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bainofjustice · 10 months

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Payday's Most Forgotten Main Character - Speical Agent Jordan Griffin

Introduction

Hello, as my description at time of writing says I am Jordan Griffin's number #1 fan but you see I haven't given myself this title because I've made lots of fan content (I'm working on that) but because I am one of only two of her fans (I recruited a friend to her Fandom). (Might be three but IDK who wrote the Payday 2 character tv tropes page)

I want to have to fight for this title, I wanna see others think about & explore her character.

So I am writing this! It will cover all of her canon appearances, where I would have taken her character within Payday 2's plot & some theories and headcanons.

Payday: The Web Series

Jordan is one of the main characters of The Web Series & outside of Bain, Vlad Kozak Gage & brief scenes is one of the only characters to appear in multiple episodes. She is also the only character I would agure has a arc thoughout the episodes & acts as a recurring pov.

The audience first meets Jordan Griffin in episode 3, she is discussing with her partner (Agent Riker) about her thoery that Hector Morales is working for Crime.Net, Agent Riker attempts to brush off this thoery by both pointing to how little evidence she has found about Crime.Net & pointing to her mental health (stating that she must just be tried, implying she is not in her right state of mind). When this scene ends it is revealed Bain already has eyes on her and placed Riker as a mole.

This scene established a lot of interesting stuff

Jordan with the limited info of the events of PD1 & the earliest heists of 2 was able to put enough evidence together to both figure out Crime.Net existed & its name. Remember that during the events of the web series it is just coming out of beta, likely meaning it's number of users was low & trusted allies so for Jordan to find all this meant some serious digging

I forget if it's on the board or if she says it (limited wi-fi so avoiding watching stuff) but she mentions Bain's name as the owner of Crime.net, not the most impressive as it seems like his name is mentioned a lot in the criminal world to the point that even yakuza clans know about him. Still I feel it worth noting.

This scene is also the first we see anyone (on screen, obviously off screen between 1 & 2 the FBI found out) in the FBI suspect Hector of being related to the Payday gang, it's also worth noting that Jordan already has him pinned of other crimes, possibly the same ones that got him got by the fbi. It's also interesting she didn't know he was a rat for the fbi & was working to arrest him.

Speaking of the board I mentioned, she has a whole conspiracy board in her office for the payday gang & crime.net, it has multiple of the contractors on it, including Vlad (whom at least by the time of Hoxton breakout the FBI believe is a law abiding civilian).

It is also established that Jordan deals with some ableism as a part of how Bain tries to deal with her, it's seen in Rikers comment and made more notable by the fact that Jordan is shown later taking unknown meds from a prescription bottle.

It is also established that Bain considers Jordan enough of a threat to have a mole specifically keeping an eye on her.

As a whole I consider this a strong start for building her up as a threat to the gang & a foil to them, much like them she is working semi out of the system to achieve her goals & like them is seeking answers for questions much bigger than herself, only issue is these traits are directed at taking down Bain & Crime.Net.

In Episode 4, Jordan interviews Dallas whom is undercover as the bank manager for First World Bank, thoughout this Jordan is very suspicious of him & he ends up leaving earlier than likely planned, taking his obertunity when Jordan is called away for something.

I find two things about this very interesting, first being that the series went semi out of its way to allow Dallas & Jordan to meet, while the cover was also used for the heist & the scene also allows for a interesting story telling device of showing different versions of scenes the audience already saw the scene could have easily been from Dallas pov woth random cops but no: it's a mixed pov scene & Jordan is used despite it actually making little sense given how she's treated in the FBI (I will get into that later)

I also find it noteworthy how Dallas treats her, it's very much as a real threat & he does his best to tell her the cover story straight but as it becomes clearer that she is suspicious & isn't falling for it he ends up taking a chance to escape before she can ask more questions.

Also funfact is that this scene is what established Nathan Steele as Dallas civilian name. Jordan also established in this scene being particular about being called Special Agent (Jordan) Griffin.

