List of Viewtiful Joe characters

The characters of Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble.

This is a list of characters featured in the Capcom video game series Viewtiful Joe and its respective anime series. The series centers around its namesake and protagonist Joe, an action cinema fan who is pulled into the world of films, Movieland, where he gains a special V-Watch and the power to transform into the superhero identity dubbed Viewtiful Joe. The plot of the franchise and anime series canon mostly consists of the first two releases. The first game, Viewtiful Joe, is about Joe's attempt to rescue his girlfriend Silvia from the hands of an evil syndicate known as Jadow, while Viewtiful Joe 2 is about Joe and Silvia's mission to save Movieland from the equally threatening organization called Gedow. The remaining titles Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble and Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble! act as sidestories.

Characters in the series were designed and illustrated by Kumiko Suekane. The concept for the character Viewtiful Joe was given to Suekane by series producer Atsushi Inaba, who denotes himself as fan of American comic books. After giving Suekane a "rough mental image" of Joe, Inaba was relayed with concepts for the rest of the cast.^[1] The designs are inspired by Japanese tokusatsu television programs about costumed superheroes, which were popularized in 1960s and 1970s.^[2][3] Despite a somewhat negative reception from child focus groups regarding the characters' appearances and personalities, Hideki Kamiya, the director of the first game, chose to keep the ideas.^[4]

Main characters

Viewtiful Joe

Main article: Viewtiful Joe (character)

Sexy Silvia

Voiced by: Christina Puccelli (games), Natsuko Kuwatani (Japanese), Philece Sampler (English anime)

Sexy Silvia (セクシー シルヴィア, Sekushi Shiruvia^?) is Joe's girlfriend and the daughter of Captain Blue. After being kidnapped by her father to be used as a sacrifice in Viewtiful Joe, she is rescued by Joe, and reunites with a reconciled Captain Blue. She convinces Blue to give her a V-Watch of her own, allowing her to fight alongside Joe as Sexy Silvia.^[5] She continues to play both supporting and playable roles in subsequent games. She distinguishes herself from Joe by using two guns to fight, and has an overall different moveset. Silvia has the Replay VFX action, which replays an action three times, allowing three times the damage when timed correctly. Silvia's transformation phrase is the same as Joe's. She can't see anything without her glasses. She makes a cameo in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars and Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds in one of Viewtiful Joe's hyper combos. In the TV series, when she was kidnapped and held in the castle tower prison, instead of playing the damsel in distress she took on a more domineering role, usually forcing the minions to get her what ever she wanted.

Goldie is Silvia's twin sister, and they are completely identical in every way except for the fact that Silvia wears glasses. She is only ever mentioned in the first game, and then only in the extra stories as a stand in for Silvia. She appears in Silvia's story and Alastor's story, being kidnapped by Blue in both. In the latter, however, she ends up becoming a romantic interest for Alastor.

Captain Blue

Voiced by: Gregg Berger (games), Banjou Ginga (Japanese), Bob Papenbrook from ep. 1-21 George C. Cole in ep. 23 - (English anime)

Captain Blue (キャプテン ブルー, Kyaputen Buru^?) is a superhero featured primarily in movies of the Viewtiful Joe universe. Originally known as Director Blue, the father of Silvia, he was renowned for directing superhero movies, especially those of the action hero Captain Blue. Eventually the fans moved on, and Captain Blue was forgotten, though Director Blue was inexplicably drawn to Movieland to have a chance at being a hero. However, in the process, Blue began to forget all about his family, and, in time, succumbed to the growing darkness in his soul, wanting revenge on the audience that spurned him.^[6]

At the start of the series, he founds the evil Jadow organization, leading it in the background as its Almighty Leader, in order to escape Movieland and dominate the real world. In order to do so, he kidnaps Silvia to use as a sacrifice, and posing as a good guy, gives Joe his V-Watch. After being defeated in his giant robot King Blue, he comes to his senses, reunites with Silvia, and returns to being a director and actor in subsequent games.

