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A strong woman and Resistance fighter who is currently trapped in the castle. Her relationship with Dan is complicated by the fact that she thinks he’s dead.
- ―Josie's Official Game Bio
Josie is the deuteragonist in the series, and the main game. She is a protective fighter and concerned citizen. She became Dan's love interest in Stage 2 after they fought and destroyed a giant robot together, which had threatened the Inn she watches over as its caretaker, and the two eventually become a couple. She is also one of the starter characters in the game.
Halfway through the series, a series of events shape Josie, whether it be the consequences of Stage 2 catching up with her, giving her a fear of death, or being left by Dan for another person, making her sad and change her appearance, or being kidnapped by the Dark Master for the Advisor's malicious plan, putting her in danger. Her relationship is complicated due to the fact that she thinks Dan is dead from Stage 7. She then wants to discover more after her boyfriend's sudden revival, eventually learning the truth about her world. This leads to her confronting Dan and talking it out with him.
Josie is portrayed as a self-sufficient action girl, experienced in using firearms; throwing weapons, and various martial arts. Unlike Dan, Josie's personality changed over the course of the story. A main theme involved her coming to terms with her depression, and its escalation over the course of the series as she dealt with many setbacks in her chaotic life. However, she is overall determined and optimistic, this was first demonstrated when she bonded with Dan, her future boyfriend, over fighting the giant robot which threatened the Inn as well as the Ninja Rebels of the Resistance (before she joined them), and soon fell in love with the feisty protagonist.
Appearance[]
Josie is shown in the series to own at least two sets of clothes. The first was a yellow t-shirt with blue jeans and an orange waistband which she wore from Stage 2 all the way to Stage 6. After she believed Dan dumped her for Ana, Josie switched to a black athletic outfit with a pink waistband, and remained in that outfit throughout the series. In the game, we can see that Dan's ultimate attacks have a light blue aura. In comparison, Josie has a red aura in her ultimate attacks. She is always seen wearing white shoes.
Also, Josie had long, dark brown hair when she first made her entrance into the series. But when she believed Dan dumped her later on, she cut her hair as a symbolic means of shedding her past, and has remained with her current hair length ever since.
History[]
Episode appearances[]
Personality[]
Josie can be seen as a self-dependent woman who is curious about the world around her and how it functions. She is able to think and function almost like a real-person despite being an NPC. She fights alongside her boyfriend Dan, and the Ninja Rebels of the Resistance on occasion, to rebel against the corrupt forces of the King. As the series goes on, she is determined to further her relationship with Dan, though his erratic behavior, and seeming interest in Ana, has frustrated Josie’s efforts from time to time.
Josie is a dynamic character, showcasing true development as the stages go on, and has a recurring theme of coming to terms with her depression and fears, all of which she overcomes to save herself, her loved ones; and the innocent who cannot fend for themselves. Notably, Josie is a sapient being within her own world (both within the web series and video game incarnations). This means she sees her world the same way we see our own as being real. However, this leads to complications when her boyfriend has a tendency to treat life as if it were a game of sorts, a spoof on how real life players sometimes commit violent/improper behavior within video games for personal amusement.
Regardless, life doesn’t keep her down for long, and she always seems to bounce back when misfortune strikes. Whether it be the King’s forces, morally ambiguous Ninja Rebels of the Resistance, or her boyfriend Dan being himself, she grits through her problems with determination and an iron will.
Trivia[]
- Josie is the second major character introduced in the series.
- Josie's playable character sprites have been greatly improved, and are much different than her web series/cutscene sprites.
- When Josie is the selected character in the game, most of the scenes play out as normal except with a lot of differences. When she arrives up on the balcony of the King's penthouse, she notices Dan all the way on the other side. She rushes over past off the fighting guards and rebel ninjas, but notices a dead Bruiser at the end. She then finds him holding a gun at the Advisor, who held the Bald Geezer hostage, but they are then killed by the King Resistance. The King Resistance then decides to fight Josie with his giant robot he'd been hiding. When defeated, the King Resistance gives out the last laugh, and blows up the castle with bombs planted in the Sewers, killing them both. Josie is then teleported back to the Prologue, back to where she is asked by the Villager what to do. She then easily beats up two Resistance members, chasing them off, and saving the Village. As such, Dan presumably saved the Villagers without the Geezers there to blow up the wall.
