| If you are looking for Basso from the original Thief series you can find it here. |
| “ | No one is paying you to risk your neck for this! | ” |
Basso is the triagonist of Thief, an amiable and down-to-earth criminal businessman whose vast connections spread throughout The City, aided by his pet courier magpie Jenivere. Basso is a close ally and friend of the Master Thief Garrett, acting as his personal fence, organising various jobs to steal items of valuable interest.
Background[]
Basso was born sometime before NRy802 in The City. Little is known about his early life other than he originally worked as a Boxman, before later becoming a safecracker. At an unspecific point, Basso was once married to a woman, later however (for reasons unknown) the pair decided to break up. Subsequently after sobering up, Basso vowed to never marry again.
Basso later established a personal office positioned behind The Crippled Burrick tavern located in the Stonemarket District. Throughout the years, Basso was able to create vast connections throughout The City's criminal underworld ranging from black market dealers to smugglers.
He later came under the ownership of a female magpie which he named 'Jenivere' (presumably after someone he previously knew). She acted as his messenger courier between his contacts, although he found her constant pecking 'irritating'.
At some point after NRy830, Basso eventually met Garrett where the two became close professional friends where Basso acted as his fence and primary contractor, providing him with various jobs to steal certain valuables over the following years.
The same year, Basso made an opium delivery to the House of Blossoms, where he met a young 'Petal' named Erin. Some time later, Basso encounter her again after she had escaped from the brothel, who became impressed by her talent and subsequently introduced her to Garrett where the two formed a close partnership with each other.
Events of Thief[]
"Basso did tell you we were working together on this, right?" - Erin to Garrett
At some point In NRy841, Basso assigned a commission for Garrett to retrieve a particular item named the 'Primal Stone' located in a ceremony room at Northcrest Manor, where he informed Garrett about Erin's involvement in the mission. However unbeknownst to him, the mission resulted in a failed ritual which ultimately caused an massive explosion, thus Basso was left with the assumption that Garrett and Erin had both died.
A year later after a mysterious plague named the Gloom began to take effect, Basso found himself heavily struggling to operate due to the Baron's newly enforced law of Opium and also became subject to 'black tax' from the Thief-Taker General.
I don’t have time for this … Especially with the Baron’s new duty on opium thanks to this gloom sickness. Not to mention the Thief-Taker General’s black tax squeezing us … entrepreneurs. — Basso expressing the pressing effects of the new city.
Basso questioning Garrett's wherabouts
At some point Basso became aqauinted with Orion — the charasmatic leader of The Graven whom Basso came to view as notable figure to stand up against The Baron's rule.
Eventually Basso was reunited with his friend Garrett, initially shocked Basso angrily questioned about Garrett's whereabouts however did not receive a proper explanation for his disappearance. Casting doubt aside Basso assigned Garrett a mission to obtain a 'Ring' originally belonging to the recently deceased 'Cornelius Greeves whose body had been transported to the Old Foundry to which Garrett happily accepted.
Basso informing Garrett about Orion
Aproximatly 5 nights later, Basso sent a message to Garrett informing him of a client whom proved anticipated to meet the master thief. Upon meeting in Black Alley Basso directed Garrett into a refugee and introduced him to Orion, though issues his friend not to be too distant as they both needed this assignment.
Basso cautioning Garrett about the Moria Asylum.
Personality and Characteristics[]
He has a bombastic nature, being loud and sometimes appearing aggressive, when in fact he is being humorous and self depreciating, often making sarcastic jokes. Like Garrett, he is intelligent and can successfully plan heists, including being informed of new events and occurrences around The City, but unlike Garrett, he is easily impressed by charismatic figures, such as Orion. Jenivere, his Magpie seems both a source of company and annoyance due to the bird's seemingly constant pecking of his fingers. He is saddened by the bird's later death, though quips only he should have been able to kill her, likely a defense mechanism against showing how much he did like the bird. He is shown to be quite learned having collected a large number of books and claiming at one point to wonder if there is a single book in the entire City he hasn't read yet. He likes to drink, showing his disdain for the quality of drinks both in the Crippled Burrick and The Siren's Rest.
