Joshua Christopher (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sinningsaint) wrote2014-08-28 09:23 am
sinningsaint) wrote2014-08-28 09:23 am
Entry tags:
TLV Application (...again, haha)
User Name/Nick: Haley
User DW:brightblueink
AIM/IM: BrightBlueInk (use infrequently)
E-mail: haleysings[at]gmail[dot]com
Other Characters: N/A
Character Name: Joshua Christopher
Series: Chrono Crusade (manga version)
Age: 15 for the bulk of canon, 17 from the canon point I’m taking him from.
From When?: After the main end of his canon but before the epilogue—I’m going to say it’s late 1926, and he’s been part of the Magdalan Order for about a year and a half.
Inmate/Warden: Warden!
Joshua is a troubled guy with a dark past, but it’s that troubled past that makes him so determined to help other people. Although he’s not a perfect person by any means, he’s more or less “reformed” from his past life as a villain and truly wants to help other people. Part of it is a desire to atone for his past, but I also think his experiences have given him a large amount of empathy for others.
Heck, because of his bad past he probably could understand the inmates better than some other Wardens, because he’s been there. He’s hurt people, even (indirectly) killed people, his sister is actually dying as a consequence of his poor choices, and he even works every day to try to repair a city that was destroyed by the plans of the villain he blindly followed. Since he managed to change, he believes that most people can do it too, and he’ll be absolutely driven to prove it.
Again, he won’t be perfect—he’ll expect a lot out of others (just as he does for himself), he might project his own issues, and there will be times where he’ll get frustrated or just plain won’t know how to help. But the empathy he has for others, as well as his own past experiences, should give him what he needs to help the inmates as long as he allows himself to learn from his mistakes.
Item: An old-fashioned dime novel called THE FANTASTIC LAST VOYAGES.
Abilities/Powers: At one point in time, Joshua had abilities as an “Apostle” that allowed him to heal others, sprout angelic wings, and channel the spirits of the dead. He also put a pair of demon horns on his head, which allowed him to “stop” the time of people and objects—basically freezing them in stone—read minds, and exhibit incredible strength.
However, he doesn’t have any of those powers anymore. The horns were forcibly removed from his head, and his Apostle powers disappeared once The Powers That Be that gave him the powers in the first place felt the threat they feared was eliminated. Now instead of his powers, all he has is his training as a member of the Magdalan Order, and he’s otherwise a normal human.
As a member of the Order he’s been trained to handle firearms with special bullets designed to combat demons and other supernatural beings, as well as cross barriers made to confine them. He also has knowledge about Christian scripture, divination, supernatural beings and the like. That being said, he’s a little inexperienced when it comes to actually fighting supernatural beasties—most of his work in the Order is more charitable in nature, focused on feeding the hungry and helping to rebuild a damaged city.
Personality: In an interview in the English volume 2 of the manga, the creator of Chrono Crusade was asked “Who among the characters do you most closely relate to?” He responded that while all of the characters have some elements of his personality, if he had to pick one, it would be Joshua, because “his childhood dilemma of the gap between the person he wants to be and the person he actually is, it’s like that’s exactly how I was as a kid, to the point where I can’t think of that being someone else”--which is a fantastic way to sum up Joshua’s place within the series. In his pursuit of becoming the person he wants to be, Joshua loses sight of everything he cares about in his life and makes horrible mistakes that cost him dearly—even being partially responsible for shortening the lifespan of his beloved sister, Rosette. But by the end of canon he’s realized how foolish he’s been, and dedicates himself to atoning for what he’s done and becoming strong on his own terms, instead of trying to become someone he’s not.
Despite the hardships Joshua has had in his life, he’s naturally a cheerful person. For example, when he was a child Joshua wanted little more than to just spend time with his sister outside and have fun with her, rather than worry over his illness or strange powers. So even when he’s under a lot of stress, he tends to manage to make jokes, have fun discussions with the people he cares about and engage in playful banter.
Of course, sometimes that “playful banter” of his can take a snarky, argumentative, and even downright childish tone. As a kid, he mocks his older sister because her chest is “as flat as a pancake.” He gets into extended arguments with Fiore because he hates carrots and she wants him to eat healthily. He mocks and eggs on opponents in a fight. (“Hah! That wasn’t even close! You DO know how to shoot, don’t you?”) We don’t see him engage with this after he loses his horns, so it’s possible that he “grows out of” this trait later on, but it’s also just as likely that the situations we see him in afterward simply don’t call for it.
His ‘childish’ side also manifests in a more positive way, in that Joshua is very imaginative and creative. He loves to read, and he sees the world through the lens of adventure and discovery. Because of that, he’s fascinated by the supernatural (his first reaction to meeting a demon was excitedly asking “Are witches and fairies real, too?!”) and loves to learn about the stories and legends of other cultures. As a child, his dream was to be an explorer and write a book about what he saw—and in fact, as a teenager he does get to travel to a place of his dreams with his sister, which brings him some sense of peace during the stressful final battle.