In Episode 5, Jordan manges to leak to a reporter her theories about crime.net, which ends up in the tv news. Jordan & Riker get pulled aside by their boss and get royalty told off because as it turns out, this isn't their job! Jordan has just been doing all of this on top her real cases for the fbi! She hasn't been getting any backing for them & clearly couldn't ask for help with the case given gets in trouble for it! No one told her to do this! She has just been doing it for herself while everyone tells her no!

She follows this up in the next scene by revealing to Riker that she suspects that there is a mole within their department of the FBI, it's later confirmed that she suspects him & told him as much, though also still keeps him close at hand, including when she goes otherwise alone to confront a member of Crime.Net.

THIS IS FOLLOWED BY REVEALING THAT RIKER'S HANDLER IS FUCKING VLAD "THIRD SHADIEST CONTACTOR & KATRU KING" KOZAK

So uh, yeah a lot happens at the end of an episode about the worst assassin Crime.Net ever hired aka Greta.

But wait! There's even fucking more! In episode 6 aka the finale of the web series most of the focus is on her & Vlad (well it's more about Vlad dealing with her) (& Gage but this ain't about him, I'll talk about him when I talk disability in Payday)

this wild episode starts off with Vlad getting called by Bain warning him that Jordan has taken an interest in him & has placed a tracker on his truck, this results in him blowing off Sofia (Aka the woman he has with him when visting the safe house) & as she insists on him staying with her that night (intercut as Vlad thinks with Jordan doing research about Vlad) he ends up pulling a gun on her asking if she isn't useful why does he keep her around. (This is interrupted before goes farther) (I'm noting that last bit for a reason.)

Next we see of Vlad he's getting driven to the spot that's been set up as a trap for Jordan as she follows, he is singing in a slavic language during this (also in previous scenes he has mostly talked in a slavic language besides from his threats to Sofia)

Then the big scene is next for the Jordan & Vlad storyline, Jordan arrives at the parking garage, this is when she confirms in banter with Riker that she is sure that he is the mole, she searches for a lil bit being very on gruad & then reaches the stairs.

This is when Vlad appears & holy hell this convo is interesting to me, especially looking back knowing a lot more about Vlad. So I am going to break this down a lot.

First Vlad says hello to Speical Agent Jordan Griffin, he very clearly already knows some of her quirks well. Meanwhile Jordan jumps right to questions, speaking in the same Slavic language Vlad has throughout the episode used when speaking with his men, she starts off asking how he knows her name which he answers a little birdie told him. Which does line up with what Bain did, including referencing her full status while warning Vlad.

Vlad follows up with

"I know many things, especially how in over head you [Jordan] are."

I'll come back to this later.

Vlad was interrupted by having to tell one of his men to stand down & that he has everything under control.

Vlad then tells Jordan that he doesn't have time to explain things but:

"-You must understand: You got too close to the truth and they will not let you live if you get any closer." -Vlad

Jordan then questions who "they" is, suspecting Crime.Net & Overkill (this was made back when the company included itself as refs & didn't decide yet the name belonged to a biker gang).

Vlad follows up by not answering but saying

"I like you special agent, we are like each other, more than you know."

He then shares that this all has been a "friendly" warning & warns that the next one won't be the same.

He then says that he hopes the pair will meet again under better circumstances, to which once again in a slavic language Jordan repiled with "Perhaps"

Vlad then leaves with his enforcer. Riker whom was waiting in the wings, gun ready arives as Jordan steps back to the floor they parked and when asked she says that she lost them.

Now lemme break down what I can

It is very interesting to me that throughout episode 6 using slavic language is almost showing your in with Vlad, when Vlad is pissed at Sofia he speaks in English, also speaking with Bain & Riker in English but with his enforcer in Slavic & then Jordan starts off speaking in his language and when he says he hopes they meet again under better circumstances it's also in slavic. This to me really shows there was at least some idea that Jordan would continue to be a force in Vlad related stories, perhaps working with him?

