Josef (Final Fantasy II)

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

Story
Originally a soldier for the Palamecian Empire, he escaped during his youth to the town of Salamand with a nameless young woman who becomes his wife. There, he had a daughter named Nelly. Ever the explorer and the handyman, he built a snow craft to take advantage of the snow fields north of Salamand. Sometime later, Josef retired his sled in the nearby Semitt Falls. Though the reasons for his fleeing the empire are unknown, his view of it and its citizens are quite sour. When Firion and his allies arrive, Josef is initially cold towards them. It is not until Firion and the others rescue the men of Salamand and Nelly from slavery in the Semitt Falls that Josef becomes helpful. 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 recover the sled, to the ice fields, and finally to the ice cave, where they eventually recover the Goddess's Bell. On their way out, they are attacked by Borghen. The heroes defeat him, but as he dies, he triggers a trap mechanism, causing a boulder to come falling toward 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 get clear, Josef runs out of strength and is crushed by the boulder but, in the process, he is able to save Firion, Maria, and Guy.

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

Stats and Traits
Josef has high Strength 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. However, his magic stats are low. He is only in the party for a short time so the player may wish to skip teaching him any spells and training up his magic stats, unless they plan to play Soul of Rebirth.

Trivia

 * Josef's story is told to Garnet til Alexandros XVII in Final Fantasy IX by the Eidolon Ramuh.
 * Josef has the distinctive honor of being the first playable character to die in the Final Fantasy series.
 * Josef's name comes from the eastern European version of the name and is pronounced "Yo-sef".
 * Josef was completely cut out in the Final Fantasy II novelization Final Fantasy II Muma no Meikyū.

Josef Josef