Josef (Final Fantasy II)

Josef is a playable character from Final Fantasy II. He joins the party soon after they arrive at Salamand.

Appearance
Josef is a tall, physically imposing man who sports a brown mustache and a bald head. He wears a dark green poncho held on his shoulders by a metal neckpiece with red spikes on the back and purple clothing underneath. Josef also carries a large curved sword on his back in a scabbard despite fighting unarmed. His NES sprites show him with brown clothing and a blue cape and he is balding, rather than completely bald as he appears in every other portrayal.

Story
Originally a soldier for the Palamecian Empire, he escaped during his youth to the town of Salamand with a nameless young woman who later became his wife. They had a daughter named Nelly. Ever the explorer and the handyman, Josef built a snow craft to take advantage of the snowfields north of Salamand and retired his sled in the nearby Semitt Falls. Though the reasons for him fleeing the empire are unknown, his opinion of it and its citizens is sour.

When Firion and his allies arrive, Josef is cold towards them. After Firion and the others rescue the men of Salamand and Nelly from slavery in the Semitt Falls, Josef becomes helpful, as he shares the party his vast knowledge over certain matters. When Firion learns the Goddess's Bell is in the snow cave north of Salamand, Josef tells him of his old ice sled. He accompanies them to retrieve the sled from the ice cave, where they also recover the Goddess's Bell. They are attacked by Borghen, whom the heroes defeat. However, as he dies, Borghen triggers a trap mechanism, sending a boulder falling towards the party. Josef blocks the boulder but cannot hold it for long. He tells Firion, Maria and Guy to get out of the way and, as they step away, Josef runs out of strength and is crushed by the boulder.

Josef finds himself in the afterlife, confronted by a zombie version of Borghen. Scott and Minwu, who have also died, assist him in defeating the zombie. They find the spirit of Ricard, who joins them. At the end of their journey through the afterlife they believe to be Hell, they are confronted by the Emperor's light half, who explains that they are in Heaven. The Emperor's light side had brought them to him to ask for their forgiveness for his dark half's actions. The subconscious souls of the heroes' still-living friends and family appear and warn them not to be fooled, for the Light Emperor is as evil as the Emperor's dark side. Josef, Minwu, Ricard and Scott, fight and defeat the Light Emperor. After his defeat, the fallen heroes finally rest in peace.

Gameplay
Josef has high Strength, Agility, and Stamina, as well as slightly higher skill fighting unarmed, which makes him the perfect person to turn into a Monk. His HP will grow quickly and his unarmed skills make him a powerful physical attacker. His magic stats are low. If the player plans to use Josef in Soul of Rebirth, giving him support spells like Protect and Shell is advisable, as they will not be affected by his low Spirit.

His ultimate weapon in the Arcane Labyrinth is the Dragon Claws. Despite his proficiency with unarmed fighting, the Dragon Claws are classified as a dagger, so the player must train Josef with daggers to get proper use out of them. Josef is the only character to have a unique armor, the Bracers, which serves as an alternative to an ultimate weapon for him in Soul of Rebirth.

Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade
|-|Ability Cards=


 * -|Legend Cards=

Final Fantasy Record Keeper


Josef appears as a recruitable character in Final Fantasy Record Keeper. He is unlocked in Snow Cavern on Classic in the storyline of Final Fantasy II as the First Time Reward.


 * Stats

Josef can use the Combat school of Physical skillset up to rarity rank 5 and the Monk school of Other skillset up to rarity rank 5.
 * Abilities

His initial Soul Break is Fists of Fury, which at the expense of one Soul Gauge segment deals physical damage to one target. The fist Giant's Gloves (II) can grant Josef access to Noble Sacrifice, which at the expense of one Soul Gauge segment kills himself to significantly raise remaining allies' Attack.

Josef can equip the following weapon types: axes, daggers, fists, and hammers. The fist Giant's Gloves (II) allows Josef access to Noble Sacrifice.
 * Equipment

He can equip the following armor types: bracers, hats, light armor, and robes.

He can equip accessories.


 * Gallery

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Josef appears in Final Fantasy Trading Card Game with his Yoshitaka Amano artwork and artwork from Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls. His cards are ice-elemental.

Trivia

 * Josef's story is told to Garnet Til Alexandros XVII in Final Fantasy IX by the eidolon Ramuh.
 * Josef was completely cut out in the Final Fantasy II novelization Final Fantasy II Muma no Meikyū.
 * Josef has many similarities to Yang Fang Leiden in Final Fantasy IV. Josef has at the start, a preferred weapon level for unarmed and same with Yang. They both increase in attack power as level increases (Josef's unarmed weapon level and Yang's level respectively). They both have a daughter: Nelly and Ursula respectively, and Josef's exclusive weapon in the PSP and iOS versions of Final Fantasy II is Dragon Claws (even though it's a knife in the game), and Yang has claws for preferred weapons.

Josef Josef Josef pt-br:Josef