In general Joshua is bold, dreams big, and enjoys taking on new challenges. His idealized version of himself is like the heroes that he’s so fascinated by—for example, when he heals Rosette with his powers and she thanks him, he tells her that she shouldn’t thank him until he saves her from a group of bandits with only a rifle.
He rarely backs down from a challenge, and only seems to when ordered to or convinced otherwise. When a group of demon Pursuers come to Aion’s home and demand to see the Sinner, Joshua warns them not to underestimate him (probably just to rile them up) and then kills them all with nothing but his powers and bare hands. Later, when he starts to question whether Rosette really is his sister as she says she is, Fiore encourages him to seek out the truth—so he does, going to her directly and asking her point-blank “You really are my sister Rosette, aren’t you?” Even after he loses his horns and is back to being frail due to his Apostle powers, he not once but TWICE jumps between Rosette and an enemy, determined to protect her.
In fact, as a child he promised himself on his father’s grave (at the age of 4, mind you) that he would grow up as strong as he could to be able to protect Rosette, which is one of the reasons why he despises his illness so much. He seems to only half-remember the promise he made, but it greatly affects how he sees himself, which contributes heavily to his later obsession with becoming powerful.
Because of his high expectations, he HATES being pitied and patronized. As a child he knew that caring for him was tiring, and both felt guilty for being a bother and resented people pitying and coddling him because of his illness. He also gets very upset by Rosette wanting to be a doctor so she can take care of him, which is even hinted to be a motivating factor in him taking the horns. Being reminded that he was ill and weak was insulting, and later in life, when he had great power because of the horns, he goes out of his way to show it off as if to prove a point.
He seems to place a high expectation on others, as well as himself, and is disappointed when they fail to match his expectations. On the flip side, when someone exceeds his expectations he’s quick to applaud them for it. For example, when Chrono snaps out of a rage-fueled frenzy during a fight and is stabbed by Aion because of it, Joshua expresses disappointment in how the fight ended, since he knows Chrono is a powerful demon. Later on, when Azmaria shows quick-thinking and uses her Apostle powers in an unconventional way to call Rosette’s soul back to her body, he readily expresses how impressed he is.
Joshua tends to be very loyal to those that he comes to care about. In general he’s rather friendly, but distant. He doesn’t seem to have had many friends in the orphanage—particularly once he got his powers, which frightened them. But the few people that he gets truly close to? He can be fanatically devoted to.
I’ve already mentioned that as a kid he promised himself he would be there for Rosette. If you asked him who the most important person in his life was, he would pick Rosette with little hesitation. She’s the only family he has left, and even though they sometimes fight or tease each other, he cares for her deeply.
After he got the horns, he became insanely obsessed with his sister, creating in his head a false image of a nearly angel-like girl with mountains of forgiveness and patience (a stark contrast with the hot-tempered tomboy he actually had for a sister). After he lost the horns, he realizes how wrong his image of her was, but still deeply cares for her. He’s a very devoted, doting brother without the horns, and the knowledge that her life is shortened because of his actions grieves him.
He’s also shown being similarly devoted (or obsessed) with other people he cares about—in particular, he still pines after his maid and confidant, Fiore, 8 years after he last saw her, and mourns the fact that he never got to properly thank her. And even Aion, the demon that kidnapped him as a child, gets some of his loyalty. When he had the horns, Aion respected him as part of his group and included him in his plans, which earned a sort of hero-worship from the boy. And even after he loses his horns and realizes how damaging Aion’s plans (and his role in them) have been, he still trusts Aion enough negotiate with him instead of out-right attacking him when he’s threatening the life of his sister, and even seems concerned for his safety (although not enough to argue against Chrono and Rosette when they leave to fight against him in a final battle).
However, despite how loving he can be to those he trusts, he has a bad habit of thinking of himself first, and others second. Rosette never asked (or even needed) to be protected by Joshua, but he was bound and determined to do it, even if it meant making a deal with the devil. Loyal as he is to Aion, he seems to only somewhat care about Aion’s needs and ideals. He would directly disobey Aion’s orders if it was frustrating or inconvenient for him, like when he decides to attack Chrono to make the horns stop their “screaming.” And with the horns he was clingy and demanding toward Fiore. He constantly went to her for advice and emotional support without offering much in return.
He gets much better about this behavior after he loses the horns, but that doesn’t mean it’s not still a part of his personality—he’s just got a much better control over it when he’s got a better grip on his sanity. He still shows signs of being a little demanding, particularly when it comes to Chrono’s treatment of Rosette (…and her body). And particularly since this was a trait of his even before the horns, it’s likely that’s just the way he is—his guilt is just stamping out his selfishness when he’s not flying off the handle emotionally.
