What are Kataru

[slschuga]

If you've been reading the secret messages in the fbi files, you'd know the name Kataru. They appear to be the leadership (or gods) of this secret organization. I talked to Duke a lot today and he eventually said that the name refers to an alliance made by 3 kings thousands of years ago. What else do we know about them?

[lexilogo]

Originally posted by slschuga:

I talked to Duke a lot today and he eventually said that the name refers to an alliance made by 3 kings thousands of years ago.

I actually haven't heard that voiceline before, nice find. Must be a fairly new one seeing as I believe Breakin Feds was the first time the Kataru have ever been namedropped in-game, previously their name was revealed via FBI Files.

Anyway, I made a different thread where I summed up my thoughts on what the recent Lindenhurst letter meant and what I think the Kataru probably are based on that so I'll paste it here:

Originally posted by lexilogo:

The Kataru used to be a benevolent organisation that Duke's ancestor August worked for, dedicated to keeping Baldwin's Lament, something that if in the wrong hands would cause damage to the whole of humanity, safe. However, someone in the organisation betrayed the others, causing every member aside from August to go MIA, their allies to cut their support, and the organisation to later be reborn as the Kataru, an organisation that, while their motives are unclear, likely wants to use Baldwin's Lament themselves, but haven't obtained any of the vital components they presumably need, like The Box and the Medallion of Perseids.

Though with your information, it's also entirely possible the Kataru and August's watchers were different groups who then merged in some way, I don't know. Once again this is my interpretation based on the letters and while we obviously know more with the letters than we did before their release, it's more than likely that at least something about my analysis will turn out to be wrong.

If there's one thing we DO know about the Kataru, it's that the Yakuza are caught up in their business and if I had to guess are likely major players within the organisation. It's also completely possible the Yakuza aren't quite as major as I think, but IMO they probably have something to do with 1 of the 3 Kings, especially as Kento was big enough of a deal to be sent to the US and get caught up in all this. If Kento's lineage is apparently enough of a reason to get him involved in the Kataru, the Yakuza are probably a big deal.

We also know that Murkywater are co-operating with them, which is why Locke got, well, locked out and now he's fully invested into Crimenet. I guess it's possible they're Obviously, we know Garrett's in that camp too.

Apart from that, most things start to get into speculation territory. There's stuff that you can reasonably infer but IMO it's early to fully say that we "Know" much else about them. They're a pretty new concept so we're still learning a fair bit and we've yet to even meet a Kataru member, unless you count Garrett, Matt, or Jiro's old boss.

[slschuga]

So, going over the letter (which I hadn't seen the transcript of before now, well done), it seems clear that the "Kings" mentioned in it are related to the kings that Duke mentioned. Duke said that the three kings who formed Kataru did so with the intent of ruling the world, and that "the Illuminati and Free Masons were children compared to them". If nothing else, the voiceline makes me more confident that whatever Baldwin's Lament is, it involves wealth, not magic. After all, three ancient kings are far more likely to have a ton of gold than a magical artifact.

[Brigador Lemur]

Originally posted by slschuga:

So, going over the letter (which I hadn't seen the transcript of before now, well done), it seems clear that the "Kings" mentioned in it are related to the kings that Duke mentioned. Duke said that the three kings who formed Kataru did so with the intent of ruling the world, and that "the Illuminati and Free Masons were children compared to them". If nothing else, the voiceline makes me more confident that whatever Baldwin's Lament is, it involves wealth, not magic. After all, three ancient kings are far more likely to have a ton of gold than a magical artifact.

If that's the case, then it is very likely that we will be going after what could be considered the Payday universe's version of the Philosophers' Legacy from Metal Gear Solid.