Viewtiful Joe (character)
Encyclopedia
is a fictional character in the Viewtiful Joe
video game series. While normally a regular person named Joe, he obtains the ability to transform into Viewtiful Joe by entering a movie and gaining the ability from an older superhero named Captain Blue in order to save his girlfriend, Sylvia. He was created by the game's director, Hideki Kamiya
, and illustrated by Kumiko Suekane. In the video games he is voiced by Dee Bradley Baker
, while he is voiced by Jason Palmer and Tomokazu Seki
in the English and Japanese dubs of the anime series
respectively.
Joe has appeared in several video games, both in his series and in spin-off material. He first appeared in Viewtiful Joe, where he obtained his signature costume and abilities. This release was followed by two sequels titled Viewtiful Joe 2
and Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble
; in the first, Joe is teamed with Sylvia, who has become the superhero Sexy Sylvia. One more game was released in the series titled Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble
, a fighting spin-off game featuring Joe amongst other characters from the series. Joe has appeared in three other fighting games from Capcom
: Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
, and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
. Joe has received generally positive reception, with Nintendo Power
listing him as their 12th favourite hero, citing his catch phrase "Henshin-a-go-go, baby!" and his "inimitable style."
and Ultraman
. The protagonist of Viewtiful Joe was originally going to be a cute and innocent-looking character who had great physical prowess and super powers, but the developers found this boring and went with a cooler character. In its earliest stages of development, the character went under the working title "Red Hot Man", but the name was changed due to copyright conflicts with the American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers
. When designing the star of the video game Bayonetta
, Kamiya described two of his characters, Joe and Dante
from Devil May Cry
as a mischievous kid and a tough guy respectively, and that he wanted to create a different character from these archetypes.
for the Nintendo GameCube
, which was later ported to PlayStation 2
. Joe first gains his super hero persona when he is taken into the film world and is granted it by aged super hero Captain Blue. After battling several super villains, he discovers that Captain Blue is the true villain, and defeats him. He appears in the sequel, Viewtiful Joe 2
, along with his girlfriend, who now goes by the name Sexy Sylvia. Joe is voiced by Dee Bradley Baker
in both games. Joe also stars in the spin-off title Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble
and is a playable fighter in both his Viewtiful and normal "Movie Fan" forms in Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble
. Joe is a playable character in the 2008 Wii
and arcade fighting game Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, where his VFX Powers form some of his special moves. He also appears as a playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
.
, voiced by Tomokazu Seki
in Japanese and Jason Palmer
in English. The show loosely adapts the events of the first two games, with Joe battling to rescue Silvia from the Jadow organization, then later fighting to stop the Black Emperor and his Gedow soldiers. Unlike the games, Joe is accompanied in most episodes by Captain Blue Jr., an original character who acts as Joe's sidekick.
, Joe has received generally positive reception. Nintendo Power
listed Joe as their 12th favourite hero, saying that he has an inimitable style and introduced the memorable quote "Henshin-a-go-go, baby!". GameDaily
listed him as the ninth best Capcom
character, citing in part his carefree style. However, they also listed him as character that make people want to mute their games, commenting that while he was initially an interesting character due to being an "average joe" who turns into a superhero, his voice quickly became irritating. IGN suggested Joe as a likely choice for inclusion in Super Smash Bros. series, pointing out that many fans had similar sentiments.
Viewtiful Joe
is a video game developed by Capcom's Production Studio 4 for the Nintendo GameCube. It was originally released in 2003 as a part of the Capcom Five under director Hideki Kamiya and producer Atsushi Inaba. Viewtiful Joe was later ported to the Sony PlayStation 2 by the same design team under the...
video game series. While normally a regular person named Joe, he obtains the ability to transform into Viewtiful Joe by entering a movie and gaining the ability from an older superhero named Captain Blue in order to save his girlfriend, Sylvia. He was created by the game's director, Hideki Kamiya
Hideki Kamiya
is a video game designer formerly employed by Capcom and Clover Studio. He is currently working with former Clover Studio members at Platinum Games.- Career :...
, and illustrated by Kumiko Suekane. In the video games he is voiced by Dee Bradley Baker
Dee Bradley Baker
Dee Bradley Baker is an American voice actor. He is noted as his long-running-role as Klaus Heissler in American Dad! and other various characters including Squilliam Fancyson in the hit TV series SpongeBob SquarePants, Nightcrawler in X-Men: Legends and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance...