Speaking of his emotions, he’s not very good at controlling them. He seems calm in comparison to Rosette, but that’s just because Rosette’s EVEN MORE emotional and impulsive than he is. It’s at its worst when he has the horns, of course. He has very little impulse control with them, which is where most of his chaotic nature with the horns comes from. But even without the horns he has a tendency to switch emotions at the drop of a hat. As a kid, while being generally cheerful, he was often depressed by his powers, and he also played a pretty mean prank on Rosette when he pretended that an object she threw knocked him cold (knowing that she fussed over his health), all as revenge for her ruining a book. (Plus, he yells at her when she offers food to Chrono because HE’D been hungry earlier—despite the fact that he’d just missed lunch and Chrono mentions not having left the tomb in decades.)
Perhaps because of the trauma from the horns, even after he’s saved, he is pretty volatile emotionally. This shows the most when he’s under a lot of stress. By the point that Rosette collapses during a battle and appears to die, he’s so traumatized that when he learns the cause is her contract with Chrono he breaks emotionally and flies into a rage, cursing at Chrono, beating him (even though Chrono was already EXTREMELY injured trying to get to Rosette to protect her) and calling him a “monster.” He’s not a stoic guy by any stretch of the imagination.
But really, despite all of his hang-ups, chaotic emotions and selfishness? By the end of the manga, Joshua is determined to become a better person. We might not get to see much of him without the horns, but barring his outbursts over Chrono’s contract with Rosette, every single thing he does after he loses the horns is directed at helping other people.
When it’s revealed that there’s a chance to save Rosette’s life, he immediately offers to help, even though to do so he has to use his Apostle powers and causes himself to become ill (to the point where he starts to cough up blood). Despite his tense moments with Chrono, he doesn’t let him go without apologizing for his harsh behavior toward him. The last thing we see him do in the main manga timeline is comfort Azmaria when she begins to cry. And in the epilogue, we learn that he eventually joins the Order to atone for the harm he’s caused, focusing not on the dramatic, “heroic” role of the militia battling supernatural enemies, but feeding the refugees of a city he indirectly helped to destroy and aiding in rebuilding efforts.
This isn’t actually all that surprising—although he can be selfish, as a child we’re never given any reason to think he ever refused to heal someone with his powers, despite resenting his ill health and despite his powers and illness making him an outcast in his orphanage. In fact, considering that his powers are what causes his illness in the first place? It’s pretty clear that he’s been using his powers a lot, since he’s become very ill by the time he takes the horns.
So in conclusion? Joshua is a screwed-up kid that can be self-centered and argumentative, clingy and prone to mood swings. He’s also compassionate, a devoted brother, curious and creative, and by the end of the manga is on his way to becoming someone who lives his life to help others.
Barge Reactions: Joshua is really fascinated by cultures and creatures that are unlike him, so initially he’ll probably be pretty excited. Look at all these people with different powers! Maybe he’ll finally meet a FAIRY! Oooh, now he finally has a chance to be an explorer, and an explorer of other universes no less!!
(In fact let’s be honest, even though his main motivation for being a Warden is helping others and making up for what he did, there’s probably a little part of him that signed up just because OMG A BOAT THAT GOES TO DIFFERENT WORLDS THAT’S THE BEE’S KNEES.)
Of course, that somewhat obnoxious enthusiasm might die down once he meets a few too many dangerous people or gets caught up in some frightening experiences during a flood or at a port. Then he’ll probably be a little bit more cautious and guarded…but still very curious.
Although I briefly played Joshua at TLV before, he won’t remember his previous time. He’s a clean slate in terms of Barge experience.
Deal: Joshua, knowing that his sister’s lifespan has been significantly shortened because of her quest to save him, wants to give his sister some of her life back. Every Inmate he successfully helps graduate will add three years onto his sister’s lifespan. It still means that she’ll die very young, but at least it means he’ll have done something to allow her to live a little longer.
History: At the age of 4, Joshua and his older sister, Rosette, were orphaned when their parents died in a shipwreck, and as a result they went to live at an orphanage. As he grew up, he developed ‘holy’ powers that marked him as an Apostle—one of seven children chosen by The Powers That Be in his world to channel the astral line, a river of souls that ran through the sky.
Although Joshua’s powers allowed him to heal others, they also caused an illness that he couldn’t cure with them. Bitter at how weak his powers made him, when a demon named Aion offered him a chance to be strong he immediately accepted, and agreed to fuse a pair of demon horns to his head. The horns did indeed make him strong, but also drove him mad because of the way they allowed him to read the minds of others, and opened his mind up to Pandaemonium, the queen of the demons. In his insanity he “stopped the time” of all the occupants of his orphanage—besides Rosette, who managed to escape—effectively freezing them in stone.
Aion then recruited Joshua as one of the Sinners, his group of rebels against the demon world. Aion gave to Joshua a girl named Fiore as a maid, who helped to raise Joshua and attempted to keep his insanity under control. As he grew, he became only more powerful, but also began to lose more and more of his mind and sense of self. His mix of reckless, violent behavior caused by his insanity and the power of the demon horns amplified by his power as an Apostle made him a terrifying foe—whether he was fighting other demons that were gathering against Aion, or even his own sister and her demon partner Chrono, who had joined a religious organization of exorcists called the Magdalan Order in an attempt to save him from Aion.