This is the first we see of Jordan actively lying & no less lying to cover her & Vlad's assess, til this point she is not shown actively lying

This is also we see of Jordan choosing to not chase a trail and call it quits before getting herself in shit, I do honestly believe in a convo with someone else Jordan would have not lied at the end saying they got away but instead tried to press forward.

Vlad in the very same episode made it clear that even minor things done by people he doesn't need may result in death, which to me brings up: what does Vlad want from Jordan? What does she have that neither Bain or another FBI agent could supply?

Thoughout the convo he treats her with more respect than really anyone else we see him in canon talk to, not once swearing or acting out but instead acting very calm & put together.

From some of the stuff he says it seems like he honestly wants to tell Jordan more but can't (he blames a time issue, but tbh I feel like it's more because the location was set up by Bain likely meaning he was watching.)

I also find the lines he says about her search for the truth really interesting as it really reminds me of what later happens to Bain, when he starts getting closer to the truth about the Katru he is nearly killed (in the bad ending is fr killed)

I also find the line that they are alike curious, at this time in the story Vlad wasn't too known for a inquisitive nature nor had he shown much interest in uncovering hidden truths. In the context knowing the story wasn't planned from the start I'm not sure what they were planning with this line BUT looking back with what lore we have for Vlad by the end of 2... I'll get to what I think in its own section.

Since this was the final episode this is the last we see of her in live action & even if she shows up again I think will be with a revast or non-live action as her actress is now a right-wing news caster in france 🙃

Appearances In Game

Jordan has two in game appearances!

First is on the second day of Hoxton breakout where she is one of the models spawned in FBI agents can have (model based off her episode 1 outfit).

She does not have any special A.I or anything else meaning any of the following can happen

Her model does not spawn, implying she was not at the office during the attack.

Her model does spawn but one way or another the gang does not interact with her, implying she hid during this.

Her model spawns & the gang zip ties her, leaving her somewhere she isn't killed, this is personally my hc for the canon of the game)

Her model spawns & she guns down a member of the gang, good for her! (This probably the least likely since she is not a special unit & would be in combat with the gang before any assault waves meaning fullish health)

Her model spawns & she is killed (Outside of not spawning this is one of the most likely for a player to do)

Her model spawns & the Joker skill is used on her, making her help the very gang she is trying to catch, possibly dying along the way.

At the end of the day this heist does very little to actually tell us anything about her or her fate as it is totally random what state she's in by the end, especially because as the tv tropes page for her points out most players don't even know who they'd be killing.

But... There is another heist she can spawn in, which neither the tv tropes page nor her wiki (which I need to update) mentions.

Her model can spawn in the Payday 2 version of Taxman, which if I'm not wrong is one of the few remasters that is a flashback/not happening a second time.

Which means that Jordan, likely unknown to Bain or the gang has been long on their trail, this also lines up with what her actual job in the fbi is (which in short is wire fuad, which is mentioned in a episode but I forget which one).

On the flipside if this isn't a flashback we can assume that Jordan is still alive post Hoxton breakout & that it sets a president that unless it's outright a part of the story of the heist named characters like Jordan don't die in heists where there's other options (Makes sense since Bobble Head Bob like Jordan can spawn in heists & die like she can)

I also suspect that Jordan can spawn whenever the game calls for a unarmored FBI agent to spawn but I am yet to test this. But if true basically means Jordan survives well into the endgame & only could for sure have died post Breakin' Feds.

Why I Wish She Was Used More/How I Would Fit Her Into The Plot

Why I Want More:

1. She is my blorbo & I love her 💖💖💖

2. The gang's enemies look like this rn (not counting post game dlc or 3):

A guy relying on the fbi to protect him who was merely a pawn of the fbi (Hector)

A bunch of mindless male police officers

A male police caption who only provides a physical threat

A male fbi head who is only a puppet to people

A male technical guy + military guy, provides a very real intelligental thread with implied help from a female hacker, later redeemed and helps the gang (Locke & Joy)

A mostly male (we never see a woman in Murkeater but I'm gonna assume there's at least one) paramilitary that doubles as a conspiracy group, provides both a physical & social threat

A male puppeteer master, is the only non-physical threat.