, while he is voiced by Jason Palmer and Tomokazu Seki
Tomokazu Seki
is a Japanese voice actor. He formerly worked for Haikyou and is now the head of Atomic Monkey.-About:Some of his most notable roles include Shinichi Chiaki from Nodame Cantabile, Gilgamesh from Fate/stay night, Rob Lucci from One Piece, Gundam characters Domon Kasshu and Yzak Joule, from G Gundam...
in the English and Japanese dubs of the anime series
Viewtiful Joe (anime)
is a Japanese anime series based on the video game series of the same name.The series follows a similar plot of the games, but there are many differences. The series, comprising fifty-one episodes, was shown every Saturday on the Japanese television station TV Tokyo from October 2, 2004 until...
respectively.
Joe has appeared in several video games, both in his series and in spin-off material. He first appeared in Viewtiful Joe, where he obtained his signature costume and abilities. This release was followed by two sequels titled Viewtiful Joe 2
Viewtiful Joe 2
Viewtiful Joe 2, known in Japan as , is a video game and sequel to Viewtiful Joe. The game was developed by Clover Studio and published by Capcom in 2004 for GameCube and PlayStation 2 . The game's story begins precisely where the original Viewtiful Joe left off, with the beginning of an alien...
and Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble
Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble
Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble!, known is Japan as , is a video game developed by Clover Studio and published by Capcom for the Nintendo DS. It was released in 2005 in Japan and North America. Capcom partnered with Nintendo to distribute the game in Europe and Australia in early 2006. Viewtiful Joe:...
; in the first, Joe is teamed with Sylvia, who has become the superhero Sexy Sylvia. One more game was released in the series titled Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble
Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble
Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble, known in Japan as , is a video game available for the Nintendo GameCube and the PlayStation Portable. It is a slightly mission-based fighting/beat 'em up somewhat similar in style to Super Smash Bros...
, a fighting spin-off game featuring Joe amongst other characters from the series. Joe has appeared in three other fighting games from Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
: Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
is a crossover fighting game developed by Capcom. It features Capcom's own characters and characters from American comic book company Marvel Comics. It is the fifth installment of the Marvel vs...
, and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
is a crossover fighting game developed by Capcom. It is an updated version of Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. After the events of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami disrupted the development schedule for downloadable content for the original game, the additional content was made into a...
. Joe has received generally positive reception, with Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
listing him as their 12th favourite hero, citing his catch phrase "Henshin-a-go-go, baby!" and his "inimitable style."
Concept and creation
Joe's character design, created by Kumiko Suekane, was inspired specifically by 1960s and 1970s Japanese-costumed tokusatsu television shows such as Kamen RiderKamen Rider
, is a weekly science fiction story created by Japanese manga artist Shotaro Ishinomori. It debuted as a tokusatsu television series on April 3, 1971 and ran until February 10, 1973, airing on the Mainichi Broadcasting System and NET TV . A manga adaptation was also featured in Shōnen Magazine...
and Ultraman
Ultraman
is Japanese television series that first aired in 1966. Ultraman, the first and best-known of the "Ultra-Crusaders," made his debut in the tokusatsu SF/kaiju/superhero TV series, , a follow-up to the television series Ultra Q...
. The protagonist of Viewtiful Joe was originally going to be a cute and innocent-looking character who had great physical prowess and super powers, but the developers found this boring and went with a cooler character. In its earliest stages of development, the character went under the working title "Red Hot Man", but the name was changed due to copyright conflicts with the American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
. When designing the star of the video game Bayonetta
Bayonetta
is a hack and slash action game for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 developed by Platinum Games in cooperation with publisher Sega. Set in a fictional city in Europe, the game centers on its title character, Bayonetta, who uses pistols and magical attacks to defeat enemies...
, Kamiya described two of his characters, Joe and Dante
Dante (Devil May Cry)
is the primary fictional protagonist of the Devil May Cry video game series published by Capcom. The character and Devil May Cry are one of Capcom's flagship game franchises, which has sold over nine million copies worldwide as of 2008 and currently spans four video games...
from Devil May Cry
Devil May Cry
is an action game developed and published by Capcom, released in 2001 for the PlayStation 2. Although it is the first game in the series of the same name, the events in Devil May Cry are second in the series storyline's chronological order, taking place after Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening and...
as a mischievous kid and a tough guy respectively, and that he wanted to create a different character from these archetypes.
Characteristics
Viewtiful Joe has the power to slow down the movie, speed it up, and to zoom into the picture, much like camera effects seen in movies. At first, he is only able to use his powers in movies; however in Viewtiful Joe 2, he demonstrated, when in the real world, that his V-Watch will respond when in front of an audience, enabling him to transform outside of the movie. His inability is again apparent in Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble! when he attempts to transform with nobody around; this is solved when Silvia points her special camcorder, The V-Cam, at Joe. Joe's arsenal also includes Voomerangs, a boomerang-like blade weapon thrown from Joe's helmet; and Shocking Pink, which is a short fused bomb. He also has control over the (Machine Six in the English anime) which can take the form of a jet ship, a digger and a large robot.Appearances
His first appearance was in the 2003 video game Viewtiful JoeViewtiful Joe
is a video game developed by Capcom's Production Studio 4 for the Nintendo GameCube. It was originally released in 2003 as a part of the Capcom Five under director Hideki Kamiya and producer Atsushi Inaba. Viewtiful Joe was later ported to the Sony PlayStation 2 by the same design team under the...