Ivory is Blue's wife. She has only appeared in Blue's story in the first game as a replacement for Silvia. Ivory has short brown hair and wears a pink outfit. In Blue's story, Ivory is captured by King Blue, leading Captain Blue into battle with his own dark counterpart.

Blade Master Alastor

Voiced by: Mikey Kelley (games), Shinichiro Miki (Japanese), Ross Lawrence (English anime)

Blade Master Alastor (電刃魔神 アラストル, Den ha Majin Arasutoru^?) is a lightning demon from Movieland's underworld. He appears as a recurring boss and sometimes as a playable character. He is also known as The Midnight Thunderboy, Stylish Alastor, simply Alastor and occasionally by the nickname Al. Though he is originally allied with Jadow, Alastor doesn't give much thought about his position, but instead longs to seek out the ultimate battle.^[7] He sees himself as the arch-rival of Joe, and always appears with the intent to defeat him.

Alastor is the manifested spirit that animated the Alastor sword in Devil May Cry, another video game directed by Hideki Kamiya. Many of his moves are taken from the game, and the sword and lightning he uses look very similar. When Dante fights Alastor in the PlayStation 2 version of Viewtiful Joe, Alastor accuses Dante of treating him badly and forgetting about him. Dante responds by saying Alastor "really knows how to hold a grudge."

In all media, he mainly appears in Blade Master form as a humanoid figure in purple spandex and light body armor. He wears a helmet with a pair of purple ibex horns, and has wings and a pointed tail. In Viewtiful Joe and Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble, he also appears in an un-Henshined form, where he has pointed ears and spiked black hair, and wears a black suit with a white stole embroidered with winged skulls. In Viewtiful Joe 2, he is transformed by the Black Film into a more bestial demon form called Underworld Emperor Alastor who says to Joe and Sylvia "I am Alastor, the weak shall pierce their hearts and swear eternal loyalty to me!" (a minor variation of the words spoken before he impaled Dante in Devil May Cry).

Jet Black

Voiced by: Keith Szarabajka (games), Juurouta Kosugi (anime)

Jet Black (ジェットブラック, Jietto Burakku^?) is Joe's father and a movie theater owner. It is conjectured that his last name (and thus also the last name of his wife and children) is Black, based on the name of one of his henshin forms, Dark Emperor Jet Black. It is also possible that it could simply be part of the title.

Jet originally helped Blue achieve his initial level of fame by allowing Blue's movies to be shown in his theater. During his work, he met the actress Junko, and the two were soon wed and had their first child, Joe. He wanted to show his son a true hero, and after finding the Black Film, a cursed piece of celluloid, his wife soon died in a car accident after giving birth to Jasmine. Jet's ideals were twisted into something else entirely. Jet found himself obsessed with finding the seven Rainbow Oscars, which would allow him to control the fate of Movie World, but more importantly, would make him the ultimate hero for his son. In Viewtiful Joe 2, he obtains a Black V-Watch, and forms Gedow as the Black Emperor to attack Movie World after King Blue's defeat. Joe and Silvia eventually beat him, and Jet reverts back to normal.

Jet's henshin costume is a modified Samurai-style armor, with a crescent on the helmet and all black, he changes into this form by saying "Tenshin" (Roughly Translated as "Divine Will"). In the final battle, he changes his costume to all-white instead (due to using the Rainbow Oscars). The colors associated with Jet seem to be black and white.

In the anime, Jet assists Joe, Silvia, and Junior as in the game, but the Rainbow Oscars are not present. Instead, the Black Emperor simply attempts to take over Movieland by spreading darkness and turning movies into "Black Films".

Minor characters

Captain Blue Jr.