Four years after Joshua was taken away from his home, Aion managed to gather together all seven of the Apostles, and used their powers in his attempt to remake the world to both destroy the corrupt demon world and “fix” what he perceived to be a broken system that would never allow people to reach their true potential. Although Rosette was too late to stop Joshua from helping Aion with his powers, she did eventually catch up to him and shot off one of his horns. This finally made him lucid enough to realize how much damage he’d been causing with the horns, and he chose to rip out the other horn himself, restoring his sanity and unfreezing the orphanage that he’d trapped in time years ago.
Together Joshua, the Apostles, Rosette and her companions were able to stop Aion’s plans to destroy and remake the world, but Aion, Fiore and Chrono disappeared in the process—their fates are currently unknown. Joshua returned to the Magdalan Order with his sister and later joined them as an act of atonement, working with the Order to help the people affected by Aion’s plans. However, Joshua’s redemption had come at a terrible cost—Rosette had made a contract with Chrono to sacrifice her soul so that he could help her save Joshua, and she began to show the same signs of illness that Joshua had as a child, which he knows is a sign that her life has been shortened and is beginning to come to an end…
Sample Journal Entry:
Hi. Brother Joshua again. [He pauses, looking a little confused at the screen. He’s been around a week but he’s still a little uncomfortable with the communication device.] Isn’t it a little weird to record a message when nobody’s talking back to you?
Uh, anyway. I just found that room called the ‘CES.’ It’s amazing, isn’t it? I spent half the day there yesterday…it looked like a place I used to go to when I was a kid. [He smiles fondly, then reaches down to his feet.] So, I was thinking, if I’m lucky enough and the room takes me there again…
[He pulls up a crude, hand-made fishing pole.] Would anyone like to go fishing? It’s pretty relaxing, and I know that lake is good for it. I did it all the time with my sister and a friend. I know we can’t really take the fish out of the room, but it might be a good way to get to know each other, right?
[He shrugs, accidentally showing how shy he is about this by ducking his head down.] I mean, I know it might be kind of weird, but I thought, why not? And I know some people think it’s boring but I promise it won’t be. We can talk about stuff while we wait for the fish to bite, as long as we’re not too noisy. Besides, it’s a neat place, so I’d hate to keep it all to myself.
[He waves the fishing pole around a bit.] I made another one of these so, if you’re interested, let me know!
Sample RP:
He’d had a familiar nightmare midway through his first week on the Barge. The details changed often, but the general theme was always the same—venturing too close to the ocean only to be pulled under the waves and drowned. This time, he’d been called to the waves by a girl with short, dark hair, like she was some sort of siren, and once he was there he’d been grabbed by the ghosts of murdered women who dragged him down into the water, screaming about their horrifying deaths and begging for freedom from their fates. As he sank under the waves toward a dead world, he looked into its mouth and saw himself looking back at him, horns jutting out of his head and his mouth twisted into an inhuman grin.
That sight, mercifully, is what snapped him awake. For a few moments he stared at his ceiling, confused, wondering if somehow everything that had happened in the last several years was part of the nightmare and he was back in his bed at the orphanage, but once his mind cleared he remembered that this was just a copy of his former room, albeit a startlingly detailed one. He was a Warden after making a deal to help others in exchange for his sister’s life — at least, some of it.
He pushed to his feet and ignored the old blood stains on the floor by his bed and stumbled into his bathroom. His reflection cringed at him in the mirror. Between his bed-head, sweat-covered brow and dark circles under his eyes he looked like he’d just been dragged around by a bunch of screaming ghosts in reality. He thought about splashing water on his face before he realized that would do little to actually help his appearance and instead took a long shower, changed, and — after taking some time to thumb through one of his old dime novels to calm himself down — left his room to find some breakfast.
After he left his room it was easy to believe that every single person he passed on the Barge was staring at him, noting his dark circles and wet hair and rumpled clothes with contempt. He kept his head held as high as he could but stared straight ahead, refusing to look any of them in the eye for fear of his suspicions being confirmed. “Just get breakfast,” he told himself in his head. “That’s the first step. You don’t have to talk to anyone or even look at them.”
He went through the entire breakfast line with his gaze pointed straight down at his tray, barely acknowledging the inmates who served the food, and made a bee-line straight for a secluded corner of the cafeteria. What he didn’t expect was that an inmate would have the same idea and would have already settled at the table with their food.
For a moment he hesitated. He could go somewhere else. Maybe they wanted to be alone. But he remembered that one time, when he’d done the same thing at the Order, another member had approached him with a smile, without a hint in his expression that said anything about him being a freak or a “Sinner.” It was strange, but it was what he needed on that day.
Wasn’t he here to help? What help would he be if he ran from all of them?
He cleared his throat, smiled, and looked them in the eye, dark circles and all.
