decided to return to Haven City and help with the war after a reinstatement invitation was given to him by Ashelin. While there, he and Torn discovered that former KG commander Erol was resurrected as "Cyber Errol" (a corrupted and purely cybernetic reincarnation of him), and was behind the KGDB and metal head attacks, in cooperation with the oncoming Dark Maker ship.

With Jak now back in the fight, he was able to single-handedly defend the southern HQ twice from KG advances, in the missions "Destroy incoming blast bots" and "Defend Port from attack". He was also able to reconnect the southern HQ to the main HQ by destroying the KG Death Bots' barriers, also allowing the Freedom League to fight to regain control of the Industrial Section. Damaged, and with the New Haven barrier deactivated, the KG Death Bots conducted a surprise attack on New Haven using armored dropships. Jak successfully defended the attack, though New Haven consequently went from an area controlled by the Freedom League to a battle zone.

Conclusion
After the attack on New Haven, Veger, threatened by Jak, entered a Freedom League meeting to denounce Jak's qualifications to lead them in a venture to find the Catacombs and stop the Dark Makers. The representatives there sided with Jak after the revelation that Veger was the one who bombed the Palace, with Ashelin expressing how she was "tired of [Veger's] games." She subsequently dissolved the Grand Council and, with stronger prerogatives, sacked the Count, ending his manipulation of Haven's forces to his advantage.

Jak was then sent to penetrate the KG War Factory by bypassing its shields using the cipher glyph. He confronted Cyber Errol, and during their battle inadvertently destroyed the factory, ending further mass production there and heavily damaging the KG Death Bots' forces. Cyber Errol then became preoccupied with the oncoming of the Dark Makers, which was his ultimate motive, and lost interest in leading the KG Death Bots and Metal Head forces any further. This helped Haven emerge victorious, especially when Cyber Errol was destroyed by Jak once and for all during a pursuit in the Wasteland at the end of Jak 3.

Oddly, it was only during the war that Precursor orbs could be found in Haven City itself (with the exception of those earned from side missions).

Reconstruction and combat racing
For a year after the war, Haven City was reconstructed with resiliency for the emergence of the massively popular sport of combat racing, originating from Kras City. Among other drastic cosmetic changes, many streets were built with a race track aesthetic, along with the reconstruction of the surrounding areas such as the Pumping Station and Forbidden Jungle. Additionally, the large concrete barriers were rendered unnecessary, and partially or wholly removed in some areas, as open ocean was visible from coastal areas. This was likely done only for gameplay purposes rather than plot-related significance.

Before and during the events of the Kras City Grand Championship, Haven appeared to be in a relatively utopian state. Governor Praxis remained in control of her city, and appeared to be economically well-off, able to sustain a sport with a viewership exceeding two hundred million people. Haven City remained after Jak X: Combat Racing, and presumably so during the events of The Lost Frontier.