You might already see my point, thr gang lacks any non-male enemies which isn't great when combined with theor already low female cast. The developers have mentioned that they wanted to do better on that front & I think a female antagonistic force to the gang would have helped.

Also the gang is really lacking in intellectual threats, only briefly having Locke/Joy hack them which is resolved quick & they aren't a real threat after this & The Dentist whom pulls strings & is a threat to everyone's identities, their serach for The Secret & the world.

But really I think having another intellectual threat, especially one uninvolved with Murkwater would both help feel like the gang has a real risk of something like getting arrested or having their identities leak, I think it would also balance the cast a lot more.

Now while I wanna fix the above making Jordan a main angtag from the get go would change a lot & deserves its own post so here is some closer to canon ideas.

Here's a few ideas of how she could have been used, keep in mind these ideas are based off the limits that 1. The story wasn't planned from the start, 2. The story is mostly shown in heists & fbi files & 3. Jordan is not a main character & 4. My core Jordan thoery is not canon, otherwise this section would be more complicated & require inorging the lack of a plan plotwise.

Without the above limits I would just be giving a pitch for a fanfic I am planning.

Route 1: Mole For Vlad

This in my opinion is one of the more boring options but it is one of the more likely options they would have went with in canon.

For this Jordan would likely off screen started working for Vlad as a dirty fbi agent & in game either be mentioned as a informent or as someone setting things in the fbi hq for the gang in heists they go there.

This route would work well for fics or art that wants a easy route for Jordan to interact with the gang on friendly terms but I feel like outside of fanwork options this isn't the best route.

Ultimately it would make Jordan a bit of a non-character & betray the very justice focused Jordan we see in the web series plus it doesn't address the problems above.

But it is a option that other than what we did get is close to likely.

Route 2: FBI Pov

In this Jordan would remain looking into the Payday gnag though not being as forward, until the FBI files were added.

At that point I would have Jordan serve as the owner of the fbi computer that was hacked, perhaps having her leave notes on all the fbi files about her theories & what she's found.

Perhaps this results in a heist where the gang has to retrieve her evidence & kill her like the Hector heist.

It could also lead to her being the fbi member Kento contacts & sends codes to, perhaps desperate to catch the gang she helps him arrest The Elephant & possibly other contractors.

Or perhaps she remains uninvolved with the emails & instead serves as a pov for the fans not secret hunting by leaving confused files about the Katru related heists & files on clues she doesn't understand.

Route 3: Katru Investigator

Okay so this slimmer to the above, having her leave notes on fbi files & the hacked computer being hers but... The emails aren't, she hacked into the commissioners email & leaves notes on the emails, perhaps acting like a hint for them.

She would also take up what Spetkicguy did in the arg, hacking into things & finding more clues about Mrukywater.

This route likely ends with a callback to what Vlad said, Jordan would get too close to the truth of Murkwater and they would kill her.

My Core Thoery For Jordan Griffin/Route 4: King's Watcher

Okay before I start with this theory let me establish a few things that I will write metas about later:

Vlad is a Katru king, a member of a group of three humans that were selected by powerful beings to guard their secrets, this granted conditional immortality.

The other kings are The Elephant & The Dentist

Each king has a watcher, it is unknown how they are picked but I suspect it is decided by a higher power at their birth. They are meant to prevent the kings from abusing their power, they are also the condition for their King's immortality when they are alive their king cannot die & when they are dead their king can die. (after Dentist loses his he is able to be gunned down)

The known watchers were Bain & Kento, Bain leaves notes about this & Duke comments on & notes that Kento is a watcher as well which lines up with his role in Murkwater

Now that we have that established onto the thoery, which simply put is that Jordan is Vlad's watcher.