“Uh…hi. I’m Joshua. I don’t want to bother you, but would you mind if I sat with you?”
Special Notes:
User DW:
brightblueinkAIM/IM: BrightBlueInk (use infrequently)
E-mail: haleysings[at]gmail[dot]com
Other Characters: N/A
Character Name: Joshua Christopher
Series: Chrono Crusade (manga version)
Age: 15 for the bulk of canon, 17 from the canon point I’m taking him from.
From When?: After the main end of his canon but before the epilogue—I’m going to say it’s late 1926, and he’s been part of the Magdalan Order for about a year and a half.
Inmate/Warden: Warden!
Joshua is a troubled guy with a dark past, but it’s that troubled past that makes him so determined to help other people. Although he’s not a perfect person by any means, he’s more or less “reformed” from his past life as a villain and truly wants to help other people. Part of it is a desire to atone for his past, but I also think his experiences have given him a large amount of empathy for others.
Heck, because of his bad past he probably could understand the inmates better than some other Wardens, because he’s been there. He’s hurt people, even (indirectly) killed people, his sister is actually dying as a consequence of his poor choices, and he even works every day to try to repair a city that was destroyed by the plans of the villain he blindly followed. Since he managed to change, he believes that most people can do it too, and he’ll be absolutely driven to prove it.
Again, he won’t be perfect—he’ll expect a lot out of others (just as he does for himself), he might project his own issues, and there will be times where he’ll get frustrated or just plain won’t know how to help. But the empathy he has for others, as well as his own past experiences, should give him what he needs to help the inmates as long as he allows himself to learn from his mistakes.
Item: An old-fashioned dime novel called THE FANTASTIC LAST VOYAGES.
Abilities/Powers: At one point in time, Joshua had abilities as an “Apostle” that allowed him to heal others, sprout angelic wings, and channel the spirits of the dead. He also put a pair of demon horns on his head, which allowed him to “stop” the time of people and objects—basically freezing them in stone—read minds, and exhibit incredible strength.
However, he doesn’t have any of those powers anymore. The horns were forcibly removed from his head, and his Apostle powers disappeared once The Powers That Be that gave him the powers in the first place felt the threat they feared was eliminated. Now instead of his powers, all he has is his training as a member of the Magdalan Order, and he’s otherwise a normal human.
As a member of the Order he’s been trained to handle firearms with special bullets designed to combat demons and other supernatural beings, as well as cross barriers made to confine them. He also has knowledge about Christian scripture, divination, supernatural beings and the like. That being said, he’s a little inexperienced when it comes to actually fighting supernatural beasties—most of his work in the Order is more charitable in nature, focused on feeding the hungry and helping to rebuild a damaged city.
Personality: In an interview in the English volume 2 of the manga, the creator of Chrono Crusade was asked “Who among the characters do you most closely relate to?” He responded that while all of the characters have some elements of his personality, if he had to pick one, it would be Joshua, because “his childhood dilemma of the gap between the person he wants to be and the person he actually is, it’s like that’s exactly how I was as a kid, to the point where I can’t think of that being someone else”--which is a fantastic way to sum up Joshua’s place within the series. In his pursuit of becoming the person he wants to be, Joshua loses sight of everything he cares about in his life and makes horrible mistakes that cost him dearly—even being partially responsible for shortening the lifespan of his beloved sister, Rosette. But by the end of canon he’s realized how foolish he’s been, and dedicates himself to atoning for what he’s done and becoming strong on his own terms, instead of trying to become someone he’s not.
Despite the hardships Joshua has had in his life, he’s naturally a cheerful person. For example, when he was a child Joshua wanted little more than to just spend time with his sister outside and have fun with her, rather than worry over his illness or strange powers. So even when he’s under a lot of stress, he tends to manage to make jokes, have fun discussions with the people he cares about and engage in playful banter.
Of course, sometimes that “playful banter” of his can take a snarky, argumentative, and even downright childish tone. As a kid, he mocks his older sister because her chest is “as flat as a pancake.” He gets into extended arguments with Fiore because he hates carrots and she wants him to eat healthily. He mocks and eggs on opponents in a fight. (“Hah! That wasn’t even close! You DO know how to shoot, don’t you?”) We don’t see him engage with this after he loses his horns, so it’s possible that he “grows out of” this trait later on, but it’s also just as likely that the situations we see him in afterward simply don’t call for it.
His ‘childish’ side also manifests in a more positive way, in that Joshua is very imaginative and creative. He loves to read, and he sees the world through the lens of adventure and discovery. Because of that, he’s fascinated by the supernatural (his first reaction to meeting a demon was excitedly asking “Are witches and fairies real, too?!”) and loves to learn about the stories and legends of other cultures. As a child, his dream was to be an explorer and write a book about what he saw—and in fact, as a teenager he does get to travel to a place of his dreams with his sister, which brings him some sense of peace during the stressful final battle.
