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Karate Joe

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Karate Joe (カラテ家?, Karateka) is the first character to appear in the Rhythm Heaven Series in a Rhythm Game, appearing primarily in the Karate Man games, and one of the few characters to appear in every game since Rhythm Tengoku. He is successing his Father in karate.

Karate Joe
Image
File:Karate Joe 3DS.png
Artwork from Rhythm Heaven Megamix
Appears in
Rhythm Tengoku
Rhythm Heaven
Rhythm Heaven Fever
Rhythm Heaven Megamix

Karate Joe is characterized by his pale white skin, big nose, and balding head. He wears a karate suit that matches the color of his skin. He is barefoot. He is often described as very expressive and fearless. He is also shown eating a lot of food between training sessions, a trait he seems to share with his Father.

Story

Karate Joe is a lonely martial artist who struggles with his training. He seems to be developing his own unique karate style which incorporates rhythm. He has a very emotional personality, which can be seen in his many facial expressions. At the martial arts competitions, the opponent reads all his tricks, and he can't get results. Sometimes he goes to his master for advice, whose usual response is "You needed to focus on the basics."[1]

Karate Joe in the original game Rhythm Heaven the music behind is from a female. Singing "Hey baby how's it going, This beat is non stop" Repeating similar phrases for the rest of the minigame. Seemingly dating Karate Joe. In Rhythm Heaven Fever, the music is different he is singing about how he misses his loved one and how she has moved on. From that knowledge we can say that Karate Joe is using karate to fight off his longed feelings for his ex-girlfriend found in Rhythm Heaven. He seems to be struggling with life as you can see in Remix 9 Rhythm Heaven Fever Where he is watching TV on the floor. And he seems to be punching paper cups instead of a punching bag or a dummy. which can also seem like he's just a middle aged man depressed about his lost girlfriend, and is finally trying to make a change in his life. Cleaning up his room, using karate.

Other Appearances

In Rhythm Tengoku, he appears in the first Rhythm Game, Karateka. It involves the Flow gauge, which determines if he can punch hard objects such as rocks and bombs, which depends on how well the player is doing in the game. In Karateka 2, he also has to contend with the ever changing tempo. In Remix 8, the Flow gauge disappears, and Karate Joe is enveloped in shadow. He can now punch rocks no matter what. At the end, he returns to normal, making a weird face. Karate Joe reappears in the arcade version of the game, with the same appearances, in addition to Karateka TempoUpExtra1.png, which is a sped up version of the original. Here, he is wearing boxing gloves and black boxing shorts, and is training for a boxing match. In Rhythm Heaven Megamix, the Flow gauge mechanic was completely removed, the "Hit 2!", the light bulbs and bomb were replaced with other objects to conform to how the future games work.

Karate Joe reappears in Rhythm Heaven, in the last Rhythm Game before the Staff Credits, Karate Man. In Remix 6, he can be seen with hair and kicking soccer balls in place of bombs. He later makes a cameo in Blue Birds 2, where he is seen in one of the memories, training while the birds spy on him from a bush. In Karate Man 2, he takes on another day of hard training. This time he's very pleased with himself, though he tries to hide it. He makes the weird face again when kicking away bombs. In the epilogues, one of The Dazzles is shown to admire him, calling him "hot stuff" and offering him a towel. In Battle of the Bands, he can be seen in the audience, watching the Rockers perform on stage.

In Rhythm Heaven Fever, he is once again in the last Rhythm Game before the Credits, Karate Man. In Remix 7, he wears black shades while punching stuff in space. At one point he lies down and watches TV, which coincidentally shows Karateka from Rhythm Tengoku itself. In Remix 9 he is accompanied by a cat[2]. In Karate Man 2, he reaches "the height of mastery" in karate, after which he is seemingly able to control fire as seen in the Superb epilogue. In the Two Player version, he wears a headband, and is accompanied by another Karate Joe in purple clothes.

In Rhythm Heaven Megamix, he appears in Honeybee Remix, where he wears a bee hat and a stinger. In the middle of the remix, several bees fly past him. At the end, the hat and stinger fly away, and he starts thinking about pancakes. He also watches in awe at his Father's mastery in Karate Man Senior. He gives commentary on his Father's performance, the same way the Master does on Joe's training. Additionally, Karate Man Returns!, Karate Man Kicks! and Karate Man Combos! all reappear, along with a short version of Karate Man.

