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There’s a quiet, idyllic life to be found in Pelican Town when you first begin playingStardew Valley, but is there a villain before you can consider the game “beaten?” There are two major parties fans nominate as the villains of the game – the obvious Joja Corporation, but also, oddly enough, Mayor Lewis.
Joja is the mega-rich corporation run by smug transplant to the Valley, Morris, and works its employees to the bone through long hours for little pay. On the other hand, Mayor Lewis hands responsibility of improving a decaying Pelican Town over to your farmer with little hesitation.
Is There A Villain In Stardew Valley?
With quaint farming and breezy social life at the forefront of Stardew Valley, you may not have considered the aspect of villainy in the game.
Developer ConcernedApe, whose real name is Eric Barone, is rumored to haveomitted a clear-cut villain character to keep the peaceful aspect of the gameplayintact.
The point of Stardew Valley, thoughplayer choices decide the game’s pace and tone, is to unwind from the bustle of city life, and ne’er-do-wells need not move to this verdant valley full of friendly folk.
That said,fans have named two villain characterssince the game’s launch in 2016: bothJoja Colaand its manager,Morris, or, less commonly,Mayor Lewis.
Morris And Joja Corp.
Who Is Joja Corp.?
It’s pretty easy to pegJoja Corp. and its manager, Morris, as the central villainsof Stardew Valley, especially when considering the game’s small-town aspect.
Your character actually arrives in the Valley afterleaving their job at Joja Corp.’s headquarters in the citywhen they receive news they’ve inherited Grandpa’s farm.
It’s far from uncommon in real life for amultimillion-dollar corporation to move to a small town and disrupt the local economy, which seems to be Joja’s move in Pelican Town.
When you first begin playing Stardew Valley, you’lldecide between pursuing a traditionalCommunity Center routeor purchasing a Joja Membershipfrom the store on thefar east side of town.
There’s noright or wrong way to playthe game, but while the Community Center route sees playersgrowing assorted seasonal crops,collecting foraged items, andcrafting artisan goods, the Joja route isfully centered on money without much focus on anything else.
As you go the traditional Community Center route, you’ll upgrade the town with your contributions to the collections, but with the Joja route, you simplypay in goldto improve the town.
But just because the company is still technically improving the town, there are still some major issues with their ethics -polluting the local waterwayswith trash andoverworking their employeesto cut costs, to name a few.
And when it comes to leadership at Joja, though he’s only the manager of the local branch of the store,Morrisis presented as a traditional villain type,typically sniveling and schemingfor ways to improve Joja’s reach.
Do The Townsfolk Support Joja Corp.?
However, despite their overall improvements being made,the townsfolk aren’t always keen on Joja’s presence in Pelican Town.
Pierre, the owner of the local general store, was specifically averse to them building a store, ashe’d previously been the town’s only supplierof regular goods.
Now, Joja has arrived with lower prices (once you have amembership), presumably toundercut Pierre enough to convince the locals to buy from the corporationinstead of their neighbor, which would ultimately force Pierre’s store into obscurity.
The Joja store isopen every day, and stays openlonger hours than Pierre’s.
Though Pierre’s store won’t close if you pursue the Joja Corp route in Stardew Valley, thetone shiftis clear should you choose this path.
To bring home the idea that the corporate overlords are evil,finishing the Joja Corp route opens a Joja warehouse instead of a Community Centerin the dilapidated building north of town.
Instead of a homey public spot for the locals of the Valley to gather for fun and friendship, Joja uses the building toexpand its corporate reachand enhance its distribution across the region.
Eventually, it will go ontobecomethe movie theaterin time.
In contrast, should you choose and subsequently finish the Community Center route, Joja Corp is chased out of Pelican Town, so the valley can focus more on its small-town roots again.
Mayor Lewis
While a markedly less popular choice for the villain of Stardew Valley, longtime fans have been pointing their fingers atMayor Lewisas perhaps not outright villainous, but at the very leastlazily complicit in the town’s decline.
When you first move to Pelican Town, it’s in something of astate of disrepair, as is somewhat common with games in the genre - thebus stop,mine carts, Community Center, and bridges are broken, and Lewis didn’t seem to mindJoja moving to town.
Some fans argue that the mayor of this rural town is doing the best he can with what he’s got, but others feel the mayor hasallowed Pelican Town to decay out of personal neglect and failure to initiatefor his town.
Another problem fans have with him, on a more personal level, is their stance that he strings Marnie along and won’t commit to an actual relationship with her, though this is far outside the realm of his actual business dealings.
His inclusion is more of afan theory consensus than the overall villainarchetype, which more neatly falls to Morris and Joja, but players are always keen to save their favorite townsfolk, even if that’s just from the arms of a man who won’t commit.