In general Joshua is bold, dreams big, and enjoys taking on new challenges. His idealized version of himself is like the heroes that he’s so fascinated by—for example, when he heals Rosette with his powers and she thanks him, he tells her that she shouldn’t thank him until he saves her from a group of bandits with only a rifle.
He rarely backs down from a challenge, and only seems to when ordered to or convinced otherwise. When a group of demon Pursuers come to Aion’s home and demand to see the Sinner, Joshua warns them not to underestimate him (probably just to rile them up) and then kills them all with nothing but his powers and bare hands. Later, when he starts to question whether Rosette really is his sister as she says she is, Fiore encourages him to seek out the truth—so he does, going to her directly and asking her point-blank “You really are my sister Rosette, aren’t you?” Even after he loses his horns and is back to being frail due to his Apostle powers, he not once but TWICE jumps between Rosette and an enemy, determined to protect her.
In fact, as a child he promised himself on his father’s grave (at the age of 4, mind you) that he would grow up as strong as he could to be able to protect Rosette, which is one of the reasons why he despises his illness so much. He seems to only half-remember the promise he made, but it greatly affects how he sees himself, which contributes heavily to his later obsession with becoming powerful.
Because of his high expectations, he HATES being pitied and patronized. As a child he knew that caring for him was tiring, and both felt guilty for being a bother and resented people pitying and coddling him because of his illness. He also gets very upset by Rosette wanting to be a doctor so she can take care of him, which is even hinted to be a motivating factor in him taking the horns. Being reminded that he was ill and weak was insulting, and later in life, when he had great power because of the horns, he goes out of his way to show it off as if to prove a point.
He seems to place a high expectation on others, as well as himself, and is disappointed when they fail to match his expectations. On the flip side, when someone exceeds his expectations he’s quick to applaud them for it. For example, when Chrono snaps out of a rage-fueled frenzy during a fight and is stabbed by Aion because of it, Joshua expresses disappointment in how the fight ended, since he knows Chrono is a powerful demon. Later on, when Azmaria shows quick-thinking and uses her Apostle powers in an unconventional way to call Rosette’s soul back to her body, he readily expresses how impressed he is.
Joshua tends to be very loyal to those that he comes to care about. In general he’s rather friendly, but distant. He doesn’t seem to have had many friends in the orphanage—particularly once he got his powers, which frightened them. But the few people that he gets truly close to? He can be fanatically devoted to.
I’ve already mentioned that as a kid he promised himself he would be there for Rosette. If you asked him who the most important person in his life was, he would pick Rosette with little hesitation. She’s the only family he has left, and even though they sometimes fight or tease each other, he cares for her deeply.
After he got the horns, he became insanely obsessed with his sister, creating in his head a false image of a nearly angel-like girl with mountains of forgiveness and patience (a stark contrast with the hot-tempered tomboy he actually had for a sister). After he lost the horns, he realizes how wrong his image of her was, but still deeply cares for her. He’s a very devoted, doting brother without the horns, and the knowledge that her life is shortened because of his actions grieves him.
He’s also shown being similarly devoted (or obsessed) with other people he cares about—in particular, he still pines after his maid and confidant, Fiore, 8 years after he last saw her, and mourns the fact that he never got to properly thank her. And even Aion, the demon that kidnapped him as a child, gets some of his loyalty. When he had the horns, Aion respected him as part of his group and included him in his plans, which earned a sort of hero-worship from the boy. And even after he loses his horns and realizes how damaging Aion’s plans (and his role in them) have been, he still trusts Aion enough negotiate with him instead of out-right attacking him when he’s threatening the life of his sister, and even seems concerned for his safety (although not enough to argue against Chrono and Rosette when they leave to fight against him in a final battle).
However, despite how loving he can be to those he trusts, he has a bad habit of thinking of himself first, and others second. Rosette never asked (or even needed) to be protected by Joshua, but he was bound and determined to do it, even if it meant making a deal with the devil. Loyal as he is to Aion, he seems to only somewhat care about Aion’s needs and ideals. He would directly disobey Aion’s orders if it was frustrating or inconvenient for him, like when he decides to attack Chrono to make the horns stop their “screaming.” And with the horns he was clingy and demanding toward Fiore. He constantly went to her for advice and emotional support without offering much in return.
He gets much better about this behavior after he loses the horns, but that doesn’t mean it’s not still a part of his personality—he’s just got a much better control over it when he’s got a better grip on his sanity. He still shows signs of being a little demanding, particularly when it comes to Chrono’s treatment of Rosette (…and her body). And particularly since this was a trait of his even before the horns, it’s likely that’s just the way he is—his guilt is just stamping out his selfishness when he’s not flying off the handle emotionally.