He appears in the Rhythm Tengoku Gold Comic, where he is seen training even on Christmas Eve. Humorously, despite the lack of snow in the general area, there's a snowstorm blowing solely on Karate Joe. He also appears in Rhythm Tengoku The Best Plus Comic, where he is the first at the reunion.

It is unknown when these events occur in relation to the general story.

Appearances

Gallery

In Super Smash Bros.

Karate Joe appears in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS as a trophy in the "Other" category, and as a spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

His spirit battle takes place on the Suzaku Castle Ω stage playing the Rhythm Boxing track, where he is represented by Ryu. The battle has the "Item Tidal Wave" rule applied and the following conditions:

  • The enemy's punches and elbow strikes have increased power
  • The enemy's kicks and knee strikes have increased power
  • The enemy favors smash attacks
Karate Joe
Flag of the United States.svg
Flag of the United Kingdom (3-5).svg
KarateJoeTrophy3DS.png
Has there ever been a cry more manly than the "Uh!" that appears at the start of every Karate Joe stage? It's like he digs deep down inside himself, reveals his spirit with that "Uh!" of power...and then directs that energy into smashing flowerpots, bulbs, and exploding barrels. Karate Joe knows no fear!
Has there ever been a cry more manly than the "Uh!" that appears at the start of every Karate Man stage? Doesn't it sound like it comes from the very bottom of his soul? Or is that just us? ...Anyway! Karate Joe is a pretty cool guy. He punches flowerpots, bulbs, even exploding barrels without the slightest hesitation. Truly, he fears nothing.


No.
Image
Name
Type
Class
Slots
Ability
1,192
Karate Joe Spirit.png
 Karate Joe
Attack
 ★★★ 2 Fist Attack ↑

Trivia

  • Karate Joe has appeared as a playable character in every game in the Rhythm Heaven Series.
  • Karate Joe has always "bookended" the games he appears in:
  • Some details and in the Rhythm Items are added/changed in some regions, such as the detail about Karate Joe still living in his basement being present in most versions outside of the Japanese and Korean versions. Other alternative details include Karate Joe mentioning his mother, who was out one day and so his father tried cooking, and that Karate Joe once tried to steal the alcohol stored in the barrels, but was caught by his Father and told he can drink it only when he becomes stronger than him, both of which are present in the Japanese and Korean versions.[3]. Karate Joe is also referred to as being 55 years old[4] in the French version.
  • The location of Karate Joe's training is not clear. Usually it is depicted as a featureless monochrome void during gameplay, while certain epilogues show specific locations, such as:
  • Karate Joe makes a cameo during a Young Cricket and Master Mantis preview for WarioWare Gold.

In Other Languages

Language Name Meaning
Flag of Japan.svg Japanese カラテ家 Karateka
Flag of the United States.svg EnglishNOA Karate Joe
Flag of the United Kingdom (3-5).svg EnglishNOE Karate Joe
Flag of France (1794–1815, 1830–1974, 2020–present).svg French Le karatéka The Karateka
Flag of Spain.svg Spanish Kárate Killo Karate Killo
Flag of Italy.svg Italian Karate Ka Karate Ka
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Dutch Karate Joe[5]
Flag of Portugal.svg Portuguese Karate Joe[6]
Flag of Russia.svg Russian Каратист[5] Karate Man
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg ChineseSI Karate Joe[5]
Flag of South Korea.svg Korean 격투가 The Fighter

References

  1. ↑ https://www.nintendo.co.jp/n08/brij/chara/stage01.html
  2. ↑ "cat" ~ texture filename
  3. ↑ "こないだ、こっそり父さんのお酒を飲もうとしたところ、父さんに見つかってしまった。「お前には早い。もしもオレより、強くなる時が来たら、ウマイ酒を飲ませてやる」だって。けっきょく、父さんとお酒を飲んだことは、まだない。" (The other day, I secretly tried drinking my father's alcohol, but he found out. "You're not ready for it," he said, "but if you ever get stronger than me, I'll give you a drink." I've never had a drink with my dad before, actually.) ~ タル (Barrel), Rhythm Tengoku: The Best+
  4. ↑ "Résultat : à 55 ans, je vis toujours au sous-sol..." (The result: At 55, I still live in the basement...) ~ Ballon de football (Soccer Ball), Rhythm Paradise Megamix
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
  6. ↑ Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
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