Let me first address the main counterpoints

Vlad's watcher is the Commissar!: that is a theory which well would make Dentist wanting the guy dead make sense. It would not make sense that Vlad never mentions him, we know Vlad loves revenge, he won't let his watcher being killed slide no matter how much he likes the gang

Vlad's Watcher Is His Brother In-Law!: Okay this is more likely than the last one & is one of the more likely canon options, so I won't aurge against this theory. Simply it isn't my taste, I find more interesting stories can be told with other options for watchers.

Vlad can die in dlc heists!: Yeah, that does point to his watcher being dead but there is nothing pointing to Jordan having to still be alive at this point. We also don't actually see his death, just that the timer says that but that could be either obsecing Vlad's involvement with the secret or simply not thinking out a different wording. So while him dying is what is said to happen I feel like for a thoery like this. Which is already... Shaky since it rests on a forgotten character I don't think it kills the thoery

Now onto my supporting evidence!

Vlad goes out of his way to make sure Jordan survives & was personally dealing with her. We see him both push aside others in his life like Sofia to focus on Jordan & go against the spirit of Bain's orders who said to deal with her by simply warning her.

The lines: "I know many things, especially how in over head you [Jordan] are." & "You got too close to the truth and they will not let you live if you get any closer." Which Vlad says to Jordan can both read as simply a detective being warned to avoid criminal conspiracy but... It's also close to some of the stuff Bain & the gang says as they investigate the Katru.

There is also that Vlad wanted to tell her more but couldn't, again he said it was a time issue but I really believe it was because he knew Bain was listening in.

Vlad drawing a comparison towards himself & her would make more sense if there was a literal bound between them, as the scribe/a king I'm sure Vlad has done a lot of the sort of stuff Jordan is doing & probably has had watchers like her before.

Thematically it'd line up for Jordan to be unknowingly in his inner circle given that language = Vlad's good graces thing I got talking about.

There are a lot of parallels between Jordan & Bain, especially if you put together some of the stories from clothes that imply Bain was a cop or in the fbi at some point. Both start off locking into things beyond them, both have blue as their main color (Jordan's outfits are mainly black & white say for her periwinkle shirt which her model wears), they both start getting so deep that people are sent after them & with outfit lore in mind it seems like Bain had a encounter with Elephant slimmer to the one Jordan had with Vlad.

Thematically wise it'd be nice if there was 1 criminal watcher, 1 corrupt lawful watcher & 1 justice minded watcher. Bain is morally grey, Kento's morals got fucked up & Jordan has pretty clean morals compared.

It'd also mean that Bain's mind games with Jordan later get reflected at him as Kento played mind games with him & unlike Bain dealt with the person getting close to the truth. In short watcher on watcher violence.

Also sanity is a theme with Vlad, he is the "mad king" the one that found things thay broke his mind & even in the modern day is considered insane. This is intrestingly mirrored by how Jordan is both dismissed based off mental state & likely has a mental illness she takes meds for.

I will probably think of more & make a post just about this thoery eventually but for now the last reason is that I simply think it makes for a interesting story, it means all the watchers are pitted against each other, it means Vlad has another thing to hide from the gang, it means Vlad's watcher is an established character whose a bit complex, it means at least a single woman is relevant to The Secret.

As for what this world look like in story? Well it depends on how you veiw the watchers but for my own hc's & theories I am planning a fic about this.

I will also note that if something makes it clear someone else is Vlad's watcher I will keep this as a au instead of theory/hc.

Ideas For Fan Content

So after reading everything here I hope you dear reader wanna give me a lil more challenge in calling myself her biggest fan by including her in your own content!

To help get this started I'm gonna list a few ideas of how to include & use her in fan content. Obviously I would also be trilled to see ideas not listed written about & if you do make something based off tbe list below or theories & ideas I talk about on this meta you don't have to credit me, I just want to show off a character I like!

Jordan easily can fill the role of a fbi agent that would otherwise go unamed or be a one-off oc, so say for a fic you want to add pressure by having a agent on one of the heisters trail, Jordan would make a good fit!