- When Josie took her pregnancy test in Stage 6, the baby appeared to be somewhere around 4-12 weeks old due to the formation of its head and body. While Stage 4 takes place in the same time period as the first three - a single day - it’s unknown exactly how much time had passed from Stage 5 and on, leaving it up to speculation how old Josie and Dan’s baby is at that point.
- Josie’s behavior which took place after Dan's "death" in Stage 7 is reminiscent of PTSD, a real life psychiatric disorder. She showed signs of this as early as Stage 3, but it triggered in full force when she witnessed someone she cared about seemingly passing away.
- On a side note, Josie is also hinted to have depression, considering the traumatic memory from Stage 3 took a turn for the worse during Stage 7. It’s notable that people who are depressed in real life are sometimes good at masking their symptoms, which makes it difficult on occasion to properly diagnose them. In her case, she was shown to be in love with Dan - who served as an emotional crutch for her mental well being and helped her cope with her depression - which is why she was reduced to an almost lifeless state when she thought he died in Stage 7.
- Fortunately, Josie seemed to also develop coping mechanisms which helped gain some confidence, many of which were based on real life coping mechanisms people suffering from depression sometimes use to keep themselves composed in life:
- Josie surrounded herself with loved ones who could provide her the support she needed to get through traumatic issues (Dan).
- Josie changed her appearance in order to shed her troubled past (in Stage 6), and kept herself busy with projects to cope with her new reality (in that same stage).
- Fortunately, Josie seemed to also develop coping mechanisms which helped gain some confidence, many of which were based on real life coping mechanisms people suffering from depression sometimes use to keep themselves composed in life:
- Finally, when Josie broke under distress and anxiety, she sought out help from those who could provide the mental support she needed. Seeking aid is very important for those who are under distress, and she was wise to enlist help from trained individuals such as therapists, rather than untrained individuals who may not help the situation or even make things worse. Though in this case, it was thanks to the Light Master that she managed to liven up once more, due to a humorous third wall take on “letting your problems go” (or in this case, having it literally float away into the sky).
- On a side note, Josie is also hinted to have depression, considering the traumatic memory from Stage 3 took a turn for the worse during Stage 7. It’s notable that people who are depressed in real life are sometimes good at masking their symptoms, which makes it difficult on occasion to properly diagnose them. In her case, she was shown to be in love with Dan - who served as an emotional crutch for her mental well being and helped her cope with her depression - which is why she was reduced to an almost lifeless state when she thought he died in Stage 7.
- Josie's catchphrase is "We can do it!." This is because the achievement you receive when finishing the whole game with Josie only is named "We can do it!" and one of the shirts on the Halfbrick clothing store shows Josie in a drawing similar to the World War II poster "Rosie the Riveter" (shown in the gallery), saying "We can do it!"
- Josie has a theme song exclusive within the series and the game album soundtrack named "Josie's Theme."
- The song played for a short moment after Dan and her were murdered by King Resistance in Stage Eight. Its melancholic theme is a reference to the troubled times she faced during the entirety of the series, but the light toned pitch at various points of the song is also a reference to her optimism and determination.
- This theme does not play in-game, but this is played when the Bald Geezer is the only one left alive.
- Despite being called "Josie's Theme", the song doesn't play in any of Josie's cutscenes in the series or game. The song only plays in Stage 8 and in Stage 12, it's quite argued that this song wasn't made for her.
- In the Halfbrick game Battle Racing Stars, Josie’s signature ranged weapon is hinted to be Throwing Knives. While she was never seen wielding them in the web series, it’s a counterpart to the Shuriken, Dan’s signature ranged weapon (which he used in Stage 1and Stage 8).
- In the "Colossatron's Menace," Josie speaks full English (or any language depending on the player's selection) with the Vendor, while Dan speaks in a simple, "Pli pli pli!"
- The descriptions for her costume in Jetpack Joyride reference her personality as an independent action girl.
- Similar to the official game of the Dan The Man series, the knives in Battle Racing Stars can be upgraded to appear like the maximum upgraded version in the game, albeit the knives explode instead of igniting enemies on fire (and does so at an earlier level; the maxed out version only makes the explosions bigger).
- Josie was not always a playable character in early versions; she was not added until v.1.0.3.
- Playing as Josie in the Fright Zone campaign will cause her to appear immediately after the "Dan and Barry" part in the cutscene. The applies to the Custom Character.
- Josie is never seen again after beating the game's main story unless you select her if you play the DLC's
Voice Clips[]
- Main article: Josie/Voice Clips
Gallery
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