for the Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
, which was later ported to PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
. Joe first gains his super hero persona when he is taken into the film world and is granted it by aged super hero Captain Blue. After battling several super villains, he discovers that Captain Blue is the true villain, and defeats him. He appears in the sequel, Viewtiful Joe 2
Viewtiful Joe 2
Viewtiful Joe 2, known in Japan as , is a video game and sequel to Viewtiful Joe. The game was developed by Clover Studio and published by Capcom in 2004 for GameCube and PlayStation 2 . The game's story begins precisely where the original Viewtiful Joe left off, with the beginning of an alien...
, along with his girlfriend, who now goes by the name Sexy Sylvia. Joe is voiced by Dee Bradley Baker
Dee Bradley Baker
Dee Bradley Baker is an American voice actor. He is noted as his long-running-role as Klaus Heissler in American Dad! and other various characters including Squilliam Fancyson in the hit TV series SpongeBob SquarePants, Nightcrawler in X-Men: Legends and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance...
in both games. Joe also stars in the spin-off title Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble
Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble
Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble!, known is Japan as , is a video game developed by Clover Studio and published by Capcom for the Nintendo DS. It was released in 2005 in Japan and North America. Capcom partnered with Nintendo to distribute the game in Europe and Australia in early 2006. Viewtiful Joe:...
and is a playable fighter in both his Viewtiful and normal "Movie Fan" forms in Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble
Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble
Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble, known in Japan as , is a video game available for the Nintendo GameCube and the PlayStation Portable. It is a slightly mission-based fighting/beat 'em up somewhat similar in style to Super Smash Bros...
. Joe is a playable character in the 2008 Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
and arcade fighting game Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars, where his VFX Powers form some of his special moves. He also appears as a playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
is a crossover fighting game developed by Capcom. It features Capcom's own characters and characters from American comic book company Marvel Comics. It is the fifth installment of the Marvel vs...
and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
is a crossover fighting game developed by Capcom. It is an updated version of Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. After the events of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami disrupted the development schedule for downloadable content for the original game, the additional content was made into a...
.
In other media
Joe appears as the protagonist of the Viewtiful Joe anime seriesViewtiful Joe (anime)
is a Japanese anime series based on the video game series of the same name.The series follows a similar plot of the games, but there are many differences. The series, comprising fifty-one episodes, was shown every Saturday on the Japanese television station TV Tokyo from October 2, 2004 until...
, voiced by Tomokazu Seki
Tomokazu Seki
is a Japanese voice actor. He formerly worked for Haikyou and is now the head of Atomic Monkey.-About:Some of his most notable roles include Shinichi Chiaki from Nodame Cantabile, Gilgamesh from Fate/stay night, Rob Lucci from One Piece, Gundam characters Domon Kasshu and Yzak Joule, from G Gundam...
in Japanese and Jason Palmer
Jeff Nimoy
-Biography:Jeff Nimoy wrote, directed, and served as story editor for the English translation of the anime Digimon: Digital Monsters . He also served as an Executive Producer and writer on numerous other Fox Kids shows...
in English. The show loosely adapts the events of the first two games, with Joe battling to rescue Silvia from the Jadow organization, then later fighting to stop the Black Emperor and his Gedow soldiers. Unlike the games, Joe is accompanied in most episodes by Captain Blue Jr., an original character who acts as Joe's sidekick.
Reception
Since appearing in Viewtiful JoeViewtiful Joe
is a video game developed by Capcom's Production Studio 4 for the Nintendo GameCube. It was originally released in 2003 as a part of the Capcom Five under director Hideki Kamiya and producer Atsushi Inaba. Viewtiful Joe was later ported to the Sony PlayStation 2 by the same design team under the...
, Joe has received generally positive reception. Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
listed Joe as their 12th favourite hero, saying that he has an inimitable style and introduced the memorable quote "Henshin-a-go-go, baby!". GameDaily
GameDaily
GameDaily was a video game journalism website based in the United States. Launched in 1995 by entrepreneur Mark Friedler under the name Gigex and focused on free game demo downloads, The site changed its business model from a flat fee per download CDN distributed service network to an...
listed him as the ninth best Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
character, citing in part his carefree style. However, they also listed him as character that make people want to mute their games, commenting that while he was initially an interesting character due to being an "average joe" who turns into a superhero, his voice quickly became irritating. IGN suggested Joe as a likely choice for inclusion in Super Smash Bros. series, pointing out that many fans had similar sentiments.