Voiced by: Tara Strong (games), Makoto Tsumura (Japanese), Katie Leigh (English anime)

Captain Blue Jr. (キャプテン ブルー ジュニア, Kyaputen Buru Junia^?) is a character who originated in the Viewtiful Joe anime. He was Captain Blue's successor until Joe comes along, and because Joe is the one who receives Blue's V-Watch, he is very jealous of Joe. Despite his jealousy, Junior decides to be Joe's sidekick. Later, Junior is offered a V-Watch but refuses, so Blue just gave Junior a small case that contains two V-Yoyos that allow him to transform. Blue Jr.'s transformation line is "Henshin-a-Yo-Yo, Baby!!" Captain Blue Jr. appeared in a game for the very first time in Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble. He uses many yo-yo based attacks. Appropriately, his transformation phrase is "Henshin a Yo-Yo Ball Baby!".

Sprocket

Voiced by: Vanessa Marshall (games), Mayumi Asano (Japanese), Wendee Lee (English anime)

Sprocket (スプロケット, Supuroketto^?) was made specifically for the anime, and has only appeared in one game, Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble. In the anime, she is a voluptous villain who is actually from the real world, antagonizing the main cast up until the end of the series. In Red Hot Rumble, Sprocket joins the ranks among the games' heroes as Captain Blue's assistant.

Jadow

Jadow is the sinister organization that Joe initially fights in the first game, and in the anime series. The members also appear as playable characters and bosses in Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble. Their forces are many and their influence is wide. They are secretly led by Blue, but their members are made up of:

• Inferno Lord Fire Leo (灼熱王 ファイアー レオ, Shakunetsu Ou Faia Reo^?)

Voiced by: Kevin Michael Richardson (games), Youji Ueda (Japanese), Udel R. Deet (English anime)

The lion-like member who fights using both flames and claws.

• Dark Fiend Charles the Third (翼翔怪人 チャールズIII世, Yokushō Kaijin Charuzu III sei^?)

Voiced by: Roger Rose (games), Mitsuru Ogata (Japanese), Terrence Stone (English anime)

An arrogant and snobbish bat-like agent.

• Iron Ogre Hulk Davidson (剛力怪人 ハルク ダビットソン, Gouriki Kaijin Haruku Dabittoson^?)

Voiced by: Kevin Michael Richardson (games), Akimitsu Takase (Japanese), Joe Cooker (English anime)

Hulk Davidson is a rhinoceros-like agent who was responsible for Captain Blue's scar^[8]

• Aquatic Terror Gran Bruce (頬白怪人 グラン ブルース, Hoojiro Kaijin Guran Burusu^?)

Voiced by: Roger Rose (games), Shouto Kashii (Japanese), Ross Lawrence (English anime)

A shark-like agent with an Australian accent, who is lower on the intelligence scale than most of the other Jadow.

• Biankies: The foot soldiers of Jadow. They attack in swarms.
  • Joker (voiced by Fred Tatasciore in "Red Hot Rumble"): An elite Bianky.
  • Bianco Billy: A cowboy-themed Bianky.
  • Rosetta: A female Bianky.
  • Verdy: A helicopter-themed Bianky.
  • Jet Verdy: A jet pack-wearing Bianky.
  • Cromarty: The Cromarties are elite Biankies.
    • Cromarty-Grenade: A type of Cromarty.
    • Cromarty-Bazooka: A type of Cromarty.
    • Cromarty-Surfer:
  • Bianky Prima: A ballerina-themed Bianky.
  • Bianky Boxer: A football-themed Bianky.
  • Red Leader: A sword-wielding Bianky.

Gedow

Gedow is the invasion force controlled by the Black Emperor in Viewtiful Joe 2. Their units are surprisingly similar to the Jadow's. Besides the Black Emperor, Gedow consists of:

• Mad Scientist Dr. Cranken (voiced by Peter Renaday in the video game): The Emperor's squid-like right-hand man who creates much of Gedow's weaponry and minions. Other members include:

• Drill Sergeant Big John (voiced by Michael Gough in the video game): A large Tyrannosaurus rex, clad in soldier helmet, vest, and with a walkie-talkie, who continuously stalks Joe throughout the game.

• Ancient Guardian Flinty Stone (voiced by Roger Rose in the video game): A large golem who is a narcoleptic.