Speaking of his emotions, he’s not very good at controlling them. He seems calm in comparison to Rosette, but that’s just because Rosette’s EVEN MORE emotional and impulsive than he is. It’s at its worst when he has the horns, of course. He has very little impulse control with them, which is where most of his chaotic nature with the horns comes from. But even without the horns he has a tendency to switch emotions at the drop of a hat. As a kid, while being generally cheerful, he was often depressed by his powers, and he also played a pretty mean prank on Rosette when he pretended that an object she threw knocked him cold (knowing that she fussed over his health), all as revenge for her ruining a book. (Plus, he yells at her when she offers food to Chrono because HE’D been hungry earlier—despite the fact that he’d just missed lunch and Chrono mentions not having left the tomb in decades.)
Perhaps because of the trauma from the horns, even after he’s saved, he is pretty volatile emotionally. This shows the most when he’s under a lot of stress. By the point that Rosette collapses during a battle and appears to die, he’s so traumatized that when he learns the cause is her contract with Chrono he breaks emotionally and flies into a rage, cursing at Chrono, beating him (even though Chrono was already EXTREMELY injured trying to get to Rosette to protect her) and calling him a “monster.” He’s not a stoic guy by any stretch of the imagination.
But really, despite all of his hang-ups, chaotic emotions and selfishness? By the end of the manga, Joshua is determined to become a better person. We might not get to see much of him without the horns, but barring his outbursts over Chrono’s contract with Rosette, every single thing he does after he loses the horns is directed at helping other people.
When it’s revealed that there’s a chance to save Rosette’s life, he immediately offers to help, even though to do so he has to use his Apostle powers and causes himself to become ill (to the point where he starts to cough up blood). Despite his tense moments with Chrono, he doesn’t let him go without apologizing for his harsh behavior toward him. The last thing we see him do in the main manga timeline is comfort Azmaria when she begins to cry. And in the epilogue, we learn that he eventually joins the Order to atone for the harm he’s caused, focusing not on the dramatic, “heroic” role of the militia battling supernatural enemies, but feeding the refugees of a city he indirectly helped to destroy and aiding in rebuilding efforts.
This isn’t actually all that surprising—although he can be selfish, as a child we’re never given any reason to think he ever refused to heal someone with his powers, despite resenting his ill health and despite his powers and illness making him an outcast in his orphanage. In fact, considering that his powers are what causes his illness in the first place? It’s pretty clear that he’s been using his powers a lot, since he’s become very ill by the time he takes the horns.
So in conclusion? Joshua is a screwed-up kid that can be self-centered and argumentative, clingy and prone to mood swings. He’s also compassionate, a devoted brother, curious and creative, and by the end of the manga is on his way to becoming someone who lives his life to help others.
Barge Reactions: Joshua is really fascinated by cultures and creatures that are unlike him, so initially he’ll probably be pretty excited. Look at all these people with different powers! Maybe he’ll finally meet a FAIRY! Oooh, now he finally has a chance to be an explorer, and an explorer of other universes no less!!
(In fact let’s be honest, even though his main motivation for being a Warden is helping others and making up for what he did, there’s probably a little part of him that signed up just because OMG A BOAT THAT GOES TO DIFFERENT WORLDS THAT’S THE BEE’S KNEES.)
Of course, that somewhat obnoxious enthusiasm might die down once he meets a few too many dangerous people or gets caught up in some frightening experiences during a flood or at a port. Then he’ll probably be a little bit more cautious and guarded…but still very curious.
Although I briefly played Joshua at TLV before, he won’t remember his previous time. He’s a clean slate in terms of Barge experience.
Deal: Joshua, knowing that his sister’s lifespan has been significantly shortened because of her quest to save him, wants to give his sister some of her life back. Every Inmate he successfully helps graduate will add three years onto his sister’s lifespan. It still means that she’ll die very young, but at least it means he’ll have done something to allow her to live a little longer.
History: At the age of 4, Joshua and his older sister, Rosette, were orphaned when their parents died in a shipwreck, and as a result they went to live at an orphanage. As he grew up, he developed ‘holy’ powers that marked him as an Apostle—one of seven children chosen by The Powers That Be in his world to channel the astral line, a river of souls that ran through the sky.
Although Joshua’s powers allowed him to heal others, they also caused an illness that he couldn’t cure with them. Bitter at how weak his powers made him, when a demon named Aion offered him a chance to be strong he immediately accepted, and agreed to fuse a pair of demon horns to his head. The horns did indeed make him strong, but also drove him mad because of the way they allowed him to read the minds of others, and opened his mind up to Pandaemonium, the queen of the demons. In his insanity he “stopped the time” of all the occupants of his orphanage—besides Rosette, who managed to escape—effectively freezing them in stone.
Aion then recruited Joshua as one of the Sinners, his group of rebels against the demon world. Aion gave to Joshua a girl named Fiore as a maid, who helped to raise Joshua and attempted to keep his insanity under control. As he grew, he became only more powerful, but also began to lose more and more of his mind and sense of self. His mix of reckless, violent behavior caused by his insanity and the power of the demon horns amplified by his power as an Apostle made him a terrifying foe—whether he was fighting other demons that were gathering against Aion, or even his own sister and her demon partner Chrono, who had joined a religious organization of exorcists called the Magdalan Order in an attempt to save him from Aion.