Physical Appearance[]
Basso is a stocky male, slightly shorter than Garrett with shaggy unkempt hair as well as short scraggy facial hair. His outfit consists of a dirty striped shirt under a long leather sleeveless tunic held to his body by a belt and leather straps to tighten the arms, a long scarf wrapped around his neck and a battered top hat as well as loose trousers and scuffed boots. He wears a thin pipe around his neck that's attached to a cord as well as numerous rings, a hooped earing in the right ear and stud in the left, plus bandaged fingers (the latter possibly due to Jenivere's pecking) . Later in the game when he has been arrested by the General and has been beaten up by perhaps the Watch, with his hat gone, bruises on his face and a bandage over his head with bloody areas underneath.
Biography[]
|
Basso is a former boxman, a safecracker-turned-fence, who uses his vast connections to The City's underworld to organize thieving jobs for Garrett. Anyone in the city of a less salubrious persuasion knows Basso, who is as gregarious and affable as Garrett is distant and mysterious. It is said that Basso knows almost everyone in The City and even if he doesn't then he will certainly have something to say regardless. He communicates with those below the legal line using trained magpies to carry brief messages from his shady base of operations behind the Crippled Burrick tavern. His favorite bird is the ill-tempered Jenivere and the main reason for the numerous bandages on his fingers. He has a weakness for drink, cards and women, which often gets him into trouble when it comes to paying the Thief Taker General's ‘Black Tax'. He's also a big chess player and is surprisingly good, often testing out his love for the game with the Queen of Beggars. Basso was instrumental in Garrett and Erin's strange relationship, patching up several disagreements and convincing the master thief that he could help the girl. Yet in a pinch he'll side with the master thief. The City's most infamous fence has been pulled out of trouble by Garrett more times than he might admit and, although the master thief considers himself a loner, Basso is the nearest thing he has to a friend. |
Trivia[]
Basso Concept Art
- The name Basso is a medieval nickname meaning 'short' or 'low'.
- The developers stated that they took inspiration from Roman Polanski's Oliver Twist's Bill Sikes portayed by Jamie Foreman hence the resemblance between the two characters.[1]
- During the task of recreating Basso's design aka the 'loveable rogue' — Joel Dos Reis Viegas stated 'I wanted to present Basso as a kind-hearted man, a little bit more colorful than Garrett. You could say that Basso is the typical good guy that supports the hero. I thought that he should contrast with Garrett and demand our sympathy'.[2]
- Basso may possibly be a descendant of Basso the Boxman due to his idle dialogue which makes mention of "Basso" being his surname rather than his given name. If he is not a descendant, then he is at least a modern echo of the former Basso, just like so many other modern echoes of past times in this game.
- In the earlier games, the earlier Garrett breaks the earlier Basso out of prison in the first game, but he is still sick and unconscious and plays no further part in the game: and in the second game, he is retiring from the criminal business to get married and go "respectable", Garrett's first job being to break his girlfriend out of captivity, after which Basso once again disappears from the scene — he is not present in the third game at all. In the modern game, Basso plays a greater role as Garrett's active fence.
- In the original series, Basso the Boxman fell in love with 'Jenivere, an indentured servant', and they were to be engaged. However due to her mistress's disapproval, she was locked away in Rumford Manor. Basso enlisted the help of Garrett to break her out, where they eventually became married; these events however occurred several centuries before, during the House Bresling dynasty.
- Basso, in the modern world, may have named his pet magpie Jenivere after someone from his past, due to his love for the name, the reason behind this remains unknown.
- Basso has apparently been married at least once, something he swears to do "never again."[3] It is not clear whether his now-single state is due to being divorced or widowed, although either could result in the "never again" vow.
- Given the way that events in this game echo the events of previous games, it seems a plausible conjecture that, as a mirror of the original Basso's relationship, the modern Basso's former wife may have also been called Jenivere, and that she is the one after whom he named his magpie.
- If you hang around Basso long enough, he may even say "Too bad I don't have a sister, she'd go all doe-eyed over a bad man like you". This is a reference to the first game — Basso the Boxman there DID have a sister, and one of Garrett's reasons for breaking him out of prison was in the hope that she might prove (ahem) "grateful". However, we never hear about her again.
- Basso is a fan of chess, as stated by him engaging in several friendly games with the Queen of Beggars, however Basso has been noted for cheating several times.
- Due to his old age, Basso has stated that he suffers from Overactive Bladder.
- In addition, he has also stated that the "gout's playing me up."[4]
- Basso owns a personal safebox located behind an old Church painting.