• Cyber Phantom Cameo Leon (voiced by Dave Wittenberg in the video game): A chameleon created by Dr. Cranken that prides himself in turning invisible, (with a resemblance to Sting Chameleon from Mega Man X) yet never knows when to stop talking.

• Blizzard Hazard Frost Tiger (voiced by Fred Tatasciore in the video game): A white tiger who is the brother of Fire Leo. He wishes to test Joe's heroism.

• Serial Killer Android Miss Bloody Rachel (暗躍機人 ブラッディ レイチェル, Anyaku ki Nin Buraddei Reichieru^?) (voiced by Vanessa Marshall): Miss Bloody Rachel is an android created by Dr. Cranken for Gedow from all the combat data collected from Joe and Silvia's fights. She initially appears shortly after Frost Tiger falls, disguised as Silvia, allowing her to steal Joe's rainbow oscars. As she battles Joe and Silvia, she transforms into other members of Gedow, but is unable to win. Joe tells her that she has no heart, and Rachel begins to question her existence, ultimately leading her to suffer a mental breakdown. She eventually learns what it means to fight with heart, but Dr. Cranken attempts to destroy his failed creation, though she is easily repaired. Rachel, like many other characters, appears in Red Hot Rumble as a playable character. During the storyline mode, she acts as an assistant to Director Blue alongside Sprocket, but is eventually possessed by the ghost Tsukumo and is used to fight Joe and the others. Eventually subdued, Tsukumo leaves Rachel and she returns to normal. Over the course of the game, Rachel expresses interest in various "human" things, such as the idea of a lone hero against an army.

• Flaties: They are the foot soldiers to Gedow.

Jasmine

Voiced by: Hynden Walch

Jasmine is Joe's younger sister and an aspiring actress. In Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble!, she finally lands her big break when she is cast as the leading lady in Captain Blue's newest movie.^[9] However, when the movie's footage is stolen by the evil Madow henchmen, she teams up with Joe and Silvia to retrieve it and defeat the Madow. After learning the true value of justice at the end of the game, she is able to transform into a superheroine.^[10]

Junko

Voiced by: Hynden Walch

Junko was Jet's wife and an award winning actress. She received great acclaim while alive through her roles as the heroine in Blue's movies. However, her career eventually hit rock bottom, and she found it difficult to get back into the limelight. One night on the way to an audition, she was caught in a car crash and was severely injured.^[11] Despite the hospital's best efforts, Junko died from her injuries. In Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble!, she comes back to life for a single day and takes on the guise of Queen Heinderella to act as a villain, so she can see how strong her children have grown up to be. After being defeated, she reveals herself, and says goodbye for one last time.

Madow

Madow is a group created by Queen Heinderella as a sort of test for Joe and Jasmine in Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble!.^[12] Their main soldiers are the Clownies, while their top subordinates are fellow movie heroes, corrupted to serve Madow after being drained of their "hero-ness", the very essence of one's heroic personality. It's later revealed that they join Madow willingly as part of Junko's test for her kids. The members include:

• Gadget-Cop:
• Killer Hands:
• Vanilla: A tiny woman who is corrupted by Queen Heinderella after trying to help Joe and Jasmine
• Meta Rangers:

Tsukumo

Tsukumo is a ghost-like creature who only appears in Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble, haunting the movie set where Blue is filming his new movie. At first, his presence goes unnoticed, but, over the course of the game's Story Mode, he silently arranges to sabotage the picture by stealing and replacing props and putting the crew in increasingly dangerous situations. He is enraged that all the mechanical cameras, microphones, and other movie-making devices are never given an actual role in the very movies they help to make. After being defeated, Joe explains that they play an integral part in the process, so he leaves happily. Blue, meanwhile, decides to make Tsukumo the star of his picture, much to everyone's surprise.

Dante

Voiced by: Drew Coombs

Dante is the protagonist of Devil May Cry who appears as an unlockable character in the PlayStation 2 version of Viewtiful Joe and the PSP version of Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble. In Viewtiful Joe, he goes to rescue Trish from Captain Blue, and during the story almost all the dialogue is spoken in reverse, with the exception of Dante's catchphrase, "Devil May Cry's a rockin' baby, yeah!", a possible reference to Austin Powers. While his 'Viewtiful' form shows him wearing his signature red jacket, in his regular form he just wears a pair of black boxers.