Four years after Joshua was taken away from his home, Aion managed to gather together all seven of the Apostles, and used their powers in his attempt to remake the world to both destroy the corrupt demon world and “fix” what he perceived to be a broken system that would never allow people to reach their true potential. Although Rosette was too late to stop Joshua from helping Aion with his powers, she did eventually catch up to him and shot off one of his horns. This finally made him lucid enough to realize how much damage he’d been causing with the horns, and he chose to rip out the other horn himself, restoring his sanity and unfreezing the orphanage that he’d trapped in time years ago.
Together Joshua, the Apostles, Rosette and her companions were able to stop Aion’s plans to destroy and remake the world, but Aion, Fiore and Chrono disappeared in the process—their fates are currently unknown. Joshua returned to the Magdalan Order with his sister and later joined them as an act of atonement, working with the Order to help the people affected by Aion’s plans. However, Joshua’s redemption had come at a terrible cost—Rosette had made a contract with Chrono to sacrifice her soul so that he could help her save Joshua, and she began to show the same signs of illness that Joshua had as a child, which he knows is a sign that her life has been shortened and is beginning to come to an end…
Sample Journal Entry:
Hi. Brother Joshua again. [He pauses, looking a little confused at the screen. He’s been around a week but he’s still a little uncomfortable with the communication device.] Isn’t it a little weird to record a message when nobody’s talking back to you?
Uh, anyway. I just found that room called the ‘CES.’ It’s amazing, isn’t it? I spent half the day there yesterday…it looked like a place I used to go to when I was a kid. [He smiles fondly, then reaches down to his feet.] So, I was thinking, if I’m lucky enough and the room takes me there again…
[He pulls up a crude, hand-made fishing pole.] Would anyone like to go fishing? It’s pretty relaxing, and I know that lake is good for it. I did it all the time with my sister and a friend. I know we can’t really take the fish out of the room, but it might be a good way to get to know each other, right?
[He shrugs, accidentally showing how shy he is about this by ducking his head down.] I mean, I know it might be kind of weird, but I thought, why not? And I know some people think it’s boring but I promise it won’t be. We can talk about stuff while we wait for the fish to bite, as long as we’re not too noisy. Besides, it’s a neat place, so I’d hate to keep it all to myself.
[He waves the fishing pole around a bit.] I made another one of these so, if you’re interested, let me know!
Sample RP:
He’d had a familiar nightmare midway through his first week on the Barge. The details changed often, but the general theme was always the same—venturing too close to the ocean only to be pulled under the waves and drowned. This time, he’d been called to the waves by a girl with short, dark hair, like she was some sort of siren, and once he was there he’d been grabbed by the ghosts of murdered women who dragged him down into the water, screaming about their horrifying deaths and begging for freedom from their fates. As he sank under the waves toward a dead world, he looked into its mouth and saw himself looking back at him, horns jutting out of his head and his mouth twisted into an inhuman grin.
That sight, mercifully, is what snapped him awake. For a few moments he stared at his ceiling, confused, wondering if somehow everything that had happened in the last several years was part of the nightmare and he was back in his bed at the orphanage, but once his mind cleared he remembered that this was just a copy of his former room, albeit a startlingly detailed one. He was a Warden after making a deal to help others in exchange for his sister’s life — at least, some of it.
He pushed to his feet and ignored the old blood stains on the floor by his bed and stumbled into his bathroom. His reflection cringed at him in the mirror. Between his bed-head, sweat-covered brow and dark circles under his eyes he looked like he’d just been dragged around by a bunch of screaming ghosts in reality. He thought about splashing water on his face before he realized that would do little to actually help his appearance and instead took a long shower, changed, and — after taking some time to thumb through one of his old dime novels to calm himself down — left his room to find some breakfast.
After he left his room it was easy to believe that every single person he passed on the Barge was staring at him, noting his dark circles and wet hair and rumpled clothes with contempt. He kept his head held as high as he could but stared straight ahead, refusing to look any of them in the eye for fear of his suspicions being confirmed. “Just get breakfast,” he told himself in his head. “That’s the first step. You don’t have to talk to anyone or even look at them.”
He went through the entire breakfast line with his gaze pointed straight down at his tray, barely acknowledging the inmates who served the food, and made a bee-line straight for a secluded corner of the cafeteria. What he didn’t expect was that an inmate would have the same idea and would have already settled at the table with their food.
For a moment he hesitated. He could go somewhere else. Maybe they wanted to be alone. But he remembered that one time, when he’d done the same thing at the Order, another member had approached him with a smile, without a hint in his expression that said anything about him being a freak or a “Sinner.” It was strange, but it was what he needed on that day.
Wasn’t he here to help? What help would he be if he ran from all of them?
He cleared his throat, smiled, and looked them in the eye, dark circles and all.
“Uh…hi. I’m Joshua. I don’t want to bother you, but would you mind if I sat with you?”
Special Notes: