Josef (Final Fantasy II)

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

Story
Originally a soldier for the Palamecian Empire, he escapes during his youth to the town of Salamand with a nameless young woman who becomes his wife. There, he has a daughter named Nelly. Ever the explorer and the handyman, he builds an ice sled to take advantage of the snow fields north of Salamand. After the death of his wife, Josef retires his sled in the nearby Semitt Falls. Though the reasons for his fleeing the empire are unknown, his view of it and its citizens is quite sour.

When Firion and his allies arrive, Josef is quite cold to them. It is not until Firion and the others rescue the men of Salamand and Nelly from slavery in the Semite Cave that Josef becomes helpful. When Firion learns that 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 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 can't 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.

In death, Josef found himself in the afterlife, confronted by a hideous zombie-version of Borghen. Scott and Minwu, who had also died, assisted 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 Palamecia's light half, who informs them that they are actually in Heaven. The Light Emperor 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 appeared, and warned them not to be fooled, for the Light Emperor is just as evil as the Dark Emperor. Josef, along with Minwu, Ricard, and Scott, fought and defeated the Light Emperor.

Other Appearances
Josef's story is told to Dagger in Final Fantasy IX by the Eidolon Ramuh.