References

1. ^ Temperton, James (April 14, 2003). "C3 Exclusive Interview - Atsushi Inaba". Cubed3.com. http://www.cubed3.com/news/411/. Retrieved 2009-10-11. 
2. ^ "Exclusive: Inter-Viewtiful Joe! Interview, screens, movies!". Computer and Video Games. June 27, 2003. http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=93136&vid=enable&vid=disable. Retrieved 2009-10-11. 
3. ^ IGN staff (October 3, 2003). "Viewtiful Joe's Atsushi Inaba". IGN. http://cube.ign.com/articles/452/452923p1.html. Retrieved 2009-10-11. 
4. ^ Mielke, James (August 18, 2006). "The Kamiya Touch: An Interview with Clover's Hideki Kamiya". 1UP.com. http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=2&cId=3152880. Retrieved 2009-10-12. 
5. ^ Capcom Production Studio 4. Viewtiful Joe. (Capcom). Nintendo GameCube. (2003-06-26) "Silvia: Look at it this way: Ever since coming to this world, I haven’t done anything! Come on, there might be a “hero” inside of me, too! So, Daddy, can I have a V-Watch? Please? You can do this, right? You’re the big director!"
6. ^ Capcom Production Studio 4. Viewtiful Joe. (Capcom). Nintendo GameCube. (2003-06-26) "Captain Blue: Thank you, Joe. Thank you for stopping me. Twenty years ago, I was hailed as the most revolutionary movie maker of my time, but I was just a fad and I was soon forgotten. All I ever wanted to do was to create heroes, true heroes the world needed. And as if to answer my prayers, I was sucked into one of my films, and I was given the opportunity to live as a hero. I lost touch with reality. I forgot about my wife and daughter. I was too busy living out my fantasy. But little by little, the seed of evil had begun to sprout in my heart."
7. ^ Capcom Production Studio 4. Viewtiful Joe. (Capcom). Nintendo GameCube. (2003-06-26) "Alastor: The key to our success lies in the DNA of the Creator. As long as we have that DNA in our possession, we will be able to come and go at will in the world of humans, which is why we need the girl. Joe: The girl...? You mean Silvia! Alastor: Well, that seems to be the general idea. But hey, I don’t give a rip about all that! The only thing I’m interested in is testing my own strength. You’ve been making waves in our world, but you should realize you’re just a sidekick! Let’s see who’s the strongest, once and for all!"
8. ^ Capcom Production Studio 4. Viewtiful Joe. (Capcom). Nintendo GameCube. (2003-06-26) "Hulk Davidson: You know who I am? You know who I am? I’m the one who put that scar on Captain Blue’s face! You’ll be lucky if you get away with your life, boy!"
9. ^ Clover Studio. Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble!. (Capcom). Nintendo DS. (2005-09-02) "Blue: We are here at the Movie Studio to film my latest, and greatest, movie. Jasmine: And I am making my long awaited debut as an actress. I have a proud tradition of heroines to maintain."
10. ^ Clover Studio. Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble!. (Capcom). Nintendo DS. (2005-09-02) "Blue: That light... it is the light of pure hero-ness! You have the power as well, child. You too can fight for justice and vanquish evil! When the V-Watch starts to glow... Say the word... Jasmine: Junshin-a-go-go, baby!"
11. ^ Clover Studio. Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble!. (Capcom). Nintendo DS. (2005-09-02) "Junko: One day... While driving to the set... I collapsed and spent the rest of my life in a trance."
12. ^ Clover Studio. Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble!. (Capcom). Nintendo DS. (2005-09-02) "Junko: I'm sorry, kids. You've had one heck of a time thanks to me. But look how strong you are now. I just had to meet you again, to see you with my own eyes. Everything really did go according to plan, you know. I just wanted to test your powers."