"You fool! By ending Imperial rule, you have thrown a nation back centuries of misery and evil!"
Mex Papadopoulos is the dictator of Pesmaria and the main antagonist in Just Cause: Pesmaria.
Background[]
He served as the general to the monarch before a coup de' tat in 1980.
He is the hateful dictator of Pesmaria, a man of little remorse. He has tortured and killed people throughout the decades as Pesmaria's leader.
He is the only leader in the world to have completely legalized drugs, believing the drug war was a failure. It's implied he has an addiction to them.
He was born in 1952, but his parents, who were royal servants, died. The king at the time, Ico Golias, decided to take him in as a step-sibling. The only problem was that he couldn't be a heir as he was not of royal blood.
He had a good relationship with the family and had become friends with his step-brother at the time.
During the 60s, he saw people getting arrested for protesting. He found out that the monarchy was authoritarian and was breaking its own constitution.
When he was 18, he was conscripted into the army like most royal family members do. He was talented and was eventually accepted into the Officer Training Program. 3 months later, he congratulated with another soldier, Euphrosyne Pagonis.
In 1971, he became a colonel and was soon assigned to the royal family's council of generals. Immediately, he began plotting the overthrow of the royal family who he believed was threatening Pesmaria's economic future.
During the 70s, he framed each general for crimes of treason and plotted attacks to further King Icos's fear. He then killed each family member by accidents which resulted in only being two family members left, Mex Papadopoulos and Icos.
He became the top man for the king. However, in 1977, the King elected a new governor who proved to be a threat to Mex's coup.
In 1979, he assassinated the governor, resulting in the king having full powers a few months later. In 1980, he led a coup against King Ico Golias, which resulted in the king's death. A few days later, Mex officially became the king.
As the new king, he scrapped the royal family and their constitution, replacing it with the Mex Constitution for the "protection of Pesmaria's economic future". He became a totalitarian dictator and soon founded a secret police and outlawed political movements.
During the 80s and 90s, he affiliated himself with Corestar who gave him weapons and vehicles. He allied himself with the US and the US gave backing for his nuclear program. They later turned their back on him by adding him to the Sub Axis of Evil in 2002.
He turned to Russia, who he relied on. He had another problem with insurgent movements battling across the country for control, some of which he outlawed in the 80s. He destroyed various outposts of insurgents, forcing them to go underground. Under threat of US intervention, he secretly gave access for foreign military bases. In 2014, James goes to investigate these bases only to go missing. In 2016, Maria contacts Rico to find James in Pesmaria. He agrees and arrives in Pesmaria to find James.
Policies[]
As the brutal dictator of Pesmaria, he kills and tortures anyone who opposes him. Even a mere insult by a civilian constitutes a huge retaliation by the government.
Soon after he took power, he stripped the rights of his people claiming they were temporarily suspended for national reconstruction. He made the island nation for millionaires and tourists, building resorts for visitors. Because of this, Pesmaria is called the Playboy of the Mediterranean.
The government frequently arrests people and throws them in forced labor camps. Pesmaria has the highest population of political prisoners.
The official ideology of Pesmaria is Mexism, which is merely an excuse for oppressing the people.
Military build up[]
When he took power, he started a massive military buildup using the taxpayer's money. When people started to complain, he silenced all the criticism, then made all of the ports strictly for military use, leaving citizens with lackluster ones. He created many new military bases, making an entire local military heavy communications network and putting a heavy military presence in civilian areas. He started a nuclear program with the backing of the US until they put him on the sub-axis of evil in 2002. Lastly, he created a ring of high command military colonels, and he paid them an enormous salary to give the military more power.
Propaganda[]
Mex uses many propaganda vans, statues of himself, and billboards of himself to build a cult of personality. He created the Ministry of Information, a propaganda ministry that controls all television, radio, and media. He broadcasts various speeches of himself.
Trivia[]
- Mex Papadopoulos is based off Ioannis Metaxas and Georgios Papadopoulos, both Greek dictators.