Jordan would also work well as a mentor or partner to a fbi oc, being able to quickly inform them of details about the payday gang & either aid them if they are a enemy of the Payday gang or provide tension if they are/start helping the gang.

Jordan would also work well for writing enemy to lovers fics since she is a enemy of the gang but it's based off impersonal things, so becoming close with specific members isn't out of the question & could lead to interesting drama for all parties.

Jordan also works well for if you need a pov outside the gang but is aware, let's say you're writing a mystery fic & you need someone to first find something or encounter the killer before it's revealed to the gang. Jordan would work! She would likely investigate that sort of thing but lacks ways of telling other members of the cast.

Jordan does at the end of her story show some more willingness to do shady things, so having a story explore her becoming more & more involved in crime would work really well, this would also be great to use for fics about Vlad's criminal stuff (Just please, I beg, do not have Jordan start working at his postuion house, that I am asking you to not do on this post. I can't stop you but I am gonna read or share stuff about that)

Jordan would also work in camo appearances, need something for Vlad or Bain to be doing before being interrupted? Perhaps they were keeping an eye on a special agent.

Jordan could also work as someone to info dump info about things that happened off screen in your fic, maybe you're writing a future fic & want to quickly establish what everyone is doing, having a scene or a few where Jordan is sharing her theories with someone would be a good way to do it in universe & add some unreliable narratorness to it if you want to hide info.

Also Jordan would work well as some canon fodder to be blunt, as much as I love her it doesn't seem like she's amazing at tech, so if you want establish a character killing enemies of the gang or some mass death event like a zombie au Jordan could work 😶‍🌫️

Lastly there isn't a lot about Jordan outside of what's here, we don't know her past, or much about her future past the web series & there are a lot of parts about her personality we won't have got to see so she's a character that could really be expanded on.

ETC

Agent Riker: Funniest Non-Clown

Yeah I couldn't fit this anywhere else but thoughout the series Riker is really funny due to how it seems like he is almost always moments from a mental breakdown. He will often swear to himself shouting loudly FUCK almost everytime Jordan is getting deeper in the mess.

It's also funny how degented he looks while his boss scolds him & Jordan, they both look like kids getting told off.

It is also extremely funny to me that Jordan straight up tells him to his putposly sweating face she knows he is the mole & then still takes him as backup to confront Vlad which like...

While Riker pulled out a gun & was waiting in the wings it also took him forever to call out for her & it was pretty unclear what his game plan was. He is like less than useless to both Jordan & Vlad.

He also has a family which he mentions when talking to Vlad also it was hard for me to make out his name due to my hearing sorta sucking so I had to find his name on the imb page for the series

Jordan's Job:

I wasn't sure where to mention this but in one of the episodes, I believe when being told off by her boss it is mentioned she works in wire fuad. I believe due to her having her own office space in the department that she is likely either very high ranking or it's local head.

How I Incountered Jordan:

So I was vaguely a Payday fan at the time, I knew things like Jacket x Sokol & things like the Halloween nightmares for the crew but I had yet to see the wider picture.

This is when I decided to read the tv tropes page for Payday 2, specifically the characters page & then I read the Minor Characters page & read Jordan's section.

Which made me interested enough to go & watch the web series & then I watched more & more videos until I ended up watching The Knowley's lore series & since then I have been searching for more lore & info.

And that won't have happened if some tv tropes writer I will never likely meet hadn't decided to put Jordan on the page & describe her well in tropes & in the little bio.

The Wiki:

So a funfact is that I am the one who made Jordan's wiki page & added her to the web series page. Admittedly the page needs some work to better explain things but I thought something was better than nothing & I will work on it more.

#meta #lore #payday 2 #payday the heist #pd2 #payday Jordan Griffin #special agent Jordan Griffin #Jordan Griffin #Payday: The Web Series #vlad kozak #bain #Agent Riker #Hector Morales #katru #headcanons

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